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AngAndBoys

By AngAndBoys,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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I am going to just post about a few things that have been topics on here lately.

 

Embarkation: Fast, fast, fast! 10 minutes total to get on the boat. However, used to be that I could get the limits set on the kids' sail and signs during check-in. Now you can't, you have to go to guest services to get it done when you get on. Guest services is always mobbed the first day. I waited till the second day. No problem.

 

Muster Drill: ALL INSIDE!!! God, it was fabulous!!

 

What They Called Me: Angela, or Miss Angela. Nobody called me Mrs. They all still knew my name all the time though. It really is amazing how fast the servers learn your name and folio number on a cruise.

 

Anytime Dining: Skipped the first night, went on 2nd night which was first formal...and the line to get in stretched all the way through the lobby...so we went to the steak house and got right in. That was around 8PM. After that we would go to the dining room around 6 and it was fine. We skipped the second formal night and did buffet cause none of us felt like dressing up.

 

Steakhouse: OMG! It was SO GOOD! Well worth the extra money. I tried to book it again, later in the cruise and it was booked solid. Suggest reserving early and/or going early in the cruise.

 

Aft Balcony Cabin: It was definitely hot out there at times...like hot enough to burn your feet walking the 4 steps to sit down. There was also definitely ash out there from the funnel. You definitely had to look before you sat. I got it all over my shorts one day and had to wash them in the sink with a bar of soap. Then one day in port, a giant BUNCH of ash came down...some official looking guy came to check it out and said it was caused by a malfunction. I felt sorry for the cabin stewards...it was one hella mess. They cleaned it up ok, but floor of the balcony stayed dirty for the rest of the time...not sure why they didn't finish cleaning it?? They put a towel down to keep from tracking it on the carpet.

 

Free Casino Drinks: I am not a slots player, but I spend quite a bit and have never managed to earn free drinks on a cruise...until this time. I did it on the second night by playing the game maker machines, black jack at $2/units. Fair warning: max bet on that bad boy is 20 units, or $40. It took me about 1.5 hours and $75 to get free drinks on the second day. Those machines can be rough. I would just start with 1 unit and increase by 1 each time I won, then back down to 1 when I lost. Pretty good investment. They do not add in gratuities when they give you the free drinks. Since I'm a table player, I just asked for $1 chips and gave them those.

 

More About Free Drinks: The question has come up on here about if Carnival offered a drink package like the bottomless bubles..would people drink more. I would have thought no, but let me tell ya, once they were free, I felt compelled to try one of everything. It was bad.

 

Speaking of drunks: Yes, I saw quite a few, including one poor woman who fell off her chair in the casino...in a dress no less. Nice lady though...she sure was embarrassed the next day. One older lady actually came to the blackjack table with an entire PITCHER of something that looked like Rum Punch. I would have been under the table, myself. Last night a 15 year old showed up at the BJ table drunk and in a bathrobe and tried to play. That was interesting. However, it was really not a huge problem and there were not THAT many relative to the number of people on board.

 

Disembarkation: Took forever, like 3.5 hours to get called, get off the boat, get luggage, get through customs and get to car.

 

Overall: I really LOVED the cruise, loved the boat, liked most of the food, had a great time, kids had a really great time. They actually got into a little trouble, but that is a story for a whole nother thread.:D

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vols_159

vols_159

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great review! Awesome to read you had a wonderful cruise..

 

On another cruise board There was talk of a spring break cruise where they sold all you could drink packages You had to have 20 + in your group and everybody had to buy the package.. There was reviews saying it was the worst cruise ever because of all the drunk college students.. Alot of people passed out in hallways/ pool areas.. For me I dont wanna go on a cruise with all you can drink.. Especially spring break.. To many people would be drinking from wake up till they passed out..

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golfb4cruzing

golfb4cruzing

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Not for nothing but you are the reason we try other cruise lines and Carnival as last resort. Mom is in the Casino dropping cash while kids are running who knows where . The other thread further shows the lack of too many parents on Carnival. The good thing is we do not sail out of Texas. Personally I would not have written either threads. But proud is as Proud does.

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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Not for nothing but you are the reason we try other cruise lines and Carnival as last resort. Mom is in the Casino dropping cash while kids are running who knows where . The other thread further shows the lack of too many parents on Carnival. The good thing is we do not sail out of Texas. Personally I would not have written either threads. But proud is as Proud does.

 

 

I know right? Carnival is kind enough to supply a venue for the trailer park variety. And they go ahead and let self-inflated morons on too! A cruise for everybody! Woohoo!

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firefly333

firefly333

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I know right? Carnival is kind enough to supply a venue for the trailer park variety. And they go ahead and let self-inflated morons on too! A cruise for everybody! Woohoo!

 

lmao .. you handled that well. I hope you are recovered from the $250 fine. That would have upset me.

 

Good for you. I know Im trailer park trash .. I read about others with "outfits" and I wear those cruising glitter shirts you buy in the shops onboard and pants to dinner. Outfits?? I feel pretty low class at times even among the Carnival posters.

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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lmao .. you handled that well. I hope you are recovered from the $250 fine. That would have upset me.

 

Good for you. I know Im trailer park trash .. I read about others with "outfits" and I wear those cruising glitter shirts you buy in the shops onboard and pants to dinner. Outfits?? I feel pretty low class at times even among the Carnival posters.

 

Well, that guy was just off the wall. The expectation on a cruise is that kids do their thing and parents do theirs. Hence the kid activities and kids being allowed to check themselves in and out. Duh, right?

 

As for clothes...I did the suit thing for the boys for formal nights up till last year. This year, they are all out of kids sizes which means about $150 each for a suit to be worn twice in their lives because they are still growing...so I didn't do it this time. They got nice slacks and polos and that was it. I don't really care for dresses either and don't wear them much. I wore the same 2 dresses for formal night about 5 cruises in a row. I'm sick of em! This time I went with pants and a glittery shirt too. I didn't feel out of place. I wore nice shiny shoes, nice jewelry. I was still dressier than some, and I'm sure you are too! :D

That reminds me...there was a thread about flip flops in the dining room before I left. I saw a whole lotta ladies wearing them, nice ones...and one man wearing beach type in the dining room. I don't care what people wear, honestly, but as a matter of respect for people who do, I make the kids follow the dress code and follow it myself, at least to the minimum requirement. One of my boys had put shorts on for formal night and I had him change...he just didn't realize he couldn't wear them.

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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Going on Magic in February with my sister, her husband and their two children, ages 7 and 9. In the formal dining room, do they get a special menu to choose from? The kids are really picky!

 

I believe they do, but I'm honestly not sure. Mine are all adventurous eaters and have been eating off the adult menu since I can remember.

 

They do offer hamburgers on the menu every night...and they are quite tasty. They also have "comfort food" like fried chicken, meatloaf, that sort of thing. I'm sure the kids will find something they like. I think a lot of people feed their kids buffet, pizza, or grill and then send them to camp while the adults eat...so that's another option.

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dudaze11

dudaze11

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Not for nothing but you are the reason we try other cruise lines and Carnival as last resort. Mom is in the Casino dropping cash while kids are running who knows where . The other thread further shows the lack of too many parents on Carnival. The good thing is we do not sail out of Texas. Personally I would not have written either threads. But proud is as Proud does.

 

I think we can see what kind of nice person you are from your quote here and on her other thread. I am glad to have my entire state of 26 million people generalized so easily. Seems to me like this mom had an issue and dealt with pretty quickly and firmly. What do I know though, I'm just a proud Texan.

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golfb4cruzing

golfb4cruzing

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Pretty sensitive there aren't we. I actually lived in Texas for 3 years.

 

If you think letting 3 kids run the ship while your in the casino, then maybe you can get connecting cabins. She said she has trouble with them in school, which would not get rewarded in my household. The problem is everywhere are whiners today and don't like to be told anything. Too bad. That's my opinion. Welcome to Cruise Critic. I prefer to not have kids running around the ship, yelling in the halls and blah blah blah. And issues at 1 am. Sounds like the horse was already out of the barn. We could debate all night. Not interested. Said my piece.

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ccarpenter1963

ccarpenter1963

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Yes, shame on her for not putting those boys in reform school for talking to much in class.

 

And if you had read her post, she was in bed, not in the casino and they were in their room. At least try to get the details right.

 

She took responsibility for her boys, which way to many parents refuse to do. She admits they aren't perfect but they aren't hooligans either. That makes them, gasp, "normal".

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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Pretty sensitive there aren't we. I actually lived in Texas for 3 years.

 

If you think letting 3 kids run the ship while your in the casino, then maybe you can get connecting cabins. She said she has trouble with them in school, which would not get rewarded in my household. The problem is everywhere are whiners today and don't like to be told anything. Too bad. That's my opinion. Welcome to Cruise Critic. I prefer to not have kids running around the ship, yelling in the halls and blah blah blah. And issues at 1 am. Sounds like the horse was already out of the barn. We could debate all night. Not interested. Said my piece.

 

Clearly your parenting skills are far superior. Please enlighten the rest of us on the proper way to conduct ourselves and our children on a cruise ship. How old are yours and what limits do you set?

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AngAndBoys

AngAndBoys

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I think that is an easy way to say, they have no children.

 

Oh, and don't think bad of all Ohioans. We are not all self inflated morons.

 

LOL, I would never think bad of all Ohioans based on the behavior of one fruity one.

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