Spicey477

Hi all,

I used Island Breeze and the price was $48pp RT and we had 12 people.  I was happy with the drivers and service but I didn't really understand their scheduling.  They never asked us when our check in was, or when we were scheduled to fly out on the way home.  For example, they had us as being picked up from the port at 8:30am and our flight wasn't until 3pm out of Hobby.  I called them from the ship (we have Wifi calling)  to ask to be rescheduled for later and that wasn't a problem (they then picked us up at 11am) but why wouldn't they have asked that to begin with?  I still think for a smaller group, Uber is probably better.  The front desk at our hotel mentioned Uber drivers that they use for cruise guests and we did use 4 different Uber the night before to go to dinner and they all mentioned that they go to the port.

Of course everyone's tastes are different.  And I'm not ashamed to say that free generally tastes better to me than something that costs.  However, I live near JR and I wouldn't even think to go there, yet my kids daydream about Guy's.  It is all in what you prefer.  I'm not really a burger lover and Guy's fries and toppings bar are amazing so there's that too...

Thanks!  I think BNBR and I were posting at the same time! 🙂

I am a supreme Googler, but since we are talking, do all Oasis ships have a decent amount of waterslides/water activities for kids?  I believe some of the older ships of RCI seem to not have as much as the Carnival Waterworks if IIRC.

Great thread.  I was going to come on to see the comparisons myself.  I've been on 4 Carnival sailings in 2 years (from the Fantasy to the Vista) and I have been thoroughly impressed with all aspects (before kids sailed on 2 Princess and with kids Disney).  I have to say I am kind of sick of the MDR offerings on Carnival since I have been so often lately and would consider trying RCI or Disney again but I'm having sticker shock and worried we will miss the fun and Guys and Blue Iguana.  As an aside we are WDW passholders so we are used to paying $$ for Disney fun but I'd rather go on 2 cruises on Carnival than 1 on Disney if you know what I mean.  Tough decisions and of course being on the sea on any ship is better than no trip at all but you want to make the right decision for your family and my kids LOVE Guys/Waterworks/Camp Ocean.  

Hi all, sorry I fell off and haven't been back to update.  I have a reservation with Island Breeze and will comment again upon my return later this month on how it went.  Thanks!

I'm leaving in February and seeing a way better price for my large group of 12 with Galveston Limousine than Express and a smaller business too, like not comparable better ($700 something vs $400 something).  Off to other spots to see reviews of this company.  Like many others here, weighing these options are difficult because I really just want to rent a car and leave it at the port all week and be the master of my own domain.  But, I have a group of 12 who probably aren't willing to spend as much as I am for convenience.  

I was just on the Magic in August and was also eyeing the Vista (who wouldn't, when comparing?). The Vista has a newer design scheme, but the Magic was beautiful and clean and no complaints from my group of 18 (some experienced cruisers, all experienced travelers, and all their first Carnival cruise).

I did that same Magic itinerary and the only place I hadn't been before was Amber Cove. The free to passengers area is *right there*, so your kids wouldn't be complaining about schlepping around, especially for swimming and ziplining. We had $ for a free excursion so we did go to Dolphin World instead but if I didn't have the $ I would have maybe gone to the pool area for a bit but then stayed on the ship to enjoy an empty ship. I'd pick St. Maarten over Amber Cove any day. Good luck, I don't think you can go wrong either way. Your kids will have a blast.

If this helps, we had a group of 18 with anytime dining (set times were full when we booked) and our TA had linked our reservations so that Carnival knew that we were all traveling together. We met at the anytime dining room at 5:45 the first night and got 2 tables to accommodate us all (a few little kids in the group so they could be more squished) and the rest of the week met at 6 and our tables were ready for us generally. We never had to wait. I believe the key to our success was being there early for the first seating.

Cool! Thank you! P&A is great but fun to try something different always!

ZoeyVictoria,

I am also waitlisted for any seating but picked 6pm as my choice. My earliest check in time is 1:30 and I'm not loving that either, but you get what you get at this point. We are just taking a shuttle from the airport so we'll get there and chill or if they'll let us get started earlier that is fine. I think earliest I'll get there is like 12 anyways. I'm excited! I haven't been on a Conquest class ship and though I've cruised twice in 2017, they were both with our little kids so I'm excited to do the stuff we like to do, like trivia and comedy club. I'm now trying to figure out what to do in Nassau, whether to do a resort for a day or go on a snorkel tour. See you onboard!

Essiesmom, maybe I was *wishing* I was in Australia! :D Got the ships mixed up, actually the Liberty.

I talked to my PVP (who I'd actually never used before) today and 10 minutes later we were booked! Talk about talking all of the fun out of vacation planning when it takes you a couple of hours max to plan! Now, I guess I'd better pack and learn about the ship!

Thanks all!

Same food as Pig and Anchor?

Good going ZoeyVictoria! I'm glad I'm not alone in seeing this back and forth. I'm going to keep looking!

Yesterday I was tooling around, looking at all of my sites to find a quick cruise to hop on in January. I found the Legend leaving on Jan 7, then about an hour later couldn't find it on Carnival's site, other sites, etc. Lots of times on other sites it may indicate "sold out". Is this a timing thing and because it's so close it is showing as unavailable? Anyone have experience with this and booking last minute?

I just got off of the Magic on Saturday. I probably was asked once daily by a roving server if I wanted a drink. 98% of the time I dragged my Cheers having self to the bar. There were little "kiosks" set up on the Lido deck inside before you hit the pool area that the spa would stand to answer questions or you could sign up for Cat in The Hat breakfast. The spa ladies never said anything but a smile, no actual hawking.

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We just returned from the Magic on Saturday and spent 3 days in Orlando prior. We ended up renting a smaller car than normal (from Payless, we normally use Avis I think it was $250 for 10 days, super cheap!) and it was easier logistically to keep the car and park it at the cruise terminal ($144 for a 7 day). So, Saturday morning we just drove over, parked, and boarded. I highly recommend that lot.

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I didn't have sneakers for that, I have more dressy shoes for dining. But, they aren't quite right for using for a ropes course. :)

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Hey there, I've done a search to no avail and I am packing now to leave for the Magic. My kids will surely want to do the ropes course onboard and also the one at the port at Amber Cove. Does anyone know if one must wear tennis shoes/sneakers, or would flip-flops/Crocs be ok?

Thanks!

I am also on this cruise, and I actually have forgotten to read any reviews this summer. Probably a good thing... I'm a bit worried with the crowds, and I'm in a group of 19 where I'm the one that planned it, so I am concerned I'll be hearing complaints from my family since I was the planner. This would happen anywhere though! :)

I have no horse in this race, but when I was on the Fantasy I didn't understand the can thing. The waste and cost associated with cans vs. box of fountain syrup I really do not understand why they don't use a fountain. Why not get RFID cups and let people pour their own fountain drinks vs. taking up bartenders valuable (with liquor drinks and beer) time giving people sodas.

Hi all!

Can I talk about how awesome this cruise was? I am truly blown away by it, in many different ways and aspects. For me, this was my first Carnival cruise, I didn't know what to expect. Was it going to be "too party, too booze cruise, too many kids running amok"? It was me and the husband (40) and 2 kids (4,7) and we all have sailed on the Disney Wonder and the husband and I have done 2 Princess cruises in a previous life (pre kids). We had already had booked the Carnival Magic for this summer with a family group.

I got an amazing deal on the cruise, flew for free and stayed for free on both sides all due to points. I booked it all last month so I didn't have time to obsess about the details and pore over every review and I also didn't feel like I invested a lot of money in it and "will I get my money's worth??". Maybe because of these things I didn't overthink it once I was onboard.

So, as is common knowledge now, the ship's propulsion system was having technical difficulties so they weren't able to get underway until close to 9pm. Much before that, maybe mid afternoon, they announced the issue, and announced that they would not be able to go to Cozumel and they weren't even sure if they'd be able to do a cruise to nowhere. They offered people to leave with 100% discount (um, nope, cruising to nowhere sounds awesome!). At this point I am picturing the absolute manic level of scrambling that the whole wardroom was going through with these logistics on down to every other staff member. I'm sure it was more than tense, however, everyone was heavenly. Heavenly! The next day they announced that we were stopping in Key West and people were beyond thrilled! It was our first time there so we did the Conch Train Tour, definitely get your tickets through the cruiseline as I got off and the associate at the kiosk said in town it is $10 more pp.

It was estimated that around 600 people left that night. I had never sailed this ship before so I wasn't sure what a "full" or "empty" Fantasy felt like, but it felt fine. Very minimal lines for food, I never waited for an elevator, the chair game wasn't really in full effect until the last sea day and even then we were seated around the pool area. Kids were absolutely not running amok, and there were teens doing things teens do, but it was just normal running around only annoying each other stuff. We had anytime dining and ate at the Celebration dining room every night with Rupert and his team, he's freaking wonderful, request him. We never waited for a table, but we have 2 smaller kids so we ate earlier like around 6pm each night. When we would leave, there would be a small wait out in the vestibule each night. We went to one Hasbro show which was cute and a little bit of the British Invasion show. We never made it to any other shows or the comedians as the kids weren't keen on being at the kids club that late. Club Ocean was wonderful and my 4 year old loved being part of the Penguins and went every day for a little bit. My 7 year old isn't as much of a joiner and tolerated it when he went a couple of times, but neither are the type to be okay staying there all day. Kudos to Dr. Coconut and the staff for always staying kind to the kids!

My conclusion is that even when everything went crazy I didn't seem to care that we weren't going to Cozumel, nor was I fixating on the future discounts coming my way (something I would have done). I just sat back and enjoyed it (by way of running after my own kids all day, so can't say I ever actually sat back, but you know what I mean :) The service was fantastic, fellow cruisers were friendly and courteous, I never saw out of control kids (besides my own ;) ), didn't see the towel game played until the last sea day and every day I still got a chair around the pool so that I could be 4 steps from the kids in case of emergency.

For those interested, we flew in and out of New Orleans, rented a car and drove to Mobile. Stayed at the Springhill Suites and parked at the port garage (prepay). Port was efficient and friendly once inside, but it was a big traffic jam heading in and we probably sat in stop and go traffic for a good 30 minutes.

For comparison's sake, I felt the service was on par or surpassed prior cruises that we have been on. We were in an inside cabin, so it is what it is, and we expected it. I will admit beforehand I'm thinking, this is the oldest and smallest ship in Carnival's fleet, it's going to be perhaps a mess and perhaps not the best staff. It couldn't be further from the truth. My husband is a former Naval Officer and he was once on the oldest and smallest ship and said the crew had way more pride in their ship than those on the "sexy" ships and made it a point to celebrate that pride. I'm thinking the same could be said for the Fantasy crew. I'm looking forward to the Magic!

Wow, so my first Carnival cruise is in 3 days and I'll be out the lookout. I've worked in an absolute hole in the wall dive, Disney Resorts, and national chains and I've never seen "food recycling" in practice such as the bread example either from the top down or via lazy staff. I mean, if I put a sealed package of Saltines on the table and they remain unopened, they still go in the trash.

Now a container holding salad dressing that is only used by the kitchen staff with a Monday sticker on it can be resealed and used on Tuesday for example and that is not food recycling. If every restaurant tossed every single thing they prepped on Monday that they didn't serve, no one could afford to stay in business.

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We were on the Conquest the last 2 years. I would not want to take someone in a wheelchair on it. You have to go up and down the elevator to get from one end of the ship to the other on the main deck. My dad who was 85, who can walk with a walker had lots of "fun" getting on and off the elevator to go up and down 1 floor.

My aunt just got off of the Regal this week and had the same issue: from their stateroom it was the most convenient to go down or up via elevator 1 floor to get to other areas, and no steps! She said that the crew said they were working on steps in that area. Besides that she seemed to love the ship.

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I hadn't either, but I am telling you that it works! I just found this that says about the same thing that I had read before from Chengkp75 on cruise critic:

 

"The common "sewage" odor many find in their cabins is not a "defect in the design of ship's waste lines". All gray water drains on ships, just like all drains in your home have a "trap" in the line, where a pocket of water stays (that S-shaped piping under the sink) that prevents odors and gases from returning up the drain line. Drains that regularly see water introduced to the trap, like sinks and showers, do not have problems with odors. However, the cabin bathrooms will also have a deck drain (outside the shower), that is usually either a round drain tucked under the toilet, or a gutter type drain at the door threshold. These drains do not see a lot of water, nor get water frequently, (unless you flood the bathroom), so the dry air of the ship's A/C evaporates the water from the trap, and you now have an open route for odors to enter the cabin. A simple remedy (that doesn't cost anything, unlike the rubber stoppers), is to pour a glass of water down these drains daily. Voila, no odors."

I just sent this information to my Dad, we are sailing on the Magic together this summer and he is a plumber and loves this kind of crap (pun intended)!

Wonderful review and it is getting me super excited! But first, I go on the Fantasy out of Mobile (your neck of the woods) next week! Seems like it will be two different worlds, and also my first Carnival cruise!

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