iron9er

Having been waiting patiently for the release of the mscSeaside's Caribbean itinerary, I just lost ALL desire to go on this ship! How can MSC put together such a lousy itinerary?? 7 night cruise stopping in ONLY St Thomas & Nassau as island stops and what they are saying is their new private island. By the time the ship is cleared in STT (1:00pm arrival), there is no possible way to enjoy the splendors of the beaches, full sightseeing and shopping. half the day is gone already!! Then having an arrival time for Nassau at 2:30p is yet another half day gone! Who cares anything about staying in Nassau at night. The crime rate is the highest in the Caribbean and the shops are closed by 6pm. Then they have the ship going to their private island with anotehr afternoon arrival and late stay. Again, who cares about being on their private island at night. Seriously.... nothing to do there.

MSC is competing with some great ships and itineraries and you could have hit a home run by having runs like: MIAMI, AT SEA, ST KITTS, ST MAARTEN, PRIVATE ISLAND, MIAMI... or exchange St Thomas for St Maarten but keep the rest.

COME ON MSC....... as beautiful as this ship is going to be..... you really chose a lousy itinerary!!!! Not for me or my friends or my groups.

If that itin is what you say it is, I'd agree, I would probably find one more to my liking as well....

We booked this cruise with our friends because of the low price. I had been very worried about the service, etc because of all the negative reviews. We have been on Princess before and it was really really good.

 

Before we leave, we booked QLS transportation (qualitylimoservice.com) because we have two little kids (DD4 and DS2), we do not plan to carry the car seats with us, and no taxi would take us without car seats as I heard. Two big luggage and two small kids pulling bags are enough for us. QLS was really good. Lowest rate too ($10 pp from MIA-Port). Thank you buddies on cruise critics for let me know about QLS!

 

Embarking was not good, waiting time was too long. We arrived at the port at around 11:30 AM and waited more than two hours to get on board. After lunch there were only short time to relax before the muster. I hear a lot of kids crying.

 

The room was very very nice. We had a balcony on deck 10. All furniture were new and nice. Bathroom had no problem. The steward was very good too, he is like invisible but we always have clean towels and the beds were very comfortable. The sofa bed is perfect for kids and we can all sleep in it and still feel very comfortable. It's better than the sofa bed in Princess Caribbean.

 

Pools were all good. My kids enjoyed all of the pools. They let babies to play too. I saw many babies enjoyed the shallow baby pool.

 

Drink package is okay. We bought a non-alcohol drinking package for $31 (10 drinks) so my kids can have smoothie everyday. turned out they always use ice cream to make the smoothie (same as milk shake?) so I had to stop let them have smoothie and only ordered non alcohol cocktail for myself. We split the $86 drinking package with alcohols with our friends so each family got 9 drinks.

 

The show were all good, excellent I would say. My kids had to see two shows per night to be satisfied. Yes, same show twice a day. Really really good.

 

Ports of call:

St Thomas: beautiful port. We went to Coki beach as recommended here. Taxi rate was $9 pp one way. There were a lot of fish we can see by standing in the water. stand paddle board rental is very expensive, 40 per hour. Beer were good. Everyone had tons of fun there.

 

San Juan: we took free shuttle to the forts and castles. it was too hot so we went to senor frog for some booze. Will try the rain forest next time.

 

Nassau: we went to Atlantis. The wind was too strong so beaches were all closed. We got the 46 per person admission pass at the Coral Tower. The dig was much smaller than I thought. Kids enjoyed it though. Water sports rental was very expensive so we pass. Lagoon was man made. We'll just go to the tiki beach next time.

 

The only part I would complaint is the food. Have you eaten in Golden Corral? There you go. Pizza is good but I cannot have it all the time. dessert in buffet is way better than the ones in MDR. If I gave 10 points to the food in Princess, then MSC only gets 4 points. Besides that, all is good.

 

Overall, considering the price, I would say it's a good deal and nice cruise. If it can enhance the food quality then we'll be very happy.

Thanks for your review Michelle! We are going on the ship in Feb with my infant as well - we will try QLS since you had a good experience with them, thanks for the tip!

MIA taxis have flat rate for up to 4 passengers to Miami port. Probably currently mid twenty dollar range.Go easy on luggage too and this will work.

Yeah, I've normally done that, but our 8 month old will need a car seat and we don't want to bring one, and I doubt cabs will have one handy.

Iron9er: shuttle does not provide car seat also does not require a car seat. It's 23 per person and you only can book via your agent.

 

 

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Gotcha, thanks for the info!

have two toddlers, need car seats

I need a car seat for my infant also. Did they tell you the cost for the shuttle from MIA? I can't find any info on their website?

I've done it on Carnival. No issues, but I'm not so picky.

Does the CVS sell wine?

Yes. Last month we brought 2 bottles on board with us and checked in, then went to explore Ft Morro, Old San Juan, etc. On the way back we got two more bottles of wine from CVS very close by and brought it on with us. No problem.

Have never done this with Carnival, but our first and only Celebrity Cruise, it was the next to last one before dry dock. We had a good time, but I think it was our poorest cruise experience. They were already tearing some things down on the cruise ship and some of the staff had 'checked out'.

Not sure about Carnival, and it was just one experience...but has swayed me from doing this again.

Does the Valor have any of the 2.0 upgrades (blue iguana, red frog guys burger) I've read a number of different things (some saying there was a Guys burger joint just added). ************* says it currently has one. Any information?

Was just on there earlier this month. No to all the 2.0 updates listed above.

We were on the Valor the week before the OP but echo some of their thoughts.

We too, boarded around 12:00. Not sure why anyone would get FTTF for this ship/itin as all the rooms were ready by the time we got on the ship.

We loved everything about the cruise except for the food. I'm not picky and I didn't think it was bad, but just very average. The fish (I'm a big fish guy) was just not that great, and most of the dishes seemed lukewarm in the MDR. Never did the steak house. I actually liked the lunch buffet better. I enjoyed the fish and chips and burrito/sandwich bars for lunch, but they obviously closed early. Seemed to have some waits for the your time dining, in fact on formal night, we gave up on the 30 minute wait and went to the buffet.

Cosol tours was great, but our favorite was Carambola beach club in St Kitts. Great, laid back beach day and loved the scenery. Magens Bay in St Thomas was our least favorite as it was too crowded.

Just to let you know...I did email and he said he didn't know about the booking, but will gladly take our group of 6 on a tour (seems like the website is not the best). Prob will just be the 6 of us, sorted everything out through email. He said there will be complimentary drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic). So we are excited. I will post my experience after our trip.

OK, so we got back and I wish I could recommend, but I do not. We were at scheduled meeting place at scheduled time, but no sign of Noel's tours. Eventually, some of the guys at the info desk grew concerned and asked who we were waiting for. We said Noel's tours and he called Noel and there seemed to be alot of confusion.

Got on the phone with Noel and he was nice and apologetic and said he was coming or would send a driver. 2 of our group of 6 bailed, and we about did too. We were picked up about 40 minutes after we were supposed to by one of his drivers, Michael. He was very nice, but didn't seem like the most knowledgeable/outgoing guide ever. Noel met us at Orient beach and charged us and brought the cooler fullof beer, water, etc and apologized again. Seemed very nice. Did charge me the full price of $45/person even though we had paid a $5 deposit online at Paypal - didn't seem he had track of it and though I told him, I wasn't in the mood to make a big deal about it.

In short - Don't expect the website/deposit/email exchange to go too smoothly. And, I'm sure its a one off, but being 40 mins late is really not acceptable. We ended up having fun anyways - and it was nice we had a private tour for 4 people, but I'd go with Bernard's next time I'm in town personally.

I've never done self debark but they are called first. After that, zone 1 is called. When I was FTTF, we had zone 1 tags. We went down to the exit, walked right off the ship and into the baggage claim as our luggage was coming out. There was a very short, quick line through customs and done. I have never debarked that fast.

Awesome, thank you for the info. Think I'll just self debark to get off first.

Question on whether this would be worth it to me on the next cruise or not: We have an early flight out and would like to get off the ship as early as possible. Anybody know how much quicker FTTF would get you off the ship versus doing the self debark and taking your luggage by yourself? Or does it save any time at all? Thanks!

Gracias for the answers guys. Since it seems I have time, I'll look into both Carnival's insurance and private co's.

I booked my 'free' cruise 13 days ago, but declined the Carnival insurance at the time. Can I call back and get it at this point or just have to go with private insurance? Thanks for any help you can provide!

Hi, just wondering what my best / cheapest options are for hotel and transit.

 

Arriving march 8 to FLL, sailing march 9 from POM

Arriving march 15 8am back to POM and departing FLL 7pm

Family of four, two children aged 1 and 3, ideally would like to leave car seats at home

 

Pre cruise: hotel suggestions under $200 with shuttle service to both FLL and POM?

Post cruise: can I rent a car from POM, drop off at a FLL, with car seats? Or should I not bother and just shuttle it...it's just crappy to shuttle straight to the airport and have to kill 6-8 hrs there

 

Any advice welcome, thanks.

A great shuttle to use is SAS transportation if you go that route, they can take you from FLL to POM and back if you like. Inexpensive and reliable.

Don't know the cost of this as I usually use get freebie rentals, but if you wanted, post cruise, you could rent with National/Alamo from MIA. They have a free transfer shuttle from POM and you can pick up a car at MIA and do whatever you need to do, then drop it off at FLL when you are ready. Just a thought, and what I did last year.

I appreciate the free cruise from Carnival, I really do. But, honestly, I almost feel guilty. We don't need a free cruise (we already had one booked in April with them anyway) and I had to stretch on my vacation from work just to make this free cruise work.

We are going to have a great time and I really thank them for that, I think it is a great gesture to fill a ship up. At the same time, I'm not loyal to any business/cruise line really. We'll sail on any decent cruise line offering a good itinerary and good value. This offer - although I'll always remember it and be thankful for it - won't change that. I guess that's why I would never be mad if they passed me up for a free cruise.

Don't be loyal to a business and expect them to be loyal back. Businesses are there to look out for their own self interests and make $ pure and simple. Expecting anything else will leave you disappointed.

We just got back from our Liberty cruise and we flew from ND to Sanford on Allegiant for $45 each way! Can't beat that!

 

The only thing that worried us is that they only have flights twice a week, so if something happens to the plane or weather, you just can't take a later flight, you have to wait till next Tuesday!:eek:

 

Keith

Thanks for the answers all! Seems like I should be OK based on your opinions, so I think I'll chance it...

Keith, you are right, the price is great, but comes with risks. Last month in Tampa we were flying back with Allegiant, but the flight before us going to Greenville, SC was just cancelled and alot of people were just refunded their money as the next flight was in a couple of days.

For us, I'm not that worried. We are only 10 hours away, so if the flight is cancelled or we miss it, we can just take a rental and drive the same day. So we'll have a back up plan.

Allegiant flies to Sanford

 

Delta and US AIR serve Melbourne (according to the airport web site)

Yep, we are looking at an Allegiant flight out of Sanford. Really cheap and would get us home quickly.

It seems like enough time for me. MLB is much smaller than MCO so you should get through fairly quick.

 

If it were me, I'd do it.

 

You may want to ask for earlier timing on debarkation just for good measure though.

Thanks! Although, I think you are talking about Melbourne airport and not Sanford airport. Both are small. The Carnival site says if using their transfers not to book MCO Orlando airport before 12:50, so I think I would be good...would love any more expert opinions! Help! :D:confused:

Hey all! First time cruising out of Port Canaveral (though I've been there for vacation before) and I had a question.

My Carnival Liberty cruise is coming back on Sunday, supposed to dock at 8am in July. There is a super deal from Allegiant non stop back home that leaves at 12:51 pm. I think I can make that most likely, but am I cutting it too close? I could either get a shuttle back or rental car it, doesn't matter to me...

Thanks for your expertise!

295 dollars for an 8 day balcony on the Liberty!! We were thinking about going to Royal this summer but you can't beat a free cruise.

I'm with you. Same price for 8 day Aft Balcony on Liberty going to Southern Carib. We are going in June.

I really wasn't planning on cruising again and it was hard to make time with work, but this was too good to pass up.

We already had a 7 night booked on Valor in March, and you can see by my history we are by no means huge Carnival cruisers. Never spent one dollar in the casino on any ship. Must be totally random. Very excited!

Why worry about 'extra' charges? If you don't like them, don't purchase them. I've been on 7 or so cruises and only did upcharge dining once. Not for me. I'll prob never do FTTF, congrats to those who love it. I do buy alcohol, and one picture to remember the cruise by, but usually get my excursions elsewhere.

What is amazing to me is not the 'extras' that are charged, but the value that is received by cruising. We just bought a 7 night Carnival cruise for a decent amount less than $1,000 including tax/fees. Try getting that at a land based hotel/resort with good service and decent to good food included, as well as transportation to many different islands and entertainment to boot. Good luck!

I put a small deposit down but haven't received an email or any confirmation from the tour company. I guess I'll try emailing them...

Just to let you know...I did email and he said he didn't know about the booking, but will gladly take our group of 6 on a tour (seems like the website is not the best). Prob will just be the 6 of us, sorted everything out through email. He said there will be complimentary drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic). So we are excited. I will post my experience after our trip.

I recently returned from my first cruise. It was on NCL Dawn and we had a blast every min. of every day. It was a 7 day stopping in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

 

For Next cruise I am thinking of an itinerary of Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen, Cozumel. (Would rather have something different then Cozumel but that is all I can find with the first 2)

 

I searched NCL and found a 7 day aboard the Epic. I searched Carnival and found a 6 day aboard the Breeze. The only difference I see is that on the Epic the trip starts with 2 days at sea while the Breeze has 1 day at sea. The Cruise on the Breeze is $730.00 less then the epic for identical Aft rear facing balcony cabins.

 

I came here to ask why I should not try the Carnival/Breeze without hearing any bashing of Carnival at the NCL board. I would really appreciate any incites that someone that has only cruised 1 time with NCl might want to consider before trying a cruise with Carnival. We are in our mid 50s if our age means anything.

We just got off the Dawn in Jan, same itinerary. Will be going with Carnival in April. Personally, we are pretty easy going and like the above poster said, we find them to be more similar than different. If you are OK with the ship, itin, and 1 day less of cruising, take the cash and run.