beckzay

I’m trying to narrow down where to stay post cruise for 1 night. Is it difficult to get an early morning Uber or Lyft from south beach to the airport? Or should I just keep it simple and stay near Bayside?

8 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

I'm with you here-- would much rather my time on the island be a bit more leisurely and the second overnight does that. 

 

The other thing too is that you are getting an extra night for your vacation overall for the $400. Comparing a 6 night vs a 5 night on total cost isn't exactly fair. It sounds like per diem they are very similar to each other cost wise. 5 nights isn't very long-- why not spend an extra night on vacation?

Good point. You’re right, I didn’t consider the difference in price to account for the extra night. 

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Although I'm anything but a Carnival fan and enjoy cruising on NCL, IMO two overnights in Bermuda is far superior to only one night.

Are you aware that you have to pay a 20% gratuity charge on NCL's "included" drink package? The assumed value of the package is $99 per person per day so the 20% gratuity will come to about $20 per day per person...in other words about $100 per person for the five night cruise.

And as a side note, I know this won’t be our only time to Bermuda because we live in New England so this is an easy drive. This trip is specifically to get back on a ship for some ocean time 🙂

Thank you for your input. Yes, I took that into consideration so the difference is still the $400, which includes the gratuities for the drinks on NCL.

We’ve never been to Bermuda before, or sailed NCL. We’re looking at both the 6 night carnival magic (2 overnights) and the 5 night NCL Joy (1 overnight). Both out of NYC. We’re drinkers so after purchasing the carnival drink package that makes the Magic about $400 more expensive because the Joy includes drinks. I’m leaning towards the Joy but I just wanted to get others opinions first before I bit the bullet. TIA!
 

We're planning on an Alaska cruise in 2021 and I know itineraries aren't released yet (hopefully today!) Any speculation on which ships will be used for the Alaska route in 2021?

WOW!! Beautiful pictures everyone, thank you 🙂 This definitely gives me a better idea of when to go.

12 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

If you want to see a lot of snow in the mountains then plan your trip for early May.  There is no guarantee you will see the tops of the mountains because of all the cloudy rainy weather in Alaska.  We took a cruise the first week of June and had great luck with the weather but generally the only snow was on the tops of the mountains.  The farther north you travel the more snow you will see but by June it is mostly melted in the lower elevations.  Here are a few photos I took on our Alaskan cruise to give you an idea of what the mountains will look like in early June.  This first photo is a Disney ship departing Skagway.

 

These next two photos were taken as we cruised in Glacier Bay National Park.

 

 

 

I hope this helps in your planning.

Yes! this is what I want to see 🙂 Thank you....looks like early June it is!

8 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Snow starts to melt as summer progresses, so earlier in the summer will obviously be better.  Even in Washington state we have mountains that are covered year round, but at the lower elevations of those mountains the snow has melted by summers end.  In Alaska some of the dog sledding camps close down in mid August due to snow melt.

 

If you're planning on a land tour that includes Denali, you;ll want to arrive after JUNE 1 as that is when the park road is open to Eielson Visitor Center;  June 10 is when the road is fully open. 

 

If you're doing a RT out of Vancouver or Seattle, late May early June will guarantee the most snow.

  

Thank you! I'm not sure if we'll do a land tour at this point. Denali sounds amazing, I just don't think it's in the budget at this point in our lives. I was thinking of sometime in the first two weeks of June and was hoping there would still be snow to see.

4 minutes ago, Cruise_More_Often said:

My favorite snow-on-the-mountains cruise was in May 2012. We were booked on a one-way cruise from Seward to Vancouver, and we flew to Anchorage and spent the night. The next morning we took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward. There was still so much snow on the mountains and on the ground that that day that I was just in awe. 

 

 

Wow! That's beautiful! I mean, I don't love it for 6+ months here where I live...but it's pretty in Alaska 🙂 

 I'm just starting to research an Alaskan cruise for my husband and I for 2021. Yes, I know, a long way off but I need that much time in order to save up for it! I haven't really looked at all of my options for cruise line/itinerary, but I first I want to get an idea of what time of year is best for us. This might seem like a silly criteria, but we want to go when there is snow on the mountain tops. I have this idea of Alaskan beauty in my head and I really want to be able to see the mountains with snow on them. We live in New England so snow isn't new to us, we just feel like this would enhance the beauty of it all. 

Is there snow in the mountains year round or should be go early in the season? Like may or June? When does the snow go away (if it does) there?

Thanks!!

As long as the girls are not drunk they are both going to get served beer and wine.

I don’t think so... wouldn’t their cards state they are minors?

Wow, so much conflicting information still. I appreciate each and every response!

Ha ... limiting a 20 YOA’s drinking on Caribbean cruise to dinner time wine! :D Senor Frogs begs to differ!

 

If they are 20 and don’t act 12, then buy the table a bottle of wine and ask that everyone has a glass ... they are not going to individually card. Cheaper yet, bring your own wine and pay the corkage.

 

Have fun!

Thank you! This is a great option.

I'm sorry, I couldn't find a recent answer for this question. In regards to 20 yr olds drinking onboard, I've read the rules and it states that a parent must be onboard in order for a minor to consume beer/wine. However, I've read some posts where people were allowed to sign for their child's friend too (also under 21). I'm not talking cruises from Europe or to Alaska and Hawaii...to the Caribbean.

Has anyone had any experience with allowing a minor who isn't your legal child consume alcohol?

Please hold the judgments and flames. I'm simply asking a question and I can assure you that I will allowing copious amounts of alcohol to be consumed but it would be nice for my almost-of-age daughter and her friend to have a glass of wine or two with dinner.

When we stay on BDM we enjoy taking a Boston Whaler out and motoring around the little islands and between the bay and the ocean. These flat-Bottom boats are easy to operate and quite safe, even for beginners. We can recommend H2O Watersports out of Cambridge Beaches and Somerset Bridge Watersports, KS is another. H2O is closest to King's Wharf and we enjoyed leaving from there.

Nice day with a private island picnic, romantic if you want that!

This sounds awesome! Thank you

My husband and I will be in Bermuda this September, sailing on NCL Escape. We're there for 2.5 days and I'm looking for some suggestions on some adventurous things to do. My husband really wants to take a tour of the island, so we'll probably do that right when we get off on the first day. Other than that, here are some things that I'm interested in doing but would like to hear some opinions/advice on them. Keep in mind, we are looking for fun...not necessarily architecture and historical sites this trip.

Cliff jumping at Admiralty House Park

Horseshoe Bay

Crystal Caves

Stop at Swizzle Inn

Tobacco Bay-snorkle

What can you tell me about Tom Moore's Jungle? Blue Hole?

One more question...can Crystal Caves, Swizzle Inn and Tobacco Bay be done in one day?

Thanks for any feedback :)

It's very easy to do. You don't even have to go to guest services for this anymore. They have little ATM-looking machines that you walk up to, and just insert your cash, and your done. Very easy!!

In my opinion...take the negative reviews with a grain of salt. I just got off the Sunshine and loved everything about it! I also like cruising to be connected to the ocean (which is why I don't plan on trying the newer RC ships anytime soon) and the Sunshine is perfect! The only thing that I would say was a negative about the ship is the fact that there is only 1 main pool and it's overrun with kids all the time. It didn't bother us though, we don't go cruising to swim in a pool. We jump in to cool off and that's about it. I recently did a review on my thoughts about the Sunshine and addressed a lot of the issues that are usually brought up about the ship.

Don't worry too much about it, she's a great ship and we loved every second we were on her.

Thanks for your review! I was on board this sailing also and thought it was not sailing at capacity. We even asked! LOL I didnt notice that it seemed filled with kids either. We LOVED this ship...didnt wait long for anything ...including drinks at the bar. Just adding 2 cents to help people out that are reading mixed reviews of this ship in other threads

We loved it too!! We'd sail on her again definitely! There was so much we didn't get to doing. We didn't wait for anything either, other than leaving muster drill. Glad you had a great cruise, like us :)

I'm not going to do a detailed picture review because, honestly, I have the same pictures everyone else has :) I will give you my thoughts and experiences with the usual things that are frequently brought up about the Sunshine.

We were a group of 6. Myself (age 41), husband (40), our boy/girl twins (23), son's girlfriend (22) and our daughter (16). Mine and my husbands 5th cruise, everyone elses first cruise.

CROWDS/LAYOUT

This is a frequent problem discussed about the Sunshine. Our sailing sailed to capacity. There were about 1100 children onboard I heard. We didn't have any unusual problems with crowds on this ship. The only time we got frustrated with them was during muster drill but that's expected. Muster drill is awful anyway, lol. Yes, there were a lot of people around but we were on a Carnival cruise during spring break time...we expected there to be a lot of people. It didn't effect our vacation the least bit. We also didn't have a problem with the layout. Actually, it was a pretty easy ship to get around on. Everything was centrally located inside and the deck space was perfectly broken up into Serenity area and family/sports deck area. If you want to have a quiet place on deck just go all the way forward on Serenity or anywhere on deck 3 where there are plenty of chairs and loungers.

Getting off at a tender port was very organized too, I like the new system where you have to get a ticket with a number and then wait for your number to be called to board the tender. On this sailing, they didn't seem to be checking your number to see if you could board the tender yet though so take that for what it's worth ;) Embarkation and disembarkation was very organized too, no problems there.

ANYTIME DINING/FOOD

Food is subjective so I won't go into detail about how it tasted, which for us was very good! I didn't have to cook it or clean it up so I guess I'm not that hard to please. We did't try any specialty restaurants except sushi which was pretty good. Nothing exceptional, just good (and inexpensive). We ate at the buffet for breakfast every morning and they had your basics with a few things that changed daily. Definitely plenty of choices! Try the french toast with blueberry sauce on top...yummy! We ate lunch at the buffet, Guys burger, Burrito/taco bar, pasta bar, pizza, salad bar and deli. It was easy and quick. If the lines appear long, don't worry, they move super fast. For dinner we chose anytime dining for the 6 of us. We ate around 7 every night and requested our same server (Margarita) every night. We never waited except on formal night and it was only a 10 minute wait. No problem though, because we enjoyed a drink at Alchemy bar while we waited which is right there where you check in for dining. I personally loved the set up for anytime dining and how you check in on deck 5 at Ocean Plaza and then all you do is walk down the stairs to deck 3 for the dining room. Dining service was good to excellent for us. Our service team was very busy but attended to us perfectly. Drink service was fast as we had a server that only took drink orders for us in addition to our main server and assistant server/busser. Be prepared though, dinner service was anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. It's supposed to be. We enjoyed each others company and enjoyed our food and were in no rush to hurry the process up. Only one night out of the 5 that we didn't go to the main dining room for dinner and that was because we wanted to eat quickly that night to enjoy the ship a little more.

We only had 1 problem on this vacation and it wasn't even much of a problem. My husband ordered the surf and turf in the main dining room one night, which had a $20 surcharge. It was advertised as Maine lobster. Being from New England we don't like warm water lobster and would never order anything if it wasn't Maine lobster. Well, it came and it definitely wasn't Maine lobster. We all tried a little bite just to see everyone's thoughts and my husband only ate not even half of the filet because that was just "ok" too. He complained and we sort of thought they would take the $20 charge off but they didn't. They even admitted that it wasn't Maine lobster. The maitre de even called the head chef person and told him that it wasn't Maine lobster. I know, it probably seems a little petty to all of you who aren't from new england but there is definitely a difference in Maine lobster and warm water lobster! Oh well...lesson learned...don't order "Maine" lobster on carnival ever.

DECK SPACE/CHAIR HOGS

This was my biggest fear about this ship. From reading all the reviews I had visions of us not being able to lay out on deck when we wanted to. We had one sea day on this sailing and I wanted to lay out all day! I'm happy to report, that even with a full ship, we never had a problem finding any chairs or loungers on deck. Both on the main pool deck and serenity we had no problems any time, even on sea day. We found options in the sun and in the shade every time. There were people that had their stuff on chairs very early in the morning but only on the loungers that were right around the pool at Serenity. Clam shells were popular and usually had people in them but we found some open ones a few times and enjoyed them. Same with the hammocks.

COMEDY CLUB

This is a hot topic on this ship. We went to 3 comedy shows, each on different nights. The first night we just stumbled upon the comedy club while walking around and it was almost halfway into the show. We walked right in and easily found a seat for the 5 of us (my 16 yr old wasn't with us). The other nights we either walked in just as it was starting or 10 minutes before. The night we walked in as it started it was standing room only and we stood towards the back, at the bar. It was fine though, the show was entertaining and doesn't even last that long. If you need to sit though, be there early. We were able to find a seat the night we arrived 10 min early.

This has nothing to do with the comedy club, but I wanted to add here that if the comedy club is too crowded for you just go right down the hall to the piano bar. Probably the best kept secret onboard! If you have never been...GO. So much fun!

ENTERTAINMENT

This is subjective also. We never sat through an entire show in the liquid lounge. Not because it sucked, but because it was never a priority for us to get there and see a show. We saw a little bit of 3 different shows. All seemed good, and lots of costumes, lights, dancing and singing. It was entertaining and enjoyable but probably lost on us. None of us really are passionate about live, show-type, theater productions.

Emma, the cruise director, was great. Not obnoxious, she was informative but not invasive. She had a lot of energy when needed and was calmer when it was warranted, like at muster drill.

Piano bar was SO fun. Eden was great!!

Dj by the pool was good, played a nice mix of deck music. There was plenty of live music around the ship all the time. Many people were sitting around and listening, enjoying drinks and company.

There was so much going on around this ship you won't be disappointed.

BAR SERVICE

Here's a word of advice...just be patient. The bartenders on this ship were BUSY! The were doing the best they could. I saw so many people get mad at them that they had to wait for a drink for a few minutes. Seriously, it's not like the bartenders were sitting around doing nothing! You're on a ship where almost everyone is ordering tropical mixed drinks, it takes a few minutes to make.

The two bars on the main pool deck are always busy! The servers walking around the pool deck ordering drinks are going to take much longer than if you were to go up to the bar yourself. We tip $1 cash almost every time. Every time for a mixed or frozen drink, almost every time for a beer. It definitely helps the bartenders (who are the same ones every day at each bar) remember you and possibly get to you sooner. By the second day, the server at the blue iguana bar knew what we drank and we had no problem getting 2 drinks at once if only one of us was there. We had cheers and brought both cards. Usually both of you have to be there.

Drinks weren't weak and we always saw the bartenders measuring the appropriate amount of alcohol. Some reviews have said that they experienced weaker drinks with the cheers package...this wasn't the case for us and I can't see how that would be the case if they were measuring and making drinks even before they took your card and could see you had cheers.

MISC.

The service and crew on this ship was outstanding. Our room steward was fine, nothing great or special, but he was there and did his job just fine. The first night they ask you what service you prefer...morning, night or both.

The one complaint I would have is that there is not enough pool space on this ship for sailings with a lot of kids. We basically couldn't even get in the main pool all week because there were just so many kids in it. Also, the serenity pool gets super packed!

This ship is meant for longer sailings than 5 days I think. Before we sailed we had plans to do everything (ropes course, water slides, mini golf, pool table, twister, corn hole, shows, arcade, etc.). We only go to a few of those things. We never got on the waterslides even though they were open every day until 6 and only once looked like the lines were long. We did do the ropes course without any wait. The sports square deck was always crowded, probably due to the amount of kids on this sailing.

That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure I forgot something. If you have any questions at all about anything just ask. I'm fresh off so I'll probably remember :)

I get that you need to make friends with a bartender to maximize your cheers program. We mainly drink at Alchemy and have purchased cheers for the first time on sunshine may 6. So basically I need to slip a 5.00 in every time we get a drink [emoji15] already paid over 900.00 for 2 ppl. Is that really the only way to get good service?

 

 

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No, just a dollar a drink is fine, not $5. You will get good service anywhere no matter what, especially at Alchemy. It's when the bars are PACKED and there are tons of people standing around the bar waiting to be waited on that your extra tip will noticed. They tend to remember who tips more and will come to you first ;) But service is great anywhere!

We are very experienced with the Cheers program. I can't stress enough how important it is to get to know your bartenders. It will make all the difference in the world. :)

I just got off the Sunshine and I couldn't agree with this more! Get to know them and tip them and they will come to you right away. They frequently gave my husband two drinks (one for him one for me...he had both sign and sail cards) AND two bottles of water which technically you aren't supposed to do but they did. We tip them almost every time we got a drink.

We just got off the Sunshine on Friday and they had both that you can get with Cheers:cool:

What did you all tip them? I haven't used a shuttle service in a LONG time so I'm not sure what's an acceptable amount.