seannyice81

There is a drop off/pick up area to the right of the terminal entrance. It is usually pretty jammed with taxis.

There is parking inside the terminal gates, but I believe its for port staff.

I don't have any photos.

here is a linked one from ebay.

Basically, the fish is a 2 piece "case" for the white cup (with lid) that goes inside.

They also have a new "blue fish" cup thats not as cool as the blowfish. Same basic concept except its not a blowfish, and its an actual 2 piece cup with no other cup inside.

When we cruised on Glory, my cousin and her husband fell asleep on one of the Serenity loungers. I don't think they slept the whole night up there, but most of it. They said nobody bothered them.

So Carnival is now going to have 12 ships based in Florida year round? :eek:

 

Freedom, Liberty, Sunshine, Glory, Splendor, Breeze, Conquest, Pride, Inspiration, Ecstasy, Sensation and Fascination.

 

Did I miss any?

That's quite a few ships.

I would really hope with that many ships sailing from Florida, (year round, no less) that they would start adding old/new ports to their itineraries to mix things up a little. I can't say I'll be holding my breath though.

I traveled on the Pride in October 2013. I believe the first two days are underway because that is what Carnival wants because we only travel at 18knots which is not full speed.

Not to nitpick, but hardly ever does a ship sail at full speed (20+ knots). Its mostly used for rushing into/out of ports if there's an urgent matter.

Don't see that happening in the winter months.

Or any ship without an enclosed pool, as somebody mentioned in another thread.

I wonder if the competitions rates will go even higher now.

They have an edge over others when it comes to affordability. Hence 3 of my 4 cruises and soon to be 5th, are with Carnival. All those cruises, Carnival has been the least expensive at the time I booked. My lone Royal cruise was to try another line. Would I pay a little more for a better Carnival product/experience? Yes. But, if we're talking the same price as other lines, I'd probably be more loyal to Royal.

I

still work as a sky goddess (flight attendant).

There's the answer I was looking for, haha. Sky goddess(es) it is then, unless they're dudes, who are then flight attendants.

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I'm not sure how far Carnival themselves will go with this.

Make sure you post a straight-forward review of your experience on Carnival's excursion page where you book it. Those interested should see the good with the bad.

I ran into this last March. It stunk though because it was a chilly day in Florida.

We rented a car from FLL airport for a few hours, drove to Miami (South Beach) for lunch and walking around. We came back up and hung out around the beach in Ft Lauderdale area until it was time to get back to the airport.

If I was going to do it again, I'd check out the Mai Kai Restaurant (tiki) and see if they were doing one of their shows.

Maybe Funship Freddy can battle it out with the big towel elephant on the Lido deck. lol

Yes! This would be better than watching most of the lido deck stuff they always do!

I'm doing this next week. It's only an hour each way.

You'll need to take your passports.

 

A few years ago we did an all day sail to Tortola, Jost van Dyke and a few other areas from St Thomas. We did passport control on St John.

Good information. Thank you! :cool:

I'm really loving the details of your cruise on the Valor. Just one question. Did you and your mom book this tour through Carnival excursion desk or did was the tour book through the tour operator?

 

I'm concerned if booking with an independent operator as if they are late getting back to the ship, the ship will leave. As if book through Carnival, if the tour comes in late, the ship will wait.

 

Please let me know. Thanks

Which tour in particular?

We booked the ATV Adventure in St. Kitts through Carnival 2 months prior to the cruise. It started early and was done (too soon in my opinion) before lunch. Next time I will book independent.

In St. Lucia we were in a group booking with Cosol tours. Our tour did run a little bit long but we returned about an hour before having to be back on board. Towards the end they sped things up a bit while still getting us to all the sights.

In St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Barbados, we did our own thing.

My advice to you is that you will probably enjoy more and see more value in the independent tours. Another thing that can be said about them is that they won't be doing very much business if word spreads that they don't get passengers back to the ship in good time. A good tour operator knows this and keeps things timely. Do a lot of research in tours you're interested in. ALSO, make sure to research the ports too. Some ports tend to have really bad traffic which can delay you getting back to a ship.

Carnival's excursions pretty much guarantee the ship waits for you. They're also easier to recognize in port with their signs. Those are really the only benefits though. They often cost more, and you generally don't get as much (time or experiences) with them as you would an independent tour.

Don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but I was told that sometimes they do that based on wind direction, or time frame - if they are running late they take off directly over the beach instead of having to waste the time circling around over the mountains. Whatever the reason, it was super cool. :) I can't imagine being there for this one. :eek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu91oZ2_Vag

Not long before our ship left St. Maarten, I noticed planes taking off towards the South (over the beach). Its actually more common than people think. We just mostly see the landings.

Thanks for the great review and awesome photos!

 

It sucks that you guys didn't have the best weather but it looks like you still had a great time! You're a good son for taking your mom on a cruise, I bet she'll remember this for the rest of her life! :)

Welcome, and Thank you!

What camera did u use? I was born in Puerto Rico and just got off the Magic on my birthday. Fell in love with dec cruising now.

I used my Nikon D90 with a Nikkor 18-55mm VR lens (VR off). One of the very nice photos was taken with my iphone. Bet you can't guess which one!

You must have had a nice cruise! Cruising in December is great!

I agree seannyice81,,,it is a great itinerary. Love the photos with your review,,,it makes it so much better. We definitely had better weather the week before on the Valor,,,when we did get rain it was usually at night or early morning. Most of our days were sunny and bright for entire stay on each island. I did enjoy seeing the sewer covers lifted up in San Juan when you were there,,,it backed up our cab drivers story when we got back!!

 

Great review,,,except you got to Trunk Bay and I didn't!!:mad: Thanks for the photo though,,,it makes me want to get there even more!!:D

There are still plenty of cruises stopping in St. Thomas. You should try again! I HIGHLY recommend next time you hail a cab to Red Hook Bay and take a ferry to St. John to see Trunk Bay. Look into it in the Port of Call section here, or send me a message if you're considering it. :cool:

Sean’s Mom here. Thanks all for reading his review and the compliments on his photos. Good job, son!

 

I hadn’t vacationed with Sean for 11 years and I have only cruised once before (Sept. 2012 – DCL). Although I was spoiled on my previous cruise and originally had a few misgivings about Carnival after recent incidents, I looked past that and saw this as a great opportunity to visit some new places and make some priceless new memories with my son. It worked out wonderfully! With planning and a bit of serendipity, we had a great time, although I was so sorry Sean got sick from the lunch in San Juan and then caught a cold towards the end of the trip. I encourage all parents and their adult children to make at least one trip like this. I’ll have fond memories of this trip the rest of my life and I hope he will, too.

Thank you, Mom :o

Enjoyed your review - we just sailed her in November.

 

Glad you had a good time in Barbados. We weren't too impressed. DH had initially wanted us to go to this one beach, but cabbie basically refused saying it was 'closed' for reef repair or some such nonsense. We ended up going to some beach he picked out and it was pretty, but had really aggressive beach vendors. Wouldn't take no for an answer. Dude - I do not want my feet massaged with whatever "aloe leaves" you have in that ripped plastic bag. :eek: yuk. Plus my friend was getting catcalls and whistles from the locals when she went to use the washroom and she didn't feel comfortable.

 

So left a bad taste in our mouth. Next time we'll have to try doing the day pass at the Hilton. Did they allow vendors on their beach? I know they can't really refuse them if the beach is public.

 

Bummer that you got sick for Maho Beach. We saw some cool jets and what was really cool was that they were taking off over the beach too.

I actually do think you should try going back if you have a chance. The Hilton was excellent. They did have one single vendor who sat at a table selling brackets and necklaces near the entrance to the beach. She never beckoned anyone over or pushed for anyone to buy anything. She just stayed put as people came up to her.

I really want to go back, mostly to experience the landscapes of the Atlantic coast. The pictures look amazing.

Awwww, man! I was hoping you did it! I understand wanting to take care of your mom, though. I wouldn't send my mom off on a tour by herself either. In addition to Barbados, looks like you need to plan a land trip back to St. Lucia so you can make the climb. :D

I have about 5 islands I want to revisit at this time and St. Lucia is one of them. One of these days or on another cruise, I'll make it a point to do the climb. :D

Haha I got a kick out of this. Stewardess, ok, no biggie, but you know no one says stewards any more, right? ;)

Sorry to hear you stayed so sick on your vacation but glad you managed to have a good time in spite of. Loved your pictures! Why didn't you post any pictures of you?

I sincerely apologize for the mistake. Do employees prefer to be referred to as flight attendants, cabin crew, or flight crew? I really don't mean to come off as ignorant, but I'm just not sure.

There are a few photos of me. I was behind the camera most of the time.

The man behind the camera, with the camera

More sick than I look in St. Maarten

Photo with Mom during the ATV Adventure

Slightly off topic, Anyone taken a ferry from St. Thomas (Red Hook) to Tortola and back? Could be an option, though its probably a lot of ferry time.

I don't think the other lines have cut their Tortola stops. That would also be an option if you're ok with sailing other lines.

I really, really, want to read about somebody using the vacation guarantee because there was no table cloth in the dining room. That would be the most ridiculous thing ever, haha!

I've seen Priceline offering up to $200 obc for Carnival bookings.

You're kidding right? They will really do that?

They will.

I'm willing to bet though, guest services will promise and try to change as much as they can to keep the unhappy guest(s) on board.

You mean kinda like this one?

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1954864

Close enough. They could've made the choices simple "Want cloth, Better Without, or Don't Know/Care".

Great review! Makes me look even more forward to our trip next month! Your pictures are beautiful!

Thank you. Have a good time!

Welcome to the Cruise Critic boards!

Since the dining concept is currently a hot topic here, it would be good to have you share your experience and thoughts on it as well.

We received our guarantee stateroom and are on deck 2 aft. Is it a real pain to get anywhere? i knew we'd be on either 1 or 2 but was hoping for midship. Looks like it'll be easy getting on and off but do the elevators ever come down on their own or only when passengers are going to 1 or 2?

 

I'm just worried it'll be a week of "hurry up & wait".

 

Any tips or tricks to help navigate the splendor? Thanks!

I think it really depends what you want to be near.

If you have assigned dining, you only need to go up a flight or 2 to the aft dining room. You also share the elevator shaft with the lido cafeteria. If you make port and use the aft gangways, you're closer and most likely will be able to get on shore more quickly.

If you want to be near the gym, spa, camp carnival, or serenity decks, you will have some walking to do.

I think we need a poll