GWAE

37 minutes ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

Mardi Gras.  Yes it’s bigger but it didn’t feel any more crowded to us.  There is so much to do and so many options for food that everyone you are traveling with will have a great time.  You won’t even be able to do everything in one week and everyone will want to go again. 

I see that you have been on horizon, Vista, and Mardi Gras.  Also Mardi Gras multiple times so I assume that's your favorite. Is there something on that ship over the other 2 that draws you to it?

26 minutes ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Ive enjoyed every ship ive sailed so have my now adult kids.  We are sailing the Magic next month.  

 

If i had to select my favorite ccl ship id pick horizon. Cant quantify why exactly. 

 

Im surprised youre not more interested in ports for your first timer 10 and 12 year olds... some muuuuuuuuch more fun than others. 

I only wrote that about the ports because we are happy with any of the ports. Only 3 of the places are places that I have been too and the kids have only been to Bermuda so these are all new to them.  We were on NCL prima this year and it wasn't really for kids but they still had a blast so I am probably over thinking this since all of these ships have more for kids than the Prima did.

First time on Carnival. There will be 4 of us, 2 kids ages 10 and 12 and our in laws. We will have 2 balcony cabins. We have narrowed it down to a few ships based on our dates. We are not so much concerned about the ports that we will be going to but more about the ship choice. It is stressful to say the least. This will be our in laws first cruise and our 5th but first on Carnival. We will be flying in so I know Port Canaveral will be a little bit more of a pain than Miami. Please give me some opinions based on Here are our options.

Out of Port Canaveral:

Vista 

Mardi Gras

Out of Miami:

Horizon

Magic

The Magic is the oldest ship of the choices so that has me concerned a little. The balconies are also priced the lowest of all the ships so again it worries me that there is a reason for that. 

My first thought is to go on the Mardi Gras since it is a newer ship and also larger but that also means a lot more people. Thank you for giving me some opinions. 

7 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

 

2 qucikie questions, are they enforcing and stopping folks from taking desserts to go (mainly from Specialty Dining) - anything else ordered for that matter (i.e. The Locals) as "announced" ??   Gotta give my gang a heads-on on ziplock bag and be tupperware ready ... younger ones that finally get kicked out of their kids club or whatever late night, sometimes want munchies and have zero patience for room service or sit down somewhere to order, wait & then eat without falling asleep & being tired.   

Cant help you on that one. We never attempted to take anything but I have seen reviews where they did not allow. I can see them not having doggy bags but if you have your own I can't imagine them telling you no. Anytime our kids were hungry at the odd times we just ran up to the buffet and grabbed a quick bite. If the buffet was closed then we just did the local and most times they were pretty quick, especially on the apps. There were 2 or 3 times that we ran in there and ordered apps and that was it. chicken wings was an app so we ordered a table full of those one of the times. 

12 minutes ago, OrangeCatRamblers said:

 

Question about Indulge - the have American food like the salad station and the BBQ, right?

 

The after-shows in the theatre, what was that called in the dailies? Sounds fun and I want to make sure not to miss!

 

Which deck did you enter on, to find the couch seating in the theatre?

 

Thanks! 🙏🙏🙏

I asked the wife One is Disco wonderland. They play 70s music but have dancers and such. This is a club atmosphere with dancing and the whole floor was opened. She thinks the other one is called Ocean Music Fest or something like that. This was all of the bands playing together. They started with older music and moved into newer music. The kept half the seats opened, enlarged the stage  and had room for dancing. it took some people to get down there to dance but eventually there were a ton. My wife and kids were down there right away dancing away. I hung out on one of the couches and drank.  There is also Sensoria that we missed which is edm type atmosphere.

Couches are on deck 7

Endulge had a BBQ menu but I can not remember what was on it. It isn't what I would consider BBQ like pulled pork, ribs, etc. It was upscale. I think of the items was bacon wrapped duck. 

3 hours ago, JGmf said:

Thanks for review and photos and feedback and chiming-in too from @GWAE on the same sailing. 

 

I'm on Prima in less than 3 weeks and am not deterred by dissenting negative comments.  I've read so many good experiences from other seasoned, trusted posters on these boards that I've never been more eager to get on the ship.  Can't wait!

 

Wife and I were just talking. We aren't sure if we are just not picky or easy to please. I was really worried going into this trip that it was going to be terrible because of reviews. Most of those reviews I never experienced.  Only one time was a bar overwhelmed and it was up at the gocart track because they had 1 bar tender and a huge group came off the go carts and wanted a drink. We only waited 1 time for a table and it was 11pm at the local. It was a 10 min wait and when we were seated within 10 min half the restaurant was empty so if we came a few min later there would have been no wait. To hijack broons thread here are my minor complaints and favorites. Even my complaints made had no affect on our time. We just moved on to something else if there were to many people. 

Complaints: 

1. I don't like the atrium area for bands. Not enough seating and often times had a lot of people. We never wanted to look for a seat.

2. They could use seeting in some areas like the stadium so we had somewhere to sit while kids ran around.

3. Minigolf still broken after 6 months. Either fix or repurpoae.

4. Having to walk through the buffet to get to the pool area is stupid.

5. Mini golf and darts area is outdoors so when we had weather like we did they were closed. Maybe have those 2 indoors so they can be used in bad weather.

6. I wish the food hall had 1 restaurant that was American food like pizza, burgers, chicken. Etc. We only went once because my family didn't have much they liked with the current offerings

Favorites:

1. There are bars everywhere. Sometimes they were full and couldn't sit right at the bar but plenty of seating nearby. I was always able to swing by a bar on the way to anywhere and get a drink.

2. Food at Hudsons was great. Fish tacos were my go to but everything we had was good.

3. Service was really good by everyone. 

4. Having the theater transform was neat. Anytime we could.grab a seat on the comfortable side balcony with the couches we did. We sat there for almost every show.

5. The shows in the Prima club aka theater after hours were really good. I can't remember the names of them now but we almost missed them because we didn't realize what they were. One was a band that was all of the house bands put together for a concert. It was really really good

6. We paid to do the behind the scenes tour. It was expensive but tremendous. We got to see the gally, crew deck, crew bar, the place where all the freight comes in, freezers, engine control room, behind the theater, and the bridge. We got to talk to the heads of each of those departments as well and see them in action.

6 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

 

One thing I forgot to mention, when I went through customs, one of the CBP agents said that they were having issues with the face recognition so that's why they were checking passports.  Seems they got that fixed not long after that however.

we must have been very close to each other getting off the ship. We encountered the same thing. 

17 hours ago, Broons77 said:

Home, unpacked, even logged into work for a bit to plow emails and take care of a few things.  Still have to do the laundry but that can wait for tomorrow.

 

So I've gone back over the chatter on this thread, and it doesn't seem overly positive, which is a shame.  I had a great time!  However, I can see where it may not have been the best choice of a cruise for everyone.  Going to try to go back over things in some sort of coherent order.  Internet was slow for postings, although it seemed to be OK via phone but no way am I typing posts of any length with my thumbs.  😄

 

So this was certainly a memorable time for several reasons.  My solo experience was great, I'm so glad I went.  I had great conversations with a bunch of folks from everywhere and enjoyed the hell out of not doing one thing that I didn't want to do.for 4+ days.  Regardless of who you are and what you do, I would recommend something like this to anyone if you have the means to do so.  Doesn't have to be a cruise and doesn't have to be for 5 days.  Go where you want for as long as you want, but go only with yourself and go somewhere that you don't have to lift a finger.  I could go on and on about it, but I'll stop here just by saying that I'm incredibly thankful that I was able to go on this trip.

 

So here's my final grades.  I could not grade entertainment, as I went to exactly 0 shows or performances.  Not much of a theater guy to begin with and most wound up canceled due to the rough weather.  Also, I was never able to make it to St. George due to the early leave on Friday.

 

Check in - C

Parking at the terminal was an expensive breeze.  Flew right through security in less than 5 mins.  But then found that terminal was looooooooong.  By the time I got to my check in area all the way at the end, I found a line that wasn't moving due to tech issues.  They got it worked out but it took me a bit in line to get to the counter.  And I had arrived at 11:30 for a noon check in too.  So it probably took me about 40 minutes total from pulling into the lot to getting on the ship.  This doesn't sound terrible, but it just seemed like an annoying 40 mins

 

Cabin -- A

The studio cabin wasn't made for everyone.  It's admittedly a tiny box, and while the bathroom is just as tiny, the shower was pleasantly roomy which is almost all the battle for me as a larger sized human.  Plenty of storage for my small batch of stuff for a shorter cruise.  I found that the bottom of the closet was in the correct position to act as a bedside table as I had no problem reaching it.  Rarely saw my steward but he was very warm and pleasant when I did and he took care of my few requests very quickly.  And loved loved loved the studio lounge.  Site of my pre-bed cappuccino and cookies each night. 

 

Food -

So I only ate at the buffet (B), Indulge (B), The Local (B+) and once at Onda (B-).  Even though I'm usually big on at least a couple nights at the restaurants, it wasn't a priority this time.  I didn't want to deal with reservations, or any kind of bother.  I went only because I did want to try Onda, and because I was able to get a reservation at a reasonable time.

 

The buffet was good, but small.  Because of that the variety is limited, especially at breakfast however I went there because it was much easier for me to access.  The quality was good.  Big eggs bennie fan here and every time the yolks were just about perfect.  Dinner was good and so were the desserts.

 

Indulge was good, and while NCL clearly went to great lengths to put together the various menus for the various venues (ha, that sounds funny), there wasn't a lot that really did it for me.  But the things I did get were all fairly good.  My big complaint is that it's tucked away in the way back of the ship and depending on where you're coming from, it can be quite a chore.  Unfortunately for me, it was a pain.

 

I sat at the bar when eating from The Local, I got the fish sandwich and nachos which were both great.  No complaints and I even got to watch the Bruins rip the hearts out of the Pens and darken their playoff chances.  Based on that alone, I'm bumping up this grade to an A-.

 

I'm actually bumping up Onda's grade to a straight B.  I was disappointed in the Veal Milan I ordered. It was a bit dry and kind of bland.  It did have a nice crust and crunch but was actually more of a panko rather than a traditional Italian bread crumb.  However, the carpaccio and the linguine with seafood pasta course were both home runs, they served 3 different breads with 3 accompaniments and the house chianti was delicious.  Service was good, but unremarkable.

 

Crew - A

Always a smile and a hello without fail.  All things asked for were taken care of quickly and efficiently and it didn't matter who that person was or what their function

 

Thermal Spa - A

If you like this sort of thing, by all means go.  It's great and you'll come out feeling like a noodle if you do it right.  The heated loungers on the last sea day during the storm was the place to be.

 

Bars - B

Would have been an A but for 2 problems.  Many were tough to get a seat at.  And the Luna and Soleil bars are a bait and switch as all they have a limited cocktail menu.  These need to be full bars.  And it did seem to take a bit to get service at times.

 

My overall ship experience - B+/A-

I'm wrestling with this answer as I'm coming to the conclusion that this is probably one of the more subjective ships you'll ever be on.  100 times out of 100, I would repeat this trip I took.  There was nothing about this ship that I actively disliked.  And many of the issues I noted - mainly crowds - were directly related to the weather.  This would have greatly reduced the crowds in a lot of areas.  But I didn't get the wow factor I was expecting either.  I had said to some folks on board that I wasn't sure if I'd make it a priority to sail it again, but in looking back, maybe I should give it a better shot when she can have the chance to show off things I really didn't get to see or enjoy.

 

Oh yeah, for the first time ever on a ship, I hit for a decent amount at the casino.  Others seemed to report the same thing.  YMMV.  Actually, YMPWV.

 

Probably will think of more stuff to say, but that's probably enough for now.

enjoyed your review until the Bruins part 😉  Here was our door for the last 5 days.

19 hours ago, Broons77 said:

 

Yikes, guess I missed out on that part, I did walk off and was in my truck pulling out of the lot by 8:15ish.  Everything seemed to be fine, CBP was pleasant, gave my passport a glance and sent me on my way.

it is so weird to get peoples perepectives and hear their stories. I was on the same ship as most here and what, 3000 other people. I see complaints about long lines, crowded areas, broken electronics, terrible disembark, etc. but here I am thinking. I can not believe I didn't wait in line for a single meal, did not see anything broken other than the mini golf, never waited more than 2 minutes for a drink, had great meals, and had overly nice staff my entire time. To be honest, prior to going I had planned on requesting some of the auto gratuity to be removed because paying $40 a day for 2 kids seems like overkill to me but everyone was so nice and everything went so smoothly I just let it be. Even tipped extra in many places. 

As for disembarking, we were packing and about to walk out the door to grab breakfast when they called for it. We walked to elevator on floor 17 and had to wait for 4 elevators because they kept coming by full, presumably from the buffet. Once we got on, we went down, the line was right next to our elevator and it took about 20 minutes to get scanned off the ship, 10 min walk to customs, and about another 10 min walk to our car. We were in the lincoln tunnel before 9am. I had no complaints there either. 

On 4/2/2023 at 11:57 AM, bluesea777 said:

 

Not so sure about the "express" part - yeah to walk off ship, but ... due to the defection of several passengers in Bermuda, the cruise may have gone from "closed-loop" to an "open-loop" which means CBP not being so breezy.

 

Let's hope to hear from @Broons77 again how his disembarkation went. I may be wrong.

 

I was wondering if this was a big deal. I wanted to ask the captain when we did our tour but I forgot once there. 

9 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@Broons77  Gale force, diagonally across the ship with (very) rough sea state & waves at 4.8 meters (that's 16 ft.) ... as the Prima continue to plow on her NW heading at 19 - 20 knots, up 1 - 2 from 18 earlier.  Norwegian Gem and Pearl both heading in the opposite direction toward Bermuda.  Safe to assume that barf bags are out and room service delivery likely kept very busy today ... might not be a bad idea.  Just hold onto railings, maybe another 5 to 7 or 8 hours before reaching "calmer" stretch of open waters as ship get closer toward the coastline.  Kudo to the bridge team for charting the course/heading to blast thru this weather ... sun is out again here NY.  

 

Saved these for you to use as you can surely tell the rest of the stories later on.  We have a planned stop at Dockyard later this month ourselves - starting to pack, already online checked in & eDocs ready.  

 

 

Thank you for your insight. It was spot on for the most part. I was in the bridge on our tour during that picture above when the wave hit the front of the ship. The captain was unphased. It was neat to see them in action. When the wind would blow hard it would rattle the windows and the captain would ask them to call out their wind speed. Wind topped 85mpg while we were in there. 

Oh and about the Bruins. There is a TV in the local but doubt they will have the game going. Possible but doubtful. There is 1 sports channel so it depends what they put on it.

We were all in shorts and t shirts. It was a little chilly when wind blew but it wasn't bad. We were swimming in the ocean but we are from Pennsylvania so the Temps didn't bother us. 

Mini-golf electronics were not working but you could play but it's a simple course without them.  We found just about everything was working in the galaxy. There might have been one or 2 not working but most were. FYI, kids have to be 55 inches to use a few of them. My younger was to short.

This is like a free excursion. 

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@Broons77  Cruisemapper has the Prima on a direct NW heading toward NY, +1 to 2 knots from 20 knots earlier & now pushing 23 knots (she was going as fast as 24-25 knots coming up to NY from FL) - leaving 3 hours earlier than planned definitely helping to bring the ship another 50 to 60 n.m. closer to NY.  Per Windy app, things will get choppy by 10 to 11 in the morning and worst in the mid/late afternoon, depending on the ship's heading, track and location vis-a-vis the wicked weather/storm system moving across into the Atlantic ... severe weather warnings posted, including gale force wind & threats of severe t-storms.  Tornados spotted in the South & Midwest, moving across - barf bags should be out in the morning.  

 

Satellite WiFi onboard later today will likely be worst as you expected, with everyone going nowhere & outdoor spaces likely securely locked down for safety reasons.  

 

It's good to know that most of the stores at Dockyard are open, as their survival depends on cruise ships docking and pax stopping inside to shop, spent & buy.  Weather turned out to be good, aside from being a little cooler.  Look forward to reading your report later.  

Thanks for the info. Got our sea bands ready and I guess will take dramamine as well. 

We have our behind the scenes tour in 90 min. I wonder if they will cancel. If not cancel I wonder if we will see the bridge. Not sure if they are in panick mode with this.

2 hours ago, Broons77 said:

Hello folks, sorry for the radio silence. Internet has been pretty sketchy today and I couldn't get on with my laptop so at the moment, I'm coming to you live from my phone.

 

The big news is that we bugged out of Bermuda 3 hours early today as the forecast for tomorrow is a bit ugly. As predicted, seas will be rough to the tune of 20 to 25 foot swells. Right now there's some movement, but it's expected to crank up by tomorrow morning and as of now they canceled the Donna Summer show. They did issue credits back to everyone's on board account so that should reduce some complaining. 

 

Given how tough it's been to get pictures up, I'm saving them for home along with a better detailed recap. I have some thoughts about this trip and I'm curious if others will agree with me. 

 

But still having a great time, I do like my solo experience and would encourage others to give it a shot. What you want, when you want is just the best! 

It is weird that when I connect to wifi with my laptop it does not work well but if I connect through my phone and then Hotspot to my laptop it works just fine.

3 hours ago, Broons77 said:

 

The weather hasn't been cooperative so the outdoor areas haven't been used all that much. As a result, the food hall has been crowded at peak times, so plan accordingly. One tip, it's a great option for dinner if you're not doing the MDR or specialty dining. 

 

 

Thank you! 

 

Bring a sweatshirt or two. It's warmer than Boston, but still cool. Was nice today in the sun but was pretty breezy. Have a great trip! 

We didn't enjoy endulge at all. I like the concept but I am a meat and potatoes kinda guy and the food there is a little to upscale for my likings. The nochi (sp?) Was really good though. 

On 3/26/2023 at 12:58 PM, Broons77 said:

Aaaaaaand she's off!!!!  On her way to NYC to whisk me and 3800 other weary souls off to a few days away from the grind,

 

One thing I hadn't considered before now.  As she's sailing empty this must be a welcome, albeit short, break for the crew.  At least giving them a day to catch their breath a bit with no crazy rush to get everything done right that second.

 

Have you ever watched below deck tv show? Just hope they don't treat their down time the same or the first day might be rough for us. Haha

We will have 1 full day/overnight in Bermuda. We haven't been able to settle on any excursions as it seems most of them are water related and it will be a little colder in April. So in lieu of doing an excursion we are thinking about getting an all day bus pass and just taking the bus to St George, see the sights up there and then on the way back hit a few random stops along the way. So a few questions.

1. from the dock yard is the easiest way to get to St George to take the ferry to Hamilton and then get a bus from there? 

2. I have been all over the internet but does anyone know of a site that would essentially put together a bus itinerary like this?

3. Has anyone done this and did you think it was worth it?

thank you

Coming from GA it might feel cold. In NYC late April the highs will be near 70 and lows near 50. For us that is shorts and tanktop weather 😉  Bermuda average will be in the high 70s and low in high 60s at night. 

Thanks all. We have a few caves in Western PA. Sounds like doing these ones would be a waste of time compared to those ones. 

We are struggling to find something to do for an overnight in Bermuda. We will be there the first week of April. We were going to do the snorkeling tour to a shipwreck but I am not sure if they are doing them and it appears the water will be cold. Does anyone know if that is the case?

Other question is about crystal cave. I have a bad knee. Not so bad where I can not walk but I have a hard time crawling. All of the pictures I have seen for Crystal seems to have nice pathways. For anyone that has done this tour, what is the walk like and was the tour worth it?

Has anyone gone Scuba diving in Bermuda at the end of March. We will be there 3/29-04/01. I have read online that some people say you need wetsuits this time of year but the water temp appears to be around 70 which is similar to what it is when we swim in Atlantic City. Others have said that you don't need so looking for someone that has actually done it instead of an article. 

Thanks for posting. I don't see the noise boys listed on their website. Was this show a limited showing? Or just removed? This will be our first in a long time. I have see a lot of reviews complaining about the paxked theater. How do you reserve times so we can make sure we get a seat?

1 hour ago, cacruisin said:

Love the Pittsburgh Lingo....lol....now excuse me while I go eat my dippy eggs...lol

Wait, doesn't everyone say dippy eggs?  I am having pierogis for dinner and pop to drink.