Bgem75

Another option is to book with Victor Bodden.

We and many of our friends have used him before and we are booked with him again in September.

They have different options to choose from...

we loved their zip and dip and are doing it again.

http://boddentours.com/index.htm

I am told the cave tubing is a great time.

We plan on doing that next month.

We are going to book with

http://cavetubing.bz/tours/cruise

As far as I know this company does allow kids.

I know friends that have used them and we will be using them in September.

http://cavetubing.bz/tours/cruise

On another note, what did you think of La Cucina? Your husband go the rigatoni. I had the same dish last year. It was nothing special. It was bland, with hard boiled noodles, a tasteless sauce and bad meatball. I felt so cheated. Seriously, there was better pasta at the buffet. I am not picky about food and never had a bad meal on a cruise ship. Others in my party liked their meal but there was NOTHING worth $15 for that rigatoni. No fresh sauces, tomato, or pasta. Your picture really brought back my bad memory :) While it was not bad it seriously would be a bummer even in the MDR. Not worth the cover charge. Too bad you did not get your chicken. You should have gotten the entre you asked for. Very bad service and sort of weird to avoid you just because you asked her to take a photo. Most service is great but sometimes something weird like that happens. My last experience at La Cucina had a good waiter but he could not comprehend why the 5 of us only ordered 3 appetizers. We did not want to over eat or waste food. But he kept almost demanding that we get our own appetizer. It really threw him for a loop and after several attempts in explaining he still could not understand why we did that. In his head he really thought we did not finish ordering.

La Cucina on the breakaway was amazing... so good we ate there twice on that cruise. (We always like la cucina on each ship but this one by far was the best). The waitresses brought us all kinds of things to try on top of what we ordered. One of them even had a couple of baby pizzas made just to try...they would ask us questions of the kinds of things we like and depending on our answers would decide what to bring out... next....these ladies were absolutely amazing and we had a great time with them. The staff was so attentive. I would recommend La Cucina on the breakaway to everyone.

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Here's a random video of the hubby ziplining (it wasn't done downloading when I posted the ropes course pics earlier).

 

 

 

 

Going on the drop water slide. I have to tell you, this is THE most FUN thing EVER!! Seriously. We did it over and over. The anticipation of hearing the countdown 3-2-1 and knowing that you are going to drop, but it's still unexpected each time. What a rush. BRAVO NCL for coming up with this. It was simply amazing.

 

Just know...you CAN NOT have anything on. NO jewelry (including wedding rings), no earrings, no belly button piercing, no nothing! You can not have any hair clips in or anything. No cells phones or cameras. NOTHING. They will make you take them off and either leave them there and walk back up or take them to someone else to hold down below. So you have been warned.

 

You can chose to wear the foam on your back or not. A lady in line said she overheard someone say they make the girls with 2 piece bathing suits that have a tie in the back put them on because the slide can make the suits come undone. I don't know if there's any truth to it, but I wore one just because I wanted to save my back from getting red.

 

The last time that I did this, I actually got stuck at the top after the drop. I made it right within a foot or so of the hump before you drop again and go down. We did witness several people that this happened to. They have a ladder spot and landing with an opening in the tube for those that this happens to. You come back down and have to crawl out of the hole and walk down the steps. I was determined to not have to do this. I sat up and scooted until I made it up over the hump before it took me back the other way. Woo hoo. It was still a rush, but that was the last time I did it.

 

I loved these on the breakaway...We did it over and over again...adrenaline rush is right....

We never got stuck though..although witnessed people who did. Those that did that came back to do it again were given the back board that was harnessed on them... And it helped...

I loved those sides..But..the epic plunge still my favorite...come on with our two epic cruises we did the plunge well over 100 times!!

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That was all the seating they had. It was very bare and even with the lights wasn't that impressive..Lol

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AT least the Bliss was nicer on the GETAWAY than the BREAKAWAY....

Bliss on the Breakaway was lack luster..not what I am used to with ncl..Normally we cant wait to go to Bliss...

Bliss was kind of right in the middle of the ship and across from the Noodle bar.... It was barely used...and on their other ships Bliss was always hopping!!

 

 

Meg, what was the problem? Did you have problems connecting or what exactly happened? The only time I seem to have an issue is if I was sitting out on the balcony sometimes it would not send the message (which it let me know that the message didn't work). So I just had to hit the Getaway wifi again and it was fine. :p

It would freeze and not respond...they said they were having issues with it bcs it was new at the time and hadn't been on the ship long.

I figured it was just the two of us so it didn't matter..

Next time we cruise on NCL we can try to use it again.

It is a really cool concept though and I think all cruise lines should follow suit...lol

At this time I wanted to take a minute to discuss iConceirge. I believe they only have this on the new ships (correct me if I'm wrong). I will show you screen shots of it and tell you what it does (and what we used it for).

 

I personally think it was a wonderful system to have for the week (especially if you are traveling with a group). It would also come in handy if you are split up with a spouse, children or whomever you might be traveling with.

 

The cost is $7.95 for the entire week and well worth it to us to be able to just text each other to find a location to meet or whatever. But, it does much more than that.

 

I have to start by saying that you must FIRST DOWNLOAD THE APP PRIOR TO CRUISING!! After you are already on your way, you're out of luck. I downloaded mine about a month prior to our cruise so that I wouldn't forget to do it. We did test once we left the port of Miami and were out to sea to see if you could download it while on the cruise...nope. No can do.

 

So the main page shows you a list of things that the app will do and it's like your homepage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any of these links will take you to another page.

 

For instance if you chose the Dining category, it would take you to a page that listed every dining option on the ship:

 

 

 

 

Then once you pick a dining place, you go to the next page which will give you a description of the place and what they serve, what deck it is located on, your dress code, and if there's a price then it will list a price as well.

 

 

 

 

At the bottom you can see that you are able to view the menu and also make reservations. I had to try it out and it worked perfect. You pick the day and time, then how many people. Once you have scheduled your reservation, you can go back in and check it.

 

 

 

 

Go to any area, like Shopping, and it will list the individual places and you can click on any of them for the info.

 

We tried to use this on the Breakaway but could never get it to work correctly..and said..screw it! lol

OMG Kim, how the family came home in one piece I don't know..lol

I know you Sam and Sakari will have a great time on the Sun!!!

So far I have made up shirts for both of the...

 

It has the cruise map with the dates on the back and the carnival logo with the name of the ship on the front...

 

Also made up some boarding passes for the flights..now to pull the rest of it together!

Surprise is this weekend!

This are the shirts...

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So far I have made up shirts for both of the...

It has the cruise map with the dates on the back and the carnival logo with the name of the ship on the front...

Also made up some boarding passes for the flights..now to pull the rest of it together!

Surprise is this weekend!

If she likes jewelry Pandora has a cruise ship charm that's adorable. You can get the charm and a cute leather bracelet for under $100

 

 

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I was thinking of something like that!

I know she loves alex and ani and didn't know if they did something like that too!!

If you happen to be lucky enough t sail with Dario as your mixologist, order a Mama's Cookie! I went to him and told him I wanted a chocolate drink, but I can't do amaretto and nearly every Carnival chocolate drink has amaretto in it. He made this up and it was SO GOOD. It was orange and chocolate and delicious.

 

I highly recommend you just go and tell them what you like. You CAN order off the menu, but the bar really thrives off the drinks they create. Dario made my DH a delicious spicy mango martini that was to die for. The bartenders are also super personable. We really enjoyed our time here and by developing a relationship with the mixologist, they get to know your likes and dislikes and try to create awesome drinks for you!

 

They also offer mixology classes which teach a lot about bar tending and drink mixing - I think it was somewhere around 15-17 bucks, and included 3 mini drinks and one full size one. It was awesome!

Yes!

We had Dario, Gabor and Daniel!!!

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Ok.. so in preparation for our cruise on the Freedom and it's new Alchemy bar I am seeking info from those of you who have had a chance to use/experience an Alchemy bar already. I'm trying to find out what the fuss is over the Alchemy bar over any other bar on the ship.

 

What is the best thing about it? Do you order off of a menu or do you just ask them to make you something special? How do I get the most out of it?

First they are not regular bartenders..they are mixologist.

You can order from the menu or have them make something for you right then and there off the top of their heads.

On the liberty I would say I'm in the mood for something sweet for example and they would ask if I wanted something fruity etc...

Our mixologists were so good, we still keep in touch. It was its own entertainment...we actually skipped most of the entertainment in the theater and went to alchemy. We met some really fun people and it was like a episode of cheers every night.

If you get the chance take their private class..each mixologist had one on the last sea day..what a great time we had!!

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Before my first Carnival cruise, I did my research and found chocolate melting cake was a must have. On the board I had it and did not care for it. I ordered it again on a different cruise thought I might miss something the first time. Well, it did not change much. To me, chocolate melting cake is just another average dessert. I am not saying I hate it. But I can go cruise without it.:o

The first time I had it (on our 2009 cruise) I like it, the second time it was ok...third..ok this is getting old

Now its just overdone. It is there every night and the quality had gone down hill.

It tastes kind of gross...and there is no consistency..its over cooked or under cooked...

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...sigh... Read the thread. She's telling her well in advance and wants to do it in a special way.[/quote

 

Thank you Kristi. :)

 

 

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Why do people do this? Don't you think she may want to know before hand? No input here.

Ok....yes she will know well in advance...

She will know in a matter of 8 days from now and we have 135 until we cruise.

If you read above I have said that multiple times.

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Being surprised by a thoughtful gift is not only for immature people..... Anyone would enjoy it. I agree she needs to know beforehand... the anticipation and planning is half the fun. Back in 2010 we took my parents on their first cruise (on the Victory out of San Juan). One weekend while they were visiting, we had a BBQ and told them we had some presents for them because we would not be able to come down to visit them over their respective B-days. We gave them a few packages with little trinkets like beach towels and sunscreen... They were ???ing what the deal was but too nice to ask why. Then we made some Pina Coladas and served them in hollowed out pineapples (yes we blended the fruit into the drinks) and gave them these to drink. Once everyone had their drink we gave them the box that contained a Carnival catalog with a place marker on our itinerary and the rooms marked on the deck plan page. After they were confused for a bit they looked at us like little kids and started almost squealing and jumping around like little kids at Christmas.... It was great.

Yes she will know not this weekend but next weekend..that way she has plenty of time to prepare!!

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OK this is what we did several years ago for my daughter's college graduation. It has become a tradition that we make up T-shirts when we are sailing with several people or more on a cruise. SO we had the T shirts made up and we had names put on each of them , We packed them all in one box and put her's on the top and then Mom and Dad's (which would be obvious) then we put in order of how surprised she would be to find out a "certain" person or persons would be comming as well (We had 30people on that cruise and she flipped out as she opened each T -shirt and read off the name, each one a surprise that they were joining us on her graduation cruise, she was sobbing with joy by the time we reached the 30th t-shirt!!!! LOL We had her open it at her graduation dinner party! It was GREAT!!! Here is a hint though....be sure Carnival does not send her an email that says, Congrats on your upcomming cruise we look forward to seeing you again.....ugggg(thank god we were able to circumvent that email with her boyfriend's help, Carnival sent it to her email (even though she did NOT pay for it, because she was a "past guest" on carnival......you should have been there when I got hold of Carnival for that call......I said over and over again this is a surprise cruise for my daughter's college graduation, but NOPE they still send the email......I was fuming!!! LOL. Anyway it was a GREAT way for her to find out about the cruise and who was joining us on it!!!

That's is awesome!!! Thank you for sharing!!!! I am loving hearing everyone's stories!!

Carnival does not have any of her contact info (email, phone number etc. They have my email and phone number on her info for now) and she has never cruised with them before...so we should be ok there. We just booked it two weeks ago and we are telling her on may 17th..

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THANK YOU ALL FOR THE IDEAS!!

I think we will use a combination of them!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you...I don't mind carrying around some cash while at port. I am most concerned traveling to the ship with all of the cash for the week. I will bring large bills and split it between my husband and I and that's a great idea about the xray line... I will wait til I can get to my purse after going thru security!

Whenever we cruise my husband and I not only split the cash between us but split it among our carry-ons. This way if something is stolen they do not get the majority of anything...between the two of us there is a carry on for each, my purse and his wallet. So that is four separate places to put it. DO NOT PUT CASH IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE. (We have heard of too many people having bags checked by tsa before being loaded onto plane and cash goes missing.) I was thankful i did not have any cash in our checked luggage on our trip to Florida last summer bcs tsa opened the bags went through everything and left us a note inside to let us know our bags had been checked. But like i said i never put cash in the checked luggage...but it was still weird bcs you know someone had gone through your things..lol.

But when in the ports..

We have one credit card and cash with us at each port. We have one of those waterproof containers that hangs around our necks (we picked up a new one on our last cruise) so while at an excursion our money and credit cards are with us.

I get the feeling that those who don't think it's 'mature' to surprise someone creatively were forced to grow up way too fast or lost their sense of adventure a long time ago!! Live a little people! Life is too short!

 

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Life is short!!! Lets enjoy the good times and fun!!!! I don't care if anyone thinks its not "mature" to surprise someone with a cruise... I know I would have been over the moon if someone had done that for my college graduation!!!!

Plus...who isn't a big kid on vacation?

I know we are!!

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I surprised my wife for her birthday by getting a cruise guide from the travel agent and cutting out the page with our itinerary. I put that in a picture frame and wrapped it. She thought it was a picture of me. Shock of her life.

I figured I might make then personalized carnival shirts...I got a lot of practice making shirts for our Disney trip last summer...made a total of 48 shirts for all the family members that went.

So if I can do that I can make a couple of shirts for them....

Now you have me thinking...I could print up the itinerary map....

Dates, Ports of call on the back and the carnival logo with the ship name (on the front left side chest)

Hmmmmmm....

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Now hold on a minute, I'm not so sure that this is a bad idea!

 

I'm thinking, if she doesn't know where she is going beforehand she won't know what to pack. That is a big deal for girls is it not? I mean, that is half the fun, yes? :eek:

 

Maybe send her a card with a ship on it (doesn't matter what kind) and some sort of gift card as her "graduation present." Make sure this is a congratulation on your graduation type card. She will be thinking, well, that's it and it may throw her off the scent for a while. That will be the first clue.

 

Maybe make out a packing list for her of "suggested items" and send it with a cruise "basket" like you are thinking - beach cover up, sunscreen, plus something whimsical and fun... a beach ball for example. Just tell her some bogus story that you saw these things and you thought of her. That will be the next clue. If she asks, just tell her she will need them to go to the beach when she arrives, like a day trip if you don't live near the beach.

 

Have M&D send her passport etc. to you separately but make sure they use something traceable to mail it. Don't want to lose that. M&D should play clueless. They have no idea what is going on.

 

When she arrives, make sure she has everything she needs for cruise, surreptitiously of course. Maybe, go out shopping for a sun dress, sun glasses or something like that, anything she may have missed. Just have some quality girl fun time...

 

Then, the day before the cruise, do a scavenger hunt for the "real reason" you wanted her to pack all those things! Maybe, hide some cruise related items around the house, a camera, a bathing suit, a sun hat, some cruise brochures or maybe even a copy of the Carnival Fun Times or picture of a towel animal. Send her on a wild goose chase. You are obviously creative!

 

You are such a dear to do this for her. It is very thoughtful and will always be remembered. God rest the soul of my dear aunt who made everything an adventure. And lastly may I say, I graduated with my doctorate in December of 2000. Could you please buy me a surprise cruise? :D

We are so very proud of her!!

She is the first one in my husbands family as well as in her dads family to graduate college...so I wanted to make sure it was celebrated in a big way.

She basically worked full time hours like I did through college.

Congratulations on your doctorate!!! But your should have told me back then...you could have cruised with my dh and I on our honeymoon!! Lol

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I'm surprising my daughters next week with a cruise. They think we are going 2 hours away for an overnight stay at an amusement park. They are cruisaholics (10 & 13 year old) We aren't telling them until we are hours into the drive and they start wondering. Plus John Heald promised my older daughter a surprise in the room because of her obsession with Carnival. She picks 1 ship at night before bed to read about and quiz herself on. Crazy girl but its funny she knows things I have no clue about.

Have a great time!!!!

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