Pellaz

Dropped in to post exactly that. The Freestyle machines are a game-changer (and at a per-unit purchase cost of $60,000, it's not surprising). You have SO many options with the machines...when they work and when they are routinely refilled with flavors. Where else can I get a Raspberry Diet Coke? 🙂 Considering the package comes with a nice souvenir cup and access to the machines -- as opposed to having to visit a bar and getting a soda from a grumpy bartender who feels he's wasting his time on a non-revenue transaction -- at $9/day it's a no-brainer. I'll be getting it on our music charter cruise in January...where alcoholic drink packages are not offered at all. 😮 The only drawback is carrying that souvenir cup around everywhere on the ship...and inexplicably, Royal doesn't sell a cup-holder for them. They'd make an additional mint if they offered an over-the-shoulder or baldric-style cup holder like amusement parks have. I just wear a string backpack and put the cup in there.

Huh, sounds like an interesting and "different" snorkel excursion; I'll definitely give it a look if/when it appears on our Cruise Planner. As an aside, Grand Turk is one of my favorite port-stops anywhere. Nice and casual, no pressure, nice beach (and surprisingly good snorkeling) right there by the pier. If I have the money, I'll retire there. 😄 Our music charter on the Independence actually went to Grand Turk a few years ago, which was HIGHLY unusual since GT is a Carnival-built port. The great folks at Jack's Shack remarked that it was one of the largest ships they'd ever seen there. 🙂 I'm not THAT wealthy, so I'll probably have to settle for a merely gold-PLATED cart. 😄 Oh, I prefer the more low-impact ports and private islands. I've never set foot inside a Diamonds International. 🙂 I make an exception for the Margaritaville at Grand Turk because it's just THAT nice of a facility, with its big free pool, plentiful free beach loungers and umbrellas, etc.

At one time before the construction you HAD to wade through a crowded area with "overanxious" vendors, which I think was the straw market. It was...annoying. Yep, my only concern at Junkanoo has been leaving our belongings on the beach unguarded while we went into the water. Back in the good ol' days you could go over to Atlantis and walk in as far as the Royal Towers lobby ("The Great Hall of Waters"), but now you get stopped at the exit from the Crystal Shops unless you have a wristband or a hotel key. I just fly over and stay at Comfort Suites for a few days every November -- much cheaper than staying at Atlantis itself and you still get full access to Atlantis and Aquaventure. As for Cabbage Beach, I'm not totally sure how to get to it aside from going through Atlantis...despite the fact that it is a public beach.

Yep, sounds about right. I'd really love it if they offered snuba, but I gather they don't. I've noticed snuba excursions have largely disappeared from itineraries...or at least, from MY recent itineraries. Golly, a Bahamian crew in the Bahamas? Who'd a thunk it? 😄 Interesting that you can snorkel inside the wreck. Oh, it wouldn't surprise me if Nassau ends up being better than Bimini for me, also. <mantra> "Well, at least it isn't Freeport." </mantra> 😄 Thanks for the advice. If I can get a few friends together we may well pool our funds and rent out a golf cart. It's something I haven't quite gotten around to doing at Grand Turk.

Yep, and probably with a ping time well over 100 ms (a tenth of a second) since the signal has to make two round-trip transits to a geostationary satellite. Carnival isn't using Starlink AFAIK, at least not yet. However, Royal has been gradually rolling it out on their ships. Current posts on the Royal board have been saying around 9 Mb/sec, which is pretty good for shipboard, but nowhere near the 92 Mb/sec speed the OP got on the Celebration. I should have thought to do speed tests on my recent sailings. Speed was fast enough on the Mardi Gras in October 2021, absolutely terrible on the Sunrise last February, and quite good again on the Horizon this past October. On the Sunrise the wi-fi was SO slow [how slow WAS it? Well, I'll TELL you] ...it was so slow that virtually nothing would load and I ended up receiving a full refund at Guest Services. From the sheepish smile the GS officer bestowed on me, I was far from the only person to drop by. It was by far the biggest blemish on an otherwise very good cruise.

The short answer: No. The slightly longer answer: Negative. 🙂 Carnival will be HAPPY to take your money and hope you don't drink more than 6-8 drinks per day. BUT as others have said, you may well save some money if you buy it in advance; we always do.

My biggest complaint about Nassau -- and I know I'm not alone in this -- was navigating through the overzealous "straw market" vendors in order to get out of the port. If they have mitigated that hassle in some way, with the new port construction, I'd be more inclined to actually leave the ship there. Sure hope they have! I remember a few years ago when the Bahamas' Minister of Tourism bemoaned the fact that cruise passengers were...ambivalent (being polite)...about visiting Nassau. To which I'd have replied "Minister, take a quick cruise out of S. Florida and visit your capital that way. You will then understand." 🙂

The promise was made by the charter company. Since we've already visited pretty much every Bahamas and Caribbean port EXCEPT CocoCay, we were really hoping this would finally be our chance. AND....we got Bimini. It was like getting switched from Nassau to Freeport. 😮 They haven't routinely planned any music events during the port-stop in the past. With 121 total performances onboard (each band performs twice), pretty much everyone appreciates the downtime...including the bands. Ahhh, NOW we're talkin'! 🙂 No, the delay is because, since it's a charter, we will not be given access to Royal's site directly until a few weeks before sailing. We know what stateroom we have and our payments have been sent to the charter company, but beyond that we can't access Royal's site until we are given our reservation info from Royal. lol, we'll have basically a day and a half between Miami and Bimini, both ways. We'll be doing a lot of circles and figure-eights. Maybe the Captain will get creative and draw a pattern for AIS trackers to see. Since we've had issues with winds affecting the pool-deck stage ("the largest open-air structure at sea"), slow sailing will help with erecting the stage and minimizing winds across the deck. In 2020, when the winds on our course were too strong to build the stage, the Captain sailed "with the wind"...and in the wrong direction...so they could build it. Royal billed the charter company $20,000 for the extra fuel expense. 😮 Oh, that's silly. There's ALWAYS a Diamonds International. 😄 It does indeed! Thanks so much! I'm not sure what a Sapona is, but if it involves snorkeling I'll know to bring my own gear and my GoPro. Huh, it's not often you hear people praising Nassau as a port stop. It was a disappointment to me, certainly. I'd have paid the $150 for a daypass to the waterpark at CocoCay -- once, anyway, since I love waterparks -- and hearing that we were going to Bimini instead was quite a let-down. I haven't been to CocoCay since my first cruise in 2010, and I remember the snorkeling back then, before all the new stuff, was terrific. Oh, well.

Awesome, we're sailing at the end of the month. Looking forward to your report!

I'm on a charter music cruise in January on Freedom of the Seas out of Miami, and our one-and-only port-stop is Bimini. And yes, I'm aware that you could almost drive a golf ball from Miami to Bimini. I've flown above them and you can easily see Bimini and Miami at the same time from the air. 🙂 Does Royal go there often? I don't see Bimini discussed much. It's....not a very big place. We were hoping we'd get to go to CocoCay when we were promised a "brand-new destination for the cruise!" Alas, not this year. If anyone has experience with Royal stopping there, any ideas as to what excursions will be offered? I'd like to do some snorkeling if there's anywhere decent to do so. If there's a way to check on possibly-available excursions on RCCL's website without being able to access the booking, please let me know. Note: we won't gain direct access to our bookings on Royal's website until two or three weeks before sailing. I expect we'll be doing a lot of circling around and making curly-ques in international waters after leaving Miami and arriving at Bimini at the midpoint of the cruise. Those who keep an eye on ships' AIS will likely get a chuckle out of all the meandering. The 60 bands onboard can only perform in international waters. 🙂

THANK YOU. I was wondering about that and thinking "What happened to Havensight? Did it close down? Was it renamed?" 🙂

My cruise-friends and I didn't try Chibang! for dinner on the Mardi Gras because of all the lackluster reviews here on CruiseCritic, but we've really loved Jiji's Asian Kitchen on the Vista and the Horizon. (I kinda wish I'd gone...I mean, how bad could it possibly be?) However, I DID go to Chibang! for the free/included stir-fry bowl at lunch, and I thought it was at least as good as lunch at Jiji's has been. Service was great and it was one of the best meals of the entire cruise for me...and on the Mardi Gras with all of its awesome options, THAT's sayin' something! [Full disclosure: I'm a Mongolian Wok/stir-fry FIEND. 🙂 ]

Note that the "secret" hot tub (near the exit from the Jungle Slide on the Mayan Temple tower) doesn't appear to close ever. I stuck around there one night until around 7 pm -- after the fall time-change, so it had been dark for a while and everything else was closed -- and no-one ever came by to kick me out. 🙂 The lap pool over by the Atlantis gym and spa (near Dolphin Cay) closes officially at 7 pm, but technically it's not part of Aquaventure.

Following, because I'm also on a (Royal) cruise to Bimini in January. It doesn't appear to be a commonly-made stop.

I believe the pools at Atlantis don't open until 10 am, and the Power Tower slides and the Current (Rapids River) don't open until around 11 am. That was the case on my last visit in November 2021, although the Power Tower and the river opened up a little before 11 am.

Aha, this must be new. When I was on the Mardi Gras there was NOTHING available after 10 pm -- the onset of what I nicknamed "the Dark Times" -- except pizza and Swirls.

Yes indeed. I remember being told by the Captain during a Behind the Fun tour that we had just barely made it to Grand Turk, as prevailing winds were close to the limit of 30 knots (or it might have been mph). A hurricane was receding away from us but its winds were still affecting the area. The water was choppy -- with 1-foot waves between the ship and the beach, which is a short distance at GT -- and all water excursions were cancelled.

Hmm, this is odd. It almost sounds as if the "code" she saw on your reservation for a "security matter" was related to the suspicious phone call. Really curious as to what code she saw on your reservation. Maybe it indicated that a data breach at their end had taken place?

On a nice, clear night, go to the secret decks in front and stand right behind the forward riding light. You should now be in pretty total darkness and after a while the stars will JUMP out at you. We saw the galactic disc of the Milky Way very clearly...first time seeing it at night in many years. Also, to my surprise, on the Horizon Jiji's Asian and the Cucina were open on port-days as well as sea-days.

Nope, you're correct as far as current practice goes. The cups on Royal are critical since the chip on the bottom of the cup activates their Freestyle Coke machines. That's cool, but there were times when I regretted having to haul the cup around. I was astonished Royal didn't market a bandolier- or baldric-style insulated cup holder like every Six Flags park offers.

And don't wander up with friends who drink, but you aren't currently imbibing for medical reasons. They almost seemed to sneer when they loudly told me "we only serve drunks here!" I'm a very occasional drinker, pretty much only on cruise ships and only when I'm forced to buy the Cheers package (my cruise-friends DO drink...a lot.) I don't like the taste of alcohol so I tend to get the fruity frozen drinks...and availability DOES vary by bar. Most bars, like the Serenity bar, Atrium bar, casino bar (if present), aft pool bar, etc. are well-rigged to make these, with several high-speed frozen drink machines, but some bars aren't. At the Havana Bar on the Horizon when I ordered a Miami Vice, the bartender made a pina colada...and then just drizzled the strawberry daiquiri mix over it. He called it "fancy style" but I nicknamed it "less effort style" since they only had one frozen machine. (Normal procedure on Carnival is to pour pina colada and strawberry daiquiri simultaneously into a tall glass, so you get one half red, one half white.) I figured I'd better not ask for a mango swirl at that bar. 😄

Thanks for the review! We're on a similar itinerary (swapping Curacao for Bonaire, I think) on Horizon in October. I agree with you about Carnival's numerous offerings for food, especially at lunchtime and especially the included options. Nearly every ship seems to have Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, a stir-fry option, etc. I was watching a certain cruise Youtuber on a recent large Royal ship saying "..so we went back out for more pizza before dinner, since we were still hungry and that's basically the only option" and I thought "wow, on any Carnival ship you'd also have at least 2 or 3 other options besides pizza." 😄 Also agreed about Miami. We got rear-ended in traffic just ten minutes shy of our pre-cruise hotel (my car barely avoided being totaled), and my airport experiences haven't been great there, either. I much prefer Port Everglades or Port Canaveral. Regarding your taxi ride, I'd have been calling 911 from the taxi. That is an astonishing story. Locking the doors so you can't exit is tantamount to kidnapping. Looking at our available shore excursions, La Romana appears to be a bust; I'll probably wander off the ship, take a look around, go back, and get free lunch. Amber Cove used to have some awesome all-inclusive deals (the "Secluded Villa" one, at $100/pp, was actually even worth it), but this time I grabbed the last remaining Hillside Cabana; everything else was taken. If a Poolside or Ocean Cabana opens up, I'll grab it instead. Aruba and Bonaire both have snorkeling excursions that look good for me. Whew! Our room is currently a balcony literally right next to the Lido bars, so we'll have proximity. 😄 However, if a Havana cabana opens up, we'll jump on it. We loved it last October.

That...and also, they're working so fast down in the galley that's it's simply easier to plate and send out full portions than bother with a half-portion...and then there's a lonely other-half of a portion waiting for a chance to transit up to the dining-room and be a star. On the Horizon last October my friend and I ordered the pasta item one night, me as an entrée and him as an appetizer. The only difference we saw was that his plate was smaller. The portions were the same size and his might even have been bigger. (Or it looked bigger on a smaller plate or dish. 🙂 )

WELL, then! "I'd like two additional half-portions of prime-rib, please!" 😄

For the OP, if you do the two-site snorkel at Grand Cayman note that it is a boat-dive and you might feel more comfortable doing the snorkel "off the beach" to see the rays if you are a snorkeling beginner. If you're a decent swimmer then you could possibly do the two-reef excursion and "learn by doing." I DO highly recommend the two-site snorkel there; Kurt and Eldon were great as boat captain/guide and you visit a reef and the wreck of the ship "Cali." It's a short, guided walk from the cruise pier. As with almost all snorkeling excursions, all equipment was provided. For our excursion fins were optional and so were snorkeling vests; on some excursions fins are needed and vests are required. I brought my own Promate equipment including my fins -- best use of a drop-bottom duffel bag EVER. 🙂 (Sadly, the snuba excursion I did previously at Grand Cayman has been indefinitely suspended.) I have a lot of snorkel/freedive gear since I'm a volunteer tunnel guide at a swimming hole in Tennessee and supply masks to people there. I get most of my masks and equipment on eBay through "getwetstore" and I seldom pay more than $25 or $30 for a good mask, more than $15 for a snorkel, or more than $25 for a good pair of fins. In any event, OP, have fun with your snorkeling adventures!