CARNIVALCRUISE3

Great review and pictures! I can't wait to read the rest.

I sure will! I sailed on the Splendor in July.

I feel the same after having sailed on the Breeze, and returning to smaller ships. I have been spoiled by the Breeze! I live 30 minutes away from The Port of Miami, and will be sailing aboard the Vista in April and July! I can't wait. Thanks so much for your comparisons and differences on both ships.

I have gone on so many 4 day cruises since I live 30 minutes away from The Port of Miami, and there has always been great crowds and lots of families, not wild at all. Only that 3 day cruise was bad with a lot of drunks. On all of my 29 cruises, I have seen maybe one or two super drunk people on the ship. I sailed on a Super Bowl Weekend cruise years ago because I got such a great year. Have a great time on your cruise. I will be sailing aboard the Vista on April 8th. I can't wait.

I'm up at 6am every morning so I'm always the first one or one of the first ones at the omelette station.

I love the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, and don't remember ever seeing it at the buffet for dinner.

I have never been to Red Frog. We wanted to try it, but there was so much aboard the Breeze to eat. We loved the BBQ on the Breeze.

Yes, I sailed in December. I was in a balcony cabin on Deck 7. The upgraded cabins are absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was on the Breeze. They also have The SeaFood Shack at the aft pool by the pizza. It is delicious. Everything is freshly made.

The Blue Iguana is one of my favorites as well. The burritos at lunch with beef, cilantro lime rice and beans are out of this world. Freshly made as well. Not usually the kind of lines that you get at the Mongolian Wok either. And I also agree about the Cucina. The lunch there is good, free and all that but the dinners are outstanding. Atmosphere, service, food presentation and quality and the fact it is only $15 is outstanding. Way, way better than any steakhouse on any ship I have gone to and I have gone to many on three different lines. The only pay restaurant I like more is the Teppanyaki on NCL, which is a different type of place but is awesome as well. Is the JiJi's on Carnival anything like that I wonder? Got a steak from the Cucina the last time I went there, on the Magic or Breeze, cannot remember and it was outstanding, along with a side of pasta and meatballs and garlic bread starting out. The desserts were also good, some kind of apple puff pastry. I just think that Carnival is going more to the specialty dining venues and pay restaurants and is neglecting the general themed buffet quality these days. Which is still fine with me because you can get plenty of food at places other than the buffet now and there are days I don't even go to the buffet, considering what ship I am sailing on and what is offered.

 

I figure you can still ask for twice a day servicing but it was hassle enough to get it done once and so I figure I didn't want our steward in there more than he had to be I guess. I often don't get morning service if I sleep late so I can do without it all things considered.

 

For my next cruise, I actually just booked a cruise at an INSANELY LOW rate through a special travel agency for February, on the Enchantment of the Seas out of Miami, and it was so good that my friend and I booked a balcony cabin and paid far less than you would if you booked an average inside cabin for a 3-day cruise. Let me just say that had we gone with the inside option, the cruise would have basically been free plus tax. I look forward to that, spur of the moment, long weekend booze cruise, and another review will be forthcoming, lol. Of course the biggie family cruise is still going to happen sometime in April, but this will be a good little long weekend to satisfy my cruise addiction until then, :cool:.

Congratulations on your booking! So glad that you got such a great deal! Have a great time! I have also gotten great deals on weekend cruises. I leave work at noon on Friday, drive to port, then on Monday morning, I go straight to work or start work at noon. I have sailed on four 3 day cruises. There weren't so bad except for the one on Labor Day Weekend which was full of nasty, rude drunks. I will never go on a 3 day cruise again. I love to have a whole wheat burrito with chicken, shrimp, and mild sauce from Blue Iguana Cantina! There is never a line. When we went on the Breeze, we had dinner at the buffet, and they were serving the same selections as in the dining room. For breakfast, I always have an omelette from the omelette station, and eat a muffin or 2 slices of whole wheat bread from the buffet. My nephew and mom love the selection at the buffet for breakfast. I also had the steak at Cucina, and it was absolutely delicious. We ate at the steakhouse once, and the filet mignon was a lot better in the dining room than at the steakhouse.

So glad that your sister is doing better. Also write on Carnival's Facebook page. They respond right away.

Thank you so much for your detailed review and amazing pictures. I will be sailing aboard the Vista in April and May.

Yes, I think that the Magic is worth the extra money. I haven't sailed on the Magic, but have sailed on the Breeze 4 times which is my favorite ship. I have also sailed on the Glory and the Splendor and love those ships as well. If it is really that much more expensive, book any of the other ships. You will not be disappointed at all, and will have a great time.

Target has the best fitting, inexpensive, and great quality swimsuits.

My apologies for taking so long to get back to everyone's comments, but thanks for taking the time to post them. It was totally my pleasure to write this whole thing up. Yes, they take a long time to do but they are worth it in the end. I especially like writing them in the wintertime when it is cold back up here in NJ. Granted the last few days have been warm but it was very cold and snowy most of the time and is going to snow again tomorrow. Yes, thinking about cruising does help get through the cold and dark winter months.

 

The Christmas festivities they did were done well also, I agree. The caroling was a nice touch, and the tree and everything to do with the season did add to the holiday cheer onboard for sure. I wouldn't say Marcelo was my favorite cruise director but he was certainly good and a pretty good balance of excitement, seriousness and information distribution to the passengers throughout the voyage. The Seafood Shack looked good but I just can't justify going to a seafood place on a ship when I have so many fresh seafood options right in my backyard at home. Too much other stuff to do on the ship, but I am glad you said it was good. Perhaps other ships will adopt the idea in the future. Surely better than Princess's Crab Shack that they had on the Grand, which looked to amount to only crab legs and maybe some other basic stuff that was served in the Lido dining room when I sailed it. Surely not my idea of a true crab shack experience.

 

I don't have a problem with the increasing casual trends in the MDR on Carnival and other lines as it allows me to pack less stuff to take with me and also decreases time that it takes to get ready for dinner each night (aka more time to do other stuff in the late afternoons) but hopefully it doesn't end up like Applebee's, where t-shirts and gym shorts are the norm. That would be too much even for me. But I still do like getting somewhat dressed up at least once, for formal night as long as everyone else is as well. Still a hallmark of cruising that I hope never goes away.

 

I like balconies, especially on those 7-day or longer trips. I will only book one if it is less than somewhere around 50 percent more than an outside though, as I feel that if you pay more, you can never get double the price back in value for the week. I just don't spend enough time out there to justify doing that. Part of the reason we took the suite here was that it was not completely outrageous price-wise and we knew it would be a cruise where we spent little or nothing on anything else on or off the ship, as it was a cruise to ports we had seen many times so that extra money could go to the cabin. But I also don't mind outside cabins. I shy away from insides now more than in the past because I just feel that you can easily lose touch with everything going on outside and even the time because there is no natural light and you cannot see anything but the four walls surrounding you in the cabin. So unless it is a ridiculously good deal and/or a short cruise, I generally will not do insides anymore.

 

I was on the Glory back in 2013, Boston to St. John and it was a really nice ship. Watched the Bruins in the Stanley Cup final on the big screen on Lido and that ship also had fish and chips at the time. St. John is really nice in the spring and summer, too bad they don't cruise from Boston anymore, probably couldn't get the yields they needed to keep basing a ship there. That was also my first taste of the Blue Iguana Cantina if I am not mistaken and have been hooked on it since, love going there each day on the ships that have it. My next cruise might be on the Glory as well, out of Miami later in the year. And I haven't always wanted twice a day room service so it wouldn't be a huge disappointment to not get it but if they do it once a day now, be consistent with what they do in the room and when they come in. The experience I had with the once a day service on this ship was really confusing and kind of disappointing. But most of the time the stewards on my cruises are great so maybe this was an isolated thing.

 

Anyway, happy cruising and have a good day!

The Blue Iguana Cantina is my favorite food venue. I eat there everyday for lunch. I wish that all ships had it. My nephew's favorite is the Italian Restaurant Cucina. We ate there several times for dinner on the Breeze, and my nephew had lunch there everyday. It is so worth the $15 per person. I always ask for my cabin to be serviced twice, but my mom wanted to sleep longer so we asked for it to be serviced at night. I don't mind being in an inside at all. I'm hardly ever there. My nephew doesn't mind either, but my mom MUST have a balcony. She loves sitting out on it.

Thanks so much for your review! I'm always up at 6am so I don't encounter any lines for breakfast. I also order the chocolate melting cake every night at dinner. I love it! I've sailed on this ship several times since I live 30 minutes away from The Port of Miami.

You will love it! It is a beautiful ship. When I sailed in July, they had the best cast of Playlist Performers that I have seen on any Carnival ship. (I have sailed on 29 cruises). The singers(amazing voices) and dancers were absolutely AMAZING! If Chloe is your Cruise Director, you will love her. She is one of the best. I also love the adult aft pool as someone else mentioned. I didn't hate anything about the ship.

We sailed with him twice, and didn't like him at all. He tries too hard to be funny, and his jokes sound so rehearsed. People are waiting for their coffee at the coffee shop, he doesn't greet anyone, and gets his coffee before anyone else who has been there waiting in line for their coffee. We will be sailing aboard the Vista in April and once again he will be our CD.

Thanks so much for your review! So glad that you had a great time, and had great selections for GF. I sailed on 12/19. We were on the 7th deck and our balcony cabins were upgraded. They were absolutely beautiful and look like the cabins on the Breeze. I agree! We loved David the guitarist. What a beautiful voice. On our cruise, our cruise was decorated for Christmas. They had Christmas activities every night as well as a Christmas show on the last afternoon.

Thank you once again for your excellent review! For entertainment, I give it an A+. The Christmas festivities and shows were absolutely beautiful. Marcelo is our favorite cruise director. We have sailed with him 3 times. My mother loved The Seafood Shack. She ate lunch there everyday. Everything is freshly made and delicious. She loved the Lobster Rolls. I forgot to mention that on my last two longer cruises on the Breeze and Splendor, I had to change on the second formal night because I felt so out of place all dressed up. Everyone dressed casual on the 2nd formal night on both sailings. I love to dress up. When I cruise with my mom, we always book a balcony because she loves it. When I cruise by myself or with my nephew I book an inside or ocean view, depending on the price. I have sailed on the Glory twice and also love it. Our room steward on this cruise was excellent. We chose to have the room serviced just at night time.

Great review! I can't wait for the rest! I love the Breeze! It's my favorite ship!

There is definitely a difference between weekend booze cruises and the longer ones that are port-intensive and that visit more interesting ports. Sometimes you are in a mood for a weekend getaway but sometimes you do a longer one that requires more time, money of course and planning but both have their ups and downs. But it is awesome that you are so close to the port and can do those short cruises without missing much. I can go out of Baltimore and NYC also and have done a cruise from Boston but they actually cost way more for the most part, taxes and fares and generally do not go too far south, into the Caribbean. In general, cruising from Florida or somewhere else I have to fly to costs me less when you factor in everything believe it or not.

 

Grand Turk margaritaville is awesome although the drinks and food cost a ton, the atmosphere is unique and fun. Not a ton else to do in Grand Turk though, sadly outside of Jack's Shack, down the beach a little ways which is fun. I have done the island tour there, but unless you are into the extreme watersports, not much else to see and do on the island.

 

It just seems a lot of people skip dinner now, at least the late seating diners. I have always liked the experience but even I don't really get dressed up for it anymore outside of formal night and even then, only on longer cruises will I bring a suit with me. Just way more relaxed now than it used to be in the MDR. Once in a while they will have decent stuff that is similar to what you would get in the MDR at the buffet but I just generally like the sit-down and be served service at the MDR. Although on lines such as Princess and NCL, the dinner buffet seems to be pretty good and close to on par with the MDR. It just seems Carnival's buffet offerings have gone down in quality while the niche stuff like Guy's, Blue Iguana, Mongolian Wok, deli, seaday bbq, etc seem to be improving.

 

And the first thing I thought of when I saw the designs on the cabin doors was indeed the Breeze. That was the first ship I had seen with that and also the card slot behind the door that you have to put a card into to operate the lights. However on this cruise, the steward put his business card into the slot and we left it in there all cruise and that was effective in keeping the lights on all cruise long. I just read the Breeze is going in for a drydock, and wow, I remember when that thing was brand new. What is the dry dock interval, like every 4 or 5 years? Time is flying by these days. :mad:

 

Anyway, it was my pleasure to do this review and every review that I write, I am glad you have enjoyed it and best wishes to you in this new year. I have been so busy I haven't even made any new resolutions yet, lol. I should be finishing the last day of the review tonight though.

I sailed on the Breeze 4 times when it sailed out of Miami. The last time I sailed on it was the last cruise out of Miami in May which was a 4 day cruise. The ship still looks as new as it did when I sailed on it the first year so I wonder what upgrades they are making. Next time I go to Grand Turk, I have to do the Island Tour. Next up for me is the Vista on April 8th, and on July 23rd! I was going to write a review about my Victory cruise, but how can I top yours? Your pictures are amazing, and it is so detailed and well written! Thanks again!

I sailed on December 19th, and was sent an email that boarding wasn't starting until 1:30 pm. I got there at 1:00, and boarding started much earlier. I'm always one of the first ones to get there, but decided to get there later since they sent that email. I was on deck 7, and all of the cabins were updated. They look absolutely beautiful. We set sail at 6:00.

Thanks so much for the amazing pictures and your detailed and well written review!

I saw in an earlier post hubby said no because of the renovations. Were they done?

Yes, some cabins have been remodeled. They're absolutely beautiful. I was on the 7th deck and the cabins on those decks have been remodeled. I know a few more decks have been, but don't know which ones. It looks like the Breeze!

Thanks for the review! We are boarding the Victory in 10 days for a quick 4 night post-Christmas wind-down getaway.

 

Couple of questions:

1. Seafood Shack - were you able to try it? Opinions? If you didn't try it, were you able to at least see the area - my real question is how much seating is available to those ordering lunch at the seafood shack. I am aware it's an extra cost - order from the menu.

 

2. Serenity adult only area - did you go there? Thoughts? I see there are lots of 2 person beds/loungers - wondering if those were always crowded/taken.

 

3. FTTF - we also have it - but we don't really want to get off the ship early. You mentioned that you had a late flight - but did you get off at your assigned early time? Or did you wait until later?

 

Thanks for your comments on the buffet. I have heard that the design makes for really crowded lineups. So, I REALLY appreciate the advice to do breakfast in the MDR, and then lunch anywhere but the buffet - hence my questions about the Seafood Shack. Sounds like we can easily totally avoid the buffet lineups throughout the whole cruise.

You must try the Seafood Shack! There are never any lines. It is at the back of the ship by the aft pool next to the Pizza Pirate. It is absolutely delicious. They make everything fresh, so you have to wait 10-15 minutes for them to make it. We ate lunch there everyday.

Thanks so much for the review! I was getting on the ship when you were debarking. I sailed on 12/19. I agree, Marcelo is super funny. He's my favorite CD, and I have sailed with Matt and Mike Pack and I wasn't impressed by them.

I love it!

Haha, sometimes I wish I lived that close to the port and then I would literally cruise every month. I do have friends who live in Florida and are always asking me to stay with them though. It is pretty easy to get to the port cities in Florida from Philly though, plenty of flights going there every day.

 

Key West and Cozumel are fun places, I have seen so much of each that when I go there, it is usually just to eat, drink and relax. I take more exotic itineraries usually once a year but I am running out of ports of call that I have not already visited, lol. Guess it is on to South America and Europe next.

 

My nieces have sailed a few times in the past and love it. They are getting ready to go into middle school, so they are getting into that too cool to see their relatives stage, LOL. We are planning on a cruise maybe this Easter with them as a matter of fact. Looking forward to it. I have sailed solo a few times and enjoyed it. It is nice to cruise with other people but you can surely have a fine time by yourself. Do what you want, have a cabin to yourself, meet new people, etc. That spot right across from Pancho's in Cozumel is really nice. Carnival did a good job with that port area when they rebuilt it a few years ago. The only port like that with a better atmosphere is probably Grand Turk, at the Margaritaville which is usually much more crowded than the little beach area in Cozumel.

 

Anyway, thanks for reading and I am glad to hear you are enjoying and have a great New Year. I will try to get this review finished in the next few days and if you like seeing wetlands and alligators, be sure to check out my write-up of the excursion we took after the cruise was over.

I have also done 3 day cruises. I work 1/2 day on Friday morning, and on Monday morning head straight to work. So I only miss only half day of work. I don't like the 3 day cruises because they're full of nasty Miami drunks. On 4 -7 day cruises, you only see maybe one or two really drunk people.

Grand Turk is also one of my favorite ports. It is so beautiful and relaxing hanging out by the Margaritaville pool.

Actually, we didn't make it to dinner the last night because we were packing and there were so many activities going on. We went to eat on lido, and they had the same menu as the dining room. They had the penne mariscos, and the other items listed.

I loved the newly remodeled cabins. I felt like I was on the Breeze because they are decorated the same.

Thanks so much for your beautiful pictures and interesting and well written review. Wishing you the best in the New Year.