ChuckF

Done other lines just to see what they're like, but always come back to Carnival for the Fun. They advertise as being the Fun Ships, and they really work at it. From the CD throughout the crew. If you ever get a chance to do the Behind the Scenes tour, you'll see the emphasis they place on passenger engagement, remembering names, and just overall customer service. On Royal, the only time our MDR waiter said anything to us besides taking our order was on the last night, i.e., tip night. Carnival's friendliness and fun attitude permeates throughout the crew and is generally contagious amongst the passengers. IMHO

We did a 14 day Journeys cruise last October. Sea Day Brunch is Sea Day Brunch without much, if any, variety. But MDR dinners did not seem to repeat. Granted, we didn't eat there every night, but I never had the feeling of redundancy in the menu options.

Magic was $10 minimums in April. I think this is standard across the fleet.

Golf (and casino) were the enticements my wife used to get me on my first cruise. And she has been very understanding ever since. I can either go on a golf trip with the boys, or go on a cruise with her and spend a few hours on 1 or 2 port days enjoying my time. It is, after all, my vacation too.

We always do Late Dining. On our last cruise we started going to the early Production Show. Just grab seats near an exit on Deck 4 and leave as soon as the show is over. It's better to be a little late to dinner, than a little late to the show. We don't typically do the comedy shows, so can't speak to that.

The Vista has had some issues with propulsion, but I think it will be getting fixed before relocating to Port Canaveral. Not sure, might want to look into that.

Started cruising in 2001, a couple of weeks after 9/11. Celebration (Old) -1 Conquest - 1 Imagination - 1 Ecstasy - 1 Liberty - 1 Dream -- 2 Holiday -1 Magic -- 3 Elation -1 Breeze - 4 Vista - 1 Freedom - 1 Miracle - 1 Dream Class is our favorite because of Ocean Plaza. Love the Rock Bands. Alternate lunches between Guy's Burger and Blue Iguana burrito. Never had dinner in the Lido. Always do steakhouse and/or Chef's Table. Never done a water slide or been in a pool. (Serenity Hot Tub is a different story.) Won 2 BJ tournaments, and do wish they would come back. Never been to an art auction, not sure why they're even there. Carry golf clubs on board and played in Cozumel, Roatan, Montego Bay, Curacao, St. Thomas, Aruba, Nassau, Freeport, Key West, St. Kitts, and Cabo. 1 Journeys Cruise (loved it), and looking forward to re-positioning the Pride from Tampa to Baltimore in April.

What kind of nightly entertainment is in the Luminosa Ocean Plaza?

Drink doesn't have to be alcoholic. We always redeem ours for a specialty coffee.

I would agree. If you have time to change it, change it. I work embarkation for another cruise line. It would not prevent someone from getting on the ship, but would require extra time during the embarkation process to get the agents to make the change, and then get Supervisor approval.

I really wasn't interested in cruising at first. My wife said, you can gamble and play golf. I've been hooked ever since. If your husband likes to golf, look for an itinerary to Montego Bay, Roatan, Aruba, or Curacao.

IMHO, I think Carnival, as well as many other land-based casinos, are moving more and more to the shuffle machines that theoretically never have to stop the action. That seems to increase their games/hour rate, which in turn theoretically results in more money for the casino. It's not surprising that you're seeing this rolled out on the larger ships sooner where it will have more impact. I was recently on Magic, and it seemed that most tables had the machine. I can't help but feel suspicious that something funny is going on down there in that machine. I personally don't like Fun 21 so I can't speak specifically to that question.

Unfortunately the breakfast/salad bar is no longer there. This was one of the casualties of the austerity program.

We did the Colon port and did an excursion through the canal on a ferry. I think that was more interesting than actually going through on the cruise ship. The ferry was lower in the locks and you could see so much more of the lock operation than what you would be able to see from a bigger ship. Of course the excursion cost a little extra and was a very long day. But still something I'm glad I did. Once.

Just got off the Magic and got Fun Play Chips.

We were on the Dream out of Galveston during the MLB Playoffs/World Series. Enough folks bombarded the CD with requests for the Astros games to be on the big screen, and Carnival was able to accommodate. Also, we were on the ship for two Sundays (Journeys cruise), and the Cowboys game was shown on the Lido deck, although they were day games. Not sure what day your cruise leaves versus the day of the game you want to watch, but it might be worth an appeal to the CD to see if he will figure it out.

Yes, unfortunately this was a cost reduction measure. On the Dream, the space was used as a bar, while on the Magic it was just unused space.

The Vista has had some issues with propulsion some months ago. Not sure if those have been resolved. It may require a dry-dock to permanently fix the problem. It is my understanding that this may have caused some cruises to have to by-pass scheduled ports, or leave early to make the next destination on time. Other than that, we have no problem with that class of ship. Although it seems very much like the Dream class with more people. Unless you stay in the Havana area.

It is doubtful that they will have a formal night on the last night of the cruise. So, I would bet that 2nd formal night would be on the Costa Maya day. Just got off the Magic (8 day), and lobster was served on the 2nd formal night, not the first.

I actually closed down a casino on a Celebrity ship shortly after midnight. They're all smoke-free when no one is playing.

I was on the same cruise as well, and we never saw all of the complaints posted on FB. Like you said though, we weren't on Lido or teen club area at night. Did have some kids in the room next to us, and did have some slamming doors as we were trying to sleep in on San Juan day. But, other than that, a really good experience. Food in MDR was better than anticipated. And both my wife and I walked out of the casino on the positive side of the ledger after all was said and done. For the live music buffs, the Rockband and the Drawbridge Duo were phenomenal.

One cruise they had brought in a Stevie Wonder impersonator for entertainment. He did a show one night, with the theatre about half full. The next day they made a big deal about Stevie Wonder performing in the Atrium. The CD introduced him as "Carnival's own Stevie Wonder". While all the other guests were going gaga saying "I can't believe Stevie Wonder's on my cruise", I made eye contact with the CD and pointed to him like "busted". Had a great laugh over that one. But, I don't think I'll ever forget the first time I stepped into the atrium on embarkation of my very first cruise on the old Carnival Celebration.

Hope to arrive in Cocoa Beach in time for dinner tonight, and looking forward to that first Guy's Burger tomorrow.

See you on board.

All I know is that I booked a private golf excursion in Cabo last March based on the itinerary information, only to find out the day before we got to Cabo that they were 2 hours ahead of ship time. I could not reschedule my tee time because the course had a tournament, yada, yada, yada. So, if you're doing something on your own, note that the rest of the world is not concerned with your ship's time.