Jump to content

cooncat_mom

Members
  • Posts

    783
  • Joined

About Me

  • Location
    Beautiful Northeast
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Canada, NE

Recent Profile Visitors

1,013 profile views

cooncat_mom's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. After our Carnival Venezia cruise this past October, we walked off around 8 am with our luggage, crossed the street to the line of legit yellow cabs and immediately got one who took us to Monyhan Train Hall. We had no problems at all.
  2. We’ve stopped flying to FL for cruising too. The price (for the times we can fly) is expensive and I’m not fond of the Caribbean…or of flying, for that matter! We’ve cut down to the NY and Boston ports. We’ve dropped Bayonne too just because it’s a pain to get to unless we drive. We Amtrak to NY and we Amtrak to Boston as well, which makes for a more relaxed vacation. It would be nice if they could figure out another southern route for Boston besides Bermuda since my cruisin’ buddy likes warm and does Canada once in a great while for me (I love Canada!)! Our next one will be later this fall on the Joy to Bermuda.
  3. Good point scottca75! If I knew how to red I would have known that! I know Royal had a daily children’s program pre-pandemic because even though my kid is grown, she and I would go to the kids’ end of cruise show (very cute!). NCL also has a daily children’s program, We cruised with my 2&4 year old grandchildren but my older granddaughter was shy and after one time there were too many kids so she opted out. Fortunately we had lucked into a Garden Villa so that was fine - lots of running around room, a hot tub ( well, a cool hot tub) and Gramma brought an inflatable splash pool, PLUS they had Auntie and Grandma. Oh. Mom and Dad were there too…but those kids were ours! I would think the bigger Royal or NCL ships would be something to look into. They seem to have multiple family activities…Royal Oasis class has Mega Slides, zip lines, rock climbing walls, aqua park, escape room, bumper cars…none of which we’ve tried. We had a Boardwalk balcony on the Oasis so we watched some of the activities in comfort! NCL's larger ships have many of those things as well. Try Googling family activities or head over to the Family Cruising board under Special Interest here. Hope you and the family have a great time!
  4. We’ve done Carnival, Royal and NCL. Our first cruise was the little Carnival Imagination, which is what got us hooked. With airfares being so much now (and my hatred of flying!) we pretty much cruise out of NY or Boston. We tend to like both Royal and NCL. Totally enjoyed the Oasis, which was our first post Covid cruise, but we were spoiled since it was at half capacity. Great Vegan menu though (dairy and my body are not on good terms), and we like RCL’s private island and cabanas. We did the Carnival Venezia last October, and won’t do Carnival again. It was a cruise and we enjoyed it, but the vibe was not us, we didn’t enjoy the private island, and I did miss a vegan menu! We thought about MSC, but getting there would be a pain so our next cruise will be NCL’s Joy. I think post Covid service has slipped some and the food is kind of meh sometimes on the mainstream 3 lines, but it’s better than my cooking and I don’t have to clean up. Having the steward coming in only once a day doesn’t bother us since we keep the room neat anyway. That said, even though we’re not purposely loyal to one line, we’ll probably sail NCL most of the time, and if we “cheat”, it’ll be Royal. For us the question is more along the lines of big, tricked out ship or smaller one. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy it!
  5. We’ve done all 3 mainstream lines, with Carnival Venezia as our latest cruise. (Our first time on Carnival in 10 years.) We’ve decided that we weren’t fond of Carnival and are more suited to NCL because it’s more casual, there’s a coffee package, we’ve enjoyed the entertainment more and there’s no formal night - or - RCCL because it’s got some interesting shows, and a good Vegan menu (I’m very lactose intolerant and having an actual vegan menu means choosing food is much easier for me…plus they had some really good dishes!) and we really enjoy the Promenade rooms on the mid-size ships and the Central Park and Boardwalk balcony cabins on the Oasis size ships. We also like the cabanas (RCCL) and villas (NCL) on the private islands. Carnival’s island and cabanas didn’t impress us at all. In all honesty, we did enjoy our Carnival cruise even though it’s not our favorite atmosphere. Give us a ship, a balcony and someone who feeds us and we’re good! If you go with a happy vacation mindset, it will be fine.
  6. Just wanted to add, it wasn't a big thing for me since I have an intolerance (a big uncomfortable one that lactaid doesn't always help but an intolerance) NOT an allergy. An allergy changes the game!
  7. I survived my Carnival cruise, and never used the tablet. I didn't want to bother the staff at the MDR so just did my usual make good choices (and carried my own powdered coconut creamer and Lactaid). By the time I saw one, the cruise was almost over so I just passed.
  8. That sounds like a Smart Elevator. I just cruised on Carnival with one of those. Not a fan. It took a few days for people to get the hang of it (despite the video screen with instructions being told to them), and they still told people "Oh there's plenty of room! Come on in!". We ended up taking stairs all the time. My arthritic knee wasn't really happy, but my scale looked pretty good when we got home!
  9. Afraid I have to side with the “gruesome” folks. I don’t like Starbucks, but would buy the Starbucks coffee package if we weren’t in the Haven for our next cruise (The in-room coffee is better). My daughter would put a packet of hot cocoa in her ship coffee to doctor it, but being lactose intolerant I can’t. I’m not sure why the coffee is not good - it can’t be that hard to make coffee…even *I* can do it and I can’t cook! 😆😆😆
  10. I haven’t seen that either…in fact recently returned from a Carnival cruise where there were 5 ships in port and the Disney Wish was across from us. We left before they did and as we were serenaded by the Wish’s ship horn, everyone who was on their balcony (on both ships) were waving and shouting “Goodbye,” ‘Enjoy your cruise!” Etc. In fact there was a bride on the Wish and when she was out on her balcony for photos, she was serenaded with well wishes and applause. (I guess those who were enjoying their drink package were busy enjoying their drink package!)
  11. B4 in the casino was our muster station on the 10/14 Venezia sailing - so easy to find. We were able to whip right down and go over the life jacket info. So much easier than the old way!
  12. Thank you! I did call Carnival when I had enough coffee in me to put a sentence together and they said it would be fine too. We do our own transportation so that’s not a problem. (I hate flying - Amtrak for us!)
  13. Well, I was tired when I checked in online for our upcoming Carnival Cruise and entered our passport info using first names only - leaving out our middle names (which are on the passports). I tried to go in to edit it, but it won’t let me edit our names. Do I need to work to get this fixed or will they just glance at the passport and not care? The rest of the passport info is correct.
  14. Sorry - I got my cruises mixed up! I’m getting old 😆
  15. I’m sorry - I double checked with my daughter - for one week of the unlimited Starbucks Package it’s $109 for the week. She and I are doing a 4 day/5 night NCL cruise and THAT one is $62! It says it works out to $12.95 a day per person.
×
×
  • Create New...