Journeys Cruise

[cdm289]

We booked our first Journeys cruise.  We are so exciting to take a 16 day cruise!  I know there are extra activities but I'd love to hear the additional activities that people have experienced on a Journeys cruise.  Do they bring on additional entertainment for the duration?  Usually Playlist Productions have 4 shows in a 7 day cruise so what is shown in the main auditorium the rest of the nights?  Any inside on Journeys cruises would be greatly appreciated.

[TomCruise48]

Extra daytime activities could include ballroom dancing classes and lectures (Academy of Fun).

 

Additional evening shows will likely be performed by fly-on entertainers such as jugglers, magicians, vocalists, hypnotists...  There will likely be a couple of nights without evening shows.

[BlerkOne]

I am fresh off of a 2023 Journey Cruise and am slowly posting pictures, activities papers, menus, etc.

Edited February 1, 2023 by BlerkOne

[cdm289]

19 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

Extra daytime activities could include ballroom dancing classes and lectures (Academy of Fun).

 

Additional evening shows will likely be performed by fly-on entertainers such as jugglers, magicians, vocalists, hypnotists...  There will likely be a couple of nights without evening shows.

Years ago Carnival did more fly-on entertainers on the 7 days cruises.  I remember seeing a hypnotist named Asad who was amazing.  Love the idea of unique shows. I also like lectures of different topics.  Thank you for the information!  

[cdm289]

17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I am fresh off of a 2023 Journey Cruise and am slowly posting pictures, activities papers, menus, etc.

Thank you!  I look forward to seeing them.  

[TomCruise48]

We are booked on the same Panama Canal repositioning cruise on the Spirit.  Our original booking for a similar itinerary in 2020 was on the Freedom and had two additional ports.  Of course Covid canceled this one and we took the credit and rebooked the Spirit for this year.  Carnival dropped another port when they changed their final destination from Miami to New Orleans.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Expect more of an older generation aboard. Activities are surrounded by this. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just answering your request.

[movtarget]

12 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Expect more of an older generation aboard. Activities are surrounded by this. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just answering your request.

What this translates to are typically very experienced cruisers who have learned how to avoid ship-time rush hours, aren’t trying to experience every single activity, and they understand they are in a shared resource environment pursuing their share, but allowing others theirs. I did a back-to-back Journey 10-day + a 4-day long weekender. No more 4-days for me. The budget hunter crowd was going to ensure they got their money’s worth, and their fellow passengers would have to fend for themselves (Mad Max Theme). We went from one of the younger couples (we are not retirement age just yet), to one of the oldest couples between cruises. 

[csm5986142]

1 hour ago, movtarget said:

Expect more of an older generation aboard.

 

I was debating mentioning the differing crowd. 🙂 The last Journeys we did was Spirit to Hawaii and next we will do Spirit to New Orleans.  I love the calmer atmosphere.  But I've read here that you can expect a huge percentage of people to be Platinum/Diamond so our Platinum perks might not mean much.  

[lazydayz]

On our Panama Canal cruise, we had a glee club and a dance club.  Toward the end of the cruise, we were part of the entertainment.  It was good fun and a great way to meet other people.  We also had two professional ballroom dancers onboard who taught several classes.  There was lots of trivia and even some arts and crafts.  Very few children onboard and they were typically with their parents.  We always commented when we saw people under 40, not to them, of course.  

[Honolulu Blue]

10 hours ago, cdm289 said:

We booked our first Journeys cruise.  We are so exciting to take a 16 day cruise!  I know there are extra activities but I'd love to hear the additional activities that people have experienced on a Journeys cruise.  Do they bring on additional entertainment for the duration?  Usually Playlist Productions have 4 shows in a 7 day cruise so what is shown in the main auditorium the rest of the nights?  Any inside on Journeys cruises would be greatly appreciated.

I think the Journeys cruises Carnival offers are wonderful.  I've done six of them (all pre-pandemic) and have one scheduled for next year.  Others have covered much of what to expect.  I liked the throwback day and the horse racing, along with the lectures.  Expect lots of comedians and lots and lots of different shows.  

 

I'd like to do more Journeys cruises, but the prices have increased such that they're not much of a bargain anymore.  The one I have booked has already increased by several hundred dollars.  ☹️

 

Good luck on your cruise!  I bet you'll have a great time! 😍

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I think the Journeys cruises Carnival offers are wonderful.  I've done six of them (all pre-pandemic) and have one scheduled for next year.  Others have covered much of what to expect.  I liked the throwback day and the horse racing, along with the lectures.  Expect lots of comedians and lots and lots of different shows.  

 

I'd like to do more Journeys cruises, but the prices have increased such that they're not much of a bargain anymore.  The one I have booked has already increased by several hundred dollars.  ☹️

 

Good luck on your cruise!  I bet you'll have a great time! 😍

I've noticed to get any kind of bargain you may have to book a year out. A year out 😐 tons of things can happen in a year.

[Guest BasicSailor]

8 hours ago, lazydayz said:

 Toward the end of the cruise, we were part of the entertainment.

Other than the comedians you were the entertainment. 😉

[Guest BasicSailor]

9 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

 

I was debating mentioning the differing crowd. 🙂 The last Journeys we did was Spirit to Hawaii and next we will do Spirit to New Orleans.  I love the calmer atmosphere.  But I've read here that you can expect a huge percentage of people to be Platinum/Diamond so our Platinum perks might not mean much.  

300 Diamonds on our last cruise. Can't remember what Platinum was, but definitely more. Even when boarding a few had attitudes when port staff had to explain the situation to a few whom wanted special attention. Staff, Sir please take a seat everybody's Platinum or Diamon on this cruise. 🤣

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

I've read here that you can expect a huge percentage of people to be Platinum/Diamond so our Platinum perks might not mean much.  

 

33 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

300 Diamonds on our last cruise. Can't remember what Platinum was, but definitely more. Even when boarding a few had attitudes when port staff had to explain the situation to a few whom wanted special attention. Staff, Sir please take a seat everybody's Platinum or Diamon on this cruise. 🤣

Here are selected stats from my last Journeys cruise (Breeze, January 2020):

 

Yes, we had over 2000 Plats + Diamonds on this cruise - over half the ship.

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'd like to do more Journeys cruises, but the prices have increased such that they're not much of a bargain anymore. 

 

51 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

I've noticed to get any kind of bargain you may have to book a year out. A year out 😐 tons of things can happen in a year.

It seems to be true of Journeys cruises these days, but I've seen some nice non-casino rates on selected shorter cruises on short notice.  Maybe the boys and girls in Miami like me better. 😜

[jsglow]

We just had 2500 Dia/Plats on Dream. Ship capacity is 3600 so you do the math. Dinner was served at 2pm, lunch at 10am, and breakfast the night before!

[jsglow]

11 hours ago, movtarget said:

What this translates to are typically very experienced cruisers who have learned how to avoid ship-time rush hours, aren’t trying to experience every single activity, and they understand they are in a shared resource environment pursuing their share, but allowing others theirs. I did a back-to-back Journey 10-day + a 4-day long weekender. No more 4-days for me. The budget hunter crowd was going to ensure they got their money’s worth, and their fellow passengers would have to fend for themselves (Mad Max Theme). We went from one of the younger couples (we are not retirement age just yet), to one of the oldest couples between cruises. 

I'm going to put a little different twist on this. The presence of a more age diverse crowd means that folks are doing different things at different times.  This is most notable at dinner where literally EVERYONE on a Journeys cruise tries to dine in the MDR between 5:30 and 6. There is such similarity among the passengers, almost exclusively couples BTW, that essentially all 3600 try to do the same thing at the same time.  I found myself longing to see that large extended family eating dinner together up on Lido. A more diverse clientele means differing agendas. And don't get me started on elevator congestion.  I won't go further with that so as to not insult anyone.

 

I'm also going to somewhat disagree with your 'understanding it's a shared resource' assertion. There's a subset of White Cards who absolutely 'let you know'.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

 This is most notable at dinner where literally EVERYONE on a Journeys cruise tries to dine in the MDR between 5:30 and 6.

 

I literally did not check in once for dinner before 8:20pm. Never more than a 10 minute wait and incredibly fast service. Soup was still piping hot.

 

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

 

 And don't get me started on elevator congestion.

There was literally no congestion on the stairs that I noticed. When I did use elevators, it was not unusual to find someone in a wheelchair. Everyone seemed courteous to let them in or out.

 

 

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

 

I'm also going to somewhat disagree with your 'understanding it's a shared resource' assertion. There's a subset of White Cards who absolutely 'let you know'.

When you are right, you are right. And what were they before? Platinum Cards. It has to do with the person, and not the color of the card.

[jsglow]

@BlerkOne HA! We took the stairs a bunch too.  And of course nobody was in the MDR at 8:20p.  That's when 'next day' breakfast was about to start! 😆

Hope you had fun. For us it was fantastic to get back to places we hadn't been since the pandemic.... or after Irma passed for that matter in the case of St. Maarten.

[PA Dutchman]

17 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

Expect more of an older generation aboard. Activities are surrounded by this. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just answering your request.

older Gen and lots of scooters 

[PA Dutchman]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

 

I literally did not check in once for dinner before 8:20pm. Never more than a 10 minute wait and incredibly fast service. Soup was still piping hot.

 

There was literally no congestion on the stairs that I noticed. When I did use elevators, it was not unusual to find someone in a wheelchair. Everyone seemed courteous to let them in or out.

 

 

When you are right, you are right. And what were they before? Platinum Cards. It has to do with the person, and not the color of the card.

I was never a Platinum, we were Dimond when they invented Dimond. 

[BTromboneFrack]

We just got off of our first Journey's cruise and enjoyed it.   It was a bit different than our other Carnival cruises.   The clientele was considerably older - only 70 kids on the entire ship.   I called it the "Geezer Cruise" and the "Boomer Barge" and that is OK because I'm one of them.   The "throwback" 80's music show in the atrium was a real trip.   These 70 and 80 year olds can really get up and party when they hear their old tunes!!!   There was a lot of dancing int he bars.   Lots of jokes from comedians about the age of the group ("It's nice to see everyone out tonight with their hair and their teeth looking so nice").   Captain's Gala dinner was REALLY good.   Lots of "throwback"  80's games on the lido deck.   They had some speakers come in.  One guy was a stunt actor in Hollywood.   Magicians, ventriloquists and solo singers filled in the nights when playlist productions didn't have a show.   A bit different, but still a great cruise.  

 

[BlerkOne]

5 hours ago, PA Dutchman said:

I was never a Platinum, we were Dimond when they invented Dimond. 

I think that is impossible. I was Platinum before there was a Platinum and Diamond before there was a Diamond. Platinum predates Diamond. You can't get to Diamond without going through Platinum.

[lazydayz]

14 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'm going to put a little different twist on this. The presence of a more age diverse crowd means that folks are doing different things at different times.  This is most notable at dinner where literally EVERYONE on a Journeys cruise tries to dine in the MDR between 5:30 and 6. There is such similarity among the passengers, almost exclusively couples BTW, that essentially all 3600 try to do the same thing at the same time.  I found myself longing to see that large extended family eating dinner together up on Lido. A more diverse clientele means differing agendas. And don't get me started on elevator congestion.  I won't go further with that so as to not insult anyone.

 

I'm also going to somewhat disagree with your 'understanding it's a shared resource' assertion. There's a subset of White Cards who absolutely 'let you know'.

Ok, so you insulted me.  While we are of retirement age, we are not retired and never eat dinner before 7:00 p.m.