jules815

Sheliasailaway

 

You are correct in highlighting the red. The last 2 lines are correct .

 

Total for day would be:

 

7-10 mixed drinks

2 at b/fast

2-3 Martini's

 

Beerman is because that's what I do for a living. I do drink beer on occasion . Mixing different drinks doesn't make me sick at all.

 

Hope the count clarifies things a bit, didn't mean to lead all of you astray. Maybe in my younger years I could do the combined totals.

 

Think about this for a minute, if your out by the pool say from 11-4 ( remembering it NOON somewhere) and have a couple of drinks/ beers an hour that's 8-10 right there.

 

Thinking that's pretty reasonable and not overindulging. LOL

I think it's absolutely reasonable. There are definitely cruises where we drink more than others. A cruise with our elderly parents, we might not, when we travel with our friends (we're couples in our late 40's -mid-50's) we typically have a few bloody Mary's or Mimosa's with breakfast in the dining room. Pool time, a few frozen drinks (regular and virgin) or beers (3-4). We always meet in the Champagne Bar or Viking Crown for a few before dinner, a few glasses of wine or cocktails with our dinner, and a few after dinner drinks while we're hanging out on the ship; the Pub or the piano bar. There's a lot of eating throughout the day, and honestly I've never felt like I'm walking around sloshed.

My husband and I are planning a B2B and were wondering if we would try the Premium Package. I think for the first week we will, and we'll save our receipts to compare. Then second week if it seems like it was a good value, we'll probably purchase again. Or...I'll have had enough drinking for the first week, and decide to scale it back the second week.

I think it's a nice that they offer this now.

That's the one we really wished we could have done. What a special cruise! Who knows if they will ever do that itinerary again. We were cruising on Monarch the next day, so were having dinner at Fishlips, and watched Mariner leave PC for the last time.

I remember reading about that cruise here and being so envious. Mariner is the only RC ship we've ever sailed on! It was our first cruise in 2006, then we did it in 2007 and that time our friends with their teens joined us, then again the next year, and finally we flew out to California and did that route. That trip wasn't even on our radar, but the prices were cheap, and we still ended up with price drops.

We did our 1st back to back in February on Independence. Our 1st thought was it may be too long for us. After the 1st week, we loved the idea of being able to stay on the ship. I have already booked our cruise for next February, and yes it will be another b2b. We live in the Midwest, it seems to make sense since we have to pay for airfare anyway - just to take advantage of being gone longer. And after this winter the longer we were out of MN the better!

I hear ya! Chicago here, and another 4-8" tomorrow night into Wednesday. It was 50 today.

We really enjoy dinner in the dining room, but want to be able to take advantage of some of the other dining venues on Allure. With a back to back, we'll be able to do that, and still enjoy plenty of meals in the MDR as well.

I suggest you pack a week or two out, then the day before you leave.....take half out and double the money you take!

True!

I don't pack nearly as much as I did on our first cruise.

I'll add to this.

On Allure and Oasis, is there a deck similar to what deck 4 is on Voyager class, where you can walk around the entire ship outside?

Is there an area for sitting out near the helipad? (great for stargazing on voyager class -- we missed this on Carnival)

And one last thing. On our last cruise we sailed on Carnival Dream. We were docked in one of the ports next to either Oasis or Allure. I think it was Oasis. Anyway, we were oohing and ahhhhing over what a beautiful ship it was, and just as we were all getting ready to pull out of port, there was a bag piper playing out on the helipad. Was this a random event by a passenger who happened to bring along his bag pipes? He was wearing a kilt as well.

Now that our daughter's away at school, I use her room as my staging area, and that might start as early as a month out. The suitcases will be open on her bed, but not packed. It's just a place for me to start my packing piles.

Packing for me is half the fun. :)

I think this actually may be happening! The one thing my husband was being weird about was using two weeks of vacation back to back. He's been with the company for almost 21 years, has 6 weeks, and always loses a few weeks because he never takes it all. He just texted me that he asked his boss how he'd feel about him being gone for two consecutive weeks, and there's no problem with it. Might have to do third and fourth weeks instead of first and second. :eek::D:eek::D

We did a B2B last month and it was great. Just booked our first B2B2B.

:eek: Same ship?! Which one??

That sounds awesome!

Thanks, Bob! I hadn't seen that list. This is our first vacation that I can remember without children or friends. I will especially miss the children (young adults now) Trying the Allure this weekend

Yes Bob, thanks!

pinkroses, the cruise we're planning now will be our first one without children or friends, too.

We've always gone with our friends, or friends with all of our kids. Our youngest daughter, who was the youngest in the group, is a sophomore in college now. It's a liberating and strange feeling at the same time!

Planning stages of our first ever back-to-back cruise; probably on the Allure in September.

For those of you who have ever taken one, did you ever feel like it was too long? I can't imagine feeling that way; we're always so sad on day 6 when we have to put our luggage out in the hallway.

Sitting here at my desk, having cruise fantasies about what it will be like. :rolleyes:

How long are they on for? Trying to calculate if we'd have Capt. Johnny in September (7th and 14th)

This is such good news. Thanks for the info everyone.

I'm over the moon excited, and we haven't even booked yet. :D

Allure.

I know this might sound silly, but that might seal the deal for my husband. We've sailed with him several times on Mariner, and really enjoyed him.

Does either of these ships have Captain Johnny?

I've been doing the virtual tour on the RC website....so many dining options!

Which ones besides the usual (Chops and Portofino (do they even have Portofino anymore?)) have an upcharge? If you're grabbing a hot dog or a donut on the boardwalk, is there a charge?

Also, if we do decide to do a back to back, I'm thinking the My Time dining option might be perfect for us. It will just be my husband and I. Our first time cruising alone; we've always had friends or our children with us.

Good question.

My Caribbean search on the RC website only brought up Allure. Where does Oasis sail from?

There are also d5's on the hump edge which are cheaper

Thanks, will look into these as well.

D1 balconies are the "hump" cabins because the balcony itself is larger. It extends farther out. Cabin 10596 is a great D1 that we stayed in on allure. Also the D1 cabins are located in the middle of the ship so location is great.

 

 

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Perfect! Yes, we had hump cabins on our last 3 Mariner cruises. This is what we're going to want then. :)

My husband and I are looking at a back-to-back for the weeks beginning 9/7 and 9/14. Hurricane season, but we like the adventure. Also, I own a pet sitting business and if I had to pick a good time to get away, September is usually my slow month.

they only thing that worries us a little is with that many passengers, are there long lines everywhere?

D1 Superior or a Superior D2-D8, which is $200 less.

Both appear to be same dimensions, room and balcony.

Is it the location?

Why would we want a D1 Superior versus the other?

I haven't factored in my balcony discount yet, so if there's something special about the D1, I'd take it.

Also, if any of you have sailed in this category, and were really happy with your room, I'd love to hear why and the room numbers.

And now I'll be sitting here all morning looking at photos. I have butterflies in my stomach knowing we'll be booking something soon. :)

Did a back-to-back on the Allure last October and had a great time.

 

We had sailed the ship previously and preferred an upper deck - have done decks 10 and 12, all in cabins toward the aft.

 

It is really personal preference - everyone has given good advice regarding proximity to different locations on the ship. We were just used to upper decks on other ships and so stuck with decks 10 and 12. We did really enjoy the "secret" balconies all the way aft. These are public balconies, not used too much, with great views, especially of the aqua show and the rehersals for the show. Would not do deck 14 - too high and noiser because of the kid's center and pool/sports deck.

 

We found the B2B to be well handled by the crew. We kept the same cabin, and we were glad that we did. The stewards will move all your hanging items from the closet, but you do have to pack everything else, which to us would have been more work for us. We left the cabin and went to breakfast. We were escorted off the ship for immigration, and back on board quickly. You do have the option of leaving the port if you choose. We went back to our cabin for a while - we were truly amazed at the "turn around" crew - there were so many workers getting the cabins ready - the corridors were full of furniture, bedding, etc., that was why we were glad to have kept our cabin so that we didn't have to lug our suitcases to another cabin. It would have been difficult to navigate the corridors!

 

The ship also provided a great complimentary luncheon at Giovanni's.

 

Highly recommend the B2B.

This is so good to hear!

Every time we've cruised in the past with RC, we've always been so envious when we hear the announcement they make for "people who are continuing to sail with us..." We've always thought "I could easily do another week." Plus, with everything we've been through this past year, it makes us want to do it now while we can.

From looking at photos of the ship; the size and all the dining venues, it looks there's plenty to do and see over a 2 week period.

Giovanni's? We haven't sailed with RC since 2009. Can't wait to be back!

My husband and I have had a rough year with ill elderly parents on both sides. (we're both only children) We were supposed to cruise on FOS in May, but due to our situation we had to cancel.

We're now thinking about rescheduling, and my husband mentioned maybe sailing on "the big one" meaning Allure. Our last cruise was, believe it or not, Carnival Dream during the week of hurricane Sandy. Our trip was rough, which wasn't a problem for us as we don't get sea sick, but I did have noro for 3 of the 7 days. Regardless of that bad situation, we're troopers, and cruising is still our preferred vacation. While on Carnival Dream, we were docked next to Allure in St. Maarten, so of course the entire time we were wishing we were on that ship instead of Dream.

We're 53 and 55, and have no problem sailing again during hurricane season. I will NOT cruise when schools are out of session, because we don't have to anymore. :) Been there done that.

And now we're thinking, maybe this might be a good time to finally do a back to back. We're into the ship, and what better way to spend a back to back than on one of the big ones.

Oh, this is VERY IMPORTANT...our cruise on Freedom that we had to cancel, we were going to have our first ever corner aft, deck 7. From looking at the deck plans of Allure, there doesn't seem to be anything like that.

We would definitely want an oceanview balcony, but not a suite. The lowest level suite (with perks) for the week I was looking at is $7488, and an ocean view balcony on deck 6 was just over $2500, making the back to back possible. The only problem I can see with the deck 6 balconies (I believe this one was forward) is I wouldn't want our view obstructed with a lifeboat.

So finally, my question is, if you were looking at an ocean view balcony on Allure, what would a good location be? We don't feel the need to be up super high near the pool deck. Typically on Voyager class we've been on deck 7 or 8.

Are there any bad locations for what would be considered a standard balcony?

Looking at a back to back sailing September 7 and 14, 2014.

We'll be sailing on Freedom of the Seas for the first time next May. It will be our 3rd time doing the eastern Caribbean route, but for us it's more about the ship this time, so no problem repeating again.

I just realized my first post was incorrect. Our next cruise will be our 4th time doing the eastern Caribbean itinerary, although with Carnival we went to Nassau instead of Coco Cay. Anyway, kind of a same ol same ol itinerary, but the ship will be new to us, as will be our first aft balcony (7708), so this cruise will be more about the ship than the ports.

I love port days on an almost empty ship! :D

Not only is he a talented juggler, he has stage presence.

Much success to him!

Huge disappointment!! I love the Dream only ship of Carnivals that I would ever "consider" going back on, and told daughter next year to go on her, but now I have to tell her to go RC because the Sunshine is too small, too old, too many problems so disappointed to get this ship in Pt. Canaveral. The Carnival Liberty ek.....well if you notice I am going back to RC next year so I will continue to give RC my business since their best ship the Dream is being taken away. No problem, I just move up my status on RC and daughter will also. Too bad.

Not sure when you sailed on Dream last, but we sailed in October and it was a big disappointment. Definite decline in every area (service, cleanliness) since our 2010 Dream cruise.

On the other hand, Liberty has had all the upgrades (Guy's Burgers and whatnot) and people seem to really enjoy that ship, so I bet there will be a lot of Carnival cruisers who will be happy about Liberty coming to PC. Not to mention a nice 8-day southern Caribbean itinerary, which will be a welcome change for even RC cruisers who get a little bored with the same eastern/western options out of PC. Something different out of PC, I think it's a smart move for Carnival.