Carnival questions

[dbarry]

I have only sailed with Carnival on one previous cruise, that was on the Fantasy in 2000. I'm sure a few things have changed since that cruise. I'm hoping that you nice Carnival board cruisers can answer some pretty basic questions. I have sailed mostly with RCCL, so I'm not a brand new cruiser.

 

- Does Carnival still do midnight buffets? I'm planning a 7 night cruise sometime in October (probably western caribbean) 2005. Rccl still does a couple "midnight" buffets, but has stopped doing them every night. On the nights that there is no buffet, they offer hors deuves in some of the public areas.

 

- Does Carnival (probably the Victory) have speciality dining options? Has the traditional dining seating times remained the same or has the times that you can dine become more flexible?

 

- What time can you get to your staterooms, on most sailings? Rccl has started to keep most of the staterooms "closed" until 1 pm.

 

- Rccl usually has only two pools (at most) and they are filled with salt-water. The pools usually close overnight. I remember the Fantasy had 2 or 3 pools, I don't remember them being open at night, and they too where filled with salt water. Does anyone know anything about the pools on Victory?

 

- Does someone know how many formal, smart casual, and casual nights Carnival has on a 7 night cruise? And just how "formal" is formal?

 

- And finally, do most of you go with Carnival ship excursions or do you plan your excursions with local companies (Western Caribbean)?

 

- Does Carnival give you the option of charging your tips to your ship account, do they automatically do this or do you have to make a special request to do/not to do this?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions,

Darlene

[pholter]

I have only sailed with Carnival on one previous cruise, that was on the Fantasy in 2000. I'm sure a few things have changed since that cruise. I'm hoping that you nice Carnival board cruisers can answer some pretty basic questions. I have sailed mostly with RCCL, so I'm not a brand new cruiser.

 

- Does Carnival still do midnight buffets? I'm planning a 7 night cruise sometime in October (probably western caribbean) 2005. Rccl still does a couple "midnight" buffets, but has stopped doing them every night. On the nights that there is no buffet, they offer hors deuves in some of the public areas.

 

- Does Carnival (probably the Victory) have speciality dining options? Has the traditional dining seating times remained the same or has the times that you can dine become more flexible?

 

- What time can you get to your staterooms, on most sailings? Rccl has started to keep most of the staterooms "closed" until 1 pm.

 

- Rccl usually has only two pools (at most) and they are filled with salt-water. The pools usually close overnight. I remember the Fantasy had 2 or 3 pools, I don't remember them being open at night, and they too where filled with salt water. Does anyone know anything about the pools on Victory?

 

- Does someone know how many formal, smart casual, and casual nights Carnival has on a 7 night cruise? And just how "formal" is formal?

 

- And finally, do most of you go with Carnival ship excursions or do you plan your excursions with local companies (Western Caribbean)?

 

- Does Carnival give you the option of charging your tips to your ship account, do they automatically do this or do you have to make a special request to do/not to do this?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions,

Darlene

1) Yes, always something to eat at Midnight and if you don't like the theme, then there is always room service or Pizza

2) The Victory doesn't have any specialty restaurants, but there are choices on the Lido Deck for Asian, Deli, Burgers, and such

3) Depends on the Departure time, but most of the time by Noon or 1pm

4) Victory has 2 pools that I remember- salt water and closed at night

5) There are 2 formal nights- tux or suit, most ladies wore cocktail dresses. The other nights were more like dockers or slacks for guys and pants/dresses for the ladies. No jeans or shorts basically.

6) You will pay about 20% or more by booking excursions through Carnival. I always have until this upcoming trip where I've gotten a bit smarter on these boards and booking everything myself.

7) Tips are automatically charged on the S&S account, however you can adjust them to how you see fit. 15% is added to any drink purchase on top of the automatic tipping though. You tip the MaitreD' in cash at the end of the week if you want him to get any $$

 

Hope I answered your questions! :)

[palmtre2]

The pools will be saltwater and closed at nite - there will be at least 2 pools on the Victory (check the website Lido deck plan). On a 7 day cruise there are 2 formal nites and most men were wearing dark suits - not tuxs. The women wore everything from ostrich feathers to muu-muu's. Your basic black dress will do. The rest of the time the dining rooms were smart casual.

We boarded the ship at 12 and got right into our cabin - the only time you may have a problem is when the ship is running late into port or if they experienced customs problems with departing passengers.

The dining room seating times are fairly standard early & late and there is an alternate (extra charge) dining room. The nitely buffet (not open late)or the chinese station or deli or grill or pizza station are your alternatives to the dining room. Pizza is available all nite. On our last 7 day cruise there was 1 midnite buffet.

The tips are added to your sign & sail card - you will be asked if this is okay at check-in.

Excursions with the ship always tend to be a little more expensive than off, but make sure the off ship tour company is reputable - watch the boards for feedback.

[fgresko]

The victory does not have alternate (extra charge) dining room

[cruisinqt]

My brother usually sails on RCI and is used to doing his own tipping with the envelope system. So when he recently went on a Carnival cruise he asked to have his tips taken off of the s&s card so he could do the envelope thing. They said "no problem" and took the tips off and even gave him envelopes to put his tips in. He enjoyed his cruise so much that he's planning on cruising with Carnival again. I have noticed that Carnival tends to have more dining options when it comes to snacking and late night eating.