buckeyefrank

A full refund, 50% FCC, and free drinks isn't enough? Yes, it was traumatic-- not making light of that. And yes disappointing that they are coming back. But that isn't enough compensation?

Actually I don't think so. A different situation, but when Carnival Triumph was dead in the water, the passengers lives were not at stake. The passengers were in unsanitary conditions for a couple of days so Carnival refunded cruise fares, all transportation costs to get to the cruise as well as 100% off their next cruise in addition to paying for all onboard charges before the event happened.

RCLs offer isn't terrible but I wouldn't be overly happy with it. I'm still out my vacation time, flight and / or gas and hotel pre and post cruise.

Thank you all. I am going to add the package and see what I can do on-board.

Good morning,

We are going on the Escape and our final payment is coming up next week. We are looking to add the Dining plan to our booking since we can now pick 2 promos (our rate has not changed). We have our two teenage children (along with other family) coming with us and I know that the promo is only for the first 2 passengers. We don't want to leave them high and dry for dinner so we will only use 1 or 2 nights.

My question is can we (or family members) give a dinner to our teenagers so we can eat together? Between my wife and I we would get 8 dinners total. If we can give dinners to them, we could all eat at 2. Is this possible?

Thanks.

Hello,

My hubby and I will be on Breakway Feb 14-21. We have never been to Nassua and want to know what beaches are nice and not too far from ship. Is their facilities to use at the beaches. Also what shops are great to visit. Is their any good tours like Rum factory etc that are not too expensive?

Hopefully the weather will e warm enough to swim. What has been people's experience with Bahamas weather in mid February.

Is there any place to absolutely stay away from?

Thanks

I've been there quite a few times and will be going again in May. Not my favorite place. You will hear from people to get a day pass to the British Colonial Hilton, but I wouldn't recommend that. The "Beach" is in the harbor and is very small and man-made. It's not on the open ocean, but the pool there is nice, however. Also do NOT under any circumstances go to Junkanoo Beach which is just past the BCH. The beach was disgusting when we went and had broken glass and trash all over the place. It's more of a local hangout.

I would recommend taking a taxi to Paradise Island Beach Club. Their beach is very nice and is free. You will have to pay to use a lounger though. Another place would be an excursion to the Blue Lagoon. I've heard that is a great place as well.

I'm an uber user and that has never been my experience - my phone automatically pulls my location (which I can adjust for accuracy) & I put my destination - drivers "compete" for my business and I get to choose based on many factors - for me it's how close they are to me (how quickly they can get to me) - even at 5:30am I'm able to find a ride to the airport with (usually) less than a 10 minute wait. Once I chose the driver/car my phone continuously updates where that driver/car is. As soon as they arrive they text me. Done.

I drive for Uber and it does not work that way. The rider selects where they are and has the option to enter where they are going. Not all riders do that, though. The app pings a specific driver, who has the option to accept or reject (based on the rider rating). There is no information given to the driver as to where the pickup is or where the rider is going. That is not known until the ride officially starts after pickup.

We are booked on the Escape in May and recently upgraded to a balcony room with the UBP. Our final payment is in 2 weeks and I noticed the new pick 2 promo. We are traveling with our teenagers and are thinking of adding the shore excursion credit since we are before final payment.

The question I have is do we need to use the credit for a shore excursion or do they simply provide a non-refundable OBC to our account? The reason I am asking is we weren't planning on doing an excursion through NCL. We are just going to get a taxi or rent a car to get to a local beach on our stops. We are not interested in the internet or dining plan at all.

Thanks

We stayed at the Jacksonville Plaza Hotel a couple of times which is about 10 minutes from the port. It has pretty small rooms but had a nice breakfast included and had a park and ride option with a shuttle. It was 5 minutes from a nice shopping center with restaurants and a walmart for those last minute items you forgot.

We are booked on the May 7th cruise and were booked in an inside cabin. The inside prices did not down but we ended up upgrading to a balcony and adding the drink package for $800 more. For 4 people, oceanviews are still more than a balcony which I don't understand.

I can understand why you feel like you were taken advantage of but that's the way it works. After final payment, a lot of times prices will drop. Obviously they do it to fill up the ship. I would personally take the upgrade to a mini-suite and be happy. At the end of the day, you booked the cruise based on a rate that you were comfortable with.

Not doubting you....but....if someone doesn't have proof of citizenship, when he/she tries to re-enter the US...immigration won't allow them. So...the ship cannot allow this person to board.

A minor point in comparison to the discussion but US immigration / Boarder Patrol cannot keep out a US citizen for not having documentation at the border. US citizens are allowed entry into the country with or without documentation. There will certainly be delays in getting through immigration while they establish your identity but you will absolutely get in.

I'm sure people have lost their passport while on a cruise.

Then you are making yours wrong. It is a full shot. Else it would not fill a glass.

 

6&8

With that logic, how does a whisky sour fill up the glass since that is usually made with 1.5 oz and lemon juice.

A standard LIIT is .5 oz (half shot) each of rum, tequilla, triple sec, vodka and gin. The glass is topped off with sour mix and a splash of coke for color. Not to mention the ice that takes up more than half the volume of the glass.

Yup, its how the drink is made. Shot of each Gin, Rum, Vodka, Tequila, and Triple Sec and on NCL most put a float of Grand Marnier. Add a little sour and a splash of coke for color and that is the drink. It is basically a glass of liquor.

 

6&8

Each of the liquors are poured at 1/2 ounce each. They are not full shots. It is still a strong drink but equates to about 2 1/2 shots, not 5+

Credit/debit would be safer.

??????

Cash is accepted and would be just fine

It could be cost beneficial either way. It completely depends on the pricing. Most rental agencies charge quite a bit more for a one way rental than a round trip rental. In my experience, the one way rental for a day or two has been more expensive than renting the vehicle for a week and parking at the port. It really depends upon the rates you get.

I would do a mock booking each way and see which is cheaper.

Great review so far AmberTeka! I agree with almost everything you wrote. I also thought this ship was no where near as crowded as the past reviews have stated. It was actually better in certain areas than other ships I've been on, like food lines.

We've never had YTD until this cruise and I was mad at first that we couldn't get it changed, but it ended up being a blessing. We loved it and are now big fans of YTD! We only waited for a table on 2 nights and no more than 15 mins at the most.

The only thing I disagree with you on is the kids. I did see many unruly kids and I overheard several people on different occasions complaining in the elevators about kids knocking on their cabin doors at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. It also drove me crazy how they would all sit on the stairs in in the hallways late at night and not move over for anyone to pass. Of course, I didn't let these kids make my cruise a bad experience. It was awesome overall!! I'm also curious what they did to the families involved in the fight. We were told they can ban them from any more Carnival cruises. My husband watched the fight and I say it transpire (I'm the one who informed him there was about to be a fight) and it appeared to be due because of one of the "unruly" kids. My son and friend who are 18 actually had words with this boy on the basketball court and he's only 10 or 11 at the most, so that tells you what kind of mouth/attitude he has...

We heard it started on the basketball court. I have a son who's 13 who didn't want to play because everyone was playing very rough. I'm really glad he didn't play. We saw one family getting off the ship in Grand Turk cursing out Carnival and a security guard sitting 24 / 7 outside a cabin at the back of deck 1. I would think both would be banned for a period of time from Carnival.

My family and I were on the same cruise. The only thing I would disagree with is the crowding. It might be the ship layout or the number of kids (1200) but on deck on sea days, it was packed! Back near the waterworks there were no chairs at all, none around the pool and I didn't see any available after 10am anywhere: at least not 2 together.

I may do a review myself but will wait until yours is completed.

By the way, do you know anything about the fight that occurred on deck 1 and what happened to the families involved?

Hey BuckeyeFrank! TheProdigy was mine first! We can split it and spend it somewhere in C-Bus. Westerville or Polaris area?

I work in the Polaris area!

People just don't get it. The Big 12 and Pac 12 don't play ANY defense at all. Alabama is one of the few teams in the SEC that actually does play some defense. I was at the Va Tech game and it was a horrible loss; however, the current OSU team is not the same team that lost. I think this is the most improved team I've ever seen during the course of a year. I like the Buckeye chances.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

they are there for money and ratings. TCU and Baylor are both better. If Ohio State and their 3rd string quarterback beat the SEC champions that have created a dynasty over the past 5 years with the best coach in college football i will wire you $100 dollars to spend on your cruise

I'll take your hundo. TCU and Baylor are not better than OSU. Neither of them play any defense at all, the same with Oregon. The SEC is the best conference in college football but they're not THAT much better than the other conferences. I give the Buckeyes a fighting chance since Bama isn't the team they were last year.

This comes up in almost every FTTF post. I completely agree with you, seems like a absolute waste to me, but people buy it up like it was crack.

 

My last cruise, FTTF boarded a whopping 10 to 15 minutes faster than we did. We weren't even in the first group, we were in group 7.

 

Not my money though, so I can't complain…apparently Carnival knows what they are doing. That 250 dollars is pure profit.

There are quite a few people who actually drive home from the cruiseport. We used in in January when we went on the Elation out of New Orleans. We had a 14 hour trip home. The early access to the room was great but debarkation was the reason we purchased it. Much less hassle getting off the ship. We didn't have to wait in the hallway for two hours.

we just sailed on sunshine on jan 26th got to port 900am didnt know if they would let us in but they did hardly anyone there got a good parking place by elevators and no wait to check in had a bit of a wait for bording but that was ok with us probably boarded about 1130 they had some computer issues that slowed it down a bit not bad though

We were on the cruise just prior to yours. We were also late coming into port most likely due to the fog.

The porters told me they open parking for cruisers coming in around 8am. That said, we arrived around 10:30 and had no issues. We had FTTF but another group traveling with us did not. They were in zone 1 or 2. We had time to drop our stuff in our room and get back to deck 7 before they boarded. We were onboard by 11:30

Day 3: Progreso

We woke up and had our usual breakfast of freshly made omelet and whatever else we could shovel into our mouths. We were pleasantly greeted by the sight of land. For whatever reason, I really enjoy pulling into and out of ports. It fascinates me.

I am a planner and had decided to try and do a relaxing beach day. Let me tell you it did NOT work out.

For those who have never been to Progreso, the ship docks on a pier that is four miles long with a shopping area on the pier. Once everyone in the group was ready we headed down to the gangway and got off the ship. We looked for a few minutes at some of the shops and hopped on board the bus to go into town. The bus takes you to a bus terminal a couple of blocks from the beach. I had a feeling at this point that our day was not going to be as relaxing as we had hoped. A lady stood up once the bus stopped and began to sell excursions, etc that were available right there. We declined and started to walk to the beach.

It was at this point, we were basically harassed constantly until we got back on the bus. A man approached us and said he had free beach chairs and tables that we could use if we ordered something from his restaurant so we said OK. We figured we could try some authentic Mexican food. From that point on, literally every 20 feet we had people bugging us to buy stuff from them. We blew it off thinking it would get better at the beach… it got worse. The same man tracked us down as we hit the beach and made sure we got to the right place. We put our stuff down and went to the gulf.

Our first impressions of the beach was that it was not great. Lots of broken shells and the water was choppy and unclear. We tried to get in the water but the water was pretty cold. We went back to the table and ordered some chips and salsa along with some soft drinks. The waiter was nice enough and the food was OK. The coke products are formulated differently in Mexico though. The regular coke is made with real sugar instead of corn syrup and it tastes different. Not bad, just different.

The whole time after we ordered until we left, there were vendors around us asking to sell us stuff. I don’t think I have one picture without a vendor at the beach. It was crazy. Even when laying out people interrupted us. I saw the same person come by no less than 10 times in an hour. So much for relaxation. By this time we were so frustrated and tired of saying NO that we decided to go back to the ship. We put our heads down and pushed through to get back to the bus terminal. We got back on the bus and enjoyed a day in the sun on the ship while my son played basketball.

I would not hesitate to go back to Progreso but would not get off the ship without pre-booking an excursion. Other people on the ship said they were not harassed by vendors when they went to the Mayan ruins.

Here are a few pictures of Progreso

Shopping on the pier

On the bus

Performer asking for tips

Progreso Beach - Not sure of the real name

Notice all the people in the picture.... they are all vendors who saw us and smelled blood

This guy came us behind us and placed the hats on the kids without asking. We gave them back and no I have no idea what they are supposed to be :cool:

Day 2: Sea Day

There is not much to describe today as we tried to layout to get some sun. The sun was shining and was somewhat warm. Unfortunately, it was very windy which made it feel a bit chilly. We all ended up getting sunburns though. I guess that’s what we get for living in Ohio. That evening it was elegant night. Dinner was fantastic and I just about ate myself sick. We just like to be casual so we dressed in khaki’s and a nice shirt and went to dinner. One thing I noticed was how few people really were dressed up for the occasion. Most of the people I saw were dressed in business casual clothes, not formal. Quite a difference from my last cruise on the Fascination.

Jason was our headwaiter and you would be lucky to get him. We all ended up feeling bad since he has a wife and young child at home that he is not able to watch grow up. He really took interest in our children and showed them some cool tricks so we took care of him at the end of the cruise.

It is possible that I am getting my nights mixed up but I believe there was a production show on this day, which I think was Rock of Ages. We went to the show but ended up leaving early. Some of my group was bored, one thought it was too loud and some were not feeling well. I guess we are just not production show people. After we left, we just hung out on deck for a bit and then went to bed.

Next up: Progreso

Pool deck

Atrium

Our Room

Beautiful sunset over the Mighty Mississippi

Traffic encountered while sailing

As promised here are a few pics of the ship:

The basketball court

Putt Putt Course

Serenity Deck

Mikado Theater

Casino

So, is the basketball goal in good shape? I have a 12yo and 17yo that are both basketball players and will be disappointed if it is unplayable. I thought I had read on here somewhere that the goal was bent and no net. I can bring a net.......... not sure I can help a bent goal.

My 12yo was at the basketball court for more than half the cruise. The rim is higher than standard and was very loose. There was a net and the basketball had a good amount of air. Early in the morning he could play alone but it got busy. Some of the older kids / young adults played very rough. Zach ended up getting knocked to the ground and bloodied his nose.