antique sailor

AHOY SHIPMATE

 

Only a couple shops on HMC that uses US$ ...There is a store from ship that uses your room key account. YOUR CASH IS SAFE ON HMC

 

Nassau has a lot of shops in Terminal and a greater verity CASH only,

BE CAREFUL WITH VALUABLES IN TERMINAL AREA.

 

Nicer stores only a block from pier for lotsa shopping.

 

 

ANTIQUE SAILOR

SEA YA.

Sometimes I get the impression that I may be the only person that actually enjoys eating in the MDR. We enjoy talking with our tablemates and the food is just fine for us. Based on our Mariner status, we are given multiple dinners in the Pinnacle for each cruise. We do not bother to use most of them. I think if I ate in the Pinnacle every day , I’d come home with a case of gout.

 

Scott & Karen

 

AHOY SHIPMATES,

Hi SCOTT and KAREN, I too LIKE the MDR on a regular basis and enjoy meeting our tablemates. I never fail to use my freebees in the Pinnace tho,

my favorite is the filet mignon but even that more than once a week would be too much. Their Pizza still needs help and I prefer to build my own hamburger but waiting a half hour for it ain't to my liking. Nothing is purrfect but I always go home a little heavier. Please save room for us in the PRES Club, We should hit 1300 days this year and be eligible by the end of next yr.

AHOY SHIPMATES

 

DW and I cruise a lot on Carnival and always do B2Bs on 5 day cruises so have observed a lot of different mixes in passengers.

The passengers do have a lot to do with the general atmosphere aboard BUT the Hotel Manager creates the tone by the way he SUPERVISES the various Department Heads: Guest Services, House keeping, Matred, and the CRUISE DIRECTOR etc.

Carnival training of entire staff and crew emphasizes "FUN" and the above Staff do their best to make it happen.

Some other Cruise lines do not try as hard. I like HAL for long cruises and CARNIVAL for the shorter ones.

ANTIQUE SAILOR

 

SEA YA

We are finally getting back on a ship after three long years, YAY!! We will be sailing in December on Carnival Valor. We normally have a regular balcony cabin but this time I booked an aft balcony cabin. Since this will be our first aft, is there any tips or tricks I need to know about sailing aft? Hoping we will like it as much as a regular balcony. Thanks and happy sailing to all!!

 

AHOY SHIPMATE.

 

Congrats on getting the AFT EXTENDED balcony. There is extra room to lounge, rather than sit in regular chairs at attention, it is not any rougher than other areas and the view is just as good. Look for the secret stairs up to the SERENITY deck and LIDO.

 

ANTIQUE SAILOR

 

SEA YA

.

I am going to Rotterdam in a few days time and will be staying at the SS Rotterdam hotel. She is an ex HAL ship from the 60's (I think) Just wondering if anyone has sailed on her when she was in her glory days.

 

Regards Phil.

AHOY SHIPMATE,

DW and I were fortunate to do the LAST Grand World Voyage on HER in 1997 and really enjoyed it. The ship was beautiful and everyone was sorry to see it SOLD.

It went thru some bad times before becoming the Hotel.

I'm cruising with over 50 of our friends at the end of this month! Ages range from 7 - 50+. Anyone out there done this before and do you have any suggestions for us? Thanks!:)

 

AHOY SHIPMATE,

first suggestion is CANCEL.

 

REBOOK with a much smaller group of 8-10 at most. I would list the reasons but I'm sure you will get them from others.

I live in a city with over 50 golf courses and have been banned from all of them because my IQ is over 50. I would be happy to take these new "gifts" from Carnival if they should actually appear, and DONATE them to the local Country Clubs to distribute to player lowest score of the day as a SPECIAL award. Some A..holes will be proud to wear it.

Norwegian actually sold HMC to Holland America, which of course was acquired by Carnival.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

nOT TO START AN ARGUMENT BUT THE BAHAMAS own THE BAHAMAS AND ARE TOO SMART TO SELL ANY OF THEIR ISLANDS TO ANY OF THE CRUISE LINES.........however they do lease them for long periods of time with many stipulations attached as to how many workers must

be hired and of what nationality and pay scale etc.

Every ship HAL ship I've ever been on has had a craps table, Poker (Stud/Texas Holdem), BlackJack and a smattering of the other card games (Let it Ride and others).

 

I've found the craps dealers to be all across the spectrum. I suspect its because they don't get a constant work out at the tables. Payouts can sometimes take a while when there are lots of players and you do sometimes need to stay on top of them to insure you get your pay out and that its right.

 

One thing about the craps table, its either single or double odds max. I can't remember which right now.[/Q

 

ALL HAL CRAPS HAVE DOUBLE ODDS

Please tell me why you would choose or not choose Carnival Ships over other lines. Is it the cabins, the food, the entertainment, the itineraries, or just the overall treatment on Carnival. I'm curious because I've never traveled on Carnival but they seem to have pretty good itineraries.

 

I LIVE 11 MILES FROM PORT IN JAX FLA (15 Min). WE DO OUR LONG CRUISES ON HAL mostly because of the way we are treated by Staff and Crew

 

We have found that Carnival is every bit as friendly, food is as good, ships are as nice (we prefer the smaller ships), less expensive, and as stated closer to home. The casinos are all nice but much livelier on Carnival

 

We are Almost Diamond on Carnival and 5 Star on HAL so the perks are about the same.

Cruises are 5 days so we do B2Bs for 10 days on Carnival

 

ANTIQUE SAILOR

 

SEA YA

We have a cruise booked on the fascination in Oct. 2017 and re having second thoughts after reading some of the reviews. Is it really that bad??????????????

I know it has a great itinerary but how is the ship overall?

 

AHOY SHIPMATES

I have 22 cruises on the Fascination and would take that many more if it ever returns to the USA east coast ($).

 

SEA YA

can anyone recommend a good hotel in Jacksonville that offers a park and stay with shuttle to and from the port?

 

call 1 888 663 0110 I have done 25+ cruises from JAX and talked with 100+ people with your same question. There are a dozen hotels in the area 1/2 way between airport and cruise terminal (about 10 min) with similar prices and services. enjoy your cruise SEA YA

I have just seen this on the Cruise Critic news - although no official confirmation from Cunard yet. I am booked on this cruise.

 

"Cunard has canceled all calls in Istanbul. Queen Victoria was due in on July 18 to spend a night in Istanbul, however the line has altered the itinerary and the ship will now call in at Thessaloniki and an additional call to Volos. A spokeswoman said: "Following advice from the relevant authorities Cunard has taken the decision to remove Istanbul from the planned itineraries on Queen Victoria in July and August. The calls to Istanbul will be replaced by Thessaloniki and an additional call to Volos. A shore excursion programme for these new ports will be available in the next few days. Any shore excursions booked for Istanbul will be refunded."

 

IT'S REGRETTABLE THAT ISTANBUL WILL BE OFF THE SCHEDULED STOPS

DH and I needed a quick getaway so we booked the Carnival Elation sailing on 6/4/16. The cruise overall was relaxing. The staff was WONDERFUL, the ship was always clean and we had no complaints, except for shorts in the dining room and the Crabcakes. Let me explain.

 

Shorts: We have sailed with Carnival numerous times, so we are familiar with the dress code in the dining room. I have seen many posts about guests not following the dress code, but never really paid much attention until this cruise. The majority of the guests were 1st time cruisers with Carnival (there was a sea of blue cards) and the dress code in the dining room was not enforced. Shorts were worn by men and women and there were men in the dining room with baseball caps every night. Since the majority of the cruisers were 1st timers, I think not enforcing the dress code set a precedence for any other cruises that may be taken which will make it more difficult for Carnival to enforce. The mentality will be "I did it the first time, why can't I continue to do it?" Whose job is it to enforce the dress code?

 

Crabcakes: On each cruise I look forward to ordering crab cakes. It's one of my favorite foods and I always order two. This cruise was no different, until they arrived at our table. Who told Carnival to change the recipe for the darn crab cakes? I received 2 plates of what I can only consider fried dough. THERE WAS NOT ANY CRABMEAT IN THE CRABCAKES!! I was HOT! Has anyone else noticed a difference in the crabcakes? I don't usually complain, but the fried dough has got to go!

WHEN IN CARNIVAL AND OUTNUMBERED BY AT LEAST 100 to 1 regardless to "rules" there isn't much you can do about it. The dining room manager maitre de is responsible for enforcement of rules. I have over 30 Carnival cruises and agree with most of your observations but rather than complain I enjoy watching most of the short shorts saunter by and appreciate the ball caps because they tend to keep the little crawly things from dropping into the food. The crabcakes have always been BAD but have changed and gotten WORSE in the past year so I always order two then send them back sating they forgot the crab etc etc Only solution is to find a cruiseline that suits you and spend a couple hundred $$$$ a day more to be happy.

So I just booked a 5 day out of Jacksonville on the Elation and have never been on her before so what can anyone tell me. I usually take the Fascination but I guess its moved......Also will they email me a scheduled time to board? How far out? Thanks

 

AHOY SHIPMATES.... Since your question was about boarding times I will try to answer ; Jax is one of the easiest ports to board and disembark cause there is only the ONE ship and the shore Staff is VERY GOOD. Priority can start checking in about 1000 and Boarding begins about 1130. Handicapped , then Wedding parties , then Priority and Suites, FTTF , and then regular passengers, about noon. It is usually a bit crowded then. By 1300 the crowd is all on the LIDO eating at the Mongolian WOK.

Rooms are usually ready at 1115 for priority and early categories and luggage is fairly early in afternoon for the the rest.

YES the ship is far from being NEW but it is clean. The STAFF is super nice and You should enjoy your cruise.

ANTIQUE SAILOR

Veteran cruiser

agree with most of your thoughts but much better credit cards out there than the carnival m/c. For example sams m/c gives 3% to all travel charges where Carnival is only 1%.regular and 2% Carnival purchases.

 

AHOY Shipmate,

I only discussed CREDIT CARDS as they pertained to the Cruise L ines mentioned. Other credit cards are like mixing apples and oranges and easily confusing when comparing % with $ . and how extensively you use them.

 

SEA YA

AHOY SHIPMATE

 

I think I fit the" experienced cruiser category" so will give my thoughts.

 

A consideration you didn't mention was the accessability to ports and ships from your home. That can make a great difference in cost.

 

I am Platinum on Carnival and really enjoy the perks that go with it. I am familiar with the Carnival training program of Staff and crew stressing FUN for all guests and can see that it makes for a very nice consistency in the experience that you have when aboard. Food is also not bad.

 

I have cruised on Royal Carib. and the attitude of staff varies from trip to trip, food is about the same and cost is slightly higher. Shows are probably better but CASINO does not offer good odds to players if that is of interest to you.

 

Based on MY EXPERIENCE I would recommend CARNIVAL.

 

ONCE you decide, if you are going to cruise regularly it would be a good idea to get a Carnival Master charge credit card (no fee) and Buy 100 shares of Carnival Cruise stock(approx $5,000.) to get the shipboard credit ($50-$250) as a stockholder on each cruise you take depending on length of cruise. It also pays about 3% a year in dividends.

 

Should you decide on RC the same applies about getting stock (it costs a bit more but is good ) They may also have a credit card, most cruise lines do and they give you DOUBLE pts for each $ spent on their ships etc. any more questions , just ask. good luck.

]AHOY SHIPMATES

 

 

There are NO slow cruising months. ALL of the ships cruise at about the same speed.

AHOY SHIPMATES, How do I get this? Does it cost extra? Can you get it if you are "platinum?"" WOW LOL

AHOY SHIPMATES

 

On one Grand World Cruise we had an American Dentist aboard the entire cruise to do dental work on Staff and Crew only. However he volunteered to do Emergency work on passengers. His wife was his asst. and they were a great couple. I knew a few people he worked on and did extra on his own time.

 

SEA YA.

AHOY SHIPMATE,

 

Generally you will get a msg saying your msg has been read. There are so many msgs rec'd that it would be almost impossible to answer them all so msgs are discouraged by the company. There are exceptions but very few.

 

We have asked for table with old friends who are on same cruise but did not book with us and those requests have been granted but we did not know until boarding.

 

SEAS YA

we are on the veendam in march. I am going on it with an open mind :)

AHOY SHIPMATE

A true sign of intelligence!

 

Sea ya

AHOY SHIPMATES

 

I WOULD LEAVE CARNIVAL IF; They discontinued JAX as a homeport

 

They closed the casino

 

Started charging for meals in MDR

 

Raised prices of OV cabins to over $125. day all the time(they

are getting close)

 

 

I cruise on HAL for longer cruises but like Carnival for short convenient days away from home and the friendliness of the Staff and Crew.

AHOY SHIPMATES

 

As the bumper sticker sez "S..T HAPPENS''. DW and I were on the same cruise with you.....on deck 5 midship. WE HAD A WONDERFUL CRUISE AND STAYED ABOARD FOR AN EXTRA 14 DAYS.

I don't doubt that everything you said is true, including the peephole in the door being too high for your wife. I had a bad cruise once on the MAASDAM but went back a couple years later and was very happy with the ship and have always been happy with HAL (excluding the World Cruise in 2002) I suggest you give HAL a second chance when you have had time to reflect .

SEA YA.

we received one, mine, and i got through the whole.

 

I got the impression that hal may be thinking of getting rid of the exploration's cafe or at least the library part.

 

It was a more professional survey that i am used to receiving from hal: More detailed with fewer generalized questions.

 

ahoy shipmates

was also shortened in replies.....survey was not created by hal but done for hal by a professional co. Hired by hal'

i guess after that last big fiasco news conference they had they need to do some homework .

 

Sea ya