k_y30

I never prepay and tip based on what we use. So if we don't go to the MDR and are always on the lido, the Lido gets mdr's tips

We just booked the Havana Patio Cabin for our Dec. cruise on the Vista...........anyone else have one of these cabins and if so, what can you tell us about the experience with them? How did you like sharing patio time with passers by (even though it is wrist band access only)? Heard they serve breakfast in the Havana Bar each morning.........if so what do they serve? (would be nice to have something to take back to the balcony to enjoy each morning). How was it having access to the pool and hot tubs during the day? Being on deck 5, what else did you take advantage to during the day or on the ship? SIL has the patio next to ours so really looking forward to this new kind of balcony/patio.

Hiw much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? I've seen the cabanas go from $3000 to $5000 but nothing cheaper than $3k

I appreciate all of your responses.

If they won't give it to you unopened for whatever reason, just reseal the cap nice and tight and it should be fine, I would assume

Id venture a guess that 90% of the AC problems on a cruise ship come from people leaving their balcony door open all the time. Ive heard from a maritime engineer that frequents this site that it can effect MANY cabins AC. I keep my house on 74 in the summer. Cruise ship cabins are generally always cooler than my house. I would NOT be happy with a cabin that is 78. Not at all.

I get that but out suite on the valor was so hot at night, we HAD to prop the door open to get some cool air coming in. Worst sleep week of my life. And they would not bring us a fan for the room. Had a great time but by the end of the week I was a zombie from the terrible sleep. I heard on the vista, each room has its own ac, so that should be great

Just wondering if anyone here has stayed in this cabin or a nearby interior lately? Does it have a refrigerator or bedside tables? TIA

A quick call to carnival will answer those questions if you don't get a response here

I could be wrong, but unless you have an exceptional cabin steward, most cabin stewards typically only take care of the cabin itself (make the bed, empty the trash can, etc.) , but don't pay much attention to the balcony. There's an old biblical saying that seems appropriate. "Ask, and ye shall receive."

I agree. I will say, the suite cabin stewards are really exceptional though. I had a suite on the valor and our cabin steward was amazing. Ice bucket constantly full and he would ALWAYS fix up our balcony. He earned himself a big fat tip that week. Lol

April 2019 is the farthest out that ANY Carnival ship is scheduled, regardless of home port.

Okay, thanks a bunch! The Vista isn't getting to galveston until Sept 2018 and I didn't want to miss my chance at the Havana cabana ! So I wasn't sure if I had to go in that 6 month time window! Thanks for the clarification

I wondered that too. I simply mentioned talking to the cabin steward since you and another poster commented that your balconies were dirty, but never said if you talked to your cabin steward or just let it go.

The way I took it is they were saying "we know to talk to our cabin steward, this isn't our first cruise" but if that's the case, and they didn't talk to him/her, then they have no right to complain about their balcony being dirty

Hi there!

I'm looking at booking a cruise on the vista and I see on carnivals website that it is only available at the galveston port from sept 2018 to april 2019. Does this mean the vista will only be sailing out of galveston during that time period or does it mean that april 2019 is as far out as theyre allowing to book as of right now?

Thanks!

Thanks for that advice. Not our first cruise.

What's the purpose of the "not our first cruise" line?

We are doing a cove on the breeze in a couple of months, hopefully we like it.

I'm looking into booking on the Vista next though, I really really want to try the Havana cabana rooms!

For what it's worth, there is a poster on these boards who claims to have purchased cheers for himself and his pregnant wife, after which they refuse to serve her alcohol because she was pregnant.

Good. The child shouldnt have to suffer because the parents are retarded. Someone responsible has to step in

Is it worth the extra $1500 over just a regular balcony? We like our privacy BUT having the whole cabana pool and bar area to ourselves during the day looks amazing. The only problem I can see is not wanting to leave and never exploring the ship!

So, tell me about your Havana cabana experiences!

Just choose the earliest available check in time. They will always let you board if you're late but never if youre early

So, when I first bought the cheers package, I asked the bartender what is the most expensive drink she could make me, and she just looked dumbfounded. She explained that drinks basically fall into 2 categories (for the most part)

1. Regular mixed drinks or frozen drinks, usually around $8

2. Top shelf drinks that cost around $12ish

She said that the $50 was for certain wines that are available in the MDR. Apparently those get pretty pricey

I felt more "unsafe" in NYC, Chicago, Orlando, Paris, Munich, Nice, Shanghai, Rome, and London. Everything that happens on Jamaica happens elsewhere. You can get "ripped off" anyplace. You can have bad taxi drivers anyplace.

 

I always walk around the city, enjoy the culture, have a drink or two on a sidewalk patio. Jamaica is a beautiful place, and if you decide to stay within the walls of the port, you will miss out.

I see what youre saying, I guess to me, and what it seems like most peoples experiences have been, is that people are extremely aggressive in Jamaica and will insult and berate you for not buying their wares, and it seems to be everywhere you go. I have no doubt its a beautiful place, but is having to fend off hordes of extremely aggressive peddlers and having to constantly look over your shoulder worth it?

Furthermore, i'm not calling you out, but I doubt you felt more "unsafe" in a place like Paris, London, or Rome... or any first world country, really.

I will give another vote for Money Bar. We've been there 3 times and never had an issue with getting a cab back. It's not a true beach that most people think of, but they have plenty of lounge chairs, shade if you want it, good food and drinks, great snorkeling and usually not too crowded.

 

 

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Is there a locker you can rent to lock your valuables up while you snorkel? There's only two of us and we want to be able to lock our things up while we are in the water!

Hey all! We have a cruise booked in october and we originally planned of going to one of the beaches in Jamaica but depending on how safe or not we feel we may skip it and go to one of the better beaches in cozumel !

I've been to paradise beach but I do NOT like the huge rocks right in the water along the beach line! Other than that it's not bad but we want to do some snorkeling!

So, what is a good beach that has some snorkeling stuff to look at? It doesnt have to be anything fantastic, just maybe a thing or two to check out. Also, what beaches are NOT all inclusive? We dont need to spend the extra money to have all the food and drink because we will be stuffing outselves for days on the ship and will only need something pay as you go.

So yeah, im basically just looking for something a little nicer than paradise! Any info would be great! Thanks!

Does anyone know if the specialty tea is included in the cheers package? I'd totally go if I could get some earl grey but im not paying 1.99 when I spent $700 for the cheers program!

TL;DR - Is there a pier area in jamaica like in cozumel thats run by the cruise lines and free from riff raf? Also, is there a swimming area there? Shops and food, etc?

-Whats the cab situation like in Jamaica? What do I look for/what questions do I ask with cab drivers

-Doctors Cove beach or a beach in cozumel? Which would you rather go to?

Okay, so, I know this really kind of belongs in the Jamaica sub forum and I posted a similar question over there but it seems pretty dead and since carnival is porting there, I guess its appropriate to ask here. Anyway...

I was super stoked about Jamaica when I booked this cruise (Its Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel) but I mainly booked it for the Grand Caymans and i've been to cozumel a few times and really liked it (but ive been there and done that). Anyway, I'm a research guy, and Ive recently started researching Jamaica and many many (many!) people are reporting that they feel very unsafe in Jamaica. Lots of petty theft, cant walk anywhere (must taxi), extremely aggressive vendors, etc etc but to be fair, theres quite a few who say they've never felt unsafe when in Jamaica. So my questions are these-

1- What is the port area in Jamaica like? Is it kinda like Cozumel, where they have a little area thats built up and completely walled off from the locals, complete with shops and restaurants? Is there any kind of beach area to swim at the port or nearby that is run by the cruise lines?

2- If we were to do anything in town, we would go to Doctors Cove beach, it looks rather nice and it seems to be free of peddlers on the beach, we might even walk down the beach to Margaritaville. What is the best way to get from the pier to Doctors Cove? I'm assuming a taxi, but I know they are unregulated (LOVE the taxi's in Cozumel, theyre expensive but well regulated!) I've read to only take taxi's with red license plates, but that information was over 10 years old. Is this still true? What are some thing to be on the lookout for with the taxi's? Also, how far is DC from the pier?

3- We are only planning on really doing things in 2 of the 3 ports. We will get off at all 3 but only planning on staying off the boat and doing much beyond the pier in 2 of the ports (cayman is a definite port for this). Would you recommend Jamaica or Cozumel for this? I've never felt unsafe in Cozumel and I really enjoy the beaches there (but again, been there a few times). I also like that I can relax and I generally dont have to worry about being pickpocked or getting a shady cab driver or an extremely aggressive salesman but if Doctors Cove is a super amazing beach and its not terribly unsafe to get there then I think we'd rather do that

Sorry for the wall of text! Thanks in advance!

I end up grabbing a couple power-aid zeros then ordering shots of Titos on the rocks. You can get an umbrella to add a tropical feel to it!! I also bring on cans of Minute Maid light as mixers for when the heartburn starts from the sugar:)

 

 

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You bring up a good point, I actually get bad indigestion if I drink too much to often BUT if I do a shot of apple cider vinegar (with the "mother", whatever the hell that is), my heartburn and indigestion goes away within an hour or so. I know it sounds like some hippie crap but It really does work. I'm going to contact carnival tomorrow and see if I can bring a glass bottle of that with me

Lol. Sorry. Been so busy since I've been back. Our cruise was great. Jamaica was my least favorite. Errol our guide was a nice guy. Very informative the first few hours. Konoko falls was really nice. We were the only ones there. Had the whole place to ourselves. But I think the 2 hour drive there and back was a little much. We only stopped at Scotchies for lunch. Was so packed. Glad Errol new the people who worked there or we would have waited 2 hours to eat. Jamaica is still the same. People begging were ever you go. I bought some things from people on the side of the road. But so many rude responses when you don't buy. Like "why you gonna do me likethat?"). When you stop it's like people every where areally trying to open the tour vans windows just to get in to sell you stuff. Grand Caymen was beautiful. Sting ray tour is a must. The turtle farm was a joke though. Only get 1.5 hours to see something that needs 5 hours time.Definitely the highlight of our trip. Cozumel was good. Twister boat was awesome.

That was my second and last time to Jamaica. My least favorite island in the Caribbean. And I've been to over 15 islands.

Want to take another cruise next December. Might go more south next time.

Thanks for the reply! Im doing the same intenary you are in october. I was REALLY looking forward to Jamaica at first but i've been reading up on it quite a bit and most people say they feel extremely unsafe there. Some people say to relax and it's just the culture over there and most of the violence is gang related and others saying that you're basically playing russian roulette there and tourists are getting robbed and raped and even killed. I'm sure it's not a hellhole but it doesnt sound awesome either. We are planning on going to doctors cove beach but I just dont know now. We are definitely going to spend most of our time and money in the caymans, I've already have a tour set up for the reef and stingray sandbar and I would honestly just stay on the boat in jamaica and go to a nicer beach in cozumel but ive been to cozumel so many times I want to do something different.

Anyway, thanks for the reply and happy cruising !

Paradise beach is great. $20 cab ride from carnival pier and $3 to get in. The beach is NOT the best though and there are a lot of locals around (no big deal). The pool is nice the only problem is there's a bunch of rocks in the water where there beach area is but there is a dock where you can walk out past that stuff and get in the water. Also, they don't hound you to buy stuff, we bought one drink and hung out for a bit and went back to the boat

Years ago, 1912, it caused hallucinations believed to be caused by the wormwood that gives it its slight bitter taste, any drinks containing Absinthe or thujone wasn't allowed to be sold in the US. Several years ago it was allowed back in, but it had to be thujone free. But THATS in the US. No way would I knowingly drink it from British Columbia , Quebec, Russia or Ontario to name a few,it's sold there with no restrictions. Crazy, right!

 

 

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So carnival only uses booze imported by the u.s.?

You found the drinks weak? I found most of mine were strong. The bartender in the sports bar was very heavy handed. His singles were more like a triple lol.

 

Now we didn't have the cheers package so maybe that made a difference.

 

Anything with fruit juice will have lots of sugar. If you get things like martinis you will have less mix in it and more booze.

 

 

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Was probably a few different things. We tried a few of the inside bars and I noticed the drinks were MUCH stronger than the poolside bars, I'm sure it has something to do with the sheer volume of people at the bars outside.

Also, I don't think the bartenders get the full 15% tip from the Cheers program. The second day I flipped my bar-t an extra couple of bucks and the drinks he made me for the rest of the the night were crazy strong. So, since you were pay as you go I'm sure they were a little more heavy with you