jdemps

28 minutes ago, rukkian said:

I believe lunch there is free.

I understand it is free but what if we don't want anything from there but just need a table?  Is it open seating when it's free with no host to seat people?  thanks.

I noticed you went to cucina del capitano quite a few times with other food.  Can you just go up there to find a seat and not order any pasta or do you need to eat at the restaurant to get a table?  Thanks.  

Vibration is pretty bad.  We booked an aft wrap on deck 4 on Miracle and the vibration was so strong, the room steward had to remove all of the glassware because it was clinking together all night.  I won't book a cabin on the very aft ever again.

I know my husband could care less about some cardboard decorations and cake when dessert is included all over the ship.  I would spend the cash on the steakhouse instead or some other indulgence that isn't so cheap looking.  Maybe bet it all on roulette!  Good Luck.

I didn't see a steam room on the deck plans.  Where is that located in the Spa?  thanks.

Anyone know that has been in the Sunrise Spa what it includes?  It looks like it's just heated tile loungers and a sauna.  There isn't a hot tub featured on any of the photos that I can see so curious what exactly you get with a Spa cabin.  thank you.

I believe you have to order the drink of the day or whatever they are calling it these days without the fancy glass you keep.  if you don't, you pay full price, not just price of the glass.  

A Tito's with club soda and lime has .5 - 1 carb  so you can always have that too if you get tired of the Truly. 

Does anyone have a list of stops for about 2-3 hours in a golf cart on Grand Turk?  We will be there late February if that matters.

Curious what would be the best route and order of stops to see the island and then head to Jack's Shack for a few hours before getting back on ship.

thank you.

I usually like the soups a lot - french onion, tomato basil, mushroom, etc.  I haven't ever ordered an entree that i just had to have again.  It's all banquet food made for the masses so it's not all that great for me. 

Cruising is a cheap vacation so I don't expect to have even 3 star food, much less fine dining.

I don't have a sweet tooth so I can't speak on desserts.  I did like the chimichuri that came with the steak & eggs at sea day brunch.

Where exactly are the gym showers on the deck plans?  I don't see anything noted.  thx

On 11/11/2019 at 9:38 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

They won't even start offering FTTF for the Panorama until its February, 2020 departures. So that may be why you don't see them available for those cruises yet. If it was simply sold out, you'd still see it in your excursions, but listed as "Sold Out."

Anyone know why FTTF isn't available yet for Sunrise cruise on 2/22/20?  There isn't an excursion listing for FTTF at all yet.

thx

must be all the complaints from pepsi swap....lol I can't get in either

6 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

Why is that?

Just curious.

 

 

We eat dinner at varying times at home so having to get to a set dinner time isn't ideal for us.  We eat anywhere from 5:30pm to as last at 9pm depending on how the day went.  YTD is the flexible option for us.

We always go down about 20 minutes before we would want to sit and that seems to work fine for us.  We grab a cocktail from a nearby bar and chat with friends while waiting.  YTD is the only way we will dine in MDR.  Have a great cruise.

We buy straws made from corn so they dissolve when they get wet.  I plan to bring a ziplock of those so if someone other than me decides to throw it in the ocean, it's all good.  Paper straws are stupid, candy straws are for kids, plastic straws are the devil apparently, so corn it is!  Our local restaurant supply sells them so we buy a few boxes every time we visit.

Bring the wine with you.  You can check it in airline luggage with no problem.  I just put it in a ziplock then roll it up in clothes then I don't have to worry about having the one I like or trying to find a store.  Good luck with your cruise.

If you don't buy the all inclusive, I think you go to the other side and it must be more tame.  just a thought.

36 minutes ago, Forchunut1 said:

The mark-up on bottles of liquor is ridiculous, regardless of whether it is better than buying separate drinks.  Can I afford to order bottles?  Yep.  But, I won't do it on principle.  I get that mark-up on individual drinks creates the profit needed to keep things going.  The price of drinks on Carnival is no different than at a bar at a nice hotel, so I have no complaints about the price of drinks.  But, when the mark-up on a bottle of alcohol is 3-5 times what I can buy a bottle for, which is also already marked up, I'm not going to do it.

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money.  Many people who have posted about this say they also have a bar tab at the end of the cruise regardless of whether they buy bottles or use an alternative method of acquiring their alcohol.  I always do, although never to the point of Cheers making financial sense for me.  Many people like the freedom of being able to make a drink in their cabin and then will hit the bars as well.  I'm all about profits to keep a business successful, but until Carnival stops trying to squeeze every last living penny out of us with these ridiculous mark-ups (now including delivery fees!), I'll look for alternative sources. 

Any business tries to keep a 25% cost or under for beverages.  The bottles cost them $20, so they charge $80 - $100 for it.  It's not a big deal and it's within the range for keeping costs down.  The same cost % is applied to the individual cocktails but at an even higher mark up rate than the bottle.  So, if you get the drinks at the bar, I estimate those are at about a 15% cost or less so buying the bottle is less mark up.

Same issue here and I really don't want to download a new browser.  They will have it fixed in no time.

what is extremely expensive?  We stayed at the Hyatt across from the port and it was about $200 per night and very convenient.  The taxi to port was around $10 from that location as I recall in 2017.

My parents have stayed at the Best Western that is about a mile further east and it was about $200 for one night lodging and 7 nights parking if you need that feature.  Good Luck.

Is there a reason you need to cruise from Galveston?  New Orleans is another option in that same general area.  NOLA airport is only about 30 minutes from port area where Galveston is at least an hour depending on time of day and which airport you are using.  That travel time might make the difference of $200 or more for a group that size if you choose taxi/uber or maybe even shuttles. 

Also, the cheers package works out of NOLA on first day/night of cruise but it doesn't out of Galveston due to laws.  I just wanted to be sure you knew about that since we always spend more on booze on day 1 and having to pay drink for drink might add up really quick!

Good Luck with your cruise planning.

18 months or more out for best cabin selection and usually a good price too.  

I hope Miracle gets more dining options than just the burgers and tacos.  Excited to see the plans as it gets closer.  I booked my parents on a 15 day to Hawaii for OCT 2020 so more dining options would help with the choices on that long cruise.  

The satellite was out  on Miracle when we went in 2014 during playoffs so I wouldn't count on them being available especially if you want to watch a specific game.