bguppies

That would be for the fill your own soda machines they have on other lines i think you are talking about. Carnival doesn't have that on the vast majoity of their ships. (t haven't been on the newer ships yet.) Been on most of the older ships. On every ship, if you have one of their plastic mugs you buy in the gift shop or at the bar, they will fill that for you or else they fill a glass 16 Oz. pint glass from a soda dispenser or hand you a 16 oz. pint glass with ice and a can of the soda of your choice. If you are getting the soda for a small child a 16 OZ. pint. GLASS might not be ideal. But you can buy their logo mug with lid on board if need be. Maybe be specific with which ship you are goling on and somebody can verify whether that ship might have the soda machines.

We were there last December with 4 ships in port and zero transportation. Rode a trolley years ago, but sounds like it only runs a few days a year anymore. Incredibly long pier with no cover from sun or weather. If you could do like C-leg suggested, that would definitely be the way to go.

Closest beach to the lighthouse is where the reef is closest to the shore if you want to do it yourself.

Yeah it keeps getting worse. We had 4 docked when we werer there this past December. Luckily only 3 docked when we are scheduled this December. I don't even know where they could ferry passengers into, let alone know where they could get a group of tender boats to run the service. In previous years, 2 and 3 ships seemed to overwhelm the port. Cruiselines are cranking out so many new ships and much larger ships, dumping more passengers per day upon ports than they can handle. Costa Maya used to be a great port in the days when it used to be just Mahuhual, before the Costa Maya pier area (Pool, Shops, Etc.) was built and the town would only have one or two of the older smaller boats to deal with. (anyone remember the hole in the wall days on this board?) After the pier area was built, between it and the town, they were now more equipped to handle more than 2 of the older, smaller capacity 2.000-2,5000 pax ships. Now that all the lines are retiring the older ships and replacing them with the 5,000+ pax megaships, but still having the same amount if not more stops at the various ports, all ports are starting to become overwhelmed. At least Costa Maya is on the mainland and can grow in time to accomodate the increasing need. The islands are the ones with the biggest problems dealing with the increased overcrowding, as they have no more room to expand or handle the additional garbage, etc. from the crowds. There is going to be a few years of growing pains as the ports as cruiselines figure out the problems of passenger load per day at the various ports and figure out which ports can and will expand to handle the loads and where they will have to start developing new private islands and othe port stops to alleviate overcrowding at the old ports. Sadly the Mahahual that old cruisers got to experience in the early 2000's or before was a magical cruise day. Today's Costa Maya cruise stop has become just another Nassau/Cozumel/St. Thomas day.

Thank you... DW woulg love snow anytime as we only see flurries once a decade and measuarable snow every 30-40 years.

So no issues with Tromso being closed on a Sunday or any Norweigien holidays in the second half of June? (some countries are strict with Sundays off) Also, is late June good for the scenery in the Fjords? (waterfalls flowing from snowmelt, or is late June too late?)

Thanks for all the input.. Its much appreciated.

Both ports are great for doing non-cruiseline excursions. (both are incredibly well developed so fewer worries about being back to the ship on time. Unless of course you screw up the timing) Might help you get more incisive recommendations if you could break down the ages of your group for everyone. (especially for Cozumel) In Cozumel DW and I always (for decades) go to Nachi Cocum for our beach days. But a supremely relaxing beach day isn't for everyone. If you can break down your groups ages and likes better, Cozumel has something for everybody. In Grand Cayman I'd definitely recommend a non-ship excursion to Sting Ray City. I tried Native Way my first trip there, but way too much excitement getting back to the port with minutes to spare due to them mixing up their three groups all day and getting us back to the port almost late. Have used Stingray Sailing eveytime since and have had a great experience everytime. https://stingraysailing.com/ The link has some good pictuires of the boat and the excursion to give you an idea. If you have a group of 8, you will either have the boat to yourselves or maybe with one other group. We have never been with more than 12 people on board and I think they have a limit of 20, even with a busy day in port. Captain picks you up at the tender pier and drives you to the boat at a marina nearby. (once DW went on a girls cruise and the ships had to go to the pier south of town and he drove down and met them there and gave them the choice of doing the excursion or not, since the waves were a bit high that day. They had the boat to themselves that day and he took them on a special day to out of the way spots the cruisers usually don't get to go to.) I like to snorkle, DW does not, so she stays on the boat with the Captain and he keeps her entertained and still manages to point animals and fish out to her while she stays on board. No matter which independant excursion company you choose in Grand Cayman, just make sure to do independant. Everytime we go to Stingray City, I always feel sorry for the people on the cruiseline tours, as they usually arrive before or at the same time as us, the independant boats, but when we arrive the 200 people on the large ferry like boat are unpiling to see the stingrays. We pull up and it takes 5 minutes for the 10-12 of us, to get off the boat, meanwhile, the 200 are still getting off the bigger boat. So we have 20-30 stingrays swarming around our group, while the Captain and his assistant are teaching our small group how to pet them and feed them squid. Meanwhile the large group has finally unloaded and now the first off people are having to start getting back on the boat. Meanwhile we are casually enjoying the stingrays swimming all throughout our group the entire time they are trying to get reloaded. Then after they have already left, we begin the 5 minute reload to head out to a good snorkeling spot.

DW has been pouring over tons of itineraries for Norway next year. Some Princess ones she just found recently have her curious. I've seen alot of very informed opinions in this Community about the various ports. Just looking for people's experiences with the ports on any of the the cruises. Trying to eliminate any consideration for cruises with fairly boring, uninteresting ports or poorly scheduled port times. We won't be trying to climb any mountains or anything like zip lining. More looking for a bus ride or train ride up a mountain or to a fjord. We definitely want at least one really nice cruise up a deep fjord. Also if there are any problems like a certain town we are in on a Sunday will be closed or any of the days while there are a national holiday that might have things closed or if the times scheduled in port are too short or problematic. Also any of the must see things in any of these ports would be appreciated. Sky Princess Friday 6/13 South Hampton 6/14 at sea Sunday 6/15 Edinburgh 6/16 at sea Tuesday 6/17 Skolden/Sogneford 7AM-3:30PM Wednesday 6/18 Olden 8-4 Thursday 6/19 Trondheim 9-5 6/20 at sea Saturday 6/21 Honnigsvag 11-8 SUNDAY 6/22 Tromso 9-6 6/23 at sea 6/24 at sea Wednesday 6/25 Alesund 8-5 Thursday 6/26 Hauegesund 8-5 6/27 at sea Saturday 6/28 Southhampton Sky Princess Saturday 5/24 Southhampton 5/25 at sea Monday 5/26 Haugusund 9-5 Tuesday 5/27 Skolden/Sogneford 8-4 Wednesday 5/28 Olden 9-5 Thursday 5/29 Stavanger 10-6 5/30 at sea Saturday 5/31 Southhampton Emerald Princess Tuesday 6/17 Southhampton 6/18 at sea Thursday 6/19 Bergen 12-7 Friday 6/20 Olden 8-6 6/21 at sea Sunday 6/22 Svolvaer 7-6 6/23 at sea Tuesday 6/24 Honningsvag 8-6 Wednesday 6/25 Alta Thursday 6/26 Tromso 8-6 6/27 at sea Saturday 6/28 Trondheim 8-6 SUNDAY 6/29 Andalsnes 7-5 6/30 at sea 7/1 Edinburgh 7/2 at sea 7/3 Southhampton Thanks in advance for any help.

Sounds like depending on when you sail, it might be $5 a can by July 4th. But Carnival needs to make money to catch back up from the shutdown, so it OK... Its our duty as customers to overpay for some things, accept taking away other things and just like it.

Yeah the pier in Costa Maya is a nightmare for the mobility challenged. (epecially since the trolley has been almost non-existant since the restart) An incredibly long walk down the pier, then to catch any transporation you need to walk all the way through the pier activity area and pool and out of the pier area to a taxi stand,(even further if you are trying to get to an excursion)

They usually offer the more inland ruins like Chitzen Itza and Uxmal from Progresso. (we got lucky one year and Belize and Costa Maya got cancelled after a hurricane and switched to Proigresoo and Key West. ) Afforded us an opportunity to go to Uxmal..(slightly closer to ports than Chitzen Itza, but similar distance) We had a van with 10 passengers, while Chitzen Itza had 5-6 full size busses Everyone we talked to when we got back was jealous as they said they had a very Disney experience all day with just long lines and staying away from everything behind ropes, while we got to explore and walk through our ruins without the crowds. (I think there was maybe 50-60 people in different groups at our site, while Chitzen Itza had probably 250+ just from our ship that day.) They were both quite a ride from Progresso, If I remember correctly 90+ minuites to Uxmal and over 2 hours to Chitzen Itza. Playa Del Carmen would have to be at least 2 1/2 - 3 hours to Chitzen Itza, plus the ferry ride over from Cozumel. Not sure how long your ship is docked for, but two ferry rides and a long drive, is a recipe for pier running at the end of a super long day. Best of luck to you if you attempt it.

To enter you are paying for use of the waterslides and kiddie pools for the kids. (besides all the inflatables in the ocean) If you want a free day you'll need to choose one of the non AI or non-parks.

She has turned into a scary rust bucket. I'm gonna guess zero routine maintenance was done during the shutdown and the rust and generally poor caretaking showed EVERYWHERE. (one of the main atrium elevators was broken the entire cruise and one of the crew said it had been for weeks) Had a rustspot on the floor of our balcony that if anybody accidentally stepped on it, would probably break through. (lots of other rust all over the balcony walls and floor, that was just scary) Looking down from our balcony, the pulleys, wheels and other equipment for the lifeboats were so rusty, I seriously doubt if any of the equipment functioned properly. The toilet stalls thoughout the ship had mold and fungus growing in the corners of every public restroom I tried to use. (cabin restroom was fine though) There was more issues but thats just a few off the top of my head that I recall. It was mostly the extreme rust on the decks that I found so alarming.

On our two cruises last year, one cabin had no QR code and in the other cabin, the QR code did not work. So the QR code isn't an absolute and not everybody walks around glued to a cell phone or has one. (I know I'll leave mine home again this December)

Did the Pride and Sunshine less than a year ago and the food on Carnival as a line, has taken a large step back in quality the past few years. (along with service and amenities) I wouldn't call it inedible, but it definitely isn't as good as it used to be quality-wise. Lesser cuts of meat, lesser quality ingredients, etc. That being said we will be going on the Pride again this December, with majorly lowered expectations. The excellence of the design of the Spirit class ships, makes the lowered experience on Carnival more tolerable. (We definitely won't be doing the Sunshine again for sure)

We tried it the first time when traveling with a few groups of friends to try and coordinate activities, dinner and shows. From the first night it did not work and half our group never got the message to head down for dinner and we wound up not being allowed in for dinner until the entire group arrived which after 15 minutes they cancelled our reservation. Throughout tyhe cruise we never could figure out how and why it would work. It might work for me at 8AM, but nobody else. Then at 9AM it might work for us all. Then an hour later for none of us. I think we all had it work at least once during the cruise, but it did not function, more than it ever functioned. We will definitely never waste the money on it until I hear they do a good reset.

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time.

This is the best response and where my research would go to. Depending on which countries/islands their cruise is visiting and whether the little girl with the service dog plans on getting off the ship.and MUST have the dog is a pretty big question. If the animal has proper documentation, getting on and off the ship and around the ship should be no problem. Whether the ports visited allow ther dog off the ship is the biggest question. Would suck to assume since the dog is allowed on the ship, he'll be allowed off in the ports, then leave this poor kid stuck on the shjip, if she wanted to explore the ports. Most ports don't allow you off the ships with fruits or snacks that aren't pre-packaged. So imagine how tight most would be with an animal getting off the ship and interacting with all the stray dogs you see in every port. (would be more likely the service dog might carch something from a stray, but thats not how the countries would see it.)

Just hit Los Cinco Sol near the dock (Puerta Maya/Carnival) on the way back to the ship. They will always have a much better selection than those tiny shops at the beach clubs for the super lazy. We always do for some fresh vanilla and a blanket or two each year on our way back from Nachi Cocum.

Almaplena incredibly far from town so it should be much safer than along the Malecon in town, but people's ideas of safety are much different. (you can still barely see the ships docked in the distance to the north) You really should expound on what you are worrying about safetywise. I find Cozumel safer than Costa Maya, but others do not, so it depends on the person and what they plan on doing while there.

Two cruises I've been on since Covid either the QR code wouldn't work or was not in the room. If I didn't know the basics from in here, I wouldn't have gotten anything, as the customer service desk just handed us a flyer from before covid with the perks, but not how to get them and no other help. The meager perks is the least of my concerns with my platinum experience on Carnival this past year.

Make friends with the bartender in the sportsbar the first day and if they get the game you have a shot. Otherwise I'm sure there will be more people looking for NBA playoffs and MLB games. (he who tips best gets heard the best)

It has gotten worse, but I think it affects the entire cruising industry not just Carnival. Carnival just hasn't handled some of their moves to cut costs as well as other cruiselines. (seems like Carnival and NCL have handled it worse than others) Staffing is way down on the ships. (more exhausted staff trying to cover more jobs) Food cutbacks. (quality, availability, now charging for room service, etc. Personally I'm fine with the two dinner entree limits they have added. Many reduced hours at food venues and added costs are bad. Maintenance has suffered. (I've never seen more rust and damage on ships being let go than on our cruises since the restart. Broken elevators, toilets, etc.) Like somebody else already put it so well. The new Carnival experience is like a hotel going from a higher end Marriot/Hyatt, etc. experience to a Red Roof Inn, Motel 6 experience. (Carnival never was the Four Seasons, but it always felt like a very nice experience, not a shabby roadside Inn like it does now) The cruisers now seem to be much more ill behaved and course, but as I have yet to cruise another line since the restart, so I'm not sure if that is Carnival appeling to a less mannered group of people or if it is just an across the board lowering of civility in today's society. I just know that the cruises we have taken since the restgart have had many more ill mannered, ill behaved, drunk or high people on board lowering our enjoyment of our cruise trying to watch out around us for the next fist fight, or drunk puking or someone passed out in our hall. (all of which we have seen since the restart)

It'll be a whole new ball game this year with the Sunday Ticket moving from Satellite (DirecTV) to streaming (Youtube TV/Google) Carnival has always gone off network feeds out of Miami or the Caribbean (thus no Thursday night NFL Network games) Every cruise we have been on has the Sunday afternoon games and Sunday and Monday night games playing in the sportsbar and on the TVs sprinkled throughout the casino and casino bar. Haven't been on any of the newer monstrocity ships, but all of the older ships I've been on have a sportsbar that only holds maybe 50 people tops. So the Op's group will definitely have a difficult time watching the game unless someone can get them to play it poolsideon the big screen.