C_Cabra

Yes, The weather was excellent. It was horrible before and after the trip though...

They have covered cabanas with picnic tables on this island but it is just one acre so if you are looking to explore the land or whatever this isn't the place to be. Starfish island is much larger and more developed but I have read poor reviews of it's beaches. This is a naturally occurring island with beautiful beaches.

Smyliecruising,

There was a ton to see under the water. This video only includes just a few of the underwater pictures I took. The guides will bring up sea life for you to hold and view and point out sealife along the reefs.

This is not a very "developed" island but there are toilets, plenty of shade and food and drinks. Some of the people we were with never went snorkeling and just used it as a beach day instead.

From what I understand this is probably the best of the Carnival snorkeling excursions.

Hi!

The beach in Roatan is Mahogany Beach right next to the Ship. It is a free beach but we purchased one of the Cabanas as an excursion through Carnival.

In Belize we went on the Snorkeling Wonders of the Barrier Reef. It is the only excursion that picks you up directly from the Ship and drops you off back at the Ship. The rest require you to tender to shore first. After the excursion is over you still have time to tender to shore for shopping. I'm not sure of the name of the island but it is only a one acre island that is a naturally occurring island on top of the barrier reef. It was very cool however if you are looking for a more developed island with restaurants, shopping etc. then the Starfish Island excursion is probably a better choice.

Here is a video of our recent Western Caribbean Cruise!

Thanks for all of the input! It's been very helpful.

Thanks for the recommendations so far. The reason we don't want to return to Disney is because it really is all about Disney. While it is fairly understated in terms of Décor (everything is an "easter egg" in the design) all of the shows are Disney, the MDR entertainment is Disney etc. We were hoping for the same level of elegance and service without the Disney piece. We also like to have the option to go the Casino and you don't have that option on Disney (although we did like that they allowed you to bring on your own liquor).

I understand that their are rude and obnoxious people everywhere it just seemed to me that there were more than a fair amount aboard Carnival versus what we experienced on Disney.

I had heard that some of the Cruise Lines can get very "elegant" and so we don't want to be stuck on a ship for a week with people who snicker because we use the wrong fork either. We were really looking for a happy medium.

In terms of a profile I suppose we are upper middle class wage earners with no kids. We do try to plan the cruise to avoid a lot of kids. It's not that we don't like children it's just that we've found that they aren't necessarily on their best behavior or supervised very well when on vacation and we want to enjoy ourselves without riding an elevator to every floor or participating in food fights in the MDR.

We aren't booze cruisers, but we do like to tie one on when we drink socially. We rarely get out of hand but can still close down a bar. The comedy shows, live music, sunrises over the ocean, plenty of space in the pool, fine foods you wouldn't necessarily make on a regular basis at home all appeal to us. We would typically stay at a Hilton or better when traveling as opposed to a La Quinta or Howard Johnsons.

I'll look into Princess and RCL. Thank you for the suggestion. I think for now the appeal of jumping on a ship 45 minutes away is too good to pass up but I'll keep Celebrity on my radar as well. We plan on being in

Ok,

I know people are loyal to their cruise lines like some people are loyal to their political parties so... I'm not looking to get into a flaming war with anyone here or start any fights. I'm just looking for some experienced cruisers opinions.

My lovely wife and I have been on two cruises. The first was on the Disney Wonder which, aside from no Casino and the whole Disney theme, we absolutely loved. It was casual enough that we felt comfortable in our own skin but elegant enough that we didn't feel like we were eating at applebee's. It was extremely clean, very well maintained and everything was classy and top notch.

We just got off of our second cruise with Carnival on a 7 day western Caribbean aboard the Freedom. The staff, destinations and excursions (we went through carnival) were awesome but the facilities, ship and the passengers (most) were not. We met some really, really great people but there were enough knuckleheads on the Carnival cruise that it felt disproportionate to the number of awesome individuals we got to know. Day after day we witnessed extremely rude behavior toward the staff and other passengers by the passengers and I was embarrassed to be from the same country and travelling along with these folks to be frank. The ship has already had the 2.0 upgrade and I have to say that if this is upgraded I'm glad I didn't cruise before because I would have been very disappointed. In my line of work we would have called this putting "lipstick on a pig". The activities were really geared more toward a boozapolooza in my opinion. The food sucked. period. Carnival recently switched to the American Table Menu and I was left wondering who would want to come to an elegant dinner in a main dining room to eat boiled pork spareribs in barbeque sauce and veg-all. This is what I would get in my kitchen on a Wednesday night - not at a fine dining venue. Small selections on the buffets at lunch and breakfast and the food that was available was not good - just ok. The Burger Joint, Guys Burgers, was the best bet - but it was just a burger. However after experiencing the buffet and dining room food I can see what all the hype is about if you are comparing it to whatever else is available.

I say all this to say that I am certain Carnival is not the cruise line for us but I don't know which one would be and I'd like to solicit a little insight. While we felt Carnival was probably a little on the low end for us we aren't looking to be put to sleep with Opera music, lectures and Formal Dinners every night of the week either. We want something casual, classy and elegant where we can let loose. We are in our 40s and can still tie one on three or four nights a week when we are on vacation... but we don't need the "fun ship" full of "bro's" and "mega- dance parties" to make that happen.

Again, I'm not trying to insult anyone who loves Carnival. I can certainly see it's appeal to a younger crowd, families trying to save money, folks who have been cruising with them a long time and get loyalty perks, big casino gamblers, etc. but they also seem to attract a real low class cruiser. When we are out eating, at a club, at a bar etc. we can always leave, or deal with it until we go home but being stuck on a ship for seven days with rude people who have absolutely no manners, no shame and no class is just too much.

I certainly don't think I am better than anyone so please don't get the wrong idea. I grew up very poor. I know what it is like to be looked down upon and belittled and this is not my intention. I am talking about class and that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with economic status. Simple manners like saying please, thank you, not shoving women out of the way, wearing sleeveless gym shirts, night clothes and flip flops to the main dining room, etc.

I was told after we cruised Disney we would be disappointed with the other cruise lines. We don't have kids, enjoy the casinos(even though we aren't avid gamblers), and like a larger boat.

Right now we have Princess, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruising from two ports that are within an hour of our home. Would any of these be an upgrade from Carnival or should we expect the same? We've been told that Princess is a snooze fest and everything shuts down very early and that the other two are more of the same as Carnival.