med2cruise

On 7/13/2023 at 1:11 PM, KKB said:

29 cruises in 20 years...9 Celebrity, 3 RCCL, 1 Carnival.

Enjoyed every one & find them more alike than different (along w/ Princess, DCL & NCL as well).

Celebrity is our fav & all we heard going into our 14 day Carnival cruise in Jan was that we would hate it--NOPE! Loved it! 

 

RCCL: best production shows & "bells & whistles"

Carnival: best comedians & endless trivia

Celebrity: best service & food overall

 

I find attitude is the key to everything--if you think you will have a good time, you probably will.

Not every cruise has been perfect but had a good (usually great!) time on each one.

Totally agree with you, it is what you make it!  I have been on MSC, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal.  We tend to go towards Carnival more.  We live across the street from the Tampa Port and usually walk to our vacation on a cruise!

That is one thing that is disappointing in looking at the excursions.  Sometimes people did put good information in their reviews.

We have anytime dining and have made reservations in each of the dining rooms.  I have seen on CC that if you walk up without a reservation, the wait time is usually less than 10 to 15 minutes, which isn't bad.  

On 5/3/2023 at 11:57 AM, Chocolatemom2 said:

Has anyone done the old San Juan walking tour through celebrity,  the one that uses “technology “. I’m assuming that takes the form of a headset and map🤷‍♀️? 
wondering if it’s worth the money or can we just get off the ship and do it on our own?  We really want to see the fort

Hi, I am not sure if you have gone to San Juan yet but the ship literally parks in Old San Juan.  You can easily get off the ship and walk into downtown.  The Old Fort and Cathedral are a pretty close walk as well.  Last year when we were there, we walked around town and just got back on the ship.  This year we don't arrive until 3:30pm so we are going to walk around later.

16 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Out of the US it’s 21, not 18

You are so right.  I don't know what I was thinking on that one!

1 hour ago, Luvtoeat said:

We have been on about 40 cruises and on Carnival at least 10 times and never had a bad cruise. Our last 4-5 cruises have been on Celebrity and for sure it's more upscale and also had great cruises especially if getting a free BCC balcony. We have also been on some cruise lines that are long out of business and best forgotten. Our next cruise will be first time on MSC and that should give us an interesting comparison with any of the lines we have been on. 

We have been on 6 Carnival, 1 Royal Carribean, 1 MSC and 2 Celebrity plus 1 more this November.  We tried MSC last year for Labor Day weekend on a whim out of Port Canaveral.  It was actually one of the best cruises we were on.  Everything was very good, a lot of people seemed to have the drink package so there was a lot of drinking.  I would definitely go on MSC again!

1 hour ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

Sneaking this question in, and hoping for your kindness..

 

We have the classic drink package from an AI offer a long time ago - rebooked to Sept this year.

 

New to Celebrity .  I probably drink more diet soda than alcohol.  Do I pay an upcharge, or full price for say a Diet Coke?

And yes, I will probably bring some on board myself.

I do not think you can bring soda on board with Celebrity.  I know you can bring 2 bottles of wine per person over the age of 18.  You may want to double check the soda.

On 6/8/2023 at 9:28 PM, ladyjade3 said:

I've never brought my own wine onboard. I might just do that this time... Good suggestion!

It is my understanding that each person over the age of 18, can bring on 2 bottles each.

6 hours ago, K&RCurt said:

As others have said the atmosphere is definitely more casual and the demographic younger and somewhat less socially refined than you will find on Celebrity.  We have friends that absolutely love Carnival and have cruised with them a bit.  For reference we have sailed with Celebrity 3 times (one more booked), HAL 4 times, RC once and Carnival 7 times (one more booked.)

 

We enjoyed ourselves on every cruise. The only altercation we every experienced was a VERY drunk lady attempting to get back on the HAL Eurodam in St Thomas being very abusive to the staff who were only trying to assist her.  She and her husband / SO / whatever got to remain in St Thomas.  The more questionable pool "contests" on Carnival (Hairy chest, wet t-shirt, etc, etc) are no longer done and the pool events now are not as crass as the past.  We avoid the main pool and tend to spend sea day time in the Serenity adult only areas on Carnival.

 

Food is super subjective but in our opinion MDR food quality, in order is X, HAL (Very close), RC then Carnival.  Buffet HAL, RC, X, Carnival.  Specialty, X, HAL, RC, Carnival. Casual food, Celebrity then the other 3 with a sizable gap.

 

We found RC had the best shows and entertainment, Carnival shows were OK but the Punchliner Comedy Clubs are great and they had some good smaller groups spread out around the ship, X shows and other entertainment was consistently good, HAL was a mixed bag, some great entertainers and some ho-hum.

 

Overall I would not hesitate to book any of the 4 given the timing / itinerary / price met our wants / needs.

 

I totally agree with you!  The comedians on Carnival are very good and that is one thing that I am drawn too.  I like to go to one of the comedy shows every night.

The experience is what you make of it.  Yes, they are rowdier and lots of partying BUT it is what you make of it.  I am around the partiers; I am not a partier.  I like going to the pool, dinner, shows, comedy shows and a drink or 2 at the bars.  I am not up all night partying, I am not drunk walking around the ship, nor am I fighting with anyone.  I am enjoying my vacation time and making the best of what I want for it, which is the majority of cruises.  There tend to be more kids of all ages running around on Carnival.  Carnival is usually a good price point for a decent vacation.  I live across from the Tampa port (I literally walk my bags to the ship) and my options are Carnival, Norwegian, Royal and now Celebrity.  I have branched out and have gone to Port Canaveral and next one is Ft Lauderdale to cruise.  While Celebrity is by favorite, Carnival is my go to, Royal is next and I tried MSC last year and loved it!

I have been on Carnival and Celebrity.  Celebrity is a little more calmer, Carnival really is a fun ship!  I was on Carnival in November and doing Celebrity this November.   We usually can only go the week of Thanksgiving and this year friends wanted to go on Celebrity.  It really is what you make of it.  I am happy cruising on either one, just enjoy the ports, friends & drinks.

Just now, vek239 said:

 It's 2024. Sorry for the confusion.

Wow!  That's a relief because I am really looking forward to this cruise!

56 minutes ago, vek239 said:

Check your email; a message just went out on date changes.  Transatlantic now leaves Nov 9.

Is the November 18, 2023 cancelled?  I didn't get an email about any changes.

I as well cancelled and rebooked my excursions and saved some money.  I also reserved the drink package which I did not originally have.  I definitely saved some money!

Can you take a corkscrew on board with you in your carry on luggage?  Or do you need to put it in your checked in luggage?

1 minute ago, island visitor said:

I spoke with our TA today and it seems that the anytime dining is available now.  Much better than 8:30.

Glad to hear!  I can't really do 8:30 at all either!

We are sailing on Apex in November.  As you were, we were scheduled for 8:30 dining, the only available at the time we booked.  I was playing around on my computer over the weekend and noticed that you could book a new reservation with any time dining.  I called and got us moved! 

We are sailing on Apex in November.  We have anytime dining and just made reservations for each night at the complimentary dining rooms.  It is my understanding that we would still get into the dining room without the reservations but we may have to wait.

23 hours ago, kayehall said:

I carry Cold Brew tea bags with me.  They will brew tea in cold water.  You can add lemon or sugar, if desired.

I do the same thing! 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:28 PM, mahdnc said:

 

So we can come over and stay if we get fogged in?

Good One! 

I live across the street from the Tampa Port and take cruises in and out of here all the time.  While it does happen, it doesn't happen as much.  It is very rare when the fog is so bad, there have been a couple of days this past year where it has occurred, but it is not like it happens all the time!

Does anyone know how to contact the Maitre D on The Celebrity Apex via email?  I wanted to ask a question.

Thanks!

We had tried the MSC Divina last September and we were very surprised how nice it was.  We had a quick weekend getaway and it was perfect.  Their private island was a very nice relaxing day which is what we were looking for at the time.

There is a new hotel that has a public parking lot, about 2 block walk from the port.  Home2Suites, I am not sure of the daily rate.  There was free parking on the street, but that is all going away and meters are being added.

They didn't do anything special for this but it was so great and awesome to see a ship back in the port!