bucks724

I stayed in 10252. We had about 6 cabins in a row. Perfect location. No seasickness.

If you're watching the right game, I won't judge you for asking the question, though! :)

My own experience. That of others may differ:

Is the Seafood Shackworth paying for? No. I found it to be bland and not very enjoyable. I had a lobster roll that was horribly in need of some seasoning, and buffalo shrimp (which just had a few little sprinkles of blue cheese on fried shrimp).

Is Alchemy reallycrowded? It wasn't too bad when we were aboard - but that was in January. Full ship, but you never know.

If you are not aHavana guest can you not go to the bar until 7pm? We walked through the door into the pool area way earlier than that. Like mid-afternoon. I *think* the bar is outside of the Havana guest only area, but could be mistaken. Like I said, we just walked right in.

Which bars andrestaurants are open on port days, during the day? I believe everything is open during normal hours on port days except the BBQ. That's sea days only.

Is the sea day brunchworth doing and what are the hours? Never tried it. Sorry. Several of our family members have and enjoy it though.

Have fun!

It was $5 a day for me, but great. You can use Facebook (including messenger), Twitter, Instagram, What's App (great for texting and calling to others using the app). Not sure if there are others - I know Snapchat was iffy.

My family is doing a cruise in January 2019. My DD is in college and can't go, and I got divorced a year ago. I would like to book a room on their cruise, but as of right now, I don't have a roommate - my friends don't plan that far in advance.

If I book a solo, is it possible, as long as capacity on the ship allows, to turn my room reservation to a double occupancy? If so, how does pricing work? I know I am charged the solo rate at first, I assume it would go down, but what are the logistics of this from someone who has been there before?

You can call through What's App if you don't use Facebook Messenger.

You can sit in the steakhouse without ordering a meal. My daughter won't eat 99% of the things on their menu, but she sat through our meal with us. They didn't ask any questions. She ordered a soda and ate the bread, but didn't eat any of the food from the menu. They also gave her the chef's creation to try (which she also didn't eat). This was on Breeze. Not sure how others handle it, but they were very nice about it.

I used it recently on my Vista cruise, and I was also able to make phone calls using the app. There was one day that video calls were a bit spotty but the internet itself was running a bit slow that moment as well. Otherwise, worth the $5 per day to keep in touch with folks back home.

We gave extra cash (in addition to auto grats) at the end. And yes, a hug. Initiated by our cabin steward and welcomed by all three of us.

It was this show. My cousin was approached to possibly be featured but the couple they feature got selected over her.

It was fun to see them filming it, but it was a bit annoying when trying to order a drink while they tied up the bartenders doing take after take!

Just got off Vista on Sunday. My check-in was 11-11:30. By 11:30, I had a zone card (Zone 3, I believe) and was sitting upstairs waiting for them to call the first passengers before 10:45. My aunt and uncle had a later check-in time and they got an earlier zone because they didn't arrive with our group since they drove in. Seems like they weren't adhering to check-in times that day. I've heard that they do, though. We had to return a rental car so we were at the mercy of when their shuttle got us there. We were aiming for 11, but ended up arriving way earlier.

I believe the original questions were (1) can you reserve the steakhouse more than once, and (2) can you get something other than fish at Chef's Table.

I don't know why we CARE what the OP's definition of being a foodie entails; however, the answer to the question I can actually ANSWER is yes. You can reserve the steakhouse more than once. I believe we have 3 nights reserved for our next cruise.

I'm not familiar with Chef's Table, but I'm sure someone above that wasn't arguing the merits of which steak was better probably answered that already. :)

Hey there good people!

 

I guess I should prepare myself to not eat, sleep, or do anything productive this week because I have a cruise review to write! I'll be getting to it later today, but here's a "preview" of what's to come.

 

Watch the video. Watch the video. Watch the video. I repeat, WATCH THE VIDEO. :p

 

hR8uxBytGo0

 

In case you can't get in to play in this window, here's the link.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hR8uxBytGo0

 

Stay tuned! :D

Awww, hell. You've already outdone yourself with JUST this video. Can't wait. There goes MY productive week! :)

Worth every penny of the $35, but I'm not so sure it's $15 additional gratuity per person...

That said, I went once on my last Carnival cruise, I'm going to book, in advance, at least two visits on my next one. We were able to add ourselves to our friends' reservations on the last night last time, I'll be more diligent about getting my own next go 'round.

I had surf & turf, my husband had lamb. Both were excellent. And there is no room for dessert, but it's worth a bite or two just to try.

That's our experience too. We do a cruise every other year and the organizer is a family club officer. The money from the free cabins goes to fund our family reunion in the summer. I would call and ask. I believe, as PP said, it's a free cabin for every 8. But there is something about the category of cabins booked too. I know they usually try to get 8 balcony, 8 oceanview, 8 inside, etc., because it is based on that too.

I need your opinions regarding Carnival Breeze, especially after sailing exceptional ships like Oasis, Allure and Regal Princess.

My last CC was in 2009 and I thought no more carnival after that. Now the breeze has a beautiful itinerary, perfect dates, and seems to be the best of carnival. So, would you recommend it as a said, especially after all those cruises? Or would I be dissapointed? I am afraid of the ship feeling crowded, too many kids, etc. please no flaming, just your honest opinions .

I did just the opposite of you (sailed Breeze, then Oasis) and I did a review comparing the two (if you care to hunt it down, it's posted in both the Carnival and RCCL forums). There were similarities and differences and things I liked better about both, but I still LOVE the Breeze and would sail her again in a second.

The Boardwalk and Central Park are so unique that I'll miss them on any other ship, but I loved the Breeze and it actually felt less crowded to me than Oasis did. And I found there to be more kids on the Oasis (keep in mind, I typically sail in January, but did Oasis over Thanksgiving week). Both ships did sail full, so the week didn't have anything to do with how less crowded Breeze felt to me.

I think you'll enjoy it. I certainly can't wait to go on her again. We are planning our next trip and it looks like Vista is the winner for that one (with the same southern Caribbean itinerary as we did on Breeze!).

Fantastic review! You have convinced me that I have to sail on Oasis or Allure sooner rather than later. :)

We drove home from our Oasis cruise - I am going to take a wild guess and say you would have a lot shorter drive than we did. Go for it!

I loved it - even with the "negatives" I mentioned, it was still an awesome ship and a great vacation. Even though I wish the price had dropped before final payment, it was still worth every penny.

If you see a blue 2009 Pony with white stripes in Columbus, wave hi! Glad to hear you came over to RC from the Dark Side. Now to read these rest of your review ;) O.H. ! Ready to go Duck Hunting!

O-H! One of Chaya's friends has (had) a blue Pony with white stripes. You don't by chance have a daughter that plays softball and goes to a local(ish) college, do you?

Chops quality of beef seems to be going down the drain unless you pay for the Prime steaks above the 35.00 pp cover charge.

 

Carnival steakhouses serve aged Prime cuts INCLUDED in the 35.00pp. My guess is that is why the OP found that Carnival had the better steakhouse. There are LOTS of complaints about Chops these days and most people that sail both Royal and Carnival agree that Carnival is hands down the better steakhouse.

Your guess would be correct! Thanks!

Chicago is on allure. Not epic. Also find it hard for you to give another ship the nod on specialty restaurants when you didn't eat at all of them. Especially the top one 150cp.

Yep, got it wrong again. I'll get it right one of these days. :)

However, I didn't eat at 150 because it's not the type of food I like - I didn't compare things I didn't try, so I thought it was a fair assessment of the things I did try. If you notice, I also didn't mention Chef's Table on Breeze - because I didn't eat there. 150 MAY be excellent, but comparing steakhouse to steakhouse, Breeze, in my opinion, wins. YMMV, of course.

I have been thinking about trying Carnival for a while now but I have been a little on the fence about it. I am thinking of doing a cruise with them in 2016; either with my family or by myself.. hell i might do both(depending on my funds of course)!

 

I didn't know that Carnival made up the difference in price drops with OBC. that is actually an excellent policy and might endear me to Carnival as I think that is a fair way to do business.

 

Thank you for review as it has given what I think is a balance comparison of both lines.

The first time I sailed, I changed from a balcony to an interior before final payment - the difference was $600, as was my balance, so my cruise was paid off. The price dropped after that and I had OBC of about $200, plus whatever the TA gave us.

My parents are sailing with about $500 and their friends have $700. Which kinda tells me that the cruise was overpriced this time to begin with - like I said, they plan about 18 months in advance for these trips - but even after final payment, they just kept tacking on OBC (my parents and their friends paid their cruises off before final payment date, so they got OBC rather than the option to pay a reduced rate).

Give it a try - you never know. When the price dropped for ours and I DIDN'T get OBC, I was perturbed at RCCL for changing their policy to not offer OBC.

Thanks for the great comparison. We have never cruised Carnival but have been tempted. Can you give me any indication of the smoking situation/rules on Breeze or other Carnival ships?

 

J

Smoking situation is virtually the same. No balcony smoking, select areas on ship (casino, etc.) and starboard side of deck 11 - at least that's what it was when I sailed. My parents are on Breeze now, I can get clarification on Sunday if someone else doesn't chime in.

Great review !! From one mustang lover to the other. A picture of my Shelby.

 

 

::DROOL::

:)Loved reading your review...Hope you're feeling better..We have done 10 cruises on Carnival;1 on Royal;1 NCL;1 Holland. Didn't have a great experience our first cruise on Royal; but I kept bugging DH to do the BIG SHIP:D So, we are giving Royal another chance:)

 

Can you tell me if there were any specials in the spa, during the Labadee stop? Also, in regards to Izumu, we have premade our reservations for dining & shows, but wasn't given an option of the sushi or the table. We would want the table.

 

I'm so ready for this cruise!!!!2014 was a crazy year in more ways than one..

 

Again, Thanks so much for the AWESOME review...:)

I can dig out the Cruise Compasses when I get home if someone else doesn't chime in, but I don't recall spa specials - only because I don't do spa things. I'm sure someone might know though. Our roll call was pretty active and a lot of them still post, so hopefully someone can answer you quickly on that one.

As for Izumi, I would assume that your reservation is for the tables, and I only say that because the sushi side seemed to not require reservations. In addition, that side is a la carte and the tables are a cover charge. I could totally be wrong, so someone more "educated" in RCCL ways may be able to help.

Sorry your first one wasn't that great, but I'm glad you're giving it another try. The BIG SHIP is amazing. You'll love it. Promise!

Thank you for you great review. The Breeze is my absolute favorite ship but that may change in April when we sail on the Oasis. We have sailed Carnival 14 times, Princess twice and once on RCCL. So you can see which say I lean. My question for you is about the shore tour you took in Cozumel. Last October, my DH and I took an ATV tour while on Grand Turk and really enjoyed it. I was very leery of driving one and at the last moment they asked if anyone want a "two seater". I jumped on that and hung on tight to my DH. Did they have any two seaters in Cozumel? We would love to try this again, but I still don't feel comfortable driving one. By the way, have you ever tried to "Behind the Fun" tour on Carnival? We did it on the Breeze and it was fascinating!

I haven't done the behind the fun tour - I wanted to, but when you have to pay for everything x3, you limit these fun little things! LOL. It sounds like a really fun time on the Breeze to do it though.

As for ATVs, the excursion we did was through Royal and I can't recall the name of the operator off hand, but they were all singles. There were 3 groups, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Beginners went slower and most of us did not shift gears. If it makes you feel any better, you can just ask to be at the end of the line so you can go slower, but trust me when I tell you, I was afraid for Chaya to flip or something with her concussion and I worried for nothing.

You do go through some deep-ish water and over rocks and such, but as long as you don't try to take your turns too quickly, nothing will happen! Have fun!

bucks724,

I know exactly what you mean! I hate winter so my dh and I moved from Indiana to Clearwater in July. Yesterday it was 85 degrees here. We are loving it!

J-E-A-L-O-U-S! Got an extra room or two?

Nice review and comparison comments. Thanks for doing it!

Thanks for reading!

Sounds like me, Jeff. Went from the Allure to our fifth cruise on Carnival Fantasy. Loved both. Cruising enjoyment depends on one's ATTITUDE!

 

Happy sails.

 

Kathy

Totally agree! If you go into it expecting a great vacation, chances are it will happen! :)

We upgraded from an inside cabin to a Central Park balcony, and it was lovely. In the evenings, there were beautiful classical serenades.

 

I agree that this is a special place!

 

Kathy

Magical, really! It is pretty cool! Although I didn't love the windtunnel effect it sometimes had, but once again, on the 8th deck of a ship, it was kinda cool to even have that be a thing!