ohioNCLcruiser

Some rumors amongst the officers and staff on the Ecstasy's final few sailings is with some Costa ships coming (ones that haven't been announced yet) and some ship shuffling around they suspect the Elation will be sent off to retirement in 2023. (Yes I know they are booking her through 2024 and has a dry dock scheduled in early 2023 as of now..just a rumor from them)

1 hour ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

is "head down the coast line" walkable or do you need to grab a cab?

10000% walkable. Its right there.

That is very disappointing about Kauai as I personally believe it is the most beautiful of all the islands. With that said Kona is the cutest little town on the big island. I absolutely love Kona and I think it is well worth the tender ride. Make sure you go to The Kona Inn for a Mai Tai. They are the best I have ever had but if you have two be prepared to take a long nap after.

Kona is the perfect port to do it yourself. When you get off the tender platform head down the coast line. Lots of shops, restaurants, museum houses, local items etc. Pick up some Kona Donkey Balls they have about 100 different flavors and are delish. 

3 hours ago, Buck64 said:

Good point.  Exactly what I was thinking!  As long as the sea trials go smoothly I don't see any reason for a delay.

I have high homes there are no delays but the sea trails are just part of it. Can still have quite a bit of the hotel/resort side of the things needing to be finished like outfitting, interior décor elements etc.

Thanks for sharing your feedback. I agree about the sandwiches being the specialty of Carnival's food. I think when people say they weren't able to find anything to eat onboard they mainly mean it didn't live up to their expectations compared to other cruise line's food quality. 

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

Oh, were you the one that started that thread that she was an old piece of junk?  Yeah, I remember that one.  Very much looking forward to our month onboard her over the next year.

Nope that wasn't me. I'm considering booking her 12 day August sailing out of Dover next month. I still had a great time onboard. Hopefully the old neglected girl gets a nice makeover next year. Love that class of ship. She has some wonderful crew that I'm sure will give you a great experience. 

2 minutes ago, jsglow said:

When were you on her Ohio?  I've seen all those reports too but we were on her 9 months ago and she mostly seemed okay to me.  Maybe I just didn't see it.  No doubt one of my very favorite ships to date.

My last time was the TA in May. I wasn't even sure I would trust the lifeboats lol! Even inside my bathroom in my cabin the frame was all rusted out. Crew was great the ship's condition was not.

Based on her current horrendous condition the more weeks in drydock the better! I love the Spirit class of ship and the crew on the Pride was wonderful but she was looking awful. Glad she is finally going to be getting some much needed TLC. 

On 7/6/2022 at 10:46 PM, Badfinger said:

 

Why in the world would he even want to take a cruise?  Constant reminder of work..at least it would be to me.  

I worked at guest services onboard cruise ships being screamed at by passengers 42 weeks a year but I still love cruising. Quite the different experience! I bet that is part of why he isn't cruising on Carnival though. That might be too much like work for a vacation. I would not sail on a ship I worked on.

On 7/6/2022 at 9:49 AM, Eli_6 said:

The problem is that some of us not on casino offers or who booked these cruises a long time ago are still paying the full fares.  I don't expect much if I get a free or almost free cruise. If the cruise is costing me 10k, I expect more.  And, yes, our cruise was nearly that much because we have a vista suite and an adjoining balcony.  Granted, to have a suite and adjoining balcony on Royal, it would be at least 12k-15k and on Disney, Celebrity, etc. it would be 20k or more. So, perhaps, maybe the sentiment still holds true...

 

With that said, I recently priced a cruise out of Barcelona for a 2 story family duplex on MSC and it was only 8k so maybe I need to look into MSC...and the room was absolutely INCREDIBLE and I think was even in the Yacht club.

Oh you are in for a treat if you book that! The Yacht Club is a wonderful experience and like others have said on here MSC keeps their ships looking stunning. Carnival suites come with almost no perks unlike the other cruise lines. Private pool area, deck area, suite guest restaurants etc. 

I mentioned in my first reply that the crew on the Pride was wonderful and the itins in Europe are great so I'm sure you will have a great time. However now that my casino offers have dried up I am not booking any new Carnival cruises for the time being. There are much better bangs for your bucks out there for your money. 

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Oh no!  I have been so excited to go on my Pride sailing in less than 2 weeks for so long.  Some of these things I can understand, but (for example) the cracked glass is unacceptable and a safety hazard.  It could shatter and hurt someone!

 

FWIW, you are not the first poster who has complained about the state of Pride. 

I was most recently on the Pride during her transatlantic cruise. The crew is A+, food was average for Carnival and we overall had a great time. With that said the condition of the ship is jokingly bad. Even the comedians were calling it the "Tetanus of the Seas" due to the exposed rust. My friends and I were even joking that some of the outer decks and metal fixtures on the Titanic looked better after 100 years under the water. One person in our group had instant buyers remorse when they boarded the ship after coming off some other cruise lines recently but the service and itin is what won him over. So have a good time, enjoy the crew but yes the ship is in awful shape. It was embarrassing being docked next to other cruise line's ships.

A moment of silence for the hard working crew that is assigned to clean the public restrooms around Guy's Burger after this new burger launches.

On 6/9/2022 at 8:23 PM, kangforpres said:

Our house is going to get a major remodel that might take 6 weeks, so with any luck I can be away from all that noise.

Thats very brave of you to not be around to check the quality and progress along the way! Myself and just about everyone else I know who has done a remodel this year has dealt with horrible contractor issues. Poor quality, delays, not showing up etc.

12 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

I thought Fly2Fun guaranteed that they would get you on the ship? 

One of the biggest misunderstandings about Fly2Fun. They guarantee you will get to the ship either on your embarkation day, next port or not at all...🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

If you are on Facebook you can write a post on John Heald's wall with whatever request you have three days before the sailing. Make sure to include your booking number and he will forward your request to the ship. Remember though just three days before not anything earlier. 

On 3/2/2022 at 9:26 AM, jsglow said:

It'll get a 'sun' related name for sure.

Carnival Brilliance 

On 1/26/2022 at 6:11 AM, travelplus said:

I was wondering what is the current capacity on the Panorama? Are they distancing cabins? 

 

The reason I ask this is lets say no one is staying in the Balcony cabin next to me can they remove the partition for a larger balcony and bring me some lounge chairs and a larger table? 

They won't do that sorry to say.

My Jan 22nd sailing had 2,200. My Feb 5th sailing had 3,200 and they were expecting the Feb 26th sailing to be at almost 4,000. The empty days of the Panorama are over...

4 hours ago, travelplus said:

Glad I am going the 24th so hopefully not too many kids and it will be quiet! Wonder what the capacity will be.

They are expecting the 26th to be their busiest sailing since the restart. Expect 3,800-4,000+. Huge amount of casino offer bookings. Did you mean Feb 26th or a different month? 

This week we have just over 3,200 passengers on board. 1,000 more than just two weeks ago. They are expecting this and more through the end of spring break at least. 

New itins coming or will she be a fleet exit? Hmmm

It's interesting that the Spirit becomes unassigned about 10 days before the Pride leaves Tampa on a 14 day transatlantic to start her European season. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Spirit took over her sailings and she stayed behind here in the US.

Hi Everyone,

I have a casino offer that comes with free drinks in the casino and freeplay. I notice that if I login online it shows the same casino rates but I can't if that is the casino offer. If I book online will I get the benefits I would get if I also called? The reason I rather do it online is several of us are booking together but in all different areas currently. Would be a lot easier just doing it online. 

Thanks in advance for your help!

James

I think the OP was asking about how recently, before the covid mess over the past week, the Panorama has been swapping its itinerary order a few weeks before each sailing. 

Instead of Sea - Cabo - MZ - PV - Sea - Sea it becomes Sea- Sea - PV - MZ - Cabo - Sea.

I would assume this will continue forward until the ship eventually gets fixed in dry dock. Has there been any sailings over the past couple months that didn't have their itinerary reversed before sailing?

The Oasis class is in my opinion one of the coolest classes of ships ever built. I also thought it was the least crowded feeling ship we had been on. If its within your budget I would pick one of those. As mentioned above I would select Allure last since they don't have as many of the updates as the others. See if you can pick an itinerary that stops at CoCoCay their private island.