soonernstlouis

If you are going to do a B2B with Carrnival, this is the ship to do it on.  Not only different ports on each leg but different areas of the Caribbean on 1 trip.  Would love to try it after I retire.

1 minute ago, wolft927 said:

I understand, using a credit card just curiouse what the hold is? I have already paid off everything, also pucrchased Cheers, prepaid the gratuities. Was just cuirouse what the hold is for a 7 day cruise

$200 as per the info I linked above.

• 2 - 6 day cruise: $100 USD for each stateroom charged using the same credit card or debit card 
• 7 days or longer: $200 USD for each stateroom charged using the same credit card or debit card
  https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1138/~/sail-%26-sign-onboard-account

55 minutes ago, Oldskl said:

We all pay some form of premium to board any Carnival ship including a beautiful upper level ocean suite that I prefer, cove area, family harbor suite etc. The difference is my premium, which also subsidizes the Havana area, does not exclude others from using what I consider to be the nicest hot tubs, and pool on the ship! I have consistently spoken to Carnival concerning this because it is a design flaw and should be addressed. If you have sailed the Breeze, the design is exceptional due to the fact there are wonderful hot tubs on the port and starboard sides that can be utilized by every paying customer. I do realize this configuration is not possible on the Vista class ships due to the restaurants and more lounge areas that I truly enjoy. Carnival needs to include better pool areas for all patrons, thus not having the need to feel you are missing out on any experience. Let me give a quick example. Would you book a family get-away at a high end resort, and then like to be told you can't access the nicest pool or hot tub area?

While I understand & somewhat agree with some of your points, the premium charged for Havana IS for the exclusive use of the Havana area.  The key cards required to use the Family Harbor area is due to it only being available for Family Harbor guests who pay a premium.  I could have booked a non-Havana balcony cabin for the same price as my small Havana interior.  You paying a premium for a roomy suite with a great ocean view got you just that.  

The fact that Horizon has less than 100 Havana cabins on a ship that has over 1800 cabins tells me I invested well to stay away from the crowds & Carnival is well aware of how much each facility is used.

We will definitely both get the chat feature on our next cruise.  On the last one only my wife did (basically joined at the hip (ala @Red Hat Lady ) which came in handy to book a Carnival excursion when one of our ports changed to Dominica which we had no clue about.

Adding a couple of off topic items if allowed:

@Joe817 I promise to stay off your lawn next time

@Organized Chaos Howdy Midwestern neighbor; obviously from St Louis area myself.  Had to fly to our 1st Carnival cruise out of San Juan & not willing to drive 20 hours to our next one from Miami.  I may yet get my wife to be willing to drive the “short” 11 hours to New Orleans (she did on a friends cruise a few years ago), but more than likely still flying which doesn’t save much over flying anywhere else.

Agree with above post.  Havana guest pay a premium for their room over the exact same room on any other part of ship.  I doubt I would have ever booked a room on a 4000 pax ship without having some assurance of quiet time.
 

For the most part I’m not a fan of ship within a ship class system.  I do think Carnival balanced this age requirement by having Family Harbor rooms available with amenities available that cater to kids.

On 12/22/2019 at 8:10 AM, wkwthme said:

This beach sounds perfect! Any advice on how to ensure return transportation to ship? 

We arranged with our drop off taxi driver ($10/pp each way) a time for return last September.  I wouldn’t recommend assuming taxis would otherwise be waiting.

Much less crowded than Maho & no steep banks or big waves as mentioned above.

Freedom of the Seas is across the bay from Old San Juan.  You can check your luggage for free at Barrachinas restaurant in OSJ (tips welcomed).  Explore nearby Morro fort, visit Chocobar Cortes or research nearby restaurants.  Most shops don’t open until 11am on Sunday.

You’ll be safe getting to an Uber around 12:30, maybe 1pm.  The ag inspection is just another luggage scan but you MUST do that before checking your bags for the flight (they put a sticker on each bag).

The restaurant you are probably referring to is Barrachinas & yes they hold luggage starting at 9am 7 days a week at no charge (tips are welcomed).  I believe the earliest you

can drop off luggage with the porters is 11am.  I would recommend going to Barrachinas early & just have breakfast or coffee until the luggage locker opens.  Not much is open on Sundays in OSJ until 9am (forts) and 11am (shopping).  The Uber cost from Barrachinas to the Fascination port is about $5 or you can walk your luggage the half mile or so but the cobblestone roads are pretty rough to cross.

Interesting read above & helpful for budgeting.  My last cruise had 5 ports and only 1 sea day so I budgeting about $200/day for port days and maybe $200 total for the onboard expenses (grats were prepaid).  We probably spent $400-$500 onboard due to:

•change in port location-basically had to use Carnival excursion or stay on ship in unfamiliar port

•Wife bought more pictures than expected 

•Lack of quality entertainment led us to gamble more than I prefer 

Our next cruise is 3 ports and 3 sea days but we selected a room in the Havana area so relaxing should be priority one & Horizon has more free dining options.  Already reserved 1 specialty dining and likely will pick 1-2 more.  Hope to keep non-cruise budget around $1,000.

The paper license renewal WITH the expired picture license AND her birth certificate should be acceptable.  I would still recommend calling Carnival and/or your booking travel agent to confirm.  I recently had an episode with my wife’s birth certificate that I wasn’t sure would be acceptable.  Texted a pic to my TA & she confirmed it was.

On 1/1/2020 at 11:19 AM, hal2008 said:

STAY away from Boatyard when there are moe than 2-3 ships in port.

 

It gets extremely crowded.

AVOID BOATYARD - their sucess has ruined them. AVOID.

hal2008, 

I understand you are upset by how crowded the Boatyard can be on certain cruise days.  I agree it would be a good idea if they implemented capacity controls on busy days or provide forewarning about chair availability.

I do think your multiple posts are not as helpful as intended as many folks have a great time on less crowded days or get there before the crowds do (assuming your ship doesn’t port later).  Hope your experience didn’t ruin your stop in Barbados.  It was by far my favorite beach on a less crowded day last September.

Timmay77,

As you should with any vacation, I would recommend going in with an open mind.  If you feel things like a few spots of rust, lack of amenities that the newer ships have such as more dining options (pay and inclusive), lack of larger pools, hot tubs and such are a deal breaker-look elsewhere.  It’s a Fantasy class ship so expect Fantasy-level amenities.
 

This ship/itinerary is basically designed for the cruiser looking to explore the 5 islands it ports at & at a reasonable cost.  I would save the money you are looking to splurge on a suite & spend it on tours, meals, etc once in port.  
 

Funny that LittleYiaYia mentioned being tired getting back on the ship; we were absolutely exhausted by the 5th island & just grabbed an aft lounger for the final sailaway.  Almost needed a vacation after our vacation but are still new to cruising so that’s our fault.

We are taking the same Western Caribbean route on Horizon a month before you (October 2020).  Selfishly we are leaving the grandkids behind and staying in a Havana cabin.  But since our grandkids live with us, we need a kid-free vacay!  Looking forward to relaxing a lot more than our 1st Carnival cruise in 2019 (7 day cruise that only had 1 sea day).  
 

Hope you enjoy your 1st Carnival cruise!

You may not find a lot open other than breakfast restaurants before the forts open at 9am and most shops open at 11am on Sundays.  Still worth it to use Barrachinas as Little Yia Yia mentioned for luggage drop-off.  They went out of their way to serve their lunch menu around 10:30am.

1 hour ago, coevan said:

Is that a Havana cabin? definitely would not pay a premium for that

Maybe not worth it for the patio cabins, but we felt the semi-privacy of the Havana pool area was worth spending about the same for a Havana interior as the non-Havana balcony suites went for.

OMG, Linda.  Your post brought back memories to our trip to Hawaii in 1999.  We didn’t see him on our trip, but we went to a local Waikiki bar where Don Ho occasionally played.  I just checked & he has since passed in 2007; but I remember the 10 children they mentioned he had and was able to confirm that fact via Google.  These performers (famous or not) create everlasting memories.  Tiny Bubbles.

We spent about 30 minutes at the shipwreck and about 15 minutes at the turtle swim in September.  You literally could swim to the turtle area from shore but not the shipwreck if you don’t get enough.  Both are worth the admission price and sea clarity at the 30’ shipwreck is amazing.  

My wife & I have both been on keto for over a year and both took a break from keto on our recent 7 day sailing (8 days including extra day in port).  Both only gained about 3-4 pounds not following keto but felt really sluggish with the high carb foods every day.  
 

Planning on following a modified diet next October for our next cruise; eat 1-2 keto meals and 1 cheat meal each day.  Just going to be more picky about eating unnecessary carbs (Guys burger buns, maybe no pizza since I’m not a fan) and hope for net zero gain with the amount of walking we do.

5 minutes ago, Kenster said:

We leave on the Vista tomorrow with kids and two grands.  Can you tell me more about this "secret breakfast" place?

Deck 5 Ocean Plaza.

25 minutes ago, amyotravel said:

Do you know if he was using the guarantee? Or, maybe there was some emergency?

I don’t know if he was electing the guarantee, emergency or what.  I do know it was the 1st port & within 24 hours.  Thought it was strange having so much luggage & waiting by the gangway.  By the way, St Maarten was not the scheduled 1st port on our trip (St Thomas was).  We went thru several changes due to weather & which may have upset some pax.

On my September Fascination cruise we were 2nd couple off the ship & there was a gentleman standing next to a porter’s cart full of luggage waiting to get off (St Maarten was the port)   I couldn’t imagine being so dissatisfied with a cruise that within 24 hours be willing to exit my vacation so quickly.

....

31 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

25 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

The price skyrocketed after the announcement of the whole ship within a ship being full time. It was only $100 more per person when I booked. Crazy. I was originally going to book this for our family at a significant savings over my current bookings but I ended up getting more cabins closer together to accommodate everyone. Could have saved $800 (but been separated from travel companions) then but figured me and the Mrs. would just head there after dinner for some quiet R&R. Unfortunately, I spent $800 more and will now have zero access. Not feeling too peachy about that decision at the moment.  

Sorry you missed booking a Havana room for your trip.  Don’t forget what I and another person  said about breakfast at the Ocean Plaza.  And the Havana Bar interior IS open to all drinking-age adults & has been known to be less crowded when no bands are playing.