Craxe77

I'm writing all of these suggestions down. Figure I have 8 days x 8drinks (If I make it that far) Add my wife getting a few and me trying them = anywhere between 64 to 128 options. I keep seeing a Funship mentioned as first drink onboard. I definitely want to start there. It's going to be a fun Halloween!

I have the Cheers package and on my last cruise (Bermuda) my wife and I loved trying all kinds of new drinks . I'm normally a beer guy and not much for straight liquor but when cruising it feels more like vacation to stick to mixed drinks. We also have fun making sure we drink enough throughout the day to make the Cheers package worth it. Can't wait to sit at the Havana bar and try different ones out.

So far my favorite was a Rum based drink that i cant remember the name of but I think was similar to the Zombie Cocktail. Suggestions for what else I should try?

I see mine when on the Carnival website, under Booking and order details. I scroll to the bottom and its there. It does not show a price. just that it's been ordered. 

On 8/29/2022 at 6:00 PM, Essiesmom said:

Late night room service, photos.  Both are optional.  EM

Lol, I read that as "Late night room service photos" and thought, that's a thing?  Had to re-read it and started laughing. 

Great feedback. I should have stated that I understand shopping / excursions would be an expense. I was thinking of things I didn't realize would be an expense like in "port drink tax". Something that surprised you or you didn't realize was adding to your room charge. 

Hey all! I read through a few related posts and still had questions. This will be our first Carnival cruise. The only other cruise we've done was on Celebrity and everything like drinks and room service was included. Except of course casino and specialty restaurants.

I do not plan on any specialty dining, have prepaid my cheers package and have accounted separately for my blackjack time : ) . I even prepaid my gratuities. 

How much do you all find you are spending onboard and have you found surprise expenditures?

I read comments about long lines for food, hot areas inside and short tempered cruisers. What was your experience. Also, what type of room did you have?

So glad the pre-cruise testing went away and happy my cruise is in October. I was never worried about traveling near unvaxed folks. The only thing I worried about was testing positive while having no symptoms. 

Vaxed or unvaxed, your still getting it sooner or later. Just like the Flu.. 

Great info , Thanks !

Cruising in later October into November and was curious about the water temp in Aruba, Curacao and La Romana. I watched a video that mentioned cooler currents coming from the north but I don't think he grew up in Northern New England where the water is always cooler. Can anyone share their experience with the water temps around that time? My wife is looking forward to beaches and snorkeling. 

Thanks for the feedback

I wonder how this cruise will hold up against pre-covid Celebrity in regards to food? Guess we will see. 

Hi All, I'm sailing in a Havana aft extended balcony room on the Horizon in October and was wondering about room service. I love getting up in the morning and having breakfast on the balcony with my wife while looking at the water. I know that it needs to be called in the night before but does breakfast room service cost anything? Our only other cruise was on a Celebrity ship and we loved having room service delivered every morning, especially as it was free. 

We don't normally do anything but breakfast for room service. Looking at the website, I don't see room service included with the Havana rooms but am not sure of the cost if any. Thanks for any info/experience you can pass along. . 

This is one of the reasons I booked a room on the Horizon in the Havana area. Hopefully its a much less crowded and has less chair hogging. I'll find out in October.

My last cruise (with celebrity) I felt like a cork bobbing in the water. I couldn't move because so many people were in the pool on the main deck. The pool experience wasn't relaxing or fun. 

Thanks for posting. I sail over Halloween on the Horizon and my first with Carnival. I got a Havana room so I could be less crowded in the Havana only area. I always hear how friendly Carnival cruisers are compared to other cruise lines (On average). 

7 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

AC and working toilets are a must

Agree with this, and never thought about that a possible issue. For me it's the room with a balcony. I spend a lot of time looking at the ocean and the stars and love ordering and eating breakfast on the balcony every morning. 

It's been a long month at work and hot days here in Vermont. Fortunately, its in the 70's today and yesterday. I lost another pound and just hit my 20 lbs lost goal so I'm motivated for more. I also notice that I'm working for every pound lost now and the easy weight is gone. 

I have 47 lbs to go to get to what they say is my ideal weight is (184lbs). I'll evaluate my ideal weight number when I get closer. 

Good day to all. Another rainy day here but feel good since I'm down two more pounds this week. 

Looks like good losses or at least maintaining weight this week from the above comments. That's great! I am down 3 lbs. from last week and made my goal for the month already. I was a little stressed from work one day and ended up fasting a second day unintentionally while scrambling to get things done. I guess it all works out. 

I weighed in this morning and down 2lbs. I also noticed yesterday that my pants were just a bit loose in the waist while buttoning them. Looking forward to trying the "saved" clothes in the closet myself . 

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Yep. That's my breakfast too but loss hasn't been as steady as yours.

I always feel that 8-10 lbs of my first weight loss is water so I dont get to excited. I see most of the loss each week around my fast day. 

I just found this weight loss area and think its great. If you dont mind I'll join in on my progress.

I have been needing to get motivated to lose weight and get healthy again and my wife set up a cruise with friends in Oct 2022 ( I love cruising and we don't go much). This got me motivated so I pulled up my  myfitnesspal app and an excel spreadsheet and got to planning.  I started July 1st at 251lbs (the heaviest I've ever been)  and decided I wanted to be 190 lbs by late October 2022.  A 61lbs loss puts me back to my "target weight" so I set an easy goal that would get me there and not be frustrating since I have 15 or so months to the cruise. My goal is set for 3.5lbs a month. 

I also started lifting weights (Dumbell workouts at home) 3 days a week , Yoga and stretching for 2 days with the weekends off. Abs everyday but the weekend. 

My diet is now Coffee with cream and a breakfast bar , slimfast shake or equivalent brand for lunch , snacks as needed. I have whatever the family is having for dinner including pizza as long as I stay in my calorie allotment for the day.  I also fast after dinner Monday night to dinner on Tuesday dinner (1-2 lbs losses and not hard). This is somewhat strict so cheating is expected at times but I try not to go crazy. 

I was down to 240lbs (11 lbs so far) on Thursday last week and currently am at 239lbs today. I met and exceeded my July goal so I reset the 3.5lbs number to my new weight and kept at it. 

I know later weight will be more difficult to lose and I think that's the beauty of a simple spreadsheet. I view it a few times a week to stay motivated , add a new column for each month and bold type the month end weight. I can look back where I would have been if I was only losing my set weight and feel good that I'm still ahead of where I would have been. Later on when it gets tough to lose weight , i can look back and see my best months and be motivated that I am still moving forward. I shared my simple sheet.  

Thanks for reading this if you do, I havent talked about it much to my wife as I dont want to pressure her to lose or feel the need to modify her dinner choices for me. It's nice to be able to share it somewhere. 

Cruise weight loss.xlsx

I followed the advice here and booked the room. I also encouraged my friends to look into it to see if they were interested. They were and now we all are in the Havana area. It’ll be a much more enjoyable experience now. 

Hi all, 

Booked on our second cruise and the first to the southern Bahamas next year. I was planning on (secretly) saving a larger amount of spending money so that I could surprise my wife by letting her buy/shop without having to worry about the budget. I am the cruise lover and she is "so-so" about cruising,  so looking to make it even more enjoyable for her as well.

Have any of you readers (Cruise Critics) shopped while cruising and visiting areas like Aruba, the Dominican republic, Curacao, etc.. ? Was curious on the types of things that people shop for while cruising. My first cruise I really wanted a watch that I bought onboard, more as a memento than for needing the watch. Are there those must see items from those areas that we should see while shopping?

Hi all, My wife and are are up for our 2nd cruise ever and first with Carnival sailing on the Carnival Horizon in late 2022. We are sailing with friends  and I have reserved a 2nd deck balcony room 8 doors down from them. I noticed that a few Havana Aft-view rooms on deck 7 are open and have seen a review that the pool area was great and not crowded. Our friends don't want to move their room but from our last cruise experience we couldn't enjoy soaking by the pool due to crowds, especially in the pool. 

Questions :

Is the Havana area of the ship worth it?

Is it hard to travel  from deck 7 aft  to deck 2 Midships?

Lastly, how do you communicate on ship to another party about where you are and what you may be doing? (leave messages)

Thanks for any advice you may give