Danny61231

We are sailing on the Celebration this coming week and have stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya that we don't have plans for. My kids would love to splash around in the ocean for a while, but we would prefer somewhere free or cheap being that we're not going to make a full day of it. Are there any options like this near these ports or somewhere easy to get to? Thanks!

Thanks for the information. That's disappointing to hear that you can eat in any of the restaurants with anytime dining but that you get charged for it after your first visit.

My family and I will be sailing on the celebration for the first time this weekend. We will have Anytime dining but have recently heard that you can only eat in each restaurant once and would be charged for going additional times. Is this correct? We are hoping to eat at ChiBang and Cucina Del Capitano more than once but don't want to incur extra fees. Also if this is the case, does it just count for lunches and are we able to eat their multiple times for dinners without Anytime dining?

My wife and I (35 and 39) will be sailing on the Celebration in 2 weeks with our kids (7 and 10). My wife and I have cruised 1 other time about 5 years ago on MSC but figure this sailing will be MUCH different than our first. Any help on these questions would be greatly appreciated! Do we need to sign our kids up for the kids clubs? If so, is this done before the cruise or once we're onboard? Our kids are 7 and 10 and would like to be in the same kids club, would this ever be possible being that their ages would place them in different ones? Both of my kids are used to sleeping with a fan for noise but we won't be able to bring one due to flying. Does Carnival offer any fans for use on board and if so, how do you get one? My kids are looking forward to the ropes course, do they have a rule for what shoes are needed? They'll most likely be wearing Keen type closed toe sandals but just want to make sure they won't be turned away How is Carnival with the dress code for dinners? Jeans and a polo? Slacks and a collared shirt? Nice shorts? What about shoes - are keen type closed toed sandals ok? Are the rules the same for the kids (7 and 10)? We have Anytime dining but I'm kind of confused with what restaurants are included for free. I've seen a few Youtube videos mentioning you can eat at say Chibang (or the other included more specialty restaurants) once but then after that you'll be charged. We were hoping to eat at a few of these places for multiple lunches / dinners but want to know what to expect. Any recommendations for a good beach or beach day excursion in either Cozumel or Costa Maya? None of us are drinkers and most likely won't eat so we just need something basic for the kids to play in the ocean. How early can we normally get on the ship on embarkation day? Also, what is the latest we're normally allowed to get off of the ship when we return? We have a late flight coming home so we'd like to spend as much time on the ship as possible before getting off.

Good morning, I will be cruising on the Carnival celebration out of Miami in January and have been trying to keep an eye on flights. Today some new flights dropped and the prices are about half of what I've been seeing but the flight times seem a little scary to me for our return flight. 1 of the flights takes off at 11:40AM from MIA and the other flight takes off at 1:10PM but the flight is out of West Palm Beach. Also, to add to the complications our cruise returns on January 28th which also appears to be the day of the Miami marathon so I'm not sure how that would impact our travel times from the port to the airport. For normal travel we usually arrive at the airports about 3 hours early so cutting things close isn't something we're usually comfortable with and we will be traveling with our kids who will be 7 and 10 at the time we sail. What time are you usually able to disembark the ship? Do you think these flight times are workable even with the marathon happening? What's the best (and fastest) transportation from the port to the airport? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as I'm assuming others have had to deal with these issues in the past.

Things must have changed on MSC then since I sailed on the SeaSide shortly after she arrived in Miami. On our cruise, I really don't remember anyone appearing to be overly drunk and definitely nobody being loud or rowdy....

How was it leaving the port after disembarking the ship with the marathon happening? I just booked a cruise on the Celebration for January of 2024 and just found out the marathon will be happening the day we arrive back in Miami just like it was for you. I just want to know what to expect once we get back so that I can plan our airfare times / shuttles appropriately.

Good morning, My wife and I are just starting to plan a cruise for the winter of 2024 and are considering giving Carnival a try. Our only other Cruise was on the MSC Seaside a few years ago and from what I've heard, the experience between the two companies will be pretty different. For this cruise we will be bringing our children who will be 7 and 10 at the time of sailing and they've never been on a cruise before. We will most likely be booking an interior room for 4 people so any suggestion on certain rooms that may be better, bigger, etc... are welcome. The two Carnival ships we're considering are the Celebration and the Mardi Gras so lets start out by asking if their are any pros or cons to consider when deciding which ship we should pick? They appear to be pretty similar from the research I've done but I'm sure they have plenty of differences as well. If you have sailed on MSC (specifically the Seashore or Seascape) as well as the Carnival Mardi Gras or Celebration, I would love to hear how you'd compare the two. One of the main reasons we're considering Carnival is the amount of included food / restaurants that these two ships seem to offer. Compared to our experience on MSC, Carnival seems to offer a lot more variety without having to pay extra which is a plus. What are some of your favorite restaurants on these ships and what are some of the best dishes to try? Do they have much in the way of late night eating options? When we were on MSC, we were disappointed with the lack of food available after say 9-10PM. What options are available past those times? Does carnival ever offer free beverage packages when booking your cruise? We're not huge drinkers but do enjoy a few while on vacation and the drink packages seem VERY expensive. We have also been considering sailing with MSC again this time due to the included beverage package (and slightly lower cruise fare) compared to the price of Carnival that doesn't include any beverages. If we were too book the soda package, would we also need to purchase it for our 2 children since they'll be in the same cabin with us? When it comes to the children's areas, I see they are broken down by ages. Being that our children will be 7 and 10, does that mean they won't be allowed to stay together in the kids areas if the wife and I wanted some alone time? Do they allow smoking in the Casino areas? No smoking would be a HUGE plus for us! I'm sure that I will come up with MANY more questions and I'm sure I'm forgetting some right now but this should be a good start. Any help is appreciated! Thanks, Dan

Good afternoon, My wife and I are in the process of looking at cruises to book for the winter of 2024. We have only been on 1 cruise which was the MSC Seaside about 2 or 3 months after it started sailing. This time we're looking to take our children with who will be 7 and 10 at the time we sail and they've never been on a ship before. The current sailings that we're considering are: MSC Seashore sailing out of Port Canaveral MSC Seascape sailing out of Miami Carnival Mardi Gras sailing out of Port Canaveral My wife is nervous about sailing out of Port Canaveral due to having to get from the Orlando airport to the cruise port so how difficult / expensive is that and what is the best way to get to / from the airport and cruise port? We would be flying in a day early and needing a hotel the night before our cruise as well. The MSC sailings are cheaper than the Carnival sailing and also offer free drinks and Wifi which the Carnival sailing doesn't. We aren't huge drinkers, but it is fun to have a few while on vacation which tips the scales towards MSC again. Do the MSC ships offer any more restaurants or places to get free food other than the main dining room and buffet? That was one thing I though MSC lacked when we cruised with them compared to other lines I've researched. Do they offer any late-night dining options that are included in the sailing price? When we were on Seaside all they offered was a VERY limited buffet selection after about 9-10PM that was fairly disappointing (besides the good pizza). From what i have seen, the Carnival Mardi Gras seems to offer a MUCH better selection of restaurants that are included in the sailing price and for late night food options. Does MSC offer free ice cream anywhere on the ships? How is MSC for children? As I said, mine will be 7 and 10 when we sail and want to make sure we won't feel out of place if they aren't always quiet and perfectly behaved. They will spend LOTS of time around the pool / water park areas and may or may not be interested in the children's clubs / areas. Do they have a children's menu in the main dining room and if so what kind of food options do they have? My kids are both kind of picky eaters which scares me being that MSC's menu tends to be a little less Americanized. It seems to me they may enjoy the food on Carnival a little more but...? Are there any pros or cons to the Seashore vs. Seascape given our situation and what we're looking for? From what I've seen they both look fairly similar and quite a bit like Seaside so I just want to make sure we end up with the best fit for us. Anyone have comparisons of these MSC ships vs. the Carnival Mardi Gras? Lastly, what kind of discounts does MSC offer now days and which can be combined? Do they still offer the government discount? Voyagers Club (even if it has been years since sailing), etc...? I know for a while they had offers on the MyVegas app which I no longer see, do they not offer these anymore? Thanks for anyone that can help and sorry for all of the questions, Dan

Thanks for the answers. Does the sports bar on Seashore serve food? I know it did t on Seaside but I believe I heard it did on Meraviglia. Also, does the port have a rental car return or do you drop it off at the companies off site location and then get shuttled? Do the rental car companies pick you up at the cruise port when you return?

I'm looking to book a cruise on the MSC Seashore and need help with some pictures or layouts for cabins 10004 and 10005. These are listed as Premium Interior cabins at over 300 ft2 that can sleep up to 5 people. Any pictures or layout pictures would be greatly appreciated as we're looking to book soon for our family of 4. This will be our kids (10 and 7) first cruise so also curious about how bad the movement feel will be this far forward on the ship since I'm not sure how the kids will handle it. Thanks for your help and sorry for posting this again (included in another post) but I need answers about the cabins.

Hey Ya'll, I haven't posted here in quite some time but I'm starting to look at another cruise and need some help. We took our first ever cruise on Seaside back in 2018 and had a cruise booked on Meraviglia in 2020 that got canceled two weeks beforehand due to covid. This will be our 2nd cruise and we're currently looking at the Seashore. Unlike our first cruise, we are looking to take our children with who will be 10 and 7 at the time of our sailing. Due to the cost and how little time we spend in our cabin, we're looking to book an interior room but trying to make the best decision that will work best for us. Here are my questions: 1 - I see that they have cabins advertised as "Premium interior" (10004 and 10005) on deck 10 that are just over 300 ft2. Unfortunately, these appear to be at the very front of the ship and I'm curious how these rooms would be? Would we feel a lot of movement, noise, etc? What else can you tell us about these rooms and / or what to expect? 2 - Does anyone have any pictures of what these rooms look like or what the layout is? I tried looking online and didn't see anything. 3 - How does the Seashore compare to the Seaside? We loved our time on the Seaside but being that was our first cruise we have nothing else to compare it too. 4 - How is the food in the main dining room and the buffet now days? 5 - Lastly, this cruise would be leaving from Port Canaveral which we've never done. We'd be flying into Orlando (I assume) a day early and looking to stay at a hotel the night before. Any advice on what our best options would be for hotel, shuttles, etc... to the cruise port would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. Dan