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21 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were at the church, there was a dog sleeping deeply on the front step.  We saw several bowls of water around the church, so assumed he "lived" there.

I'm one of the ooopsie's with the plaza bar coffee.  I saw the sign.  But I didn't know the menu.

How did you get 3 nights at Jiji's for $45?  My bad if I missed something you posted already.  I've been trying to read every page.

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Post brunch coffee line 12 at Javablue. 1 at plaza bar.

 

Do they have the same coffee items at the plaza bar?  I didn't understand why they had 2 coffee locations right next to each other, and I never saw a (coffee) menu for the plaza bar, so I always waited at Java Blue.

19 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Yeah they have one at 3 today. I did it on Celebration with Mike.

 

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/celebration-pig-anchor-brewery-tour/

 

 

 

 

How did you find out about it?  I was looking for it in every fun times, paper and the app, and I never saw anything about it.

17 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

So I’ve been sitting here 45 mins would you expect more than an appetizer at this point?

I had the same experience on Horizon last month 😞  We were on Elation in June, and we had great service and great food in the MDR, so it was disappointing to have anything less on a newer ship.  Oh well.

On 4/27/2024 at 11:57 AM, Saint Greg said:

 

When I boarded Horizon on March 30th, we entered on deck 2.  I had watched so many YouTube videos, and when we finally got on board I was so confused.  My plan was to go right to the fwd elevators to muster in the theater, then drop off our bags in our fwd lido cabin (fttf), then Guys.  We did muster first, but I was all out of sorts not knowing where I was.

50 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

One is the mother ship, the other is a satellite 

 

 

Ohh, so basically an extra coffee shop?  Do they serve the same coffee items?  Milkshakes?  Adult versions of both?  We sail on Glory on May 31st, and our cabin is on lido, so it will be nice to get my fancy coffee on the same deck.

3 minutes ago, Rog18 said:

I'm not a US citizen so my credit is not in USD so any transactions in USD I get charged a foreign transaction fee.

Ohh, okay.  I see.  Do any of your credit cards accumulate points?  Maybe that can help offset the fees.  Or is it too late to find and apply for a cc that doesn't have the foreign transaction fee?

I'm curious...why don't you just use your credit card?  I saw some mention fees - I've never incurred any fees on my cc when used for my S&S.

What is the coffee bar on deck 9 aft?  I see there is also a Java Blue on deck 5 mid.  

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

McDonald's in NC - McDouble $3.19 (was $1.19 not even 3 years ago), fries free in the app.

Funny story about McDoubles....my 12 year old wanted a cheeseburger when we were on a road trip and stopped at McD's for restroom/food.  The app had a promo for 2/$3 or something, so I ordered her a McDouble and fries for $3, but she was insistent that she only wanted a single burger.  So we customized it on the kiosk to take off one patty.  They gave her a grilled cheese 😞  I had to go back inside after leaving the restaurant to get it fixed, and they told met to just order a single CB next time bc it's cheaper, but I had to tell them it wasn't cheaper with the app promo, and I then told my child that she will take off the extra damn meat patty next time!  She was insistent to not have to do that this time.  Kids!

Same in ports.  In one of the port duty free stores, my teenager wanted to check out the designer perfumes.  She said it was the same price at home (aka still too expensive for her part time job salary lol).

26 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Same thing with mini fridges.

I would use "mini fridge" loosely lol.  Although with a couple buckets of ice it got down to 39 degrees. 

30 minutes ago, mamiamjo said:

Good deal on the cabin and the airfare! We paid about $375 just for Economy seats close to the bathroom (That does include checked bags and assigned seats at least) 🙂

 

Looking forward to your excursions I'm still struggling a bit with ours. We have resort day passes reserved for Aruba and Curacao, nothing yet for Bonaire. We were going to do the golf cart rentals but your are right they book up early. I checked two companies about 6 weeks out and both were sold out (even with just the one ship in port). So we're going to wing it!

In Bonaire, check out Lady Bellais.  It's the same company that owns the golf carts (Bonaire Cruisers).  This is a rather new excursion for them, but it's snorkeling on their schooner.  They are running on word of mouth/reviews only I believe.  I read about them in a Facebook group.  They have a rope swing they bring out for the 2nd half of the excursion.  They even help the littles that can't quite reach the swing and touch the boat.  Everyone was so professional and helpful!  The boat was so clean!  They were always cleaning up!!  Includes local lunch cooked by captain and his wife, all snorkel equipment if needed, full instructions and tips/tricks, and open bar.  There was even a large group jumping off the top deck of the boat (before they let out the rope swing...no one was allowed to jump off when the rope swing was in action). There was a dance party on the way back with the macarena I think and some other line dances. Everyone from 8-88 had a blast!  At one point I misplaced/lost one of my Carnival beach towels, and told the tour operator about it, and after everyone got off the boat, he brought me my missing towel!  I snorkeled for about 10 mins and then was over it, but I still had a blast. Some folks never even got in the water.

Not a Carnival excursion, but they are very reputable and will get you back on time.  I had a lot of emails back and forth with them before I booked, and they schedule their different excursions based off the ships schedules. Sometimes they have a morning only excursion, sometimes a lunch time one, sometimes they do several.  Ours was at 2pm, but we were in port from 8a-10p.  I think it was less than $200 for 3 of us.  Very easy to find once outside the port area, and that's coming from someone that gets lost walking across the street with a gps.

I didn't come close to 15 drinks that day 😉

30 minutes ago, Captain Zippyjet said:

 Always enjoyed the Quest. My first Quest was on the Horizon, 2018 led by John Heald. However there was no QUEST game on my Celebration cruise last October. Did Carnival retire this fun adult game? Considering the Horizon (third time on her) this September.

Please and Thank You

It was on Horizon for my 3/30-4/7 sailing!

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

Quest is a thing on Glory.

 

I've been following along on your journey and was about to pop over to your thread and ask about this.  I will be on Glory on May 31st!

Just now, Theosprey247 said:

We considered this itinerary for our June cruise, but 8 days and only 3 ports was too many sea days for my wife, so we booked AB + 2 stops in DR.  Will be following along. 

That is the itinerary we just came off earlier in the month.  It was a LOT having 4 back-to-back port days, even though La Romana was a relaxation/port pool day.

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Booking

I have been trying to book this itinerary for five years. Back in early 2019 on Carnival Vista I remember Cruise Director Matt Mitchem saying ABC was his favorite. Ever since then I’ve been keeping an eye out for it.

 

Prices on this cruise were typically high. I tried to book it for December 2021 but they wanted about $2,300 just for a basic upper/lower interior. I ended up booking a Western Caribbean cruise on Vista instead.

 

When Carnival had their Spring Sale of 2022, this was the first itinerary I looked for. I ended up booking three cruises during that sale including this one. I was able to get a 4J (interior with a picture window) on deck 9 above the bridge for under $1,000.

 

At the time of booking, I wasn’t looking at the times we were in port. But knowing what I know now I probably would. I’m very happy to be in Aruba and Bonaire from 8am-10pm. We are in Curacao from 8am-5pm.

 

During my research I come across other cruisers who don’t arrive in Aruba until 1:30 or who leave at 3pm. Both of those itineraries would make Aruba more challenging than what I have.

 

Airfare

One thing I like about cruising out of Miami is I know I have two airport options for my favorite airline, Spirit. In this case I’m flying into Fort Lauderdale and out of Miami.

 

Since I’m flying in on the day of the cruise, I wanted the earliest flight possible. That’s a 5am flight from Dallas-Fort Worth that gets me into Fort Lauderdale at 9am. I have a 10:30am arrival time at the port so by the time I collect my bag and catch an Uber/Lyft, it should be about that time. 

 

Frequently with Spirit the flights area early morning and late afternoon. On the return I usually have to wait for a 2 or 3pm flight. This time I was able to get an 11:30am flight out of Miami that will get me back to Dallas at 2pm.

 

The base cost of these flights were $30 and $80. It was a total of $150 after taxes and fees. I always check a bag. Normally I pay $35 each way for that. Now it’s up to $50. That brought my total up to $250.

 

I always do seat upgrades to at least an exit row aisle seat, if not a big front seat. The exit row aisle was $20 one way and $30 the other. That brought my cost up to $300.

 

As usually happens I start looking at that big front seat, which is really a first class seat without the service, and I end up booking it since it’s only another $50 each way. With that I get myself a window seat in the front row of the plane and a big, comfortable seat with an armrest big enough that I don’t have to worry about anyone touching me.

 

That brought my total ticket cost up to $400. But that $400 is for the best seat on the plane with a checked bag. On a higher cost airline that would’ve been the cost of just a basic seat.

 

Onboard Purchases

I loaded this cruise up back in the spring of 2022. I believe that was when they had the 10% spa code that worked for everything. That’s when I added Cheers and Wifi to this cruise.

 

Just before the specialty dinner increase of 2022, I purchased three nights at JiJi and one night in the steakhouse.  I know that’s a lot of JiJi but it is one of my favorite restaurants on Carnival and they only have it on Vista class ships. The last time I had JiJi was December 2021 on Vista. The JiJi dinners cost me $18 each and the steakhouse was $38. I saved about $10 paying with 10% off gift cards. Since then there have been two price increases on specialty dining so JiJi would be $25 and the steakhouse would be $49. 

 

Ports

Aruba

In Aruba I was looking at excursions. There were no excursions that covered everything I wanted to do. One of them did one side. Another did the other side with them overlapping at the lighthouse only.

 

I looked into public transportation. The bus seems to be a decent option. You can buy one way passes or a full day pass. I was considering the full day pass but then I read a review that mentioned they had to wait so long for the city bus that they ended up taking their version of collectivos. Those are vans with “autobus” on them that apparently come around more frequent than the buses but aren’t included in the day pass. I’m a big of the collectivos in Mexico.

 

When I looked deeper into the public transportation it seemed like I was going to have a hard time getting to some of the sites I wanted to see with them. At this point I was considering doing an excursion to one side of the island and public transportation to the other.

 

When my Bonaire planning led me to renting a car, I decided to look into it for Aruba as well. I found a lot of good reviews for Jay’s Car Rental. The prices are about the same as Hertz and while it didn’t show up on the map search, they have a location at the port. I went ahead and reserved with them. $60 for a compact + $10 insurance, but then I got an email from them saying they were sold out.

 

I ended up reserving at the Hertz Renaissance Ocean Suites location which looks to be about a mile from the port. A compact with them was $58 for the day.

 

Bonaire

In Bonaire I decided not to book an excursion. Golf cart rentals are popular there and start at $100-125 for the day. If you want to book one, I recommend doing so at least 6-8 weeks out. That’s how far they are sold out.

 

I started looking into car rentals. There are some local car rental companies right outside of the port. Those started around $70. I ended up booking a compact with Hertz for $50. I booked with the Hertz Divi Flamingo Resort location which is just a five minute walk from the port. Most of the car rental places including another Hertz location are at the airport which is quite a bit further.

 

Curacao

In Curacao there’s a free walking tour that comes highly recommended. I have it booked for 9:30am. The ship sells a walking tour for $35 but I’d rather just give it all to the tour guide. That takes us to noon. At 12:30 I have the Best of the West ship excursion that will get me over to the west side of the island. That tour cost $55. I used onboard credit for it. We should get back to the port at 4pm and back on board is 5pm.

I am doing this sailing on Horizon in August 2025 in a havana cabana!  I just got off Horizon from my first time on her, and I am super excited for that VIP space in the havana pool area!  I already have that walking tour booked in Curacao as well!  I am following along to see how that goes!

We were only in Aruba from 7a-3p this past sailing on Horizon, and we had a 7:30am excursion.  We were also in the worst parking spot at the pier, so when we got back to the ship, we were wayyy too tired to do that walk back down the pier (the Carnival excursion operator on the bus said they would stop at the ship, then drive anyone down the pier that wanted to explore/shop).  I am happy to have 14 hours next time!

Yes to both.  Hair dryer is in desk drawer.  I didn't use either, so I can't attest to anything else.

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Picture is displaying sideways. An inside view of one of the nightstands with the new lamps.

Oh I see.  The lamp goes down into the nightstand?  So you pretty much can't use the nightstands for storing much?  Oh well.  I think it was smart to add plug-ins, and I would prefer the storage space, but I tend to leave things behind when I use supplied storage.

On 4/18/2024 at 12:42 PM, BlerkOne said:

WTH is this?

I am just off Horizon April 7th, and the elevators seemed to work well. I have smart elevators in my office, so I was a little ahead of other first timers, but it's not that difficult.  I helped others as much as I could when I heard stories of them struggling because I watched so many YouTube videos (like how you should hit the button with the wheelchair on it if you are in a wheelchair or have a walker so the elevator doesn't "allow" as many people to have enough room for the medical assistive devices).  We did have to wait a little bit some time, but they definitely worked better than the regular elevators on the smaller ships.

I know you didn't mention it, but deck 10 (lido).  Not sure if you didn't mention it because you didn't realize it was an option, but I just got off Horizon on April 7th from an interior on lido and it was an awesome location.  Quiet too because it was forward of the fwd elevators, so minimal foot traffic.  Close to bars and food.

If that's not an option, then whichever cabin on deck 7 or 8 has cabins above and below.

Ultimate XO