globe9

I'll be on the Breeze in a few weeks and I'm doing a ketogenic diet, which is basically low carb(try for under 20g a day).

Breakfast should be easy with eggs, bacon and sausage however I need real eggs, not powdered. Does that mean dining room every morning?

Dinner should be pretty easy with a meat and veggie selection, but I wonder about high sugar sauces?

Lunch, I'm assuming there will be more than just bunless burgers, which get old? Would be nice to have a veggie selection instead of fries.

Also, I drink coffee, but only with heavy cream for the high fat content. Can I ask for this in the lido deck buffet? I'm aware they'll have 1/2 and 1/2 but I prefer heavy cream.

I may cheat with a sugar free dessert a few times. Any idea on if they have low sugar ice cream or sugar free cheesecake etc?

Any other tips?

I never had a budget on a cruise. My siblings and I would usually buy one or two specialty drinks a day each (usually at the nightly show after dinner) and any dessert we wanted was free back then, as were sodas. My parents bought us souvenirs that we wanted like tshirts, jewelry, watches, electronics, etc. We didn't really have a budget. We'd ask and they either said yes or no. My sister and I would get precious gemstones, watches, etc while my brothers were happy with tshirts from each port.

It's a family vacation and my parents expected to spend money on us. They took care of all expenses. They didn't expect their 10yr old to tip for room service with their own money. My parents provided that as part of the vacation.

We didn't get jobs until we graduated college as it wasn't necessary. College (room, board + allowance) was paid for by my parents b/c they could afford it. We're all successful college educated professionals now with wonderful memories of all the family vacations.

I get trying to teach children the value of a dollar but implementing a banking system for their allowance seems excessive. :o

As long as you cancel within 90 days (or 120 days if in a suite / Haven) you will receive a full refund...

Do you mean I have 90 days from time of booking to receive refund on deposit? So October of 2017 if I book today? Or 90 days from actual sailing, which would be July of 2019?

The wife and I are considering booking a cruise for October of 2019 on the Norwegian Escape. I have tried searching the NCL website for a clear answer, but am slightly confused. When would the deposit become non-refundable? The website lists 89-76 days out at 25%. Does this mean that anything sooner than 90 days out cancellation would be possible and I would be refunded deposit? Is the deposit refundable at all? We don't plan on cancelling, but this far out makes that impossible to know.

The wife and I will be booking an Alaskan cruise next May. We're looking at RCCL Explorer of the Seas and NCL's Norwegian Sun. The EOS is about $500 less total for an Oceanview cabin, but NCL's price includes free drink package and either free specialty dining or $50 off cruise excursions in each port. I'm thinking with those perks the $500 more may be worth it.

Now it comes down to which ship is considered better. Does one feel crowded? We usually eat in the casual dining room/buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner. Is one's layout better than the other?

I've sailed both RCCL and NCL in the past, but it was years ago. Lately we've done Carnival as it was easy to do from Nola.

Any opinions? Which would you choose? We're an early 40's couple with no children. Will mostly be reading/scenery watching while on sea days. Not going to be surfing or rock climbing. Which ship has better cabins? Layout etc?

The wife and I will be booking an Alaskan cruise next May. We're looking at RCCL Explorer of the Seas and NCL's Norwegian Sun. The EOS is about $500 less total for an Oceanview cabin, but NCL's price includes free drink package and either free specialty dining or $50 off cruise excursions in each port. I'm thinking with those perks the $500 more may be worth it.

Now it comes down to which ship is considered better. Does one feel crowded? We usually eat in the casual dining room/buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner. Is one's layout better than the other?

I've sailed both RCCL and NCL in the past, but it was years ago. Lately we've done Carnival as it was easy to do from Nola.

Any opinions? Which would you choose? We're an early 40's couple with no children. Will mostly be reading/scenery watching while on sea days. Not going to be surfing or rock climbing. Which ship has better cabins? Layout etc?

The wife and I will be in Belize in October on the Carnival Breeze. We don't want to take a Carnival sponsored excursion as we're not big on 5+ hour long tours and had planned on just taking a water taxi to Caye Caulker. The wife has now nixed this idea as since it's a tender port, she feels like she'd be stressed the whole time about getting back to the ship on time.

We figure we'll hang around the Cruise ship port area with the shops & restaurants. A coworker suggested we leave the secured area where the shops/restaurants are and go across to the street to the locals market for authentic art and crafts etc. This sounds good to me, but the wife is concerned about our safety.

Is there a local market across the street from the cruise ship secured area? Is it directly across the street, so therefore not too long a walk? Is it safe? Since, it's a local market, will I need to change currency to buy things. We love collecting art from our travels, so I'm hoping this is a good idea. Has anyone been to this market? Is is worth the walk over there?

I've cruised to Alaska once on a 14 day cruise departing from San Francisco back in the late 80's on Sitmar's Fairsky. I was about 12 and the experience was fantastic.

The wife has never been to Alaska and would like to cruise there for her birthday in 2018. I've been looking at some cruises on some different lines and I'm more than a little confused. Looks like they now have 1 way cruises that depart from Seward, AK or Seattle. Also RT's that leave from Seattle or Vancouver. You can also now choose different itineraries like "Inside Passage" or "Tracy Arm Fjord" etc.

We want to do a 7 day RT out of Seattle or Vancouver and would like to book a balcony as I hear that Alaska is one cruise where a balcony is almost a necessity. I'm assuming it's cheaper to get RT flights to Seattle rather than Vancouver? We'd be flying out of Dallas, TX.

The wife's birthday is in July, but she's ok with cruising in May to avoid tons of children, plus we hear the cruise is a little cheaper in May and September. Was told not to book a Sept. cruise though b/c it's the rainy season.

Which lines offer the best deals? From my cursory glance, it looks like it'll be at least $1600 p/p for a balcony on almost any of the lines(Carnival/Princess/RCCL/NCL etc). Anyway to find better deals? Would a TA be helpful with that? I figure with airfare we're probably looking at like $4-5K total for both of us. I certainly liked it better when I was 12 and my parents paid for this:D

I'm not concerned about warm soda from the can b/c I would get ice and pour the soda into my Yeti.

I just remember having to wait for a while to get my drink on previous cruises. I'm not going to share my drink, but I'm an adult and can sometimes drink 6oz of soda in a minute or two if I'm thirsty. I'd rather not have to constantly be getting refills. It's inconvenient. I would gladly pay more for the bottomless bubbles package if it included a full 12oz or access to a soda fountain or something. Soda syrup and CO2 cylinders are unbelievably cheap, especially when purchased in bulk by a large corporation.

Have already purchased my Bottomless Bubbles package for my October cruise. I remember the diet Cokes coming in small cups with lots of ice so you'd be getting 6-8oz of actual diet Coke essentially.

I was wondering if I could request no ice so that I'd get more soda and wouldn't have to keep going up to the bar for refills?

My only other option would be to keep ordering them & pour them into my big Yeti tumbler, that would keep them cold for a while.

Thanks for the heads up. Just bought $1500 worth... Saved me $150 off the cost of my cruise.:D

I understand that booking a GTY would mean it's more than likely that we'd get an undesireable cabin,but how does changing the booking work?

I think I'm paying $799 p/p for a balcony on my upcoming cruise. So if the price drops, I can call Carnival and get OBC? Is it likely the price would drop? Seems like a lot of decks on this cruise were sold out already, so I doubt the price would drop right?

Or, let's say the price drops on a better cabin, to something like $999. I could just call Carnival and book that cabin for the difference?

I'm just confused about the changing the booking once booked and getting deals on lower priced rooms or OBC etc.

The wife and I booked a balcony on Deck 7 forward of the Breeze for a cruise in October. I think it's an Early Saver rate.

I'm reading another thread where people write about switching their booking to a Guarantee and getting OBC and then scoring Aft wrap balconies etc... Is this common? I've always just booked a cruise about 6 months out and then showed up on embarkation day. I have never checked prices afterwards or changed anything about my booking... Am I doing it wrong? What could I be doing to enhance the value, get OBC, etc?

Breeze out of Galveston...I checked when I got to work this morning about 7:15am...should I be checking at like 4am or something? I got 11:00am check in, but this is the first time I've cruised since Carnival began the staggered check-in times. I'm not sure what to expect with an 11:00am check in as I'm just a Gold passenger. Figured FTTF can't hurt to help get on sooner.

Booked on a cruise in early Ocotber and the FTTF is sold out. I've been checking it everyday but I'm wondering what are the chances of Carnival opening up more FTTF passes? Don't want to be wasting time checking if there is no chance.

Is Coral Breeze tours good about getting us back to ship in time? What time does the tour normally depart? I've checked their website but nothing is up for October yet. Will we make it back to port area with time to spare?

The wife and I are not up for 6+ hour long tours to Mayan ruins or cave tubing etc, but we'd like to do more than hang out at the ship dock and shop the whole day so I was thinking about going over to Caye Caulker for a few hours. I see there is a water taxi, but I've read it may not always be on schedule. To be safer, is there any other way to get to Caye Caulker? I'd even pay for a Carnival tour to guarantee we make it back to the ship on time, but I'm not seeing much.

Any ideas?

Will be on the Carnival Breeze in October. We;d like to see some Mayan Ruins(preferably ones that we're allowed to climb to the top and are impressive looking), but also want some time to shop at the little shopping area right off the ship. Most tours I'm looking into are going to take all day and not leave much room, if any, for even 1 hr of shopping before having to get back on the tender.

Is there a tour through the ship that includes ruins, but doesn't take all day to do?

It's been a long while since I last cruised, but back then Carnival had this large(16oz or so) red insulated mug with their logo on it that you could buy with the unlimited soft drink card and the bartenders would fill that up. The mug was like $20 or something I think. I've been reading threads on the Bubble package and no one mentioned it, so I'm thinking they discontinued that.

We're considering the bottomless bubbles package, but I drink a lot of soda and would rather have it in a big cup instead of a ton of ice and about 8oz of actual soda. Seems like I'd be constantly waiting for a refill. Can I ask for no ice with the bottomless bubble package? Seems like I might get more product that way. I may also bring on a 12 pack, but the FTTF package is sold out for my cruise and I don't think I'd want to lug around a 12pk on deck until our room is ready.

Does anyone know how much a 12 pk costs in port and would I be allowed to purchase canned or bottled cokes in Belize or somewhere and bring back onto ship?

I haven't been on a cruise in 7 yrs opting for other vacation options, but the wife was ready to do absolutely nothing on a vacation but relax, so we thought we'd try a cruise again.

We're booked on the 10/8 sailing on the Breeze. I chose a balcony cabin on Deck 7, cabin 7225 I think. It was almost the only cabin left on that Deck so it's pretty much at the front of the ship. How bad is that going to be? We usually try to book midship to help with feelings of seasickness.

So my last cruise was on the Triumph back in 2010. What's changed? The ships layout looks very similar to how the Conquest was set up in 2004. I guess Carnival sticks with the same design? We picked the Breeze over the Freedom b/c it was newer. Hope we made a good choice.

Also, the wife and I are on low carb diets. I don't think it'll be that hard to stick to the diet, but are any sugar free options offered on buffet/dessert menus?

How are the lunch lines for the Mongolian Grill, BBQ, Burrito place etc?

We're looking forward to this getaway and can't wait to be back on a ship.

I sailed the Fantasy last year with my girlfriend, but was not too sure how our being together would be treated by fellow passengers/crew, so we really weren't "out". Acted more like friends than girlfriends. We are sailing again on the Fantasy this coming week and I am not going to worry about it. If I feel like holding her hand on deck, I will. If I want to give her a kiss on the lips(NOT making out, just a closed mouth kiss), I will. It's our vacation too is the attitude I'm bringing and if someone doesn't like it, well then that's too bad. I'll post a review when I get back, but I don't forsee any problems.

Hello everyone,

My name is Nikki and I'm 33 and a sales rep for a medical supply company. My partner is Stacey who is 37 and a police officer in New Orleans. I've been cruising for years(since I was 10) and have always enjoyed it. I took Stacey on her first cruise last year for Christmas. We sailed on the Fantasy out of New Orleans and we had a very good time. We weren't very "open" about our orientation on that cruise as we didn't want to offend any of the breeders, but we're booked on that same cruise again for this November(couldn't beat the deal $379p/p for an Empress Deck OV). I think we'll not worry so much about the breeders this time and just have fun, relax, and be ourselves.

Stacey really wants to do an Olivia cruise, but I keep telling her that we can do 3 or 4 cruises for the price of just one Olivia. I agree it would be nice, but I really don't have a problem with not being surrounded by other lesbians, not enough to justify the cost.

Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. Hello :D