bjd2

On 3/30 we will take our 6th cruise, all having been on Carnival. Prior to every cruise I read several reviews and all ships had good and bad. I do have to say that it seems that there are more negative reviews of this ship than the ones that we have already sailed. We have had all wonderful cruises. We expect to have a wonderful one this time too and can't wait to see the 6J scenic ocean view right away thanks to FTTF.

Every ship that we have been on has had a hint of sewer smell for a brief moment here or there. Never ruined our cruises and unless it's worse or constant for us on this one it won't bother us this time either.

We like to do a cash account so I had bought a $1000 e-gift card from Carnival so to not have to travel with that much cash on us. Went right to Guest Services to have it applied and then right to the Lobby Bar to buy Cheers. It worked great that way on the Breeze.

We took our 16 and 19 year olds on one cruise with us and had early dining and without asking we had a table for 4. It was really nice to have that special time at the end of each day to talk about what everyone had done since we didn't spend all of our time together.

Any time that there is negative cruise news we have a few friends who say something to us. They haven't been on any though and don't understand either how awesome it is. We wash our hands often and knock on wood haven't ever gotten sick. Hopefully that trend continues.

I like to check out the cruise ship webcams and also the port webcams, especially early Saturday or Sunday mornings as they are coming back in all lit up, or between 4-6pm local time to watch them sail away. I think I'm obsessed. :D

I tried it one night on my first cruise and didn't care much for it. I've not ordered it again. I think everyone should try it at least once. :)

6490 on the Dream is L shaped and we loved it but there would be no way for 3 people with no couch.

We had Lido balcony 10276 last February and would book that location again in a heartbeat. It was awesome. Convenient to everything. No noise. Good luck with your decision!

We had several yummy drinks at Alchemy but the only one that stood out and that we had to continue making at home through the summer was the Cucumber Sunrise. 62 more days and I'll be having another one that I didn't have to make myself. :p

Hmmmmm, I just noticed my last post was number 500! Yay! Lol :p

We used it and loved it. Some days we had more than it would take to "break even" and a couple of days we only had a couple. In the end we definitely came out way ahead but with that aside it was just great to not even think about the "cha ching" happening every time we would order something. On past sailings I would look at our account on the TV with one eye open afraid to see last night's damage. Cheers took care of that totally. We will do it again. :D

We did the Carnival all inclusive resort excursion in February of last year. It was the BeLive Canoa resort and it was wonderful. Beach, pools, food, drinks. We had a great day there.

All of these ships are wonderful in my opinion and we had a great time on them all. That exotic eastern itinerary is one of our very favorites and I'm sure we'll do it again someday. The Breeze was a beauty but I wouldn't pay more to go on it with that itinerary.

We booked the Sting Ray City SANDBAR (make sure it says sandbar so you can get close) thru CCL on a nice modern brand new yellow catamaran with stairs into the water (had a party with limited mobility). It was super cool! Like a giant party out in the middle of the ocean only waist high water, tons of huge friendly stingrays and fish too. Totally different and really neat. After, we could take a bus back to ship (older ones in the group went back) or your excursion wristband allowed entry to Royal Palm Beach so we spent the afternoon there, snorkeled, swam in the pool and had an incredible lunch. It cost $4 to bus back to ship and we still had time for some shopping. Was a great great day!

 

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We are booked on this excursion on our upcoming Sunshine cruise. It's so great to hear such fantastic reviews about it! We've never done a sting ray tour before so we're very excited. :D

We did Alaska last summer very inexpensively. It was our first time there and, even though we didn't splurge on expensive shore excursions, land tours, expensive airfare, or the one way itinerary, we had an absolutely amazing time. Definitely one of the best cruises we've ever taken. If there's a wise time to redeem those cruise and airline vouchers that you have, this is it!! Absolutely do it!

 

- We chose Holland America. Surprisingly, it was cheaper than Carnival (we saved almost $1000). This is one cruise where the ship or cruise line isn't as important as what you will see. Trying Holland was a nice departure from our previous cruises, but it didn't "make" our cruise.

 

- Our 2 kids sailed for free (paid only taxes)

 

- We bought airfare from Southwest on the day our date opened. We snagged nonstop roundtrip tickets from Atlanta to Seattle for $258pp (one way tickets to/from Vancouver/Anchorage would've been closer to $700pp)

 

- Originally, we selected an oceanview cabin. Prices dropped at the last minute so we were able to upgrade free of charge to a balcony 4 days prior to sailing. In addition, HAL gave us a $150 OBC :).

 

- We sailed roundtrip from Seattle. Used points for one hotel night pre and post cruise.

 

- Researched each port to death (seems like you've been doing the same). Didn't spend much on excursions.

 

- In Juneau, we booked the Glacier Express to Mendenhall Glacier. Cost per person: $8

 

- In Sitka, we hiked through the Sitka National Forest to the Alaska Raptor Center. Admission to the Center: $12

 

- In Ketchikan, we took the Ketchikan Duck Tour which gave us a perspective from both land and sea. Cost: $40

 

- In Victoria, we shared a cab to the waterfront. Walked around the Parliament and the Fairmont Empress. You can actually walk from the pier to the downtown area (long walk but doable). Taxi was around $7

 

- Our ship sailed to Glacier Bay and pulled up right to the glaciers. No need for excursions.

 

All in all, it was an absolutely amazing experience, even though we didn't do any fancy excursions like helicopter rides, dog sledding, etc. Some family members in our group did and loved it though.

 

The way I look at it is that we did Alaska on a budget to see what it was about. Now that we know how amazing it was, we'll do it again and splurge on everything that we didn't do the 1st time. Feel free to click on my review with photos. The link is in my signature. Hope its helpful!

I just read your Alaska review. It was wonderful and the photos are amazing. I've been to the mountains in Montana and recall that any pictures that I took didn't come close to describing what I felt while I was there and I'm sure Alaska is much like that experience. This is on our list of places to visit and now even more so :D

We've been on both. Had a great time on both but the Breeze was a favorite by far with the new decor and updates.

We did that once and won't do it again. Glad that we tried it once though. It didn't ruin our cruise but we know that we badly miss the natural light through the windows. We did turn the tv to the forward camera so I always knew when I woke whether it was light out or not.

Other than the one interior, all others have been balconies. The next is in a scenic ocean view on the Sunshine so we'll have our light. This will likely decide for us if we truly need the balcony in the future, or just the light.

Happy cruising!

When we went on our Splendor cruise out of Long Beach, there must have been some random customs inspection or something as boarding didn't even begin until 2:30. This terminal waiting area is outside with very little seating or shelter. We sat on the grass for hours and the line of people went on for as far as we could see. Fortunately this was our only embarkation that this occurred on and I've heard that it does happen at times.

We are from Wisconsin so have to fly to any port to sail. We are going on our 6th cruise in March and will have 43 sea days. I know there are many platinum who have fewer sea days than we do.

We have FTTF for the first time for our upcoming cruise and in no way plan to flaunt or take away any benefit due a platinum/diamond cruiser.

We're taking our first cruise from New Orleans in March and have FTTF. I hope to hear some better stories before then!

We had done all balcony cabins but did a last minute one with friends and to save money took an inside on mid deck 7. The cabin was nice but not as roomy as our previous cabins. We left the tv on at night with the bridge camera on so we knew whether it was light or dark outside. It didn't ruin our cruise but we don't think we'll do an inside again.

Our next cruise we got one of the scenic ocean view cabins on the Sunshine. If we like the light and don't miss the balcony too much we'll try some of the other special cabins that give light without a balcony. This will determine if we're lifetime balcony cruisers or not.

Enjoy your cruise whichever you choose!

We are from Wisconsin as well and took our (then) 16 and 19 year olds with us on the Dream in 2010. They absolutely loved it. They used the slides and never ran out of things to do.

That sailing did go to St Thomas, St Marten and Nassau but they hadn't been out of the US yet so they loved all of them. Roatan is personally my favorite port out of the 15 we've been to. I have a personal policy though, since there is quite a bit of planning and chaos with flying from Wisconsin, that I wouldn't do all of that for less than 7 days on a ship. I wish we lived closer to any port, we would do it a lot more..........

This thread may be why JH just posted this on FB:

Fleet Wide Rum Selection

10 Cane, Trinidad

Appleton White Rum, Jamaica

Appleton Estate V/X, Jamaica

Bacardi Superior, Puerto Rico

Bacardi Limon, Puerto Rico

Bacardi Razz, Puerto Rico

Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum, Puerto Rico

Bacardi 8, Puerto Rico

Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, St. Croix

Cruzan White Rum, St. Croix

Cruzan Coconut, St. Croix

Cruzan Mango, St. Croix

Cruzan Pineapple, St. Croix

Cruzan Vanilla, St. Croix

Flor De Cana 4 year, Nicaragua

Goslings Black Seal, Bermuda

Malibu Coconut Rum, Barbados

Additional Rums available at the Red Frog Pub and Red Frog Rum Bar

Ron Zacapa Centenario 23, Guatemala

Pyrat XO Reserve, Brittish West Indies

Atlantico Private Cask, Dominican Republic

Cruzan Single Barrel, St. Croix

Goslings Family Reserve Old Rum, Bermuda

Mount Gay Extra Old, Barbados

Appleton 12 Year Old, Jamaica

cheers

Yuck! I just tried the Bacardi Oak Heart and didn't like it at all. I hope they aren't really getting rid of Captain Morgan..........

10276 on the Breeze was a perfect location. No noise and easy access to the main pool area. We would book that location again in a heartbeat.