cathyz

Great post, we were on the same cruise and the week before. We had two weeks of great service with YTD. I have the extra pounds to prove it.:)

 

We only have one ship left on the West coast and we don't want to lose it. We would sail on the Splendor next week if we could.

 

Mike

We have the Inspiration too!

Thanks JXR. Does he keep a crowd going? What kind of genre? Can't wait!

Oh my gosh, you are so lucky, he is fabulous!!!! We don't usually do piano bars every night, but did with him on the Splendor and he PACKS the place!!! SOCIAL!! (you'll know what that means when you see him). Have a great time!

Is the Walmart across the dock in PV still open? :)

Yes, DH went there to find cheap tequila, but the walk is treacherous and HOT!

Sushi is only open during certain times (I want to say 4:30-5:30, but I could be mistaken). Check out the ice carving demonstrations- very cool! Also try to get into the drink mixology demonstration- lots of great yummy ideas.

 

Just one correction, sushi is available 5:00-8:30 except on formal night.

Just booked Crown Plaza for $74/nite on 10/29 for Cabo 5 day cruise leaving 10/30 on Carnival Spirit. Counting on free parking based on posts I've seen here...

83 days, but who's counting!!!!

We're on the Spirit 9-day right before you and are staying at the Doubletree, which does have free parking the whole time and shuttle to and from the pier. We'll try to keep the ship in good shape for you!

We had a friend miss the ship a few cruises ago and she caught up with us at the next port at quite a high cost to her. She flew to Long Beach from New York on sail day because her travel agent said it would be OK. When we found out her schedule we knew there was a possibility she'd miss the ship, and she did! The next cruise she was on with us, she flew in TWO days early!!! We live in northern CA and travel to southern CA and would never travel on cruise day, we always arrive the day before.

And it smells great in there, combination of cigars and relatively new leather seating. It's really dark in there tho, some corners to hide in!

4. Something I've not noticed on other ships was that you were no longer able to take you own breakfact bacon or ham. you had to ask for it from the cook making eggs. I can only guess this is a cost saving measure.

 

Sorry you had such a bad time, we loved the Pride a couple years ago, but then we are pretty picky about cabin location so wouldn't have your same problem. As far as the 'bacon police' as we call them, we have that on a few cruises recently so it's nothing new, but it is no problem, they'll give you as much as you want, no big deal.

recently on the Pride, saw several people dining in the captains club restaurant, is this open for anyone?

If you mean the little dining room to the side of the MDR, it can be used for special groups or can even be just overflow of the dining room too.

As far as old people onboard I have done a carnival cruise where there were 800 people from century city retirement home in FLA onboard LOL actually carnival has quite a few older folks who cruise them also it is just that all the kids that run around kind of blur them out :)

 

The main difference between the Kids on HAL and Carnival from what i saw is on HAL is 95% of the parents supervise them and do not let them run free. Compare to maybe on 50% on carnival

I think the kid situation varies from cruise to cruise and of course time of year. We've never had problems with kids on any of our cruises (lucky I guess or we just don't go to the 'kid' areas), but also don't cruise in the summer or major holidays. Anyway, we are definitely Carnival cheerleaders, but I have to say when were on the Splendor last month, it was by FAR the most geriatric cruise we have evern been on and there were only a handful of kids, so maybe they just didn't blur out the silver and scooter crowd, as you say (watch out for those scooter folks, they can be dangerous!). I was actually very surprised at how many 70+ folks on board, so I guess it doesn't really matter which cruise line you choose anymore. We'll stay with Carnival for the price and 'fun', too much quiet would put me to sleep but glad you liked HAL, I've heard it's nice, had some friends who loved it (he has since passed away tho, so she goes with us on Carnival now and she's an energetic 85)! :D

No, there are no irons and they are not allowed onboard, so please don't bring one. There are several laundry rooms onboard that have one or two irons and boards for your use.

Am considering a 4 day cruise on Carnival Paradise from Long Beach to Catalina, and Ensenada & back to LB, in December. Looking at some sort of suite, I see the regular suites are way up high on the veranda deck & way aft.

Considering the ship is hardly moving anywhere in the 4 days, wondering if rocking & ship movement likely to be a problem. We don't get down to Cabo, which I know from experience I tend to get sea sick there.

 

If this area of the ship is likely to be too rocky, we may have to consider a penthouse suite. Any recommendations on one suite or PH suite over another? I was looking at v21 or v30 for reg suites or u107 or u108 for a penthouse.

 

One more question, do the reg suites have only Queen beds or 2 twins? Hoping for 2 twin beds, my PVP said it has 2 twin beds plus a sleeper sofa, but that isn't what is listed in the advertising.

We've been on the Paradise twice and going again next year. The cat 11 suites are on the Verandah deck and are very FORWARD not AFT. On that itinerary, you shouldn't have any problems, the ocean is pretty calm most of the time. Be aware that a few of those suites have an obstructed view (life boats hanging outside) and all the others aren't very private, people can look up from the deck below to your SMALL balcony. The cabin size is pretty small too, the same as the OVs (which is what we always stay in).

The Porters work for the Port of Los Angeles, not for Carnival, so I would recommend to get their names and notify the Port when you get back. They do not like this going on and they will fire them.

They might get talked to, but I doubt they'll get fired, they're highly protected by the Longshoreman's Union.

On embarkation (5/31) the luggage porter basically threatened the loss of our bags (3 bags) if we did not tip MORE. This "Hustling" must stop. My DW was nervous. So I tipped an extra $5, and the PORTER told us everything will be "A" ok.

 

Originally, I tipped the guy $10 for 4 bags. But then he started telling DW that her shoes might get lost, so instead of K!CK the GUYS A $ $ , I decided to tip him 5 more dollars and start the vacation in a nice way.

 

I made a comment to a Carnival staff member.

 

Just be careful and dont let an incident like this ruin your first impression of your vacation. I had a bitter taste in my mouth.

We've sailed from LB 3 times and never had this problem, I'm sure it was just this one porter's bad attitude and could happen anywhere.

We were on the Spirit with our group of 28 friends and many said the Big Easy was very good. The capers are now in the webshots link in my signature for more info on the entertainment.

What shows do they have on the Carnival Spirit after drydock. I can't remember what the list said.

There's a brand new big show in the showroom (can't remember the name) that everyone said was very good (we didn't go). Not sure if there's anything else new.

Sorry in advance for the brief hijack, but.....Tom-n-Cheryl, don't you have pix somewhere of the Cat 11 wrap cabins on Spirit class? I've done a search but can't locate them. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks!!!

There are pics of Pride cabin 7347 in my signature link.

Be careful what you pack in the same suitcase as your smuggled alcohol. I've heard of a situation where there was a curling iron with the cord wrapped around it and it looked suspicious so they asked the passenger to go the security room to open the suitcase so they could inspect it and that was the same suitcase that they had their alcohol in, confiscated!

I understand that you can smoke in your cabin on Carnival ships. My question is if the vent system is really good or does your cabin just fill up with smoke. I don't smoke heavely but my husband does not smoke at all. If i smoked in the bathroom would the vent system keep the room fairly smoke free? Another question. We are going to cabo and ensenada and i would like to bring back some sort of alcohol for my brother as a suivenier gift. Is there a limit on how much you can bring back. I am not interested in smuggling it back on the ship i just want to bring back a few bottles of something we can't get here in Utah.

The vent system probably depends on the ship. Last month on the Elation I don't think the vent in our bathroom was working well, the bathroom got steamier than I've ever seen on our other cruises. It wouldn't work well to smoke in that bathroom/cabin.

They tried that with the Paradise... did not work as the revenue was not enough to keep the ship open.

I think a smoke-free ship from a California port might work, lots of folks now drive to their closest port and the percent of smokers in California is alot lower than most other states. It just didn't work out of Miami.