nycruise1

Have seen this on posted Thanksgiving dinner menus, but have not cruised then so never tried it. 🙁 I love dates, they have prunes, but dates are yummier as an additional breakfast fruit. Grapes would also be nice.

Far from it. Very enjoyable cruise for us. Are you on the 12 days journey in February? There is a roll call,

Room was totally fine, did not even need to use the lowest cool setting to keep it comfortable. Worst spots were the hallways on the passenger decks. They often felt totally unairconditioned. I wore a suit elegant nights and was fine in the dining room, even with a suit jacket over a longsleeved dress shirt. We have the May 17th booked. Got a great deal with the most recent sale. Which week are you? Also the February journeys. Lines to the comedy shows were very long, back to the casino. But we always made it in and even had good seats. Perhaps they have more seating than on most ships?

We were switched over from Magic when it was moved down to Norfolk and Venezia was brought over to NYC. Some concern on this new concept and if it would have the Carnival feel. Back from the first 8 day Caribbean voyage and there was no issue. Everything was usual Carnival, and having been on Horizon and Vista we felt right at home. We kept calling the Gondola lounge Ocean Plaza and immediately knew where everything was, right down to the restrooms. Only a handful of negatives: No way to get from decks 10 to 12 unless you went inside or went to the aft, not many loungers around the main pool and no hot tubs there, Lido not set up well with long lines Pros: easily the classiest Carnival ship, very upscale feel, Asian buffet at Seafood Shack most sea days, Marq high energy cruise director, glass door in the cabin shower kept the water from leaking on to the bathroom floor We had taken a leap of faith and already booked a February journeys before trying Venezia. Now that we are backed how do we feel? Keeping February and booked May as well. Cant beat these long cruises out of NYC. Hopefully they will bring them back for 2025 too.

We already had this sailing booked and were on the 8 day sailing June 19. It was so bad we booked another one for May. It is definitely the classiest ship we have ever been on.

They have not even gotten to Bermuda yet, let alone start the return to NYC. I know people embarking yesterday were complaining about the lines, so maybe this is an effort to get more people disembarked before the next batch starts arriving.

Wow looks really good. Bigger menu than Chopsticks on the Pride. Thanks

Believe the Bon Voyage is things for you room when you first board (decorations or tasty treats). Must have realized you did not order it. We board when you disembark. If you happen to notice at lunch, does the Seafood Shack have asian food? It did on the inaugural.

Yes we saw a video on Venezia food and it showed that, with the menu changing each day. There is a chance they have it just for this inaugural/journeys cruise. Food looked really good. Hopefully it will be on every cruise. We will find out soon.

I am on it so definitely you should go, I will bring up the fun level on the sailing 🙂. More seriously, it is essentially a brand new ship and there is a retractable roof on part of the Lido so that will help with the cold weather traveling up and down. Are you the type of cruiser who really does not spend much time in the cabin? For me it would not be much of a problem as I am not in there much other than sleeping. If that is you, go for it. Worse case you will not take another long winter cruise from the Northeast with someone you do not know. It is almost a year from now. Can you arrange a meeting with the group before then so everyone gets to know each other better before you go?

We dont get casino offers. Gamble a bit but not nearly enough to hit their radar. Luckily between the restart pricing and 50th anniversary sale, we have 12 cruises between 2021 - 2024 at rates below prepandemic pricing. That has all dried up and no good prices anymore. Have not looked at other lines but it will be easier to do so if they are priced less I guess.

Not to hijack your amazing review, but why the change? Just needed something new or tired of Carnival?

I have always said the MDR food is restaurant quality. Maybe not a Michelin rated place but certainly as good as your typical neighborhood restaurant. Unlike many here, I have found the buffet food got better post pandemic. I used to look for alternatives at lunch, but am enjoying the lunch buffet more and more. Cant wait to see the new offerings on the Venezia in 3 weeks!

Slightly off topic but seems to be many gift card users here. Is there a dollar limit to the amount of gift cards that may be used on each cruise?

I am pretty sure I was able to completely move deposits and not lose any money when I went from a shorter to a longer cruise. There was a bit of pushback and I said to the agent I am looking to move to a longer and more expensive cruise. Think this happened twice without any penalty. Another time we changed from 2 people in 2 rooms to 3 people in one room and did lose $50 of the deposit for the person who did not go.

We have cruised 7 times since the restart, none on the excel ships, and still find little difference. It's a Carnival cruise, with only minor differences. Actually find the Lido buffet to be better, and eat it mostly at lunch. Precovid I was seeking out other options more. MDR was quicker on some sailings than others, just like precovid. Cant think of anything I really miss or was materially different. Guess that is why we keep sailing!

Wow I am the only one so far. Order it EVERY night with a glass of milk and love it. Maybe because I prefer it loose and that is how it normally is. Thinking about this has my mouth watering for it now. Thankfully cruise in 2 months.

We have never experienced anything to question our cruising with Carnival. We do enjoy the fun factor, and that vibe more than makes up for any questionable behavior. But even that was never what I would consider out of bounds. I will agree that Carnival does not get the most genteel crowd, but most are there just to have fun. I hope the day never comes, but if something ever happened to us personally, I guess we would consider our options at that point. Even then, a single incident likely would not preclude us from cruising with Carnival.

I was not aware of this and I do not remember this being an issue. We were let off right in front of where they pull into the parking lot so it was a short walk. Do you self-embark? That would be a bigger walk then the walk from the Uber dropoff to the door leading into the terminal.

You should be able to make it up in hotel savings. Miami/Fort Lauderdale hotels have gone up alot but Houston still is low. We stayed near the airport and took an Uber the next morning. Was about $75 each way from IAH and Hobby is lower if its flights work for you. Galveston hotels are much higher.

Totally shocked, especially with Vicenza having so many varied and longer itineraries including Journeys cruises. I think the only way we would consider this is to combine it with an extended visit to at least one West Coast stop and then treat the cruise itself as the destination. Cabo is fine but I compare Ensenada to Freeport, not worth bothering with.

Never saw a 75 milestone card. Have seen a few 50 even in person. Now you need to get to 100 and show us that. 😁

Never noticed this before but looked after reading your message and I have the same thing even though still platinum, must be a glitch in the system: All that glitters isn't gold, or even platinum. Because you're at the top of the VIFP Club, and that means you've got your own toll-free number for sales & service.

Same with us. We were moved over from the June Magic and then when the great itineraries came out we booked the 12 day February cruise.

We are on an aft on 2 on the June cruise and an aft on 1 in February. Have stayed on 1 on a few cruises over the years and never had a problem, usually quiet. We dont look for 1 or 2 specifically but sometimes with some of the rate codes those are the only decks offered.