dsnygrl

Who is Fluffy?

Fluffy is a member of the fun squad and usually a comedy club manager.

I sent Fluffy your message and she told me to tell you Thank you :)

Fluffy just left the Vista a few days ago and is on vacation. When she goes back in a few weeks, she will be on the Fascination. Fluffy is the best :)

Whoops that should say murder, ugg.It does not show that Clue has been added to the Sunshine yet on the Carnival website but I saw a post today that said someone played it on the Sunshine in February. Antone been on the Sunshine recently know if it has been added. We are doing a 5 night if that makes a difference.

We were on the getaway last week and only used the free version of the app and found it to be wonky. Also heard complaints from people around the ship that they had issues with the paid texting version as well. We also had issues with booking things from our tv and touch screens and was told they were having some issues because they upgraded the technology when we were docked in Miami so that may have been a reason there were app issues as well.

That's so cool that you took the time to add to this! I'm so sorry your son had a poor experience. It sounds like our boys would have probably gotten along nicely. There was like a big group of older kids there that sounded like they were pretty exclusive. My son found a smaller group of 5 or 6 other kids, he said a couple kids from Australia sort of joined up with them on the 3rd or 4th day. I can't believe the puck throwing! I hope those kids were removed for at least the rest of the day.

 

We totally saw you win the heroes and villains! We were playing along from upstairs at O'Sheehan's. We just scored our own card, I think we missed two. (The wife talked me out of Kitty Pryde & went with Rogue...I KNEW I had that one!) :)

He still managed to have a good time when he was there. He was just happy to be playing video games :)

It's too bad the kids did not get together. If my son had know you were a comic, you might not have gotten rid of him. He is a huge comedy fan and the clubs on the ships are his favorite thing to do.

He was also super excited to win the trivia. We got the older pictures for him but it was all him for the newer characters. The 2 Superman ones stumped all of us. The pens are actually pretty cool, for pens that is.

We were on the Getaway last week and had the dining plan.

They had prime rib in the garden cafe the first night and I believe 2 nights in the sports bar. I had it on the last night in Savor and it was very good.

We found the food and the service to be very hit or miss. I personally think Carnival does a better job in this department. Getting drinks other than water like iced tea is like pulling teeth. They are also very slow to refill the drinks when you get them. This was true in both the regular dining rooms and the specialty ones.

Stay away from the country fried chicken in the main dining room. This was the worst meal I have ever had on a cruise. It was a very strange flat pounded piece of chicken and 1 leg and tasted like the worst frozen food you could ever get.

We ate at Cagney's twice and loved it. Filet, 16 oz rib eye and whole lobster were all good. We did have trouble in the specialty restaurants getting our sides which every time cam e out way after we had our main course.

We heard wonderful things about Moderno and were excited to try it but food and service were terrible and if you like your meat cooked anything over rare-medium, you would think you were asking for the moon.

We did the Illusionarium. Food and service were fair. Food is a set menu, unless you have allergies and it is a bit distracting to the show when the wait staff is running all around during it. Food also comes out too fast and we were not even finished with our main course when desert was brought out.

Garden cafe had lots of choices and was consistent. They need more beverage stations though as the water bottle fillers tend to hog the space and the glassed you get are juice glass size.

We were on the trip with you and agree, it was a great week. This was our first time cruising with Norwegian.

A couple of things to add, we had the dining package not the drink package. Cagney's was the best meal we had on the ship and ended up going twice. I had the 16 oz bone in rib eye the first time and the whole lobster the second time and both were very good although the lobster was a little small. Eat outside on the waterfront if you can, it is a wonderful experience.

We did the comedy club with both comics and found Frank to be better than Tom, you missed out there. Tom was good but Frank was really good. Host was fair. Interesting thing about the comedy clubs on the ship vs Carnival which we have done numerous times is that the comics are have 6 shows each in the club and are only required to do 1 new set the whole time so even the adult show can be the same as the early show. This is kind of a bummer for those of us who like to do multiple shows. The opening comic did pretty much the same 15 minute set each time we went. One would think that if you were on Last Comic standing, you would have more than 15 minutes of material. Tom changed a line or 2 between the regular and the adult show, mainly to add curse words and Frank since he got to know us and other passengers, changed up his show each time. Also, the adult shows do say 18+ but that is a recommendation and kids are allowed in which my 14 year old was thrilled about. Frank even saw him at the first adult show and made him part of the set.

My son is also shy and geeky at 14 but had a different experience at Entourage. He has been going to kids clubs on ships since he was little so he knows how to fit in and make friends. The space is awesome and has lots of fun stuff to do but he found the kids to be clicky and had trouble finding anyone to hang with. He loves video games so he did spend time playing there but did not spend a huge amount of time there. He is very honest and there were groups of boys being jerks and cheating at air hockey and other things and were throwing pucks and stuff and that frustrated him.

As for deck chairs, we do not usually hang out in the pool area so as long as you left that part, there are available deck chairs everywhere. In fact in over 20 cruises, I have never seen so many open deck chairs. If you want a chair and do not care about being close to the pool, hit one of the higher sun decks even on sea days.

We also loved the slides. Ladies be aware that if you want to do the drop slides, you must remove all jewelry, including earrings and piercings.

The ropes course was amazing.

We did some of the game shows and trivia as well. We won super heroes and villains trivia and got pens. Be aware most of these events are held in the atrium area and some do require running up to the front so sit up front or you will have to navigate through all the chairs which can be dangerous.

We had a regular balcony, mid ship and it was perfect. We did not have bunk beds so my son slept on the couch part which he said was fine. Our room steward was excellent.

We had issues with the technology on board so we could not use any of he touch screens or our cabin tv to book anything and all we got were error messages. We complained to the asst. hotel director who we met at the cruise critic meet and greet and he gave us his card and told us to call him anytime we needed to book anything and he took care of it for us right away.

I was very impressed by the amount of officers who are constantly out and about and it is even published in the daily places they will be on the ship at certain times to answer questions. They are also quick to pick up trash and things themselves and not wait or tell someone else to do it.

This was by far the cleanest ship I have ever been on.

We just got off the Getaway last week and had the dining package and had a lot of hassles with it. The package is for the first 2 pax per cabin and it gets stamped on your card that you have it. When they run the card at the end of the meal, they can see who is on your card in the computer system. We had issues because there were 3 of us and my SO did not want the package so we wanted to use it for our son who is a minor but on the reservation, they kept putting his name in the 3rd position and it was only good for the people in the first and second positions. We asked if he could take his fathers card since that was the one marked with the free dining code and were told no. They finally had to call the corporate office to get it all sorted out.

Great review, we leave in just 12 days.

I see you went to the comedy clubs so maybe you can answer this for me. Our son will turn 14 the first day of our trip and on Carnival, the comedy clubs are his favorite thing to do so will will try to get in to see as many as possible. Can you tell me how the schedule for them works? Do the comics try to do new shows each time or are there nights that are just repeats of the other shows?

Did you receive free dining UDP or free dining SDP? This matters because with with SDP you will be 'charged" for any reservation you don't cancel according to their guidelines. With UDP there is more flexibility. This is what I'd recommend. If you have UDP, make all reservations prior to embarkation. Make one each night. I know I'll get flamed for this, but we actually made 2 reservations on my birthday; we had 6:30 Cagneys reservations (for dinner) and 9:00 LeBistro reservations (for dessert).

 

As far as cost goes, I honestly think you can find lots to eat at the specialty restaurants with no added cost! There are just a few items on the menus with up-charges but the 'regular' fare is really really good. We were allowed to order 2 appetizers each and I'd recommend this if allowed for LeBistro: The scallops and escargot were terrific. You can not order multiple entries without a $10.00 charge (both UDP and SDP). You can order multiple desserts. I have read a bit where some people are being told no to multiple apps and desserts, but that was not our experience.

 

If you have UDP; positively make reservations for LeBistro. Maybe even twice. This restaurant is small and fills quickly. Same with Teppanyaki but we chose to pass on this restaurant this time around (lots love this one though). It's inside (no waterfront dining) and the same as any land-based benihanna. We elected to do more of the waterfront dining since we can't experience that atmosphere at home. We ended up eating at Cagneys three times, LeBistro twice, Moderno, & LuCucina. I'm such a planner I even made our reservations (port/starboard restaurant) to coordinate with the sunset so we could experience the sunset while we ate.

Thank you. I am a planner too so this is really hard to coordinate everything with food, shoes, etc. It will be myself and my 14 year old using the dining plan so I have to look through menus to see what he will eat. He is adventurous but some really fancy stuff he just will not try yet.

The comedy club shows are a really important activity he loves to do. Do you happen to know how the schedule works with them as to when they do new shows vs repeating the same shows? I know on Carnival some comics do a new show each time and other do a new show one night and then repeat it the next night.

Thanks for the great review. Funny I have also done both Dolphin and Commodore in the past as well and have never seen anyone ever mention them before.

We are doing the breakaway in 2 weeks and it will be my first time on Norwegian. Trying to figure out the food and show bookings etc. is a bit overwhelming. I am used to set times on other ships. I appreciate how detailed your review has been so far and can not wait for more. We have the free dining added as part of our booking and are trying to decide which places to visit without adding to the cost. So far it looks like everything that looks like I would want to try has an upcharge :(.

Probably a stupid question but in the specialty restaurants can you order multiple apps, entrees or deserts like you can in the main dining rooms?

I used cash last month and cashed out the last night at Guest services.

I've done the Fascination and the Paradise both several times. My favorite Carnival ship is the Fascination. I like the smaller ships. I like the Fascination because she has a great crew, I like the size, I like the upgrades she does have and we love to book the itinerary that goes to Half moon Cay because it is a beautiful island and a great free beach day.

That said, we also like that Paradise which is basically the same ship. It also has a great crew and I would rather do Grand Cayman and Cozumel over Nassau and Freeport Itineraries that do not include half moon cay. I wish though that the Paradise would have some upgrades to the cabins and do miss the waterpark that the Fascination has.

While I like both the Fascination and the Paradise, if I had to choose between the 2, I would choose the Fascination. It's a little closer drive for us, I like that it has been upgraded, I love half moon cay, and enjoy the waterpark.

Tropicale a long, long time ago

I did a 5 day on the Fascination last month.

Past guest party was the last night of the cruise.

Escargot was on the menu the first night I think. I seem to remember thinking it was strange that it was not on "formal" night.

Lobster was on "formal" night

Yes there was french onion soup on one of the nights but not everyday.

On the 5 day it was the first sea day, the second night. I think back when I did it as a 4 day, it was the same.

I tried to upload a photo but it won't let me, sorry.

It's a bowl of elbow style pasta with a cheese sauce, it is topped with a piece of chicken breast, yes, chicken breast and then 2 strips of bacon were laid on top of the chicken. There were a few small crumbled pieces of bacon in the pasta but they might have broken off the larger pieces. My son had it and said it was ok.

1) How busy are the gyms on a typical cruise? I imagine there are busier and slower times of day, can you give me any insight on that?

2) Are there time restrictions on the cardio equipment?

3) How are the fitness classes?

 

 

Thanks!

I would guess it would depend on what ship you were on and the time of day. My son and I were on the Fascination last month. We would get up, eat a snack from room service and then head to the gym around 10 in the morning. The first day of the cruise there were people wondering in and out who from the looks on their faces have never been in a gym which made it a little busy. They would try some of the machines and then leave. After that, there were only a handful of people there each of the other days we went. The best day was the day we were in port and we had the gym to ourselves.

As for time restrictions, since there were always machines available, I don't think there was a need for any time restrictions and I did not see any. I guess if the gym was packed then they might impose them.

We never took or saw any of the fitness classes so I can not answer that.

My son. Disney Magic New Years Turn of the Century cruise, his birth date 9-19.:)

Yes there is a little coffe bar/dessert place on the Miracle. I never purchased anything there so I can not tell you how much anything is but they did have some yummy looking pastries. It is located very near the entrance to the Phantom Lounge.