JohnSpo

Glad to hear the benefit has been extended. I acquired the stock in November and I have already received the OBC twice. This will keep me sailing Carnival for sure. I enjoy Carnival cruises. I would be sailing Carnival anyway so receiving dividends and OBC is a bonus.:cool:

In Nassau, Junkanoo Beach is a 15 minute walk from the pier. It can be a little crowded but you can buy good/cheap food and drinks there. If Junkanoo Beach is too crowded for you, you can continue walking for another 5 minutes and the beach will still be nice and much less crowded. Enjoy.:cool:

I booked the single no supplement rate in November and I did get the OBC. Now that the no supplement rates have been out for a while and are being more widely used, I guess Carnival now considers this a discount and is not allowing the OBC.

They should at least apply half the OBC.

I like to put in mostly vegetables, with extra mushrooms. A small amount of rice noodles. The sauces I use are half Thai bbq sauce and half black bean. I believe the Thai bbq sauce is on the spicey side so mixing in the black bean sauce make it more on the mild side.:cool:

I don't need all the wow factor of the newer RCCL ships. I'm not going to zip line, ice skate, surf, rock climb, etc. I know what I'm going to get with a Carnival cruise and I'm good with that. I think RCCL is good for some people, but I'm not willing to pay more for features that I won't use.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I totally agree. I like not having to pay for things I will not be doing. Overall I think that Carnival offers great value for the cruise fare they charge. The good food and great service also keeps me coming back.:cool:

You know the dumbing down and anything goes attitude in society is getting a little old and boring. How about we all put our big boy/girl pants on and enjoy our meal in the steakhouse. Is it really that big a deal to wear pants in a fine dining establishment.:cool:

Usually I go to YTD late about 9:15pm. This is after the early lounge show finishes. At this time there is no wait, I am always able to choose my wait staff and table. Service at this time is not rushed but it is quicker later in the service. I am usually finished in about 45 minutes.

If I go at peak time it is because I want to see a specific show. If YTD is busy at that time, you can request your wait staff and table type, they will give you a pager to tell you when the table is ready. I then go have a drink and wait for the pager to buzz. This usually has taken less than a half hour. It sure is better than waiting on line. You just have to plan your time accordinly.:cool:

I have found if you go to Your Time Dining when they first open, you will have no problem choosing your requsted wait staff. You can even get a table for 2 if you want and not have to wait. You may wait on the early line that forms, but if you want to eat early, you will have no problem getting what you want.

I usually eat late so I always get the wait staff and table I want. :cool:

Last time I went which was about couple years ago I believe it was $100 off a future 6-8 day cruise.

This was still in effect on my Splendor cruise last month. 3 to 5 day cruises receive $50 on board credit and longer than 8 days received $200.

The rate you get is the same as you would get online. The only discount is the amounts mentioned above.

Splendor offered double the on board credit if you book a cruise that sailed by May 31, 2014. That is a super deal. Unfortunately I could not take advantage of it.

The 25% discount is a good deal. I have gotten the wine package a few times. I have always gotten the first level package and the wines have all been good.

:cool:

We were told no shorts on Miracle earlier this month.

In a fine dining restaurant, shorts should not be allowed. Glad to see Carnival following their policy. :cool:

Jamman, I get what you said about the smaller ships. I was on Ecstasy out of Port Canavera in November. I wasn't sure what to expect on a smaller ship but Ecstasy was awesome. It had most of the bells and whistles of the larger ships but it did not have the crowds.

I enjoyed your review and photos. It reminded me of the ports that Ecstasy went to. HMC is the best.

Thanks for an excellent review Jamman.

Happy sailing!:cool:

I read the acceptable birth certificate is an official one you obtain from your state not the hospital issued one. I live in New York and it cost $15.00 and took about 2 weeks to receive. I did the transaction online.

Make sure you use the correct birth certificate or you might not be allowed to board.

Great review of your Conquest cruise. I am booked for a January 2015 sailing on Conquest with the same itinerary. Thank you for sharing.:cool:

Who cares, its all a sham. Wasted our time walking into one of the art auctions a couple of years ago, enticed by the art and free champagne. Geez, i wish i could get that hour back.

Just out of curiosity, why do you consider it a sham?

My favorites are:

Buffet Desserts: apple crumb cake served at the embarkation lunch and the key lime pie.

MDR Dinner: WCMC with butter pecan ice cream; coconut layer cake and the warm bread pudding cake with the white chocolate sauce.

Steakhouse - cheese cake.:cool:

I will do one load of laundry during a cruise. I normally bring my own quarters. Will guest services make change for quarters?

My favorite is what I get every morning: omlette, potatoes, fresh fruit and croissant and coffee. I have this in either the MDR or buffet. The omlettes are always great. I do ask for just a small amount of oil for the omlettes because they tend to be on the greasy side. When in the MDR, I make sure I have the french toast and the round hashbrowns along with my omlette breakfast. This meal will keep me going all morning without getting hungry.

Overall Carnival does have good food.:cool:

On Ecstasy in November, the coffee was horrible in the buffet but good in the MDR. I bought coffee in the coffee bar a lot on this cruise.:eek:

On Splendor last month, the buffet coffee was much better, on par with the MDR. It was good enough in the buffet that I did not have to go to the coffee bar on this cruise.:cool:

Perhaps Carnival got a new brand of coffee for the buffet for 2014 sailings.:confused:

I booked last week,got an OV for $349 with tax solo rate.

Now that is the deal of the year. Good job!

I was on Splendor in January. It was on the cold side but a great cruise overall. Enjoy your cruise!:cool:

Ma40, if you or others in your party are not travelling with a spouse/BF/GF and would like to have your own cabin, you should look at the "1" Traveller rate. You may get a solo cabin rate for close to what you are paying for 2 in the cabin. This happens sometimes close to sail date and the ship is not sold out.

Sometimes when Carnival has a sale going on, certain categories of fares may not be available. Keep checking, past guest will return.:cool:

The past guest party is always pleasant but predictable. The best part for me is talking to guests at the party. I have met a few guests that cruise many times a year and it is interesting to hear a sea warriors impression of Carnival. So far they have always been positive about Carnival.

I have never seen people tipping at the part but I will do it next time to get beer on tap instead of the sweet drinks.:cool:

I was on the Jan 20th Splendor sailing out of NYC to Florida/Bahamas. Even though it was snowing and bad weather up and down the East coast, the seas were not rough. It was a nice 8 days at sea. I am sure we were lucky this week as I have heard the seas out of NYC are usually more on the rough side.:cool:

 

My only word of caution...this itinerary usually has tendered ports. The transfer to the tender can be rough. DH and I are both pretty agile for fifty-somethings, but our cruise had a lot of people that required assistance....one ended up in his lap, lol! Just something to consider if it applies.

If tendering is an issue, the Carnival ports of Boston, Portland, St John and Halifax were not tender ports. Not having to tender certainly did make it eary to get on and off the ship.:cool: