jwalk03

They must not actually be enforcing this rule change.  I haven't been on a Disney Cruise since 2014 but I just booked one for 2025 and it still showed me as Silver before booking.

Went in Feb 2014 on the Dream and we had a wonderfully nice day at CC. Water was a little chilly, but the temps were in the 80s so the water felt good as long as you didn't stay in it for long long periods of time.

Play Craps or Blackjack. Much Much better odds for you (if played correctly of course).

How can they just close the call center?! Shouldn't there be a call center located outside of hurricane zones?! I have a friend booked on the October 10 Dream sailing. She is in Ohio. Spirit canceled their flights, so they are leaving tonight and driving all the way down to Florida. If Disney ends up canceling the Dream on the 10th, she is going to be very upset that she drove 22 hours down, and has to drive 22 hours back! They really need to decide ASAP! If airlines are canceling, I would think they have to cancel too!

Because the people that work in the call center need to evacuate! No company should put its employees lives at risk so they can sit there and take phone calls from people that are upset about a natural disaster!

WHY ON EARTH?! would anyone want to drive to FLORIDA right now! When everyone else is trying to get out? Some things are more important than a vacation.

WOW, I love the new 10 and 11 day cruises for Disney Fantasy in June 2017! How great would it be to do one 21-day voyage! I am sure the price for that will be astronomical though! $20K+ for the 21 days I'm guessing. Anyone else want to venture a guess??

Mar/Apr is likely to be cheaper than June. Not everyone has Spring Break at the same time, where as Summer Break is pretty much the same for most.

One other safety feature that I thought was cool when we went with our little one was the drawers in the cabins. The drawers cannot be slammed, they just slowly close to prevent getting little fingers smashed. Neat little added touch.

On the newer ships the Insides have Magic Portholes that are very popular with some people because they are unique. So that may be one reason.

Secondly I think some with small children prefer the Insides and Oceanviews because they worry about having small children on a balcony. IMO this is a pretty irrational fear, but its there for some.)

Lastly, it really all comes down to supply and demand. On some sailings balconies will be way more than an inside because they are selling better, so it really just depends.

Carnival just updated their website to show the sailings out of Norfolk, VA for 2017. We are a seasonal homeport and typically get a ship in the Spring and Fall for about a month.

 

Usually there's a mix of 5 to 6 day Bahamas sailings along with one or two longer options like Bermuda or Eastern Caribbean. Not for 2017 though. They are only offering 5-day Bahamas to Nassau and Freeport.

 

I've got to admit, this is pretty disappointing. I have sailed out of Norfolk every year (except 2014 when they temporarily pulled out) for some time. But I don't think I'll bother in 2017. Nassau and Freeport and two of my least favorite ports.

 

It really baffles me that Carnival didn't give us some better options to choose from. Every time they do a sailings from here to somewhere more interesting, it sells out like crazy. Grrr. :mad:

They only released a very small portion of post April 2017 sailings, there are still lots more ships to be added, so there maybe more. I wouldn't be too worried about it in 2015.

Barbados

St. Kitts

I didn't know Carnival stopped at Santo Domingo! Its nice to see a new port on the schedule!!

If you are looking for a Beach Day for Barbados, check out The Boatyard.

Also I would recommend a short trip out to swim with the Turtles. One of the best experiences I have ever had on a cruise. You can find someone to take you out right on the beach, no need to pre-book. I think we paid $20pp with Neville.

The Fantasy classes ships most def do not have all the bells & whistles of the newer ships, BUT they do have one feature that sticks out to me as being so much BETTER than the new ships! The AFT Serenity... SOOOOO much nicer than the ones on the Conquest class ships that are all the way FWD! Also its kind of tricky to find for those not familiar with the ship, so I thought it was always way less crowded than on the Conquest class.

If the ship is why you cruise, than chose the Glory. If you cruise for the ports (like I do), go with the Southern on Fascination! My wife and I took this cruise when the Valor was doing it a couple of years ago and it was AMAZING! Everyone of these islands is unique, and very very enjoyable, and trust me Barbados is a great place to spend your birthday. (I proposed to my (now) wife on the beach in Barbados when we were there on this cruise.)

We actually only booked one excursion on this cruise (St. Lucia), in every other port we just went to a beach and enjoyed the day, so there are LOTS and LOTS of excellent choices for the best beaches on this cruise. I would rate the beach from best to worst as follows:

1. Barbados (clearest water I have ever seen!)

1A. St. Kitts (great, but very very different from Barbados, much hillier island which was the perfect background to the beach. This was the stop we were the least excited about before the trip and even considered just staying on the ship instead, but were so surprised by how wonderful this island was and very glad we did not stay on the ship!)

3. St. Maarten (Maho Beach is worth a quick visit to see the planes, but I wouldn't plan a whole beach day there. Venture over to the French side beaches instead, tops optional!)

4. St. Thomas (Meaghan's Bay is a GREAT beach for small children because the water is completely calm. Its a VERY pretty beach in its own right, but near the bottom of the list for this cruise because of all the competition.)

5. St. Lucia (This is the only one where I would not recommend just planning a beach day. Take a trip to the Pitons instead and if you want there is a small beach in between them to enjoy though the beach itself is nothing to write home about.)

My wife sailed at about 24 weeks, had no issues at all. Every time I wanted a cocktail she would have a virgin one for the pictures. We had a great trip.

The Splendor is too big to go thru the canal ~ hopefully that will mean another S America cruise option! :)

It won't be too big to fit in the Panama Canal once the expansion is done. That is a huge reason why no announcement yet, if something happens and the Canal isn't ready in time they would have to back track, and they clearly don't want to deal with all the issues that would cause.

The chance of another South American sailing is about as close to zero as you can get.

I've looked at cruises out of Florida for different ports. I just cant justify the air fare for 3 people plus two nights of hotels. Cheaper to cruise out of Galveston with the same ports.

The part of the equation Carnival cares about is just the cruise fare, not the airfare. The cruise fares out of Galveston are almost always higher.

Because they fill those ships and for several hundred dollars more per person.

THIS. The prices for comparable cruises out of Galveston versus Florida are almost always higher than any Florida ports. Makes good business sense to put ships where they make the most money.

They just announced that the Fantasy was adding Guy's and of course the Vista is also being built with Guy's. Why would they still be adding it , if their was a licensing issue?? I think that is just a made up internet rumor, they will continue to add Guy's to ships over time. Maybe not flett wide anytime soon, but if sure doesnt seem like they are trying to phase it out, or stop adding it by any means.

They are legally obligated to visit a foreign port, however I'm sure they could be granted a special exemption in the event of a hurricane that prevented a cruise from visiting a foreign port before returning to the US. This would likely be a worst case scenario, as they do make every effort to substitute other ports are complete changing from eastern to western, etc if a storm necessitates a change.

I realize that I'm a newbie to cruising, but the title of your thread states that you weren't impressed with Conquest, yet you complained about embarkation. Wouldn't that be a complaint about customs, not Conquest (i.e. Carnival)? Isn't that like trying to blame Southwest for the long TSA lines?

You do not go through customs during embarkation only debarkation.

I have no problem with these new ports being developed, anything that adds some extra variety to the itineraries. As long as they don't stop going to other ports to drive more volume to the ports they own. I did see there was one cruise with Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay as the ports. I think an entire cruise of these ports would be a little much, but as others have stated you always have the option to leave the gated area and truly experience the real island anytime you want (except HMC of course, since its totally private island.)

my guess is the Fantasy moves there for a few years and then retires.

Completely agree with this. Charleston will get a newer ship, and the Fantasy will relocate to Mobile.

The highest letter available will vary by ship, and I would also say the highest letter isn't always the best. 4Js for example have a window which is nice for an interior room, but they are also all the way forward which is less desirable than say a 4G midship.

Exactly - would love an overnighter in Key West. People who have never been don't know what they are missing. The sunset celebration and then Duval Street is a trip at night. :D

I believe Key West has a ban in place that prevents ships from remaining in port overnight. They don't want the ships blocking that sunset.