purplephenom

On 8/18/2019 at 8:17 AM, Earthworm Jim said:

I saw something else in the initial picture that seemed of greater concern than door decorations: You can't leave anything plugged in while you aren't in the cabin. With the multiple rechargeable battery powered devices the average person has, and the few outlets available in cruise ship cabins, that could be a problem.

 

You might only be in your room long enough once a day to recharge something, while you sleep. Then you'd have to choose which one or two out of your Kindle, FitBit, phone, electric shaver, iPad, etc., etc., etc. you want to charge.

 

I agree with this- especially if this leads to more people traveling with surge protected power strips, not knowing they're not allowed.  Then they are confiscated and not being able to charge things becomes a bigger issue. 

Although, I am always amazed at how long my phone lasts when its on airplane mode and only used for occasional pictures.  The reasons why are obvious, but its one of those little things that makes me happy when cruising. 

8 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

If you can believe Carnival their ships sail full year round.

 I'm pretty sure there are 2 different numbers- full and max capacity. I think full is 2 people per cabin, max capacity is 3 in every 3 person cabin, 4 in every 4 person cabin.  

The only reason I bring it up, is I was really nervous before I sailed the Sunshine because everyone said it was crowded and awful.  And it was my favorite cruise, and we never really felt crowded. 

Plus, whatever you think of refurbished ships, this ship is built and here now.  It would be a shame if it were a stream of constant bad experiences- hopefully there are at least some parts of the year when the reviews are good, because it means people are having a good time 

.I was expecting a picture of your injury, but I almost screamed at work when I actually saw it.  I had to fake cough to play it off.  Hope you have a have a relatively easy recovery. 

Great review, your diving pictures look awesome.  I really had one of my best snorkeling days there, and this is just really making me want to try diving. 

I'm curious to see how the Sunrise reviews look in January/February, and other times when its less common for the ship to be full of families.  Most ships usually get more "this felt crowded" reviews in the summer.  The Sunrise may be more crowded than other ships,  but I'm still curious.  

Cheers doesn't make sense for me.  But, if I were to ever try it, it would have to be on a short cruise- I could probably keep up the drinking pace then.  

Sometimes it seems like everyone on this board buys cheers, or no one buys it, depending what thread you are reading.  But every cruise group is different- my suggestion is generally add up what you think you'll drink and add about 20% to account for trying new drinks, and being in vacation mode and deciding to order another.  Then see if it's worth it to you.  

10 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

The pizza I had from the pizzeria was thin crust while the pizza that was delivered to the atrium bar (that’s where we had it delivered) was thicker. I didn’t notice a big difference taste wise but the crust was definitely thicker on the the pizza that was delivered. 

Could it be the room service pizza? 

54 minutes ago, grigosha said:

Folks, whoever has cruised on Carnival ... is there a place for a 16-year old to connect with folks his age on the ship?

Thank you for all your feedback.

There is a teen club.  Your 16 year old would be in Club O2 which is 15-17.  Make sure to go the first night.  They have activities but a lot of the teens just walk around, get pizza, get ice cream, play basketball, whatever.  The club is more like a meeting point than like day camp.  Friendships are formed that first night, so it's important to go then.  

1 hour ago, Stick93 said:

Seems to be mixed reviews on this ship - The people who defend it I think were the planned, builders and are personal owners of the ship. They will defend anything bad or critical to their grave.

 

The ship has mixed reviews and weather you call it a redesign or refurb, a new ship or a rusted tin, some seem to think  Carnival may have missed their intended mark, which is okay to think and even write about. It seems like the ship may have some design flaws that don't move people in different areas to avoid crowding and the likes. Maybe before they do the same to the Victory they should rethink some of the issues and make that a bit better.

 

I read all this same stuff with the Sunshine.  Maybe it was because we sailed in February, and the ship wasn't at max capacity, but it didn't feel crowded to us. We really enjoyed all the added areas, except for the Serenity area, which is what I had read so many good reviews on before we left.  Just goes to show, everyone's experience is different. 

Also, because of my experience on the Sunshine (we booked it because it was the cheapest cruise to the Southern Caribbean) and because of how much we enjoyed the added areas, we are now booked on 2 more Southern Caribbean cruises on the much more expensive Horizon. 

Everyone's experience is different, but I'd love to do another cruise on the Sunshine.  Really, I hope more people hate it so the rates get cheaper. 

The post holiday season time is a great time to cruise.  It's a nice way to have something to look forward to after the holidays and when we're getting to the boring part of winter at home.  Prices are somewhat lower.  Kids are mostly in school so the ships are less crowded.  And flip flop tan lines can last until it's warm at home :-) 

The weather maaay be a concern if you are coming from Florida or a warm weather state and don't swim until the water is really warm.  But if you are coming from  a state with a cold winter, it'll feel great 

The Skyride really seems like a 1 and done thing for a lot of people.  The line seems to get long, and it takes awhile, even though multiple people go at a time.  It's probably one of those things that's cool to do once, but I don't get the sense that a lot of people (including kids) are eager to do it over and over again.  

The good news, OP, is you and your kids picked a ship with tons of other fun stuff to do- the ropes course, sports square, waterworks, etc.  Also, all of these things have more repeat value than the Skyride. That's my opinion, but also reading reviews on here, I've yet to see one where anyone wants to do the ride over and over, but kids certainly do the ropes course or water slides over and over. 

If you haven't booked your excursions yet, maybe pick something active and adventurous to do in one of the ports- zip lining would get your boys up high and flying thru the air. 

My cruise on the Horizon isn't til February, so while I'm hopeful the Skyride is open by then, I sort of doubt it.  It seems this thing has had so many problems.

1 minute ago, toby #1 said:

 

NO LOBSTER?  Gonna have to cancel my cruise.  Just kidding.  I will miss it though.

 

There's some other "special" dish.  I want to say its a fancy pasta but I honestly don't remember 

12 hours ago, going to see the world said:

Just wondering if it was normal practice for Carnival to change a port of call without any notification lol. Just found it very odd. 

When did you notice the change and when is your cruise?  The notifications may just be slow to go out.  It's not the same situation, but I had an excursion canceled in St Lucia.  I noticed because people here were talking about it and then i saw it missing from my cruise planner.  When I called Carnival, they said they were notifying people on the closer cruise dates first.  Ultimately, I did get a notification but it was about a week after I called.  

If the first night is one big party, then you should have little to no trouble getting a lounger the next morning.

On 8/11/2019 at 6:54 AM, TT1992 said:

Do they still have tostada bowls?

Yes, but it's on the burrito side, not the taco side.  Mainly so you can get the extra toppings burritos have that tacos dont

On 8/9/2019 at 11:07 AM, CruisingViper said:

can you do this in the hub app?

Yup.  That's the best way- walking to the dining room and checking also works, if you dont like to use your phone while cruising

3 minutes ago, Luke Dawg said:

thank you, I was hoping to see the spring rolls each night.  

Sadly, they're only one night .  But, if you can figure out what night they're on the menu, the buffet has them- and you can get a bunch with as much of that dipping sauce as you like before you go to dinner.  It's not the same as every night, but a good option

There isn't usually a cost increase if you book on the ship vs earlier.  But if you book earlier, and you can't make it, you can cancel up to 24 hours before.  If you can cancel before you board, you get refunded to however you paid.  If you cancel on board, it becomes on board credit.  You can spend that on pictures, or drinks, or whatever you'd pay for on the ship. 

29 minutes ago, ishap said:

 

We did Captain Nautica's Ultimate Snorkel excursion.  It was a small boat so I think there was only 10-15 total people which was awesome.  Our captain got us to the snorkel spots before other boats so we were able to be in the water with very few people.  Great time swimming with turtle as well as lots of fish.

Thank you, I'll look it up! 

2 things jump out.  The first, is parents who send their children to save seats at shows.  I don't put the blame on the very uncomfortable looking children who clearly don't want to do this, but the parents.  It's rude to knowingly break the rules and worse to encourage your kids to do it for you. 

The other was on our last cruise, there were a couple deck parties where the cruise director/entertainment crew was throwing stuff out- glow sticks, beads, hats, whatever. This is obviously a case where everyone can't get everything- there's a limited number.  But, we saw several people who would run in front of a kid to grab one, or if one fell to the ground, and a kid went to go pick it up, someone was there to grab it.  This one had a nice ending though, there were other people who saw what was going on and started giving some of their stuff to the kids.

2 hours ago, ishap said:

 

I did one of the best snorkeling excursions in St. Thomas.  I loved it and we could walk around the town after without being bothered by people.  

 

We had a great excursion in St Thomas, so we definitely had fun that day.  We're talking about doing the Fascination route again, so we may just make that a beach day and snorkel on our own.  What excursion did you do- I like great snorkeling trips

1 hour ago, pacruise804 said:

 

I haven't been to St Thomas yet, but at Grand Turk (like most ports) we found it better the further we went away from the crowds.  We wanted a lazy day so we only walked as far as Jack's Shack - but it was still a much quieter and peaceful day than we would have had at Margaritaville or right in front of the ship.

 

We sometimes watch Beach House Hunters (or something like that) on HGTV and they often highlight Bahamas, so I figure Nassau and Freeport are areas where you have to get away from the tourist area to find the real gems.

Margaritaville holds no interest to me. We did a snorkel excursion and then headed to Jack's.  We definitely had fun that day.  But, when we go back, we just may make it a beach day.  And what I don't like about that is it doesn't seem that there's a lot to make it stand out from other beach days in other places, if that makes any sense. 

St Thomas and Grand Turk.  I love the beach, but both those ports seem "plain," and not a lot of active excursions there.

But, I haven't been on a cruise to the Bahamas yet, so that could change after I visit Freeport/Nassau.

14 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said:

We are about to take our first Journey cruise in November.  We have eight ports and I am having a hard time trying to do decide what to do.  I don’t think I want to do excursions on every single one.  

 

So...from the list below.....which ports would you take an excursion.....just explore on your own....or are there any you would just stay on the ship?

 

St Croix - never been here, but I would say excursion since not a lot of Carnival itineraries go here

Aruba - you could just go to the beach here

Curacao - easy town to walk around and explore by yourself, lots of see

Barbados - I'd do a turtle excursion here, though many people also like the Boatyard Beach Club, which has a turtle swim

St Lucia - I'd do an excursion to the Pitons

St Kitts - go to a beach, or an off road type excursion 

San Juan - walk to the forts and see the umbrellas if they're up again

Amber Cove - Carnival has built out the port area, if it's your thing, you can just hang by the pool.  I haven't been here so i don't know about excursions

 

Thanks in advance!!

I edited my thoughts into your post.  There are plenty of ports you could do your own thing, just depends on your comfort level and what you like to do.  

2 hours ago, 2xsin12mths said:

Thanks everyone for your responses....I'm starting to feel better. I also CANNOT for the life of me figure out why anyone would not want to go on a free cruise. Who would be on the fence over this????

The "surprise" is at Christmas(and no, I will not do this way again) and the cruise is not till next May 2020. We are on Pride out of Baltimore so we can all drive to the port. AND we are going to 1/2 moon AND I rented 2 cabanas. Sigh...these kids don't deserve this.....me, hubby and Alchemy from now on

Because you asked- who wouldn't want a free cruise? Maybe people who have limited vacation time and prefer to spend it in other ways, or have already planned something else. Or people who have seen Titanic and Jaws one too many times and are nervous about it.  People who don't like the idea of big family trips.  All sorts of reasons- hopefully none of them apply to your family.

That said, you know your family.  Hopefully they will all be over the moon excited about this and everyone has a great time (except future SIL).  And hopefully, by next May, you will have forgotten about the frustration of getting this booked, and are excited about spending time with the family. 

If you can't get the cabins switched around, you may be able to just move someone into that cabin on board- it's not ideal, and you'd lose the money for adding future SIL, but you'd have more space once you got on board.  

The MDR has a Vegetarian option, plus the Indian Vegetarian meal every night.  The Indian meal is listed as the same thing on the menu, I think, but the food varies slightly each day- so it's not all the same thing.

Be careful with the soups- some soups that sound fine, may have meat in the broth, so just double check.

Blue Iguana has arepa's for breakfast, or she can get a breakfast burrito there.  

The veggie burger is at the deli, and I thought the tomato/mozzarella/pesto sandwich there was pretty good- I took the bread off and sort of made a  salad out of it- I just asked for extra mozzarella.

Both the pasta thing and the wok at lunch can be customized- she can pick what she wants. 

She'll have choices- they won't all be healthy, but really, that's the same as everyone else. 

If the Horizon route is the one that includes the ABC islands, pick that one.  I'm booked on it, so I know there is one in February 2021.  It's relatively rare that Carnival does all 3 of the ABC islands- there are more routes with just Aruba and Curacao