bar1068

On the Excel ships (Celebration), Cucina del Capitano, Chibang, and Guys Pig&Anchor are available at no charge the first time you dine there, then I believe it's $8 for additional visits. One "caveat", is you must have Your Time Dining if you want to dine at those spots before 7:30. Those with set time dining must wait until that time to dine at those restaurants. Last year we did a B2B, ok, side to side from the RCI Harmony of the Seas to the Celebration in Miami. We went a different "route" and debarked the Harmony as soon as we could to get down to the Celebration. Walking was really not an option, or at least a safe option, so we took a cab from the Harmony terminal down to Celebration. With all of that being unknown, we did things as soon as we could. We did wait about an hour to be let into the terminal and start checkin, We were under cover so no sitting in the hot sun, and chatting with others passed the time. We had a great time!!

We did Rudi's on the Celebration last May. We were curious going in having read about Rudi'ls prior to the cruise, sounded like a nice addition to their new ships. Once we boarded we decided to try Rudi's the first night of the cruise...free bottle of wine drew us in!! Unfortunately we were disappointed. Probably mostly due to poor service, our server was just not that attentive. I think that set a bad tone for the rest of the meal, at one point I wanted to leave but my wife wanted to stay. Our menu selections disappointed as well, certainly aided by less than expected service. We just chalked it up to a "bad night", probably not the norm. But, we laugh at this. While we didn't feel what we experienced was really indicative of dining at Rudi's, we've since been on Mardi Gras and Jubilee several times since Celebration, and cant' bring ourselves to try Rudi's again, even telling each other we should!! Oh well, maybe next cruise on an Excel ship.

I'll add another nod to Celebration, for mostly the same reasons as stated, better dining options, bar options and new ship design and layout. We've done 8 day ABC cruises on both, Horizon and Celebration and given a choice would choose Celebration. Can't say if it's "worth' the $300 difference, but having been on all 3 Excel class ships...I seem to lean towards them!!

Just did a quick look on Carnivals website, the May 5 from Baltimore sailing seems is not showing up, not unusual for a sailing only 3 weeks out. However I'd think at this point the May 5 cruise would leave from Norfolk, but just a guess. The USACE and the Unified response groups working on the salvage operations from the Key Bridge collapse are aiming to have the normal shipping channel re-opened by the end of May. Certainly not a set in stone date, but a timeline they are working towards. Could be sooner, could be later. We could only assume that means cruise ships will be able to return to the Baltimore cruise port. Seems Carnival should be aware of this and making it's decisions, but who knows. If you are curious, can read about the salvage operations here. https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/3731790/us-army-corps-of-engineers-develops-tentative-timeline-to-reopen-fort-mchenry-c/

Thats pretty much exactly what I've done. My investment are through Fidelity. First time I used/setup Stockperks I included a copy of my ownership statement and used that one statement to redeem the perk for 3 different cruises. No login to my Fidelity account needed.

I'm not sure of dollar limits with gift cards applied to onboard spending accounts, however gift cards are not use or lose, thats cruise cash. Gift cards are non-refundable of course, however if you do not spend the entire amount of a gift card, the balance will be returned to another gift card.

We loved the Celebration...we've also done the other 2 Excel class ships, Mardi Gras and Jubilee. We are fans of bigger ships. Have done a few of RCI's Oasis class ships and enjoyed those as well. We are not even close to being cruise ship foodies, we just don't concern ourselves with food or dining options that greatly. Having said that, we did enjoy the more varied , included options Celebration and the other Excel class ships offered. We will always/only do YTD, and having Chibang, Guys P&A and Cucina as dinner time dining options in addition to the MDR and Lido for no charge, or at least no charge for the first time you go is a big plus. We're not fans of the MDR. The layout of the Excel ships takes a little getting used to, but does seem to spread the pax out among the various entertainment and bar options. We had no issues when wanting to hang out on deck getting a lounger, then again, we stay away from the Lido pool madness. I guess one thing we're not real crazy about is the location of the Alchemy bar. We enjoy what the Alchemy bar was about when first introduced some years back, and although the concept remained intact on Excel ships, its now situated in a spot where it feels more like a party bar, and in a location that is pretty noisy. But there are other bars we enjoyed that were a little less rambunctious for our tastes. I'm not big on reading and especially doing reviews, so sorry for not alot of detail other than to say we enjoyed the Celebration and the cruise to the ABC's. Our last 6 cruises were on Excel and Oasis class ships. We have a cruise booked next month on Venezia which is basically laid out similar to the Vista class ships. Going to be interesting to see how going to a "smaller ship" feels!! Incidentally, we've done an 8 day ABC cruise on Horizon also, one of first cruises we did after things opened back up after the COVID shutdown and did enjoy that very much as well

We last did a B2B on Mardi Gras last October. "Things" were a little different from what I've read. We did meet at the Brass Magnolia seating area, were led off the ship to have our faces scanned, took maybe 15 minutes to get off and back on. What we've "heard" is that if there is a "larger" group of B2B'ers, that is when you're more likely to go off and back on...could be true, could be it varies from port to port. We were told there were over 200 B2B'ers. Got back on away we went. No mimosas. Back in our cabin there was a bottle of champagne, fruit basket, and coupons to head down to Pixels and have a "B2B photo taken"...just us 2. Also we each had a coupon for one complimentary drink to be used at any bar onboard. Overall, pretty good experience, however we didn't get to enjoy the full "empty ship" experience as we had friends boarding the second leg who were celebrating a birthday, so we took the time while the ship was empty to head over to their cabin and do some, decorating and other silly stuff...was all greatly appreciated!!

Just kind of an OBTW...I did not see it mentioned, Celebration does an 8 day ABC cruise out of Miami...we did our 5th Southern Carib/ABC on Celebration last May, and was probably the best for us ABC cruise we've done. Or best cruise was the 16 day transatlantic on the Sunshine some years ago. Alaska would be up there, but on our Alaskan cruise last year the weather had other ideas. Nice cruise, but definitely was "subdued" by the weather.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Thats pretty much the only source I get them from. Got a few from Allstate until they stopped offering them.

Not a guarantee iMessage will work without an internet plan, it's it or miss at best. Our last 5 cruises were on all 3 Excel class ships. While the internet access worked very well, iMessage did not unless using the purchased internet plan. Other ships we've sailed iMessage with an internet plan was spotty at best.

Well..again...we've not used plastic gift cards for at least the last dozen or so cruises we've been on, egift cards work well for us. No concern at all with shipping or delivery issues. We use egift to pay our cruise fare, onboard expenses and other items like internet or water we purchase pre-cruise. Same thing...this is what has and continues to work for us. We've saved probably thousands now using them over the years. Our use of egift cards has worked, and continues to work for us.

Not sure what that means. I only get egift cards...Have had to cancel. Refunds were fast and easy...usually refunds go back to original card...or a new ecard is emailed. Nothing missing.

We purchase gift cards and use them to pay the cruise fare prior to sailing. We also purchase them to fund our sign and sail account. We prefer not to mess with cruise cash. Not an issue to add the gift cards to our sign and sail account when checking in at the port, or when we first board. You can also use them pre cruise to pay for specialty dining, internet, excursions etc.

This person did a review of the Venezia last month. I believe if talks about embarkation on the first page or 2. I was also curious as we're on Venezia in May https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2988386-21124-live-super-bowl-sunday-cruise-from-manhattan-to-anitgua-dominica-grenada-st-lucia-st-maarten/

Actually, the latter, while not very functional, is available prior to boarding, I'm accessing it now, and have accessed on several past cruises. While it may appear all it provides is a countdown to whichever booking is active, there are "hooks" in the app to the Carnival website. You can view booking information, book excursions, specialty dining and other options. Again, not the most streamlined or functional app, it is geared more for once onboard, but info for a booked cruise can be accessed via the Hub App, and ultimately from Carnivals web site.

We've taken 3 TA's from Barcelona. Two went a southernly route porting in Miami and New Orleans, both left in November. One took a more northernly route leaving in October that ported in New York, that one had less pleasant, rougher weather and seas. The other 2 had some of the best weather and calmest seas, we've encountered on any of our many other cruises. We anticipated much worse, and were more than thrilled the seas and weather were so enjoyable! But...certainly can't say how the weather will be sailing in March or April, but thought I'd share what we did experience.

Curious...where was it announced Chibang and Cucina are no longer free of charge? Are we talking about the charge for additional visits after the first one, or something else?

They were indeed!!

You may be able grab some chips at the Deco Deli. We were on Jubilee a couple of weeks ago and grabbed a few sandwiches at the Beach Buns deli...basically the same as the Deco Deli on Celebration, and they had potato chips. They'll toss a handful of chips on with a sandwich order, but we asked a couple of times for just chips and they gave them to us. Neither my wife or I can remember exactly what they did on Celebration last year.

Still offered…Categories > In Room Food and Beverages > water

Give this a read on Carnivals very own website https://www.carnival.com/drink-packages/cheers-package/cheers-SUM?icid=default_mcmcard1_cheers_1222020

How was that Comfort Inn, ok at least for a night or 2? We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Galveston for a cruise on Jubilee a couple of weeks ago...we were umm....not pleased with that one, but may consider this one for our Venezia cruise in Mayl

Very nice review. We're sailing Venezia in May, the info you provided will be very useful as we plan our cruise on Venezia...which will be our diamond cruise! Question please. Early in your review you mentioned you'd be staying at a hotel about 2 blocks from the cruise port post cruise. Could you share which hotel that was? Searching shows a view that seem close, but I thought I'd inquire which place you stayed at. Thanks.