broberts

I have heard form several people that the short cruise on Carnival is just for the people that like to stay up and drink and dance the night away. They also say that the food is delicious on the week long cruise. Maybe you are correct in saying it is the length of the cruise that makes all the difference. I must say that the experience on the short cruise was so bad that I am not willing to try the longer cruise. Dori

Unfortunate, but entirely understandable. Fortunately there are many other lines.

I went on Carnival two years ago and it was the worst food I ever had! The buffet was a dry whole turkey that they carved for you, an inedible chicken dish and spaghetti and meatballs the tasted like they poured the whole jar of basil in it. The food in the MDR wasn't much better. The waiter told us on the first night (lobster night) that this was the best night for food and for the rest of the cruise it went downhill and he was correct. I love Mexican food and when it came time for the midnight buffet it was all Mexican! I was so excited it looked great! I took a few bites and wondered how could they mess up the food so badly? We were on the Sensation on the short cruise and will never do Carnival again. We usually go on the Disney and are satisfied with the food. It is good buy not great. At least I didn't go hungry like I did on Carnival. We are going on the Liberty of the Seas 4-4-10 and I am very curious how the food will be. It is a week long cruise and I figure I will either gain the usual 5 pounds or loose 10! If you have been on Liberty of the Seas lately please let me know if you enjoyed the food. Thanks Dori

I was quite surprised to read your post. I've cruised Carnival, week long, and found the food to be quite acceptable. Certainly not as bad as you describe. In fact quite a bit better. So I wonder if it was the length of the cruise or the ship. In my experience even with essentially the same menus some ships prepare it much better than others.

That sounds so easy to do but when I go into my Control Panel, I have a choice of either Network Connections or Internet Options. When I open Internet Options, I cannot find my browsing history. I using XP Windows if that is any help.

I don't know if clearing your internet history will do the job for you. It all depends on how Princess decides what currency to display. It is entirely possible that Princess bases the decision on where your computer is located, i.e. it uses internet routing information that is not stored on your computer. If this is the case deleting your browser history will do no good.

The alternative is that when you first visited the Princess site it asked you where you were located and then created and stored a "cookie" on your computer that stored this answer. If this is the case then clearing your browser's cookies should do what you want - and a lot that you don't want.

WARNING: when you delete your browsers history you will likely loose a lot of convenience and you may loose access to some sites. All of your automatic sign-ins will no longer happen so you will have to explicitly log into cc and other sites again. If you do online banking and have multiple accounts it is possible that your browser will not remember the accounts and you will have to re-enter this information. Auto complete information may disappear, i.e. when you type part of a web address in the address bar and a list of possible matches appears, or when you are filling in a form field. Exactly what you loose depends on exactly what you delete.

I would suggest that you confirm that removing browser history will do what you want before doing so.

Clearing browser history depends on the browser you are using - the program you are using to read this post.

If you are using Windows Internet Explorere 8 click on the Safety menu button and then on the Delete Browsing History. This will bring up a window that lets you select what you would like removed. Once you've made your selections click on the Delete button.

For older Windows Internet Explorer versions, in the browser click on Tools | Internet Options. This will bring up a tabbed window typically with the General tab selected. Roughly in the center of the General tab you will see a Browsing history section. Click on Delete, select what you want to delete on the window that pops up and click Delete.

If you use Mozilla Firefox, in the browser click on Tools | Clear Recent History. This will bring up a window on which you may select a time to clear. The time will likely be "Everything". It will have to be before you first visited the Princess site. If you want to control exactly what is deleted click on the down arrow head button to the left of Details. Click the Clear Now button when you are ready to perform the deletion.

Certainly not a cruise in the modern sense of the word but my first was aboard the Elder Dempster Aureol in 1957 sailing Liverpool (England) to Apapa (Lagos, Nigeria). Not sure of the stops but I believe they were Freetown (Sierra Leon) and Takoradi (Ghana).

Worst food in my experience was MDR on Radiance OTS. Low quality ingredients prepared unimaginatively. The Prime Rib looked awful, it appeared to have more fat than flesh. Thank goodness I didn't order it. Wait staffed informed us the first night that steaks could only be ordered medium or well - *****! (By the way worst buffet experience was also on this cruise. Bone-in chicken thighs cut in half in a dark heavy sauce - can you spell bone slivers?)

Good was MDR on Jewel OTS. Much better preparation and a little more imagination. Ingredient quality was about the same as Radiance and many cooks used way too much salt.

Best was MDR on Carnival Elation. Slightly better ingredient quality than Royal Caribbean and way more imagination. Deft preparation.

Two conclusions. Even though sister ships may share ingredient sources and menus the on-board staff make a huge difference. Just because Carnival ships are considered "party ships" doesn't mean that they don't know how to prepare very good meals.

Where can I find an intinerary from RC's "Jewel of the Seas" 10-day Caribbean/Panama Canal cruise, please?

The itinerary has had several variations. Early last year, if I recall correctly the 10 night itinerary was

1. Miami
   
2. at sea
   
3. at sea
   
4. Cartagena, Columbia
   
5. at sea
   
6. Panama
   
   1. 
      
   2. Partial Panama canal transit (Gatun locks)
      
   3. Cristobal pier, Colon
      

[*]Puerto Limo, Costa Rica

[*]at sea

[*]George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (tendered)

[*]at sea

[*]Miami

The 11 night itinerary called at Oranjestad, Aruba first followed by Cartagena.

Personally, I wouldn't fuss with all this dropping-off-luggage business. Unless you're bringing a trunk the size of a small mobile home, they'll be plenty of space for your luggage in the back of the shuttle.

There is lots of space on the shuttles but the driver is going to expect a tip for loading and unloading the luggage. Also, there is a bit of a walk from the Hertz drop off area to the shuttle stop. It's only about 350', but involves several turns and going through at least two sets of doors.

Not sure I understand. Why would I need to park the rental car to drop off luggage? I thought we would pull up in the drop off luggage lane, drop of luggage and return car(of course we would keep carry on with us). I am traveling with DH, and 2 teens and I am not sure if I would want to leave them behind and return car, prefer to stay together to avoid any possible separation:eek:. Do not want family to go wondering off in awe over the new ship.;)

You will need your cruise documentation & id handy to enter the port area. The line up to get into the port can be lengthy so count on 15 minutes or so for this.

I would suggest dropping off all baggage and all passengers except the driver. Have them wait by the doors going into the terminal building. As long as they do that the driver will not have any trouble finding them when they get off the shuttle. Driver likely will not need it, but they should take their cruise documentation with them - I don't recall passengers on the shuttle having to show it, but my memory is a little hazy on this point.

8060 on Jewel of the Seas has a partially obstructed balcony. This fact is not noted on the deck plan.

I have been driven crazy by the supposedly free shuttle at FLL. One time it never came- turned out it doesn't run until noon. Last time, they denied us boarding because we rented from one of the two companies that don't participate. Meanwhile the Broward County web site plainly stated that there was a shuttle for all. This time- next Sunday- we will pickup the baggage and TAKE A CAB. I don't want my vacation to start with that kind of hassle again.

I'm not sure where you got the information that the no-charge shuttle between the FLL car rental terminal and the cruise port doesn't run until noon. I have taken this shuttle several times and always before noon!

You said port everglades, so you're talking about the cruise terminal, right? Most rental car companies do not have shuttles at the cruise terminal that go to their rental location at the airport. By far, the easiest, quickest way to get to the airport, or airport car rental locations is to just hop in a taxi. The taxis are right there. The airport is very close, and except for a few reports, it is very cheap. Our taxi fair to FLL has always been about $10 plus tip. It's not worth the hassel of waiting for a shuttle.

This is misleading. There is a shared/common shuttle that runs between the airport terminals and the airport car rental terminal. There is also a shared/common shuttle that runs between the airport car rental terminal and the cruise terminals. There is no charge to use either of these shuttles.

I agree with the hassle of using the shuttle between the airport (car rental terminal) and the cruise terminals. Last time I took it we sat in port traffic for 20 minutes because some **** of a bus driver decided to park his vehicle in a traffic lane in front of the Carnival terminal.

Did not like Carnival warm chocolate melting cake.

You are probably one of a small minority in this. Did you feel that the dessert was prepared properly and it just wasn't as good as others have reported. Or, as one or two others have reported, did you think the one you got was poorly prepared?

. . .

So...it was on Carnival Elation in 2003, and it was some sort of stuffed roasted squab. I don't know if it was actually the chef's fault or if squab (which is essentially a meatless pigeon, as far as I could tell) is just universally awful. I was an inexperienced cruiser at the time. Now I would just send it back and get something else and be pleased that I had gotten to try two different things on the menu.

. . .

Interesting. I had a stuffed squab on Elation, fall 2006 that was an incredible. What made the dish memorable were the stuffing and sauce.

Perhaps I've been fortunate, but I can't recall having anything that tasted awful. The complaints I usually have, (I rarely express them), are more about temperature. Occasionally I'm disappointed by the reality of a dish that was described magnificently on the menu. Desserts seem prone to this later problem.

I often listen to the waiter's recommendation, especially if they "politely" question a choice I'm making.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=494

 

The link above is on Cruise Critic. My wife has attempted making this with limited success. The flavor is perfect, but cooking it long enough to get the crispy top and yet still have the hot liquid center has proved to a challenge. I'm no chef, but my guess is they are cooking it in a convection oven...

Increase the oven temperature. This will cause the outside to cook more rapidly, without affecting the center as much. You'll have to experiment a little, and may have to shorten the cooking time a little.

Here is the official recipe scaled for 10 servings

 

Remember, weight is a more accurate measure than volume (especially with dry ingredients). Just use a kitchen scale and weigh everything instead of measure. It makes things more consistent. :)

 

.7 lbs Semi-sweet chocolate

.7 lbs Butter

7 Eggs

.18 lbs Sugar

.25 lbs Flour

For those of us who use metric measures that would be

Method:

Melt chocolate and butter

Mix half the eggs and sugar and whisk for a few minutes and add flour, then add balance of eggs

Put mixture into ramekins (about 2/3 full)

Bake at 390-395 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Serve with Vanilla ice cream.

 

I have not made this yet but it may take some fine tweaking on baking time and how full to fill the ramekins. All good things are worth the effort and this dessert is no exception. :D

If you haven't made it yet, what is the source of your measures?

I am not sure how many cups of sugar or flour are in say .45 pounds of something, but if someone can figure that out and reduce the recipe we would be grateful.

http://www.pastrywiz.com/conversion.htm

Tablemate on our recent Valor cruise really loved the Chocolate Melting Cake. We asked the Maitre d' and he provided them with the recipe which was for 600 (I think) orders. Probably the same one that Carnival sent to marieinsouthfla.

It would be helpful if marieinsouthfla would post the yield of the recipe she posted. A yield of 600 would result in a serving size somewhere around 200 grams (about 7 oz) which seems on the largish size to me.

Based on the original reipe having a yield of 600, scaled for 6 servings its

Other recipes: http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=5769, http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001542.php. Just leave them in the ramekins to serve.

For variations check out http://www.google.com/search?q=lava+cake&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8.

Interesting...I was on Carnival many years ago, and I liked it then, but it seems somehow Carnival is viewed as a "lower tier" than RCL and Celebrity...Am I wrong?

I don't think that you are wrong about a generally held perception that Carnival is "lower tier". I do think that the perception is wrong.

In my limited experience Carnival's food while not the most imaginative is usually tasty, well prepared and of good quality. I found the menus well structured, offering good variety with choices to suit most palettes, reasonable portion sizes, and good nutritional balance. Those seeking gastronomical perfection will not be happy. Nor will those used to eating in 4 & 5 star establishments.