Not_Done_Living

 

if you do assigned seating you will be at the same table every night.

with same waiters

 

 

We always do assigned seating. We like having the same waiters and feel were treated better.

this .. i have had ATD every cruise i have been on .. i have had the same waiters in the same seats, every night, on every cruise i have been on. i am sure as a solo they could put you alone or with a group ATD or not.

she loves cruising and visiting ports -- but ports are always such a rush ... you can go to the beach or you can see the sights -- but not both .. sometimes we got of the ship at 10 am and had to be back by 4 pm .. just too uch rush for a vacation///

we had to get up and report early on our first cruise, but every other subsequent cruise we just went through the line .. to be honest even when we did go and report early we still had to go through the line -- we just already had our immigration paper signed.

Well thanks for the pointers, but none of these work the way the wife wants them too... :( blah i fear i will now be stuck on the same beach for 12 days now...

we are looking for a longer cruise (10-14 days, either one itin or a b2b) that has ports where the ship hangs out for either a full day (late night departure) or an overnight .. this way we can actually experience a port vs rush off the ship -- rush to a beach/excursion, rush back to the ship...

Does Carnival offer any regular itins that would provide that experience?

or if not Carnival.. anyone? (really trying to avoid an AI beach vacation ...)

We get a call from a wonderful young lady every single time we log onto the Carnival website -- every .. single.. time.... same girl..

booked 2 cruises with her though ...

We set up out three kids on their own cash accounts when we checked in. they didn't connect to our credit card accounts at all. and once their money was gone it was gone :)

we took our Foster daughter on a cruise on the Sensation in the Owners suite last eyar and it was wonderful.. VIP services from the second you check in .. they carry your luggage for you and you bypass all the lines....

They are great rooms -- the dining/bar area alone is bigger than any other Suite.

Take it .. you will NOT regret it.

this was also my first Cruise Ship -- it is an excellent starter cruise ship -- not to big so you feel overwhelmed .

as per the recent incident -- its only national news cause its on a cruise ship ...there are on average 26 Elevator related deaths per year in the USA..

We have a family of 5 and are looking at getting a suite for our first family cruise. Our kids are younger and so we like to all be in the same room still, but this way we will have more space and when the kids go to bed earlier we can enjoy the balcony.

 

I am leaning towards either getting the furthest one aft or the furthest one forward so that we have an oceanview next door us. I thought it might provide slightly more privacy?

 

These ones are both close to the elevators but I read some threads that said most people aren't bothered by the little extra noise?

 

Anyone been in a grand suite on fantasy class ships that might have any tips on their favorite location or all they all pretty equal all things considered?

 

Thanks

I have been in a Grand Suite on Sensation twice (U102 and U89) and to be honest -- not a lot of difference between them in regards to the noise (there wasn't much) or privacy (didn't see anyone else on their balconies)...

I'm excited, I took the upgrade! Question,.... You didn't check your luggage when you drove in? Or did the porters recognize your tags and handle them different? I normally have priority Checking since I'm platinum. Do they do it different when your in the owners suite?

 

Thanks for all your help!

We did check in out luggage and they were already at our room by the time we breezed through boarding... the porters scooped up our carry on (including a case of Soda and a case of Water).

These were not the guys outside -- when we entered the terminal and showed our id and boading pass, the "greeter" grabbed his radio and said "Our P2 guests are here" and then like magic we had help -- through security, through the checkin and photo process, up to the waiting lounge (for 5 minutes) they held back the Platinums and the wedding party to allow us through -- right up to our room.

I wasn't expecting that but luckily had some cash for tips ...

Then on the ship itself whenever we showed our S&S card to be swiped (there was nothing to indicate our suite on the card) the crew would say "Oh VIP!" and be extra friendly.

it was a great experience for our foster daughter who had never gone anywhere before -- and to be treated as VIP made her vacation!

I agree with everything - except Smoke-Free. Did I miss something? Carnival is not smoke-free.

the smoking sections are now so small and away from the action they might as well be.

Except for the casino i didn't have any smoke issues on my last cruise.

We were in the Sensation Owners Suite last year and it was wonderful.. We just called and booked it directly though .. it is a VIP experience from the point you show your ID at the terminal -- we had 3 people handling our luggage, they carried it right up to the room -- my 9 year old foster daughter got to be "the first passenger" on the ship ... lots of smiles and service!

yup FTTF is good even if you have a suite -- unless you have the Owners Suite -- then its not needed - we were the First to Board when we had the Owners suite -- with a team of pursers carrying our luggage to our room -- it was really funny -- from the point we checked in at Security it was like we were celebrities :)

you need a new TA. You are paying them to do this and to worry about it -- they seem to be putting it back on you.

Dump your luggage in your room and then go eat. it will be very quiet for about 30 minutes at the beginning of embarkation -- then it gets crazy.

My introverted 14 year old daughter had a blast with the other teens on teh ship -- she really enjoyed the experience - -and i actually had parents stop me and compliment me on how great my 16 year old SON....

I like having the same wait staff. Also the singing & dancing in the Dining room. The few times we haven't had a full table we've been lucky with our tablemates.

Have had ATD for the last 4 cruises.

Had the same wait staff, except for the one time we changed because a waiter made an inappropriate remark that made both my wife and daughter uncomfortable.

Saw the waiters dance every single time as well.

sat alone, sat with new people. ATD is fine and great experience.

correct -- my 8 year old did not have charging privileges. The only pay even t was the Build a bear and a parent was required for that.

no charge for the other crafts or whatnot -- but there was a charge for the Night Owls parties -- but the swag she got was more than worth the fee.

As for your FTTF question -- you will skip the line and go to the VIP line and the lounge with the plat folks. You will board after them but before the general folks.

on one of my cruises a table mate loved shrimp, scallops, and lobster and couldn't wait for lobster night. the head waiter would have a sauteed shrimp and scallop meal made every night for him. on lobster night he was like a kid in a candy store and ate 8 tails. the only time they told him no was when he asked if he could get one more to take back to his cabin. they said it wasn't allowed but he could have as many as he wanted inside the dinning room. i can't remember exactly where he was from but remember it was somewhere in Canada. and he said it was very hard for him to get lobster and shrimp there.

Wasn't Canadian then we have seen shrimp and lobster everywhere

we didn't even have to tell our hostess on the Ecstasy -- it was delivered to the table before dessert.

they asked my 14 year old daughter if she was pregnant when we were checking in on the last cruise--- was kind of shocking -- but she just said no -- (thank god!)

Are you sure about that? Do we have any accounts earlier than 1970?

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/insight/2014/10/12/1-fatal-discovery.html

you are most definitely correct -- i was thinking decades -- not sure why i typed centuries!

regardless -- it is the monster of the week.

Ebola has been around for centuries. More people die of the flu each year than have died of Ebola. Remember SARS?

Id be curious to hear what time the larger groups went to dine with no wait and seated at the same table

our family of 5 was seated promptly (immediately 4 of 5 nights, 5 minute wait the one odd time) with the same excellent wait staff. they gave us lots of attention and the kids were so happy. they even did magic tricks for them.

never had a wait for food either -- we arrived between 6:30 and 7:30 pm for dinner.

we always do ATD and will continue doing ATD.