LPut714

We are from Dearborn-get on the Celebration on Feb 11th-can't wait

6 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Has the Information Center and large map at the entrance been removed?

 

Have the "You are here" large maps that are permanently mounted along the walk ways throughout the island been removed?

The did still have the big map-but being that we had never been there before it would have been nice to have something hand help to find certain areas as we walked. There really wasn't signage off the main path telling you what was there. I am sure like many similar areas it is a work in progress.

14 hours ago, audcc77 said:

Where do you go to get these umbrellas?
 

i’m assuming you get some kind of ticket and it indicates where on that?

 

When you exit the tender drop off area-walk along the edge of the beach. Some large rocks so water shoes advised. About half way down you will see all the umbrellas-I believe they were red.  Like I said being given a map prior to arrival would have helped. Didn't see anyone handing anything out in the port area. T

On 11/25/2023 at 8:01 AM, audcc77 said:

Since the cabanas are ridiculously priced now, I went ahead and rented an umbrella for $35.  The umbrella supposedly is good for two people.  
 

I am wondering if it does in fact work for two people.

 

Has anybody had experience with this?   Unless this umbrella is pretty large, I don’t see it.
 

thanks.

We were there earlier this year and umbrellas seemed quite large. You did have to anchor them your selves. Didn't like that there wasn't much shade or signage in this port. No maps of where to go when go off the ship so just wandered. Food not the best.

Pool floaties if going to a beach or other wise-can roll up in luggage rinse dry and repack when done

On amazon 6 pack quite inexpesive.

On 12/1/2023 at 1:11 AM, Lyn1Lyn said:

• So we are cruising for the 1st time since 2019. First time with our whole family since 2016. I used to have a "cruise bin" that had everything we needed. As we went yearly.  Since it's been so long, the cruise bin has slowly been dismantled and I have no idea what to grab. I feel like my head is spinning. I honestly feel like it is my first time cruising and I know nothing. I am stressing out a little (alot!). Because I work so many hours a day 4 days a week, I don't tend to even be able to settle down to think about the trip until Fridays when I am off, or late at night (when everything is already closed). So here I am sitting at my table at 1am, trying to wrap my head around all the packing I need to do... (IN SECRET, because the trip is a surprise early Christmas present to the littles). I have this weekend to really get things together, since I will be working Mon-Fri next week to prepare to be off and we leave that Sunday.. AAAAAHHHHH!!!
•  
• Please help me... Can you suggest things I might forget?
•  
• For Reference: Carnival Venezia, 8 days Bahamas, out of Manhattan
• Family of 9 Including, 2 adult parents, our adult son and wife 25yrs old and our 5 other children ages 7yrs to 20 yrs. (as well as my parents travelling with) 

Any help greatly appreciated. 

don't forget immodium, dramamine, benadryl, tylenol first aide bag with band aides clippers, floss, etc

here is my packing list

Cruise packing list 082822.odt

My folks being from Scotland-Chris Williams holds a special place in my heart. Have been on several cruises with him and love his energy and stage presence. Being that he is now going to be a Fleet DC going to miss you on our upcoming Celebration cruise in Feb but wish you all the best. 

On 11/25/2023 at 8:01 AM, audcc77 said:

Since the cabanas are ridiculously priced now, I went ahead and rented an umbrella for $35.  The umbrella supposedly is good for two people.  
 

I am wondering if it does in fact work for two people.

 

Has anybody had experience with this?   Unless this umbrella is pretty large, I don’t see it.
 

thanks.

We were there earlier this year and umbrellas seemed quite large. You did have to anchor them your selves. Didn't like that there wasn't much shade or signage in this port. No maps of where to go when go off the ship so just wandered. Food not the best.

On 11/14/2023 at 11:05 AM, CJHAN said:

What's you guys thought on this. As Tradition my family meets up on Christmas open gifts and have breakfast in our PJs. Would this be weird on ship? Particularly in the dining room on seaday breakfast.

Not allowed in dining room

Maybe do something in cabins prior

On 8/12/2023 at 7:59 AM, Clarasgrandma said:

I am considering this type of room as well and curious about everyone’s opinions. I’m wondering if the beds are in the same position as the rectangular rooms. We had a room once where the beds were set up differently and we rolled head to toe with the waves which was not pleasant.

We did a square interior once several years ago. It seemed like more floor space. Only negative was that it back up onto elevator-so heard that noise constantly as I am a very light sleeper. Definitely check out deck plans

We were just on the Miracle a month ago out of San Fran-great trip-weather was cooler than I expected out of San Fran but fine. Stayed in Union Square area and walked to the port. Prob on of the most friendly cruise staff totally we have had in 42 cruises. If you have MTD and can get Anita she will be awesome. Don't know if Bella will be back on Miracle as I know she was going to be off for a bit. Uriel at the Center bar is great. Food and service seemed better than on past cruises. Loved it. 

3 hours ago, mizLORInj said:

So this is a hot topic on various forums, and I'm pretty sure John Heald said just recently that Plat/Diamond can show up whenever they want and did not have to adhere to a timeslot.  It appears that has now changed.  

 

I received an email from Carnival last night titled VIFP Platinum and Diamond Guests Update and Online Check-in Invitation that says you must show up during your timeslot as "we will not be able to accommodate guests who show up outside their Arrival Appointment."   

 

My (same VIFP level) travel partner did NOT get this email and we're on the same cruise. 🤨

 

For informational purposes only.  🙂  

 

Happy cruising! 

 

 

We are Platinum and just did the Miracle to Alaska out of San Fran-just stood in our assigned boarding time line. Not a prob. Once on board too early to access cabins as only suites can do that so just hung out.

On 4/27/2023 at 10:54 PM, icft said:

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our first cruise post-covid we were in the same boat but Diamond. No notification from Carnival that anything had changed with regard to the items in the room. Like you it wasn't a big enough deal to go stand in that long customer service line.

 

Then I came across CC and when I mentioned it I got the same response you are getting. I apparently didn't get the memo that the only place to get information on a Carnival cruise was CC and I was an idiot for not knowing that and spending hours on CC to find out what Carnival had changed.

 

In my opinion one of Carnival's main customer strategies is a form of gaslighting. They change things, don't mention it, then try to make you think it has always been that way. If they know that won't work then they say it is temporary, like bacon only every other day, due to covid shortages and supply chain issues. If you were to pin them down now they would probably just say it has been that way for years.

It has been posted on this site by many members regarding changes in Platinum/Di gift redemption following covid

Grab waters from the bar

Pin and gift from Pixels

Free play from casino

Call room service for strawberries

Makes sense to me as I am sure like us many didn't eat the strawberries

On 4/27/2023 at 10:54 PM, icft said:

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our first cruise post-covid we were in the same boat but Diamond. No notification from Carnival that anything had changed with regard to the items in the room. Like you it wasn't a big enough deal to go stand in that long customer service line.

 

Then I came across CC and when I mentioned it I got the same response you are getting. I apparently didn't get the memo that the only place to get information on a Carnival cruise was CC and I was an idiot for not knowing that and spending hours on CC to find out what Carnival had changed.

 

In my opinion one of Carnival's main customer strategies is a form of gaslighting. They change things, don't mention it, then try to make you think it has always been that way. If they know that won't work then they say it is temporary, like bacon only every other day, due to covid shortages and supply chain issues. If you were to pin them down now they would probably just say it has been that way for years.

It has been posted on this site by many members regarding changes in Platinum/Di gift redemption following covid

Grab waters from the bar

Pin and gift from Pixels

Free play from casino

Call room service for strawberries

Makes sense to me as I am sure like us many didn't eat the strawberries

On 4/27/2023 at 10:54 PM, icft said:

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our first cruise post-covid we were in the same boat but Diamond. No notification from Carnival that anything had changed with regard to the items in the room. Like you it wasn't a big enough deal to go stand in that long customer service line.

 

Then I came across CC and when I mentioned it I got the same response you are getting. I apparently didn't get the memo that the only place to get information on a Carnival cruise was CC and I was an idiot for not knowing that and spending hours on CC to find out what Carnival had changed.

 

In my opinion one of Carnival's main customer strategies is a form of gaslighting. They change things, don't mention it, then try to make you think it has always been that way. If they know that won't work then they say it is temporary, like bacon only every other day, due to covid shortages and supply chain issues. If you were to pin them down now they would probably just say it has been that way for years.

It has been posted on this site by many members regarding changes in Platinum/Di gift redemption following covid

Grab waters from the bar

Pin and gift from Pixels

Free play from casino

Call room service for strawberries

Makes sense to me as I am sure like us many didn't eat the strawberries

On 4/27/2023 at 10:54 PM, icft said:

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our first cruise post-covid we were in the same boat but Diamond. No notification from Carnival that anything had changed with regard to the items in the room. Like you it wasn't a big enough deal to go stand in that long customer service line.

 

Then I came across CC and when I mentioned it I got the same response you are getting. I apparently didn't get the memo that the only place to get information on a Carnival cruise was CC and I was an idiot for not knowing that and spending hours on CC to find out what Carnival had changed.

 

In my opinion one of Carnival's main customer strategies is a form of gaslighting. They change things, don't mention it, then try to make you think it has always been that way. If they know that won't work then they say it is temporary, like bacon only every other day, due to covid shortages and supply chain issues. If you were to pin them down now they would probably just say it has been that way for years.

It has been posted on this site by many members regarding changes in Platinum/Di gift redemption following covid

Grab waters from the bar

Pin and gift from Pixels

Free play from casino

Call room service for strawberries

Makes sense to me as I am sure like us many didn't eat the strawberries

On 4/27/2023 at 10:54 PM, icft said:

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our first cruise post-covid we were in the same boat but Diamond. No notification from Carnival that anything had changed with regard to the items in the room. Like you it wasn't a big enough deal to go stand in that long customer service line.

 

Then I came across CC and when I mentioned it I got the same response you are getting. I apparently didn't get the memo that the only place to get information on a Carnival cruise was CC and I was an idiot for not knowing that and spending hours on CC to find out what Carnival had changed.

 

In my opinion one of Carnival's main customer strategies is a form of gaslighting. They change things, don't mention it, then try to make you think it has always been that way. If they know that won't work then they say it is temporary, like bacon only every other day, due to covid shortages and supply chain issues. If you were to pin them down now they would probably just say it has been that way for years.

It has been posted on this site by many members regarding changes in Platinum/Di gift redemption following covid

Grab waters from the bar

Pin and gift from Pixels

Free play from casino

Call room service for strawberries

Makes sense to me as I am sure like us many didn't eat the strawberries

On 4/27/2023 at 9:12 PM, HOUSTONVIP said:

it's not a big deal, I just figured that after not cruising since pre Covid, I would have got the same treatment I was used to as a Platinum cruiser. Showed up at dinner and had to be told, we needed to check in via the AAP

That is for everybody

On 7/31/2023 at 12:41 PM, Riemercruisin said:

Hi y'all. Looking for advice from experienced B2B'ers.

Next month we're doing a B2B. We know that it's not allowed to board with liquor.

On the 2nd leg of the B2B we will stop at an island where we have friends. We want to bring them 2 bottles of RumChata (not available there).

My question is - if we hand the bottles over at embarkation, will they be discarded or will be receive them at the end of the 1st leg?

Who do we give them to, port security? Carnival employee?

If you purchase something in the shop on board the first week should get it last night of first week cruise in your cabin. Don't know if Rum Chata is an option on your cruise. We were just on the Miracle in Alaska and had it. So if they have it should be able to keep/take off in port. It is coming back onto the ship they take it from you. If you have it just roll the bottle in plastic bag in case break and then beach towels

Enjoy

On 7/26/2023 at 6:15 PM, Bound4Bermuda said:

I was on the July 17-25 sailing of Carnival Venezia--my first Carnival cruise--with stops in Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay. I've sailed Royal Caribbean a few times, most recently last year on Oasis but also on smaller ships such as Brilliance. (And Princess once a long time ago but won't factor that in.) Since reviews on Venezia are only just getting started and I, like many others, was desperately looking for info on how the two lines compare, thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I might be a little nitpicky here, but I'm not writing any letters to corporate or anything--just between us.

 

The NY/NJ Cruising Market

Now, you might be thinking it's not really fair to compare Oasis (a much larger class of ship) and Venezia. But for locals such as myself, these two ships are direct competition at this time: Carnival Venezia out of NY or Royal Oasis of the Seas out of NJ. To be fair, the $2,000 price difference mentioned in my TL;DR at the bottom was not only for the larger class of ship but also one extra day (total for 3 people in one balcony room). Your pricing may vary, of course. To be even fairer, I will compare Venezia to my experience on the smaller ships, when more applicable.

The Ship Decor/Building Materials

You've probably seen the pictures. Venezia looks very nice. However, if you look too closely, you'll notice how fake everything looks. It's like it has "builder's grade" materials throughout. All of the marble, wood, brass, and glass is just plastic. For a ship that's only a month out of drydock, it's very apparent that Carnival had a budget for specific items, and everything else was exactly as it was from when it sat vacant since 2019 or 2020--cracks, rust spots, and broken things be damned. All throughout the ship, you'll notice pieces of the gold floorboard molding missing, laying on the ground, or not making it to the corner. The little plastic covers that are on the room key scanner were off or kept falling off many room doors as you walk through the halls. The most annoying was that my shower door would not close at all. If we were docked, you could get the top to rest on itself and only the bottom half was open like a half inch, but moving, forget about it--swinging all over the place and soaking the entire bathroom. I was also irrationally bothered by the seats in the theater. The outside ring of seats faced across the auditorium rather than toward the stage. I suppose they fit more in that way. But again, super nitpicky, but if you start looking at the rows they weren't carefully laid out and seemed haphazardly installed. So, just looking at the ship it was hard to consider this a "new" build, and if it looks rough one month in, I can't imagine how it will look after a few years' of use. Again, not something I would normally even pick up on, but once you start noticing one thing that's off or broken, more was jumping out.

 

The Lido Deck

If you like to lounge on the lido deck by the pool, the Venezia is not for you. Hell, if you like to go into the pool, the Venezia is not for you. We avoided the lido at all costs. It was just a mob of people with nowhere to move. (The day we were waiting for our tender to Half Moon Cay, we managed to jump in the pool for a few minutes just to say we did it since most people were already off the ship.) There was only a handful of loungers, surrounded by enclosed seating areas to the side and the deck above that had tables/chairs and patio furniture upstairs. It was a very strange layout, and I don't think the patio furniture was used. They definitely could have made better use of the space. However, I'm going to let you in on the biggest secret of Venezia that somehow only a few other people other than myself seemed to have found. Get yourself a private "cabana" nook with loungers on deck 5--the best spot was port, forward. Royal for sure would have charged to rent those spaces--but here it was just open, and not a soul around!

 

The Lido Buffet

We only ate lunch here once and a couple of breakfasts. The layout is terrible. You have to wait in long lines without even knowing what's there. Royal's buffet setup is SO MUCH LESS HECTIC--the stations are in circles so you can wander around to see what they have and jump in and out to just grab the one thing you want without having to wait on an entire line. Not to mention, the food in the buffet of Carnival was atrocious. I don't think I ever had anything bad on Royal. The best lunch option for me on Venezia was just going to the La Strada Grill for the salads and sandwiches. My teenager liked Guy's, but I wasn't a fan of the greasy sheet-pan baked burgers.

 

The Dining Room

As with the buffet, the food in the dining room left a lot to be desired. Overall, the poor quality of food is the #1 reason why my husband and kid don't want to go back to Carnival. While on Royal it came down to having to select which of many yummy options you wanted, here it was like what's the least worst option. I've never had so much beef braised in wine in my life in one week, which might have been okay if this was a snowy Alaskan cruise, but who wants pot roast on a 95-degree day in the Caribbean. All of the descriptions of the food were just strange; if you thought you knew what you were getting, you were wrong. Like, a description of what sounded like eggplant rollatini to me ended up being an inedible tough undercooked grilled eggplant specked with feta and smoked provolone. But, then conversely I rolled the dice on a mahi mahi with sweet tomato relish and a hash of okra, pumpkin, and jalapenos--and that actually ended up being the best thing I had all week. I don't think my husband had one thing he liked.

 

The Entertainment

Okay, here it is definitely not fair to compare Oasis's entertainment--such as the diving and trapeze extravaganza that is Aqua 80, but they also have Cats on the negative side. But the entertainment is very similar to what you'd find on the smaller Royal ships. We saw a production show and went to the piano bar pretty much every night--and had a blast with both. Everyone was very talented and engaging. (Special shout out to Misso in the piano bar!) I'm going to give some bonus points here to Carnival also specifically for MarQ the cruise director, who was very funny and outgoing. And, I can now see what people mean about the "fun ship" as all of these cruiselines have the same games, activities, and shows--even down to both having Quest and Love & Marriage. But I do see what people mean about the fun squad REALLY trying to get people to have a good time. I also liked that they had the comedy shows day and night to give us something to do on sea days (since you couldn't get to the pool, lol.) They also had a few different parties that seemed to be more fun/organized than on Royal with MarQ leading crowd dance moves, etc. So for as much as my family wouldn't cruise Carnival for the food, I would consider Carnival again just for the entertainment.

Private Islands

But for all of us in my family, it's Royal's Coco Cay a million times over Carnival's Half Moon Cay! I was super disappointed because I read reviews that Carnival's island is always rated #1, but whoever does the rankings must go when there's no one there or something. Indeed, HMC had white powder sand and tranquil turquoise waters, compared to Royal's somewhat rocky ground, but that's where the advantage ends. First, the tender off rather than a dock was annoying. We are normally early risers, but we got tender group 41(!) so even though they started bringing people over at 10:15, we didn't get on the island until nearly 1:00. Of course, there were no chairs and people were all crowded on top of each other laying towels in the sand, but we managed to walk all the way down the crescent and found one at the very end--and I think it was because we got there so late that others already started returning to the boat. However, it was better being way far down because it was quieter and actually had room in the water. They were packed in closer up to where you get on the island. Royal's island also has a very large pool, and that's where the DJ and "party people" are at. So the beach is very tranquil; Carnival's beach was just blaring with the DJ there in the middle. No shade, unlike the palm trees all over Royal's beach. I don't even have to tell you how terrible the buffet was compared to Royal's; I still think about Coco Cay's cheesesteaks with shaved steak and perfectly chewy fresh-baked rolls. But, anyway, back HMC...knowing what I do now, having an "excursion" gets you on the tender earlier, so if I had to do it over again, I would totally pay for a clamshell to get 2 chairs and a early tender ticket. 

 

Security/Passengers

I'm feeling a little uneasy commenting on the clientele of each of these cruiselines, but I know this question comes up a lot. I didn't witness any altercations--then again, I was never on the lido or in the nightclub. As to be expected, there did seem to be a demographic and socioeconomic difference between the average passengers of Carnival out of NYC and Royal out of NJ--but no judgment on that, just like "census facts" here. Everyone I met was very nice and friendly. I did smell pot the first 2 days but saw the drug-sniffing dog all around the ship. In fact, we saw him pointed outside a room with security calling it in that had a "Happy 50th Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa" sign, so we got a good chuckle out of that. But that dog was a very good boy and a hard worker, because there was no discernable pot smell for the rest of the trip.

 

TL;DR (i.e., the "too long, didn't read" summary that's popular online): My husband and teenager say they will never go on Carnival again. But as the person who paid $2,000 less on Carnival over Royal, the quality difference was to be expected, and the lines have more in common than not. We'll either go back to Royal or maybe try some other line in the future.

I don't believe it was a  total refit when Carnival took over so prob some of the areas are aged. I know they did do some additions.

Heading out in a month-figuring prob won't get a pool side lounger but with 3 sea ports lots of water time. 

We are on the Venezia Elite sailing out of NYC on the 31 of August and just got our Elite email today. Only the All Inclusive to the Senator resort was offered or you could wait to book an excursion once on board-I think it was valued at $150/p but you dont know what will be open

Also got to pick drinks for in the room (we usually just bring it home as drinks all over the ship) 

We are flying in two days before the cruise so will use car service to pick us up from the airport and take us to the hotel. We will walk to the pier on cruise day. Then use the car service to go back to La Guardia after the cruise. 

We were just on an Elite in Alaska and the communication from the car service was excellent-alot better than years ago.

Have fun

On 8/1/2023 at 9:30 AM, mom1965 said:

Normally  i would say the Alchemy has the best old fashions however The Brass Magnolia was our favorite on this ship.  I usually have it with Buffalo Trace though.

Agree-Michelle is a great bartender

Adi and Robert at the Steakhouse bar made us great drinks as well

Enjoy

21 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

When does Carnival send a check for refund and when do they issue it back to CC?

We had a credit card on file which to me would seem easier. Don't know why but just glad I got it in a timely mannner

If you have on board credit ie credit obtained while booking cruise-you will not get that back. Since we had pre paid tips on our recent Miracle cruise we just used the OBC to get $$ in the casino. Due to cancelled port due to med evac and refund of port charges they did send us a check for that-took about two weeks.

On 7/22/2023 at 4:42 PM, William142 said:

I thought I saw somewhere that you can ask your stateroom attendant for a couple blue fleece blankets, seems like that would be perfect for the outdoors on the ship.

 

Can someone confirm they have these on the Miracle?

We just went to Alaska about a month ago and saw alot of the fleece blankets. One person we know got hers from the towel station. Just be sure to turn back in prior to debarkation

Elites are the best as far as perks-booze in the room, limo pick up/drop off, excursion, Ultras are more prize driven.

Enjoy