misguidedangel

The day of the week for the Chef's Table isn't given to you before. We were booked to do it on the 2nd sitting of the Chef's Table on the Freedom. We were a little shocked it would be the last night of the cruise. We cancelled because I had won free Chef's Table for my next cruise, which was also free cuz I won the blogger's slot tournament. The Breeze had the first Chef's Table on a Wednesday.

Do not attempt to negotiate the date for the Chef's table. The number of people involved in the meal would be a nightmare to switch around and change up. They will tell you when it is, so be nice and remember there is a lot of planning involved.

The beach at Grand Turk is on both sides of the pier. There is plenty of room and beach chairs. There are so many palm trees at the edge of the beach you could get a chaise near the back and have some shade from the trees.

The beach is rocky on the Margaritaville size, so be careful. The snorkeling is good off the beach. Margaritaville is right there, bit it is expensive!!!!! If you walk down the beach a ways, not too far past the pirate ship replica bar (and Canadian flags *BG*) you will find Jack's Shack...tables with umbrellas, good food, cheaper drinks, Topher the dog, beach volleyball, and the beach! Jack is a excellent host!

They also have a space related display, the Mercury 7 landed off the coast of Grand Turk) on the side of the smaller beach, it is interesting.....and there is a covered area with chaise loungers in it for those who want to feel the heat, but not have the sun directly on them....

Have fun!

What Cozumel Plus means is you either get into Cozumel a few hours earlier or get to stay a few hours later. The cruise I am going on in October gets to Cozumel at 8am instead of 10am.....we get two extra hours in Cozumel...not that it matters as I really don't like Cozumel.....love the beaches, just nothing else about Cozumel....give me more time in other ports

The only reason I have cruised out of Galveston is because that is where the ship was ported out of.

Transportation--it took as long as two hours+ to go from Houston IAH to our hotel in Galveston the first time..second time, after a 2.5 hour wait, it took an hour and a half, so it took as long to get to the hotel as it did to fly to Houston. Hobby is closer, so the last cruise it took around an hour, but still took around 90 minutes to get to Galveston with the wait and drive. FLL your less than 30 minutes away from the airport. Personally, I like Florida ports, but if given an option, I would go out of New Orleans everytime...love cruising down river!

Hotel--wide choice, and price....so same as FLL...alas, I think some of the hotels in Florida handle guests better because they have more ships year round.

Trip to port--you'll need to get there by cab and cabs on Galveston are limited.

Debarkation nightmare--that is the only port I hate going through customs....hate hate hate...the "Non US" line isn't just for non US citizens, they'll put US citizens in that line too, and sometimes, like when the ship went to Belize, it takes longer to clear.....I stood in line for 90 minutes one cruise and there was only eight groups of four or less people ahead of me....90 minutes...the line to my left was BC/DL line and it was moving at least 100X faster than our line...felt sorry for the porter two groups behind me.....

Weather--Florida is nice year round....Galveston, uhm, perhaps in Spring it gets nicer, but in winter it can be iffy.....and FOG, ya, FOG......numerous times the ship is fogged in and can't leave or fogged out and can't get in...

Most unfortunate; however, did they not look up to see that where they were dropped off was where the Glory was docked? The pier workers should know what ship it is on. The issue with shipping the bags to port is simple, no airline will fly baggage to another airport if the owner of the luggage is not onboard the plane. Now a courier will, but saying it will be there at 10am the next port day is uhm, well, never guaranteed.

I haven't cruise out of Miami since 2012, so have no idea how the new road or port access is....New Orleans and Galveston are easier.....

*LOL* I won my second free cruise on my last cruise! Only had to win a slot tournament for it.

True, taxes and fees are not included and it is a crappy cabin. I'll happily pay the upgrade fee to a cove balcony.

The wait staff in the dining room will get the tips with the gratuities that are posted to you Sink or Swim account. If you feel the wait staff have done a excellent job and you wish to tip them more, feel free too.

You can get an envelope on the last day from Guest Services and put it in there with your wait staff name on it. I gave our wait staff more, and it is a general rule the tips they collect at the end of the cruise is shared with the head waiter and his or her assistants.. The same applies for the room stewards, they share it as it isn't a one person job.

Drugs and crimes are the problem. They might pick and choose which ships have enhanced checks at debarkation.

Back in 2012, the Liberty was back from Belize and the B2B guests weren't processed by customs until after 9am and customs didn't clear the ship for debarkation as early as usual. We we waiting for the next cruise at 10am. It was 1230 when VIP lounge was told boarding would happen in a few. The lounge was completely full by 1030am and any suite/Platinum/Diamond guests who came in after had to wait in the main lounge area

I hope this isn't the case for next week when I sail on the Freedom. If debarkation is slower, no worries. I learned from the last Galveston sailing to get off the ship ASAP because the Non-US citizen line for customs was a total disaster--90 minutes to wait to clear and oddly enough, there was FIVE groups of people ahead of me....yes, 90 minutes for FIVE passport checks....90 minute wait and it took all of two minutes for the agent to clear me.....If I didn't pack so much stuff, I would do self assist...but I do, so take Tag #1 instead.

I will be doing the Chef's Table for the first time when I go on the next Blogger's cruise. I am wondering, since the mean is so long, is there a restroom break, cuz wine + 3 hour meal = bathroom break may needed. We're on the Freedom.

I feel for the Chef's with having to work around food allergies/sensitivites and disliked food....Do they ask you a day before what you can't eat or don't like?

*LOL* My last cruise we had a medical emergency and we entered the Mississippi Delta at 1pm on the last sea day and we were docked in New Orleans at midnight. We lost a full sea day.

Upside is we got to see the mighty Mississippi during the daytime hours and the Coast Guard took the passenger off by boat.....

Carnival owe me something for a missed sea day......a free cruise would do...

*BG*

I will find out in February when I got on the Freedom. I will always have the fall back option of ordering a steakhouse dish in the dining room. I would love to be adventurous; however, I do have sensitivities to certain foods and I can't tolerate anything spicy. The previous menu worked for me as it had a lot of options. In the meantime, I'll have the Pepto handy just in case!

I have been there twice and both times I made it there before it closes (at 430pm). I've had the shrimp and Johnny's special. Both were delicious and the bread is to die for....

I will also go out of the way and suggest going to Yo Momma's Grill on St Peters (next to Rev Zombie's Voodo/Haunted History tours) and have a peanut butter bacon burger.....it's big enough for two to share....it is, oh my, so good.....

You won`t see anything, unless like in September of 2014 when we had a medical emergency during the night and the captain was booking it to get back. The Dream entered the river delta around 1pm and the landscape is so different. Oil platforms everywhere and yes, you do see a change in the water from gulf to river. The ship did a daytime sail up the river and many, many, many people were enjoying the view of a daytime sail back. The coast guard met up with the ship around 2 or 3 and offloaded the passenger.

I tried to attach three pics, but a security token was missing blah blah blah..whatever that is....

The Pink, or Cabana 8, was the choice for me twice. Next time there we had 15 people, so we had the grand cabana....oooh my, two chefs, a hostess, bartender, and steward to keep it spotless--and he did!!!!!

You can book online. It is best to check and see if any are available still. If they are Woohoo!!!!

They still had the 15 cabanas the last time I was there, and built the four villas the following year.

Enjoy HMC!

I have seen a family come to elegant night dinner where the father was wearing a plain t-shirt and board shorts. Mom had capri's and a tank top. Don't let how others dress force you to skip a meal in the dining room. On one cruise the mom dressed nice and the son walked in looking like he could sub in at a NBA basketball game....

I have been there four times and yet to miss it once. I've been to Grand Cayman six times and missed it once.

All excursions booked through Carnival will be refunded. You need to give Shore Excursions time to go in and reverse the charges.

Cajun Encounters has a website, and has an office on Decatur Street close to the French Market. You can get a all day swamp and plantation tour. It will truly be all day, 8/9am to 6/7pm at night...

You can book online or over the phone as well as go into the office. If you want to do the swamp tour, do the SMALL BOAT tour, it is small enough to go into the channels where the big boats can't go and the small boats seat five people each side, but big boats have five people per row of seats, so sucks to be in the three middle seats!

I also agree that parking on Decatur Street riverside would be a good place. I don't know if the Natchez parking lot is pay to park or free, but if it is pay to park then you are OK......

When will you be there? Be warned, many historic houses and the Ursiline convent are closed in September. You won't be able to go to the cemetery on your own any more unless you are with a tour group and pay the tour price (which will include a fee they pay to bring tourists to see the cemetery).

Have fun!!!

I agree, missing Nassau isn't a bad thing; however, I have only been there once and really want to check out Atlantis a little more, so one more trip to Nassau and I can safely skip that port.

The one port I wish they would skip MORE is Cozumel!! I truly don't like that port. I get off, hit the one or two shops where they have the best Mexican/Mayan handicrafts and I am back on the ship enjoying a virtually empty ship with no lines, choice of loungers by the pool, and never a line for lunch!

Perhaps when Carnival gets their own private island up and running Nassau and Freeport trips will be reduced.

I have done the Everglades tour twice post cruise and Jungle Island once. I really enjoyed Jungle Island too...looove tropical birds. Jungle Island and Seaquarium will drop you off at the airport around 3pm....

Back in the day it was so simple and easy to get to Platinum. Some passengers were Platinum within two years. All you had to do was take 10 three day weekend cruises and you were Platinum. Anyone who lived in Miami, FLL, Orlando, and within a few hour drive from port could take a four day weekend and get a super cheap pack and go cruise to the Bahamas three, four, five, six or more times a year. That meant most people who lived near a port were getting Platinum status in two or three years when passengers like me who have to fly to port (and pay and arm and a leg) can't afford to cruise more than twice a year. It took me four years (well in reality 19 years--1991 first cruise, 2007 2nd cruise) going twice a year and in 2009 I went three times. One six day and the rest seven day.

The last past guest party we went to we got two drinks and food service sucked.....The change was needed, although I think a guest should have been allowed to go with you. If there is under 100 Platinum/Diamond the can easily use the comedy club for it and have lots of free space for a guest to join them......It would really suck if one spouse was Platinum or Diamond and the other was only Gold; therefore, allow a guest....

Will I go in February to the past guest party...Yes, but they will need to have it in the big show lounge because it is John Heald's 9th Blogger's cruise and half of the 500ish people going are Platinum or Diamond on top of those who are not part of the BC9 party. I can safely guess that there could easily be 300+ Platinum/Diamond in attendance for that party.

I have been on 15 cruises and only four have been booked through TA's. I've never gotten a deal by booking with a TA, nor have I gotten any exchange rate deals by booking directly with Carnival other than the sale or ES rate I am booking it by. I simply do a rough calculation based on exchange rate and that is my base for the cruise costs. The current exchange rate for credit cards right now is 31%.

It truly sucks that the Canuck Buck is as bad as it is when there is no reason for it to be so bad. Our economy fared very well when you look at how many other G20 nations suffered during the last decade or more.

A low Canadian dollar means budget gets trimmed here and there by a bit.....less drinks a day and one less excursion...cannot sacrifice my pedicure.....

*LOL* good drink service at Margaritaville isn't possible. Even one ship in port will overload the bartenders. It took me around 20-30 minutes of standing and waiting to get one of the two bartenders to notice me..didn't help that everyone at the bar was also waiting for drinks....ended up ordering four drinks for me and my friend cuz waiting 20+ minutes for a drink was crazy......goto Jack's Shack, it's a nice walk!

I have a Hero 3 and Hero 4. Do yourself a favour and research the mounts and accessories and buy it before you go on the cruise. Be warned, it will be an expensive venture. I have over $1000 in mounts and accessories. the Steadicam Curve is nice, but it takes a lot of time to figure out how to use it and the Hero 4 is lighter, so it needs an additional weight to be able to balance it, so I use the Hero 3 with it.

I would like to know how a serious user of Go Pro like Mic Bergsma has sunk into GoPro seeing as he has at least six GoPro's from the first to the newest Session and just about anything and everything that was made or can be home made for it.....

That is odd. The general rule is boarding closes at 3pm. Unless a late Carnival booked air arrival is late, everyone must be on board by 3.

It could be they are doing a immigration check, a coast guard check, or something else and want less of a crowd showing up early...