vamartha

15 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Do you get some kind of notification when someone sends you a chat message or do you have to keep checking?

You don't get a notification and that is my first issue with it. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't and it doesn't seem to be ship specific. I've given up on it totally. We just bite the bullet and get one Premium and one Social and use Messenger. Notifications never miss on Messenger.

On 1/3/2023 at 11:10 PM, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

I don’t think that ship moves now honestly, She was in that exact spot when I was here back in April/May. 
 

I also wonder who is onboard that ship I have seen at most 3-5 people onboard her. 

We were there fall of 2021 on Pride and I was expecting to see it but it was gone and the Oceania Insignia that wasn't in service was there instead. I was so disappointed! I'm sort of a cult story follower on the internet because I find it interesting. I've seen it once and I'm excited I'll see it again in about 25 days! Thanks for posting!

I gave up on the Chat feature early on. It never had a notification that worked well and just wasn't reliable for us. I've tried it on Magic, Mardi Gras, Spirit and Pride. Mardi Gras (twice) and Spirit just this year. We use FB Messenger to keep in touch, I get a Premium and hubby gets a Social package. We just find it far more reliable and as we get older and older we try and keep the extra walking down to a minimum as hubby can't do more than one flight of stairs. Its worth the $$ for us.

We took our cards over a Halloween cruise. I keep mine clipped into my passport anyway. We took them to Guest Services to have them scan them in and already be in the system but honestly I don't think they asked a single person to see them. We didn't shop or go into any of the shops except the one they herd you through into the port.

I still eat Guy's Burgers but I still really miss the old fries. Not that I need to be eating fries, but those original Guy's fries were exceptional. 

We've done this one in a couple different configurations over the years.

We were just in Grand Turk right after Halloween. It is a beach/big as heck pool right at the port, just steps away from the ship. Pool is included, I take ice water and I can make it a zero cost day (I don't drink but there are plenty of Margaritaville drinks and you don't even have to get out of the pool). There is a for cost flow rider, it was not working in November likely due to the hurricane. And if you get too far away from the ship there are vendors that will charge for chair. Remedy that by walking to Jack's Shack or staying in front of the pool. Its a small island. We didn't find the golf cart tour as worthwhile as I had hoped. Honestly, the pool is the best deal at GT.

Bonaire will be new for us in just 35 days. I have a golf cart reserved. My main goal is to snorkel and see the salt and maybe a flamingo for a bonus.

Aruba is a bit like Cozumel with the desert thrown in as opposed to the jungle. As far as you can do pretty much any type of excursion you might desire. Its relatively safe. There are resorts that sell day passes and every kind of tour from trikes to side by side's to a party bus or a non party bus. Casinos. Safe shopping. Beautiful beaches. We like to visit the grocery store, its close/walking distance and we always like to see different ones in different countries. Our personal favorite is snorkeling with Aruba Bob at Mangel Halto but its become very pricey and one of us has stopped snorkeling due to age. He goes to the casinos now. 

The Magic will be between the Spirit/Legend and Panorama in size. Easy to navigate, still has the glass elevators and old style atrium. We sailed her in 2017 and again in just a few weeks. I do have the Spa/Relaxation booked and I'm looking forward to the Thalassotherapy pool. It has a nice view. She has a bit of the old fancy elegance that you saw on Legend upped with a ton of neon. They did away with it by the Breeze and went with Caribbean theme.

You cannot compare the two. JiJi's is far superior and only wish it were on more ships. 

I watch a lot of YouTube and I get the premium package. It streams fine, just a tiny bit of lag and waiting a few minutes to start the video works fine. I've used it with success in the past year on MG, Spirit and Pride. I tried Value on Spirit and that lasted 15 minutes before I upgraded in frustration. Hubby only watches FB videos and Social works fine for him. I don't try Netflix as I just download those or Amazon Prime to my tablet before we leave.

Wi-Fi. I don't drink, stick to a strict casino budget, don't do Carnival excursions or even look at things in the shops. Wi-Fi is the most expensive thing I buy on the ship.

I haven't cruise since March but we are in the cabin less than 30 seconds. Long enough to open a closet door and stuff a tiny spinner and a rolling backpack in, close the closet door and we are moving again.

On 9/16/2022 at 9:34 AM, mz-s said:

 

Their current position isn't working. So they need to do something. Raise prices so the potheads don't cruise would be an easy way to solve the problem.

Considering all demographics imbibe, I don't think your solution would solve anything. And I'd a whole lot rather be on a ship full of stoned people than a ship full of drunks. There really isn't a comparison. One group is calm and happy with life and one group is unruly, arrogant and not enjoyable to be around. I'll let you decide which is which.

On 9/1/2022 at 8:36 AM, tap_out said:

 The TV in our room did seem extra small this time around though. 

LOL, I'm dying laughing here. We sailed the Pride last year and the Spirit this year and I'm like the TV is way smaller than any of the computer monitors in our house!

 

We have sailed twice, neither time at capacity. The first time we were not Platinum and the second time we were. Our check in times were close and early on both, about an hour apart. We actually boarded faster on the non Platinum one but it was only the 4th cruise on MG and we never sat down, straight from the security machines to the ship.

The second one was in January and we waited in the waiting area about 30 minutes beyond security. Suite passengers were still coming out of their area when we were called. We were onboard by 11 both times but again, not near capacity. More like 60% on the first one, 75% the second one.

Halleluiah! Sing it from the rafters! That is the best recap of the past 10 months that I have ever read! I want to print it and slide under every single cabin door!

They aren't the same. Not even close.

New Guys fries aren't old Guys fries. I don't know what happened during Covid but they aren't the same. (Well, yes I do know. I retired as an Admin in the restaurant business during Covid - the price of a case of fries used to be about $23 at the end of 2019, when I retired a year ago they were $95 and climbing daily).

I've tried them on three different ships. They aren't the same. They just aren't.

20 hours ago, a4ofspades said:

I'd love to know where you found the Cokes in Aruba...thanks!! 🙂 

We found a grocery store downtown. From the port it is a few streets back and a bit to the right. It is on Havenstraat Street.

I was on the restart cruise. They were not prepared for us but that is managements fault and not the crew or the ships fault.

You will be fine as long as you go expecting the Spirit and not expecting the Mardi Gras. The ship was clean, there were places that weren't clean for us (like one of the pools) and again, that was managements fault. If you go expecting a Spirit Class ship (21 days on Spirit class for me since restart), you will be just fine. Plus, she's a bit brighter than the Pride and the Legend!

If you take cruise and deck and plans and add it together with a .com you will get a website that may or may not give you specific photos of your cabin. I don't book a single cruise without going there first. What they do have is user uploaded so they are not representations but actual pics of the cabins.

I've been on Mardi Gras and those certainly aren't looking worn down. The steps going up out of Lido are a different story but the cabins are fine.

I've also been on Pride and Spirit and the cabins there are fine as well. After the Mardi Gras, the Spirit Class bathrooms are simply spacious! The TV's are less than miniature but the rest of the cabins were in really great shape!

1.  I know boarding is timed for everyone, but do they still have the Diamond/Platinum area for you to wait in or is everything just general seating now? No, it is only for Suite passengers now.

2.  We ALWAYS carry on all our own luggage so it doesn't get lost.... just checking we can still do this? Yes

3.  Are they allowing early access to the rooms for Diamond/Platinum? You may drop off your bags in your cabin and then quickly leave. Our cabins were ready by 1:30, on every ship we've been on.

4.  I know mask madidates were lifted, but it said may still be required in some areas.  Anyone experience this, if so where are they required please? On the Spirit, they didn't require them anywhere other than in the terminal for both embarkation and debarkation.

5. Do they have priority debarkation for Diamond / Platinum? It depends on the particular ship and more on the amount of Platinum and Diamond that are booked than anything else. If not a lot, you won't have an issue. If it is a lot, it might not seem like it is much faster.

6. VeriFly is being pushed by Carnival in all the emails I am getting, but it doesn't say it is mandatory - anyone that didn't do this in advance was checking in really that much longer or harder as long as you had all your docs ready to go (Negative Covid Results, Passports, Vaccine Card)? It has been available for two ships that I have been on but I have not used it yet. No particular reason, just already had everything ready to go on paper and stuck with that.

7.  STUPID one last, just making ABSOLUTELY sure, since we are indeed leaving the country we don't have to have a negative Covid test to get back through USA customs at the port right ?  I know dumb, but just want to ask to make sure we don't have to take extra Tests with us to do with our phones or something stupid. As of today, there are no return tests required.

8 hours ago, ray98 said:

No kidding....that was a disaster.  Has anyone heard why we got in so late?  I know it was scheduled in advance but didn't hear the reason.

It was tides. We had to wait until we fit under the bridge.

I was on this cruise. My expectations were not at the highest and I'd have to say it went about as expected.

Preface that to say we aren't bar people, not MDR diners and not pool hangerouters. We like to eat at the Lido, we like to gamble a bit little and we like to hang out in our cabin and watch the world go by.

So I can't address any MDR issues. I ate the Lido (buffet, Blue Iguana or Guys) most of the time. The last night I needed to spend some credit so I ate at the Steakhouse. It was wonderful. Buffet food was iffy but it is almost that way now on all ships but the Mardi Gras now (we did two weeks on Pride too last fall so I do have some comparison there). If you can eat salad, you are golden but most of the buffet was not exactly hot - temp wise. 3 of the 4 ice machines in Lido were broken and the 4th one stopped by day 4. There was plenty of ice there, but you had to dig in a tub for it instead of it working through the dispenser. Deli was decent, pizza improved over the week.

Cabins were clean and adequate but the little touches were missing like checking to see if the fridge was plugged in. Towels are showing their age (oddly the towel animal ones weren't). Water ran brown on a day or two on Deck 8. TV's (I don't sail to watch TV but we like the maps and the view from the bridge) are miniature. Like smaller than every single computer monitor in my house miniature. I knew to expect that one too, they are the same size on Pride. Cabin Stewards still work hard and mine did a great job!

Casino was interesting. Lots of machines that didn't work for the duration. And many that did. I was on the smoking side and it seems that ashtrays were a bit on the light side. I vape so I didn't need one but they were few and far between. Bar delivery service was great earlier in the week. It was not so good on the last sea day. But the machines paid off well early in the day!

I like Spirit Class ships for their ease of navigation. You never have to go up these steps to go forward, everything is nice and laid out on each deck and you can traverse the whole ship on the same deck. No up and down. They just traverse well. They also aren't my favorites, I prefer a bit larger.

All said, we went, we ate, we saw the ocean, we saw other ships and we honked horns at each other. They weren't 100 percent ready for us but they made it happen and the crew handled it was grace. We had rainy spots and two beautiful port days. And had you been Mary Poppins with that darn umbrella, you would have made it off the ship faster on windy debarkation day! 

On 3/15/2022 at 8:18 AM, chengkp75 said:

Okay, let's address the Captain/Pilot relationship first.  

Thank you sir! You always provide us with worthwhile information! 

Just got off and I know balcony cabins do. Most of them didn't work when we boarded and after 12 hours of fiddling we decided to check the plug. Nope, not plugged in. One of many things that they didn't prepare to get this ship back into service. Once we got power to it, it cooled perfectly using my trick below. Drinks were as cold as they are in my home fridge.

Here is what I do. We pull it out as far as possible. Then we prop the cabinet door open behind the latch with something. You could use anything, we just happen to use a hairbrush because it fits perfectly behind the latch and does not fall out every time you open the door. I put the top of the brush above the latch facing out, the handle below and that way we don't have to leave the cabinet door open. It gives it about an inch of space and that is about the correct amount to give adequate airflow for these things to work properly. It worked great for two weeks on Pride and ditto for the Spirit.

I have to give props to someone else years ago on CC for first alerting me to this fix and I have to say we have had it work flawlessly on multiple ships. We like our drinks cold and we don't mess around! 😁 Add in a Yeti or a Corkcicle and we are ready to go!