Sipsey

Carnival Holiday November 2002.

That is a terrific question. I am what you'd maybe call an "occasional cruiser". The posters on this board, many of them, go more than once per year. How many of those types there are, I can't say.

But the type of increases described above seem awfully ambitious to me. My trips have been in the spring and fall when the ships seem not to be at capacity. Maybe some older ships are being retired and that is fueling the building boom.

Although I have always gotten to at least within 50 miles of the dock the night before, this sounds entirely doable to me. I have ridden in a car from the Jersey/PA border area to Atlantic City before, and I would have thought the distance from your area to Baltimore would be greater than that, but okay.

If it were me I would start as early as possible in the AM to avoid traffic problems, etc. Good luck.

I was apprehensive as well before my first cruise. We took pretty much the same cruise as you for our first one, from NOLA, 5 nights to Mexico and back and were quite satisfied.

If you've never sailed before, take along some sea sickness medicine (I use dramamine) and take one at the first hint of discomfort. Most adjust easily.

Having done both, I prefer the Caribbean. We also missed Grand Cayman because of weather, which was a disappointment. But this is possible at any time, with any port of call.

I just didn't find much to recommend Nassau. We went to Atlantis resort via water taxi, packed in like sardines in a can. They wouldn't let you in any of the resort if you weren't a paying customer, except for the casino where the table minimums were high. We walked around the straw market and all the stuff was made in China or elsewhere. At that time it was a temporary space as it was being rebuilt. Everything in the shops nearby was expensive compared to Mexico. I ended up spending more time on the ship instead of going anywhere.

I agree with liking 7 nights over 5. But if you are just trying this to see if you like it, maybe 5 would be better. Our first trip was a 5 with stops in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, and we enjoyed it enough to do it some more.

A lot of times the neutral ground will have port-a-potties set up at different spots along the routes. This is what we often do, unless we have access to someone's home on or near the route who is giving a party.

I ride in Tucks on March 1, and although I have not ever used the grandstands I have attempted to throw to them during the parade and it is not easy. I don't think you will catch much up there. Whether or not that's important to you is up to you to say.

The advice about finding a restaurant or bar to set up in is good, but a lot of them will be crowded and the bathroom lines may be long.

I'm in no way condoning urinating in a pool or a hot tub, just stating facts (not misinformation and FUD) about the realities that it's not going to hurt you in reality.

Yes, but you are spoiling the paranoia by injecting all these scientific facts.

Me, I like to worry about the safety of salad bar sneeze guards and touching hand rails on the stairs. They might, God forbid, contain a germ!

I have done well with motion sickness pills. If I feel even the slightest twinge, I pop a dramamine. Cheap at your local drug store, easy to take. But everyone is different.

I like Royal, although I haven't been on the ship you are considering. But I have been pleased with others ships of theirs I have been on.

If you buy liquor or wine in a port, they will package it up when you get back on board and deliver it to your room before you leave. Same applies to booze you buy in the gift or liquor shops on the ship itself.

They pretty much have you by the short hairs if you want to drink on the ship. Budget accordingly.

Do you know how much a glass of wine or beer costs aboard RC? (just an approximation).

This has been my experience, and many posters here seem to have had similar ones:

Most drinks are slightly higher than what you would spend in a bar or restaurant stateside.

Some ships offer buckets of beer that offer a small savings over buying individual bottles.

I haven't bought a bottle of wine in the MDR, but from what I remember from reading the wine list, it's pretty pricey.

There's usually a drink of the day special that is about $1 or so cheaper than regular cocktails.

My rule of thumb is: don't plan on finding any bargains on drinks. You will probably spend more than you wanted to unless you are very disciplined. Cruise lines don't make much if anything off the cabin charges, and they make it up part of it on beverages.

You can get some good deals on liquor in the ship store, but they won't deliver it to you until the last night on board.

I am not going to quote prices since it's been a while since my last cruise, but I hope this helps you.

I had a similar situation with an NCL cruise I had booked and cancelled. Don't remember why, but it took several months to get my CC credited back.

That's exactly what she did - she had a spinach salad with no spinach.:rolleyes: We laugh about it now but at the time it was the weirdest thing.

I can't picture it. What was left, bacon bits and slices of boiled egg with oil and vinegar?

Too weird.

A lot of you will recognize me as CC's biggest worry wart. We have an intestinal virus going around here and of course, I'm sure one of us is going to get it.

I too am a worrywart. However, I think imagining possible sicknesses at certain inoportune moments might be carrying things a bit too far. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof!

Good luck and I hope you and yours stay healthy for your cruise. I once had a bad cold on a business trip and it was not pleasant to be away from home and sick.

She even complained that the spinach salad had spinach in it.:cool:

Okay, now that is the funniest thing I have heard all day! She should have ordered a spinach salad and hold the spinach I guess!

I guess we have been lucky. Most of our tablemates have been reasonable people. A couple have been a little annoying, but bearable. Only one guy I can remember being a chronic complainer, and we avoided him after the first night.

I saw one guy leave the table one night after getting his panties in a wad over a silly comment directed his way, but he was no loss. We finished our food in peace.

I am okay with eating from the buffet if necessary. Not much of a gormet, me. But if they start getting Golden Corale to cater it, I might change my mind.

I thought so when looking at the airport hotels.....and like the tip about the Hampton downtown.....will check it out.....we arrive MSY at about 9 pm so wonder if it is better to stay out at the airport rather than go close to the cruise port for the one night stay....

If you don't get in until 9 PM, and staying in the downtown/FQ area then it will probably be at least 10-10:30 PM before you are checked in to your hotel. Unless you intend to go out that night, paying extra to stay in the French Quarter or business district seems a waste of money to me. Of course, if it's about the same, the only consideration is whether you want to ride in that night or the next morning.

If it were me, I'd opt for staying somewhere cheap that night and cab it in the next day as I would probably be tired after a flight, especially as you will have several days in NOLA after the cruise. The downside would be two cab rides, I guess.

I do like the Hampton on Carondelet St., if that is the same as the one you are thinking of.

 

Nobody ever complained about the price of anything.

 

The That was MY traditional cruising. And it is long gone - never to return.

Unless I get to charge you today the price of a new Buick Automobile for a 7-day cruise.

If you will pay me $35,000 for a one week cruise, I can guarantee you would have everything and more that we offered in the "good old days".

Sounds like "the more things change the more they stay the same" emphatically does NOT apply to cruising.

It also sounds like "traditional cruising" was only for the wealthy and the top of the upper middle class.

I guess I didn't even know what cruising was until the "Love Boat" made me dimly aware of it. Then my parents went on some, and I became more aware. But it wasn't until my kids left home that I could afford even a Carnival cruise. To me the lowliest ship in the fleet seemed like a luxury vacation at the time. I guess it's all in your frame of reference.

I have only been on the Holiday (twice) with Carnival. It's an old ship, somewhat small.

I give the edge to Royal, and in a tossup situation would always choose them. The ships I have been on have more to offer and the food was better and the Dining Room didn't seem as cramped.

But I'm sure there are larger, nicer, newer ships in the Carnival fleet.

I have used the Harrah's deck in the past. But you might have to exit and reenter once per day as I think that validation is only good for 24 hours.

Gosh, this topic is almost as inflammatory as "tipping"!

I have only been on a few cruises, all in the last 10 years. So I have no "good old days" of cruising to refer back to. Most of the MDR meals I have had have been very good. The buffets are often mediocre, but then they are buffets. Only a few buffets I have ever had qualify as very good, and they weren't on cruise ships.

I guess I am not all that discriminating where food is concerned. Eat to live, not live to eat.

I think I went to the midnight buffet on my first cruise. We had to wait a long time to get in, then it was like going to an art exhibition as they wouldn't let you touch the food until after everyone had seen it. So, that would have meant waiting some more. Since we weren't hungry anyway (since it was time to go to bed and we had eaten plenty at dinner), we didn't stay. I haven't been to one since. If the cruise lines want to cut costs, that is a great place to do it without impacting the cruising experience as far as I'm concerned.

I am distressed, however, to hear that the quality of shows is going down. That is one of my favorite things on cruises.

If you can get by with one suitcase per person, one carryon for your husband and a purse for you, then you are traveling light! My wife packs so much stuff we have to usually rearrange to get under 50 lbs per bag at the airport.

After getting bumped once on a airline flight, I try to also put a change of underwear, toothbrush and toothpaste as well as medicine in my carryon. Might be a good idea for a cruise ship carryon as well. Although I have had no problems with luggage on a cruise, it doesn't hurt to be ready in case you do.

Also, airlines have gotten really good at pricing at the right times so as to load each flight to the fullest. I haven't seen many empty seats in recent years when I have flown. Usually none at all. This means waiting until the last minute you are competing for very few seats. Hence the high price.

If there is a price drop, my experience when booking a flight for vacations is it's about 2 to 2 1/2 months out. And it's usually short lived.

NCL used to offer this rate through cruiseline only.But you had to prove to them you are REAL gambler, whatever that is.

Probably someone who has established credit at a known casino in Vegas or other gambling destination, and has a track record of gambling at an acceptable level.

The elevators on the ships I have been on are so tiny that I try to use the stairs if at all possible.

$50 bills are supposedly unlucky as well, and are less common than 20s. How many people turn down a $50 tip/gift and insist on 2 20's?

Now this whole discussion reminds me of when I was on a trip that involved going to Eastern Europe back in the 60's, behind the Iron Curtain. In Poland, U.S. currency was much in demand. People would come up to you on the street and ask if you wanted to change money, in very stilted English. It may have been the only sentence they knew. I was a kid and I was nearly broke, but I had a few quarters and showed them to this guy and told him 4 of them were worth a dollar. He evidently had never seen them before, and looked them over closely. But, he took them and gave me zloty (not sure what the plural is)!

I guess this doesn't prove much, except for maybe two things:

1) Money is money.

2) Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

While I don't think I'd hold up a one and two and ask anyone to choose (except maybe a child as an object lesson), I would be hard pressed to characterize Anthony's experiment as arrogant. Just trying to see how people think about things when given a choice is not arrogant, but a source of information. It's not as if he's taking anything away, in fact he's trying to give money away. What could be more generous than that?