mwood0612

During my planning phase I always think I am going to do these things but never seem to! On our next cruise I am determined to:

1. Spend time on the Serenity Deck

2. Go down the water slide

3. Go to Karaoke

4. Take pics of sunrises and sunsets

5. Decorate our door

184 days until we sail away on Carnival Valor!!!!!

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I would like to see a nice pub mix or mixed nuts when you are sitting at the bar!

Opinions please on choosing a January cruise on one of these ships. One adult and one 18 yr old who would love spending time on the beach. She has never cruised but is open to any type of entertainment. Any suggestions on the warmest place to vacation? Conquest - Grand Turk and Dominican, and Half Moon Cay,...Victory-Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios...Paradise- Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Our choice of weeks in Jan. is limited, so I am trying to keep this to a 5 or day cruise> Thanks everyone!

I have not been on Victory but have been on both Conquest and Paradise. Conquest is BY FAR a much nicer ship!!! I really really like the layout of Conquest!!! Paradise is what it is.....the only areas on Paradise that I was truly dissatisfied with were the staterooms! Everything else was perfectly fine for a 4/5 day cruise. I don't think I would want to spend 7 days on Paradise! We also LOVED Grand Turk!!!! That is a very relaxing stop!!!

Does anyone have a recent Paradise Fun Times that they could share? Sailing on 04/13! :D

Will you be on the 4 day sailing or 5 day? I have the funtimes from our 4 day in Feb that I'd be glad to scan!

Rolaids and water pills!!! By day 3 of my last cruise I had terrible heartburn and my feet were all swollen!! Also, depending on what ship you are on, a hair dryer and surge protector or extension cord! I will also bring a GoPro camera on our next cruise!!

Welcome to cruise critic!!! You are in the right place to make sure that your first cruise is awesome and gets you as "hooked" on cruising as the rest of us!!! Don't be afraid to ask any questions!!! We are here to help!!!!

I had a great time on our 7 day last year but honestly in my opinion only, I think the 5 day is the PERFECT length!!! Of course, most of the time we cruise without our girls so after about 4 or 5 days we are missing them so much that we are ready to head home!!! Now if we have our girls with us, I can stay on the boat forever!!!!

Great review so far!! We were on the Paradise the week after you guys!! I wish we could have gone to grand cayman as well!!! There's always next time!!! ;)

Got a "free hug" from cruise director Steve Cassel on Valentine's Day!!! Such a nice guy!!! We talked to him several times throughout the cruise and he was always such a nice guy!!! Really made our cruise a great one!!!

It sounds silly, but we always use brightPost It Notes. My hubby likes to get up really early and go walk around on the deck while I'm still asleep, go iron something while I'm showering, etc. He just leaves a Post It Note on the mirror for me. You forget how different things are when you can't just send a text. ;)

 

 

 

We've also used them to let the room steward know that we'd like ice or what not if we don't run into him and left notes for friends who are cruising with us.

GREAT ADVICE!!! I forgot my "post it" notes this last cruise and BOY DID I MISS THEM!!!! Always a must!!!!!!!!

Just got back from our 7th cruise and we could spot a newbie that had NOT discovered Cruise Critic from a mile away!!!! We also saw lots and lots of newbies that were WELL informed and most made some sort of reference to CC!!! I always tried to help the newbies as much as I could on board!!! I remember our first cruise and had it not been for seasoned cruisers that took the time to help us out we would not have had as good of a time as we did!! So make sure as a seasoned cruiser that you try to help the newbies out and spread the cruise love!!!

Ok Thanks for your quick response.

 

 

 

So glad everything went well for you.

You're welcome!!! Hope you have a great cruise as well!!!!!!

Scrimp:

Room (interior unless we just get a killer deal on an OV)

No spa (did on first few cruises...much cheaper at home or in port)

Splurge:

Casino

Excursions (depends on port)

Cheers pkg and/or drinks

Thank you, good to know. How easy is it to park at the Port of Tampa?

Not sure about that! We flew in and took a cab from the airport!! Hope it's as easy as everything else was!!! Just FYI... We didn't arrive at port until almost noon and we were STILL able to pretty much walk right onboard (we did NOT purchase FTTF for those cruising Carnival)!!!!!

Just got back on Monday from our carnival paradise cruise and I just wanted to say how easy the embark and debark process at the Port of Tampa was!!! We moved through very quickly both days and the porters were the nicest, most helpful ones we've encountered on any of our cruises!!!! Good Job Tampa!!! We will definitely be back!!!!!

I'm really torn with this one. I know for a fact I can drink at least 8-10 beers a day. But my wife may only drink 5 drinks at the most daily and it will probably be just beer and or the occasional cocktail. Because both parties HAVE to purchase the package, I'm having trouble determining if its worth it or not. I will only be drinking beer. Any suggestions if I should do this or not? $600 up front seems steep, but overall it could be beneficial, but we are really spinning our wheels on this one.

We just got back from a 4 day and purchased the cheers program. We got our money's worth but we drank mainly cocktails! And honestly, I drank way more than I probably would have normally just because I wanted to make sure I got my money's worth! We came NO WHERE near the 15 drink per day limit. I think the most I had was 11 on one of the sea days and that was spread out from 11am-well after midnight! The last day of the cruise I drank 1 beer because I was just tired of drinking!!! If your wife is not a big drinker and will only be drinking beer when she does drink, in my opinion, I don't think it would be worth it! I wish Carnival had a beer only pkg like Royal Caribbean has!!

Just off paradise today and yea there is a basketball court!

5 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are sailing out of Tampa on Paradise in 2 short weeks and I was wondering the same thing!! We are actually leaving NC about 11 pm the night before the cruise and driving straight to port so we want to get onboard ASAP!!!

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Final one, a couple of years ago both kids lost a tooth while onboard. When we came back to the cabin one night. There were two ships on a stick and a note from the "tooth fairy". I thought that was pretty awesome.

Now THAT is awesome!!!!! Great thread!!!!!!!!!!

I am perfectly satisfied cruising with Carnival, but if we're all playing...

 

Cheaper Cheers program/not requiring all adult passengers in cabin to purchase.

 

Late night or overnight port stays.

 

A BETTER SHIP IN CHARLESTON PLEASE!!!

 

A lazy river would be amazing. I was actually just thinking that same thing yesterday.

 

I'm not a big soda drinker, but the fountain machine thing would be a great addition for when I did want one. I brought sodas on last time, but prefer fountain to can.

 

More food options in the late afternoon. I'm not crazy about Guy's, so I ended up surviving on pizza on port days... and late nights.

 

Speaking of late nights, I really do miss that midnight buffet. Late night snacks really were disappointing on the last cruise. Majorly disappointing. There were two options: really gross hotdogs and some weird chicken sandwich. Options never changed. I'm not expecting Carnival to go back to a full spread complete with ice sculptures at midnight, as much as I'd love it, but different options each night. If hot dogs must be offered, upgrade to kosher beef for goodness sake!

 

Maybe some toppings at ice cream bar?

 

Creme brulee on the fixed MDR menu (the every night offerings).

 

Shows like there used to be.

 

Calypso band on deck. No more DJ.

 

Hmm... this is getting long so I'll stop. I'm not a picky, whiny traveler. These things are just some perfect world daydreams.

 

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I like the way you think!!!!!!:D

Well, that is really subjective to what else you plan to do. I think the current rate for the Cheers on a 7 day is right around $300 per person, so that is $600 for the two of you, up to 15 drinks per person per day, then it all depends on what else you want to buy/purchase.. Will you go to the steakhouse to eat? If so, that is $35 per person, will you purchase any pictures taken by the ship photographers? That can range from $20 to however much you choose to spend. Will you buy and bottled liqueur to take home, or buy and souvenirs, etc... Did you prepay your gratuities?

 

Not sure about being able to pay with two different credit cards, I have never tried that so I don't know...

On our last 7 day cruise we purchased the cheers program and it was over $800 for the both of us, including the gratuities!!! We are thinking of purchasing the cruise cash to off set that cost on our next cruise!!

1. Go with the cheaper fare

 

2. Do they leave from the same port? Can you save money if one port is closer to you?

 

3. Figure drinks are between $8-$10 each for cocktails. Do you think if you purchase the unlimited drinks package that you will save money?

 

4. Compare ships, read the posts on each board to see what people have to say about them.

 

5. Look at how long you are in port! Cozumel has some great Mayan ruins but its a trip to get to them, so the longer in port the better off if you want to see them.

 

6. Only you can really decide what you want to do. I am familiar with the Carnival product but not Royal Caribbean. You also might want to look into Norwegian, they have a great product as well.

 

 

 

Good luck, have fun and don't stress it!! :D

This is great advice and the best way to decide which cruise is the best pick!!!!

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IMO, unless you drink ALOT the cheers program doesn't really "save" you anything!! You may very well break even but I don't think you really come out ahead!!! On our last cruise we purchased the cheers program and spent over $800.....I was so sick of drinking by day 5 but I felt like I had to at least break even each day to get my money's worth!!! I would not have drank as much as I did had I not purchased cheers!!! We will not be purchasing it on our next cruise!! It's really just a personally thing, weighing out the cost vs. how much you drink!!

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