mz-s

It was an eye opening experience for me to say the least. One thing I left that cruise saying to myself is - Disney is not satisfied with “good enough”. You get what you pay for. I’m not here to sell anything! That’s why I didn’t mention the line I cruised at first. Cruise your style your way on the line(s) you enjoy! Life is good.

Disney - dress up optional too! They don’t even try to put on airs about cruise elegant or formal nights. The only place you have to dress up is their speciality restaurants. It was more $ than a Carnival cruise - yes. But not all the money in the world. But I never smelled pot, never saw a fight, there was never even a line at guest services because there was nothing to complain about! No bacon police, I didn’t have to sign out towels (they were just laying on loungers for anybody to use!). No chair hogs - considerate fellow guests! I could not go on 5 Disney cruises a year but I will definitely cruise them more than Carnival moving forward! Each to their own!

I just got off a cruise last week where there were peel and eat shrimp and crab legs on the lunch buffet every day. Fully self serve. And bacon every morning - in abundance. They served prime rib for lunch on embarkation day for crying out loud. There is life out from under the Whale tail…

Carnival doesn’t consider it part of the Caribbean. If you look at their booking engine, The Bahamas is listed as a separate destination from The Caribbean, Bermuda, etc.

I would consider that to be the gym showers really. And yes you can use them.

I would love to cruise from Norfolk, it's actually closer to me than Charleston and the Magic is an obvious upgrade from the Sunshine. But so far Norfolk cruises have been too expensive and I don't really look forward to parking my car in the projects while I am on the cruise. I love how in Charleston the cars are on port property so you know they are secure. I look forward to the improvements that Norfolk is making to support this expansion in operations.

What is an example of a disposable biodegradable tray? They do not have trays available. If you ask for assistance I am sure they can help you carry whatever you need to your table. Most of the time there are plenty of crew in the Lido buffet area.

You will be treated as a pariah on the ship if you do not use a smartphone these days.

bob wehadababyitsaboy

Good news for Norfolk!

Frankly on my cruises since COVID, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that during a real emergency the “new” muster would be proven inadequate. Other than knowing where your muster station is, there was no other training or information given. I don’t want to line up five deep on the boat deck ever again but I also want everyone to have a sense of being prepared if the unthinkable does happen.

Wine and sodas must be in your carry on luggage. Anything that might be questionable - I'm thinking electrical things like drop cords or fans - should be in carry on luggage as well. Pretty much everything else - including even your medications if you insist - can be in your checked bags.

What about bacon? Still every other day?

I read the government just extended the COVID state of emergency until 2023...so under what premise does the Coast Guard say it is safe to go back to the old muster without COVID protocols while under a state of emergency?

The only thing in my checked luggage is clothing. Absolutely nothing else. Not even a phone charger. Just clothes.

If they don't mean wine cocktails or what have you, then they should be more specific in their policy.

Follow the crew to wherever they go in port...they typically know where the free wifi is.

So what I am hearing is MD 20/20 should be good to go, right? 😉

Similar thing happened to me earlier this year on Sunshine. We had just left Charleston maybe an hour prior. I was in the shower and noticed all the water in the shower was collecting on one side, and I knew I wasn't that drunk yet. The cruise director or captain one or the other came over the PA and turns out the ship had to quickly turn around so the Coast Guard could medivac a guest. We were able to make up the time lost and didn't miss any port time that cruise - but that is secondary of course to the passenger that had to be medivac rescued. I never heard what happened or how it ended up, none of my business anyway - but I pray to this day it did end up okay.

I read Carnival's beverage policy when this thread started - it just says each adult guest can bring on one 750mL bottle of wine. It doesn't say it can't be flavored or fortified. It didn't say it can't be champagne. It just says wine. If somebody gives you grief for trying to bring on some of the options in this thread I'd definitely ask for a super.

Carnival is pivoting to attract more blue and red cards than ever before. Those guests are totally fine going to places like Nassau, Grand Turk, and Cozumel. Maybe they’ll add back more itineraries in the future. As it is you pretty much have to go on the Journeys cruises if you want interesting ports of call.

I don’t find the shuttle ride to be that bad…each to their own.

I hope they have plans for attached parking somehow. That seems to be the biggest bottleneck for the port from folks I’ve heard that have sailed from there.

Farther than it looks due to the port buildings/fences in the way. I’m not good at judging distances. Probably an 8 minute walk depending on where in the lot you parked.

Most of the “amazing” dishes are no longer on the menu sadly. But a few of them still are. Hours have been cut too. It’s not as special as it used to be.