BrotherCraig

Great review.  We love Buccanos.  Sad that they sold part of it off but still planning on going there on a cruise soon.

We will be at Nachi again in May.  We have been going since 2009 and my wife and I had our first date there so it's special to us.  The food and drinks have always been outstanding but I have been reading many negative reviews as of late so it's sad to read them.  They always had great reviews so it looks like it might be going downhill.  We will find out in May and I am going to feature them with my travel agency -- bad or good - I will be honest with my review.

On 12/11/2023 at 2:29 PM, yogagal47 said:

Does anyone have a suggestion for a nice place to have lunch on the beach where you can also swim? we need a place where my friend can join us (just for lunch) and can use her mobility scooter to get in. she does not need to go on the beach. I'm concerned because we are in port on January 10 and there will be a large number of big ships there that day

Buccanos.

On 11/4/2023 at 7:49 AM, OCSC Mike said:

 

One thing of note here that makes a difference if you like to eat (as I do)... Nachi is not all you can eat anymore. You get a 4-course meal. Even if you don't eat a ton, it's nice to be able to order something else if you don't like one thing... just like when onboard a ship.

 

You also know I had a similar experience to the OP... and the frozen drinks were not adequate. I promise you I'm not picky nor am I normally a huge drinker but I do make use of my included drinks (on the ship or at an AI club)... and these were the most watery, icy frozen drinks I've ever tried. The margaritas fell into the adequate category for me, which I was fine with.

I have been going there often since 2009 and it has always been 4 course and never been all you can eat.  I always order two main entrees and no dessert - no issue.  I have not been there in the past two years though but I did hear the quality has gone downhill.  Sad to hear it because the food and drinks have always been exceptional.  My wife and I actually had our first date there in 2009.

On 3/28/2024 at 11:34 AM, Colorado Buffalo said:

Looking for an all inclusive beach pass day at a resort/beach that's not rocky or at least less rocky than what I'm seeing.

Sanchos and Nachi Cocom are both sandy beaches with sandy bottom areas while in the water.  The closer you get to town and the cruise ships, the rockier it is.  

Great video.  For those that don't know, Tabyana is on West Bay Beach.  That is where this video is taken.  It is the premiere beach on the island and is beautiful.  Great snorkeling, bars and restaurants, and resorts all up and down the beach there.  

On 12/19/2023 at 11:22 AM, Bollycats said:

Interested in booking a Cove balcony cabin on the Magic. The choices are on deck 2 and look like a dining room and galley are above them. What is the noise level? I would think under the carpeted dining room might be ok, but under the galley would be horrendous. 

We mostly book cove balconies and we like midship-forward for coves but -- we did have two coves on the Magic under the galley and wasn't an issue.  We heard some bumps in the early mornings but nothing that woke us up.  We also had one under the dining room and only heard small little bumps at night at around 10 PM -- that was it.

We will be down there Saturday to see this ship depart for the first time.  Can't wait to hear from the passengers when they get back.  Interested to hear what the Texas-themed entertainment is all about.

It departs on Saturday.  Can't wait to be there to see it depart for the first time.  I also can't wait to hear all about the ship.  Heard the entertainment will be Texas themed so that sounds perfect to me.  Texas music onboard?  Never thought I would see that ever happening.  

On 7/2/2023 at 4:40 PM, volk904 said:

Red Hook Ferry runs at the top of every hour. 20min trip. Cab ride is longer from Crown Bay but I would call it 30 min?   Ferry back runs at the bottom of the hour.  
 

I believe there is also a ferry that runs 3 times a day from Havensight but with a cruise schedule the times would need to match up

many cruise line also offer an excursion call explore St John’s on your own. The only drawback is time in st John’s. 

Yes.  We felt very bad for the cruise line excursion folks that arrived at Trunk Bay.  They only had around an hour there.  We had about 3 1/2 hours there when we went on our own.  Beach was almost empty when we arrived.  

20 hours ago, t00thpix said:

If you purchase Faster to the Fun should you still check in at midnight on the 1st day it opens to get an early embarkation time or does it not matter

We took a time after Noon when we had FTTF a couple of weeks ago.  That way others can get the early check in time if they don't have FTTF.  No reason to select early if you have FTTF.  We arrived at 10:30 AM and we were onboard at 12:15 PM.  

With that said, things might have changed since then so probably best to select the earliest time available?

We then and when to Camp Ocean to pick the kids up and then over to Miami Slice for pizza before heading off to bed. It was 1 AM. 

We went back to our room and there was a nice surprise for us for our Anniversary from a very special person at Carnival.  Chocolate covered Strawberries and a bottle of champagne. Plus, a cool 50th celebration necklace. 
 

We went back out and hit up the Piano Bar. I love the Piano Bar. I love live music and people who can play instruments so there is where I’m usually found at night in a cruise. Wherever live music is being played. Anyways, piano player Robbie was fantastic. He is on the Breeze right now.  The bartenders, Sasha and Nadia, were my favorite on this cruise. It was a great night in the piano bar. 

We got the 2 year old down for a nap and then my wife and I left the other two kids at camp. They allowed by soon to be 9 year old be with the 9-11 year old Sharks group so that was good. 
 

My wife and I went for a walk and got to enjoy some time exploring the ship some more. We went to the large Serenity Deck area and sat around for a bit.  We loved the whole design of it and the increase in seating - shaded and non-shaded. We wish we got to spend more time into here. 

When we got back onboard, we noticed there were no lines for Bolt and reservations were wide open. My daughter and I rode it and it was amazing. It actually broke down while we were on it but only for a minute. They let us take two more spins around because of it. Worth the $15 to ride it.  

Day 3 - Amber Cove

This was a day that we planned on staying on the ship but we decided to check out the port right after breakfast.  Glad we did!   A lot of shops, a gigantic pool with a bar, zip lines, water slides, and a splash pad for the kids.  Zip lines and slides were a charge.  They also had cabanas for rent at the pool, hillside, or over the water.  We got into the pool for about an hour and then shopped before heading back on to the ship. 
 

if we didn’t have the two year old, we would have done the ATV and Beach excursion here. I spoke to a few people that did this and they loved it.  Looked like they had a lot of fun.  

Night 2 was elegant night. I usually wear a suit for elegant night but didn’t want to travel with a garment bag this trip so I settled for less.  Glad I did. 
 

Check in for dinner at Festivale was around 90 minutes so we had plenty of time. We went to Bonsai Sushi for some appetizers while we waited. Timing was perfect.  At Bonsai, we ordered California Rolls, Miso Soup, and some noodles and rice for the toddler. I ordered a beer - Kirin. Everything was very good. A show was going on at Center Stage so we watched some of it from a distance. 
 

Festivale - I ordered the Filet Mignon, salad, and Key Lime Mousse. Others hit the crab cake, Jumbo Shrimp, and fruit. Everyone enjoyed their food. Oh, I got wine of course. The servers were excellent. 
 

I took a quick nap and woke up to everyone sleeping. I tried to get the kids awake to go to the Rock N Glow deck party since they were excited about it. Heck, I was all dressed up for it. We never made it. By the time we got up there, it was over. I then went out to the piano bar and the casino for a bit before I went to bed. 

The rest of the day went like this: 

Explore some more. 

Food on Lido 

Dr Seuss parade and story time. 
Pool time on Deck 8. 
Waterworks on deck 18. 
Get ready for Elegant  Night #1. 

Deck 18 elevator is slowwwww. I don’t advise. Use the stairs if you can. Same with getting to Deck 17 for Guys or the teen club. 
 

3 minutes ago, NewCruiser09/09 said:

Enjoying your review!  Going on her sister ship the Jubilee next year 😁

Same. May 25th.  
 

thanks. 

Day 2 has arrived. I didn’t sleep that well because of all of the excitement but love the beds and pillows. Very comfy.   I woke up just in time for the sunrise. It was a beautiful one.
 

I went over to our cabin across the hall, the interior one, and everyone was sound asleep. It was almost 10 AM and they couldn’t believe it was that late. It’s so dark in those interior cabins that they had no idea what time it was. They all slept very well. 
 

We all got ready for —Sea Day Brunch!!!!  This is held in the main dining room.  I checked the app and it was over an hour wait. No problem. We had time. 
 

Sea Day Brunch was in the Festivale dining room. They have breads, cereals, burgers, skillet-cake, French toast, huevos rancheros, omelets, eggs Benedict, salads, steak and eggs, salmon, chicken, and your sides like bacon and sausage. They also have desserts - of course. Their kids menu had pancakes and nuggets. I ordered the omelet with ham & cheese and bacon on the side. Nobody came with bread. Service was okay. Not like it use to be that is for sure. Servers were working hard though. They gave us water. No juice offerings. Food was just okay. 

We got ready for dinner and unpacked. We were not very hungry because we kept eating the food around the ship so we got to the MDR late. We checked in and it was about a 15-20 minute wait.  Very easy to do using the app.   Deck 7 Festivale dining room is where we had to check in once the app said our table was ready. 
 

I ordered the Strawberry Bisque, Mahi Mahi, and Tiramisu.  Others ordered Sweet and Sour Shrimp with Tomato soup and Tiramisu.  We also orders tropical fruit for the table.  Everything was good. Not great but good. 
 

We then headed back to the cabin to call it a day. Sea Day for Day 2 so a lot to do. 

JavaBlue and Cherry On Top is midship area Deck 6. The Center a stage main seating area is there along with the Tropicale Bar.  
 

JavaBlue has specialty coffees, regular coffee, milkshakes, juices, sodas, waters. Sandwiches, pastries, empanadas, and even to go salads.  The to go salads, empanadas, and some other items are included. Some items are extra charge. If you have Cheers!, coffee and the drinks are included.  Keep that in mind. I used my Cheers package a lot here. Long lines at times but worth it. 
 

Cherry on Top (extra charge) has all sorts of candy and other items. They also sell flowers and bottles of champagne I believe.  You cannot take the flowers off the ship so please remember that before you purchase. Flowers is something you would buy the first day or two to truly enjoy them. 

The main theater is on decks 6 and 7. No pictures of it - sorry. We saw one dance show the entire cruise and that was the Havana show in the main theater. We usually go every night but just didn’t have the time on this cruise.  We also went to the Dr Seuss show in the main theater. Theater is smaller than other ships we have been on but nice. Casino is on Deck 7 and has an entrance into the theater. Not ideal if you have children since they can’t go into the casino so you have to take stairs or elevator to get around. 
 

Deck 6 has a tunnel like entrance into the theater as well as a regular entrance. Also, the Punchliner and Piano bar is located here. Spent almost every night in that Piano Bar. Cloud Fitness and the Cloud 9 Spa entrance with ADA Lift is located right where the forward elevators are. 

 We started our way back towards the forward portion of the ship on Deck 8. We had to head back to our room to unpack and get ready for dinner. We had anytime dining and was planing to eat in the MDR. We passed Bonsai Sushi (extra charge) which is very good.  Teppanyaki (extra charge - book in advance) is next door. Then you have the Havana Bar (which also connects to the Havana area), and Chibang!

Good seating area here for the Center Stage shows. 

28 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

Great review so far! Love the pictures (& your Phillies hat)… getting me even more excited for my ABC cruise on the Celebration next month!

Thank you. Have a great time!  Go Phillies!