davy jones

No personal experience, but videos, postings, and blogs imply that they are fine for normal sized adults.

What is the best way to do this?

If they bin was empty, they would then complain about the lifeboat maintenance.

We booked this sailing for a family getaway. I am now a bit concerned because the reviews have been less than flattering overall. It's good to hear that your experience was good.

There are a number of good diners in that area. Which diner was it?

Are the bottles of vanilla sold in Cozumel worth it? How is the quality? Where is the best place to get it?

Cruising has changed drastically since our first cruise in 1982. We have lost count of our cruises. The number is in the 40s We have sailed 12 different cruise lines. Five of them no longer exist. I won a SOS on every Carnival Cruise that we have been on.

Carnival passengers don't judge you by your frequent cruiser status.

My $0.02..... Carnival does casual food options pretty well. Burgers, pizza, chicken sandwich, deli, BBQ, burritos, wok, etc.). MDR and hot buffet dishes can be hit or miss.

Are there any onboard programs for a 23 month old toddler? My interpretation is that under 2 only paid babysitting.

Thank you for the blog. We are booked on the October cruise, but were considering cancelling due to the poor ship reviews. Your experience has convinced us to keep the reservation and give MSC a try. We are OK with most of the "European" aspects of MSC and some of the other quirks. One potential show stopper is dining assignments. We typically choose whatever form of my time dining that the cruise line offers. Here we booked the Fantastica experience which allows us to choose an assigned dining time and chose early. (We typically go to dinner between 6 and 7 PM). I see some reports that people pay for Fantastica, request early, and still get assigned 9PM dining times. We are pretty much low maintenance cruisers, but this would be a deal breaker. If you charge extra for a preferred sitting, you should honor the request. Does anyone have any experiences and/or thoughts on this?

It's also the same as Carnival and Royal.

We booked one on deck 14 to get the extra shade from the overhang.

From the deck plan, it appears that there is not a designated jogging/walking track on the sun decks. While that seems unusual, I find that the jogging track is only useful very early in the morning. Most of the day, sunbathers and other passengers usually block the track anyway.

I often wonder why people pay so much for an "exclusive" experience on a mainstream line when there are premium lines that provide an superior experience at the same cost (or less). After all, when you leave the cocoon, it's still a mainstream ship. But: To each his or her own. I must say that we are much like you and have never sailed on those experiences on any line. The pool areas are too crowded and noisy for us. We are independent and tend to avoid the crowds. We are also shade seekers. We are good at finding quieter shady spots away from the pool area that are not favored by chair hogs. We can also get all of the relaxation and solitude that we want on our balcony. That said, the current status of cruising has led us to wonder if we need to go a YC type experience to get pre pandemic levels of "standard" cuisine, service, and staffing. .

A different dining table question. We booked a Fantastica experience balcony and requested early sitting. Since then, I have seen postings stating that our request is not guaranteed and we could be put in 9:00 PM dining, which is far too late for us. Are people who pay for their dining time request then forced into late seating? That just doesn't seem to be right. Note that we are typically MTD people, but we knew in advance that it was not an option on Fantastica.

I also received this email. How does one get verified?

It would be nice for smokers and nonsmokers alike if cruise lines standarized this.

I was also on the cruise and could not agree more. Wise move by Royal.

Thanksgiving sailings are usually packed. That could be the cause of your observation. Quantum class ships are built for year round sailing. Hence the focus is for more indoor activity areas. The lack of a water park may contribute to the crowded feeling on a holiday cruise.

Two experiences. One good, one not so good. As long as there are no hurricanes you should be fine. Prior to the construction of the current terminal and parking deck, everyone parked in the open lot. During the cruise, storm surge from Hurricane Sandy flooded the parking and a lot of cars were impacted, including ours. On the bright side, Mrs. Jones did (and still does) enjoy her new ride. Also, we always park on level 2 or higher in the parking deck.

As a embark/ debark point, probably not. It may even be a good thing. You will need to adjust your travel plans though. One caveat, you don't get the Manhattan and Statue of Liberty views afforded by a Manhattan sail away.

This is the first cruise ship beer menu that I have seen that includes Yuengling lager, aka Nectar of the Gods (OK, a bit over the top), my go to brew at home. I am a little happier. I will likely use the package to try other beers anyway. On ships without Yuengling, I sometimes have a beer of the day for each day.

sorry wrong thread

Sorry to hear that. At least we had good weather.