asylum575

Wow,

We were on that cruise and didn’t get our number called until 10:30 and got to our car at 11:15.

We are booked on Oasis in a couple of weeks. We booked two Central Park balconies and submitted for the OBC and received it the same day. DW and I split up with kids, OBC on one cabin.

Cashed in some BOA credit card rewards for some more OBC, processed in 24 hours.

I think many of us have just learned to ignore the sales pitch and consider it just background noise, but if the OP is upset at the mere asking from someone to purchase something and is sensitive to it. This will happen all week.

I agree.

I'm on the same cruise. Just be happy we're not stopping in Nassau. The vendors in the Straw market can get pushy.

Be prepared if you are traveling with young girls for all the "Braid the pretty girl's hair" pitches in Labadee.

The reason I started the thread is the constant bashing of the MDR food. The specialty restaurants sound good but I don’t know if they are worth the upcharge. I’ve always enjoyed having the same servers for the week and reading some posts, it’s almost like you’re better off in the Windjammer for dinner.

We're about 3 weeks away from our next cruise on Oasis.

We were on Empress last year for a Cuba trip and made it a B2B with a Carnival ship out of Jacksonville to the Bahamas. It just worked out as Jacksonville was on our way back to NY from Tampa.

The two cruises were very different and Empress won hands down by ship condition, decor, service and food.

I did notice the menu was a little different than years past, but comparing it to the second cruise, it was great.

I don't mean to knock CCL, but, I could start a thread on the obvious differences and a B2B made it easy to compare.

Anyway, back to food. Although the menu seemed leaner in options, I always found something to eat. I'm not a big fan of specialty dining as I don't think the upcharge is worth it. For example, we love Hibachi dining. On RCCL, Izumi is $45/pp or $180 for a family of 4. We have a local Hibachi restaurant that normally costs us about $120 with tip. Is Izumi that good. I know I'm on vacation, but considering there are dining options included in the trip price, it seems like a lot. Chops at $49. I'm a bit of a beef snob, I only buy Prime beef for home steaks and sometimes will splurge on aged prime. I've had some pretty good steaks on a cruise, but nothing worth $50 more.

The one benefit I do see in the Specialty dining on RCCL, is the customization to your schedule. On our itinerary, we chose late dining to maximize time in port, however, that created a bit of a conflict choosing our entertainment. I can see how Specialty dining or my time dining would work out better. We have been cruising for close to 25 years and always loved the personal attention you get in the MDR having the same servers everyday. For example, I normally like a pitcher of ice water on the table with some cut lemon for dinner. I normally don't drink enough water during the day and make up for it at dinner. In the MDR, I can ask my waiter for the water on the first day, slip him a tip and voila, I'm taken care of the whole trip.

Bouncing around from server to server didn't appeal to us when we tried NCL a few times.

So, should I be concerned about the food. I've viewed the menus online and was able to fine something to choose every night. I didn't get wowed that often, but I think I would be satisfied. I can see the attraction to the Ultimate dining experience and am happy for those who choose it. I just don't think I can pick where and what I wan to eat weeks in advanced.

Am I going to slim down on my cruise?

I’m cruising 8/19, my BOA card statement date is 7/26. Do you think I can get points redeemed for OBC on 7/26 or 7/27 on my 08/19 cruise planner?

Last year we went on RC Empress out of Tampa to Cuba and on the return date drove over to Jacksonville and caught CCL Elation to the Bahamas.

What a difference!! Just some quick notes.

1. Bigelow type teas were complimentary on RC, upcharge on CCL. DW enjoys tea after dinner.

2. CCL dining room had no tablecloth and cutlery was wrapped. It felt like a Chili’s. Seemed like only one server. RC had waiter and assistant.

3. Entertainment on CCL seemed to promote passenger involvement, not necessarily bad, but it did get a bit rowdy.

4. Empress was just redone for Cuba cruises and was beautiful. Elation was that old gaudy decor, very dark.

We’ve cruised on Carnival several times, for some reason I don’t like the buffet setup, feels like you’re on one line after another.

Price is always a factor and that’s why we give CCL a shot, however, after the last to with a back to back comparison, it’s RCCL for us.

We are one cruise away from Diamond and that’s exciting.

We booked it a couple of days ago and the per night rate was under $100pp. We are a family of 4 and found adjoining CP balconies, so we split up and now have two cabins. Two balconies and two bathrooms is great. Still came in under $100/night pp.

We’ve always done Paradise beach. About 5 times.

If memory serves, Sanchos is a flat rate beach with food/drink included Paradise is like $2-3pp to enter and a $10/pp minimum on food and drink.

Inflatable water sculptures a bit more.

Since the kids are too young and I don’t drink, Paradise is a better deal.

I like their pool area, bathrooms are always clean, food is inexpensive.

Neither one they are 2 old clunkers.

You're probably right.

"If you have a day that you can take the day before or after I would say that Ecstasy just for Charleston."

I agree, extending the vacation in a nice town is always nice. However, St Augustine is close to Elation and I would visit that town.

We were on Elation last month before dry dock and were really disappointed. We had gone as a second part of a back to back with RCL's Empress out of Tampa.

We had breakfast on Empress one day and then had lunch on Elation the same day, pretty cool.

Elation was in really shabby condition with the cabins showing worn cabinetry. It was hard not to compare the two cruises which wasn't fair because Empress was just redone for the Cuba cruises.

The Empress itinerary was obviously better, but we knew that when booking. The Elation cruise fit the schedule and since we were driving back to NY, it was on the way.

The real disappointment was with our overall dining experience. The brunch and MDR breakfast was good and since we stayed onboard for Half Moon Cay, we were able to enjoy the pool and several buffet stations for lunch. The Mongolian wok is very good but not worth the hour wait at regular times. The MDR dinner had a very chain restaurant feel to it. Limited tableware and no table linens, except for elegant night really toned it down. I got some of that rubbery chicken you've probably read about on these boards.

The whole vibe on the ship was very casual and not that old style classy cruise feel to it.

My feeling is always that it's hard to ruin my vacation, because it's better than staying home, however I would pass on Elation.

Wemjam,

Do not take the Elation out of Jacksonville.

We were onboard last month on the second half of a back to back with another ship.

We found the check-in process very stressful and and the buffet down right mayhem.

On disembarkation we were told, actually warned, not to try to disembark until your number is called. We were told our number would be called between 10 and 10:30.

We had a late breakfast in the MDR and proceeded to the theatre as instructed. The theatre was practically empty. They were around disembarkation number 8, we were 14. A staff member instructed us to disembark. I told him we were told to wait for our number. He informed us that we were probably the only ones who heeded the warning and the ship was just about done with disembarkation. We then proceeded to disembark and breezed through the process.

My thoughts were that there can't be that many people who didn't go to kindergarten and learn how to stand in line and follow instructions.

We were on Elation's 8/21 sailing. She really needed this makeover.

Cabin cabinetry was falling apart. I noticed the same in other cabins.

We were on upper deck and noticed the forward area cabin walkways had a light colored tropical decor where the mid and aft had the old dark red feel. Overall we found the ship dark, including the atrium. I hope they have a way to introduce more light.

In the past, I always felt the food was similar on both lines.

However, after our back to back last month my opinion has changed.

The Rccl Empress food was very good to excellent. Our servers were so good, I would give the whole experience an excellent.

The Carnival food was fair to good with the service bringing the overall grade down. In fact, we never go the the buffet for dinner, but chose to eat there on the last night. We experienced the rubbery chicken that has been mentioned in the past. The selection was not as bountiful as in past cruises.

I had read many mediocre reviews about Elation, but the overall experience was fair to good.

We were on back to back Rccl/ Ccl cruises last month.

We took Empress of the Seas on 8/16 out of Tampa to Key West, Havana and Cozumel. We returned 8/21, drove up to Jacksonville for a cruise on Elation to the Bahamas.

Hands down Rccl was the better cruise. However, it wouldn't be fair to compare.

The Empress cruise had a much better itinerary and that shouldn't be held against Carnival.

Empress was also just redone for this itinerary to Cuba and was beautiful. Elation was due for a drydock one cruise after ours. She really needs a makeover.

We found Elation very dark with alot of red decor. Just not my taste.

I did feel the Elation service staff was not as friendly and the cruise staff had a different vibe. Maybe I'm just getting old. There was limited dinnerware at the place settings in the MDR and linen only elegant night.

Overall, the two itineraries were very different and attracted very different people.

See next

We were on that cruise as well.

Overall, we had a nice time.

There is a kiddie pool on deck 12 aft by the basketball court. The kiddie pool had a small slide a bigger tube slide.

4 nights is too short, but this cruise fit our schedule for visiting family for the holiday as well.

We usually tale balcony rooms and depending on season we may take an oceanview. We splurged for a junior suite and loved it. We a family of 4 with young children. The junior suite was the size of a decent hotel room.

It will be hard to go back to a smaller cabin.

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We've been to Paradise Beach twice and loved it. Kids 10 & 6 love the pool.

We will be there next Monday.

We are not big drinker so the AI isn't worth it for us.

I think we will try the jetskis next week.

Very clean facilities

We stayed at he Hampton Inn near the airport pre cruise back in July. It is in the Westshore area.

We chose it because they had a free airport shuttle and breakfast. We had a late flight in and since we were not planning on anything, we just wanted a clean room, a short ride and breakfast in the morning. The Hampton Inn runs an airport shuttle and they share it with the Hilton Garden Inn down the block. We arrived at midnight and called for the shuttle, they were there in 10-15 minutes and took us to the hotel. The room was clean and modern, but a little tight for our family of four. It was fine for one night. Breakfast was OK with some hot items and pastries. The waffle machine gets a lot of use.

They offer a shuttle to the port for around $8-10/pp. We had the desk call a can and it was $25 to the port.

We will stay there again. When we got onboard, DW couldn't find her Apple air tablet so we called the hotel. They had found it in the room and secured it in the housekeeping safe. We picked it up on the way back from the airport from the port. They wouldn't accept a gratuity. We were very happy with the experience.

OK,

First off, this was only our 3rd CCL cruise out of over 15. Our first was Fascination, right after Katrina. Had an OK time but preferred RCL. After a few years of cruising NCL and RCL, we tried CCL again on the Miracle two years ago. It was OK, but a few annoying issues had us decide not to return to CCL unless it was an unbelievable deal.

Well, they made us an offer we couldn't refuse. After hanging up several times thinking it was a scam. CCL got through and DW's VIFP number was selected for a free cruise. We upgraded to an OV for $35 each and paid for DD6 and DS10. Selection was limited so we booked Legend and flew down. Airfare was as much as the cruise.

Pre-cruise we stayed at the Hampton Inn Westshore. We got in at midnight, so we were just looking for an affordable night. What we got was free airport transfers, hot breakfast and a very honest staff. In our haste to get to the port, DW left her Ipad air on the bed:eek: we noticed it missing after boarding. We waited for the luggage to show up and checked it, no Ipad. We were under way and still in the Tampa area. We called the hotel and they had secured the Ipad in the safe until we returned.

Embarkation was a breeze. We got to the port at 11am and we were onboard by 11:30.

As we made our way to the muster drill we got stuck behind a family on the stairs. At first we thought it was just a traffic jam. It was actually a family waiting on the stairs trying to stay in the a/c till the last minute. When I asked them to continue, they just looked the other way. I thought "CHAIRHOGS". BTW, they were definitely from the good ole USA, no language issue. The sad thing was how uncomfortable the teenage son looked when I told my wife what was going on. Great parenting.

Overall, I never found the ship crowded. The drydock earlier in the year looks to be complete. We didn't see any areas closed for construction. We noticed very large generators on deck 10.

We had dinner in the MDR every night. On a couple of nights DW and I had a tough time deciding what to have. Nothing really jumped off the menus. We had either brunch of breakfast in the MDR every day but one. We tried the buffet on the 3rd day and went back to the MDR. We never ordered room service. Lunch was up on the Lido. Burgers were good and thd chicken tenders were very good. Kids were happy. The inside buffet had a different theme everyday and there was asian along with sandwiches everyday. The pizza was good but the line moved slow.

On embarkation day, we ran into Adi from Bosnia who was on the Miracle with us. We should have switched to his section for dinner. Our wait staff was OK, but we really like Adi. If you can, request him. He has a great sense of humor.

Entertainment was the weak part of this cruise. The embarkation show was at 10pm the first night. DD6 was not going to make it. They had a two classic rock production shows that were good, but less than 30 minutes long. The magician/illusionist was Justin illusion or something like that. They warned us it was PG13. Pretty risqué. We made the family comedy shows which were entertaining.

Our ports were Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman.

Cozumel is one of our favorite stops. We took a taxi to Paradise beach and later walked the strip over in town. If you are not big drinkers, I recommend Paradise beach. If you plan to drink heavily, there are several all inclusive beach clubs.

First time in Belize. We booked a private excursion to go cave tubing. The tender ride is long and the port was a bit run down.

The guard at the port would not allow us to leave the port unless we were escorted. We found our tour operator and preceded to the caves. Along the way our tour guide gave us his opinions on religion, money and politics. I tried to ignore him until the religion started. Once he said he hated my religion and everyone on the bus was of the same faith. I tuned him out until I had an opportunity to have a private discussion on the matter:banghead: I will not identify him for respect to his wife and partner who was lovely and I believe she was upset about his comments. The cavetubing was a great experience, but the overall concern for my family's safety made it tough to enjoy.

We were worried about Roatan due to the US State Dept advisory. We booked a tour with Victor Bodden. Great experience. We toured the island and had the monkey experience.

Grand Cayman was just a quick walk around town then back to the ship for a pool day.

No casino, no bingo.

We had to self assist disembark to get off earlier enough to make a stop at the hotel to pick up the ipad.

Overall, we had a good trip. We are rethinking our opinion of CCL. We prefer RCL. We haven't cruised NCL for a while, so I can't give an opinion on them.

Cruising is a great vacation and CCL offers you the opportunity to do it affordably. We may try a newer ship next.

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I chose not to bring my tux on my ladt Carnival cruise and regretted it.

I will bring mine on my Legend cruise next month.

My DW always complains how easy I have it with the tux.

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What time did the ship get in to Tampa and what time were you able to get off?

Wondering if we can make an 11:00 flight in July.

The fog shouldn't be an issue in July.

Hello all,

I know that during the winter early spring, Tampa experiences fog which can delay ships coming in.

We are cruising, during the July 4th week, returning on 7/6/14.

Is it safe to book a return flight for around noon? Really hate waiting around in an airport with kids.

Do the ships get in on time during the summer months?

We haven't cruised out of Tampa in about 5 years.

Thanks for you input.

I just checked Mr Sanchos, Paradise beach and Nachi Cocum.

I think we'll do Paradise again, they sdded a huge pool since our last visit.

Anyone know how much the waverunners are?

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We use to do Paradise beach.

It had something like a $20 minimum per person which was easy, then it included the chair, table and umbrellas.

I think the big blowup structures in the water was extra.

This was sbout 5 years sgo. Not sure if thry are still there.

There was another place called Mr Sanchos.

Check the Cozumel board.

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Thanks for showing the new Pancho's backyard.

We didn't know there was a new one.

The original is at the end of the strip in town. It's in the back of one of the last gift shops that's on a corner.

The margaritas are great.

A lot of good memories there.