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Now I'm curious about the carryon only. You seemed to dress for dinner each night, and you didn't mention laundry. Did you do laundry? Did you have your own snorkel gear? 11 day vacation with only carryons? Can you give us a list of what you packed? We did a 14 day B2B last January and had two medium suitcases, a carryon and a backpack.

I am enjoying your review. We will be doing some of these ports in January. I can't help wondering who is taking all your pictures, there's no selfie stick, I can see your hands. Do you ask passing strangers or use a timer?

I've heard of this coupon book that you can get on the ship for, I think, $25. It has coupons to use in port. I was wondering if anyone has one that they could scan and post. I'm sure others would be interested to see what exactly is included. I'm going on a 21 day Journey B2B cruise and am thinking, with 13 ports, it might be worth sitting through the shopping talk to get one.

I've used shore excursioneer several times and no problem, Mon.

Thanks for posting these.

I didn't see Chateurbriand, did I overlook it?

I'd like to see a plain ole salad, not caesar, just a garden salad with choice of dressings.

Since we live in Kansas, it's a long haul to a cruise port. We figure we need to make it worthwhile.

Our first B2B was really a side2side. We did an 8 day to Panama on the Freedom out of Fort Lauderdale, then got off, drove up to Port Canaveral and boarded the Sensation for a 4 day.

Our next almost B2B was a 7 day on the Crown Princess out of Galveston, a 2 day stay at a hotel and a pickup at the airport of my DD and GS, then a 5 day on the Triumph.

Last January, we did our first true B2B on the Magic. We had the same room for both legs. The first leg we bought Carnival t shirts that said Keep Calm and Cruise On. We wore them on turnaround day. When people commented on them, we giddily told them we were on a B2B and were cruising on.

We have a 21 day Journeys B2B booked for January 2016. I. can't. wait.

If you asked your mother or a teacher why you should remove your hat indoors, you would probably have gotten the, "Because I said so" response. Back in the day, manners were taught at home and in school. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case because many young mothers were never taught any manners to pass on to their children. No hats indoors, and it would be nice if the men wouldn't try to run women over to get on or off the elevator, and holding a door is still appreciated by many women.

 

It would be great if Carnival would offer an etiquette course - I am so sick of people using the wrong bread plate and forcing everyone at the table to in turn use the wrong one. Also, when you are leaving the table, but plan to return, you fold and put your napkin over the arm (or back if no arms) of your chair. Don't throw your dirty napkin on the table! Think Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman asking for instructions on the use of the utensils on a formal table setting. Our grandkids know, because the table gets set like that for birthday dinners, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amazing how many successful adults arrive for a dinner party and have no clue which fork to use.

 

DH grew up in a family that did not emphasize manners and he had to do a crash course when he realized at company functions how out of step he was and that they were judging him by his lack of manners. Now, his are impeccable. We often give a book of etiquette as a graduation gift and have been told many times how grateful they were to receive it.

This is why we do ATD at a table for two.

I wonder if the reason a lot of men wear hats all the time is because of vanity. They don't want people to see they are getting bald. Or maybe they work outdoors and wear a hat all the time. They get "hat hair" where you can see the indentation where that hat usually is. I know a man that works outdoors who has a pale forehead and tanned lower face from wearing a hat all the time. It looks funny in church.

If you cruise out of Galveston, you will see cowboy hats and boots. The first day you will see them sailing overboard when the ship leaves port. I don't understand the boots at all. They must take up a lot of room in their luggage.

We're booked on the Triumph B2B in January for 21 days.

We've taken grandchildren from age 2 to 10 and they've all done fine. Sometimes the younger ones need an afternoon nap, hey sometimes we need one! The sun and the disrupted schedule can wear you out. We let them order whatever they wanted, and they loved all the attention from the servers

On formal nights I usually start with underwear.........after that it depends if I have been enjoying too many drinks of the day.

So what is it? Underwear...or Depends?:)

We cruised with some friends and their two boys, 20 and 18. We were in Grand Cayman, and had all gone to the Turtle Farm. We got back to the port, and the boys, who had never been out of the U.S. or on a plane, wanted to shop around the port by themselves. Their parents agreed and we all split up, agreeing to meet at the pier at a certain time. We got back on time, and we couldn't see the boys. This is a tender port, and there is an area where the tours meet and then a gate and then the pier. We were at the gate waiting, the boys were waiting at the end of the pier where the tender docks. The mother was in tears and the father was mad. DH and I left them to see if they were on the ship. Before we got to the tender, someone told the boys it was the last tender, so they boarded. The parents talked to the guard at the gate, who contacted the ship, and found out they were not onboard. They freaked out and the tender, with us and the boys, had not reached the ship yet. The boys were on the top deck, we were below deck, and we didn't see each other. The port authority was contacted when the boys dinged aboard, and the parents were put on the pilot boat and boarded with the pilot. Dinner was quiet that night. Moral of the story, be very specific when agreeing on a meeting place... under a specific sign or lampost.

I've done the Magic ropes course twice, once before a knee replacement, and once after. I showed my surgeon the pictures and he just shook his head.

I believe I've seen this called a side2side lol

We've done this, changing ports from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral in the same day. Also done it in Galveston going from Crown Princess to Triumph. The best is a true B2B where you don't have to pack.

The funny thing is this is new luggage!!! My trusted suitcase is 10 years old and weighs 20lbs on its own so I went to a newer piece of luggage that weighs less. I bought it after Christmas. I am so disappointed but trying to NOT let it ruin my vacation before it even starts. I just want Carnival to do right and rectify this.

I had fairly new luggage ruined on a Carnival cruise also. It was Chaps brand from Kohls. It had a warranty on it and it was still under warranty. The end where the wheels are had a bar that went across that prevented the suitcase from falling over when set down and it could also be used when picking it up in a horizontal position to set it on a bed. That was broken, unattached at one end. I took it to guest services and they looked at it and gave me a letter that said I could get it repaired and submit the repair bill.

When I got home, I went to Kohls for something else and saw them putting out new luggage. I asked for a box that was from Chaps luggage. They gave it to me and I sent the piece back to be repaired. This was the largest piece of a 5 piece set. Chaps couldn't repair it, so they sent me another 5 piece set. I now have 9 pieces of matching luggage. I sent Carnival the letter and the $20 postage receipt and they reimbursed me.

On our Platinum cruise, we held up our cards and had big grins.

We usually wear our Bon Voyage shirts.

I'll add a few things, first put any important things, prescription meds, jewelry, electronics in your carryon. Your luggage is left outside your door. Someone could take it into their cabin and help themselves to something.

Also there are elevators to take you to the Lido deck. When you get off, go around the glass elevators to the glass doors that lead to the pool. There are usually burgers and such and pizza on the other side of the pool. There are glass doors that go further aft to a buffet, deli, and more. I've not been on the Miracle, but most Carnival ships are set up like that.

There will be a Funtimes on your bed when you arrive and you get a new one every night. This will tell you about the next day's happenings and the times etc.

Have a great cruise.

I'd like pictures and info on furniture for 7203. When are you going?

Anyone have pictures of 7203 on the Triumph? Is there a couch? Chair? Table?

Thank you for doing this review! I've been waiting for one of the long cruise reviews. We are booked B2B for next January for a similar itinerary.

Thanks for the replies, I'll keep my eyes open for reviews. Wow, 1200 B2Bers. That would take awhile to do. I wonder if they all got free drinks, and fruit baskets.

I'm looking for reviews of the new Triumph itineraries, 10 or 11 day to/from San Juan. Have any been posted yet?

We were in 2276 in January. Our room steward was Marti. I'm wondering if it's the same as you had. Did he have dark rimmed glasses?

We did an 8 day on the Freedom out of Fort Launderdale in 2010. We got off and got in our van and drove up the coast to Port Canaveral to board the Sensation for a 4 day. We drove all the way from Kansas and wanted to make it worth our while.

We got 4 toiletry bags on our B2B last month.