holmes96

Yacht Club Deluxe Suite with Balcony – Stateroom 18022

From reading many reviews across multiple cruise lines, I have the feeling that my husband and I are in the minority in that the stateroom is very important to us. I’ve read so many times that ‘it didn’t matter that the room was cramped, or that there was little storage because we were hardly in the room.’ We love staterooms with space, amenities, an open bathroom, a balcony and stateroom 18022 had it all. On vacation, I like to read, leisurely surf the internet, take naps as well as experience the ship activities and do shore excursions. So…for the former activities, we like a comfy room.

Room Steward and Butler

Our room steward, Ana Lisa, was awesome. We didn’t meet her until Sunday morning and she was sooo apologetic, which was unnecessary to us, but nice,because she had stocked our room well. We did meet our butler, Jee (his name is longer, but goes by Jee) on the 1st day and he explained that he and Ana Lisa work as a team, which was true. For instance, on the 2nd day Ana Lisa asked if we needed anything and we asked for some Stella Artois beer in the mini fridge/bar and she said sure, she’ll let Jee know. She didn’t refer us to Jee to ask, which I liked.

I must be easily pleased because I was enthralled by the towel animals Ana Lisa made each night. Some I had never seen before because they were so small, like 6 inches tall…a mouse, bird, koala and teddy bear, all made out of wash clothes. Sometimes she would attach a note telling us to enjoy the port the next day. She also used the long fabric runner that is on the bed to make a star and heart two of the nights. Having enjoyed several cruise lines, a lot of them very similar, I liked the surprises. We also enjoyed the nightly chocolates.

I asked Jee one day if the expresso machine in the room can make hot tea. It can’t, but he immediately offered to bring me a cup of tea and asked if I like to have it in the morning, which I do. He asked what time and from the next morning forward he delivered a 2 cup pot of hot tea, hot cream, sugars, coffee for my husband, orange juice and pastries at 8 AM. We didn’t ask for the coffee, juice, etc, but he previously asked my husband about coffee. I have to say, it was so nice to wake up leisurely and enjoy the continental breakfast, sometimes on the balcony. By the way, the Top Sail lounge includes a HUGE bar offering, but it also includes water bottles, coffee products, soft drinks, and hot tea. On the last night,I felt like a cup of tea so I walked a minute to the Top Sail lounge, put in an order with a butler and he delivered a tray to our room 5 minutes later. I was going to wait for it, but he insisted on delivering it. More on the Top Sail Lounge later.

A note about the butlers…I felt all were well-chosen for that role and well-trained. Definitely kudos to MSC on that! We’ve experienced butlers at Sandals resorts (a joke) and in the NCL Haven, which are pretty good. I felt the MSC butlers were the perfect combination of approachable and professional. They took their positions seriously.

Bed

The bed was queen size, which is the first time I’ve ever seen queen size on a ship. It’s usually king size. I liked the queen size because it’s the same as we have at home. I did not care for the huge indentation down the middle of the bed. It didn’t start out that way, but each night it was like the Red Sea parting. Either my husband or I would roll into it each night. Still was comfy, liked the bedding.

Bathroom

The bathroom was one of the best we’ve seen on a ship. It was long and narrow,but still spacious. One sink with a really long counter and mirror, which I preferred over storing toiletries on multiple shelves. They did have the shelves, too. My husband and I could fit in there together if he wanted to brush his teeth and I needed to put on make-up, etc. The shower (and the whole bathroom) was marbled tile with a good size bench in the shower. There was the rain forest shower head, plus an adjustable nozzle. The water got HOT and it would also change temperatures often. It was a sizable shower, probably could hold two fit people if you were inclined. It was kept stocked with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion tubes. I normally bring all our own supplies, but didn’t this time, and it was all good.

Amenities

I liked that you could order a daily newspaper in whichever language and it was hanging on your doorknob each morning. My husband made fun of me for ordering USA Today because he didn’t think we would read it, but alas he enjoyed it every morning. I felts somewhat bad because they print them on the ship, including having our name on them, and they’re pretty big, but I got over it.

The TV was nice and big, although we did use it only to look up our account and we rented the movie Dunkirk late one night. $8 to rent. We peeked at the live channels and I thought it was a good lineup compared to other cruise lines. The TV was to the left of the bed, but we didn’t have any issues watching the movie. Again, if you are inclined, they have ‘adult’ movies to rent.

I did the 20 item laundry package for $35. Our butler collected it one day and returned it clean the next day. I had filled out the 20 item option with name and cabin #, but did not list the individual inventory. Jee said he would do it for us. I momentarily cringed at that thought, but persevered. He was so accommodating. I’ve had laundry returned on other lines where everything white or a light color came back gray. Not MSC, it looked and smelled really good.

The room had a huge fruit bowl,including apples, kiwis, bananas, pears and plums and a bottle sparkling wine, plus a big glass bottle of water. The mini bar came with a Heineken, Bud, and a Corona, smaller water bottles, an orange fruit juice, soft drinks and a couple snacks, mostly nuts. The small alcohol bottles were whiskey, gin and vodka. You could drink/eat any of this or swap it out. Other than asking for the Stellas, we keep it stocked with a couple of smaller water bottles for the shore excursions.

Balcony

We both enjoyed the balcony. Good size, with two chairs and a small table between them. Could see into other balconies and vice versa. My husband was slightly bothered by that, but it didn’t prevent him from going out there everyday. Very clean.

Closets/Storage

If I remember correctly, there were 2 double closets: one containing the safe (which was very small) and pull out deep drawers and the other side contained hangers, bathrobes and slippers. The other double was all hangers with two cubbie shelves at the bottom. They also had additional shelving near the closets, but some had a door and some didn’t. I found that kind of odd. There was also some pull out shallow shelving. I put up 3 magnetic hooks on the wall to hang a hoodie and damp bathing suits. There were also hooks on the inside bathroom door and a shower line.

We liked the room and location and would definitely choose it again. Next up: The Yacht Club Restaurant and Top Sail Lounge

Jennie - If by chance you booked one of the two handicap balcony cabins (category YC1) in the Yacht Club, could you take photos of the bathroom and post them? I have YC1 18024 in November for my 90-year-old mother. Thanks in advance.

 

And definitely rent a scooter from www.specialneedsatsea.com. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself and anyone traveling with you. Having them push your wheelchair around the ship gets very old very fast and does not allow for either person to have an independent time during the trip.

Hi LadyVol1, since we were right next door to 18024, I can at least tell you the room's balcony is glorious. We could see partially into it, but not too much. Lots of space, chairs, and if I remember correctly, half covered from the sun. We could really only see each other if we're both at the balcony railing.

Are you saying that you were not able to see any shows? If so, that's too bad.

 

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.:)

Hi Mafig, just the 1st night we couldn't see a show because they were booked. I knew we could try to enter 5 minutes before the show, but we didn't do that. We booked shows for the rest of the cruise on the 2nd day, but only ended up going to one of them, which was very good.

Embarkation

I have to tell you, it was hard for us to find the Yacht Club white tent. There are a lot of white tents outside the terminal. We were dropped off at the far end of the terminal, which is the opposite end of where the Yacht Club tent was. We just walked back through all the disembarked passengers until we came to the tent. I was in my state of euphoria because our vacation was starting so it didn’t really bother me.

There were 3 butlers at the tent, plus a terminal porter. The butlers filled out the luggage stickers and the porter put them on. Seemed like a lot of people to do a single task…We left our luggage there, waited about 5 minutes for a couple of other passengers, and then a butler escorted us through the terminal to the Yacht Club lounge. At the door of the lounge,the butler took everyone’s ID and boarding documentation for check-in. There were two desks handling check-in. You could immediately go to a refreshment table and be served ‘still/natural’ water, sparkling water, wine, orange juice,and a variety of chocolates and other pastries/goodies. I was mentally jumping up and down, clapping my hands. It was such a pleasant greeting.

The employees handling check-in called out your name when it was your turn. Took about 5 minutes. You received your key card, wrist band (that you can put on/take off anytime and is water resistant) and the Daily Planner for that day. Right after, a butler escorted us onto the ship and directly to the Yacht Club, specifically to the Concierge Desk on deck 16. There were about 8 of us in the escorted group. The 2 Concierges spoke with each family briefly and you handed them your key card. They checked to see if your room was ready. Fortunately our room was ready, but there were others that were not. They provided a rundown on how to reserve show times on the interactive screens or the MSC app. I suggest reserving all of your shows on the 1st day for the whole week. We waited until the 2nd day to do this and all the show times on the 1st night were booked solid. Also informed us the Top Sail Lounge was on the same deck, the restaurant was on deck 18 (no deck 17) and the Top Sail sun deck and grill was on deck 19. All forward and very close together – so nice! While we were waiting for our turn with the Concierge, I went over to the nearby kiosk and applied a credit card for our account. Very easy, took less than a minute. The restaurant hostess also came by and asked if we had a preferred dinner time. If we did, we could have the same table with the same wait staff. We chose 6 PM and it turned out to be a great decision for us. We were not locked into that time, though. Overall, a good embarkation experience.

Next Up – Yacht Club Deluxe Suite with Balcony, Stateroom 18022

Background

My husband and I are both 45 years old with 2 older teenagers. The teenagers stayed home this time and we sailed on the Seaside in the Yacht Club from Sat, 4/7– Sat, 4/14. What an interesting and great trip we had! We have been lucky to sail several times each on NCL (including Haven and non-Haven), Celebrity, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess (just one time and our least favorite). We don’t really have brand loyalty; it comes down to price and itinerary. We also don’t mind new or different so we were very eager to try a new cruise line.

Pre-Cruise

We live in Pennsylvania and could not wait to get to warmer weather as we had several snow storms in March through early April. We flew from Philly to Miami the Friday before on American Airlines, a mid-afternoon flight, so late enough that we were not hurried that day. Best to start the relaxation as early as possible! Mostly we fly the same day as the cruise so this was a treat. Took a taxi to the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel, which was maybe $35ish (can’t fully recall). The hotel is pricey, but to us, it was worth it. It was very nice, close to the port, and I liked there was a restaurant where you can order a full dinner and breakfast. We had a bay view room and enjoyed seeing 5 cruise ships lined up in the morning. In addition to the Seaside, there was the Carnival Glory and Vista, NCL Escape,and the Celebrity Equinox.

Saturday morning, we planned to take a taxi to the port around 11 AM,but there were none out front for a couple of minutes so the bellman coordinated a quick shuttle for multiple couples for $7/pp. Sold! We were outside the lobby for less than 5 minutes and off we went. I knew the port was close, but didn’t realize it was right around the corner from the hotel. Offloading the other 3 couples to their own cruise lines took about 10 minutes. It was interesting that each of the 4 couples were going to a different cruise line. We were then dropped off at the MSC terminal.

Embarkation and more up next!

Hi, we are leaving in 13 days as well, on the Seaside. I had the same exact issue as you on the website. I would click on the 'Submit' button and nothing would happen. I tried multiple times over a few days and even tried using different browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox), but none worked. I finally called customer service and they emailed me the tickets.

Have a great cruise!

Loved the video! Also enjoyed your previous reviews on other lines and ships. Can't wait for your review on the Seaside. Booked in the Yacht Club on 4/7/18! :D

On Kauai we used National at the airport. It was $15/day for a compact car.

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We just returned from the Glory yesterday and their premium tea is the 'Art of Tea' collection, which is a loose leaf tea. I had the 'Monks Blend' in the Steakhouse and it was very good. They had 6 or 7 other flavors, both black and herbal. These teas were also available in the Dining Room, plus at Creams Bar, which is a hot beverage bar.

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I recently redeemed 20,000 WorldPoints for 2 $100 onboard credits. We cruise in March 2017 so I hope to be able to redeem another 5000 for a $50 onboard credit for the same cruise.

Based on my past experience I don't recall there being a limit to one redemption per cruise. I believe you can redeem as many points in however many increments as you want.

I looked through our Epic reservation info and we stayed in cabin 13295 back in 2013. Overall, I really liked the room and we had a great time on the Epic itself. There were 2 main things that I remember:

1. the empty hangers, closet doors and glassware made rattling noises overnight. We just had to remove the empty hangers and move the glassware around and everything was completely fine.

2. I'm glad I did my research on the bathroom setup. It is not a traditional setup where you open the bathroom door and everything is inside one room, ie. toilet, sink, tub, etc. The toilet is in it's own very small room. The sink, tub/shower, vanity desk is out in the open, all near to each other, and separated by a partial wall behind the bed.

Good luck!

Hi, we had this same aft haven penthouse room type on the Epic a few years ago. It was the room with the roundish bed and circular light on top. I really liked the room!

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Loved the video, thank you! Very informative. :)

Great start, looking forward to more! :)

Hi 2Kcruisedude,

We sailed on the Pride the 7/31/16 week and had a great time. We arrived at the pier at 11:50 AM and waited 50 minutes in the car before we finally parked the car in the lot. We definitely got ancy. It was a little before 1:00 PM when we entered the terminal, but once we did, with FTTF, we kept on moving and was able to go right onto the ship. I don't think arriving any earlier will be better. When we disembarked at 9:30 AM there was already a queue of cars waiting to park. I have to imagine that they might have been able to park, but waited several hours in the terminal. Based on reviews that I read before cruising, the Pride were consistently letting passengers on starting around 12:30.

Have a great time!

Hi Jayarby,

I recently posted a review of our 7/31/16 Pride cruise, which you may find helpful. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2388057

It includes feedback on the Philly to Baltimore drive, what we experienced at the port, and what our 11 yr old niece, 2 15 yr olds and 2 17 yr olds liked and disliked. I also attached a picture of the activity schedule for the 15-17 club.

Have a great cruise!

Hi MeghanJ,

We were on the Conquest back in April and LOVED the ocean cabana in Amber Cove. I wrote a review about it under the Ports of Call-Caribbean-Dominican Republic section. In the review I included a link with pictures. It's my understanding that the physical cabana themselves are identical with Ocean vs Poolside. It's all about the surrounding area of each...if you want peace and quiet, but still close to the pool, the Ocean cabana will be a good fit. If you don't mind loud music, or more of a party atmosphere, the poolside might be the better choice. If any of your group enjoys people watching, poolside is the way to go. In either location, they are wonderful.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2351092

To OP:

Thanks for a great review! I was on the ship in the middle of June, and wanted to ask about your experience. On our cruise,throughout the 7 days, the shaking/vibrations of the ship was evident no matter where we were. As you mentioned, it was VERY apparent in the Dining Room, but it was also apparent in our stateroom on Deck 2. It was also apparent in the spa, all the way up! I have NEVER experienced that much shaking/vibrations, and TBH, it spoiled the enjoyment of our cruise experience. Did you notice the shaking elsewhere on the ship?

Hi, we noticed the vibrations only on the aft part of the ship so definitely Deck 2 in the Normandie restaurant, plus in our Aft Deck 6 cabin (cabin 6263). I don't remember the vibrations so much in the cabin, but when I asked my husband about it he said he remembers feeling the vibrations when trying to sleep each night. I don't recall vibrations anywhere else on the ship. I do remember a LOT of banging and thumping coming from our balcony the first couple of nights and I contributed it to the life boats that were right under us, but don't know that for sure.

Can you explain what happened with customs? I'm not following. I was under the impression that luggage goes in the hallway the night before and you pick it up in a designated area after going through customs. Do you pick up luggage in an area prior to heading through customs? I can't remember what we did on our Royal Caribbean cruise last year

Hi, I remember on past cruises (RCCL, NCL, etc) that we would always leave the luggage out the night before then pick it up in the vast terminal, THEN go thru customs. In Baltimore it is different. If you leave the luggage out the night before, you have to wait until your deck is called, disembark, then go thru Customs first and THEN collect your luggage. A different process than most ports, I think. Because we did 'Self Assist,' plus had FTTF, we were the 1st group to disembark around 9:15 (this is the normal time apparently). At that time, the luggage that people had left out the night before had not been cleared by customs so the port employees was not allowing passengers without bags through. I saw at least 3 families turned away. When we cleared customs with our bags, probably around 9:30ish, there was hardly any luggage in the terminal yet so there probably was a decent wait after we left. If I recall correctly, the 1st time you could disembark if you left your luggage out the prior night was 10 AM and that was if you had FTTF. You can stay in your cabins until 9:30, though, which was nice.

Hi stellarose,

I think the Pride is a great ship for multi-generations. In fact, my sister and I commented while onboard that the primary demographic were families and many with 3 generations.

There was trivia that was decade based and music activities from the 60s on up. Definitely activities geared towards all age groups. Best of luck with your cruise planning!

Background:

We are an extended family of 8 traveling together: 2 sisters (44, 44), 1 husband (43) and 5 cousins (11, 15, 15, 17 and 17). Everyone is a seasoned cruiser, sailing multiple cruise lines with no strong loyalty towards any specific line. The three main factors in choosing the Pride for this vacation were in priority order: 1)having Baltimore as the embarkation (no airfare, ease of travel), 2)cost and 3)having an itinerary that included 1 or 2 new ports for us (Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk in our case). Our past Carnival cruises were on the Conquest and Victory.

Everyone had a very good time! I will split this review into the following sections: Embarkation, Cabins, Adult Likes/Dislikes, Kid Likes/Dislikes, Port Excursions, Dining, Debarkation. I apologize in advance for the length.

Embarkation:

1. We had a painless 2 hour drive on I-95 from the Philly suburban area to Baltimore, arriving about 11:50 AM. Once we got off the cruise terminal exit, the 50 minute wait began. 15 minutes off the exit before we could get into the port entrance, 15 minutes in the car queue lines (if you need luggage tags, this is the time to go to the side booth to get them), 10 minutes to get to the luggage drop off and another 10 minutes to pay for the $105 onsite parking. By the time we got to the booth to pay for parking my calm facade was cracking.

2. Our luggage tags had the Faster to the Fun (FTTF) designation on them, but I neglected to mention it to the porter. No worries, our bags had an orange FTTF sticker placed on them by the porter and they arrived to our cabins quickly after boarding.

3. We were so THANKFUL to have FTTF because we went to the head of the security line, which was full at the time, and then went to the head of the check-in line, which was at least half full. It was close to 1:00 PM then and we were able to walk right onto the ship.

4. At check-in, we were not able to apply our Carnival gift cards to our account, we were directed to go to the kiosks onboard or Guest Services. We used Guest Services as the kiosks were not allowing us to apply them. Probably user error. Also, if you purchase FTTF make sure you get the FTTF sticker on the back of your Sail & Sign card. Everything was in place for this cruise, but the sticker was not in place for our Conquest cruise and that created a bit of a hub-a-loo at Guest Services when we went into the FTTF line. So...the lesson here is to check the back of your card.

5. Going forward my preference of driveable embarkation sites is Bayone first, then Baltimore, with New York in last place.

Cabins:

1. We spread out across 4 cabins on the Empress Deck 6 Aft. 2 Extended Balconies for the adults and 2 Interiors directly across the hall for the kids. Guest Services provided me with a 'key only' card so we could access our kids cabin.

2. My sister and I's impression of our balcony rooms were similar. Very small bathroom, wear and tear on furniture, including some dust. By day 2 we were both happy with our cabins. This has happened on past cruises where when we first walk into a cabin, we're kind of deflated, but then we end up really liking the cabin. It must be the 1st day adjustment period. :)

3. Our cabin steward, El, was great. He introduced himself to all 4 cabins right when we boarded and asked us to fill out the 'clean once or twice/day' card. Our cabins chose a mix of once/twice a day. The cards also asked if we had any requests, like did we need extra towels. He promptly cleaned every day, gave great towel animals, including ones I've never had before, like a shark and a ram. Ahhh, it's the little things sometimes.

Adult Likes/Dislikes:

1. Like - loved the comedy shows! We probably saw at least 6 with a mix of PG and R/Explicit content. Our kids attended some of the PG ones and I thought the content was fine for them. There were 4 comedians on our cruise. I liked that they were only 30 minutes long and only 45 minutes from the next show. The shows became more crowded with the later start times.

2. Like - FTTF was the BEST. We used it at embarkation, guest services several times, priority tendering at Half Moon Cay, early luggage arrival, early room access, and the early self-assist debarkation from the Butterflies Lounge. We will get this again.

3. Like - my sister and I loved the Bingo sessions. Carnival has the cheapest bingo prices out of Princess, RCCL, NCL and Celebrity. $20, $30 and $40 packages. My sister won twice, $100 and $230.

4. Like - the early 6 PM dining in Normandie. Originally we had Your Time Dining, but wanted to give the Early Seating a try. Based on past experience, Your/My Time Dining can have a wait and the different wait staff can be hit or miss. The change worked well for us and it helped everyone plan their evening activities. I emailed the maitre'd the week prior and he was able to make the change for us to 2 side by side booths. We were OK with this since everyone could still talk to each other and I was grateful the late request was honored. What was a little odd was that each table had a different wait staff team.

5. Like - Carnival Hubb app - everyone in our group paid the $5 to have the chat feature enabled and it was AWESOME! Very user friendly. Loved that we could access the Fun Times information and all of our account balances easily.

6. Like - we enjoyed Schwartz, the cruise director, and his Fun staff. Schwartz was very accessible.

7. Like - ship layout, the ship maps, elevator access, all very easy to navigate. For the most part, could get from one side of the ship to the other side on the same deck.

8. Like - the internet plans are the best around for the price. Loved that the packages included unlimited minutes.

9. Like/Dislike - liked the Pixel Gallery pictures that we purchased. We don't have a lot of opportunity to take extended family formal pics so this worked out great. I do think $21.99 for a 8x10 is pricey, though.

10. Dislike - Casino smoke, but it never prevented from us from going in there.

11. Dislike - crowded Lido buffet and pool areas.

12. Dislike - Serenity 18+ area - I liked the concept, but didn't find it tranquil at all. There was a party atmosphere with loud music and it all looked a bit sloppy. My downfall, I think, was comparing it to Norwegian's Haven Lounge area, which is really tranquil, great for sunbathing and reading, which I love for relaxing.

13. Dislike - in Normandie for breakfast, if we had a table far aft there were big time vibrations where the wait staff came over and gave us extra napkins to put under our plates to help stop the rattling.

Kid Likes/Dislikes (their preteen and teenage perspective):

1. Like - The 17 yr olds purchased the Value internet plan and were able to use SnapChat successfully. To each their own...

2. Like - The teenagers all liked the Club O2 activities and participated in several events. Everyone really liked the Teen Club Director Millie, who said there were 200 15-17 yr olds onboard. :eek: If anyone would like a copy of the O2 weekly activity list, reply with your email and I will forward it.

3. Like/Dislike - the 15 yr old boys played basketball A LOT. They did not like that the court had a very low hanging net around it preventing free throws and dunking, but they got by. :)

4. Like - the ship parties on the lido deck, plus the Dive In movies

5. Like - the 15 yr old boys LOVED room service desserts. Each day I would come back to my room and see chocolate cake containers waiting to be picked up by food services.

6. Like - selfies with Schwartz, the cruise director. Some of this stuff I'm just hearing about now as I write this review.

7. Like - my 11 yr old niece is mature so my sister was able to get her moved up to Circle C (12-14 yr olds). There were other 11 yr olds that moved up also. She LOVED it and participated in a ton of events. We hardly saw her.

8. Like - several of the kids got the bug to play Bingo. Uh-oh.

9. Dislike - thought the buffet layout was confusing and that the pool areas were too crowded.

Ports/Excursions:

1. Grand Turk - nice port, gorgeous water. We all enjoyed the 'Catamaran, Snorkel and Beach' tour. The beach we stopped at was heavenly, the best water and beach sand ever! The snorkeling was impressive, although there were A LOT of people in the water so you had to be careful. We saw several different types of fish and were intrigued by the 13 ft coral reef depth right next to the 7000 ft dark blue abyss. Very cool.

2. Half Moon Cay - rented $25 clam shells to help with the blazing sun. They did help and I would rent them again if I couldn't get a cabana. I had put my name on the cabana/villa waiting list at the shore excursion desk when I first got on the ship. When I checked the status later at least 3-4 people ahead of me were able to get one, but not me, and that turned out OK. The water, beach and facilities at this port are AWESOME. We really enjoyed everything.

All 8 of us were in the water when there was a panicked mass exodus with screams of "Shark, Get Out of the Water." The screams were coming from the guests on shore and in the water. I have to say it was just like watching/experiencing JAWS. A gentleman was attacked/bit on the calf/leg by either a barracuda or a shark. He was helped out of the water and was triaged on the beach and he and two women from his family were loaded up in a cart and speedily sent off to get medical assistance. The man's legs were wrapped up like a mermaid's. A rescue boat quickly came over to patrol the shoreline in hopes of finding the culprit. Overall, I thought Carnival handled the triage as well as can be expected, seeing it unfold firsthand. Rumors back on the ship were that the man was taken from HMC to Nassau where he received 4 surgeries and was expected to recover 100% and that it was indeed a small shark (again just a rumor we heard). The whole event was unsettling for everyone. People were barred from re-entering the water for about an hour and some people left the beach and headed back to the ship. Hopefully, the man and his family are doing well.

3. Freeport, Bahamas - definitely an industrial port, but a better experience than I expected. Half of our group did the 'My Bahamian Retreat: A Select Retreat' tour, which lasted 4.5 hours. There were about 20-25 on the tour. We stopped at a house where we had access to a scenic canal where we could snorkel, paddleboard and kayak. Lunch of curry chicken or red snapper, conch fritters, and banana bread were included. All good. We also had access to an open bar with a pretty good selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, wifi, and a gorgeous beach and water. I would do this tour again, but without kids. Having the kids there was not too relaxing, at least for me. :) Getting back on the ship was a nightmare, maybe waited about 40 minutes to board. The cruise director and the Fun staff were out on the pier, though, trying to keep everyone entertained.

Dining:

1. We ate breakfasts/brunches and dinners in Normandie and it worked out well. I thought all the food served was very good quality, but I wish there was an increased selection for dinner. And please, why are there raisins in the french toast? Yuck. :) The wait staff was good. The bar staff in Normandie needed some help, perhaps there were not enough to service the demand?

2. Everyone loved Guy's Burgers. That was a go-to place.

3. My husband and I went to David's Steakhouse and we enjoyed it.

4. Went to the buffet sporadically, but it was often crowded so we usually tried to stay away.

5. Enjoyed Room Service (both the free and not free options) for lunch and snacks several times. Wait times ranged from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.

Debarkation (sp?):

1. Very good. We all used self assist and since we had FTTF we met in Butterflies Lounge at 9 AM and were the first group off the ship. Loved the timing. It was a little difficult lugging the luggage down the stairs from deck 1 (Butterflies) to Deck A, but it was all good.

2. There were some people that set their luggage out the night before and left with the self assist group only to be turned back at Customs because they didn't have their luggage. Be forewarned!

All in all a very enjoyable cruise. I definitely would cruise with Carnival again, but perhaps on one of their newer ships. :)

Thanks so much for posting the menus and the activity list for Camp Carnival. Our family of 8 will be on the Pride on 7/31 and it was great to get a preview of available activities. :):)

Hi RCMommy, the only details I remember about the poolside cabanas is that the music was very loud and the cabanas were close to the physical pool. If you are looking for a party vibe, close to lots of people and the action, this location will be great. A lot of people like this. If you are looking for calm, soothing serenity, not so much. It's total personal preference. If my teen kids and husband had been with me on the cruise, instead of a sister/sister girls cruise we may have opted for the poolside cabana, instead of the ocean one.

The poolside cabanas themselves are the same as the ocean cabanas so that will be fabulous! The ocean cabanas had a 'checkpoint' with a rope that was monitored by an employee that checked the wristbands. If you didn't have a wristband you weren't allowed to enter the cabana area. I don't know if they had the same setup over by the poolside cabanas.

Enjoy your time in Amber Cove!

Hi, I booked the 'My Bahamian House - A Select Retreat' excursion for my family of 5 (me, husband, teen daughter, teen son and teen niece) during our 7/31/16 Carnival Pride sailing. All of the excursion reviews are positive and I'm looking forward to it. It's something different, although I feel slightly concerned that it is at a private residence.

If anyone has done this excursion, I would love to hear your about experience, plus I have some specific questions.

1. Does anyone have pics of the beach areas where you can snorkel and swim (or really, any pics)?

2. We are not seafood eaters so was wondering what the mix of lunch food was. The kids are somewhat picky eaters, too.

3. The excursion is 4.5 hours, leaving at 8:30 AM and I think our port end time is 1:30 so it's cutting it close. Anyone else have this timing and did it turn out OK getting back to the ship on time?

4. Regarding the inclusive drinks, was it an open, full service bar, or was it limited to select types of drinks?

Thanks!

Hi, yes, leave their names with the water activities booth and they can get a wristband when they arrive. I remember them asking me how many total were in my party. The cabana next to us had a staggered check-in also and it didn't seem to be a problem. You can also let your personal server know that additional guests will be arriving.

You'll have a great time, enjoy!

Hi, it was my perception that the wristbands denote that someone is in a cabana, say with a certain color. I walked from the cabana to the water activities booth and they recognized that I was in a cabana and didn't ask for additional payment. We didn't zipline while we were there so I don't know if we could have just walked on with the wristband I had. I'm assuming we could have.

The wristbands are made to fit your wrist so it may be difficult to take off and put back on.