TravelBluebird

That is what we like to do as well! I’ve heard rumors of a fight on the Venezia but I haven’t been able to confirm it—still checking around.

I have played twice, on the Mardi Gras and the Venezia. First time I won $25 for Bingo and $30 Casino cash. Second time I just won the $25 for Bingo. It was fun and I like that you can win little prizes—for Bingo, either you’re the big winner or a loser, no in between, and on the larger ships there are so many people playing Bingo that your odds to win are not great.

Goodness! I can’t believe this is a thing. I think the average number of people who “fall” off a cruise ship in a year is around 19 or 20–out of 20 million or so yearly worldwide cruise ship passengers. So this is not a giant problem. The only ways I’m in the water off a cruise ship? If the ship goes down, or if I’m thrown in by someone, in either case my problems then seem much bigger than just falling in.

@Psweets When we’ve traveled with others on Carnival, you can select other people you cruise with—or new friends—right in the app so you can get a table together. That said, the largest group I’ve done this with is 6. I’ve answered you in the other thread as well…I think managing such a large group with Your Time Dining would be very hard to do, for both you and the Main Dining Room. Would love to hear directly from other people who have cruised with a very large group and see if they’ve made this work through the app and Your Time Dining, as I’m traveling with a group of 12+ next year for a Jubilee cruise.

I absolutely suggest set time dining for a group this large, for the reasons @shof515 suggest. I’m traveling with a group of 12 next March and, as much as I like the freedom of Your time Dining, its very nice to have a table large enough for everyone, and for everyone to come together at the same time—may be the only time we see some of the younger people in our group. That said, we hate the 2 times given for Set Time Dining—one is too early, and one is too late.

I am already worried about the Internet for this particular journey, but I’m going to do it anyway—I know it won’t compare to the excellent Internet on the Carnival Venezia! Glad you enjoyed this LIVE blog! I so enjoy taking everyone along with me 💕

That’s so odd—we had ice delivered every day, in an ice bucket, on our Carnival Venezia maiden voyage cruise. Perhaps because we were in a Terrazza Cabana?

If you are interested in what it was like to take a Transatlantic, I did a LIVE blog here on Cruise Critic on my recent experience on the Carnival Venezia: Additionally, here is my video on what I thought about taking a TransAtlantic Cruise, with a ton of pros and cons:

An UPDATE to my cruise schedule! I’ve now got the following cruises planned; I’ll do LIVE Blogs on all of them right here on Cruise Critic. For security reasons I’ll post the dates closer to the cruises, but I’ll include the months I’m sailing here: —Royal Caribbean Wonder of the Seas - October —Carnival Celebration - November —HAL Oosterdam to South America and Antarctica - January —Carnival Jubilee - March, with a BtoB with my grandchildren joining me thereafter. Phew! HAL was unexpected—I was offered a free cruise. I don’t think this had anything to do with my blogging or YT channel since it came to a private email—last time I cruised with HAL was over 10 years ago!. Excited about finishing the Carnival Excel class “trifecta” with Celebration and Jubilee, as I love the Mardi Gras so much. Also, if you are interested in the Transatlantic aspect of my journey on the Venezia, here is my latest YouTube video:

Yes, this is the Terrazza Balcony. We really loved it! I have lots of information about it in this thread and also a video about this type of room including a tour on my YT channel.

You are very welcome! The internet on Venezia was overall excellent. Absolutely no problem with emails. I had the Premium plan due to my need to upload videos. For several TransAtlantic days, my husband had the Value (medium) plan which was suitable for email and most web sites. We did not try the Social plan (lowest level). We very much dislike that you only get one log on for Internet, since to have 2 plans, one for each of us on the long 15 day cruise would have been prohibitively expensive, and for each of us to sign on and off my plan for the days we did not each buy a plan was exhausting and inconvenient. I understand Royal gives you 4 log ins for the Internet plan, which is so much more reasonable—even 2 log-ins for 1 purchased plan at the Value or Premium levels would be a huge help.

I will post a link! Ultra cruise is a Carnival Players Club cruise—a discounted rate for room, gifts, cocktail party, treats in room, prizes (can be quite nice; iPads and MacBooks), special events, DOU in casino for you and companion. I’ve only ever been offered Premier cruises before, but this is my first offer on an Ultra. Maybe I spent a little too much in the casino on Venezia? 😂

Well, I said my next Carnival LIVE would not be until Jubilee in early March 2024….but we just got invited to Ultra Cruises (Casino cruise) and we are now eyeing a Celebration cruise at the end of November. Will let you know if we book it! Sleeping on it overnight. I’ve wanted to sail Celebration but prices have been so high every time I’ve looked.

This definitely makes sense, especially since we’ll be visiting Hakodate on Hokkaido, which is a cruise port.

Yes! This one includes the Terrazza Cabana room, AND the full Carnivale area: I’m also planning to do a separate video on all the Terrrazza amenities and perks.

Definitely; if I can figure out a place it fits here on CC I will do it here, plus I’ll have videos. I’ve been to Japan many times (my daughter lives there) so if you have any questions, please ask me! Kyoto is incredible—such a beautiful city! And Tokyo—no other city is like it!

So the minor cold I brought back with me from the Carnival Venezia lingered into laryngitis that just wouldn’t go away. Finally got my voice back, so I could complete my Carnival Venezia Walking Tour series. This is the final video in that series, and it includes Decks 11 and above—the surprising nooks and crannies on 11, the walking track, the spalsh zone, sun loungers, and all the fun ship ad-ons like the rope course and the arcade too. Over the next few weeks I have lots more to come; back to my “day job” so probably back to 1 video or so a week since I do like to fully edit them. This LIVE! has been such a blast; I love sharing my trips with everyone here in the Cruise Critic Community. My next LIVE! Will be on RC’s Wonder of the Seas in October, with trips to Seattle and Japan in the interim. Hoping to also take the Spirit from Mobile in the Fall but I haven’t booked her yet,

Aww thanks! We do like to dance on our cruises. I’ve mentioned here that I think my level of fitness and continued dedication to walking//dancing//walking out helped me heal up very well! It’s so true the way the terminal dumps you at 48th Street. Might be a little overwhelming for someone who had never been to New York before! We didn’t stay in New York this trip since we have family there and take trips for Broadway shows semi frequently. Hope you enjoyed your 2 days in Manhattan!

Thank you for letting me know! She’s a beautiful ship; a great addition to the Carnival fleet!

I have a trip to Seattle for work in early August, then visiting my daughter in Japan the rest of that month. Although not cruises I’ll cover the travel on my YT channel—not sure I can “fit” any of that under Cruise Critic categories! My next booked cruise is Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas first week of October. We are looking to pick up a last minute (hopefully well priced!) Carnival cruise in the interim, then Carnival Jubilee first week of March!

You are so welcome; I can’t wait to hear how your trip is as well!! I have one last walking tour to put online; that is everything above Lido (except Serenty); I should have that one up sometime tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. Terrazza rooms have robes with logos but no slippers…I don’t know about the rest of the rooms; will try to find out!

These are the guys that come up to you while you are coming out of the terminal and offer you a ride for a fixed price. They do not drive a yellow taxi, and they are not Uber or Lyft which you have to arrange via the app. So, for me, its only a licensed yellow (in NY) cab OR Uber or Lyft I arrange on the app.

Our plane shows on time! Imagine our disappointment after the gleaming experience of the new Delta terminal to end up in gates 60-69 for departure, which is in the non-renovated part of the Terminal. Still can’t hold a candle to Atlanta for shops//restaurants etc; not a ton of concessions, even in the renovated part. I had desperately wanted a breakfast sandwich and couldn’t achieve that…breakfast was over at 10:30 at both concessions we checked, and we asked at 10:35. Loved the drop off//TSA portion of the terminal. Except for those new round luggage security scanners. Ours broke down and it took forever for them to divert our carry ons to another one.

I do not know, but I will find out for you!

Debarkation was a breeze. We were Group 3, so no big lines (I can’t speak to if the lines would be longer later in the process). Virtually no line for passport control, and no customs line. We were off the ship by 8:20, and on the street by 8:40! We opted for a taxi when we came out and saw the large scrum of people waiting for Ubers and Lyfts. You get both across the street from the Terminal. I could see where walking a few blocks away or Uber would have helpped. We were offered a shared taxi by a Gypsy to LGA for $100. Never take a gypsy cab in NY: often not insured and usually not a bargain. And no thanks in this situation; both uber and taxi price is usually between $60 to $70. Taxi line really isn’t organized at all except for a sign that says TAXI. Took 30 minutes to get a taxi. Wife of one of the men in line checked the Uber side and that was about what their wait was also. Taxi was $67, not including tip. We got a large one with tons of luggage space. Traffic, so we got to the airport about 9:50. Not bad at all! As to the shuttle, it was sold out on this sailing, so if you want it be sure to book early. One of the shuttles caught its bumper on the curb this morning and I think they had everyone get off (and then get back on) so they could un-stick it. I could see both the taxi and uber waits being much longer if you got off the ship later. One odd disembarkation thing—Carnival ran out of tags for luggage, so a few people ended up stuck with non-assisted luggage which they did not want. Hope that helped!