kpadalik

OP here...also thinking maybe the 6 day Horizon to Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel.  I hate making decisions!  LOL

Need some opinions...

Cruising over Thanksgiving is our large family group...a couple toddlers, 3 tweens, 2 teenagers, 3 sets of 40 something parents, 2 sets of grandparents.  Looking at two different ships with different itineraries. 

Conquest - Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

Breeze - Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay, Costa Maya

I've done the Breeze before (my favorite ship) but I love the Conquest itinerary.  

What would you pick and why?

I’m not sure which class it is in, but the Breeze was wonderful. It has been our favorite Carnival ship so far and we loved the itinerary we did (southern).

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Do you get casino cash with the casino offer?

 

Personally I almost always go with the casino offer.

I don't think so. It doesn't say anything about casino cash? Just says exclusive casino offer rate.

I'm getting ready to book a cruise on the Vista for June of this year. I have a casino offer that is about $150 less than the early saver rate. I usually book the early saver because I can get the OBC if the rate drops. What's the likelihood of it dropping between now and the end of June? Should I just book the casino offer?

Did your kids go to the kids clubs at all?

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Thank you so much everyone for your feedback! We have decided on the Vista. The extra port day is nice, especially since i usually pick a Port day to stay on the ship and enjoy the “emptiness”. We did the Breeze a few years ago with the same exact itinerary and it was our favorite cruise...ship, itinerary, etc. I really appreciate everyone responding and giving me a little bit of input!

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We are experienced CCL cruisers but have never been on either of these ships. We are trying to decide between the two for over the 4th of July.

Vista - 8 days Southern to Aruba Curaçao, Grand Turk, and La Romana. Balcony room for $4500.

Sunshine - 8 days Southern to Aruba, Curaçao, and Grand Turk. Oceanview for $3800.

Both ships are on our “want to sail” list. It’ll be me and my husband and our two girls, 15 and 10.

What would you choose and why?

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Hi. I heard ordering cocktails and coffee in the MDR was not available. Is this true?

No we ordered drinks and coffee in the MDR. There was never any issue.

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Hi there: we have the same package as you Balcony - Fantastica with Internet surfer pro and 12 drink coupons etc. On my invoice the internet package is named just for me. Does my spouse have to an additional package purchased? OR can several devices work off the one package? I have another interior room booked for our teenagers, so I am expecting to pay for a separate package for them, but am wondering if each person actually needs a separate package?

I’m sorry, I can’t answer your question. we completely unplugged this week so we didn’t purchase an internet package of any kind.

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Were you able to purchase any additional drink vouchers while on board the ship? Also, did they have any drink specials, or free drinks anytime during the course of the cruise? Example would be during welcome back party or captains event?

 

I know that they no longer sell the 18 vouchers prior to the cruise. That was discontinued several months ago.

I am not sure if you could purchase more vouchers on the cruise but you can purchase the bev packages while on the ship. They had a daily drink special. The price was usually around $6.95 if I recall. We did have champagne during the captains cocktail party. We got invites for the welcome back party which said free drinks, but it was on elegant night at 4pm and we just didn’t want to get ready that early. It said dress was elegant for the welcome back party.

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Thanks for the great review. Do you recall the depth of the pools?

The Jungle Pool and Miami Beach pool were rather deep. My 10 year old could not stand. The Aquaventure Pool is only a couple feet deep and was definitely more appealing to kids.

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Enjoyed your Review! Thanks for posting! So, they do allow smoking in the Casino? TUIA. Glad you enjoyed the Seaside-we are booked on her for September.

Yes there is smoking in the casino. The side where the game tables and a few slots are is much less smoky though.

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Happy hour 1/2 price in the casino....were the bets $5 o$2.50?

$5 for poker and Black Jack. 50 cents for Roulette.

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Do you remember what the pricing was for the Gelato?

$3 for a scoop. $5 for two scoops. They were much more generous with their scoops at the gelateria than with the gelato by the pools.

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I loved your review ! Thank you ! I do have 4 questions if I may . . .

Was there any charge for room service , delivery charge or cost for the food?

 

Was there a charge for the water slide with the video game type experience , ( I know the regular water slides are free )?

 

Was the casino only smokey in the one area or did smoke smell permeate the whole place ?

 

And lastly , I saw a video of one of the shows that featured a song from The Phantom of the Opera . Do you know which show that was and do you know what that particular show's title was ?

 

Thanks so much for your willingness to answer our questions !

We had the Fantastica package and there was no room service charge 6am-11pm. There was extra stuff to purchase (pizza delivery, drinks, etc) but we found the free menu sufficient. We just tipped our delivery guy a few bucks. I think if we ordered outside of that time it was a $3.95 charge.

No charge for any of the slides or the zip line. The bowling, billiards, F1 simulator, and 4D movie was a charge. And it was expensive. We rarely saw people there during the week.

The casino wasn’t too bad. It was really smoky in the area by the video poker games. The side where the game tables were (and a few slots) was much better.

The Phantom of the Opera songs were sung during My Life in Music. I love that musical so I enjoyed that part of the show very much.

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Such a thorough review, so helpful and answered many lingering questions. Thank you for that[emoji4] I do a a couple of questions that maybe you can help with:

Did you visit the spa at all? Any feeling for that?

Can you confirm any of the theme nights? I’ve heard white party, Italian night, roaring 20’s, 60’s/70’s flower party, Michael Jackson Thriller...are any or all of these correct?

If you have the bracelet to get into your room and pay, could you not leave your card in the slot to charge the room?

I was glad you mentioned the suitcases fitting under beds, usb only on one side of bed and about the extension cords and hangers, all great to know! So many great details in your post, thank you again!

We did not visit the spa, sorry.

We only had White Night and there was a White Party. There was Italian night in the MDR. There was a Michael Jackson Thriller dance party in the Haven Lounge but I don’t think I saw anyone dress for that. We also had two nights of Christmas festivities so there may be more themed nights on other cruises.

Yes if you have a bracelet, you can use the card to keep in the slot.

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Just wondering if any of the pools have stairs to enter or do they all have those vertical ladders . I am senior and do not have much upper body strenth would prefer to walk into pool

The Miami Beach Pool has ladders and they are deep into the pool. I found them very easy to climb out of and didn’t have to use too much upper body strength. I don’t recall with the other pools.

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Thank you so much for your review! Do I understand correctly that there is no parking gargage close to the new terminal for Seaside?

There is a garage in front of Terminal G, the next one over. It’s a long walk, but doable. Our porter told us that a new terminal is being built at Terminal A and should be finished in the next year or so. The Seaside will move to that one and there will be a garage there.

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Thanks for such a thorough review! Any photos?

I do, but I haven’t even started to go through them all. That’s a huge project in itself!

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What a fabulous review. THANK YOU.

Can you tell me more about using the vouchers? Did your kids have any trouble using them? Can they be shared? If you didn’t want all yours could your husband had used them' date=' etc?

 

 

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Our kids had no trouble using their vouchers, except for that one incident with the milkshake. But I think the bar waitress didn't know what she was talking about because they got milkshakes every other night without a problem. Yes, you can share vouchers. My husband didn't use all of his, so I used a couple of them. My girls actually have a couple of theirs left. They usually only drink water here at home, so it was an overload of fruity drinks and milkshakes for them this week! I think they had enough! I told them we will save theirs for our next cruise and hopefully we can use them then!

Interesting about pre-booking the shows.

 

You did it every day? Can you pre-book for the whole week? Did you hear of anyone who couldn't get in?

 

 

I think this is just me and dh, but we are really sick of the cirque-type shows, having seen them for years on ships and Las Vegas. (Las Vegas is not doing any more new ones because, apparently, others feel like we do.) As soon as we see someone start hanging from curtains we tend to leave (don't worry, we usually sit in the back).

The shows were definitely not bad, just different. And the Cirque type stuff was only a segment or two of the show. I would give them a chance. I have to say the shows got better as the week went on. You can only pre-book the day of the show. Except one day, late at night (11:30pm) we were able to prebook for the next evening's show. I just made a mental note to do it every morning when I woke up. It's so easy to do through the app. Only one time did I see that the 7:30 show was sold out during pre-bookings. It shows how many seats are still available when you pre-book. My girls love to sit in the first couple of rows, so they would get there at 8:40 for an 8:45 check-in for the 9:15 show and then save a couple seats for me and my husband. The theatre was full for our show every night, once they opened for general admission. I even saw people standing at the back of the theatre if they couldn't get a seat.

Thank you for your detailed review.

You said the porter escorted you with luggage to the garage G. This was a long walk for us so had to take the shuttle bus to the garage. If I may ask, how much did you tip the porter to take your luggage to your car in the garage from terminal F? We may try this when we disembark on Jan. 20th. Thanks.

Yes, it was quite a long walk. We gave him $20 and he waited on the bottom floor with me and my daughter while my husband and other daughter went and grabbed the car. Then he loaded the suitcases in our van for us. He was very appreciative and very friendly and chatty. After we left, I told my husband that it was so easy I probably would have given him $40! It is so much better to fast-track through that customs line that anything!

Thank you for your review.

 

Did you use any of the hot tubs? Were they hot?

I used the hot tubs on the sides of deck 19 (not in the Aurea Top 19 area) and they were like bath water. But they were empty and had a great view. Plus it was breezy and comfortably cool, so it was fine. The hot tubs at The Jungle Pool were much warmer, but not hot. I didn't do any of the other hot tubs.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review!

 

That is great they have salt water pool!

 

Do you recall the min height for the zip line?

I'm sorry, I don't recall the minimum height. My youngest daughter is a tall 10 year old and she was tall enough. I saw a few people shorter than her doing it as well.