AandBmom

On 2/15/2020 at 5:35 PM, teknoge3k said:

Everyone responding needs to realize this thread is almost 3 years old. Much has changed since this thread begun. 

True but the recent answers are very helpful

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Based solely on the best ship for kids I would rank them 1. Vista, 2. Breeze, 3. Magic, 4. Freedom

 

My reasoning is Vista has the skyride and imax which none of the other ships have. It also has the family harbor room option which none of the other ships have. Actually on Vista's deck 6 forward they have the Imax, thrill theater, arcade, and i think there's a kids club all  right together there. That's where I'd want to be if I were a kid. Vista also has bigger room TVs and better internet if that matters.

 

Breeze and Magic are basically the same ship. I pick Breeze over magic for kids because down on deck 4 they have a thrill theater.

 

I put Freedom below all of the others due to a lack of sports square and ropes course. I hate the location of the arcade on the freedom. It's right between the night club and the red frog pub. I actually came out of the night club at 1am once and almost tripped on a kid. On the other ships the arcades are away from bars. Vista is the best with that full entertainment area far away from where adults are at night.

 

Now you haven't given other details that may change things. If you're having to fly in it's going to be a lot easier to get to a ship in Florida than Galveston as you gotta get transportation from Houston to Galveston which is about 45 minutes to an hour on the interstate.

I agree. My kids are around the same age and we love the Vista and the Breeze.  We're doing the Panorama next month.  We love Carnival for kids.  I feel like my kids would be bored on the Freedom.  Maybe look at NCL too. My kids have enjoyed the bigger NCL ships with lots for kids to do.  They often have good deals. 

51 minutes ago, SDPadreFan said:

It's possible that the price relates to at least one of the craft beer places being about 20 miles away in the town of San Jose del Cabo. Lots of great taco places in Cabo so you could do that on your own. We are partial to Gardinias for what we consider the best fish tacos in Cabo. Even though we do the All Inclusive option at our timeshare in Cabo, we always manage a trip to Gardinias for lunch each year. Taco Loco in town next to Rips (a locals outdoor bar) is good as well. If you went to Rips (try the Rainbow Shots) then you could get a taco next door at Taco Loco. Another place (but harder to find) is Gordo Lele's for truly outstanding Carne Asada Tacos.

 

Here is a search I did on TripAdvisor for Brewery's in Cabo. It's a great resource.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/SearchForums?ff=84&geo=152515&scope=2&q=brewery&pid=34633&s=D

 

Thanks so much!  I'll check it all out 

2 hours ago, bakersdozen12 said:

A common misconception that people have is that Jiji’s and Cucina are free at lunch time. They are not. Rather, Mongolian Wok and Pasta Bella are served out of Jiji’s and Cucina, respectively, at lunch time. It’s not the same food. Not even close. But yes, this arrangement is included on the Panorama. 

Thanks for the info.  Cucina was free at lunch the first time I was on the Breeze.  I guess that's not a thing now.  I Mongolian wok is always free right?

What's our best/most affordable way to get ourselves to the Arch as a family of 6 ? The cruise line offers this but it is very expensive.  

The organized taco crawl that I found looks expensive. Can anyone recommend places we could hit and how we can best get around? Are these places congregated close together?  

We are sailing March 14, 2020.  Has any accumulated some tips and tricks?  For example, are some of the pay restaurants free at certain times?  Are there hidden away food stations that we don't want to miss?  Ways to speed embarkation or debarkation?  Ways to minimize waiting for shows?  Best buffet times?  Best time to get on skybikes, ropes course, etc?

We're not really a sit on the beach kind of family.

We are looking for ideas for Cabo

We are going to hike up to the lighthouse, watch cliff divers, etc in Mazatlan and zipline in PV.

Can anyone suggest something interesting for Cabo?

We have a similar family composition. We are looking to hike up to the lighthouse in Mazatlan, then check out cliff divers and explore town.  

Looking at ziplining likely in PA.

Not sure beyond that. 

Does anyone have ziplining experience in one of these ports?  If so, please tell me about it.

I've been researching Mazatlan. 

We are traveling there this March on the Carnival Panorama.  2 adults, 4 kids ages 9-16.  

We are interested in hiking to the top of the lighthouse and going on the glass walkway. 

I'd like to check out the cliff divers at El Clavadista, then maybe check out shops and street performers at Plaza Mochado.

Can someone suggest our best method to get to each stop? I think it's a bit too much to walk with kids on a hot day.  

On 1/14/2020 at 12:26 AM, scottca075 said:

 

There have been big changes at LAX for Uber, I'd look into Uber Black on arrival. It would be worth the extra. Uber XL on the return should be fine.

Thanks for the suggestion. What do you mean big changes? What's uber black?

On 12/13/2019 at 6:53 PM, TNcruising02 said:

My husband and I are staying at the Maya tonight.  We had a very early flight and arrived at the hotel at 9:30 am.  I asked if there was any possibility for an early check-in.  They were able to give us a room right then at no extra cost.  Then I realized that I forgot to bring my cruise luggage tags.  I was able to use the computer and printer to print them and they let me borrow their stapler to attach them.  My husband forgot to pack shaving cream, so they gave us a bottle. Very friendly people at the front desk!

We ordered room service.  The food and service was excellent.  Anyway, we are pleased with the hotel.  It reminds me of a hotel I stayed at in Maui.  Kind of a tropical feel to it.  I hope you and your family have a wonderful time!

Awesome. So great to hear. Thanks for posting

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up booking 2 rooms at the Maya and got a decent rate with their government rate.  Woo hoo.  

Looks like an Uber is going to make most sense too.  

10 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

It's generally minivans or Chevy Suburbans so usually room for quite a bit of luggage. I'm in and out of LA all the time and I used to rent a car most of the time. With Uber being as good as it is now, I try and only rent a car when I need to go to multiple places or drive a longer distance (like up to Santa Barbara or out to Palm Springs). Otherwise its easy to get around with Uber and I spend less time picking up and dropping off cars and more time where I want to be. Most of the time it's less expensive than renting a car and a lot less of a hassle. 

 

From what you described the rental car would just be transportation-- if thats the case I would highly encourage you to look at this as a good alternative. If you plan on making some stops-- like going to Santa Monica for lunch or spending a night at Disneyland, etc-- then a rental car might make more sense. 

Lots to consider thank you. I will look into shuttles too. Perhaps staying at the airport for the night and doing a shuttle to the port in the am from LAX makes most sense.  

2 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Have you tried getting a quote for UberXL? They seat 6 and are usually only a little bit more than an UberX. 

I'll look thanks. Do they usually have space for luggage too?

These seem hard to find other than a few marriotts. Any suggestions for decently priced hotels that fit 6?

54 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Generally you are hit with some not so nice one way fees with some of the major companies (there are some negotiated corporate rates you'd need to qualify for that can waive these in certain situations). As a general rule though a one way rental will be more expensive than one returning to the same location. 

 

I would imagine taking an Uber or shuttle will be less expensive overall than renting a car-- not to mention any of these will be a LOT less time consuming when you factor in pick up/drop off on both ends. 

 Thank you for your reply. I got an uber quote and it's about $40 for up to 4 people. We're 6 so we need 2. Then another one the next day to the cruise port.  Looks like a minivan with different location fee is $86 plus the added convenience of a vehicle. 

Anyone have a good experience with this?  Can you recommend a car company? Car is needed for 24 hours pre and post cruise. Thanks. 

I'm looking at hotel options for our family of 6.  1 night pre cruise, 1 night post cruise.  

For pre cruise we fly in around 8pm. We will eat and sleep, get up eat then head to the cruise.

Suggestions for best hotel area or hotel names. What are the best logistics? Shuttle from one to the other, stay near LAX or port?  rental car for one night?  

Post cruise we have an entire day to hang out.  We will be beached out after cruise. We'd rather see some sites.  Any suggestions where to stay with stuff to do?  I"m think rental car for sure this time. 

Here are some things I'm glad we had along for our toddler.....

beach toys

toys for the cabin

books

blankie or stuffy

meds

snacks

refillable water bottle to bring to ports

battery tea lights for bathroom so you don't need to turn on bright light and fan at night

wine for your cabin to sip while little one sleeps

lanyards for your sign/sail card

backpack or good beach bag for ports

stroller

My understanding and experience has always been that checked luggage is scanned at random as they don't have enough time or capacity to scan every single bag.  

17 hours ago, Husky61 said:

There is also a Budget Car rental right on Ocean near the cruise terminal.

Is this walkable? Or do they supply a shuttle pick up at the terminal?

We have done approximately 8 carnival cruises and have brought at least 1 bottle of wine to the MDR most nights of every cruise and have never been charged a corkage fee. I know they say it's a thing but I've never seen it happen.  I guess someone is deciding to enforce the policy here and there.  We can just pour our own in our room I guess then. 

We had a negative experience at their holiday beach hotel location.

Got there and the 12 seater we rented wasn't available.

We were given 2 cars instead. They seated 11 combined. They told us to just jam an extra person in one....

This also meant a 2nd driver was needed. Fortunately someone else brought their license and hadn't had any alcohol.

The staff person seemed grumpy and didn't give clear instructions. Partly because it seemed like she didn't know a lot of English. Very frustrating.