gatorchinsky

On 4/9/2024 at 10:08 AM, CruzerDeb said:

For those with more Cheers experience than I - can I use the pkg for a bucket of beer? Can I order a beer and not have it opened so I can take it back to my room for later?

We just got off the Celebration and had Cheers. We don’t drink a lot of beer but anytime we got a beer the bartenders just handed them to us unopened and would ask if we wanted a glass.

On 4/16/2024 at 7:26 PM, JLewinFL said:

I'm on Mardi Gras in June. Hope more than just pig and anchor have it

We are on the Celebration right now and Pig and Anchor and the Steakhouse bar are the only ones with Blantons. They go through a lot of bottles!!

9 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I usually dress up for Elegant Night so we can take pics before dinner. Then if we were going to Cucina, that's what I would wear. If we were going to comedy or a show after dinner, we would probably stop off at our room and change into casual clothes. If you're not doing pics then I guess you would wear whatever you would usually wear to a restaurant for dinner.  Have a great cruise!!

Thanks! I know people love to dress up and I love to see what others are wearing, but we just don’t want to bother anymore.

23 hours ago, GothOnAShip said:

So we went to get tacos at Blue Iguana. The line was long, but moved quickly. The tacos were amazing. 

Then we went down to the Grand View bar to get a strawberry daiquiri. The blender wasn’t working, so we went to Java Blue and got black and white (chocolate and vanilla) milkshakes instead. They were delicious. Nice job Java Blue.

 

We brought our own straws, but wanted to try the candy ones just for fun. As candy they’re great, but I see how they may not be the most functional straw. With future milkshakes (of which there will likely be many), I’ll probably take the straw still wrapped and eat it separately. 
 

We went to watch family feud auditions, which was fun. All the families did a great job. It was also the first we had seen of cruise director, TJ, since we skipped the sail away party. He seems nice and very entertaining. He seems to take a little more of a backseat than our previous cruise director, Kendall Fire, but that lets some of the other fun squad members shine, which is also nice. 
 

Then we did super hero trivia. We got 18 out of 20, but they had the wrong answer for one question. Oh well, no biggie. It was still fun.

 

We came back to find this friend.

 

We’re going to get ready for dinner. It’s formal night. We’re going to try Cucina tonight. We definitely want to see the magic show tonight. Maybe we’ll catch part of Celestial Strings as well if the timing with dinner works out. 

Just wanted to know if people dress up for formal night when eating at Cucina? Haven’t sailed with Carnival in years and was curious.

Another question…This cruise would be a 9 night roundtrip from Seattle. For RT’s, which side, Port or Starboard, would you recommend for balcony cabin?

Thanks for the responses. I was just looking at NCL’s excursions for Skagway and counted 10 different excursions that include the White Pass Rail. Once we decide on April or September we’ll have to really look at all the different ones and also see if they will be options for our specific cruise.

We have never been to Alaska so looking to book one of the 9 or 10 night Joy cruises either April 23, 2025 or September 19, 2025. Both of these cruise Glacier Bay which is something we really wanted. None of the other longer cruises in between these dates cruise Glacier Bay. My question is if we book either of these would the White Pass Rail train excursion be running since it’s in late April or mid to late September? Thx!

I’m wondering if you could just go into O’Malleys and sit at bar or an table and have drinks and not eat.

We haven’t been on a Carnival cruise in over 10 years but wanted to try their Excel class so going on the Celebration. I know the line to get coffee at Java Blue can get long but wanted to find out if we just did grab and go from the case (soda, juice, snack etc) do you have to check out in the same coffee line? Thx!

5 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

This shack has bushwhackers and painkillers. Good to keep in mind later 

 

Speaking of Bushwacker, do any of the bars, particularly the outside ones, make them? Haven’t been on a Carnival cruise since 2017 so I wasn’t sure. Will be on Celebration in April so hoping for that frozen deliciousness.

26 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

everything up to $15 is. Beyond that you just pay the overage 

Before you answered my question I went to Carnival’s website to find out for myself and it states up to $20 a drink. I’m hoping it’s correct.

Loving your “Live” and it looks like you are having an amazing time!!

16 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Blanton’s spotting confirmed. P&A

 

Showed my hubby this and he was impressed that they had Blantons and Eagle Rare. Are these included with the Cheers package?

I read a lot of complaints last year about traffic jams in and out of Port of Miami due to construction and road closures. Just wondering for those who cruised in December if the issues were any better or worse? Are they trying to improve the flow in and out of,there? It’s been a couple of years since we’ve cruised out of Miami and we never had any real issues.

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

You do not have to dress up for dinner on Princess.  Smart Casual for all nights has been fine for several years now.

That’s good to know. When on vacation we don’t like to dress up. One of the main reasons we like NCL

1 minute ago, EllieinNJ said:

I agree.  NCL used to be our preferred cruise line but our last few cruises with them have been a disappointment.  I still have one cruise next left and also $200 in FCC from problems on a cruise plus now there is $200 off $1000 in American Express so I might just book one more cruise with them.

 

We will be going on our 5th Princess cruise next November on the Enchanted.  It is a repro from NY to Ft. Lauderdale.  We did this same exact itinerary in 2022 and liked it so much we are doing it again.  Meanwhile, we are spreading our money out between Royal, MSC and Carnival but Princess seems to be our favorite now.  The food is very good, they have shows every night (not game shows) and the ambience seems a little more refined.

I will book at least one more with NCL because I have to use up FCC but decided not to worry about loyalty to just one line anymore.

Our last Princess cruise was in 2008 so we are excited to try them again.

I’m glad that there are nightly shows and not just game shows. After awhile they get old. Also since NCL appears to be getting rid of their Broadway production shows, not sure what they will replace them with. The last cruise was sorely lacking in any type of stage shows and we were a little bored.

After sailing NCL for our last 10 cruises, we want to switch it up and try Princess again for our next cruise. We are looking at the new Sun Princess which looks like it will be gorgeous. Just want to hear from others who have done a good number of NCL and Princess cruises to give their opinion on which they prefer. Also, has Princess cut back on entertainment, activities, food, etc? While we have enjoyed all of our cruises with NCL, our last couple cruises really showed us that NCL is not what they use to be.

I was on the Epic over 4 years ago but I believe Atrium bar and the bars outside by the pools do frozen drinks.

What a crazy experience that was for you @KeithJenner. Glad he was stopped before the situation got uglier.

I’m surprised NFL was on since the ship is in Europe but I guess it’s the satellite. My DH will be happy he can watch a game or two when we are on in November.

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

No worries, just thought I'd ask. Hope to see you on board!

I’ve seen a lot of your posts so it would be nice if we bump into each other😀

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

Taking an NCL excursion avoids the cable car at the start as they tender you to the other port where the buses are. That is the reason why we took the excursion to be honest.

 

Coming back they leave you in Thira with a cable car ticket. Because of the cable car situation we aren’t hanging around and have gone straight to the queue. I was expecting the worst, after hearing stories of 2 hour queues but it doesn’t look too bad. 10 minutes now and we are at the entrance to the building. I’ll report back on how long it takes later.

This is exactly why we booked an NCL excursion for this port. Only have to deal with the cable car going back to the ship. 
 

How has the weather been?

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Are you on the Roll Call? We're on this same cruise, too. 🙂

I’ve posted on the roll call but we usually never make it to any meet and greets or things like that for some reason or another. I am very excited for this cruise!

Hope you are enjoying your cruise!

Just a couple of questions…Is the ship crowded or seem crowded? Long waits for bar service or meals?

15 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

That is usually our experience.

 

This time we took a transfer straight from the airport (we stayed at the Hilton there), so got dropped off at the ship.

 

Walked into the terminal, dropped off luggage, checked in and walked straight on to the ship. Took less than 30 minutes.

What time did you get to the port?

This is great! I could be wrong, but I have seen only 1 other trip report on this cruise/itinerary. We take this cruise November 2nd so it is exciting to see what will be going on on the ship. Thx!!

10 hours ago, wncretired said:

Anyone have an idea which airline/airlines NCL usually uses on flights to Rome, Italy 🇮🇹 ? We’re flying out of Atlanta, Ga in late Nov. 2023. 
I figure there are many possibilities, but thought I would see if anyone has had any experience in using the FAS to Rome. The cost of this flight through NCL was so ridiculously cheap, that I figure we’re going to be on a 4 seater Cessna 172!! 😂😂

If it’s out of Atlanta, they will most likely use Delta.