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Thanks , Poobears.it is really a personal decision. I appreciate your thoughts. Darn Carnival just opened insides for $879 and now I'm thinking of switching to that. This is the part of traveling that I don't like. Decisions!

Micha's Grandad, it is expensive, but hubs won't sail from anywhere but Norfolk this year, and we don't want to leave our dog for 7 days. Guess we're stuck!

Thanks, NCTribefan. You are right..one time sailing this year. I great idea to check with the roll call.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I have a few hours left to mull it over. Thanks.

Thats steep shop around youll definetly be able to find a better deal

I know! I probably could . Wondering if we should wait a year.

Is that this October 2016? I just went on the website to try to compare it and it is no longer showing that sailing which most likely means it is sold out and you have the last room on hold. To book an Ocean View for Jun/Oct 2017 your looking at $600-800 pp on a 5 night, because those are not sold out and are pretty far in advance. Seems like since you booked late, even though October isn't soon, since the ship was pretty much sold out the rates jumped up.

 

In reality your spending $200-250 more pp, yes it might seem like a lot for a 5 night cruise in October, but I'm assuming you live close to Norfolk so for you to jump on something out of Florida in October it wouldn't be worth the savings.

Yes, we live within easy driving distance. It is such a simple excursion for us. I was just looking at Bermuda cruises from NYC and they were less expensive. Thank you so much for your thoughts.

I have an ocean view cabin deck 1 on hold traveling from Norfolk VA to Bermuda in October.To me , it seems expensive... $1029 pp 5 days. What are your thoughts?

I just began reading this thread! Good news!

Thanks to all for your thoughts. I guess I will see come final payment. Just can't pay more for an inside cabin than I paid for a balcony only a couple of weeks ago on the same ship. I guess Bermuda is limited. Last sailing was to the Bahamas.

Thinking of booking a Bermuda cruise in October, and there are only a couple of inside cabins left. Does anyone find that some more will open up after final payment is due? Thanks in advance. I didn't think that Bermuda would be such a popular destination in late October.

Thank you Shirley. I don't think we had near that number of points for a bounce back, but we did get a "casino offer" for the cruise we just took, and it was a couple hundred lower than the going rate. Guess we should spend more time in the casino! I appreciate your explanation.

Would someone please explain what a "Bounce Back" rate means. Thanks in advance!

We just took a 5 day on Sunshine out of Norfolk. We are seniors also, and everyone was well behaved. We never saw anyone who was drunk or who behaved inappropriately. Have fun!

Thanks for your mini-review. I'm glad to hear you had a good cruise.

 

I have a question about the Maasdam. We will be cruising on her in August. It will be our first HAL cruise. We have cruised on Carnival previously. I'm very interested in hearing your opinion of the Maasdam. What did you enjoy about it?

 

Thanks!

Jim, we sailed the Maasdam from Norfolk twice... 10 and 11 day cruises. We loved the quiet nature of the passengers. The casino crowd was the friendliest ever. The cabin was the best inside we have ever had. The dining room was elegant and the servers were so engaging. We loved all the brass all around the ship. The gym was great.. Many classes and lots of room.The aft pool was so relaxing. We have sailed her three times.we are in our 60's so we were not looking for a fab nightclub experience, however, the crows nest was a great place to dance the night away.. Plus the dancers from the show came up there every night to dance! Awesome!

The safes were locked with a number pad.

Hi! I emailed to ask for a table for two at late dining. It was our 40th anniversary and only a five day cruise, so we wanted to sit alone . He emailed back within a couple of days.

You are welcome. This is our second favorite ship after Maasdam. We love what Carnival has done with Destiny. We are very impressed with the evolution of the Carnival brand.

I don't think Emma (CD) sang during the stage show, but she was out in the atrium after the show. Yes, the after show was awesome.the cast was wonderful. We were up one deck with a bird's eye view. Fantastic !

We had a great time on Sunshine leaving from Norfolk, VA. The ship was a bit late arriving due to a parade of sail in the harbor. We waited in line for about an hour to check in, and another hour to get through security. We were in our cabin by 5 p.m. We had a balcony on the Lido deck. It was very convenient. Everything was so clean and the whole ship sparkled. I never noticed any odors except smoke in the casino.

The food was very good. We ate in the dining room three nights. One afternoon we had a Guy's burger about 5 , and we're not hungry for dinner at 8:15. We ate at the buffet around 9 instead. The buffet had a good variety of choices. Our favorite place to have breakfast was the Havana Bar. It was never crowded. The breakfasts were great. We don't eat lunch, so I can't comment on that time of day.

The shows were very good. We enjoyed each one, but especially Motor City.We never go to the comedy club.

We had been to both Nassau and Freeport many times, so we just got off and walked around. The weather was perfect.

The Serenity deck was awesome. We got one of those enclosed loungers every morning. Even on sea days they were available. The pool and hot tub were very nice.

If anyone has questions, I will be happy to respond.We are impressed with Sunshine, and would love to sail on her again.

We were on Sunshine last week, and watched the game in the sports bar. It was packed!

SH ...just emailed him a couple of weeks ago.

Lucky you found a small bottle! We were going to take on a gallon, but just used regular bottled water instead. It worked fine.

I emailed the matte d of the ship and asked. Got an email back within a day confirming the ok.

Thank you all so much for advice/opinions. I appreciate it!

Thank you so much!