lazydayz

Good packing plan! Can't wait to see your collection of t-shirts.

I would pick the Celebration as it is the newest. Your 13 y/o probably won't hang in the Havana area but there are a ton of new things that will keep you both entertained. While I love the Horizon and its Havana area, that cruise is only six days. No way would I pick the Vista over the Celebration or Horizon, even with the Vista cruise being a little longer.

Sid, As always, I will be following along and hope you have an AWESOME cruise! We will follow in your footsteps on the Celebration in March.

On the Mardi Gras, we could book regular massages or facials for $99 at the pamper party.

Your son is lucky to have you! I wished we had parked offsite. It would have saved us at least an hour.

I have never seen lines like we had on any cruise ship at any time. The Captain tried to sell this by saying we were doing a great thing for the patient (medical emergency) and "our" sister ship, Wonder of the Seas and the bonus is that we get to see that new ship. I hope to never see the Wonder of the Seas again. How can a company be so unprepared for a single medical emergency that it would opt to lose major revenue and anger and inconvenience over 10,000 customers? I am including those on the Wonder last week and this week, as well as those on the Indy this past weekend and this week. There was only one gangway open so they could do crowd control. They kept us all in line to get off the ship, but would not let us off because the line in front of the terminal wrapped around twice. Once that line died down, they would let a few hundred more off. I will say most of the cruisers handled it well, given we were stuck together for hours in a crappy situation through no fault of our own. Thanks Royal, really appreciate the Royal treatment.

Were your son and his husband parked at the port?

Sorry to hear that. It was such a mess, and I truly felt like Royal could not have cared less about us. Just wanted to get us off the ship so they could load up the next group.

That was not the case today. On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time). Once outside, their was a double line that was as long as the terminal building. Finally got on a shuttle at 9:35 and arrived at new parking terminal at 10:05, to find that one set of elevators was out of order. Debarkation was a nightmare from beginning to end. I can't help but think Royal could have handled this better, and we (the Indy cruisers) got the short end of the stick because we were not on one of its newest and biggest ships. Lesson learned.

see you there!

In the past, we had to make the lunch reservation on the island. We will be at the Beach Club on Sunday and will let you know how it worked.

So sorry to hear this. It is a shame her condition was not found sooner.

Yes, open to suites, with lounge chairs available to anyone in a suite. There are 12 cabanas in Loft 19, which can be rented by the day or week (suite guests have first priority). Each day, the staff brings you a bottle of champagne and orange juice - mimosas to start the day or save the champagne for later. Non alcoholic drinks are included, and the Cheers package is honored there. There is bar service all day and they also take your lunch order and bring it to you. Afternoons they bring around frozen treats. Just a wonderful way to spend the day, or the week. We are diamond plus as well, and almost diamond (next year) on Carnival. Really enjoy both lines.

You might want to open up your horizons, as a new Mardi Gras class ship is coming to Galveston. We sailed in the MG and except for some standards like Guy's Burgers (included), Blue Iguana (included), and a massive number of comedy shows, these MG class ships are nothing like Carnival of the past. They not only rival the Oasis class, with the number of restaurants and bars, they surpass them. The Loft 19 area is quiet and beautiful, and includes a private pool and attentive bar service. Of our four cruises so far this year, three were on the MG. The fourth was on a Royal ship, and it was fine (except for the MDR), but nothing game changing.

At tthe sale price, it is well worth it to us. We enjoy the quiet, the service and fantastic lunch.

I think you are going to love it, along with the extra $2500. The reviews on the Panorama have been positive

If you link the reservations, you should be able to buy it for her.

Do you plan to spend most of your time indoors or out? If indoors at the bars, restaurants, casino, comedy shows, deck 10 is an easy walk down the stairs. If you plan on spending more time on the Lido deck, deck 14 is better. I would stay on 10.

Enjoy. We love this ship. And will be joining you on the NYE cruise.

On our past NYE cruises, NYE was "elegant" night, even when it was the boarding day. We are boarding the MG on NYE this year, and I expect it to be "elegant" night.

Sorry about your pony, so sad. Glad you are boarding the MG tomorrow. It is a great ship! We loved Bar Della Rosa (so much easier to get coffee drinks here) and Brass Magnolia (live music and fun drinks). Enjoy - we are going back on MG on NYE!

Are they still allowing you to pick two bottles of liquor and mixers for the cabin?

I agree, and wish it were like Carnival in this instance. On Carnival, you have to earn your own points, period. No sharing.

My husband is my SO so I don't think I can add anyone else.

First, sorry for the loss of your friend. This is a tough one. I would NOT do the online check-in for someone who is deceased, or purchase a Cheers package in his name.