dad2my3

Thanks!

San Diego question: Is there any public transportation available that can get you from the cruise terminal to the zoo, or would it be best to get a taxi? I'm not sure of the routes for the trolley system. Thanks to anyone with knowledge and experience in this department.

I just got back from this itinerary in the inspiration. Day two was Catalina, and you had to be back on board at 4:00 pm. Not long after that, we sailed away from Catalina and did not return. We arrived at Ensenada the following morning around 8:00 am and left around 6:00 pm or so. Day four was a sea day. We arrived back at along Beach the next morning around 6:00 am.

So after leaving Catalina late in the afternoon on day two, we never returned.

You may only live once, but you can cruise many times throughout that lifetime. $700 goes a long way towards your next voyage. I would pass on the upgrade and save the money for a future vacation.

I got a call yesterday. They left a message offering to sell me an upgraded suite for next week. I didn't respond. My budget hasn't increased since the initial booking.

I font quite understand wanting privacy at meals. If you want privacy, there's plenty of time for that other than meals

Some people cruise to get some private time together that they don't always get back at home. The first private "date" meal my wife and I had together in over six months was on our cruise last fall. We needed to take advantage of the opportunity to spend time alone together, which meant that we requested a table for two at dinner.

If they play Frozen, I'm jumping overboard.

Thanks for the review--I'm taking my kids on their first cruise next week, same itinerary but on the Inspiration. I appreciate your insight.

I set my account up online and my kids had to be entered because they will be in the room, but I had the option to choose not give them charging privileges.

Tonight I'm going to have nightmares about brown gravy on french fries.

Is nothing sacred?

I'm glad you had a great trip!

Muster on my Princess cruise was painless. I am a little nervous about what I've read about muster on our upcoming Carnival cruise.

It can sometimes be hard to convince customer service of anything with screen caps in the age of Photoshop. I submitted one in an insurance debate and they said they couldn't confirm that it was genuine and not doctored.

If I experienced a long wait or had an issue with a meal, I wouldn't wait for them to come to me, I would get up and find someone. I know it shouldn't work like that, but I wouldn't just sit and wait and grow increasingly frustrated.

If the staff overheard me complaining, I would hope that they would address it. Some people are passive aggressive and will complain loudly without directly voicing specific complaints and allowing the staff to have an opportunity to address and resolve the issues. Therefore, staff should be ready to handle problems whether voiced directly or indirectly.

If anyone on staff had shrugged off problems or failed to take the initiative when a problem or disappointment was mentioned, I would be disappointed. If they told me that they would look into what could be done without the inconvenience of a trip to guest services, I would appreciate it. If they offered the disappointing meal for free, I would feel that the matter was pretty much settled. If they brought out a celebration dessert, I would accept it graciously and enjoy it with my wife.

So I can understand why this was a disappointing meal and I sympathize with the person who posted about it, even though I think I would have felt and responded a bit differently. If I did choose to have a meal there, I would keep this negative review in mind but still give it a shot, being mindful of the potential problems.

My wife and I did the Catalina/Ensenada cruise with Princess last year and as we sat out on the balcony in the afternoon while the ship was docked at Ensenada, we could hear all the noise coming from the loud deck party over on the Carnival ship with the hip hop DJ. We said that whenever we cruised again, it wouldn't be with Carnival because we want peace and quiet rather than a party ship.

However, when it came time to book a cruise for the entire family, we needed a room that accommodates five, and Carnival offered that at a fair price. I also think that a more upbeat atmosphere will be more fun for the kids.

So from the sound level carrying across the port in Ensenada, my impression was that Carnival was definitely a loud party ship. But we are giving it a try, since this isn't meant to be a "peace and quiet" vacation this time. The real test will be whether or not we choose to return the next time it's just the two of us.

Thanks for sharing! This is very helpful. I'm taking my kids on their first cruise next month.

I don't drink coffee, so that's out. But the pizzeria is open 24 hours, so I would get myself some pepperoni pizza and watch the sun come up, then go back to bed and skip breakfast.

I actually would prefer to differentiate between non-smokers and anti-smokers.

I would also differentiate between being anti-smoker and anti-smoke. Just because my daughter and I have difficulty being around smoke doesn't mean I am against smokers or take smoke personally. I have never really encountered a rude or hostile smoker. They are just regular people with a habit that I don't happen to share, but I don't consider myself to be anti-smoker.

If the current rules allow smoking on balconies, then smokers have every right to do so, and non-smoking neighbors don't really have a right to complain. When the rules change later this year, they will still have the right to smoke in designated areas, and I would hope that non-smokers would have the courtesy to avoid those areas if they have a problem with smoke. No smoker smoking in a designated area is ever being rude.

I have signatures disabled, too. Gets distracting and takes too long to load. (with people listing every cruise they've ever been on and all the count-down clocks for upcoming cruises.)

Same here. My entire iPad screen was getting filled up by a single signature, so I disabled them. Now I realize I can be missing noteworthy information.

Only obstructed view I can picture right now:

My SIL was definitely nearly 6 months pregnant for my wedding and they would NOT exempt her. My brother questioned it and was told that pregnant women may choose to drink.

That's nuts!

I had the same problem. Try this:

I have been on 3 cruises now 2 with Carnival & 1 with Royal Caribbean. The only reason I went with Royal Caribbean was due to the destination, we were going to Alaska from Vancouver to Seward and then we were doing land ourselves for a week and Carnival didn't offer that itinerary.

 

My cruise started off bad the moment we walked into our room and got worse. I booked that cruise the very first day it was available and I called to make sure I was getting the room I wanted....I explained that it would be 3 adults my Mom, hubby & myself & that we needed the 2 beds put together and the SOFA bed with a balcony & I was assured that my room would be exactly what I was wanting. I spoke with Royal Caribbean representatives many times for different questions and they always reviewed what my reservation was. So I was very surprised to walk into my room and see the big bed and a chair.....so I go to the guest services desk and I am told nothing could be done until an hour or so after we set sail. REALLY????

 

So I explained in detail that I booked this the 1st day it was offered and what I was promised so he goes and looks and the computer and a book with a bad attitude like I was asking for him to actually do something and tells me that the other bed was in the ceiling and our cabin steward would drop it down and separate the other bed so we would all have a bed. I was very upset at this point & explained that we were all adults and we were not sleeping in a bed from the ceiling & the idiot actually said then he can try to fit a cot in there. I said NO that is not what we were promised and not what we paid for and he simply shrugs his shoulders and tells me to come back an hour or so after we set sail.

 

So I go tell my Mom & hubby & told them I was going to get on the website to try to get something done. While I was on the computer my Mom went down & tried to talk to them since I was so upset she thought I might have been rude and that was why I wasn't getting any help & she came back ticked off & said that there was several people complaining about their rooms being wrong too. So when I finished emailing Royal Caribbean a woman (another cruiser) asked me what was wrong so I told her and she told me the chair made a bed and how to do it....so I got better customer service from another guest.

 

I was at guest services another time getting some pamphlets and I asked the guy which side of the ship would we see the most land and his response was "you will only see land when we port the rest of the time we will be in open waters" REALLY??? I have never been on an Alaskan cruise and knew that was wrong. We had a couple other issues with them and the people at guest services (they are called employees but none of the new the answers to anything so the guests on the ship could have done a better job) they always gave us the wrong info or just said I don't know and pretty much moved to the next guest.

 

Our room steward Jeff and our waiter Rajesh and waitress Marian were the only employees we really enjoyed and had any confidence in at all. The some of the food may have been a little better but there was not as much variety offered and on elegant nights on the Carnival you got steak & lobster but on Royal Caribbean you had to pay extra for that & the desserts were way better on Carnival.

 

Now lets talk about entertainment or lack there of....Carnival beats Royal Caribbean a million to one blind folded and hands tied behind their back. Some shows were soooo bad that we had to leave and one show the singing was soooo horrible it really did hurt my ears it was worse than nails across the chalk board, costumes were very generic and at times didn't even go with what was going on. We missed the comedy club every night like Carnival has. They had 3 so called comedians that I really felt sorry for because it was like dead silence and then someone would give them a fake pity laugh and one looked like he was 80 years old and drunk most the time I couldn't understand half of what he was saying and what I did understand didn't make any sense.

 

If it wasn't for the spa I don't think we would have enjoyed much of the cruise (but I had to pay extra for the use of the thermal suite which it was ok but it wasn't all that). I did like the adults only pool and Jacuzzi that was open 24 hours but a lot of times there were kids and teens in there too. I never take naps unless I am sick but I think I took more naps on this cruise than I have my whole life just because there was nothing to do if you wasn't a drinker. My favorite entertainment was to go out where the glass elevators are and watch the drunks trying to dance in the center....sad huh?

 

So yeah I could keep going but I am just going to say that from now on we will be sticking with Carnival unless I have my heart set on a destination that they don't go too and then I will think long and hard about that!!!

 

Oh and 1 final thing I still haven't heard anything from Royal Caribbean about the poor customer service. I have sent 2 emails and took 2 surveys and all I have received is on of the surveys asking about how my complaint was handled....I was honest and told them is wasn't as of that date and still nothing. Now this may be just 1 cruise or a bad crew but first impressions are everything and theirs was a horrible first impression on all of us. I have even asked my hubby & Mom and they say the same things as me and my husband told me he will never go on any cruise with RC again I would have to go by myself lol and my hubby is very easy going and doesn't get upset hardly ever and he was not pleased at all.

As a non-smoker, I would not go into a designated smoking area and complain, verbally or otherwise. I would respect the space and the people who want to enjoy themselves there.

That being said, I sense that a lot of smokers seem to be in denial about how cigarette smoke can legitimately impact some people. I've seen multiple posts that just write it off as "fake coughing." That's not always the case.

Let's try not to lump all non-smokers into the same "overly dramatic" category. I don't label all smokers as inconsiderate, because that's not true. Both sides seem to be falling back on stereotypes because it's easier to disregard a caricature. Remember that people on both sides of the debate have legitimate concerns and everybody try to respond in a constructive way.

just got off the inspriation last week' date=' and had the american table menu. There were tablecloths, no water pitcher and we got served rolls. No mention on the menu that we could share.

 

I think what I dont like about the AT menu is that you cant tell which items will be there the whole cruise ( like the choc melting cake) and which will be there just that night only ( like the escarot).

 

I had to ask the waiter each time -- eg for dessert, I decided to have the tiramisu one night because that would be the only night it would be served, unlike the choc melting cake which would be there every night. Same for the entrees, I never did figure out which were offered every night -- maybe none of them were.[/quote']

 

That's a good point--I would like to know what items will be back and which things are there for one night only. It would help me to order if that info was made clear on the menu.

fake coughing

It's not all fake coughing. I'm sure some people overreact and get dramatic, but not everybody. Some people do indeed have sensitive lungs. All sorts of things can set my daughter off into a coughing spree, and cigarette smoke does happen to be one of them.

Now, will I be taking her to the casino in the first place? Of course not. If there are designated smoking areas, we will steer clear and enjoy ourselves elsewhere. I think the ship is big enough for everyone to be happy if we are all aware of the rules and willing to follow them.