JennN

Hi there,

I am cruising for the first time on a holiday (I've been on several other Carnival cruises) - has anyone been on board during Thanksgiving?

Is the food good? Typical fare? Do they do anything special for it? I understand it's not New Year's or Christmas or Hanukkah but just wondering. I don't think they decorate for winter holidays until December, if I remember correctly.

Selected this cruise since my former place of employment gave us half the week off (current gives 2 days) and it would mean more money but having to take less vacation time. Hope it is worth it! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Soap, shampoo,conditioner provided in shower..not sure about hair dryers anymore. Dress, yes. No weight restrictions. Happy cruising. Hope you have a fantastic time!

Actually, there is no conditioner. They give bar soap, body wash and shampoo (my curly mess of a head needs the conditioner!). I don't think there are weight restrictions as my wife and I have had to repack at the airport before because we were 10 pounds over!

As far as tips, there are plenty of ways to search for them in this forum and everyone has their own! Just do as much or as little as you'd like though :) We live in the DC area and have never been on the Pride before but love seeing her in port. Have a blast!

I will be on the Carnival Splendor on the 5-26-16 sailing. We are in room 9201. I know it is a room with an obstructed view, but I was just wondering if anyone has ever been in this type of room. Thank you!!

I love these rooms - inside price but you have a window and we find the rooms to be larger. The walkway outside is one of the "secret decks" and isn't busy. The windows are shaded to keep people from seeing in during the day and the curtain works well at night.

I live in Bethesda, MD and have been traveling to NY (where I was raised) every 2 weeks for the last 3 months because he is getting married. And I am in it.

Annoying to go back and forth so much but I plan it so that I come out of the Ft. McHenry tunnel around 3pm so I can see the Pride!!! :)

I am glad you had a nice time and enjoyed the cruise - and p00 on those people with the gratuities!

We were on this cruise as well. It was my best friend since 3rd grade, 63 yrs now, and myself. We had a wonderful time. We also got a cabana on HMC, #8. We had a horrible time trying to get to it. Wasted about hour and half, before we finally actually made it to the cabana.

We had no one ask to use our shower, but one girl did ask to use one of the floats. She had chairs right below our cabana. We told her yes, but to please return it. She promised, used it for an hour or so, and did bring it back.

But, while we were in the water, 2 more people just helped themselves to floats. We never knew who, nor did we get them back.

So rude. People know those floats are not free, you have to rent them. So to just help yourself to 1, is just so wrong. Some people think they're so "entitled".

So glad our cruise was amazingly "smooth sailing".

Nice of her to ASK the share but rude of the others. Why did it take you so long to find #8??

Glad you had a good time :)

Nice review. We were on that cruise, also and had a wonderful time. I found this to be my new favorite ship as almost every crew member I encountered did a great job. The review brought back good memories! Thank you ;)

Thank YOU for reading it! I like her, second time on her this year. She's not my fave but then again, I've never met a cruise ship I haven't liked!!! :D

You don't go through Philadelphia on the way to Baltimore. You go right from the Jersey Turnpike to the Delaware Turnpike.

Agreed. However, Delaware is always a nightmare. It's taken me excess of 4 hours sometimes in the summer months and weekends to get through those lousy 5 exits!

You never know what delays you might encounter - with air or auto travel - so I'd go the night before.

Anything served in an Alchemy Bar!!

Since it's so subjective, you'll get lots of different answers. We used to love Oceanview aft (2nd floor) but that became too loud for us when docking. We tried midship balconies, and they were ok. But once we got a taste for forward, 9th floor and above, we were hooked.

That said, we're in an aft extended on the 7th floor in Nov on the Splendor and a suite on the Glory (7th floor again) in April.

To each his/her own!

I've been on the Valor twice. April 2013 was our best cruise ever! However, it's my least favorite ship - decor isn't tropical/Caribbean feeling (Americana) and overall it needs several updates.

That being said, I haven't met a cruise I haven't liked yet! Staff was good and food was good - that and turndown twice a day is all I need. Sorry the OP had a problem with noise. However, don't let that deter you from the Valor. If I had, I wouldn't have gone on a second cruise as our after room on our first cruise, the Dream, was sooo noisy going in and out of dock.

Spa does indeed get different shampoo (the bottles you posted a pic of do not get placed in non-spa rooms). Looking forward to the review! Yay selfie-stick :)

I always have good intentions of trying other cruise lines, but as soon as I start quoting them out and comparing price and value, Carnival just can't be beat.

 

Someday I will most likely venture away, but for now the vacation value on Carnival keeps me going back to them.

Same here. Luckily, I haven't yet to feel bored or not feel excited about boarding!

Thanks. How was the steakhouse do you know?

• Steakhouse is fabulous, as always. Free bottle of wine if you book it on the first night!
   
  
• The Serenity area is to die for! It's on the other side of the ship from the screaming kids (and adults) on the water slides! Love it.
   
  
• We didn't go to elegant night for the first time ever and tried JiJi's. Very glad we did. It was yummy, low key and for $15 a person, very well worth it!
   
  
• Havana Bar is a super great place - especially the first 3 days when no one know it's there. They have breakfast yummies and lunch snacks there too (free of charge!)
   
  
• We ate at Capitan's (Italian) for lunch (it was free).
   
  
• The spiked shakes, which was all my MIL and wife raved about the entire year wait until the cruise, weren't very good.
   
  
• ALCHEMY BAR! Best place ever if you drink.
  

Hope that helps! Enjoy!

ETA - it's my favorite ship of the fleet that I've been on. We went last December and hit Cuacao, Aruba and Grand Turk. I loved the layout. It never felt crowded but I think that too depends on the time of year and how booked the ship is

Thanks, great to know this. Deck 3 will probably be my favorite spot again:)

It was ours as well - super quiet, nice breeze, great for reading (I read 5 books on this cruise!)...close enough to a bathroom and bar as well ;)

congrats!!

We love Carnival and have never had a bad experience. That said, keep in mind which ports you're going to. We had a huge issue with a ship-booked excursion in Jamaica. We'll never go there again.

For me, hands down, would be the Vista. The room sleeps 5 so it shouldn't feel TOO cramped, right? LOL

It's a once in a lifetime expense. Right? Then again, I have no kids so I only speak out of selfishness!

I think this is one of the things that is a bigger problem on Cruise Critic than in real life. I understand and sympathize that if it happens to YOU, it will be a big problem and a vacation killer, but I just think it is blown out of proportion here. I'd sure raise a stink, no pun intended, with guest services / security if there was a problem though. don't sweat it though.

Best reply ever!

We had one time where we had balcony and the smoking was so bad, we had to complain. This was before the smoking ban though and Carnival sent them a letter and asked them not to. We wound up going our there only in the wee hours of the AM or really late PM.

I am a former smoker - 12 years quit. However, smoke bothers me a ton. I can only go 10 minutes in the casino or just walking through it before I am coughing. So I avoid it and the starboard side of lido. Doesn't ruin my cruise. I have seen people Vaping in the Serenity area though and again, if there is a staffer nearby, I tell them. If not, I move along.

Thanks for a great review. My family will be on the Sensation in March and doing the same itinerary... Our plan is also to spend the day at Jack's on Grand Turk. We also have a cabana booked for HMC. I am hoping to get number 11 too!!!

#11 rocked! I wish you much success in securing it! :) Let us know how you like the Sensation!

Hi JennN, I have a question about deck three. I see in your photo an upright arm chair on the deck. Did you notice if there were several of these, or was there only the one? I have been on other Carnival ships with that deck 3, and do enjoy that area very much. I like serenity deck, but, I dont take the direct sun very well, so enjoy the shade and the quiet on deck three, but have only ever seen the lounge chairs there, and not many of them. Im getting to be an old gal, and find it hard to get out of those loungers lol. The chair that I see in your photo would be perfect for me, so hope there are a few of these.:) thanks again for your review.

On our deck 3, starboard side, there were at least 40 chairs, alternating between loungers and chairs, on the deck. Around 7pm they'd stack them for the night (we saw them through the dining room window, hehe). So at least 20 chairs. If for some reason that changes, just ask an employee for one - they'd be happy to get one (even happier if you have a $2 tip). I've done this before too (perhaps I too am an old gal but those loungers are just uncomfortable to me!). Thanks!

pauleydm

 

You're more famous than you thought you were... A couple of people have posted about you and the wonderful job you have done on John Heald's page.

 

He would like your real name and cabin #... You can post to him on his page or here if you feel comfortable but please do let him know who you are... YOU DESERVE TO BE RECOGNIZED...

Agreed! Glad he is going to do something (whatever that something is) for you.

We were on the same cruise and had a great time too! We were lucky, we had an excellent room steward. We called him the cleaning ninja. The room was clean and he made sure we had everything we needed. We had 2 balcony rooms side by side with connecting balconies which when open was huge. The rooms were old but well maintained. I would let CCL know on the comments e-mail about your room steward.

 

We may have brought you bad luck in Nassau. Every time we go there, it rains. lol It is our least favorite port and we counted the day as a sea day and just enjoyed the ship.

I made sure to include it in the comments but felt badly. I've had a room steward who gave 100% but not 75%. It was weird.

And yes! I now know who to blame for the rain!!! We pretty much did the same and didn't mind it. Extra sleep time was good!

Thanks for reading!

I wouldn't risk it.

My MIL lives in Maine and we always fly in the day/night before. We're going on a cruise in November - she bought her airfare to Miami in February. Since then, she's gotten 5 schedule changes, all making the plane arrive later in the day.

As others said, I think you knew the answer when you posted but there are lots of things besides the weather that cause delays. Better safe than sorry!

Thank you so much for your review! I am going on Victory next month, and also hope to get down to Jack's shack in Grand Turk. I appreciate the effort to do a review, even a quick one:)

Any time! :) I just hope others think the same.

So, as I mentioned, [the Hurricane formerly known as] Danny hit us when we were in Nassau. There were no announcements so by 7:50am, my wife and I went to the theatre as instructed on our ticket for the Atlantis Aquaventure. We have done this before and loved it and just wanted to enjoy the day hassle free.

Danny had other ideas.

At 8:30am, they announce that any water based excursions would be canceled. At 8:45am they finally announce that Atlantis will close the waterpark if lightening is within 15 miles of it so we could either risk it or downgrade to the Aquarium only.

Um, you can't sell us a waterpark and not give us the option for a full refund. In the end, that's what I got us and a few others in line when one of the reps misspoke. I know it's not Carnival's fault but it's not ours either, right? Anyway, after getting a refund, we went back up to our room and slept for 3 more hours! We had been shutting down Alchemy each night, which is much later than we stay up - having made friends who met us there every night helped! Anyway, we slept, woke up, changed and explored the port for about and hour or so.

Getting back to the ship proved interesting as I GOT HIT ON AGAIN by a port guard - losing that 45 pounds was sure worth it! hey, I was happy and flattered (my wife, not so much!).

All in all, we had a blast. 5 days was totally too short for us but it was better than 4! One other thing - the assistant maitre'd - So, first night in the Fun Times they advertise Chef's Table. We've done it twice (on the Breeze and on the Valor) and my wife was just promoted, I got a new job AND they changed the menu so why not try it? I called on our sea day and the woman told me they were booked but if there were enough people, they'd do a second one. No worries! The 3rd night the Asst Maitre'd finds us in the dining room and tells us to wait by the entrance on our way out. He convinced another couple to do it and had a third couple in the wings so we were on! We got the invite the next morning while in the Bahamas. It asked us to call and confirm and I said to the wife, "do I really need to? I mean we booked it yesterday!" Lucky I did because a couple backed out! We went to read on deck 3 and got back to a note apologizing and a dessert plate compliments of the chef. It was nice that they went out of their way trying to do this for us, even though it didn't pan out in the end.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I hope the review was helpful and thanks for reading!