mimito4

Sid, you’re delightful and charming, as in an accredited charm school kinda way 😉. We will be on Celebration this Sunday. Generally not into big ships, but it’s for the children, ya know.  Thanks for all the info. . .and fun. Bright, funny guy. 

Thank you all. 

Could anyone tell me the name of the location/dock for our Celebration in St Thomas On Friday Dec 16?  We are attempting a private excursion and they need to know which dock, Wico or Crown Bay?  I don’t know where to find that info. TIA

The other thing is the bottle of booze is per person, not per stateroom, as someone previously stated.

Bravo!  Now on the site. Can purchase a liter of liquor for the room now. Yes, more expensive than if you were buying at home, but come on, you have to let them make a profit. Cruise companies are bleeding money these days from the pandemic. I, for one, am thankful!

Appreciate all the comments, but again if someone can please post the carnival link for purchasing liquor for the room. Our cruise is Dec 11 Celebration and it has been said this is now available for cruises departing Dec. I have worn myself out trying to find it. Thank you. 

I don’t see this option for purchase  on the carnival site. Can you help me? We are sailing on the Dec 11 Celebration. 

Hi, you good, helpful people. We are traveling on Celebration Dec 11 with our son, daughter in law and their 2 kiddos, ages 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. They are wondering if they should take a stroller on board since the ship is so big and for when they go into ports to explore. We are all trying to pack very light. Would a stroller be that helpful and where in the heck would it be stored?

any other helpful tips for traveling with kiddos this age would be most appreciated. Thanks!

I thought I read that one could order a bottle of liquor and mixes for the room, but I don’t see that anywhere. Can anyone help? We are cruising on Celebration Dec 11. 

I have big time FOMO. We have 2 staterooms for Celebration departing Dec. 11. When I click on the FTTF ICON, all I see is 0 results. Does this mean it is already sold out?  I don’t know the ways of Carnival. Long time cruiser, but only 2nd time on Carnival in many tears. Thanks in advance for any help, or for that matter, any suggestions. By the way, if the price per person or per stateroom?

Would welcome your advice and recommendations. We will need 2 hotel rooms and parking for 2 cars Dec 10 for our 8 day cruise. Airport isn’t a factor since we will be arriving by car. Just looking for best deals for hotels that possibly include parking and shuttle to port?  I tend towards Marriott because of points, but am open. Any suggestions?  TIA

Question. My final payment is due soon for our upcoming cruise. We have 2 staterooms. One for my husband and me and one for my son, daughter-in-law and 2 little grandchildren (family harbor). My husband is 83 and doesn’t drink (serious medical reasons). My daughter-in-law also doesn’t drink. My son and I do and are considering the package. Is it possible before I make final payment, to change names for the stateroom occupants (name only obviously) so that he and I could get a drink package without having to buy 4? Thanks in advance for your help. 
 

sorry, just saw the response before mine. Will Carnival change the guests by just calling them?

Ship: Reflection

Cabin #: 1415

Deck #: 10

Class: Concierge C1

Area: Aft

Bed near: closet

Quiet?: yes

Balcony view: the best! Right in the center of the wake

Balcony size: oversized. The one to the left of us looked slightly bigger, but both of the "center afts" on each deck are bigger. Plenty of room for the nice foot stools and table.

Wind a problem?: No

Soot a problem?: some soot, but easily wiped off with towel

Problems/comments: I am a big aft cabin fan, and would book this again in a heartbeat. I never understood about the soot issue because I had never had it on Solstice. In hindsight I think it was because our attendant did a better job keeping it cleaned. This attendant on Refection did not pay as much attention. It was an easily solved problem though. We just wiped chairs off before sitting. No one spect of soot on clothes!

Location perfect--provides some forced exercise, yet only 2 floors down from fitness area and 3 floors down from pool, buffet, aqua spa cafe.

Lovely linens and amenities typical of concierge class. This is a connecting cabin with door in wall across from bathroom. Could be great if traveling with friends/family because you could open up the balconies and have one huge one or problematic if had a noisy neighbor. We never heard a peep.

Bravo. All around.

And of course, since you opened the door, I have to also post my Bubba (Chihiuhua - Yorkie mix). He is a very bad boy, but I love him anyway.

Well, how cute are you? Let me phrase it another way, how precious are you?

From one mom to another, please tell your mom congratulations for doing a great job tutoring and mothering you for 26 years! Yes, you were lucky to be experencing such a treat courtesy of your good parents, but they are also lucky to share you company.

Pssst. Don't tell them I said that.

Looking forward to the rest. Please don't take much of a break. ;)

7286 is the largest of the 1A balconies, about 3 times normal size.

Phil

Wow! Thanks Phil. Now, I am excited and I think I made a good choice. :D

Bigbenboys, I'll still a bit confused, so I hope you'll indulge me.

I thought aft cabins were in the very back, so I guess I'm confused. Are these verandas larger and not windy.

If they are windy, since this is a transatlantic crossing, perhaps we should start eating more NOW instead of waiting to get on the ship so we can hopefully avoid being blown off into the middle of the sea. :p;)

In all seriousness, should I stick with 7286 or go back to the aft cabin I originally thought of. I like a large balcony and this I thought was one, but I also don't want to be blown off.

Thanks for any answers

I'm relieved to read the responses, because I believe I have a similar cabin on Reflection, just down a couple of floors. We have 7286. Am I right in assuming this is also one of the larger balconies?

Pray tell though, did I read that that there are wind problems with this one, or did I dream that?

I've had an aft cabin before on Solstice and loved it, but thought this one would be larger and have some cover, so I switched from an aft to it when it became available. I'd appreciate it if you all can verify this for me. Thanks!

Wendy, I and others are free to post on any board as long it does not violate the TOS.

But seriously Miles, and I mean seriously now, what's the point?

While you are free to post anywhere on CC, what do you hope to gain? People who have met you know that you are better than what is being displayed here.

Strut your stuff. . .your best stuff. This ain't it. :o

Hugs,

T

Trying to stop freedom of expression (other than what is against CC policies) is not right -- not on any level.

P.S. Just realized that it sounds like I contradicted myself. In terms of "freedom of speech" on CruiseCritic, there is, IMO, no place for politics. Hope that clarifies my position.

Well geez, just when I was getting ready to speak as one of the few, if not only, liberal "Censor-natians," and celebrate your presumed old hippie ways, you come back with that.

So instead, I shall say in the words of that fabulously succinct 11 year old granddaughter of mine, WHATEVERRRRRR! :D

Still, I say go to your suite, Miles. I mean it.

Amazing these fiery replies! It's a vacation!

I kept pulling my fingers from the keyboard, hoping upon hope that someone would say just what you said, jhp!

Enough. Really. Miles, get the heck to your room (or suite). You are in time-out in my book until at least early 2012. Stop it!

Everyone in the world should be so lucky to have the luxury of engaging in such an argument.

Enough. I'm starting to get embarrassed for everyone.

Which one? Crystal or Regent? Oh, what a problem to have! ;)

Seriously.

We have cruised both now, and I would say that if someone pushed me in a corner and threatened by force to get me to say which is "better," I'd honestly have to throw my hands up in surrender.

They're incredibly different lines. Culturally, that is. Each cruise line, be it a luxury line, or a mass market line like Carnival, has a different culture. . .speaks a different language, has different habits, if you will. It doesn't make one better than the other.

Crystal is more formal, and there is no denying that. Some people like that all the time. . .some just some of the time. The food is fabulous, the service is amazing, the standard staterooms are small (look up the sq ft. on line).

Their policies are very customer-oriented. In other words, they have taught their staff to say YES. Always. Their communication with their customers is great. As Wes said, the on-line pre-cruise experience is second to none.

Love their early payment incentive (the 2.5% discount). And even though they didn't used to be all inclusive (I believe their all-inclusiveness goes into effect in 2012?), they actually were all inclusive, with their "as you wish shipboard credit," and that was perfect for non-drinkers.

I also understand that their single supplement is the best in the industry. I agree with Wendy, if I were booking a single, I'd look for the best possible price, assuming the culture of the line met mine. Duh.

Here is what I find just a tiny problematic these days about Crystal. I think they're trying to play in 2 different playgrounds at the same time, meaning, they still have formal, traditional dining (2 seatings), and this new dine when you want (by reservations). It isn't true dine when you want like Regent has. I think they'll get it figured out, but in the meantime, I scratch my head a bit at the thought of it.

Now, as for Regent, I loved, loved, loved the standard stateroom size, layout and amenities. The general service throughout the ship was as equally spectacular as Crystal. . .crew is as well-trained and service oriented. I did much prefer the specialty restaurants on Crystal. Food was simply better in my opinion. Food in the main dining room of Regent was great, equal to Crystal most of the time.

For the Alaskan itinerary, I loved the more casual environment of Regent. Still, people dressed for dinner (aka elegantly casual or some such thing. . .much like people here in Cincinnati would dress when going out to a nice restaurant).

I found our fellow passengers to be very similar on both lines. . .over all, very congenial, intelligent, well spoken and well traveled. This is very important to us because we tend to be social most days and enjoy meeting like-minded people and spending time with them.

So, for me, it comes down to formal vs elegantly casual. I may want to be more formal when the ship is the destination (say, an ocean crossing), whereas, if I am going to be in Alaska or the Caribbean or the Med, I might prefer more casual. There are ways around each concept on either line.

Bottom line: neither is better. They are both great. If you are in a position to cruise either line, you are a very fortunate person.

^^^ now that's impressive!

Thank you joannas. Makes us more confident in our decisions. Can't wait to hear FT's report.

Now, back to topic. You know you're addicted to SeaDream when you and your daughter-in-law bond over SD cruises more than even grandchildren (her children). Are we awful? ;)

You guys crack me up. :p

We booked our Regent Alaskan excursions as soon as you could on line, and when we finished, we realized that we had mostly chosen "select" excursions and our total cost was $2400! Man, we found ourselves float planing, helicoptering, speed cating, and bear viewing. Yikes. For sure, at least one of us could do a SD Caribbean cruise for a week.

Just last week, I had an austerity attack (I hate those) and went in and made changes, dumping several of the high cost ones, and then ending up on wait lists for some of the included "free" ones (had I been smart when I originally booked the excursions, there would be no wait lists for us).

We did end up keeping the "Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier Via Helicopter." It's very pricey, but there are so many places we want to see that we're not big on going back to same places, so I thought it just seemed too cool not to take advantage of it while we're there for probably our one and only time.

And you're right, FT, you're the OP, so hijacking is an impossibility. At least, I think that's what the rule book says.