sparks1093

Another consideration in addition to the venue is what other activity gets axed so that Quest can take place? The Fun Squad was going all out all week as was the CD and the entertainment schedule was jam packed. From what we saw everything was well attended so choosing which one to eliminate raises its own set of problems.

If I recall correctly the cruise director chose not to have Quest last year when we were on Glory.

The idea of being crammed in a tiny space like that and being forced to participate is enough to make me cringe. A lot of people like to watch Quest and not having room for them is a good reason not to have it.

When we first started getting interested in cruising I found two forums, Cruise Critic and another. I joined both, but found CC to be intimidating with it's large volume of info each day so I spent more time on the other one. Then one day one of the moderators on that other board took me to task for an opinion I had about something, so I left that board and never looked back. Did a search for them the other day and they do not exist any longer.

4/25 Grand Turk Déjà vu- up at 7 and we are already docked. Off the ship at 9 for our beach excursion with open bar and rum tasting. It was a 20 minute ride to Bajari beach. Beautiful water and nice facilities. The rum punch is strong and tasty. Tasted 3 different rums then had a drink mixed with all 3 and pineapple juice. A beach chair is included in the excursion but an umbrella was $15 extra. They have a buffet available or you can order food at the bar. We ordered jerked chicken for $12 (I think) and it came with two pieces of chicken, fries, macaroni salad and coleslaw. Headed back to the ship at 1:15pm and headed up to lido after dropping stuff off. Found a lounger in the shade and snoozed a little bit. Went over to Seafood Shack and ordered the clam chowder and the clam strips. $5 for the chowder and $8 for the strips. The chowder was thinner than I like but it had huge hunks of clam. It was good, but I think I preferred the chowder in the MDR. The clam strips were very good. Stayed on lido, had a few drinks, a dunk in the pool and hot tub before going back to get ready for dinner. Elegant night and open at 5pm. Had calamari, lobster, and blueberry panna cotta. DW had the mushroom soup, veggie lasagna, and WCMC. The panna cotta was a bit bland but everything else was good. Did a few more photos then went back to change. Had an envelope with luggage tags and instructions for disembarking, but don’t want to think about that yet. Decided to call it a night early. Cheers count- 10. 4/26 Fun Day at Sea Drank coffee on lido as usual until it was time to get DW up. The rest of the party are reserved for the Dr. Seuss breakfast but we weren’t able to make a reservation. We waited in line and after speaking to the hostess she was able to seat us. We weren’t at the same table, though. Had the Who Roast Beast omelet, corned beef hash and fruit parfait that was all quite tasty. After breakfast swung by Java Blue and grabbed a spiked coffee and spiked milkshake before sitting down to play trivia. Decided on Cucina del Capitano for lunch with DS and GF. Had mozzarella sticks and pasta bowl with alfredo, shrimp, broccoli and mushrooms. DW had same except didn’t have the shrimp. After eating we went back to the cabin and packed a bit then went and watched Vince Morris’ PG show. At dinner ordered the roast duck as appetizer (Emeril’s selection), beef brisket, baked Alaska. DW did see anything she liked but ordered the minestrone soup, Indian vegetarian and WCMC. Tried the vegetarian but it was too spicy for her and made with veggies that she doesn’t like, so she ordered some alfredo noodles. They weren’t as good as the ones she had at lunch. Went to the World Works Here show (30 countries) at Center Stage, We Are One, All You Need is Love and United in Song. Went to late night comedy in the theater with Vince Morris and Just June. Then we went to the Piano Bar until it was time to call it a night. There were 4 off duty entertainers there and a couple of them joined Brad on a couple of songs. Cheers count- 23. Total for the week- 142. I think we got our money’s worth. 4/27 Port Canaveral Sad day. I wake up at 5am and have a few cups of coffee on Lido and chat with our companions. Wake DW at 6:45am. Go down to the Flamingo Dining Room to meet for our excursion, Pontoon Boat Tour with Airport Transfer. They have coffee, juice, and pastries available while we wait. Disembarkation started just before 7, but since we are on an excursion I didn’t pay attention to who was being called when. I didn’t make a note of when we were called or how long it took to get our bags, etc. but we were on the bus by 8:05am. They used facial recognition for those with passports. Some of our travel companions didn’t have passports but it didn’t take them much time to be cleared. Should have brought a water for the bus but we were on the pontoon boat at 9:10am. They do have soda and water available for $3 each. We saw a manatee and her calf, dolphins, pelicans, herons, cormorants, and more and were back at the dock by 11:05am. Got on the waiting bus and got to the airport around 12:10pm. We had gotten a notice that our flight had been delayed so we were too early to check our bags. Went to the food court and grabbed some lunch and then checked our bags at 3pm. DW and I have TSA pre-check, but no one else did. It took us 11 minutes to get through TSA and it took them 25 minutes. Made it home to Vermont by 2:30am. If I can answer any questions I would be happy to.

I had the same thought, but the theater is very cramped with little room between the seats, so drink service on top of that would be nightmarish at best. Not the best design at all, for sure.

4/23 San Juan I woke up at 6:45am and we were already docked with NCL Prima across the pier from us. Lido is already hopping when I get there. They started letting people off at 7am, but we are planning on staying onboard all day. Had a ham and cheese omelet and while I was waiting saw him make up several omelets with everything (but he only had the toppings for the omelets listed). He also did an order of fried eggs before getting to me. After waking DW we decided to do some walking around because DS and his GF wanted to do some exploring. Browsed some of the sidewalk vendors before finding an outdoor restaurant to have a snack. GF wanted to walk up to the cathedral so we did that too. St John the Baptist Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the Americas and it is where Ponce de Leon is buried, so it’s kind of cool. Once we got back to the ship we relaxed a bit before attending Dr. Seuss trivia. The tax on drinks in San Juan is around $1.80 for a $12 drink, which is more than it was in Florida. Went to dinner and ordered spring roll, roasted sirloin, and banana cream pie. DW had broccoli cheddar soup, carbonara and banana cream pie. The spring rolls were very tasty with a tangy sauce. DW regretted not ordering two soups it was so good. MDR seems to be half empty tonight. Charles mentioned that this was only his second week on this contract so he’s still adjusting. Watched the Lovin’ Vegas show again (from the main floor, so from a different perspective). Relaxed with drinks afterwards. Chatted with TJ again and he said there were about 5,800 passengers onboard. Went to the Love and Marriage show which was as funny as it usually is. Figure we’ll be contestants in about 20 years. Cheers count- 17 4/24 Amber Cove I had noticed that there was only one ticket in the envelope for today’s excursion so went up to the Shore Ex desk. Got there early so I grabbed some coffee and sat in near the pizzeria until they opened. It’s a nice area and they have indoor and outdoor seating. We had the Monkey Land excursion and it was fun. In the enclosure with the monkeys for quite a while and they use people as steppingstones. They put food in our hands and the monkeys had no problem eating from our hands. Toured a typical DR house and then watched a presentation about coffee, cocoa and mamajuana. Got samples of each to try. They had all of the items for sale so we bought a 350ml bottle of mamajuana (they said that we could fill it with our own rum, wine and honey when it was gone and make our own). Returned to the ship around 2pm. Grabbed a pig patty from Guy’s then enjoyed drinks around the pool. Had pre-dinner drinks at Brass Magnolia. Stuffed mushrooms, chicken parmesan, tiramisu. DW had French onion soup, stuff mushrooms, chicken parm and pear almond cake. Everything was wonderful. Went to Deal or No Deal at Center Stage and bought two cards to play along with ($40). Ended up winning a Bingo free play worth $29 (didn’t play, though). Watched Name that Grove and played some trivia in the Havana Bar. Caught late night comedy in the theater with Manny Manadando and Vince Morris and both were very funny. Cheers count- 24

4/21 Fun Day at Sea Found the place where I’ll start all of my morning- go to deck 16 then take a right after the elevators and enter the lido and there is a coffee machine right there with plenty of tables to choose from (especially before the lido opens). They also have a self-serve soda machine (by the ounce) and juice machines too. Drank coffee until the rest of my companions joined me. At 9 I went to Java Blue and ordered a mochaccino to take to DW. Ship is sensory inclusive and they have sensory bags available to help those with sensory issues. Grabbed lunch from Big Chicken, an Aristotle and it was very good. Made our way up to Serenity and DW got a salad from Fresh Creations. Chatted with TJ for a couple of minutes and lazed around. Folks around the Serenity pool were a tad boisterous. Eventually stopped by the Fortune Teller bar and tried a couple of their drinks. Got dressed for dinner and had some photos taken. Tonight is the first elegant night and they opened the dining room at 5pm. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a bread basket in the MDR but I recall on the last couple of cruises we typically had a choice between two different types of bread. This time around there was only one type of bread per meal (and the bread was as tasty as I remember it being). Ordered escargot and clam chowder, jumbo shrimp with fish cake, and WCMC. DW had the lentil soup, linguine Alfredo and the chocolate panna cotta. All of the food was spot on and as good as we remember it being. After dinner went to see Celestial Strings at Center Stage. Went to see Percy Crews 2 in Punch Liner then caught Brandon Bagget’s comedy/magic show in the theater. Both of them were hilarious. Went up to the White Party so DW could burn some energy. Went back to the cabin and ordered room service, which was again delivered in about 15 minutes. Cheers count- 21 (remember, this is for two 🙂). 4/22 Fun Day at Sea Slept in until 7am this morning. They have actual sinks at the entrance to the Lido for handwashing, but I didn’t see them being used very much. The Chat feature on the Hub App started out wicked fast, but slowed way down as more people started using it. Decided to let DW sleep in a little longer today so played some trivia with DS and his GF at Summer Landing, then grabbed the mochaccino for DW from Havana Bar. We then played some more trivia until it was time for lunch and just grabbed some food from lido. I did try the chicken satay from Street Eats and it was very good. Reserved Bolt through the Hub app ($15 each). When we showed up for our reservation we were told that it was closed due to technical issues. DW then went on the ropes course with one of the older daycare girls but they didn’t make it too far. It was windy and they both got scared. Went to the military appreciation event in the main theater and it was well attended. Went to dinner and had shrimp cocktail, beef wellington, and bitter n blanc. DW had chicken noodle soup, portabella mushrooms, chicken breast and key lime pie. The shrimp are smaller than what we’ve had the last couple of cruises and a little mushy. The beef was very tasty and nicely cooked. DW enjoyed all of her selections. Went to Center Stage to watch the Lovin’ Vegas show and Brandon Bagget opened the show with some magic. It was an awesome show! Went to catch Percy Crews 2 in Punch Liner and he is funnier than heck. Decided to sit in the Piano Bar as we waited for the next event and have a couple of drinks while listening to Brad tickle the ivories. This is the first time we have ever been in a piano bar. Then we went to watch the 18+ Family Feud Live in the theater. It was a very funny show but the 18+ part doesn’t come from any of the surveys, only from the CD and the contestants. They don’t have drink service in the theater so you have to bring your own drink with you. The holders in the chairs weren’t made for hurricane glasses and it’s easy to spill them. Chatted with TJ and a couple of members of the Fun Squad after the show and gave them each a duck. Checked the account summary on the App and they had credited us with the Bolt charge, since they didn’t get it fixed. Cheers count- 24

I have seen it quoted but it might have changed. Yes, they can cut people off when they deem fit but having a limit makes it harder for people to argue when they are cut off and that is what I always figured why they had a limit outside of Cheers (and having one for Cheers does prevent damage to the bottom line, as you note).

No idea, but I can't imagine any cruise company designing a ship with only one event in mind. As I said in a previous post the only place I saw where Quest might work is the Limelight lounge, but it would be very cramped if they did use it for this.

It is my understanding that the 15 day limit applies to all individual alcohol sales (but as you mention there are some things that don't count against that number).

Ok, this review will be posted in stages, almost like a live review with one or two days in each post. Not sure when I will be able to finish typing it all up so if I post it as I go it will be a good incentive to finish. This was DW’s daycare cruise and there were 13 of us cruising together- me and DW, our youngest DS and his girlfriend, Family 1 DH, DW, DD1 DD2, and Family 2 DH, DW, Adult Sister, DD and DS. 9 of us flew from Montreal and Family 1 flew out of Hartford, CT. We had 3 adults along on their first cruise and some of the younger kids had cruised before. DW and I were in a mid-ship cabin on Deck 10, with Family 2 in the next cabin. We flew to Florida the day before and we all stayed at the Day’s Inn, Cocoa Beach near I-95. Pretty typical Days Inn but they had a restaurant attached, C’s Waffles. We had dinner there and breakfast the following day. We used Coco Beach Shuttle to get from the airport and for 9 of us it was $214. The hotel uses Coco Beach Shuttle to get folks to the port and it is $15 per person for a one-way shuttle or $25 for a roundtrip. They only have two times available- 9am and 1230pm. We signed up for the 9am shuttle (which I initially regretted signing up for, but it worked out). 4/20 Depart Port Canaveral We left the hotel on the shuttle at 8:45am and there were passengers for two other cruise ships along. We got dropped off last and were expecting to be waiting a while to check in since we had a 12 to 12:30pm check in time. We gave the bags to the porter and headed over to get in line and of course got into the “early/late” line. I didn’t note what time we got to the port but we were all checked in and waiting to board by 10:45am. There is a soda machine and a snack machine in the terminal. We were onboard with first drink in hand at 11:30am. Our first drink was at Brass Magnolia and it was a Praline Truffle, which was quite tasty. We then went up muster, which took hardly any time at all and then to Lido and got in line for Guy’s, which seemed to me to be quite long. But as with all of the lines for the week (foreshadowing a little here) everything moved quickly and a burger was soon in hand (and not long after that, in the belly). Had a few more drinks and then headed to the cabin at 1:30pm. Very nice cabin with a subdued décor. The balcony is square and appears to be a double balcony, although it wasn’t sold as extended. Could have easily put two loungers on it. We couldn’t see straight down to the water because of the balcony below us and the deck below that. There are three regular plugs by the vanity with 4 USB ports and there is a USB port on each side of the bed. There are two small shelves by each side of the bed with a folding reading light that can be positioned. The shelves are cute, but not as functional as a nightstand. The closets had lots of hangers and ample shelf space and most of the shelves could be folded up for more hanging storage. The bathroom is on the small size (no surprise) but had many shelves and a cabinet under the sink for storage. The shower is big enough for two people (surprise) and has a glass door. Our steward for the week is Oliver. All of our luggage was delivered by 2:30pm and we quickly unpacked. Headed out and grabbed a couple more drinks and watched the sail away party. TJ is our cruise director this trip and is very personable. We had early dining so we headed to the Flamingo Restaurant at 5:30pm. All 13 of us are at the same table. Our waitstaff was headed by Christopher with Arnel and Budiari assisting him. I ordered the crawfish strudel, the BBQ salmon (both Emeril selections) and cheesecake. DW ordered the tomato soup, chicken breast and WCMC. The crawfish strudel had a bit of a zing and was shaped like an egg roll and was very good. The salmon was a very generous portion and it was tasty as well. Went to guest services to request the partition between our balcony opened and it didn’t take long to reach the head of the line. As we walked past Pixels I noticed that they use digital ordering on tablets, so no shuffling through a bunch of pictures to make your choice. Went to Pig and Anchor and I ordered a Blanton’s Old Fashioned. They brew some of their own beer onboard and one of the brews is a German lager so DW had to give it a try (since she is from Germany) and said it was very good (which I confirmed by having my own later in the cruise). Went to Punch Liner for Manny Oliverri’s show. Watched his second show with one of our companions who had come in late to the first show, then went back and ordered room service through the Hub App, which was delivered in under 15 minutes. Called it a night. Cheers count- 23.

Not really an excuse. Excel class was not designed with Quest in mind.

That's what I've always thought, but the important thing is do the bartenders know? I think this is an expense Carnival could eliminate. I'm sure there would be some that would decry another cutback, but I see little value in it myself.

You aren't allowed to order doubles with Cheers. Best you can do is order a drink and 5 minutes later order a shot.