Whimsy88

Good for you and bad for me!! Can you suggest brands maybe? Where are you located? They are all gorgeous and I am still hopeless!! Our next cruise isn't until New Year's, but I'd like to dress us all up even more!

I've been lurking for a little bit just looking to see what everyone is wearing - the dresses are beautiful. I just had to finally join in and share because I got so excited - I found a floor length, hunter green jersey ruched evening gown yesterday for $30.00 at Ross!:) I go there occasionally, but I was really surprised at the selection of dresses they have right now - everything from dressy cocktail to maxi - and some really great prices!

We ALWAYS dress up for elegant night because I have 3 boys and spend so much time running them around that it's a gift to be able to have a lovely dinner!

We are on the Carnival Freedom in early July (cruising with an other family) and want to rent a car/van in St. Maarten. Rodael just responded with a 9 passenger van for $125 plus tax w/GPS for the day. Splitting between the two families, that makes it cheaper than a taxi for us, and husband is okay with driving anywhere. Anyone have experience with this company?

 

All that being said, there has usually been at least one pier runner providing our entertainment at just about every port of call on just about every cruise we've been on! :D

Exactly! No offense, but I do not want to be the source of the ship's entertainment!:p

I will keep an eye on the ship's clock. No worries about the cell - we are locking ours in the car and not even bringing them on the ship!:D Thanks to all.

I wouldn't worry about bringing foundation or any type of heavy makeup. I LOVE the skin-evening, color match creams (Almay has a great hypoallergenic one) with sunscreen. It's pretty light, evens out everything and provides sun protection!

I print a blank calendar for the duration of the cruise, and label the day's generic activities at the top of each day (sea day, port, etc.). Then I write down planned outfits (including undergarments - days you might need extra will even out with days you stay in swimwear all day). That is ALL that gets packed. And the calendar goes on top in the suitcase for reference. You can always switch around, but then you don't over pack. My kids do the same - it's the only way to make sure 3 boys don't UNDER pack! (Mom, did you pack my underwear?:eek:)

I am going to push this idea with my daughter. I think we might just have to do that :)

If the kids are young enough, I agree that you can push the angle of the trip being an "educational/cultural experience." Most teachers will be glad to send a packet of work they can do while in transit to keep up, or will let them do a special project that ties in. One of mine did a project about the Mayans when we did a Western Caribbean cruise over spring break. He had some cool pictures to include!:D

It gets a little harder when they get into upper grades, which is why we are cruising in July this year. Yes, it's hurricane season, but typically June and July are fairly quiet in the Atlantic and you can buy trip insurance.

If all else fails, I'm sure my kids would volunteer to be your grandkids and take their place! :eek::D

Not our first cruise, but it has been a couple of years and this is our first Eastern Caribbean. Is there a difference between port time/ship time? We are already on Eastern time, so do we need to make any adjustments before our shore excursions?

OOOOOH! 31 days 'til our Freedom cruise. Dancing in my chair to the steel drums! :cool: I may even have to have a beverage tonight from my Carnival funnel DOD cup!

I need to leave work right now and go get my suitcases out of the attic!!!!!!!! :D

Thanks for the review - we sail on Freedom on July 5 and we're eagerly looking forward to it. Having this review is just getting us more excited!

Was there any live jazz on board? I have a 17 year old trombone player who is hoping to hear some!:cool:

I think it's exciting and am glad to see that Carnival is making the activities and theme more cohesive. I don't have a problem with a "badge" system - it keeps the kids engaged and gives them a goal to work toward. And having them try new things to earn a badge is even better! I have an 8 year old, and we are traveling with a family of 1st time cruisers with a 7 year old - the kids are beyond excited about all the new activities. And my 15 year old said he might have been more interested in going to Camp Carnival on our 1st cruises if they had this back then.

I'm eager to hear input from anyone who did the Freedom last week during the roll out of Camp Ocean and had kids in the program (there are a couple of Freedom reviews, but none had kids) - what did they think of it?

Thanks for the photo update - the new Camp Ocean looks lovely! Please post a review or info when you get back. And if you had kids in the program, please let us know ages and what your thoughts were. Lots of activities, or just a lot of video games?

How is parking at Mullet Bay and Maho? I think we would probably go to Mullet Bay first in the a.m., and then head to Maho for around noon.

We love traditional late dining. Love that the pools empty out around 5 PM. For us that is the perfect time to be there! We usually eat at 7:30 or 8 PM at home, so an 8:15 dining time is perfect for us. We tried anytime dining once, but hated waiting around for a table every night. With an assigned table, everyone knows where and when to meet up in the evening.

Ditto. Also, with late dining, you have plenty of time to get back after port days and clean up. We've tried all 3 and went back to late dining this cruise because we missed it. It's not like there is any shortage of snacks around if you're hungry before your dining time!;)

However, that's the beauty of a cruise and 3 dining choices - you do what works for you!

My family of five was in St. Maarten a week ago today. My kids are 14, 10, and 6. We rented a jeep and visited several places. We went zip lining at Loterie Farm, but unfortunately my 6 year old and I couldn’t participate. The younger version of the ropes course, Ti Tarzan, wasn’t available because the workers were tied up with a Royal Caribbean excursion on the larger courses. He and I waited in the tree lounge. DH and the other 2 kids had a great time. After that, we drove to Marigot and climbed to the top of Fort Louis. The view was great. Then, we drove to Mullet Bay where we had burgers on the beach and swam a little. Finally, we stopped at Maho to see some of the big jets before heading back to the pier. We easily fit all of this in from 8:00 to 3:00, even with taking a few wrong turns. We paid $127 for a jeep and a GPS. We could have gotten a car for much cheaper, but DH wanted a jeep. Even so, we talked to a family of four who spent more than us by hiring a taxi driver just to go to Loterie Farm and Maho. We were glad that we rented.

 

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Can you tell me who you rented from, and did you book on-line or call? DH has a Jeep and would be happy to drive one. That sounds like about what we had planned, minus the zip lining.

We all dress for dinner - khakis and collared shirt for DH and 3 boys, dress for me. Feels good to clean up after a day of being sticky from sweat, sunscreen and ice cream and have a "sophisticated" dinner! These days you can find fairly inexpensive "tech" fabric polo shirts for men and boys which makes packing super easy. The guys all clean up and wear the shirt tucked in with khakis for dinner, and then can pair with shorts the next day for shore excursion. And we go formal for elegant night - just because we can!:)

St. Maarten is one of our port calls on our July Freedom cruise. Teenage boys want to hang on the fence at Maho and watch the planes. We also want a little bit of beach time and Maho doesn't seem great for that. 2 families - 10 people (2 small kids).

Can anyone give me a good idea of price for taxi to Mullet Bay to Maho and back to ship, or does it make more $$ sense to rent a couple of cars or a van?

What about some sort of private tour? We do not want to be herded around with a prescribed group tour.

If we rent and drive ourselves, do we really have much more time to see anything else? 2 ships in port and all day port call. DH is pretty adventurous and is comfortable driving in unfamiliar settings.

Any input is appreciated - we're a little over a month out and need to make reservations soon! :confused:

Has anyone paid for a cruise in full with the barclay card points? If so does it have to be done through carnival or can it still be booked thru a travel agent? Thanks!

I haven't been able to pay in full, but have used points as credit against the card balance and knocked a good chunk off. My understanding is that as long as the charge shows it is for a Carnival cruise purchase (deposit, balance payment, whatever), you should get double points and be able to redeem them. TA might not count for the double points since you are technically paying the agent and not Carnival. Be aware that you usually can't redeem the points until 30 days after the charge to allow time for "processing." Sometimes it takes a little back and forth, but it's always worked out. If you have to call in to get it done, call during the day - night calls always seem to go to customer service reps who don't speak English very well!:rolleyes:

Your post made me laugh! :) This is why I keep a packing list on my PC and print out a copy prior to packing for each cruise. You'd think I'd remember to pack underwear, but that list has saved me more than once! The list also GREATLY helps us to avoid overpacking as well. We now only pack what we'll need/use, no more no less.

I print a blank calendar (one for each member of the family) with a note at the top of each day of what is scheduled (sea day, port call, etc.). We list our clothes that we are packing for that day as we pack. We can always change days if we want, but we don't over pack.

No major snafus for us (luckily), just little things. 1st cruise - Per pediatrician's instructions, we gave our 11 and 7 year old kids Dramamine. 1/2 tab for the younger one and a full tab for the older one (again per the pediatrician). First dose the morning of the cruise before we left to drive the 3 hours to the port. We had to drag the older one out of the car and he staggered around like he had already had several DODs for an hour or so!:D 1/2 dose only the rest of the cruise!

2nd cruise, 2nd lesson - sunscreen is important, but so is how it is applied! DH coated the little one down with sunscreen the first sea day and then had excess on his hand. He reached over and slapped the back of my calf to get it off. I didn't really pay attention, and spent the rest of the cruise with a perfect untanned hand print on the back of my right calf!:eek:

I know. Unfortunately they were a low resolution and show very little detail (ie the inside of Bookville). I know John tries to get pictures up, but he seems to have better success when he's CD and can ask photographers to take pictures of the new venues.

 

The one thing that hasn't been answered is if adults are allowed in Bookville. Normally, no one (other than staff and registered campers) are allowed in the kid's areas, but the press release said that families will be able to join their camper to read books--I'm wondering how they'll handle that.

I agree - there were only a couple of pictures, and they didn't really show much. Even more importantly than seeing the rooms though, I'm hoping someone will post who had kids in Camp Ocean and can tell us how the new program is. It looks pretty cool on its face and my 8 year old is VERY into marine life and is completely psyched about going!

Interesting news about dining. My original excitement stemmed from the earlier post that they had looked at the tables and they were still the plywood, which would indicate that tablecloths will be necessary. I can't imagine that they would be able to replace all the tables in both dining rooms while cruising now that they are out of drydock. I'm happy with either menu - I don't have to cook or clean up, and I can eat what I want without catering to my kids' preferences like I do at home. I look forward to the "civilized" meals on board!:) There will always be meals that are better than others as everyone has their own preferences. But in general, I can't find it in me to be worried about what's coming menu-wise, or upset about the table appearance. Vacation is what you make of it, and I'm very much looking forward to our upcoming Freedom experience!

No. I looked they are plywood with a padded cover stapled to them. No way to go without tablecloths unless they replace the tables.

Oh boy - we're doing the happy dance! It was not a make or break thing and we still would have enjoyed our meals, but I do love having the tablecloths - it makes it so much more of a dining "experience." Even my kids were saying that without the tablecloths it's really not much different than going out to a decent restaurant and they would miss having tablecloths and "fancy" dinners!

Any input from anyone on the new Camp Ocean or any of the other upgrades? Also, was there any live jazz?

I'm looking forward to the next installment - not our ship, not our itinerary, but I love reading reviews and yours is hysterical! You would probably get on well with my husband. He just bought new shorts for our upcoming cruise and told me he wanted to look for something that just screams "yay" (insert bored Ben Stein voice here). He bought plaid shorts - in various shades of gray!:D

Please do write a book - I'll buy it!

I'm hoping for more info/pictures as well. We are on the July 5 sailing and our group has 2 VERY excited 7-8 year olds looking forward to the new Camp Ocean. The couple of pics from John Heald look great, but I'm anxious to hear what other parents coming off the recent cruise have to say!

on elegant night, my younger daughter couldn't wait to get her hands on lobster... LOL!!!

This made me laugh - our oldest looked forward to and ordered the lobster on our last cruise ( he was 14). When it came, he took a few bites and then kept looking at it from all different angles. My DH asked him what was wrong and his reply was "I kind of feel sorry for it." :eek: Then he shrugged and ate the rest of it. We teased him the rest of the cruise about eating poor "Rocky" the lobster!:D

My kids have always eaten off the adult menu in the MDR. First family cruise was when they were 9, 11 and 1. The 2 older ones were persuaded by our waiter on the Fantasy (Mr. Mo) to try "grown up" foods. He was awesome and even cut up their steak (nice break for mom who usually had to do that while my food got cold)! :) They tried all kinds of new things and came back WAY less picky. It's also a great way for them to learn proper table etiquette. The little one was older last cruise and tried a few new things, but also enjoyed the kids menu and eating with his Camp Carnival buddies. If they are being adventurous and truly don't like their meal, the waiters will always bring them something else. Encourage it, embrace it, and help them enjoy the experience. You all will have a great time.

Thanks for posting this, Lisa!!!

 

My NEW, MOST FAVORITE-EST TIP YET!!! :D

 

If everybody starts ordering them, they may discontinue offering them, so I will make sure to take full advantage of it on our cruise on the GLORY next week!

 

Banana Splits are a favorite of mine and I have been known to make my own in the evening with bananas from the breakfast bar and soft serve late at night. This will save me the trouble! HAHA!

Our middle son took the 24 hour a day ice cream thing literally, so we compromised - when he wanted it for breakfast we told him he could if he got the frozen yogurt and put bananas in it! ;) BTW, he loved the banana split!