Cruise Envy

Yes you can. Just be sure to leave on the floor in your bathroom to get fresh ones for the next day

You can also turn in a used towel for a fresh one at the towel hut on the Lido if you don't want to wait for your cabin steward to do it for you. We usually do this when leaving the Lido so we don't back to the cabin with a wet towel.

Thanks for the topic & replies -- we are cruising on the Magic in July. I just got a pass for the Thermal suite for the week.

Subscribing!

We've been in connecting rooms before and with the door shut I never heard our kids in the other room. You should be fine, but someone may appreciate you moving out so they can get the pair of connecting rooms.

Thanks all! I am looking forward to the freedom to try something new and not waste $$ if I don't like it. I knew you couldn't use Cheers at HMC. Fortunately our cruise is Nassau, Grand Turk and Amber Cove. I doubt I will do much more than break even at best, but I am sure looking forward to not thinking about drink cost!

Sorry gang, no need for popcorn here. :p I am getting Cheers for the first time this summer. First question - does Carnival sell shots of Johnny Walker Blue, and does anyone know how much? One of my friends says I HAVE to try it.

Second, what are some of your favorite drinks? I've never even tried the alchemy bar before, but I want to expand my horizons this trip. I typically do beer or a drink-of-the-day type drink. I know I will be trying more wine at dinner.

Thanks in advance!

We normally pack a small collapsible cooler; I am a huge fan of ice cold drinks, so having a small one to ice down the bottled water we have in the room is nice. We also take a pop up hamper to put dirty clothes in, although many use their empty suitcase for this.

I'm a fan of the over-the-door shoe organizer, but it is not a necessity. I would consider the small first aid kit with a basic supply of analgesics a necessity, as well as my bubba cup for my water around the ship.

Take what you think you might need/want, and ignore the rest of us. It's YOUR vacation!

You have David's Steakhouse and Bonsai Sushi.

Polo and khaki PANTS is fine. We got caught by the no shorts rule on the first night. They were very kind, and my husband went back to the room to change.

My then 14 year old LOVED the steakhouse. The staff were laughing at his food-gasms as tried his food. He's a bit of a foodie too. I actually took him back a second time during the week. He did Chef's Table with us that week too and enjoyed it as well.

Only you know your child. Sounds like you will both enjoy the experience!!

We were in an inside on the verandah deck and my 13 year old son had a trundle. it is really low to the ground. If you don't shove it under the bed during the day, it takes up a lot of room. He did fine with it, but I would not book a trundle again, and I personally wouldn't want to sleep on one.

If I could get the time off, definitely a world cruise. If I had to work with current time away, I would probably try to find either a two week Alaska cruise or a two week Paul Gaugin cruise.

Definitely in an over-the-top suite!

Talk to the maitre d when you board. Usually with notice they can work miracles. It may be that they want you to order the night before but I would think they can accommodate you. They WANT to please.

Thank you for posting -- that new Chef's table menu looks YUMMY.

Cocktails are about $8 each, Beers are $6-7, Frozen drinks are $10-12, Wine is $8-12. The package also includes unlimited bottled water, speciality coffee, energy drinks, and powerades which are $1-4 each. Drinking a la carte on board is VERY expensive. If you have just 5 alcoholic drinks a day, plus water, coffee, poweardes its very easy to "break even" if not end up ahead.

 

And no you don't not have to tip on top of the 15% auto-gratuity that comes with the package.

This is very in line with what I spent on the Pride in July. My beers were $6.82 each (beer + tip) and my frozen drinks were generally between $10 and $11.

I've done decorations, chocolate covered strawberries, a fruit basket, and a cooler/beer package. We've enjoyed them all.

Put everyone on the same account, and use either Guest Services or one of the kiosks to set limits as you choose. You can adjust those limits at any time. It worked very well with my two teens on our last cruise. it was the first time I had allowed either one charging privileges.

Subscribing. I was on the cruise with you -- can't wait to see your thoughts on our trip.

600 days until cruise!!

 

Today we go under the 600 day mark. 725 days to 600 days has went pretty fast I must say.

 

We have been looking at excursions a bit lately. (Yes the wife is actually looking with me) We are going to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. In that order. We aren't planning on doing much for excursions. Maybe just one actually. We really want the kids to get to swim in the ocean. They never have before. So, if you were going to those three islands which one would you book a beach excursion at? We would likely book with the cruise line since it is our first cruise.

 

There are so many excursions to look at it is a good thing I have the next 600 days to figure it out.....

Such a tough choice! I would say if you wanted beach, I would eliminate Montego Bay -- the best "excursion" on Jamaica IMHO is Dunns River Falls. We did a beach day in Cozumel at Nachi Cocum and enjoyed it VERY much, but Grand Cayman is known for the beach. HOWEVER, GC is also missed due to weather (we missed it on our cruise).

You might look on the port of call boards. I bet you may be able to walk or take a taxi to the beach in at least one of these so you could do beach in TWO places (or more)!

We did YTD on the Pride for Thanksgiving in 2014. I don't recall having a wait ever.

Oh my. So glad your family made the plane. One of my top rules for travel is once everyone (and thing) is in the car, we show each other our 1) identity documents, 2) our tickets, and 3) our money. Then at least we know we started the trip with it. Everyone laughs at me... until they read a story like this!

Keep it coming!

Have a great trip - I am almost to single digits myself!

Great review so far. So sorry to hear about your dad. Please keep the review coming!!

The Fantasy is a lovely ship with a great crew!

I love the promenade area with all the seating and windows when I want to be out and about but not in the sun. The Serenity deck is all the way AFT on the Promenade and is quiet with a view of the wake of the ship.

There is a nice front deck that not everyone finds all the way forward on the Verandah deck. No chairs but a nice forward view. The dining rooms are on the Atlantic deck, and you can't walk from one end to the other on that deck due to the galley.

Have a great honeymoon!

Someone from the staff will touch base with you prior to Chef's Table about any allergies etc. That is a great time to mention your concerns. I agree it isn't a lot of walking but you might have a set of stairs to go up/down -- if they know in advance, they will ensure your friend is accommodated appropriately.

I've done Chef's Table three times on two different ships.

is the soda package worth it if we'll only drink about 10-15 drinks total between the two of us in the week?My TA said you can take a case of soda per person on the ship, is that a 12pk or 24pk?

The break even point is about 3 sodas per day, and you aren't supposed to share. You may bring one 12 pack of CANS per person of soda on board. You can also bring one 750 ml or smaller bottle of wine per person over 21 years of age.

Also, anyone know what the photo prices are like? For instance, it was like $300+ on Disney for like 10 pics so we purchased maybe 4 or 5 photos from our trip. On NCL though we bought the CD for $300 and got ALL the pictures we took on the ship (which we took advantage of and ended up taking almost 400 pictures!). So does anyone know what the photo prices are like for Carnival?

Cheapest ones I believe are $8.95 and some of the formal ones are $21.95. I have yet to sail on a ship with a photo package. I understand Carnival is trying out a photo package though.