zephyrhillscruisers

We board Monday, October 30th. Will let you know.

The October 30 cruise out of Tampa, which means we spend Halloween afternoon in Key West will be the first cruise out of dry dock.

On 1/5/2023 at 12:57 PM, sunonfire said:

Tampa is the best port. We only leave from there.

Because of the Skyway Bridge, only the smaller ships are able to sail out of Tampa. I floated the idea of building a cruise terminal off bayonet point in Pasco county just to the north. It has direct access to Parkway and major highways to get to the airports and would be able to accommodate all the ships.

My physician told me not to order drinks with the little umbrellas in them because they normally have more sugar in them than other drinks so I simply tell the bartender not to put the umbrella in the drink

Final update before debarkation: all three hot tubs have water, but no jets, and both waterslides and the waterworks remained closed for maintenance. 

for saturday college football fans , and there were many on this cruise, the espn south american feed is espnu and the sec network, whose games featured second division matchups. The florida-georgia game , go figure, many passengers were from both states, was not available from cbs, thus a lot of beer money was lost this day. Two enterprising fans spent mortgage money on high speed streaming of the game on their ipads, which with buffering was about five minutes delayed. 
 

Non sports fans, save the flaming. Todays Cruising is more than jewelry, spas, watches, tshirts, photos, smoke filled casinos and trivia games. Increasing numbers of cruisers like their sports on tv. Get over it. 
 

Oh, and sports fans couldn’t  even pray for their games, as the chapel was locked all week.

Look at it this way: a crowded sports bar opens up chairs poolside.

You just did.

They just drained the water from a second tub, according to the sign, its undergoing chlorination, lol. We are down to one hot tub, sans jets.

dining room food and service are excellent as always. Both vegetarian and beef lasagna were outstanding. 
 

Its easier for the staff these days since i would say just under half are eating dinner on the Lido. Have never seen so many tables empty at late seating. Also, Guys Burgers are as enjoyable as ever.
 

Dinner dress code? Wear what you want. One cruiser decked out in headband, athletic shirt, gym pants and sneakers came in just daring to be tossed....on the first elegant night. Maybe over half the men on the lower level had at least sportcoats, fewer with ties. Not judging, just an observation.

i mentioned the only show we attended, the young lady trying to sing rock and roll. Bless them, its the level of a community college production. Tonight, eight white singers and dancers will salute the music of Motown. 
 

sat and chatted with some who believe that Carnival is spending so much money and time on the newer larger ships, one shareholder believes they will start selling off the smaller, older ships, and concentrate on the larger ships and ports. Makes sense. The Legend may live on, but it needs work.

Well, if you you missed this first trip out of Tampa, consider yourself fortunate. Heres the rundown, which would have come tuesday had the wifi been on long enough to post anything more than a glorified tweet. 
 

we are also tmobile customers. My wife and i are on the same plan, yet she has service in all ports, I do not. I did get a text in Cayman from them saying “Welcome to Jamaica” and nothing else. Wait, I take that back, I did get a text saying they received my payment.  Through Three Amigos wifi, we had a back and forth that resolved nothing. They suggested I turn my roaming function on.Seriously. I texted back “Why dont I just give you all my credit card info?” 
 

we are neither carnival cheerleaders, nor detractors. We will begin with the Platinum gift. 
 

There is none. Nor a button.
 

Nor any explanation from anyone, not even at the Diamond/Platinum party.

 Now we dont cruise for the gift (some of you will need to re read that a time or two to let it sink in). One employee suggested we go to Guest Services. Look, I’m not spending 30 minutes in a line to get an explanation of what I hear is supposed to be a$5 luggage tag and a $1 pin. 

Some Alchemy enthusiasts say the number of drinks they can make is very limited because of a lack of ingredients like coconut water and whatever goes into a Lemontini.

None of the propulsion jets in the hot tubs work; the serenity tub is closed all together. It was only when the kids started complaining about the hot tubs (go figure, right?) did the crew pay attention. 
 

the Waterworks was open the first few days, then was shut down, along with the waterslides for maintenance. From what I could see, workers were scraping rust off the stairs. 
 

speaking of rust, the serenity pool, which was working, needs about six cases of rustoleum. 
 

the shows in the theater continue to head downhill. The lead female vocalist, bless her hear was classicially trained. Vibrato is welcome on broadway, but not when your singing “lets spend the night together”. 
 

For $ome rea$on, the “Hot Shots” band, featuring a lead guitarist who belongs in a real rock band, or on the main stage, is relegated to the Red Frog Pub. The band, very tight and in tune was to play the Costume Party on Lido until a rainstorm with gusty winds washed them out. 
 

Belize has officially replaced Nassau as the Capital of ‘in your face, arm twisting, aggressive, I’m going to bother you until you leave” salesmanship. Even the tender employees were asking for tips, to the point where one of them should have started his speech with “I am your captain now!”

Get to Cayman while you can. More and more billionaire developers are acquiring beach front property and squeezing out Mom and Pops, for resorts at $500 or more per night. We enjoyed an afternoon at Calico Jacks, which is probably a future target.

btw, the Cruise Lines caved on demanding that docks be built there. Water shuttles for all.

the beach at roatan was great, as was the food at Fat Tuesdays. Cozumel is Cozumel. We haven’t taken any all inclusive trips because I would like to know ahead of time which are owned by cartels, so my safety is insured. 
 

anyway, please forgive the punctuation, capitalization errors, as its taken several log ins and log outs to get this posted. Im sure once Carnival returns to Tampa, they can look up a plumber to fix the tubs, etc. 
 

The Miracle gets whatever the ESPN Caribbean feed gets. No Brewers games, but big surprise here, they had the TBS feed of the Yankees - Red Sox.

We arrived at 1130 am, Sunday, Sept 30. There were still passengers leaving the terminal from the previous Cruise, but we were not delayed at all. We’re Platinum, so we were Inthe room by 1205.

Posting this from Cozumel and we are having a great time.

The “Broadcast licensing issues” may have to with expensive rights fees, or perhaps FIFA gave exclusivity to Princess. Nine of their Ships will carry the games. Given the Sports creative financing issues, one may assume the Organization would demand as much cash as they could get their hands on.

You may have more issues than maintenance. Mother Nature is stirring up trouble in the Southern Gulf and its headed North.

Whatever comes to Tampa, it has to be small enough to fit under the Skyway bridge. There is a nice area off Hudson in Western Pasco County to the north where a terminal could be built for bigger ships.

I was in cabin 7299. I used my sign and sail card to access the safe. It was a swipe system in that cabin.

We will be just down the hall later this year. Was there much engine vibration in your room?

CNN International is aired outside the United States. It is geard toward audiences outside the States. Therefore, if you cruise outside the United States, that is what airs, like it or not. Same with ESPN, who has networks serving numerous overseas countries.

As for “metering” how you watch, i’m afraid this isn’t the drop-the-quarter-in-the-slot 1960s Motor Court tv style. By todays costs, you would have to spend thousands on equipment and re wire entire ships to even try and track viewers habits.

It is a cost issue, whether you choose to believe it or not. DISH tv regularly threatens to drop local over the air network stations because of “carriage” fees. Thats money, in case you missed it. They give very little room or time to negotiate deals. Pay up now or lose it.

I am debating whether your remark about “hooking up your own dish on the balcony” is sarcasm or just plain stupidity. A regular home based dish does not work when what it is attached to is moving. Cruise ship dishes and equipment are far more sophisticated, and...wait for it...far more expensive.

I seriously doubt any of what I’ve posted here will sink in, but this is the type of thick headedness I’ve come to expect on some of these threads.

My signature, as always: If you don’t like what Carnival does, please, please leave and don’t come back.

Its not a matter of the PC Police on Carnival. The Networks are charging cable and satellite companies more in fees. Its why people are dropping major providers. I don’t want to pay even more for broadcast tv on ship. I”ll miss the few minutes I actually watched tv, but I’m sure I can find something else to do on ship. And, as always, if you don’t like Carnival, please do go somewhere else. Thats your choice.

We’ve been on the Breeze, the Freedom as well as the Fascination and Sunshine, and others. Check out https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/carnival-miracle-295/. These appear to be fairly recent photos of the Miracles layout. I’m intrigued. I can go one cruise without Guys (hes got one at the Tampa Amphitheatre anyway). They do have a Red Frog pub and the Serenity deck looks great, albeit they could add a hot tub or two more.The itinerary is different for us, and instead of a 90 min drive to Canaveral, its a half hour for us to Tampa. We’re sailing in October and looking forward to this ship. I have heard that the Company might keep one or two ships “old school”. Those who insist on waiting for upgrades may miss the boat entirely. We are ready.

My wife uses a cane, so they take us inside. The last cruise they were fueling the Valor and the fumes were so strong inside they just took our names and cut us loose. The Drill, when everyone, staff and crusiers cooperate, should last about 20 minutes. But, and this is in accordance with Maritime Law (which is above even Diamond/Platinum cruisers), where all must be accounted for. Those of us who show up on time (i.e. responsible) wait in the heat for those hiding in the showers, Serenity, etc.)

In short:Be responsible, be there. Deal with it like an adult.

The Sunshine is a very nice ship, however there are only two pools; one where the kids jump all over the place, the second is on the Serenity Deck, but its a smaller pool than the standard sizes found on other ships. We had a 3 day at sea Southern Carribbean voyage and Serenity was packed each day. Been so long since I was on the Glory. Booked the Miracle for itinerary and a shorter drive, Tampa as opposed to Port Canaveral.

— is two too many.

Nice ship, but three days at sea is a little much for this small ship. One pool, loaded with kids, and a “swimming hole” at the Serenity deck.

Seems carnival cruise lines are waiting on Irma to hit so people can't get to Miami and then not canceling cruises so no refunds:mad:

Based on the latest track, if I were you in sc, i'd be getting ready for the storm instead of posting juvenile bait like this. Moron

:')

Yep. They died pretty hard sfter blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl.

Then they didnt have 5-6 NFL games on at the same time. You can only get NFL Sunday ticket on DIRECTV.

Depends on where he was sailing. In the Southern Caribbean, it's too far away from the Miami feeds. The four major sports have deals with ESPN International and FOX properties. Six at once, doubtful, but I've seen three on at once

While they fit as much into and onto the Sunshine as they possibly could, the lack of a full second pool and its overall smaller size, I'd choose the Breeze. Mind you, the Sunshine is a pretty sweet ship but we did an 8 day on her, and most everyone was out on deck during the three sea days,where it got pretty crowded.