Richjoxyz

I parked in the Long Beach garage once and it was easy, just stay to the right when entering the port. The garage is very close to check in. I have parked further away at target.

Rooms above and below is ideal.

If down low, try to be on deck 2, with rooms below, and get under the purser office or even the theater, unless you go to bed early. The theater is quiet all night.

Deck 1 is hit and miss, there can be mechanical equipment below, or noisy crew rooms.

However, I do not recommend going all the way forward if you are down low, because the waves crashing on the bow sound like a thunder storm all night.

I like to be near the forward elevators. We also pay attention to what is above and below our cabin, never under the galley.

My preference is mid to forward. I stay away from cabins near the propulsion due to the erratic vibration often noticed aft. I prefer the smooth rhythmic motion found forward.

I layer the bottom, and top of my suitcase with plastic trash bags. Totally easy to do, and I use the trash bags for my dirty laundry during the week. This happened to me before too!

To DebJ14 above, we must have hit enter at nearly the same time! Great minds think alike.

I am the OP, and trust me, I love cruising, I love Carnival, and there are very few times I have missed diner in the MDF. But when I see those napkins come out, and start spinning, all I can think of is how many crumbs are landing on my head.

Usually my chocolate melting cake and two scoops of ice cream are still sitting on my waiters tray, waiting for the song to be over, collecting all the wayward crumbs as the ice cream slowly melts in front of my eyes. If I only didn't have that second lobster tail, the ice cream would be on my table by now...

I like the idea of crumb insurance, lol, I will look for that on my next travel policy!

I agree, Carnival owes me a free cruise due to willful neglect to protect my ice cream from crumbs.

Carnival does this on purpose, it's the pre-wash cycle. :)

Maybe it's just me, but all I can think about when everyone is spinning their napkins in the MDR is crumbs flying EVERYWHERE! Rather than spin my napkin, I duck and cover! INCOMING! MUST PROTECT CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE!

Did they sound the abandon ship horns, six or seven short beeps, and then a long one? Or did they just make announcements?

Okay, I'll bite...did you lose an arm in the war?

Sorry to disabuse you, but I do not think that Goths and Vampires are the same thing.

If a Goth drinks a Bloody Mary, is he now a Vampire? Kicked out of the Goth Brotherhood? :D

I can't imagine a bunch of pasty goth people to be using the pool area :D so you might get a much coveted lounger by the pool.

LOL You're right come to think of it! Most will be sleeping in their coffins all day! Too funny! Just wear garlic around your neck at night and you'll be fine.

Yes, cruise prices are staying up this year. We book B2B every Christmas and book early to get ES. We usually end up with a couple hundred dollars in OBC due too price drops.

Not this year. Prices have held firm or gone up!

We'll be onboard soon! Thanks for the review.

We'll be there in December on the Valor. Looks great! I love these upgraded Carnival ports. Nothing stopping anyone from leaving for the day. Love coming back after a long day out and having a beer near the ship while the wife looks at the shops. Carnival really does a nice job with these, and they are a nice upgrade on the island.

I like forward.

Forward has a smooth, soothing and predictable motion.

Aft has a jittery, shaking and erratic motion.

Mid is somewhere in between.

Why OV?

The rooms are larger than the balcony rooms, cheaper, good location if you are near the front elevator bank. Close to the doors for getting on and off. Less motion.

Stay towards the front, under guest services or the theater. Don't go all the way to the front or the crashing waves on the bow will drive you bonkers.

We like deck two as close to the front stairs as possible. Great location.

Tell the boyfriend to cough up the extra cash to book RCI or chill! Tell you the truth, I like Celebrity, Holland and RCI a little better than Carnival. But the differences are minor. I am platinum on Carnival and book Carnival a lot. Carnival has LOTS of ships, always in the Caribbean, and usually very low price. The product is only slightly different. In fact, all cruise lines are getting very similar in product type.

Think about what you do on a cruise. What do you enjoy? Are the other lines better? For example, I like being on a ship. They are all ships. I like a little booze on vacation. They all have booze. I like Caribbean ports. They all go to Caribbean ports. I like the casino, they all have casino. I like a couple silly shows, they all have it. I like food, never starved on a Carnival ship. If you really look, you can find things you like on Carnival that the others don't have. Any cruise should be a good time if your head is in the right place.

If he wants high end, fine, tell him to write the check. If you want a budget cruise, go on Carnival and expect it to be what it is. A fun week with some beach stops. Wouldn't hear any complaints from me.

Staying alive..staying alive..ah.ah.ah.ah..staying aliiiiive...

I got the call right after you. You should have picked up, I got the Royal Suite for free!!! :D

We always use a TA, and always get an extra $50 to $100 OBC.

Early Saver is easier with our TA also, we just check for price drops, call the TA and let them do the work. No forms to fill out, no fighting with Carnival.

Let it Ride in the casino! My Mom MUST have Let it Ride in the casino.

I like other cruise lines, but most no longer have Let it Ride!

I am now Platinum due to my Moms desire for Let it Ride! LOL

OV for sure.

The OV rooms are much larger, in fact are larger than balcony rooms because the space that is a balcony, is just more cabin space in an OV.

Plus, the motion is less down low. We like the front, we don't want to be below the galley or near the engines. Front under the showroom works well for us.

We booked these two cabins for me/wife in the balcony and MIL in the inside. If anyone has stayed in them, please comment. I would like to hear opinions of the location and setup.

We get a balcony for the three of us to share, and two rooms with two bathrooms. We can leave the door open all day, but also have some privacy at night. Seemed like a good fit for us and Mom.

Not too many posts on this cabin so reaching out.

I would fly to San Juan and cruise the Southern Caribbean. You can hit 5 islands rather than 3, and they are better in my opinion. If you stay a night or two in San Juan, you turn a 7 day cruise into a 9 day island vacation. Cruise prices are cheaper out of San Juan. The air fare can be a little higher, but if you are selective you can find it for about the same price. We live in Northern CA and have done San Juan many times. Still my fav if I had to pick only one cruise.