skywalkr2

21 hours ago, carol louise said:

Actually, the ship did go closer to land to meet the aircraft partway. My husband loves maps, so during the cruise we had our in-cabin tv tuned to the station indicating our location, direction, path. Abut 2-3 hours before the rescue, we took a pronounced turn to port, heading west directly toward the coast rather than continuing northeast toward New York. Until we heard the announcement about an hour after the turn that an evacuation would take place in another couple hours, we wondered if the ship was redirecting to avoid some weather ahead. Once the patient and his mother were transferred, we resumed our course back towards NY.

I was a good boy as well and was in my cabin.  I took a picture of the cruise route from the TV to show the 90 degree turn towards shore...  

Must say I was rather annoyed to see other passengers had stayed up top and took videos. If I had known they weren't going to enforce the order, I would have stayed up there.

3 hours ago, staceyglow said:

We were on Venezia a few weeks ago.  They were handing out the toiletry bags.

Thanks.  Great news.

56 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

also thought the alcohol was way overpriced on the ship- bought 4 bottles of absolut vodka in st thomas for $18 each(Oct 2023) - ship was selling it for $50 per bottle- they used to match the prices in the islands for liquor-even with our expensive prices of liquor in clev, the ship was way overpriced- bottle of absolut is $34 +9% tax, and another 1% sin tax, still makes it cheaper then the ship-also if you're interested in the artwork, look at park west website- you can see alot of the same artwork that Park West sells on the ship

it really depends.  Alcohol used to have much better deals, for sure.  But even now sometimes you can get some good ones. Last cruise I got (I think) 3 bottles of Captain Morgan for $30.

3 minutes ago, cruisehappyinJune said:

Agree! They are sort of monitored but it’s more “activities director/teen fun squad” than babysitter or behavior check. The music is the same as adult night club (no bleeping out profanity), the dance moves rival any adult club 😂, etc. This wasn’t a problem for us at all but may be a shock for others, so worth mentioning. My daughter loved it and at age 22 is still instagram friends with kids she met on cruises at 15 and 16! 

Exactly correct.

19 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Venezia-June 19, 2023, 1/6/24, 3/25/24 next up 5/6/24. You can understand my confusion! 😎🤩

I do love Venezia and leaving from NY, so I can def understand.

6 hours ago, Pyrate13 said:

As we know, taste is subjective. Personally, I wouldn't give you $5 for BT but that's just me. It's nice to have choices.

Agreed.  We just got into bourbon recently and looked long and far to even find a bottle.  Then we wondered why we tried so hard.  It's certainly not Eagle Rare.

That's why I am unsure about Blaton's.  because my understanding is it's just the upgraded Buffalo Trace.

I am on Venezia next week and will not even pick up a Fanny pack if they try to offload that on me again.

Just be aware... Circle C is very much family friendly.. and Club O2 gets up to a lot of shenanigans lol

If you have a Costco near you, they have great ones.

24 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

What's the difference between Blanton's and my current fav Woodford Reserve?  Smokier? Just curious on what you all think.  Yes, I will try it on my next cruise in September😉

Hard to know since it feels impossible to find a bottle of Blantons in the last few years.  Like Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace... very very difficult to source.  That being said I have heard its not that great and is only "rare" because of John Wick lol.

Just reminder that Platinum and up can setup their arrival times as of midnight last night.  Everyone else you can go midnight tomorrow night (4/12 AM)

No evening in Curacao? I love that place the most of all the 3 islands.

I hope they OP knew what they were getting us into 11 years ago.

I've always hated beets.  Thank you for giving me a good reason why.

On 4/2/2024 at 3:32 PM, aborgman said:

 

STK Orlando...

 

2x Surf and Turf: $178

2x appetizers/salad: $55

4x sides: $76

2x deserts: $32

 

That still leaves $130 per person for drinks and clubbing before you hit $400.

 

You can definitely get to $400 - but "nice night out" is a bit different than "most expensive restaurant in the entire city, eating some of the most expensive things on the menu"

 

 

 

And I have heard STK isn't really that great lol

You should be okay, but prepare to be stressed during the process.

20 hours ago, Jeafl said:

I agree.  I received an upgrade offer from deluxe ocean view to cove balcony for $190 which I took.  About a month later I received another upgrade offer from cove balcony to regular ocean view all the way forward for $392!!  WHY would anyone take a crappier room and pay an upcharge for it?

I think their system is bugged. I did about the same as you, but if you go to the upgrades on the website it always thinks you are still in the original room class.

46 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

I am zero for 3 in trying to go to HMC. Two cancelled cruises and in Feb of last year I got to see the outline of the island and then the stop was called off due to sea conditions. 

The chickens were sorry they missed you.

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

On a casino offer?  

No that was the upgrade fairy.

I think on my cruise in 2 weeks I paid around $400?  For a interior to cove balcony for that 10 day cruise.

Just now, aborgman said:

 

That IS a sale price.

 

$400 per person including all port fees, taxes, and gratuities.

 

I just went out to a relatively nice restaurant for an evening (best rated steakhouse in Michigan) - and fed 3 people steak and seafood, with drinks - for $250 including tip.

 

A nice night out around here can be had for $100/person - at $400 a person we're talking high end escorts and drugs.

Right now with no big sale going on I saw 4 days out of Miami a cabin for $700 ($690 or so).  Less than $400 a person.  Now if you include the tips, that changes things.

But again its comparing 4 days versus one 2 hour (at most dinner).  My point (although could be considered by some to by hyperbolic) is that the value on carnival far exceeds prices you pay for a good dinner, but typically when I say night out I mean more than just a dinner (not including hookers and blow).

9 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Yikes...

 

Either a nice night out for you is a lot fancier than for me, or prices are way, way higher where you live.

 

I just pulled up the cheapest cruise from Florida I could find for any dates in existence.

 

$827.30 for two.

Well to be fair:

1) I only ever book when there is a sale going on, and 

2) I do live in Philadelphia, so prices are probably much higher than in FL.

On 3/13/2024 at 4:53 PM, saqwineguy said:

My wife and I are booked. It's our 11th carnival cruise but 1st from NYC(we are from Montreal). Great deal on this cruise but we're a little worried about so many sea days. How is boarding process in NYC?

I sailed out of NYC on Venezia just once, but it was fine.  Its a bit crowded at the start, but after you get past the check in... it was very quick.  However do note I do have Platinum status, and that might have contributed to it.

On 2/2/2024 at 9:09 PM, Cruisingfan87 said:

Hi all. Me (Stephanie) and my fiancée (Wayne) will be joining you all from right here in NY!!!! We both haven’t been on carnival since we were kids and decided to give it a try for our honeymoon!🥰🥰 I was looking at some of the fun hands on excursions, but can’t decide. If anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears. 

What type of excursions do you think you would enjoy? At the ports we are going to there is so much free beach / pool opportunties... the only place I book excursions for is Nassau... and there I book the adults only beach option.

But many people like the "active" excursions, and if so there are so many good options.

17 minutes ago, angelsfort said:

 

well...  as I said in my post, that you quoted.. 

 

 (as you can imagine,  I can't afford to cruise often, so I don't get to raise my status very quickly.)

 

and I don't know if you're aware but I can still be "Loyal" to Carnival even if I don't sail often...  there's no reason to be a turd about it.

If I was lucky enough to live in florida, I think I would probably do about 10 3 day cruises a year.  They typically are cheaper than a nice night out.