hpugirl27

Thank you both! That's good to hear. I know my son will love Alaska and the excursions, but he really enjoyed going to be with the other kids in the evening, so it's nice to know that there should still be a good amount of kids on board!

Has anyone taken younger children on an Alaskan cruise? We're thinking of going when my son will be 8. He's a good traveler and really wants to see Alaska and will enjoy looking for animals off the side of the ship as well, but....are there still a decent number of kids on those cruises? He loved the kids club on his last cruise and I was wondering if it would be similar in that aspect?

Thanks for your thoughts on the Victory, we're sailing her next month! Glad you enjoyed your first cruise!

I'm sailing in August and would love to know if deck 6 has been updated!

same exact thing happened to me. Said final payment date was 6/19 and that I had a balance of $534. Except it's been paid for weeks now. Carnival website say's I'm all paid up. I was wondering if I should call, but sounds like it's just something wrong in their system.

We'll be in our first ever balcony room on Aug 18. We'll be happy either way, but it would be great if those pink bathrooms got updated!

Have any of you heard of the Chef's Table getting more seats available? I thought I'd be good booking it for a quick 3 day Cruise in the Victory in August, but they emailed me back saying they were full and would put me on a waiting list. Have any of you got in from a waiting list before?

Yes, get the social package. We left my son with his grandma and it was great to use Facebook Messenger to talk to each other. We also had grandma post pics of our son so that we could see that he was okay, having fun, etc. We sent them pics of us too so that my son could see us. Worked great!

Thanks for posting your review! It brought back a lot of wonderful memories as I sailed the Sensation with my husband last summer. (I have a review of it in my sig too).

I also found your review of the Paradise on your website. We took my son on his first cruise this past January on the Paradise! It was so fun looking at your reviews and reliving our own memories. You all look like you had a great time!!

On our 3-day cruise, it was on the last night, not elegant night. It was set up in the library and we saw the group walk through the dining room with the executive chef.

Thank you so much. So I guess it could be different. I would definitely prefer it to be a night other than elegant night. Thanks for letting me know where it was held too, I was wondering about that!

Thank you so much for posting this! Do you happen to know which night the Chef's Table was?

Nevermind, i see that it's on Elegant Night, thank you!

Thank you so much for posting this! Do you happen to know which night the Chef's Table was?

Yes, my son was turning 6 about a week after out cruise. Everyone agreed to have him try out the 2-5 age group the first night and if he felt too old, the staff would allow him to move up for the rest of the cruise. And that's what happened, he felt too old for the 2 to 5 year Olds and absolutely loved being with the 6 to 8 year olds.

These shows are on the Imagination and I avoided them. I wish 88 keys was on miracle, I've heard that is excellent.

 

 

 

I no longer see carnival from my condo front porch :(

Yes, thank you. This (88 keys) was the one I had forgotten the name of. We thought this show was very good.

Ok, we'll I guess I'm speaking for the other side. My husband and I tend to like Carnival shows. This coming from two people who have lived in Vegas and seen a lot of great (and not so great shows) there. We thought Epic Rock was really really good. Another was great too, unfortunately I don't remember the name of it right now. The comedy club usually has at least one really good comedian on board. You can always check them out and leave after a bit if they're not for you.

I always thought we would never get the Cheers program because for us, it just wouldn't make sense. We don't drink 15 drinks per day. But, this new enhancement I think really changes the game and will make Carnival a lot more money by reaching a broader audience. My husband and I both like our coffees, and my husband loves nice wine and good quality liquors. Plus, I like how it includes bottled water. This could make port days easier to reach limit by bringing water into port. Now, it might make sense for us along with the couple other drinks per day we might have.

So having been on a few great RC cruises, but in the mood to try something new, we are taking our first family Carnival cruise on the Magic in July. Having absolutely no first-hand experience with Carnival I have developed a list of things I am anticipating and and a (shorter) list of things I am not looking forward to based solely on my research and reading these forums.

 

 

 

Singing/Dancing Waiters

We have My time Dining…will we see this or is that only for the regular seatings?

 

Yes, they have the singing/dancing waiters for YTD as well. You might end up missing it if you happen to be there super early and eat fast, or if you dine very late.

 

 

Sea day Brunch

This one is self-explanatory…that menu looks awesome and allows us to sleep in and then enjoy.

 

Yes, be excited! This is delicious and my favorite dining experience of the cruise. If any of you are mac and cheese lovers, be sure to get it!!!

 

 

 

 

Lines and beepers at MTD.

I have to say that RC does this really, really well. We have never waited more than 5 minutes on RC and I have read many accounts of long waits with Carnival….hope it’s not as bad as all that!!

 

We always do YTD and out of 3 cruises, have only had to use a beeper one day. We tend to eat pretty early, around 6pm. It is usually always busier on formal nights, but again....we've never had to wait long.

 

 

 

So-so entertainment.

I am really hoping it is not as dull as everyone says it is. We have really enjoyed the RC shows. That being said, I find that the shows take up a lot of time and your schedule is always revolving around them. If the shows do stink, I think we will try to just do simple family things like ping pong, dive in movies, shuffleboard…it might be more fun than the constant schedule of dinner and show…again, especially with the already hectic port intensive itinerary.

 

This is coming from a girl who used to live in Las Vegas and loved their shows: I think Carnival shows are mostly great. Now, don't expect Vegas, but my husband and I thought they were entertaining and really well done. We also really enjoy the comedy club. There is usually at least 2 comics on the cruise, and we tend to find that one is really funny, while the other not so much, but that's just personal opinion. Either way, we make sure not to miss the comedy club or shows on our cruises.

Does anyone know if you want to purchase food and alcohol from the menu (not pre paid buffet) if you can pay in USD or if they only accept credit cards? Thanks!

Thanks everyone! But this was from a few months back..we're actually leaving in just a couple of days now! I did choose the Paradise by the way, thanks!

Great! Thanks so much for the reply!

Does anyone know if they offer the Sea Day brunch on every sea day or just once per cruise? Specifically for the Paradise if that matters. We love the brunch but have only ever been on cruises with 1 sea day before.

Loving the review so far! We sail on her in a couple of days!

Thanks for the review! We'll be on the Paradise in just a couple of days! You mentioned they had the Sea Day brunch on the first sea day.....did they also offer it on the 2nd sea day? I love the brunch and was really hoping to get it 2 days, haha!

I would also like to know this. We are leaving January 4th with an almost 6 year old...

Ooo! I can't wait for your review! I'll be on the Paradise in about 18 days. There's not usually to much information on her, so I'll be watching for your review. Glad you had a great time! Thanks!