kctwinmommy

Dont think this guy did but some of them will put on a show in a lounge during the cruise. One asked people to put something on comment card that we liked his show as he wanted to become a flyon.

Oh this one did have a show the one night. And maybe I'm confused, but it may have been because of a cancelled comedian. I can't remember. But I know he told us that he was going to have a show one night, but we didn't make it to see it.

We are planning a cruise with some friends. My kids will be 17,17, and 15.

 

Theirs will be 14,12,and 11.

 

Will their 14 year old be able to go with my 15 year old in the teen area and will their 11 and 12 year olds be able to go together?

 

I'm aware of the age group splits, I just didn't know how strict they are.

So, it's 12-14, and 15-17 technically. But, it will really depend on the capacity. On our Nov. 2015 cruise, there was an 11 year old sibling who was able to be in Circle C with the 13 year old. But, overall there were probably like 10-15 kids in Circle C. Then, this past summer, my son took a picture with the Circle C group and there had to have been at least 40 kids, and they weren't all there. So, I think they were a little more strict on things.

Now, this past November's cruise, my son and his friend were once again in Circle C (they're 13 & 14), but they did do some things with the O2 kids. And keep in mind, the camps for the older kids offer activities, but a lot of times, kids do their own things, or meet up with a group and hang out, etc... If you look at my Magic review (in my signature), I posted pictures of Circle C for most of the days, so you get an idea of what they do.

You mention renting a cabana at Margaritaville. Did you rent it when you got there or from a website? We have a large gruop also and that would be a good spot to come and go from. Thanks.

It's only done as an "excursion" through Carnival's website. And if you're going to do it, book as soon as you can. There's only 10 of them, and on our day, there were 2 ships in port, so they will sell out.

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/grand-turk/poolside-cabana-rental-440035

He did 2 tricks for us maybe 5 minutes. Always wondered if you slip him a 5 or 10 will he keep coming back?

Well, I can say that we didn't tip him anything. I really do think that if there are kids at the table, he's more likely to come by. On the Legend during the summer, we actually found the guy on the Lido deck, hanging out. So we sat down and he did a couple things. Then a couple of tweens/teens nearby even came over.

We enjoy table magician and wonder how many tables he visits each night. We have been on cruises and never even seen him walking around the DR.

We did too! And yeah, not sure how many tables he can get to in one seating. I mean, he spent like 10 minutes at our table. And I saw him go to a table nearby, with some kids as well.

How did you get to Cocoa Beach from the Airport (assuming you flew and flew into Orlando.)

 

Also, what time did you go out to get chairs when they were all taken up? My husband usually gets up early and sits out there until I join him and finds a seat. Just wondering what time he needs to get out there haha.

 

What did you do about transportation from the port to the airport if you flew? This is our 16th cruise but our 1st leaving Port Canaveral so I am lost :eek:. There are 5 of us and I'm trying to figure out the most cost efficient way to get us to the port as early as possible.

 

Thanks!

We've always used Cocoa Beach Shuttle. We used them almost 10 years ago for the first time and went back to them again in 2015 & 2016 when we cruised from there. No problems at all. I feel the price is best for the 3 of us and I don't care about waiting 15-20 minutes for our van to arrive, I'm not in that much of a hurry. I know some want/need a private car, but that was much more expensive. I think we paid like $130 round trip for the 3 of us. So we have the reservation for them to pick up at MCO, take us to the Radisson in Cocoa Beach, and then we have the return reservation for when we disembark. There are a ton of other companies around there, so you just check in at a central desk by the parking garage and they let the drivers know how many they're picking up. Looking at their website, it looks like it's $88 one way for 5 people.

We didn't get out to the decks until around 10ish maybe. I realize that's later, but I would also look at the video in our room, that shows the Lido deck cameras, and still, at like 8 a.m. there were chairs covered in stuff with barely anyone around. So even when we got out there, later on, the same stuff was still sitting there. Honestly, one day I couldn't find ONE single chair along the entire pool deck (10 or 11)!! That was the day I ended up on deck 5. I just wish that Carnival would actually enforce people hoarding the chairs.

A few more comments.

 

We also saw flick. Huge number of people were saving lots of seats. Lucky to get a good seat even by getting there a half hour early. Show was good but many times had no idea what movie they were doing.

 

See no reason to tip MD. Did nothing for us other than when he came around one night to see how everything was I asked him if the ship had table magician as we had not seen him. He brought him over to the table one night and he did a few things for us.

 

Waitstaff was excellent. We were well aft and about as far from the galley as can be and our food was brought out promptly and hot.

Oh we knew all the movies, except one! LOL!

And yes, I don't see any reason to tip the MD either. We had a table right near the front, so we saw him go by us several times. We did get the table magician though, twice! But we had the teen boys at our table, so not sure if he gravitates towards those tables more or not. But he was pretty entertaining.

Day 7 - Grand Turk - We got off at 8 a.m. to make sure we beat the crowds of the 2nd ship that was heading our way. We had rented one of the cabanas at Margaritaville, which we really enjoyed. As I probably said early on, there were 7 of us, and technically, it's for 4 people, but nobody really cares. There were 2 nice chaise lounges on the deck, plus there's chairs/sofas inside. We actually pulled some of that out on the deck too, just open both of the doors. It was nice to have the fridge there, plus an a/c place to cool down when needed.

The other wife and myself mostly hung here the whole day. She actually had surgery a month before the trip, so she had to stay out of the sun for the most part, so it was perfect! The husbands and 2 boys went down by the beach like 3-4 times to do snorkeling. There's a ton to see right there, so if you want, save your money and just bring your own gear! They loved it! I realize some people want to go much further and do more, but if you're looking for easy and simple, it's perfect. We did use the waitress service, which was OK. Early on, she came by a few times, but then when we pushed the button, there was no way to know if it was actually working, and it took like 15-20 minutes before someone else came, our waitress was busy. Not a huge deal for us, it's not like we needed our stuff immediately, but just if you're going to do this, don't wait until you're starving! LOL! We ordered some cocktails as well as calamari and the nachos - which were awesome! We stopped at the shops on our way out and picked up a few things. Nothing truly local, but just a t-shirt or 2, plus a Christmas ornament.

Dinner that night was fine. Someone ordered the sea bass and said it was OK, nothing great. We also went to see a new comedian, CeeJay Jones. He was pretty funny, much more R rated than the other 2 that we saw earlier in the cruise. And again, the lines were super long, so get there early.

The view of our ship from our cabana

Our nachos!! Yum!!

We did a lesser known beach in Aruba, but it was fine. We spend a few hours there. It's right near the airport.

We didn't go down by it, but there's a water playground thing here

I don't know which one, but this was dinner from one of the formal nights...

Most of the Circle C itinerary

The boys on our balconies. We did get the partition removed, which is nice!

Sail away party

Curacao beach

And this was an excursion where we stayed until sunset

I apologize that I didn't finish this earlier, I just got sidetracked with the holidays. I'm going to put up some pictures too.

Day 6 - Another sea day - Once again, the biggest problem is the hogging of chairs. We could see that there were rows & rows of chairs right by the pool with stuff on it from in the morning and nobody ever came to use them. We had a spot on deck 11 above the pool and could see it. I just wish Carnival would actually enforce the rules regarding this practice.

We did find a nice spot in the corner of deck 11, which was close to our rooms. It was in the corner so there was a table for us to eat at, parts of it were shaded and some sunny, so we could all get what we needed. We spent most of our day hanging here, people in our group coming and going. Our friends went to Cucina for lunch and said the service was very poor that day. I get that being a sea day more people will come, but they said it took well over an hour to have lunch, and over 20 minutes just to get their order taken. My husband and I had Guys again, and eve at the noon time, there was almost no line. Their fries are just awesome! And I'm not normally a seasoned fries kind of person!

We saw the new show, Flick, which was very good. We enjoyed it and the theater was packed! As many others have said, get to the theater early if you want good seats. We also had our formal pictures taken that night, with some nice results, so the next night we actually purchased a canvas of one of our pictures.

If you have anyone going who likes snorkeling, you can also snorkel right off the beach by Margaritaville. I was there last Thursday and was surprised at how good the snorkeling was, out by the line that you're not supposed to go past (but we did, a little. :) )

 

There are two anchors and a cannon submerged out there (15-20 feet deep) to encourage coral growth, and there were more fish there than there were last year. Next to there it drops to 40 feet deep.

Yep! My husband, son and friends went snorkeling there like 3-4 times throughout the day. They love the snorkeling there because it's nice, clear, and just easy to do. If you want, you can see about renting one of the Margaritaville cabanas, then you have a nice, secure place for everyone to hang and meet up throughout the day. It's technically for 4 people, but we had 7, since again, people in our group were coming and going all day. Just the other wife and myself pretty much hung there.

It's been two Carnival cruises now where we have heard people telling those who ask that their dogs are emotional support dogs. One couple each had a Westie on their lap and admitted they just couldn't be without their pets so they renamed one Paxil and the other Zoloft for the cruise like that was funny and they pulled one over on Carnival. We were disgusted.

See, that's why I wish businesses would start actually clamping down on this crap! They know it's b.s. and are still "pulling one over." Nice! :rolleyes: Unfortunately, businesses are so afraid of being sued for every little thing, so they just keep giving in to things it seems. Just like a parent to a child, it's OK to say no!

Our 13 year old has been hanging at Circle C for the past year on his 3 cruises. The last one, the Magic, there seemed to be a lot of cross-hanging between Circle and Club O2 kids. My son registers and starts off at Circle C most days, but he also branches out on his own, or with a couple of kids and just hangs out.

And it seems to really depend on the capacity/number of kids registered. Last year, on the Valor, they allowed an 11 year old sibling to register with Circle C where his sibling was. But there weren't a lot of kids on the ship. Over the summer, on the Legend, there was an actual school group of h.s. kids, like 50-75 of them! They were using the O2 lounge and such, I don't think my son did anything with them. And he also too a group picture of the Circle C kids, and there were at least 40 in that picture, with some missing. So in that case, they were a little more strict on who went where.

I've done #2 & #4, enjoyed both. We just the #4 itinerary on the Magic. It was the biggest ship we'd been on, so it was more crowded at times and in certain places, but I never felt overwhelmed by it. Just longer lines for some things that I hadn't dealt with before. We also usually cruise during slightly less busy times. I actually enjoyed the 8-day cruise we just did because I enjoy sea days. Again, I'm pretty much a cruiser for relaxing, sitting in the sun, having some food, etc... I don't need much! ;)

It says on the Carnival website that the cabanas hold four people but we are a family of five? Is that actually an issue? Will they object? Also what is the location of the cabanas? I would hate to book one and then find it too "off the beaten path" and not close to pool/beach/etc.

 

Thanks!!

We had 7 people in ours! There were 2 young teens, and 5 adults. Us 2 moms pretty much stayed at the cabana, relaxing, along with the other mom's adult daughter. The dads and 2 boys went back and forth to the beach to snorkel and swim. It was a great thing to have for the day! We paid for the cabana and the other family paid for everyone's food and drinks (we each had one) so it worked out pretty evenly.

No! I don't like seeing people dragging their pooches through all the stores these days either. I wish more businesses would actually start enforcing the no animal policy better.

Again, no problem with legitimate, real service animals. In fact, our last cruise had one on board. Beautiful German Shepard, and of course, extremely well behaved. It was cute though, the guy took his pictures with the dog. But again, while that's fine because the dog is trained to handle these things, most animals aren't like that.

And like others said, unfortunately, it's gotten easier to "certify" your therapy pet, which is wrong. Maybe I'll get it done for my bearded dragon and snake!! :D

Yep! Free for lunch. We went twice, it was a nice option to have. They have the create your own pasta during that time. There were about 4 different sauces, like 6 pastas, and then you can add meat (shrimp, chicken, meatballs), and you can also get a salad and bread on the side.

Most ships are still printing out the pictures and wasting paper .

I was going to say the same thing. I believe the Vista is the one, or one of the few, that has gone digital. And a great idea!!

We also had cruised in 206 & 2007, then didn't go again until last year and we really didn't notice much of any changes. We're not picky, I'm not there for the finest dining or gourmet food, I like more simple things. But we all enjoyed our meals. We liked the different options we had on the Magic in November (Guys, Pig & Anchor, etc...). I do feel the dress code has become more lax over the years. I used to take ball gowns, but not anymore. I bring nicer dresses still, things I'd wear to an evening wedding, my husband & son will wear a shirt & tie as well. But the other nights it's even less dressy than before.

The whole purpose of a cruise for us, for the most part, is to get away from our busy schedules, enjoy some nice weather (we're in the cold in November, which is when we've normally cruised), kick back on a pool deck or beach, and just unwind.

We went in late August and there were two boats but they ran at the same time.

Our cruise in July did 2 boats, and 2 times. I can't remember if there were 2 options when we booked it in January, but we did do the early one anyway. So they may add a second time. But yes, there were still 2 boats that went at the same time. And then, when they got to the glacier, one stayed close up for a little while, then switched places with the other one. Even though it's big, they still want to make sure the boats are apart from each other and safe.

Any opinion on whether the morning or afternoon Tracy Arm small boat tour would be better in mid July?

I found Pig and Anchor to be fair, not much flavor. Had to put a lot of sauce on it. Cucina at night was terrible! I make better spaghetti and meatballs! T=Linguine with cream sauce not any better. Rolls were too hard to have been fresh. Very attentive wait staff. At the end a server tried to give me someone else's leftover spaghetti. How do you heat that up? Odd.

Yeah, I didn't eat at Pig & Anchor, but my husband did. He preferred Guys much better. I only did Cucina for lunch, both times had the alfredo sauce with pasta and it was pretty tasty.

Day 5 - Aruba - This stop we didn't do an excursion, we just wanted some beach time. So we got off the ship and went into the center right there. Another member of our group asked about a good beach to go to. I wasn't there, so I don't know what he asked for specifically, so they recommended Surfside Beach. They said there was a restaurant, a pool etc... So, we grabbed 2 cabs (they can only take 5 people and we had 7) and off we went. We walked down the beach a bit and grabbed a plot of sand. It wasn't crowded at all, it's right by the airport, so we had about 7-9 planes come in while we were there, for about 3 hours. We didn't really look around or ask, so we didn't see it until we were leaving that we could have paid like $20-30/person I think for use of the chairs and the pool. It was fine though, we just wanted some sun and ocean. If you're looking for just a simple beach, nothing fancy and not crowded, it was a nice little place. I know there are 2 other beaches that are much more popular, but also very crowded according to others.

We got back on the ship and a couple of people went back out to shop right there. My son and I went to Cucina for lunch again, wasn't crowded at all. That night we did have a problem with dinner. Our waiter said something about a group in his area needing to be done by 7 p.m. for some reason (not sure what), but it screwed up his entire section. I honestly fault the group for making such a demand. Our waiters tried as hard as they could to get us our food, but it took a long time for us to get just the appetizers. By then, the group was done, although they then sat there for another 20-30 minutes. Again, very rude of them to make such demands. Our waiters brought us extra things and tried to make it up to us, which we appreciated. They had the beef wellington on the menu that night, so a couple people got that and said it was very good.

I find that forming a good relationship with the maitre de at the beginning of the cruise (Best if done ASAP once boarded) really pays off in choice of section, waitstaff and service. Sometimes the most popular waiters take on too many tables, so that can slow things down a bit unless they have good members of their team to make sure no one is overlooked and the meal progresses as it should. And if the food is not what you expected, or the order it is served not to your liking, do what you would do in any fine restaurant and send it back, and if not quickly satisfied, then it's time to get your good buddy, the captain of the room or maitre de, over, and nicely suggest a change in Table, waiter or whatever will make dinner a memorable occasion for the rest of your vacation. While you can get a lot more with honey than vinegar, and in your case, a $50 to the maitre de/captain on day one is well worth the extra attention, view and service you wil get throughout the trip.

We could have easily asked the waitstaff to correct the problems we had, and for certain things we did. I don't feel it's necessary to pay another $50 on top of what I'm already paying to get the service that was expected. And as I also said, they were very nice, we enjoyed our waiters.

Cruznjuly - I actually added links to my cruise reports in my signature. Makes it easier to find them. :D

Circle C for 12-14 year olds seemed very disorganized. When I asked the person in charge about it I was told the children could do whatever they want when ever they want. This resulted in packs of children running around the ship getting into trouble. I noticed security guards posted there near the final nights of the cruise. My grandson only went 1 or 2 nights. I am not sure what Royals program is like for this age because he just turned 12.

See, my son likes that the program isn't set in stone. They tend to go with what the kids want to do. No reason to force a bunch of 12-14 year olds to play a game if they don't want to do it. Although on our cruise, we didn't see/hear any problems with groups of kids causing problems. We saw our son walking around some times with other kids, other times he was in the Circle C playing video games. I think it really depends on what the kids want, they try to keep it a little less structured. This was our son's 3rd cruise in Circle C in the past year, so that's how it seems to go.