Towel Critter

If it's a new HMC private island type port of call, I'll be excited - love HMC. But if it's yet another Grand Turk shopping mall/tourist trap... big deal, at least for my tastes. I'm sure there are those who disagree, but that's my personal take on it.

I don't know which port you will be sailing out of, but depending on the port, the view will likely be more interesting on one side or the other. If you decide to sit on your balcony during the sail away, you might want to research this. As an example, when sailing out of Miami, the view is much, much, much better on the "left" side of the ship. But don't sweat it too much. You'll have fun no matter where you are.

Tia:-)

Not to be missed: The ship in all ports of call at sail time. I kid. Actually, what I remember most about the dream is the pasta place, upstairs from the buffet. The BBQ on sea days is good too. The lanai is a nice place to hang out. Most of the other highlights I remember are Christmas themed, but that doesn't help you much here in August.:D

I don't think we made pics, but the pasta was one of the highlights of our Dream cruise. We really enjoyed it, and I'm sure you will too.

Another reaon to book privately.

I can think of $everal reason$ not to though.

Just saw a post earlier tonight- elsewhere - by John Heald on this subject. He says it all depends upon supply and has nothing to do with Carnival making cutbacks.

Just be warned that sometimes the tables for 2 are not really tables for 2. I've seen and been seated at tables for 2 that were set up so close to other tables it was like a table for 4 or 6.

 

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This happened to us on the Glory in May. I wasn't thrilled. Having a two inch space between two tables does NOT make it a table for two. :mad:

We made a few social stories with lots of pictures from the internet so our DS knew what to expect. We also purchase Faster to the Fun so we can avoid as many lines as possible. And once we board we can then go straight to our cabin to chill for a few minutes. I recommend F2F if it's available. Also, remember there is a security line and at check-in, a picture is taken of each guest for their sign and sail card. This was a major challenge to get our little guy to look at the camera and be still.

We also visit the kids club during open house so we can show him around. (Where the bathroom is, because he can't ask, etc..) We take a ton of pictures on his ipod/ipad during these first few hours on the ship, so later he can show us the picture if he's requesting something. (The hot tub was very popular! LOL) You can request an onboard cell phone from the kids club (I email the special needs dept before we cruise to give them his details and to request one). This way the club can call you,and you can also call them to check on her. We have always had great experiences with Carnival. They're very patient and allowed him to do other activities if he was over-stimulated. We take headphones for his ipod for dinner and deck parties. This is helpful when it's loud, he can try to tune it out.

The scenic oceanview room for us is brilliant because he loves to sit and look at the water but we don't have to be constantly supervising as we would on a balcony

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.

-Kelly

 

 

Feb '11 Carnival Elation

Nov '11 Carnival Fascination

Sept '12 Royal Monarch of the Seas

Nov '12 Royal Freedom of the Seas

Sept '13 Carnival Dream

Jan '14 Disney Dream

Mar '14 Disney Magic

Aug '14 Caribbean Princess

Oct '14 Carnival Dream

May '15 Carnival Sunshine

 

I'm certainly no expert on Autism, but if crowds, or over stimulation, are an issue, a balcony is a great quiet place to escape. I like a balcony for this very reason. Being a bit of an intovert, crowds and sensory overload can tire me out after a while. I LOVE sitting on my balcony at those times. It's like sitting on your front porch, only with the ocean and occasional flying fish. Love the flying fish. :-)

Balcony. No contest.

Simply call Carnival. They will help you find the problem.

Port Canaveral would be my first choice, Ft. Lauderdale second. I'm basing this on the cost of air fare.

We were in Grand Turk only once, and that was a few years ago.

I remember it as beautiful. I either didn't see the litter, or it has changed....

But I never felt unsafe in GT, whereas I certainly did a couple of times in Ocho Rios! :(

No, nothing to feel unsafe about on GT. The people are nice and the crime rate is low. I don't know what to tell you about not seeing litter, as opposed to seeing it everywhere. Perhaps your taxi, or excursion, took a different route. If you are talking about the modern, well kept cruiseline sponsored shopping area right by the ship, then yeah, it's very clean. I think of those areas as being almost like a foreign embassy. They aren't really locally owned and usually don't reflect the nature of an island much. They are pretty much an extension of the ship.

Wow. Never heard about this in Grand Turk. From pics it looks pristine.:(

As long as you don't mind hanging out at the cruise port area all day, it isn't a problem, but that isn't Grand Turk. Cruiselines will always make sure these cruiseline sponsored shopping areas are clean. If you venture out onto the island itself there is litter, junk, and abandoned vehicles everywhere you look. It's a shame. There is a lighthouse on the opposite end of the island (only a few miles) worth seeing, some interesting old architecture, and a couple of beaches. But the litter and junk along the way pretty much spoils the ride. :(

We use Travelguard. It's about half the price of the Carnival insurance (Silver level) and we've filed claims with them twice with no problems. In October of 2013 we had to cancel an 8 night cruise due to my mother going into the hospital three days before the sail date. I had to send them hospital records, naturally, but they reimbursed us for 100% of the cruise. Don't cruise without travel insurance, unless you can afford to part with significant sums of money. You never know what might happen before, or during the cruise.

Ocho Rios is the only port I know of where taxi drivers and bead sellers will literally follow you for half a block after you've said a polite, no thank you. For this reason I'll only book a cruise if the itinerary I'm interested in only exists with Ocho Rios as a part of it. If there is an alternative I'll take it. Grand Turk is about at the same position on my personal totem pole of ports of call, but for the opposite reason. The people of Grand Turk are very nice, but the island is covered in litter. I find that a huge turn off. You don't have to be affluent to pick up litter. I'm surprised they don't take more pride in there otherwise lovely island nation. It's a pity.

With the Canned music how do we know the singers arent doing a Milli Vanilli.?

 

It was pretty obvious on the Glory, in May, that the lead vocals weren't being lip synched, they were pretty pitchy at times and the singers were a little out of breath at times from dancing (but that is to be expected and not a criticism), but the backup vocals could have been. In fact, I think they probably were. This always seemed to be the case with me, even in the classic shows. The backup vocals have always been better than the lead singers, which makes no sense, unless they were canned. They very well may have been singing along with the canned backups though. This is pretty common in live performances these days. I don't mind that so much. Better that than out of tune and thin sounding harmonies. My beef with the new digital shows wasn't so much the vocals as it was with lighting, which was truly terrible - the lead singers were often in the dark - the canned music instead of an orchestra, and the lack of stage props. This downgrading of live entertainment concerns me, because it makes me wonder just how far Carnival will be willing to go to cut costs and optimize profits. Heck, I still miss the Grand Midnight Buffet.

You don't tend to have those types of difficulties when you're not relying on a computer with a live band. We were watching a show when something "tripped". The stage went dark, the curtain closed, and the house lights came up. It was quite awkward. Took them 10 minutes to reset it all and start again.

Exactly. Besides, real props and real music, played by real musicians are far more entertaining than a virtual show. Virtual should remain the property of the Internet. Real vacations, on real ships, should have real entertainment, imho, unless they want us to pay with virtual money.

They had the new shows on the Glory in May. I was really disspointed with them. The lighting was horrible and the performers were upstaged by the digital display as often as not. There were technical problems also. One of the shows was delayed for about 20 minutes until they got whatever it was sorted out. Another was cancelled altogether, after we sat there and listeded to the cruise director stall for almost thirty minutes. I miss the orchestra, larger numbers of performers, better singers, props, all of it. The new shows are a cheap immitation, with cheap being the operative word. I'm sure it it is cheaper for Carnival to do it this way. The optimization of profit is a bane in our society. At some point you have to care about your customers or you won't remain in business to make ANY sort of profit. Listen to your loyal cruisers, Carnival!