Newbie no more ... just back from The Holiday!

[bamaphotopro]

My wife and I took our first cruise last week as we made the 4-hour trek to Mobile and boarded the Holiday. We had the most wonderful time and were just overwhelmed by the hospitality of the crew. It was perfection from start to finish!

 

If anyone has any questions regarding the Holiday, I'll do my best to answer them! But it's all good! :D

 

- Bama

 

Here's a shot of the downtown Mobile skyline that I snapped prior to departure! :)

 

[Minnesota Lady]

My wife and I took our first cruise last week as we made the 4-hour trek to Mobile and boarded the Holiday. We had the most wonderful time and were just overwhelmed by the hospitality of the crew. It was perfection from start to finish!

 

If anyone has any questions regarding the Holiday, I'll do my best to answer them! But it's all good! :D

 

- Bama

 

Here's a shot of the downtown Mobile skyline that I snapped prior to departure! :)

 

Glad you had a great cruise!:D

[vacationfool]

:cool: Congratulations! You are offiical now ! but a word of warning, you better start thinking about your next cruise, because they are addicting ! :eek:

[Montycruiser]

We have sailed Holiday twice, great ship, small but excellent staff. We are from Montgomery, only 2.5 hours from our house to the port. Glad you enjoyed the trip, rumor is that the Sensation a Fantasy class ship will be replacing Holiday in Fall of 2008. We have sailed on Sensation in the past and love the ship also. We will have to wait and see if this comes to pass.

[bamaphotopro]

:cool: Congratulations! You are offiical now ! but a word of warning, you better start thinking about your next cruise, because they are addicting ! :eek:

 

You are so right! Already looking into it and finding some great deals in early January. The sooner, the better! :)

 

- Bama

[bamaphotopro]

We have sailed Holiday twice, great ship, small but excellent staff. We are from Montgomery, only 2.5 hours from our house to the port. Glad you enjoyed the trip, rumor is that the Sensation a Fantasy class ship will be replacing Holiday in Fall of 2008. We have sailed on Sensation in the past and love the ship also. We will have to wait and see if this comes to pass.

 

Hi, Monty! We're in Tuscaloosa and the drive to Mobile was a cinch.

 

I have also heard that rumor, and I look forward to it! :)

 

- Bama

 

[futaba951]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=529717&highlight=holiday

 

There's rumors that there could be a change as early as late summer or fall of 2007. Some have Holiday leaving the fleet in August of this year.

[RellingTwin]

We sail in 17 days and I have a few questions if you don't mind. What is the Sailaway party like? We have been on other cruise lines, this is our first Carnival cruise. Do they sell cigarettes on board? If so any idea of price?What is the smoking policy? We have sailed Disney and smoking is limited to just a few areas.We plan on going to Uvas Beach,in Cozumel, any info on it. Taxie fare to the beach, nice beach? Ect.

Thanks for your help.

Mary

[bamaphotopro]

We sail in 17 days and I have a few questions if you don't mind. What is the Sailaway party like? We have been on other cruise lines, this is our first Carnival cruise. Do they sell cigarettes on board? If so any idea of price?What is the smoking policy? We have sailed Disney and smoking is limited to just a few areas.We plan on going to Uvas Beach,in Cozumel, any info on it. Taxie fare to the beach, nice beach? Ect.

Thanks for your help.

Mary

 

Hi, Mary! Not sure I can help out a lot here, but the sailaway party was pretty festive. On the day we sailed out (4/9) it was a cold, windy day for Mobile ... temp in the 40s with wind chills in the 30's. Even so, the party got off to a rousing start with some line dancing.

 

As for cigarettes ... I do believe they are sold on board, but only because I saw them advertised at the discounted prices. But I never actually saw any packs or cartons displayed.

 

There were a few areas where I saw people smoking, but seems they were all outside. Since I wasn't looking for it, I can't say for sure. I am an ex-smoker (quit when I had heart surgery 18 months ago), so I don't pay as much attention to those things as I used to.

 

Can't advise on the beach ... we opted for the shopping excursion ...or I should say my wife did. ;)

 

Sorry I can't be more specific, Mary. But I know you'll have a blast.

 

- Bama

[Wennfred]

Thanks for the nice Pictures, The Holiday was my first also :D I would love to sail on her today after the Refurb. I have seen new pictures and she looks awesome.

 

Remember where the bus is, I think its a Ben's and Jerry's now. Well thats where they used to Serve up what they called back then a Mini Midnight Breakfast buffet. They had the Regular Midnight buffet every night but this one on the bus started 1am and they would serve breakfast there, it was totally awesome. Not sure if they do that today, but that was one of the things I enjoyed most about the Holiday.

 

 

Fred

[caribbean dreams]

If you think the Holiday was perfection, just wait til you graduate to the 7 or more cruises and check out the larger ships.

A-D-D-I-C-T-I-N-G

[Avril]

My wife and I took our first cruise last week as we made the 4-hour trek to Mobile and boarded the Holiday. We had the most wonderful time and were just overwhelmed by the hospitality of the crew. It was perfection from start to finish!

 

If anyone has any questions regarding the Holiday, I'll do my best to answer them! But it's all good! :D

 

- Bama

 

Here's a shot of the downtown Mobile skyline that I snapped prior to departure! :)

 

 

That's a great shot!! :D I love it!! :D

[LSM1018]

We sail in 17 days and I have a few questions if you don't mind. What is the Sailaway party like? We have been on other cruise lines, this is our first Carnival cruise. Do they sell cigarettes on board? If so any idea of price?What is the smoking policy? We have sailed Disney and smoking is limited to just a few areas.We plan on going to Uvas Beach,in Cozumel, any info on it. Taxie fare to the beach, nice beach? Ect.

Thanks for your help.

Mary

 

Mary,

We were on the Holiday in Feb, and cigs were $35 for 2 cartons. Smoking was allowed in your cabin, the casino, the starboard side of the pool deck, and the bars. Just be respectful of non-smokers and you will be fine. We had a GREAT time on the Holiday. I wish she could have a home somewhere and not leave the fleet. :(

[bamaphotopro]

Thanks for the nice Pictures, The Holiday was my first also :D I would love to sail on her today after the Refurb. I have seen new pictures and she looks awesome.

 

She's great, Fred .. she really is.

 

Remember where the bus is, I think its a Ben's and Jerry's now. Well thats where they used to Serve up what they called back then a Mini Midnight Breakfast buffet. They had the Regular Midnight buffet every night but this one on the bus started 1am and they would serve breakfast there, it was totally awesome. Not sure if they do that today, but that was one of the things I enjoyed most about the Holiday.

Fred

Nope, no Ben & Jerry's ... if memory serves it's the Tahiti Lounge now. The midnight buffet is served in The Four Winds now, but no breakfast that I saw.

 

- Bama

[bamaphotopro]

That's a great shot!! :D I love it!! :D

 

Thanks!! There's a lot more where that came from. I'll hope you'll pardon the copy & paste from an e-mail I sent to friends and family. Just follow the instructions to view.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Okay, here's the pics ... I have 5 subgalleries within the main gallery, so I'll list them separately here. Within each subgallery are numerous thumbnails ... just click on the first one to open the full-size image and then click 'Next' in the upper right corner when you are ready to go to the next image. When you finish a subgallery, click on the next link and repeat the process."

 

Sailing out of Mobile:

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/out_from_mobile

 

Sights from Cozumel

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/cozumel

 

The Mayan Ruins of Tulum

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/tulum

 

Food & Dining

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/dining

 

The Return Home

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/onboard

 

[Cotton]

Glad you enjoyed the Holiday, my favorite ship. I've had four wonderful cruises on her, and planning another for this fall.

 

I believe the Tahiti Lounge has always been behind and to the left of the bus. The bus itself has never served any purpose other than to be a conversation piece, as far as I know.:confused:

[Wennfred]

I believe the Tahiti Lounge has always been behind and to the left of the bus. The bus itself has never served any purpose other than to be a conversation piece, as far as I know.:confused:

 

I will have to ask my friend about the bus, we went around 1987 and back then, the bus had a small ramp on each end and a platform that allowed you to be levelled with the windows. Through the windows they would serve you the Breakfast starting at 1am. This was mainly set up for the gamblers since they were the only ones up past 1am. Same type of breakfast you would see today, scramble, bacon, taters etc.

 

Where the tables are in this picture is where the platform was. Chances are some drunk person fell off the platform and they had to close it down.

 

 

[Wennfred]

Thanks god I found it because I was thinking I could of been dreaming!

 

Heres the info: http://www.sealetter.com/May-97/short597.html

 

In the picture below you will see the Steps and the Platform.

 

Heres the write up:

The Bus Stop Cafe and Bar, literally laid out around a vintage bus, is an all day to wee hours lounge serving up a lot of light rock music as well as 1:30 AM mini-breakfast buffets and some of the best bartending on the ship. Further along Broadway is a very comfortable area filled with booths and banquettes called Capuccino's where coffees, liqueurs and chocolates are served.

 

[Cotton]

Thx, Fred. I'm never up at 1:30am, so that's why I had no idea it was ever used.:D

[mrs. alabama_cruisin]

Thanks for the positives! We are going next month. We sailed the Glory last year and had a wonderful time. I know that the Holiday is much smaller and older and we are prepared for it.

 

One very important question. Chocolate Buffet??????

[bamaphotopro]

Thanks for the positives! We are going next month. We sailed the Glory last year and had a wonderful time. I know that the Holiday is much smaller and older and we are prepared for it.

 

One very important question. Chocolate Buffet??????

 

If there was one, I didn't know it or seek it out. I did, however, go by the 'Midnight Buffet' with the ice carving & food decorations (?) and got some pictures, but I was already gorged out from dinner and 3 desserts ... yep, three of them.

 

My goodness, I must have put on 10 pounds last week. My cardiologist will not be happy. :D

 

- Bama

[da_cruisin_bears]

Bamaphotopro - we were aboard with you!

 

I posted the Capers on webshots if you want to see. It has the bars listed that allow smoking, etc. Cartons were 2 for $38.95.

 

I don't remember a chocolate buffet - you can check the Capers to see for sure.

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/558725771AFnIiQ

[bamaphotopro]

Bamaphotopro - we were aboard with you!

 

I posted the Capers on webshots if you want to see. It has the bars listed that allow smoking, etc. Cartons were 2 for $38.95.

 

I don't remember a chocolate buffet - you can check the Capers to see for sure.

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/558725771AFnIiQ

 

Cool, I'll take a look! Which deck were you guys on? We were on 6 (Upper).

 

I knew I saw the sign somewhere, but (thankfully) I quit smoking after my bypass surgery in Sept of '05.

 

- Bama

[da_cruisin_bears]

Cool, I'll take a look! Which deck were you guys on? We were on 6 (Upper).

 

I knew I saw the sign somewhere, but (thankfully) I quit smoking after my bypass surgery in Sept of '05.

 

- Bama

 

 

We were on 5 (Main).

[pink roses]

We also had a wonderful trip when we went in March on the Holiday. our first cruise was on the Elation and we also experienced that wonderful hospitality you mentioned on both. We also believed that a bigger ship would be even better. We did not feel the hospitality at all on the Conquest. Yes, it is a beautiful ship with more to offer but it lacked for us the warmness. I realize that every ship is different and every experience is different, so that being said please get lots of info. before jumping straight to the bigger ships.