Mommapadraig

2 hours ago, Stowaway LFC said:

Hey guys 🙂  Longtime North Texas shameless lurker finally jumping in to say hello!  Haven't cruised in a really long time but pulled the trigger on a 10 day Alaska cruise with Carnival for next September and planning to book a London Cruisetour to the British Isles with Norwegian in 2025.  I have learned so much here on this site but have yet to figure out what the "Cannot be named" sites are? Maybe I don't wanna know lol.

 

I have followed all of your reviews and ya'll are just awesome!  Looking to follow Saint Greg on his Norwegian adventure bc I have never sailed Norwegian before and am really interested in how  the flight thing pans out.

 

I'm pretty boring I would say, my career is in healthcare, I have been blessed to have a remote position after years of pounding hospital floors and I am likely most introverted person you would prob ever meet.  I'm a huge foodie and want to hire Sid as a personal chef!  The man can throw down on the food!

 

Anyhow, just wanted to say hello and I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

 

 

Welcome! As far as the personal chef goes……don’t let Sid make your lunch……….speaking of sardines I saw a magazine in the check out lane that said lose 17 pounds in a week. When I looked at the diet I thought of Sid. One step of this miraculous weight loss was eat only Sardines for 72 hours. Nope.

When looking at the special needs link that was posted on the very bottom it also gives this email address. Access@carnival.com.Have you emailed them?  Rather than all of the phone calls I think you would get the answer in writing by emailing them rather than calling. If they say you can bring the food just print out the email and bring it along.

2 hours ago, SailorJack said:

 

Someone just tipped me off about your post - sorry I missed it when you first posted it.! Glad you enjoyed the review - I enjoyed writing it - but again, I had a lot of material to work with.😃

 

 

I case you may be interested, my latest review is over on the Azamara board

 

Jack

This was fabulous. I’m off to the Azamara board. Thank you for sharing.

6 minutes ago, SweetCinNY said:

I guess I’m surprised because on Norwegian it was taken care of in one contact and I got the restaurant manager’s name/extension to request more.

 

on RC they were in our fridge upon arrival; so expected the same from Carnival—guess I’m not dealing with same caliper cruise line? 🤷‍♀️

Huh! I’m Surprised that the other cruise lines accommodated such a specific request! I would have never known this was even possible.I hope you’ll post when it’s resolved. 

This is the dietary accommodations on the Carnival site.

Carnival Cruise Line can provide our guests with the following special dietary needs: Vegetarian, Low-Cholesterol, Low-Carbohydrates, Low-Sugar, Gluten Free, Indian Vegetarian and Kosher. If you have food allergies, please advise your dining staff once aboard.

since your requirements are such specific foods I would contact the special needs department to see if you can bring it on board and then get a letter giving you permission to bring it on board.

10 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Sorry, by the time it was done, I was feeling pretty good from the 15.8% alcohol red wine I was drinking... It turned out okay, but not as great as I was hoping for the price. I ended up eating about half of it, then putting the rest in the fridge for this evening. Next thing I knew, I was knocking out the other half rack of Chili's baby back ribs...

 

 

 

 

 

That looks delicious. On Facebook they had a video about a reversed seared steak for a perfect cook on a thick steak. It involved low heat in oven and then a fast sear in a pan. I may try it. We get a cut of chuck that is called a center cut chuckeye. On the package I picked up yesterday they renamed them Delmonicos. The price went up 3.00 a pound with the renaming. One of the most tender steaks I’ve ever eaten. I may try this on them.

16 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Half hour of work to go until the weekend! I snuck out after lunch and picked up a bottle of wine to go with my steak tonight... 

I was looking forward to steak photos…..

41 minutes ago, cml4958 said:

And the drama continues.  I talked to my sister last night.  New story is that my parents are going to move from the senior living place they are in, back to their paid for house and get a contractor in to make some improvements to make it easier for them.  All I can do is roll my eyes at what is going on.  Mom and sister aren't talking and mom sent sister a google invite for a meeting with a contractor today.

 

She (my sister) thinks that because I wasn't willing to do the research for her for a place up here that she (my mom) decided to stay down there.  Who knows?

The fact that your Mom has already switched to a whole new plan tells me you spot on  to stay out of the search. 

2 People are reporting on the other site that they have emails cancelling their June 2024 and October 2024 cruises.

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

 

 

The fries had me. How was the burger? Did it rate being on the list for the top burgers in NYC?

1 hour ago, sid_9169 said:

Night number one sober is in the books... I took my usual afternoon walk, and stopped by the art supply store for some more paint. Man, is that stuff expensive! Seventy bucks later, I was on my way back home.

 

A cheap simple dinner of cauliflower "salad" with peppers and Vidalia onion dressing. I also bought a pack of decent all beef hotdogs over the weekend, to try and save some money, so I had one of those too. In addition to the drinking, I'm also trying to get my overspending on food under control. After that, another couple of episodes of Game of Thrones...

 

I'll be going for night number two sober this evening.

You are doing much better than me.I admire your perseverance. My struggle is to get back on a low carb diet. The only thing low carb on my daily consumption right now is my vodka club soda and lime. I’ve already blown it this morning so perhaps tomorrow will be my day one. 

Our CC was able to tell which rooms had tubs versus showers. 

I actually stumbled across your birthday on cruise critic. I didn’t know they posted that. You can thank your friend Sid_9169 for my find. I’m on an iPad and was scrolling down to where he usually posts and went too far and saw it. 

A hint? I’ll have to go back and look since it went right over my head! Thanks for a great review, for the first time we are looking at Carnival cruises. Happy Birthday.

• Today's Birthdays - Enjoy your day!

  • PhotoJane42A15
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  • Saint Greg
     
  • this was on my main page of cruise critic this morning.Happy Birthday???

On 6/4/2023 at 3:42 PM, Sthrngary said:

@Daniel A My advice based my upcoming trip to Europe is the following:

 

1. Look at the Hotel they are booking and see if you can book it yourself, for less money and cancel (Full Refund ONLY or don't Cancel). You usually save a ton by doing it yourself.
2. The ground transportation is a google search a way.  I have two "Taxi's" set up.  One for the Airport to the Hotel.  The other from the Hotel to the Port.  Far easier and less expensive than I thought.  Let me add less confusing also.  I have had all kinds of issue finding the representative especially on late flights. I don't like waiting for other planes to land for a bus to fill up.  None of this is an issue when I handle it myself.
3. Besides saving money on Pre/Post Hotel Stays, you can pick and choose the hotel based in your want to sightsee or not.  An example is the hotel I choose is in the City Center of Athens, Greece.  I read all the reviews, saved money and watched videos of the actual hotel on YouTube. 

 

Many folks want the cruise company to do all the arrangements. It is easier for them.  In my case, it is less expensive and easier for me to handle it myself.  This includes Air, Hotels and Ground Transportation.  I also when out of the country, arrange my own Excursions or Sightseeing items I want to go to with the Use of Google Maps and YouTube which can be your best friend.  

 

I know I did not answer your exact question directly, however I do hope I helped in some way.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

 

I talked to my CC yesterday about a hotel in Rome. It doesn’t show any available for our cruise but she told me it’s much cheaper if we just book them ourselves. 

102 pages…..when I woke up this morning I saw the first post on page 100. I forgot to comment…so now I’ll say woot! Woot! Well done.

Thanks for a wonderful review. Seeing Amsterdam again has me looking for a cruise that includes that and Belgium. 

Wow! This is a beautiful ship. Outdoor spaces are much nicer than any of the NCL ships I’ve been on. My friends would love the smoking section. Thanks for the tour. 

Just now, TxTeach79 said:

Gonna be honest… couldn’t take just a ton of portable pictures in the ol’ red light district 

 

 

 

It’s been 50 years since I was in Amsterdam but I still remember the French fries in a paper cone with a Mayo-type sauce. If you see them get them!

23 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Just booked the Epic H9 Haven Spa Suite for October. Really looking forward to staying in what many believe to be the best Haven in the NCL fleet, plus, they just refurbished it.

What deck? We were in an  Epic Haven aft room on deck 11 on the TA in April. You will love the Epic Haven. Even though it was a jaunt to get to the haven we didn’t feel we missed anything. The year before we had been in the haven proper. The best way for us to get to the haven was always head to the aft elevators on the port side. (Red carpet in front) we never waited for an elevator. We took the elevator to 15 and walked across the deck. Even though there is the private haven elevator outside the buffet we usually just took the stairs up to 16. First cruise ever that we didn’t gain weight. Enjoy!!!

Just now, LrgPizza said:

 

It's been quite a while since I've cruised with you, Keith.  I'd imagine us sitting at the Haven bar, ordering beer, and being frowned upon by the bartenders trying to push us into ordering something more fancy and classy.  It went something like this: "No thanks. I'm good with the beer. And you can keep your glass."

There was a couple in the haven with us on our last TA. For 15 days they both only ordered Budweiser in the can. They knew what they liked. 

12 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

We haven't had a single customer all day, and exactly twelve o'clock two ladies walk in... I'm finally about to eat my survival lunch of Trader Joe's giant baked beans in tomato sauce with Ritz crackers...

 

 

They really need a yikes button on CC……

Thank you for your honest  review. We’ve been in the haven 3 times. We’ve had very attentive butlers who I’m sure found us to be very frustrating. We didn’t want the daily snacks, etc. They kept checking so we finally settled on veggies and dip and potato chips. We also got the M&M peanuts. There seemed to be a shortage on our last cruise so she would bring some type of chocolates to hold us over. We didn’t care for them. Poor butler! (Even though we didn’t use her very much we tipped as if we did. she tried.)  I didn’t like the breakfast potatoes in the Haven restaurant. Each day I asked if any hash browns. Each day I was told no. Rather than going to the restaurant manager for a special request we just started eating breakfast in Taste. On our 2nd morning there the waiter said I see you are haven guests. Why are you eating here? I told him we liked their hash browns! He laughed and said we are glad you joined us! ( we also thought their tomato juice tasted better! No idea why) We love the haven for the small crowds, the fabulous staff who knew our names by day 2 and the bartenders who not only called us by name but knew our favorite drinks. Our next cruise is in a regular room. We are haven when we can find a great deal.

29 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

When I got home from my walk yesterday afternoon, my plan was for a non drinking night. Well, my friend from Florida was in town, asked if I wanted to join him at Taqueria Del Sol... So, you can probably guess where this story is headed. Long story short, I had three margaritas, BUT I didn't have anything else once I got back home. I guess that I'll try for night number one tonight... 

I made your fresh lime Margaritas. Delicious. I could have asked for the recipe but I was sure I could easily find it! Wrong! I first went through AyTee El. Early on it appears  that was your wine drinking days. (I went through that phase too. Now my drink of choice is vodka, club soda and lime with a few Margaritas thrown in and an occasional Dos Equis.) Then I had to venture off and read all of your “live reviews”. I finally found a recipe post on 5/29/2022. Not sure where. I’ve also gotten through most of this current ongoing topic.It took days but the read was worth it. Best wishes to you and the rest of the regulars. I’ll continue lurking along.