idlenote

I'll second the recommendation for the Dive Bus in Curacao. Good, attentive folks and it is not a busy dive site which is important for a new diver.

Aruba, I would stay a long, long way away from the Antilla. Too many divers and with many of them in black wet suits it's easy to become detached from your group. I normally use SE Aruba Fly and Dive, small groups and good DM's.

If I was starting over it would have to be Bonaire.

If you've ever looked over the side of the ship where they are loading the luggage and seen a couple of suitcases gently floating against the side of the ship there's another reason for carrying it on.

If you're going to dive with the ship excursion you will be diving at the level of the poorest diver in the group. Cozumel two weeks ago 35 minutes a dive. Go with the private excursions and you're looking at 60 minutes easily and more chance of getting on the better reefs.

Roatan and Bonaire are at the top of my list, with Belize somewhere near the top depending on where you go and who you go with. Cozumel and Grand Cayman are the same. Eastern Caribbean is so dependent on the weather, every time I go to Antigua seems like it's cloudy and cold. Barbados was the same with rough water. Key West isn't even on the list, never again.

We were in 8255 on the repo to Baltimore. Very quiet area at the back of the ship under the Serenity area. Would book the same cabin again as long as the ship wasn't going back to Baltimore, just to cold for both of us.

We did the med and TA in October. In the med we were ashore every day and crowding didn't seem to be a problem but that's probably because everyone was wore out and in bed early.

The TA was a different matter. the weather got cool and everyone was pretty much inside. There is very little seating inside compared to what we're used to on most Carnival ships and everything got and stayed crowded. Long lines for the comedy club (never made it in), theater was always full, trying to go to dinner in the 6:30 - 7:15 slot was always delayed.

The lido buffet was the exception, you could always find a table.

Overall we were totally underwhelmed with Carnival's latest addition. I had talked to the PVP about booking the Horizon but I think we're going to pass. There are much better designed ships sailing.

Carnival transatlantic crossings are always done at the cooler times of year, and since the cabin heating is never that good we always get starboard cabins going east bound and port cabins going west bound to try and keep the sun in the cabin when there is any.

Blue Island Divers in St. Thomas. Without a doubt the dive on the Tea Table was the best I've ever done. It's around an underwater peak with all kinds of swim throughs and you're only at about 45'. Only dive team I've ever gone with where the DM's have different colored air bottles so there is no doubt about who you're following.

I'll echo the good words about Fantasea, we dove there October 31st. Couldn't have asked for better conditions, it was calm and for the end of October it wasn't at all what I was expecting which was really nice. I believe they were closing down for the dive season after this.

There was only six of us plus the DM, first dive was on the Sea Venture which was a scuttled ship at 80', the second dive was on a shallow circular wall of coral. The visibility on both dives was not to Coz standards but it was enjoyable.

Had to use rented gear since we were on the Vista T/A and couldn't bring my own gear. It worked OK but since it was new to me had some problems, especially with the weight belt. I am so used to integrated pockets that belts give me fits and I'm afraid I'm spoiled.

Check in is at the little building as you come off either of the piers, you can only go one way towards the dockyard and it's on the left side, says Water Sports or similar. Had a good day and would certainly go with them again.

This is one of the ports where I will use the ship excursions, if they are using Hugh Parkeys they normally pick you up from the ship and take you back to the ship without having to go into the terminal at Belize City. Boat is clean and normally the groups are not very large, the diving is excellent.

Trying to go out to Cay Caulker on the water taxi is really going to push you for time since you have to go into the terminal at Belize City, then head on over to the island and hope you get there before the boats leave in the morning. Keep in mind that your ship may not be on local time and that will really throw a wrench in the works.

We just spent a week on Cay Caulker, that's the way to go diving there. Great place to be, no problem with time difference and in the evening you can sit on the waters edge and watch the sun go down while indulging in your favorite adult beverage. Southwest flies there from Houston, book far enough out and it's not that expensive, also with their two checked bags you can take your own gear.

Just read where Hugh Parkeys has closed so now I'm going to have to find another operator. That's a shame because they were always a class act.

I have complained on the survey report from Carnival for at least every one of the last six cruises about the disaster that YTD has become. If you are not in line by about 6:15 you are going to be in for a long wait, and I've lost count of the number of times we've tossed the pagers back on the desk and went elsewhere. They are always apologetic but the fact that the DR is not staffed properly can't be offset by a crew member apologizing.

Last time I talked to the PVP I told her it had become a disaster and I was going to go elsewhere and see if all the lines had the same problems. She was sympathetic, but that wasn't going to help and neither did I expect anything else.

August we will be on RCL, I think it will be interesting to make the comparison. I hope they do a better job but I would far rather CCL get their heads out of wherever they have them hidden and get back to doing the excellent job they used to do.

What makes it harder to take is we see nothing but cuts in service and the quality of what is served but the cruise prices keep going up. I remember doing a 5 day $600 cruise where everything was excellent, crew was wonderful, now the same cruise is $1000 and even the crew are complaining about the manning.

I don't think the CCL cheerleaders can really deny this is what is going on, and our 260 days with CCL means we have seen nothing but a slow decline in the product.

We had Cheers and hung out on deck 11. The person next to us said the same thing about not finding a server. A server came by shortly and we ordered a couple of beers. Here's the trick, I gave him 2 one dollar bills. He was back in about 15 minutes and knew what my wife and I were drinking the whole trip. A few bucks go a long way. He always seemed to find us somewhere on deck 11. The Serenity lounge had pretty good bar service as well.

That normally seems to do the trick. When we buy the package, which is not often, we normally take two or three hundred in ones and spread them around. Amazing what the results are, we really never wait for a drink.

Thanks for a great review, given us a lot to look forward to.

Your commentary on the musical chairs while trying to get everyone on the bus had me laughing out loud, how many times have we stood and watched this?

Get well soon.

I am early riser and have lost count of the mornings I have to dodge round trays that have been kicked over and food footprints have been tracked down the hallways. It's just plain tacky. I don't leave trays and plates outside the doors at home, why would I do it on vacation?

I've always found that if I leave a plate of anything on top of the trash can in the cabin it dissapears, it's that easy.

On the Liberty repo to Galveston we went and saw two, Wonderful World started off really well but seemed to lose it's way towards the end and we left before the finale.

The other one was the "Singing with the Big Band" which was a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra, the main singer was Christopher Alan Graves, if you get the chance to see it it is not to be missed. Best rendition of "Mr. Bojangles" I have ever seen, and the rest of the show was not too far behind. Him doing some of Franks standards with members of the audience was awesome. Absolutely wonderful show, Carnival - you do show us what you can put on - how about doing it a little more often?

Belize take the private excursion out to Cay Caulker, they will take you out to the outer reef where you snorkel out to the edge of the reef and then come back in, beautiful coral and lots of fish. Second stop is where they feed the rays and the little sharks, that a lunch stop on the island and back to town. You do have to tender into the pier to catch the boat and tender back to the ship. not a very expensive excursion.

Cozumel you can try the Money Bar, $12 taxi ride and no charge to use the facilities. You have to go about a 100 yards out to get to the reef, it's still coming back from the hurricane about 10 years ago, just watch which way the current is running.

Belize January 13 2016 water temperature was 77 at 76', dove in shorts and a shirt, down for 45 minutes and no problems with cold.

Some stewards seem very accommodating.

Some stewards seem very inflexible.

The inconsistency of messaging is an issue, as is normalizing lower service standards but at the same cost of other companies. If you haven't encountered this and / or it is really not an issue for you, I think that's great.

This is what we are finding the issue is. Of the last three cruises two were business as usual but the last one on the Triumph was bad, we had one of these hard headed stewards who wasn't going to back down from the start. We checked both boxes on the form and he went out of his way to show us that it was going to be his way, end of discussion.

Ended up with us complaining to Guest Services about his behavior and he really got ticked off about that. Wanted to have an argument in the hallway. We did talk to the head of housekeeping about this and she emphatically told us that the staff had been told that guests had three options, am, pm or both.

End of the cruise, I did not take the tips off, but then he didn't get the extra $70 I would have given him. That is only the second time in 31 cruises I have done that (previous one took the power strip out of the room). Next time I get one of these then the regular tips will come off as well, and we've never done that before.

Why Carnival wants to open this can of worms is totally beyond me, it's not like the prices are going down, in fact out of Galveston they are up about 30% over just a couple of years ago.

If you are doing a cruise longer than seven days the Spirit ships really shine. If you want somewhere quiet, doesn't matter whether inside or outside you can always find it.

I think a lot of the crowded feeling on many of the other ships is for two reasons:

1) Every time they "update" them, they put the Guys garbage shack and the blue iguana burrito bar right in front of the forward entrance doors to the lido buffet creating a huge choke point. After you've fought your way through there a time or two you know the ship is crowded and nothing will convince you otherwise. Heaven help us if there ever was a major problem and they needed to move a lot of people quickly through that area.

2) The photo department and their perpetual logjam. Doesn't matter whether they are inside on Deck 3 or 5 or merely impeding the flow off the gangway, they slow everything to a crawl and, once again, contribute to the feeling of being crowded. You know, I can almost see the photographers taking pictures as the lifeboats are being loaded.

Just took a cruise on a Conquest class ship for the first time in a while and really enjoyed it, and will be bringing another one back to Galveston in a couple of weeks. Going to be really nice having those two ships so close. Just feel sorry for the folks in New Orleans when they see the Triumph.

The walking/jogging track is on Deck 10. goes all the way from above the bridge to aft under the waterslide and then all the way forward again. IIRC it's only 4 or 5 laps to the mile so you're not permanently going in circles. The gym was good, I've seen better but I managed to get my exercise in there.

One of the nicest things about the ship is all the seating, both inside and out, and it's really easy to find somewhere shady if you want to just sit and read a book or watch the world go by.

62 days in 4 cruises and if she would only come back to the eastern side of the US we would still be cruising on her.

Just received the Monster Power Outlets To Go, attached to the power cord is a big white plastic coated label, under the before use heading the second item reads:

"This power strip is not a surge protector".

I wonder if this will be enough to keep the over eager room steward away from it. Guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

We have always got one plate for the two of us which is just fine, that way we only have to give the one uneaten plate back to the steward the next morning.

If you booked through Carnival just go to the cruise manager, pull up the shore excursions, find the one you want to cancel and there should be a button to cancel it. It's that simple.

Alternatively, once on board you can cancel at the excursions desk.

Have stayed several times in the 9207 - 9233 area, never an a/c problem but we tend to keep the cabin at 75-77. Normally a very quiet area of the ship unless you get any door slammers, and you can't beat the short walk out onto the lido area.

OTOH the old lady is really showing her age, and unfortunately we got bored with the ship after doing too many trips on her over the last couple of years, so we are going to move on to some of the newer ships.

Last week on the Freedom the future cruise lady mentioned the repo cruise at the future cruise talk. Checked in with the PVP and she just told me that no one had any information as yet, future cruise lady said the thing when I caught her at her desk a couple of days later.

Now the PVP knows I want in on this she will let me know when something is announced. We've done four of these long cruises, they are always a lot of fun and many once in a lifetime ports.

From past experience Carnival is not going to be much help. If you're on a seven day or shorter cruise you are normally going to stay on your departure port time. However daylight saving time may be your enemy.

We typically sail from Galveston, normally Cozumel would use DST but this year they decided not to, so on a Roatan - Belize - Cozumel cruise we will be on the same time in the first two ports and off by an hour in Cozumel. I sometimes think that Carnival does this so you can't book private tours because of the possibility of not being on time.

Don't even bother asking Guest Services, they really don't have a clue. I have had the wrong information so many times that now I just laugh at them as I walk by.

World Clock can sometimes be a great help, you can put in the date you will be in a particular destination and they can show you the difference between departure port and arrival port time. It will at least help you figure out if you may be safer with an overcrowded ship excursion (ugh).

January's cruise I have 2 private dive trips and in Coz I have to use the ships cattle boat because all the dive excursions leave before we get into port.

On longer cruises they will change time but don't expect to find a schedule of when and where they will do it, although on our last trip from Galveston to San Juan and back to Galveston they did keep us on local time at every port which was a great relief. Never missed a private excursion.