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I am currently on sister ship Vista and just ran down and took this pic. If you zoom in you can see 2365 to the left.

I'm the minority here who absolutely loved our Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras. Our sailing was over capacity at spring break and I loved the fact that we always had the Havana deck area as an option for a quiet spot with no kids. I'm not a pool/hot tub person so I don't care about the smaller pool/no hot tub (in fact I prefer it as it kept the Havana area deck so calm and quiet). Yes, the pool is smaller but when people did use it, they pretty much had it to themselves (I never saw more than 1 family at a time using it and that was rare). The loungers were never more than 50% full. Although there is a walkway in front of your cabana balcony, we only saw someone walk by it once or twice the entire cruise. Yes, all of the Havana Cabanas had the swing chair (loved it for relaxing and reading). We had 3 family members in the Havana Cabana and 2 in an interior across the hall, and had more than enough space on our balcony area (and the area in front of it which also has lounge chairs) for all of us to hang out. Over Christmas, I would definitely pay $1,200 for Havana Cabana.

Thank you for the good and bad news. We are on the Spirit out of Seattle in a few months (Panama Canal itenerary) and I'm dreading the Seattle port experience. I think we will arrive later in the day to hopefully avoid the crowd/chaos (it's the one port we can drive to). I agree that it is a good idea to check your account frequently (on all of the ships). We were on the Dream recently and were charged nearly $100 at Bonsai Sushi (and we never went there). Initially guest services kind of gave us a hard time asking if we could have bought drinks/food anywhere near the restaurant (kept questioning us if it could possibly be our charges and we weren't remembering). Finally, I asked what time the charges were made - the representative looked it up and realized it had only happened 20 minutes prior. Then as we were standing there, more charges appeared. She then contacted Bonsai Sushi and asked them to figure out what was going on. I've never eaten there, but apparently people can write their folio number on a slip of paper and that is the account that gets charged? That is how they explained it anyway. It took about 45 minutes but the charges did get removed.

Something to consider, we have done the Hawaii itenerary twice on Carnival and found that it wasn't the typical younger, fun, loud Carnival crowd. In my opinion the passengers were older and were there for the destination, not just a fun cruise. So I thought it was a bit different than a typical Carnival cruise anyway. We were also on Spirit and really liked it - yes, it's an older ship but I like the layout and it never felt crowded (which is important to me when on a cruise for that long). It has some great quiet interior spaces to relax or read if you have bad weather and don't want to be out on deck.

I totally understand what you are saying and agree each situation is different. It's just 2 of us, we travel a lot, and when our vacation is over, I just want to head home. I prefer to take my chances on an earlier flight home knowing I might have to change our flight last minute (in 27 cruises we haven't had to yet ... knock on wood...) but I'm always prepared for that. We only fly into a port on the day of the cruise when I can get an early direct flight. Otherwise we go the day before. The thought of missing our flight home doesn't stress me near as much as possibly missing the ship. 🙂 Back when we traveled with more family members we were a lot more cautious, but with just the 2 of us we can be flexible and deal with the unexpected easier. Since we are on the west coast and the Long Beach port has multiple airport options, I'm pretty laid-back with those travel plans. Flying form Florida all the way across the country is a different story.

Thank you for posting - we are on Panorama 7/1 and did not receive the email (but that is not uncommon). I have an great flight out LGB at 10 am (and have easily made that flight in the past) but with this announcement I am going to change it to a later time. ☹️

Thank you! I will check that out. The only thing that really bothered me from the reviews is the plumbing issues - quite a few people mentioned toilets not flushing and things like that. I'm pretty easy going, and almost any day on a ship is better than a day at work, but plumbing issues do stress me out.

Thank you - the reviews I've read so far have not been especially positive (making me nervous for our cruise the beginning of August). Looking forward to your review!

I know you were asking OP, but if I could make a suggestion - last fall when we sailed Panorama, we hiked up to the El Faro Lighthouse (it is a Carnival excursion). Carnival rates it a "difficult activity level", but It's a lot like climbing Diamond Head in Hawaii (in regard to how strenuous it is). We absolutely loved it - great exercise, amazing view from the top. But I should clarify, we had perfect weather for the hike (cool and breezy), I've heard the it can be brutal in hot weather.

Agreed - we spent a week dodging Hurricane Kay on Panorama. For the last 2 or 3 days of the cruise the pools were drained, the weather was terrible, most outside decks were closed, we had to skip a port, and of course we had rough seas. Nobody (that I'm aware of) expected compensation - it's the chance you take when you cruise, but I did hear more than a few people say that was their first and last cruise.

I wasn't crazy about it when we were there last month, and it didn't help that I got tons of mosquito bites. From now on, I will probably get off for a quick walk/run on the beach and then return to the ship. On our trip every single thing was sold out from the cabanas to the clamshells. We chose the bike excursion - It was fun to do once, wouldn't do it again.

And the Dream - No complaints at all (we ate there 7 out of 8 nights).

My daughter's college spring break is the 1st week of March, so I would agree, March seems to be College Spring break and then the younger kids in our extended family have the first full week of April as their Spring break.

We were on Celebration in January and really liked it. As someone mentioned, it's very much like Mardi Gras. I agree with everything mentioned above except I didn't realize ChiBang had a lot of negative reviews - we loved it on both Mardi Gras and Celebration (we ended up choosing it over Cucina most of the time). One thing I did notice with the cabins being more narrow, I saw way more scooters parked in the hallways, so I'm guessing they don't fit in the rooms very well.

I actually don't prefer the upper decks anymore. I used to believe the higher floors were better (because that is what they tell you when they want to sell you an upgrade) but recently we tried a cove balcony (deck 2) for the first time and absolutely loved it. We loved being able to take the stairs to the common areas on decks 3, 4, and 5. We loved being so close to the gangway for getting on and off in the ports among other things. I don't necessarily care if I'm on a higher or lower deck, but I do care what is above and below my room because I'm a light sleeper. Congrats on the spa cabin upgrade - sounds like it worked out perfectly for your needs.

We love cove balconies too! We could hear the sound of the waves (even with the balcony door closed, and it helped drown our loud laughter/talking in the hallway that usually wakes me in the middle of the night. I'd book again for that reason alone. We also loved being on such a low deck when getting on/off at the ports (we are usually on 7 or higher). We saw dolphins multiple times. We had some pretty good storms but stayed dry and out of the wind on our balcony. With it being shaded, we used it so much more than a balcony where we'd get hot and have to go inside. I'd take that offer in a heartbeat!

Great suggestion - I found a good video of one of these rooms on Horizon. It's pretty cool but does not seem to be a cove (at least not like the cove I was in). I'll try to paste the link below.

Very interesting - we were just in a cove balcony on the Dream but they did not have any on the back of the ship (those cabins were ocean view w/a window). We absolutely love the cove balconies on the side of the ship but I don't know if I'd like one on the back. The airflow/breeze is slightly reduced due to being a cove, and then our aft balcony cabins in general never had much of a breeze, so I'd worry they might get hot and stuffy (I guess it depends on the weather). I'm curious to hear what you decide!

I'm so neurotic about room location that it wasn't until my 25th cruise that I finally went for balcony guarantee. We ended up with a cove balcony (with the dining room above us) on the Dream and absolutely loved it. We came home and immediately booked another cove balcony (on Horizon) in a similar location. As far as when you will receive your room assignment, we got ours much earlier than I expected. On the Dream it was about 75 days out, and on the Vista about 50 days prior.

With so many suggesting you should get 2 rooms, I can't help but chime in and say you have a plan that is very doable and can save a lot of money (sometimes enough to take a second cruise!) 🙂. We have put 2 parents and 2 teens in an interior cabin several times and it was just fine (in fact now that my kids are all adults, I really miss those days and look back on those trips fondly. We were almost always in the cabin at opposite times. We tend to get up early and hit the track, whereas the teens would stay out late and sleep until noon. There is so much to do and so many places to go (other than your cabin) that we spent very little time in the room (pretty much were there just to sleep). A couple organizational tips/tricks that I still use today (even though it's usually just the 2 of us) - bring a portable/pop-up laundry hamper (it folds flat into about a 10 inch square - easily fits in my carry-on). A portable shoe organizer can also be helpful (especially if the teens are girls).🙂 Have a great trip!

The Indian Vegetarian (and I'm not a vegetarian, I just love it that much).

We've had 2 issues w/luggage (out of 25 cruises) and now only travel with carry-ons. The first was a lost bag (lost for the first 3 days of a 7 day cruise) but it really wasn't Carnival's fault. From what I understand, multiple teenage boys were sharing the room next door and grabbed it while moving their luggage in (not realizing it didn't belong to any of them). And yes, leave it up to teenage boys to not realize, even after it sat in their room for days, that it wasn't one of theirs. The cabin steward finally figured it out. The other issue was more recent - a damaged bag - it arrived with a wheel torn off (and a sharp screw sticking out where the wheel used to be) and a 3 inch tear in the bag itself (fortunately nothing damaged/missing). I'm not necessarily freaked out about Carnival and checked luggage, it's just easier overall to travel with just a carry-on (on the flights and the cruise) since we have to fly to nearly every port. We have also had Southwest lose our checked bags on the way to a cruise. Maybe we just have bad luck with luggage.

I agree - we have been on Mardi Gras twice, Celebration once, and should be on the second sailing of Jubilee (fingers crossed no more cancellations). The Excel class ships are a game changer.

Wow so jealous - I'd love that deal!

It's interesting to me that a higher floor is considered an upgrade, I would rather be closer to the water. I think your location on deck 5 is better.