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We have done several repositioning cruises w/Carnival (they are our favorite)! The ones we have done have been on Spirit class ships, which we really like. They are smaller with not as much to do, but they have a great layout and never feel crowded. In our experience, it's a much older crowd than we usually see on Carnival (last year we did 16 days through the Panama Canal and there were less than 20 kids on ship). I didn't feel the same party vibe I usually do on a Carnival ship (in fact it was the most empty I've ever seen the bars). People seemed to be there more for the itenerary/experience. I thought the shows and comedians were great (comedians rotated on/off the ship throughout the journey). There were also experts on board who held presentations. Our ship offered a lot of activities (there was a frequent painting class that was really popular). I've also done the Panama Canal on a HAL ship and it was very similar (the crowed was probably a bit younger on Carnival but not much!).

Agreed! I also don't consider a higher deck an upgrade but Carnival tries to sell it as if it is. I've seen upgrades offered where passengers would go from a cabin sandwiched between cabin decks to a room right under Lido (that would be a huge downgrade to me but I'm a light sleeper). I love NCLs process for selling upgrades (a bidding process) - I wish Carnival would switch to something like that.

We were on the Panorama (out of Long Beach) for Hurricane Kay. All of our port stops were changed to different days (and we ended up skipping a port) but the captain managed to dodge the bad weather for a few days. Unfortunately the last 3 days of the cruise were bad - very rocky seas, high winds, rain. Most of the outdoor decks were closed and pools were drained. They will do the best they can to dodge bad weather/storms but with the Mexican Riviera there aren't a lot of options. Regarding the terminal at Long Beach - yes it has a very large indoor space but they are typically pretty strict about not letting people into the terminal until their arrival appointment (you will see long lines outside divided up by arrival appointment).

It's working fine for me - just got done with a booking. It was a little slow, but I thought that was my internet connection.

It is open to everyone - here is a picture I took of that pool a few weeks ago on jubilee.

You won't lose your OBC but the offer might be gone (taken by someone else) by the time you try to "accept" it (that happened to us).

We have been on Celebration twice and absolutely love it. So many restaurant and entertainment options, the ship can be your destination (there were some ports we didn't even get off) and you never get bored. We have been on around 30 Carnival ships and feel their Excel class is a whole new experience.

I was going to say the same thing - we have been on around 35 cruises (once during a hurricane) and only one time were seas rough enough that the captain ordered everyone inside the vessel. Even in that instance they did not close off our our cove balcony with the big steel door.

We were just talking about this when we were on Jubilee. We have been on all 3 Excel class ships, and Mardi Gras is the only one where we saw views of the ocean and it was so stunning. I don't understand why Celebration and Jubilee don't do this, but we paid particular attention on Jubilee and never saw the open ocean view.

Exactly - I have purchased multiple days as needed throughout the cruise, but it is a little more expensive to do it that way.

If you have "Your Time Dining" you can request a table (in the app) anytime the restaurant is open for dinner (I believe it is between 5:30 - 9:00). That is what we did. I haven't experienced it, but I've heard that if you have an assigned (early or late) dining time, you can't request a table until 7:30 I think. We have never tried it, but I don't believe you can request a table at the door - I think they will direct you to the app. We were on Jubilee the end of December and at that time the specialty restaurants were running extremely slowly (for example, it took exactly an hour to get our dinner after the appetizer at Cucina). It's likely because the crew was new to working together, etc. so it might be better now.

I totally agree - we were on the NYE sailing of Jubilee and we were told 50% of the ship qualified for priority. I heard it was the same situation on the inaugural (and Christmas) cruise the week before. I mostly felt bad for the crew, debarkation was kind of crazy. Carnival needs to revamp their VIFP program.

That is interesting - I'm not booked on a Carnival ship until the end of August, but if I look at my planner, I do see a check-in date under my To-Do List (and we have not made final payment yet) so I'm not sure why you aren't seeing that on your May 2024 cruise.

We were on Horizon for Christmas several years ago (out of Miami). It was okay, but we didn't love being on a ship for Christmas and don't have plans to do it again (even though we cruise on the majority of the holidays as that is what works best for my work schedule). Based on some of the things you mentioned, I'm wondering if you've considered a New Year's Eve cruise? We found that to be so much fun and will definitely do it again (already booked on Celebration for next time around). For Christmas, I just felt bad for the crew members who couldn't be home with their families. It's a different atmosphere - a nice, family oriented cruise with tons of kids/families, whereas NYE was just fun. Not so many kids, and the NYE party was incredible (it's one of just a few instances where I've seen many off-duty crew members up on deck taking pictures/videos). It was just a really fun/friendly crowd in general the entire week. And Carnival did other unique things, like a special menu for NYE (in addition to it being formal night) and a buffet offering (special breakfast menu) following the party (in addition to their regular late-night buffet). They also passed out champagne at the party just before midnight. I can't think of anything else right now, but there were other specials (I think I heard something about additional free bingo cards w/the purchase of a package). Either way, based on our experience cruising Thanksgiving, Christmas, and NYE, I would recommend a Vista or Excel class ship. It will be an extremely full ship and I feel like they do the best job at dispersing the crowd around the ship (w/more food and entertainment options) so it doesn't feel as crowded. Even so, things like the first sea day brunch were very popular (plan on at least a 1.25 - 2 hour wait to get in for example). Not complaining, just saying plan accordingly.

I agree. In our experience (just last summer) we couldn't use the app in a case like this - we just walked up to the door of the MDR, they asked our cabin number, and seated us. In our case (a party of 2) we did get our own table, but I can see where that could vary by ship. The app will specify "open dining/open seating" or something like that, so you know it's not a typical dinner process.

I caught a cold during the trip/wasn't feeling well and didn't make it to "Dear Future Husband" but my travel companions loved that show. They said it's one of the best shows they've seen on Carnival.

On Jubilee all 3 are included and you can go as many times as you'd like. On sister ships Mardi Gras and Celebration, you pay $8 per person after more than one visit to Chibang and Cucina (I'm not sure about Pig and Anchor though). Having just got off Jubilee yesterday, we found these restaurants had incredibly slow service (for example it was one full hour between appetizer and main course in Cucina). But we were on the second sailing and the crew was not accustomed to working together yet, so that probably explains it. Hopefully it will be better soon.

Luminosa does not have Guys Burgers, but they have something similar (I think it's maybe just called "The Grill") and we thought it tasted just like Guys. Both Spirit and Luminosa have a retractable roof over the pool. The covered pool on Luminosa was popular (and definitely warm enough when we were in Alaska last August).

I posted this in a similar topic (link below if you'd like to take a look at other responses): We were on Luminosa in August and Spirit in September (both departing from Seattle) but different itineraries. We really enjoyed both ships and I think it comes down to personal preferences. Both are a nice size and layout, never really felt crowded. No long lines for anything. They are older ships but both were clean and well maintained. On Luminosa we enjoyed the on-demand movies in our room, but that was not an option on Spirit. Spirit seems to have a lot more for kids (water slides/water park, etc.). Luminosa doesn't have the slides/water park or even a mini golf course (well I guess they have a putting green or something but much smaller than Carnival's typical mini golf). Aside from the kids club and the pools, it didn't seem like there was much for kids to do on Luminosa. We liked the food a little better on Spirit, but that might have just been due to timing and that specific cruise. I've heard the spas are different on each, but I'm not a spa person, so I don't know for sure. According to the website Luminosa has Cloud 9 and Spirit has Spa Carnival (from what I've read Luminosa has Thermal Suite and Hydrotherapy pool but I did not see those listed on Spirit (but again, not personal experience, so I could be wrong). I liked the walking/running track better on Luminosa. I thought it was bigger/better located. Luminosa offered a Steakhouse Brunch for $25 per person, so we expected the same on Spirit but never saw it on the schedule (though I've heard others have experienced it so maybe just not on our itenerary). When booking our trips, I was a bit concerned about Luminosa because the reviews I had read were not good. Several mentioned plumbing issues, but we had none (aside form a slow draining shower). Fairly recent discussion on Spirit vs Luminosa link below: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2969967-luminosa-or-spirit

Debarkation was kind of a challenge this morning. With 50% of the passengers considered priority, it was a huge group. I heard a lot of people complaining but I thought the crew handled it well/the best they could. I do think Carnival needs to revamp their loyalty program though (this is the second time in 4 months that we have been on a ship where at least half of the passengers were platinum/diamond). We were off the ship by 8:00 to find that dense fog was creating havoc on the freeway. We saw multiple accidents and the freeway shut down in both directions at various points. We arrived at the airport to find our flight is delayed unfortunately (I guess it comes with the territory of traveling during the holidays/winter).

No, I didn't think it was bad at all compared to the smaller ships.

Our weather has changed significantly. Wind and rain - the water is splashing out of the pools. It's surprising how rocky these big ships can get!

We were recently on the Spirit for a 16 day Panama canal cruise, and I agree with everything you have to say about the ship. I was a little worried we would be bored with it being a smaller ship, but it was just so pleasant and relaxing, it was great. We have experienced all of the carnival classes and agree, Spirit is one of the best.

Ooops Sorry I got those out of order. That is filtered by shows (does not include comedians) - there are a bunch of those throughout afternoon/evening also.