gt14

I was on the Triumph at the end of August. It really reminded me of the Liberty, except a little smaller and no adult only area.

I've been there several times. It's a couple miles long I believe, and you can't walk it. There are lots of free buses that come right to the ship and drop you in the center of town. I think if you book an excursion, they pick you up at the ship as well.

My wife and I added a last minute 3-day on the Sensation to the end of our Spring Break this past April with our 2 younger daughters. Of the seven cruises we have been on, I can honestly say it was one of my favorites and most relaxing. Probably because my expectations I had going in about 3 day cruises, and Spring Break were so low. Didn't see any bad behavior whatsoever...

Yes. The Jitney was safe for small children. As anywhere, you just need to be aware of your surroundings. I will say the Jitney seemed safer than the COTA bus service here in Columbus, OH but I'm sure each route is different.

Melia was a nice resort and it was $35 per adult (I think over 12) and maybe $25 for kids. This price only included snorkel gear and not "all non motorized activities" like the lady at the front desk told us. The hotel was extemely crowded the day we were there, and there were only two ships in Nassau that day, so we had difficulty finding chairs. The banana daquiri i had by the bus stop in front of Melia was woth the jitney fare alone, and quite frankly, I would have rather saved the money and gone to Junkanoo Beach instead of melia. We walked there before we got back on the ship and it was very clean and beautiful, with few people selling things. As a note we did arrive on Good Friday, so there may not have been as many people out that day. Either way, it was beautiful and the locals we encountered were very friendly.

Not sure if this was mentioned yet or not, but I def wanted people to know. I guess I missed it if it was.

 

We just got off the Getaway today and spend the day at the Melia on Friday. Apparently, the non-motorized water sports are not included anymore with the day pass. We paid $120 for 2 adults and 2 children and felt really ripped off. I asked about the paddle boards and kayaks and was told the policy changed last year and now only guests can use the toys for free.

 

We brought my brother and sister in law and they felt the same. Beers were really expensive, too. I would definitely not go back. We did take the #10 bus which was fun.

I couldn't agree more. We were there on Friday April 3rd as well. Girl at the front desk mentioned the price was $35/adults and $25/Children 12 and under, and it included NON-MOTORIZED SPORTS. The sign outside even mentions non-motorized are included for guests (although it does not specify "Day Pass Guest"). When we went to get a Kayak, we were told they had recently changed their policy to include free use for "guests" of the hotel and only snorkel equipment was included (plus $3 for a mouthpiece) with the Day Pass. In addition, I had to walk around for 25 minutes to hunt down two chairs when a couple left. My daughters had to put their towels on the beach. The pool and beach are beautiful, but it definitely was not worth the money. Frankly, I would have rather gone to Junkanoo Beach for free. We walked there briefly before getting back on the ship and it was beautiful, and looked like a lot more fun.

I also want to add that the Jitney was well worth the money, the locals were very pleasant and the Daiquiri Shack across from Melia was incredible.

My wife and I, and our two daughters took the #10 Jitney to Melia this past Friday the 3rd. It was a great experience. $1.25/pp one way. Gave the driver $6.00 when he dropped us across the street. The ride took maybe 10 minutes from town, and the locals were extremely friendly. Anyone who got on, said "good day" or "good afternoon". As a side note, the Jitney and the cabs look very similar, and the cabs are $5/pp one way - and they load those with people as well. Highly recommend the Jitney. Just make sure not to get on the 10A...

I know your sister was curious for her 3/22 cruise, but just as an FYI, we just got off Sensation this morning and they did have Dr. Seuss going on. Watched the kids parade down Sensation Blvd.

My biggest thing is, has anyone ordered a drink that has not been included in the cheers prgram?

I purchased a Banana Daquiri with a floater. Unfortunately, I was denied this with the Cheers program. I heard proeviously that some bartenders would do this, and others would not. This particular BT would not allow it as it was two drinks at the same time. I'm more of a Kettle and cranberry and/or beer person anyway.

Guaranteed Balcony last August on Liberty. Cabin was assigned exactly 30 days out, and it was a great Lido Deck location!

I cruised on Elation in 2011 with my wife and 3 daughters in one OV cabin. They were 16, 12 and 9 at the time. It was tight, but we managed and had a great time. I would think the $6/day would be worth the extra "space" having the window gives you as far as your sanity goes...I dont think you mentioned where your current interior room is located and if you are willing to risk a not so great location. I've stayed in a lower level aft facing OV room on the Paradise and felt a ton of shuddering and shaking and heard banging, but still was ok. Some people might not be ok with it.

I got the same call for my April 2nd cruise on the Sensation. I have to say that I definately gave it some thought considering its my wife and I and our two teenage daughters. However, I figured the $400 could go a long way to paying my onboard expenses!

We sailed on the Paradise out of Tampa on a 5-day in 2012 during the height of Spring Break. I have three teenage daughters, so I was really worried about college age boys on that one. However, the crowd was no different than any of the other cruises I've been on, and we just did an 8-day at the end of August (maybe a few more younger children). Now the 3-day Nassau cruise we are doing April 2nd out of Port Canaveral - that has me worried a bit!

I've stayed in 9261. The Lido deck location was incredible. In fact the only noise we ever heard was from the neighbor allowing their balcony door to slam shut. Incredible deck on an incredible ship!

Great video. Thanks for sharing. My wife and I were on that sailing as well. Best cruise by far....saving the refugees, the captain reversing the itinerary to beat the hurricane...what a perfect vacation!

We were assigned Lido cabin 9261 on our Liberty cruise last week...awesome location...almost wish it was a little tougher to get food and drinks if you know what I mean!!

Last week the elegant nights were on night 2 and night 7

They turned away a man on the Liberty last week on the 2nd elegant night for wearing shorts. I heard the girl say that long pants were required. The 2nd elegant night was way less formal than the 1st by the way.

I feel much better about the extra tips I added then based off most of the responses. I was worried that any extra tip I left was either going back into some pool of staff, or who knows, to Carnival directly. I have no problem giving the extra tip to the person that actually served me, especially after putting into perspective the low amount of the automatic gratuity...the Alchemy bartenders, and the servers who would take our order and bring us our drinks on the 10th level at the aft of the ship certainly deserved more than the initial nominal amount. Either way, best trip of my life...I may even write a review it was so good!

I have been to Progreso twice. If I remember correctly, the bus ride from the ship is approximately 15 minutes or so to the city center. They had just begun to build up the public beach area with some bars/restaurants, and they would serve you out on the beach. However, the people trying to sell items on the beach was relentless. The same people over and over again all day - even the ones that we had bought something from. The beach itself could have been cleaner as well. They have an open air market with some very nice locally made items among other things. Not my favorite port...

If you drink 15 beers a day for 7 days, that an additional $105 pp, or $210 per couple over the cost of cheers. I might tip sometimes, if I have an exceptional bartender, but no way am I going to add $1 each drink.

My understanding of the program is that I was charged $37.50/day + 15% gratuity. Not 15% per drink. In fact, the receipt I was given when I signed up says exactly that. I guess that's what threw me about who was getting the tip. I hope the information I was given was not incorrect!

So I purchased the Cheers program last week during our 8 day cruise. Gratuities are paid when the program is purchased. Each time you order a drink, you are given a receipt to sign that reads "$0.00 amount due" and has a line for additional gratuity. The 1st few drinks I ordered directly at the bar, and wasn't really thinking about tips at all. However, throughout the week I noticed the sever would look at the receipt and almost seem let down if there wasn't an additional tip added. I started adding $1.00 for each drink because I felt guilty. All I could think of, was that the automatic gratuity didn't go to the servers for some reason...does anyone know how the gratuities are paid out, and if the extra gratuity goes directly to the person that served me the drink?

As far as I know, YTD is in the mid-ship dining room on all ships with more than one. On the Spirit-class (with only one MDR) the YTD is upstairs while the set dining is downstairs.

 

Isn't this the case with all the ships?

We had YTD last week, and erroneously tried to enter the dining room on the 4th floor. They informed us that the YTD enhance was only on the 3rd floor...

Frozen Sing A-long, Rio 2, Captain America, Ride Along, Grown Ups2, Divergent, the Hobbit, the Other Woman, and The Vow.

Deck 3 only on our sailing.

Just got off the ship on Friday and YTD was in the Golden Olympian dining room