AcunaMatata

Hi!

We are on Mariner of the Seas with stops in Nassau and Perfect Day at Coco Cay on March 13th.  We book the Coco Beach Club Beachside Cabana before the map had been published.  Now that I am reviewing the map, it appears that the beachside cabanas are directly behind the floating cabanas and even behind rows of umbrella chairs.  I want an ocean view, not a view of the backs of the floating cabanas.  It also appears that the amount of ocean to swim in is quite limited as some of the floating cabanas are close into the shore. 

I am trying to get confirmation of the view. Can anyone help?  I'm not sure that lobster on the menu is enough to keep me in the Coco Beach Club, especially with the South Beach cabanas offering the same services, minus the lobster.  Thank you!

Carrie

We have been on both the Liberty and Victory. Same exact room, same exactly location on each ship.(8270) The room on the Victory was a little smaller. Not notice ablefor singles/couples but as a family of 4, every extra inch helps. We were just below the Lido Deck on both ships and noise was not an issue.

As someone else mentioned, there is no Steakhouse on the Victory. We really enjoyed the Steakhouse on the Liberty and highly recommend trying it. (There is usually a free bottle of wineincluded if you eat there on the first night.) The steakhouse food was amazing. The chef made our daughter a special dessert, that wasn’t on the regular menu. It was a Nutella pizza! (Shaved white chocolate to look like shredded mozzarella andraspberries for pepperoni.) She still calls the chef 'a wizard' to this day!

Donkey, the cruise director, is very fun. As a matter of fact, I don't remember the director’s name from the Victory. Donkey is on vacation until September. He has quite the following on Facebook. My daughter is also infatuated with him. He was good to all guests of all ages.

We were the 2nd cruise after the Victory was refurbished. I'm glad that we went after the dry dock because I don’tthink we would have had as much fun without Cherry on Top and the new food joints. The shows were comparable. We liked the overnight itinerary we had on the Victory. The rush to get back to the Liberty from Nassau was the most stressful part of the trip. (I'm sure it doesn't matter what ship/cruise line you are on for that.)

We are back on the Liberty in March of 2019. Only 212 days to go! Havefun on your cruise!

Donkey, the cruise director, is incredibly fun! The steakhouse food was amazing. The chef made our daughter a special dessert,that wasn’t on the regular menu. It wasa Nutella pizza! Shaved white chocolate to look like shredded mozzarellaand raspberries for pepperoni. She still calls the chef 'a wizard' tothis day!

Ship - Carnival Liberty

Deck - Verandah (8)

Stateroom # - 8270

Stateroom Category - 8D

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) - While it is closer to the elevators we still found the room to be quiet.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No.

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. - There were no obstructions. The view was excellent.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal.

Was wind a problem? - No.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A.

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No.

Any other comments? - This room has a sofa bed and an upper pullman.

That's awesome! I had no idea that Carnival had an onboard messaging option. That solves my overbearing mom syndrome. LOL. :') Thanks again!

You received great advice against the use of walkie talkies. It seems that you are a Carnival cruiser. If you are cruising Carnival, have everyone download the HUB app and pay the $5 per device (for the entire cruise) for the messaging function. You can message each other using the app on board and connected to the ship's wifi (you do not need to purchase a wifi package for this feature).

Thanks everyone! We saw someone with them on the last cruise we took but didn't see them actually try to use it. After hearing all of your advice I'm confident that they were unsuccessful using them so we won't be bringing ours with. Thanks again for the advice! Happy cruising!

Thank you!:D

This is a popular topic and expect to get numerous responses.

 

From a technical perspective, consumer walkie talkies are low power and have very poor propagation inside the ship. Basically the radio waves do not pass through the many steel bulkheads.

 

On outer decks you may receive signals when within line of sight. Probably best to leave them at home.

Hi all!

I think this is a pretty simple question. Is it a no no to use walkie talkies on board? We have 2 older kids who like to wander on their own. Problem is that once we split up we dont have an easy way to communicate with them. Any advice on what other cruisers do to communicate with their kids is appreciated. Thank you! :D

I agree with BNBR. It is very expensive for what you get. Our cruise stayed in port overnight and that was the only reason we did Aquaventure. We had all day to be there but we only stayed at the waterpark for a couple of hours before we gave up and left because it was overly crowded and there was nowhere to sit. I agree that the lazy river IS the best part of the park. We hung out there the most. The Atlantis beach was not the greatest and I wish I had known about the Cove beach because I would have taken advantage of it for sure. I recommend trying Aquaventure once but only if you have a full day in port so you have time to experience everything and get the most of the large amount of money you will spend. 5 hours is not enough time to see and do everything.

Thank you for this question.... in January we did Blue Lagoon and absolutely loved it, was a bit windy that day, but we booked swim with sea lions and it was fabulous.

Cruising to nassau next Feb and torn between activities whether to do Atlantis aquaventure so you can use pools/beach/lazy river - its a 5 hour excursion sounds like a good deal, i don't know. Also tampering with the speedboat tour which has lunch and stingray/shark feed ...

FYI, unless you are staying at the Cove or Reef, you cannot use the loungers on the Cove Beach. You can access the beach by walking along the water, but there are no chairs available to non-Cove-guests. There

is a different wristband for those who are guests of the Cove or Reef.

Occasionally, when the main beach is unusable, they open Cove Beach to all guests and beach pass users.

There are no Cove day passes.

Thank you!

Thank you! That was what I was looking for. It's Blue Lagoon for us! I think that seeing Atlantis once is a good idea. I would NOT do the waterpark again and wouldn't recommend it to cruisers. There just isn't enough time and it was way too crowded.

There were people who set flip flops on chairs to hold them and though they say it's not allowed, the staff didn't do anything to move them. After hunting for a chair for 45 minutes we finally find one. We put our stuff down and go grab some lunch. Were ere gone for no more than 5 minutes and when we came back someone had removed our things and they were nowhere to be found.

We had to go back to get new towels and start the hunt all over. We decided to split up because we were wasting our time just searching for a place to sit. My husband wandered around looking for a chair while I took the kids to the slides. After doing the lazy river and one other slide we went on hunt to find my husband. He never did find a chair so we decided that was enough and when to the beach. That's when we discovered the beach had completed changed from the year before. My kids really weren't able to swim because of the drop off and there really wasn't a place to sit. It was like a cliff to get to the water and once you were off the cliff the water came it so high that your things would wash away...

Like I said before, you will enjoy wandering around Atlantis and it is worth doing once. Unless we actually stay at Atlantis, we wont be doing that excursion again. Thanks for all the info everyone!

Thank you for the info. It did help! :)

Thanks layteacher for this thread. I have a similar question and I'm hoping BNBR can help answer it.

We've been to Atlantis twice. The first time we did the beach day excursion and the second time we did the waterpark excursion. When we went to the beach the first time, in March 2017, we had a great time. We were directed to Atlantis beach and at that time we were told not to go any further on the path because it brought you to Aquaventure. When we went to the waterpark, in March 2018, we didn't have as much fun because of over crowding. There wasn't anywhere to sit so we left and went to the beach. Because of the summer 2017 hurricanes the beach was completely different than when we were there the year before. The beach was eroded and the surf was very strong so it wasn't safe to swim in.

We are going again in March of 2019 and I am researching Blue Lagoon also. I am an adventurer but my husband is a little more nervous about being away from the main island. He also doesn't want to do an excursion that is not provided by the cruise line. BNBR recommended The Cove Beach. I never knew that there were additional beaches because we were told not to go any further on the path. I am just curious if we get the Atlantis Beach Day excursion again, can we really access The Cove Beach?

No worries if you can't help, I just thought I would ask. Thank you!

Hi,

Can anyone give me the general hours/advice for Atlantis' attractions for the month of March? We are sailing on the Carnival Victory in March 2018. The ship docks at 10 am and stays overnight.

The last time we went (newbies) we didn't book an excursion in advance so almost everything was sold out. We spent the day at the at Atlantis' beach but we felt so rushed because our ship arrived at 9 am and departed at 5. The shuttle service was awful. The shuttle staff were very rude and even though we left at 3:30 we didn't get back to the ship until 4:45. The end of day chaos took a lot of the fun out of the day.

I want to know if it would be worth it to do Aquaventure. Based on other posts, it appears that Aquaventure gets busy after 10 am but if they close at 5 pm I'm wondering if we would feel as rushed as we did the first time. Is there anything else to do after 5 pm? Do the beaches close at 5 also or could we go from Aquaventure and then spend the evening at the beach? It sounds like the aquarium is open late but tours end at 6. Can you visit the aquarium without taking a guided tour? (Self-guided.)

Thanks for all your advice/help! :)

- Carnival Victory 3-2018

Sailed on Carnival Liberty last month and paid for the Faster to the Fun excursion and it was worth every penny. Now we want to try NCL. Just wondering if NCL has a program similar to Carnival's Faster to the Fun. Can I pay to upgrade my status to get perks that cruisers with VIP status get? Thanks everyone!

Thank you for the tips and suggestions! They helped me to convince him! Only 70 days to go! :)

My family is taking a 3-night Carnival cruise to Nassau in March. (Our first! :) ) I have been researching shore excursions and see some that I'd like to try and that I think my family would like. (Mostly private island snorkeling.) I'm having a hard time convincing my husband that a shore excursion is something we should take advantage of while we are in Nassau. Because this is our first cruise, he is taking a 'wait-and-sea' (Get it? Hahahahaha! Nerd... I know.) approach and doesn't want to be tied to a specific itinerary.

Our main objective is to spend time in the water. My question(s):

• Are there beaches in Nassau that don't require a shore excursion to enjoy? If yes, would you recommend the public beach or still suggest an excursion to a private beach? I'd love to hear the experiences of others at the beach. (ex.: crowded, etc.)
   
  
• Do you recommend purchasing a shore excursion from the cruise line or on the shore from the vendor?
   
  
• If we were to purchase from the cruise line, is it easy to cancel the excursion and book something else if we change our minds?
  

I appreciate all your advice! Thank you.

AcunaMatata

You are so right and this is great advice for Liberty guests who are now on the Valor.

I had the grand scenic ocean view 6k on Valor and was moved to an ocean view 8d, in the middle of the ship, on Liberty. I spent a long time searching for the right room for me and my family and am a little disappointed with the new room. As the transition is still happening I will have to see the final room we are given. Then I'll call to see if I can change to something else if I'm still unhappy. :)

First time cruiser

One thing you might consider... unless the 6j and 6k scenic ocean view cabins are being added to the Liberty this drydock, the Liberty does not have them... which means if you were booked on the Liberty and have been moved to the Valor there is a chance if you call that you might be able to snag one of those cabins... Alternatly, if you were on the Valor booked in that cabin catagory you will be moved....

First time cruiser here! :D I plan to prepay for gratuities for my cruise next spring but if a staff member goes above and beyond and I wish to tip extra can I give cash at anytime or should I wait until the end of the trip? Can I give cash directly or should I go to guest services? Thank you.