Carnival? Have we got it right this time??

[Blondie008]

Chefs Table is a new VERY exclusive offerring. They only have one seating per cruise and it's for 12 people. You begin with a cocktail party and meeting all the chefs then a mini tour of the galley where you will be seated for a 7 or 8 course meal of the highest quality. Wine and champagne are included and the meal is closed with a personalized picture and menu gift.

 

It's a bit pricey at $75/pp, but I've heard well worth it from almost everyone that has experienced it.

 

The best way to reserve your seat is several months (even 6 months) before your cruise go to John Healds blog and there is a link there to make a reservation. If you wait until you are on the ship you will probably not make the cut.

 

PS One per cruise...hah...maybe we can do two then:D:D:D

[Geezers]

Larger? I knew the aft wrap cabin was larger but we didnt like the interior of that one, but didnt know 8450 was larger than the other afts beside it? Is that what you mean?? (Does this get any better :)) Have you got any pics of 8450. I have been unable to find any. I found pics of the aft wraps but not precisely of 8450? THANK YOU!!

 

The cabins are the same as the other Aft cabins. Your balcony WILL be larger. 4 extra feet doesn't seem like much until your enjoying it ! ;) I will look for pictures but don't hold out hope since it's hard to take pictures of your own balcony while you are on it.

[Geezers]

Larger? I knew the aft wrap cabin was larger but we didnt like the interior of that one, but didnt know 8450 was larger than the other afts beside it? Is that what you mean?? (Does this get any better :)) Have you got any pics of 8450. I have been unable to find any. I found pics of the aft wraps but not precisely of 8450? THANK YOU!!

 

This shows it well. Each side of deck 8 has one of these cabins. Compare the dividers between the balconies and you will see the reward from your DH choice.

[Blondie008]

This shows it well. Each side of deck 8 has one of these cabins. Compare the dividers between the balconies and you will see the reward from your DH choice.

 

WOW see what you mean, fabulous! This just gets better and better. I am absolutely chuffed to bits with our booking. I really am.

Thank you all so very much for confirming our choice. Oooooh wish it was closer now..Looooooong time to wait..

I'm kind of finding it hard now to understand why folks gave Carnival such a hard time. I have clearly been missing out, and could kick myself for not studying it sooner. Ah well..better late than never ;)

[Blondie008]

This shows it well. Each side of deck 8 has one of these cabins. Compare the dividers between the balconies and you will see the reward from your DH choice.

 

 

Geezers, you can answer my ??.. the stair well on the deck plan, is that a staff only stairway? Can you easily pop up to the deck above?

[Geezers]

Geezers, you can answer my ??.. the stair well on the deck plan, is that a staff only stairway? Can you easily pop up to the deck above?

 

The corner stairwell you see on the deck plan is a staff only stairwell. It is a very short walk down the hallway to the elevators and other stairs that will get you up to the Lido deck and even down to the entrance of the MDR easily.

[mississauga]

Having read your requirements, I too think you have made a brilliant choice.

 

John Heald's blog: johnhealdsblog.com

 

BTW: He is Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, British and a very funny and nice man.

[okgirl]

Having read your requirements, I too think you have made a brilliant choice.

 

John Heald's blog: johnhealdsblog.com

 

BTW: He is Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, British and a very funny and nice man.

 

I couldn't agree more........you definately need to pop over and start reading his blog and even his facebook page......very funny, engaging, fabulous sense of humour (spelt correctly as John would say...:p)

 

I have cruised with him several times, and will be going on his 4th annual Blogger's cruise on February 27th.

[happy cruzin]

I would agree that you have made a good choice. Although we have not cruised the Freedom specifically - we have found that Carnival is an excellent fit...for us and they offer a wide variety of ports and ships that keep us coming back!

 

We have cruised alone (just me and DH), we have cruised with family, we have cruised with friends. We have had inside, OV, balcony, extended balcony and suites and have enjoyed each of our cruises.

 

We love the fact that Carnival has plenty of activities and dining choices and you can choose daily - depending on your mood. If you are a "catch something on the go" the Lido buffets offer a wide variety at breakfast lunch and dinner if you want more structure to your meals - the dining room is also a great option and the Steakhouse and Chef Table are also available and offer a truly special and memorable dining experience!

 

If you want to relax in the sun with a book there are plenty of quiet places, if you want be involved with the social host activities (bingo, trivia, etc) those are also an option. So - particularly when we cruise with our extended family - there are plenty of choices for everyone to be active and involved as they choose to be!

 

Although I am sure we will branch out and try other lines as some point......for now Carnival is a fit, for us!

[JRock59]

Been there, done the rest, soooooo...FOR US..will Carnival be "the Best?"

 

Ok, so dh and I. Started cruising maybe ten years ago. Our first cruise with our daughter then 17, was a 16 night re positioning cruise on NCL, a one off, and holds happy happy memories.. no complaints there.

British Cruising...hate it... had one good cruise on the old Arcadia again years ago, but the "NEW" P&O ships... nup..cant stand British Cruising.(and yes, I am from the UK)

Celebrity..LOVED it... loved Millennium, loved Constellation, and then... having paid our (UK) NON REFUNDABLE deposit, they brought in their new smoking policy. I don't argue their policy, entirely up to them what they do, BUT TELL US when we book so we have a right to choose. They would not refund us, and I'm sorry, but paying thousands of $$$$$ for a suite (or any cabin for that matter) and having to go way up outside on deck for a morning cig, WAS a deal breaker for us. (PS please dont gimme a smoking lecture here just pointing out how I wanna spend my hard earned $$).

So- result being that we had paid over £1500 in deposits for family, we paid another fee to transfer the cruise to RCI... our only option or loose our deposits.

This cruise was to be a family cruise of a lifetime. As a surprise to the family, and as a ONE OFF.. my DH and I as well as booking their cabins, decided on a one off lifetime treat of booking the Royal Penthouse Suite. 3000 sqft of entertainment area. hot tubs, grand piano, mirrored ceilings, bar area you name it, we envisaged lovely family get togethers in there.

We were told we could entertain up to 60 people in there if we wished, as many corprate companies use this suite as a business event venue..

So.... we did it.. was it worth it..NOT A SECOND OF IT!

We were NOT alllowed to "entertain". One neighbour below us continuously complained (all before midnight incidentally). result being, our phone never stopped ringing, and our doorbell constantly being rung... zero party.. and we LIKE to party ...there were never more than 12 guests at a time in our suite, and NONE of the surrounding cabins complained, and none of the other four cabins below us...just one biddy who just made our cruise from a dream to a nightmare...

Having spent all that dosh (and we are not millionaires just hard working folks who wanted to give their family a trip of a lifetime), we came back, and for the last couple of years, said..thats it..cruising days are over...

 

Last week, doing a clear out at home, we came across old cruise pics and smiled at the memories... DH says... "lets do a cruise again next year"

says me... "hmmmmm we cannot get it wrong this time"..

So....we sat down and wrote down a list..what do WE want from a cruise?

here is our list:

prices : Must provide good value for money, must be able to have at least 12-14 days on board as travelling across the pond is not worth it for a short cruise

Food: We are food producers, BUT we know..cruise food is cruise food.. its never gonna gain Michelin stars, and you aint gonna go hungry.. but one thing we DID like was NCLs freestyle dining, so a line which could offer that option was gonna be a bonus. A good "fine dining" option even with a fee would also be a bonus on our list.

Fellow passengers: People are people, but we need to be amongst people who dont object if we wanna get dressed up, but we dont care if they are in jeans and khakis..live and let live... but we dont want whingy old dears chapping our door at 7pm to tell us to lay off...we live life to have fun!

MUSIC: MAJOR factor: We like live music, we love singers, musicians, live pool bands, disco music, in fact..anything that makes our feet wanna dance! We don't really care for harpists in the coffee lounge (dont object to it just doesn't float our boat), we enjoy karaoke, and love those who cannot sing but TRY to join in and have fun... and yup, we two will get out there and give it a blast.

Pool bar.. we don't like pool games BUT dont care if they are going on.. we love the ambience that fun on a ship creates...perhaps we wont participate in hairy chest competitions (although DH cd win hands down!)... but we truly dont care or mind if its going on...

Trivia, pottery classes, photography classes, anything that enhances the mind programmes, - PASS

Casino + YUP... cant play anything but will give it a go and yeah, love to blast some bandits and blow some chips on the Roulettte table.. we go with an attitude of how much we are gonna lose and play for fun..we sure aint gonna win :-)

Smoking: deal breaker for us without a doubt. Rightly or wrongly, we will choose a line which offers what is acceptable for us. There are many lines now with various policies. I get Pd off that I cant cruise Celebrity any more...but rather than whinge about it...aint no choice...just dont cruise with them anymore and thats it... the deal breaker there for us really is the balcony. We will certainly accept there must be smoke free lounges etc, but for us, it is essential that A), we can smoke on our balcony, and B), have a couple of indoor areas to choose from too.

PORTS: We've been round nearly all, from the Med, TA, and Caribbean, and also are world travelled, we cruise for the fun on board more than the ports, but ports where we can visit friends and relatives would be an added bonus.

 

Our daughter lives in the Cayman Islands. During a visit to her last year, we had gone over to Grand for the day, and of course many ships were in. We met this really lovely couple in a bar, who were on a Carnival Ship docked for the day in Grand. Curious, I asked the couple "So whats Carnival REALLY" like. Now, bear in mind we have been brainwashed over the years into thinking that Carnivals ships are..hmmmm... dunno how to describe this...lets just say I envisaged a carnival ship as being cheap, nasty and tacky.. (HOLD ON DONT SHOUT at me yet :0) So..this couple who were adorable, and FUN,...gave us the run down, and showed us pics fom their camera..

So... hmmm ... leads us to our quest this week..

 

So, here we are, spending a whole day researching cruiselines. From HAL, NCL, Princess..you name it...we went through them all, and you know what... we were VERY pleasantly surprised to see how many boxes Carnival ticked for us..

We've been though all of your cruise pics, videos, thank you all of you lovely people who take the time out to post such info..you have no idea how many people you help! Brochures are one thing..the truth lays with the REAL pics and stories, reviews etc..

But then we go on Carnivals website, and TRY to work our way through sooooo many cruises and ships..phew...it was a task!!

Then..my hearta started thumpin...hold on..have I got this right?? :-)

I found an 8 day Caribbean and a 6 day Caribbean..would it be possible??? brains ticking, hearts thumpin...

We have a favourite bar in the world in Fort Lauderdale... hmmmmm its getting better..

We have friends who live in the Keys, our daughter in the Caymans...hmmmm is this too good to be true....

Looked at the price EHHHHH???????? is this right?????? WOW???

I went thru the US booking system, and tried to find the same cabin available for both cruises... did I FIND a cabin HAH!!

I could hardly sleep that night waiting to call our local TA the following morning...so what have I found:

14 nights total on board (2 x B2B cruises) Caribbean which we love

an Aft extended balcony cabin available on both B2B cruises :-)

A FUN, glitzy ship which has EVERYTHING we would want in a cruise ship.

price: Perfect, dont want no fancy suite, had enough of Butlers and Pantries and god know what other wasteful extras that are not worth having..

then the TA asks me.. would you like "Your style dining"...HELLO!!! Another box ticked!

We have gone through this board, reading your comments, reading your reviews, so we think we are pretty clued up now on what to expect..

Thank you...to all of you who take time out to inform others, that information to folks like us proves invaluable when choosing a cruise..

SO as much as I will miss the Martini Bar on Celebrity, and the disco which I love on M-Class ships..I am sure we will find on Carnival, something new and different to love...

What do you think guys...have we got it right this time???

 

 

 

YES, I think you've got it right! :) And IMHO doing a B2B on the same ship is really the only way to do a b2b. And getting the same cabin for both trips makes it even better. Let your cabin stewart know on day one your going B2B and staying in the same cabin. You'll find a lot of the Info Desk and CD staff are from your area of the world. Not sure which ship your going on but most now have a wine and martini bar also most casino bars are very good at making martini's. Congrat's on booking with Carnival and a B2B it makes the air travel worth the expense, time and hassel. :D

[Blondie008]

Thank you everyone, looking forward with much excitement now:)

Roll on 2012!!!

[jobell]

Whats the "chefs table"??

 

The Chef's Table includes cocktails and hors d’ouevres as well as a personalized tour of the galley in operation, followed by a multi-course full-service dinner created by the master chefs – all hosted by the ship’s chef de cuisine. The dinner takes place in non-traditional dining venues – such as the galley, library and conference centre -- which will vary by ship.

 

Reservations can be made onboard through the Guest Services desk and the fee is $75 per person (including wine and gratuity.)

 

Reservations can also be made by the directions below:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...30&postcount=2

 

**

 

My personal note on the Chef's Table. DO IT! You won't be disappointed. It is by far the best dining experience my husband and I have ever had. So much so that we are trying to get confirmed for our cruise that leaves Monday.

[Blondie008]

The Chef's Table includes cocktails and hors d’ouevres as well as a personalized tour of the galley in operation, followed by a multi-course full-service dinner created by the master chefs – all hosted by the ship’s chef de cuisine. The dinner takes place in non-traditional dining venues – such as the galley, library and conference centre -- which will vary by ship.

 

Reservations can be made onboard through the Guest Services desk and the fee is $75 per person (including wine and gratuity.)

 

Reservations can also be made by the directions below:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...30&postcount=2

 

**

 

My personal note on the Chef's Table. DO IT! You won't be disappointed. It is by far the best dining experience my husband and I have ever had. So much so that we are trying to get confirmed for our cruise that leaves Monday.

 

 

Yes, for sure, we are going to book that one well in advance, (might even get cheeky and book for both cruises if we can )

I am cruising one day before you, be sharing your excitement nearer the time!

Many thanks, look forward to checking out your blog!