chipandsteph

First time on the Glory.

First time going out of Miami.

First time on a ship with 2.0.

First cruise for my mom.

First aft-view extended balcony.

First time in Belize.

We have never seen Freddie on any of our cruises. I always noticed he had been around when I saw photos of others with him in the photo gallery. I'm disappointed that I will never meet him.

I have never sailed RCL, but have done both Carnival and NCL. We sailed on the Norwegian Gem this summer. I wasn't impressed with the room size. Carnival's rooms are definitely bigger. My husband had to back up to the toilet in order to go to the bathroom. He is 6 feet 5 inches tall, but has no issue in the bathrooms on Carnival. I thought the crew was comparable to any I have met on Carnival. There were a couple of women on the entertainment team that became my son's biggest fans! I thought the food was just a little bit better on NCL, but my husband thought Carnival's food was better. It was nice having the beverage package. It is normally not something I would purchase since my husband is not a drinker. NCL has a lot more choices in the way of specialty dining. You could eat somewhere different every night if you wanted to. The entertainment was great. I did miss the stand up comedy, but loved Second City. I thought the Gem was great overall. I have heard the service isn't as good on the larger ships, but not sure if that is true or not.

We went on NCL for the first time a couple of months ago. I found the food to be better than Carnival. Cagney's Steakhouse is a must try! There was no stand up comedian, only an improv show. I enjoyed this, but my husband missed the stand up. This could be based on ship, too. We were on the Gem. There were no robes in the room, and the room was tiny compared to Carnival. My husband is 6'5" and had a hard time with the bathroom in the room. He had to back in to use the toilet because the area for the toilet was so small. For me, overall experience was about the same as Carnival. For him, he won't pay to cruise Norwegian again. Carnival for us from now on!

These are all great ports. I wouldn't skip any of them.

Only gets you a larger cabin and priority boarding. Is that worth $600 more to you?

Not really. I've always been happy with our regular balconies. I wasn't sure if there was something I didn't know about to make this more appealing.

We are currently booked in an aft-view balcony on the Glory for next year. We generally go with a regular balcony, so this is already an upgrade for us. I was just pricing an ocean suite to see what the computer would come up with. It is $600 more for 3 of us. Is the upgrade worth me calling to switch rooms?

http://www.***********/Carnival/winepackages.html

 

CRUISE THE VINEYARDS PROGRAM

 

 

 

Prices recently went up (January 2012).

 

You can still save up to 25% off the regular bottle prices by using this program.

 

 

 

 

 

If you order by calling Bon Voyage you avoid paying the 15% gratuity charge that you get if purchasing the package onboard.

 

 

 

Once onboard you can purchase a wine package through the gift shop or through your waiter in the Main Dining Room. Both of these ways will incur the 15% gratuity charge.

 

 

 

Any way you order you will not have to select the actual wines in your package till you are in the Main Dining Room ready to drink one of them.

 

 

 

How the program works:

 

 

 

When ordering you select your wine package size and type: 3 or 5 & Basic, Deluxe, or Premium.

 

You then will receive wine coupons. If you purchase by calling Bon Voyage your coupons will be left in your cabin. If you purchase through the gift shop or Main Dining Room your coupons will be given to you at that time.

 

The number of coupons you receive depends on the package size you select (ex. 5 wine package = 5 coupons).

 

You don't actually select the specific wines until you are ready to drink them.

 

You can use your wine coupons at any onboard bar which serves wine or in the Main Dining Room.

 

Once you have given the bartender or waiter your wine coupon and wine choice, the bottle is then brought to you.

 

If you order in the Main Dining Room and do not finish the bottle you will have 3 options: you can either take the bottle with you, have it delivered to your room or they will re-cork it and save it for your next visit to the Main Dining Room.

 

 

 

 

 

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3 Wine Package Pricing: Basic $77, Deluxe $97, Premium $114

 

(available on cruises 5 days or shorter)

 

 

 

5 Wine Package Pricing: Basic $131, Deluxe $153, Premium $193

 

(available on cruises 5 days or longer)

 

 

 

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Basic Wine Package

Barefoot Bubbly, Brut Cuvee

Copper Ridge, White Zinfandel

Zonin, Pinot Grigio

Clifford Bay, Sauvignon Blanc

Barefoot, Chardonnay

Barefoot, Pinot Noir

Bogle, Merlot

Twisted, Zinfandel

Black Swan, Shiraz

Smoking Loon, Cabernet Sauvignon

 

 

 

Deluxe Wine Package

Zonin, Prosecco

Castello Del Poggio, Moscato

Oyster Bay, Sauvignon Blanc

Schmitt Sohne, Riesling Spatlese

Kendall Jackson, Vintner’s Reserve, Chardonnay

Murphy Goode, Merlot

Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon

Bodega Santa Elena, Malbec

Domaine Darons de Rothschild Lafite, Bordeaux

 

 

 

Premium Wine Package

Paul Louis, Blanc de Blanc

Ecco Domain, Pinot Grigio

Ferrari-Carano, Fume Blanc

Pouilly-Fuisse, Burgundy

Frei Brothers, Chardonnay

Kendall-Jackson, Vintner’s Reserve, Pinot Noir

Kendall- Jackson, Vintner’s Reserve, Merlot

Hess Select, Cabernet Sauvignon

Melini, Classic Riserva, Chianti

Yangarra, Shiraz

 

"Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't." Pete Seeger

 

RTFM = Read The Fabulous Manual aka FAQ;s

Thank you. I can't get that link to work, but read what you copied. I tried searching the Carnival site and got nothing. I must have been in the wrong section.

Yep, they do (hopefully not did!) have a couple of wine packages. The number of bottles was determined by the number of days and you can select from three levels of quality, I believe. The problem is, I don't remember exactly where the information is on the Carnival site! I know it is also available in the lobby upon boarding. Wish I could be more specific, but hope this helps a little.

It does help! At least I know I'm not crazy! Maybe it is too soon to see it for my cruise.

I thought I had seen a wine package offered on carnival.com while I was preparing for a previous cruise. We just booked Glory for September of next year, and I wanted to check out the prices for this. I can't seem to find it anywhere on the site now. Am I looking in the wrong place or was I imagining it before?

Valor is a Conquest class ship, not Dream class. So you will be fine :)

I was referring to the Magic when I mentioned the Dream class. We were originally looking at that, but my husband doesn't want to wait until November, and they have no Southern sailings in September of 2016.

We love the Splendor also hands down over the Valor.

So do I, but he feels that way about the Valor. Pretty sure we will go with Splendor anyway. I just was really looking forward to trying a Dream class ship.

Both ships are scheduled for dry dock next spring. Splendor in March, Valor in April.

Thank you!

My husband and I are looking at Southern Caribbean cruises in fall of 2016. We were going to book the Magic for the November 12th sailing, but he has now decided he wants to go earlier. I am now looking at September. Valor is sailing out of Port Canaveral, and Splendor out of Miami. I have sailed on both ships, and Splendor is my favorite. What I am wondering is if there are any plans for either of these ships to go through dry dock before next September. Does anybody know? I'm trying to make this decision so we can get our reservation in the next few days. I want an aft balcony, so I want to get it early.

I think you have to take a shuttle. As far as I know the beach is open, but I just canceled our excursion there in two weeks. There is concern about bacteria in Florida seawaters. It can be fatal for those not normally in good health and can cause mild stomach issues if ingested by someone healthy. The symptoms described sounded similar to norovirus. I don't want to have my eight year old expose himself and possibly have those stomach issues. A cruise is no fun when quarantined to your cabin.

When are you sailing on the Gem? I'll be on her the second week in July.

We are sailing June 27th.

Thank you both. Its not something that would ruin the cruise or anything. I was just curious.

We are from NH and taking the bus.

I have never sailed with Norwegian. Our first time is coming up in a few weeks on the Gem. We have always done Carnival. On Carnival, we always use Your Time Dining, but request the same waiter every night. Is that possible on Norwegian if you are eating in the same dining room every night?

What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! My husband, son, and I will be boarding the Gem on June 27th for our first cruise with Norwegian. We have always cruised with Carnival. I am now looking forward to this one more than ever!

I love the Splendor! Some say it has too much pink, but it didn't bother me at all. I've been on Miracle, Legend, Valor, and Splendor. Splendor is my favorite so far. The rotisserie was my favorite place for lunch. I love the way the Lido deck is set up! We had a wonderful time on her for our honeymoon last year!

Thanks for all of the responses! The Conquest was mostly on the list because of a group cruise I was invited on. There would be the group benefits included in that cruise. I've mostly been on older ships, so that wouldn't bother me at all. I don't like the idea of no Serenity deck, though. I think I've narrowed it down to Breeze or Sunshine. We were leaning toward the Breeze, but I have now found out some of our cruising friends are looking at the Sunshine itinerary. If they go, we will follow. We are discussing getting our own group together!

I thought we had narrowed our choices for 2016 down to the Breeze or the Conquest Southern Caribbean 8 day. We had considered the Vista repo, but decided not to because it would throw our vacation pay off. I was looking at Carnival's website tonight, and it has the Sunshine doing a NYC-Bermuda cruise. Now I don't know what I want! Back to three ships again. We have never been to Aruba, Curacao, or DR, but have never done Bermuda either. Which one would you choose? Pretty bad I am obsessing over next year when this year's trip hasn't gotten here yet!

Your kids are adorable! Love the dress your daughter was wearing the first formal night! My daughter wore the same one in purple on our cruise last summer!

We will be on her May 28th! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip!