Bob NC

Great review.

Thanks!!

Did you buy Cheers?

I'll be following.  We are on the Horizon for an 8 day Southern in September.

In Feb 2022 we received an offer for 500 OBC for this Sept 2023 cruise and we called to book.  At the end of the process the PVP said ".....Sept 2024"  We thought it was 2023 so we backed up and rebooted and instead booked the Mardi Gras for Sept 2023.  10 Minutes after that phone call we called back and booked the Horizon for Sept 2024.

Once I didn't want to book a cruise unless I knew there was a cabana available at Half Moon Cay.

After pulling teeth for a half hour the PVP finally told me there were cabanas available.

She made it seem like it was a state secret and not something she was supposed to tell me.

The Poker Pro $1 - $3 tables always seem to be full of players who have no poker in their home state and they are more than happy to call EVERY hand just to have some action.  Bad beats are the norm, not the exception.

Last time I played a Carnival Electronic table a group of us talked the casino host into setting up a table for a tournament.  It was at an afternoon time that the table would normally be down.

Myself and one other made it to the last hand, both of us were all in.  I had quad 8's, then he turned over quad 9's.

My electronic poker games are over,

After looking around we've decided to go back to the old faithful Hilton Blue Lagoon on Sept 27th, 2024.

We have stayed at this property twice.

We like it.  Rooms are very nice.  Bar and restaurant are fine. Large bar area, there's always been some kind of game on the large screen we've wanted to watch.  We've done dinners in the large bar, and, the breakfast buffet.

We will probably stay here again for our Sept Horizon cruise.

1 hour ago, FireguyBill said:

For those that rented a cabana for the week, where did you get the wristbands? Were they in your cabin at the start of the cruise?

They give them to you on your first visit to the cabana

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Wow!!  I don't think I've heard of that happening, someone calling in and requesting an offer.  Good going!!

Yeah, it worked out well.

The upgrade offer was from a balcony to a Spa Balcony.

We were going to buy the spa package anyway and the upgrade price was less than our spa purchase would have been.

On 2/3/2024 at 3:42 PM, awhitleycrew said:

We have 2 cabins booked for May and are trying to save money by staying on Deck 2 for the first time with an OV suite and an interior. I actually got a good offer this week to move from the OV to Deck 6 balcony in an area we like for just $90 BUT it's only for that cabin.  I have no desire to move one cabin to another deck so I will have to decline.  If they made an offer for both I would take it! 

We received an offer for a cabin upgrade that we took.

My brother is also cruising with us in a separate cabin and did not receive an upgrade offer.

He called asking for the same offer and they gave him the same offer which he also took advantage of.

5 hours ago, irie0518 said:

That's what I was trying to figure out.  The cruise we are looking at the inside spa cabin is about $110/person more that the regular inside cabin.  So it looks like that is the better way to go.  Was your upgrade after you originally booked?

One day in my Planner there was an offer for us to upgrade from our balcony cabin to a spa balcony cabin on 14 for $236. I called them to verify I wouldn’t lose my OBC by upgrading and all was good, so we took it. 
 

My brother was booked in a different cabin. I told him about the upgrade I was offered and he called to see if he could take advantage of that offer too.  They said yes and he upgraded too.

We were offered an upgrade to a spa cabin on the Horizon that cost less than 2 of us purchasing the pass.

20 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

But you do get a bottle of champagne and some waters, and you get to pretend you are someone important 🤣.

Hey, thanks for the feedback n6!

It's funny, I read a lot of trip reports and get a lot of tips from regulars on this board.  Now I see a topic where I have experience and decide to share and I'm so happy to have your support.

It seems like we are always the people circling the decks every day looking for lounge chairs and can never find them.  To us, we really enjoyed the opportunity to try a Loft 19 cabana so we'd always have a dedicated place to find chairs.  I doubt we would have paid full price.  I doubt we would have purchased if we weren't splitting the cost with fellow cruisers in a different cabin.

I will say it was enjoyable to have a spot with prompt beverage service, dedicated seats, lunch service and the occasional snack or treat.

We purchased Loft 19 on the Mardi Gras on a September cruise.  We paid $1750 + grat.

On our cruise only 3 Cabanas were sold so we had very personal service.

They told us the previous week was a sellout.

Anytime in the future I'm on a ship with Loft 19, I will purchase again.

27 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I generally agree with this comment. I've cruised Carnival for most of 20 years.  I can certainly remember things from the 2000s that were 'better' such as table-side Ceasar's salad and twice per day cabin service, among others, but for the most part the product is the same, and in some cases actually much better. I'll take live music as an example.

What I miss the most is debarking, walking out of my cabin, looking over my shoulder at 14 of those little minty chocolates on the bedside table.

We do not attend sea day brunches.

I never go to the buffet, with one exception.  I love the omelette stations.  Last cruise I'd get an omelette made to order every morning and take it up to my Loft.

For us, a balcony is a requirement.

Location, first choice is ALWAYS Lido deck.  As far forward as we can get, port side.

If that location isn't available, we'll take that balcony cabin on a mid floor with staterooms above and below.

One of our best excursions ever was in St Thomas spending a day on the Rumbaba.

We snorkled in 3 different spots, had a delicious meal on the boat, and did some sightseeing sailing.

5 minutes ago, Pyxie said:

 

Which is interesting because you were on the sailing right before mine and we got one every night by default. Maybe it varies by steward?

Yes.  We had to ask twice. 

On 4/12/2023 at 8:17 PM, lazydayz said:

 While we tip a little extra, remember you have already tipped the Loft 19 staff over $250 when you rent the cabana for week.  And we did a dollar per drink when ordering beverages. 

 

 

We had a cabana on the Sept 30 Mardi Gras cruise.  Only 3 cabanas were reserved for the week, so, we became pretty close to the 5 Loft 19 staff members.

They told us the 18% gratuity added to your cabana rental goes into the general grat fund, just like your cruise grats.  It does NOT go to just the Loft 19 staff.

Sept 30 Mardi Gras had paper Fun Times, but, we had to ask our steward to provide them.

We have taken 9 Carnival cruises, have been to all the likely suspects in the Caribbean.

What line is there to choose to visit St Kitts, Nevis, St Lucia, Barbados?  Some islands off the regular Carnival rotation.

What ship lines are you choosing to visit these other islands?

Just now, mz-s said:

 

Supposedly the cabanas can be hard to get so I can definitely see the price go up.

Last week there were just 3 cabanas occupied.

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

Well, I was going to say Thanks for helping keep Loft 19 a bit of a secret. Now, everybody will want one and the price will increase dramatically.

I try too keep up, but I didn't even know about it until a couple weeks before the cruise.

I can't see the price going up much more than it is currently.

26 minutes ago, mz-s said:

is special food included? or is it the same buffet food just that somebody goes and gets it and brings it to you

They go get your food from a variety of different places for lunch.

I'd usually get an omelette in the morning and carry it up to the cabana for breakfast.