PAcruiser25

The ferry ride was maybe 25 minutes. There were really comfortable lounge chairs and nice umbrellas so if it had been sunny it would have been great. There was actually a little drizzle for some of the time we were there so the umbrellas were helpful for that. There's free Wi-Fi which is nice. The island is nice to walk around and you can see dolphins and sea lions. We didn't do a special dolphin or sea lion program but it was fun to look at them. There's an OK buffet, and all the staff members were very nice.

Thanks. We wound up doing the family beach day excursion to Blue Lagoon in Nassau and we liked it.

In Freeport we just walked around the shops for a little bit.

I will look into this more. Looking to spend some time on the beach on this day too if that's possible.

Also, does anyone know how the vegan/vegetarian options are at this luau?

Thanks.

Hello,

We are looking for ideas of beaches to go to in these ports.

Nassau - usually go to Cabbage Beach but considering something closer to the pier.

Freeport - is there a nice and safe beach we can get to from a shuttle/van? It is a short day so we want to make sure there is easy access to return transportation to the ship.

We don't care about chair or umbrella rental or food.

Thanks!

Hi! For those of you who have done a Hawaii cruise, would you recommend leaving from Long Beach or San Francisco? We are thinking of spending a few days sightseeing maybe after the cruise and don't like renting a car - maybe SF is better for that reason? And this would be in Sept or Oct.

Thanks!

Hi,

We have only cruised on R.C. once before and are considering a cruise on the Vision with ports that look good, or the Liberty, with ports we are not sure about. We are concerned that we may be bored on the Vision as it is older and there may not be much to do. We would rather be on the Liberty, but are not sure if we can easily get to nice beaches near LaRomana and Puerto Plata. Our other R.C. cruise was on the Grandeur, and we weren't thrilled with the cabin and bathroom size and lack of things to do...but it was in the winter so being able to be up on deck in the summer would help. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Overall, I liked the Grandeur. it was my only RC cruise. I otherwise cruise on Carnival. The menus were varied, food and service were excellent, and we enjoyed the shows and aerial performers. I liked the Zumba classes. it is an older ship, but seemed elegant. They managed things like food / beverage service well so to avoid lines. Now we sailed In December so with cooler weather to the Bahamas there was not too much to do during the days, as you couldn't hang out by the pool. There is no mini-golf, and the rock wall was closer due to the weather. We could use the one enclosed pool. The major thing we didn't like was the very small interior cabin and super tiny bathroom. But I would try a newer RC ship and check the square footage of the cabin closely.

We have been on the Pride many times and I like that ship more: am more comfortable with the size of the cabins there. 

I think it is easy to be on your own in Nassau. You an shop in the nearby stores or take a taxi or water taxi to Cabbage Beach, the public beach right next to the Atlantis. it is a beautiful beach. We were there in late Dec. and the water had a slight chill but was swimable. It was just a few $ each way, I forget exactly: 3?. Just watch, sometimes when we have been there the waves are larger, the time in Dec. it was calm, it just depends. They have banana boats, waverunners, etc. Hope you have nice weather, and have fun!

Thanks for the idea!

We walked through the lobbies on the way to the beach, you can also walk through Marina Village on your own. I don't think MV is all that special to see, just a cute shopping area.

That's a shame they took out the Tandoori Grill. I think those are awesome. The Carnival chefs do a great job with Indian food. I don't care for BBQ too much.

Yes, I was just going to write that.Sorry to hear you were sick, though,OP.

I wash my hands right before meals and don't touch anything I am eating if I got it from a lido buffet: just use the silverware considering all of the people who touch the utensils.

Hi! We like the Spirit class ships for many reasons, including that there are not too many passengers and there are 2 deck pools excluding the serenity pool. We really don't like the ships which are 110K + tons as there do not seem to be enough pools for the passengers (Splendor - second pool was too tiny.) This is an issue on the 101K size (Triumph, Victory, Sunshine) also with 1 pool.

We are considering the Pride or the Miracle for the next cruise, as it looks like the Legend is out of Seattle and we want to cruise in the Caribbean, and the Spirit has moved to Australia. We would cruise out of Baltimore or Florida, but probably not Miami /Ft. Lauderdale.

We do prefer newish ships and also the 2.0 upgrades. So I don't think we want to go to the Paradise-size. Does anyone have a suggestion for ships which have 2 good size pools excluding the serenity deck?

We prefer Carnival but are open to exploring other cruise lines.

Thanks!

No, I haven't seen any except for when docking in Nassau.

We have cruised on the Pride many times and the Grandeur once. I think the service was excellent on both ships. The food was excellent on both, but maybe the menu selections were a little more to my liking on RCCL - maybe also because it was new to me. The Grandeur also managed the buffet better as far as lines and did little things to help,like pre-pouring drinks. The pizza and off-hour options were much better on the Pride. We enjoyed the aerie show on the Grandeur and other shows, but other than that there was not much to do and way too much karaoke. Also it was winter so we weren't in the pools. The other difference was that the cabin and bathroom were smaller on the Grandeur. Like I don't think I would cruise on the ship again, although we got a great deal smaller.

On the Pride now I love the Blue Iquana Cantina, Red Frog Pub, and new water slides. Family enjoyed Guy's Burgers. The pizza is awesome, comedy shows - usually some are better than others but enjoyable. They finally changed their shows and they were OK, not great.

Also as far as private islands, Half Moon Cay is paradise. Coco Key was pretty, the island buffet was good - better than Cranival's slightly, BUT the water was rocky throughout the even the sand was rocky/ / shelly - not nice for a beach day.

I am having some trouble with this actually. Our postcard says 2-cat upgrade for $1, 20% off with early saver rates, up to $50 to spend on board, 50% off deposit. On the web site, I found the price code but do not see a 20% off rate - it is $39 less than Weds. I have been on the phone now for 47 minutes and am not getting an answer. Also they denied sending any postcards with 20% off on them - yet they did!! I offered to email or fax it to them and they said no, the discounts are built in? Is anyone else having this issue?

Hi everyone,

We are thinking of staying at Lago Mar before a cruise. It looks nice from the reviews and web site. We like resort style pools and a great beach. Has anyone been there, and would you recommend it?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

We are looking at cruises for next summer. The home port and itineraries of the Splendor and Magic are on our short list. We have sailed on the Splendor before. We liked it, but our only concern was that there did not seem to be enough pools for all of the people who wanted to use them. Now I see that the Magic is a much larger ship. How do you think the pool situation is?

I like that it is newer - 2010, and may have some different things than we are used to as we usually sail on smaller Carnival ships.

Thanks for your opinions!

Also I made WCMC tonight to celebrate!!

What a great feeling, just booked on Carnival for 2016. Just wanted to share with CC friends!!!

(Oops, sorry, I am platinum on Carnival, I forgot the levels.)

I have been on the Pride many times and just cruised on the Grandeur (1st RC cruise. I'm Diamond on Carnival).

Pool Area Indoor and out (most important to us)

Pride has 2 nice sized pools. One will be noisy/lively with the DJ and games.

Neither are heated. The one near the DJ has a retractable roof. Depth about 4.5'?

Grandeur's large outdoor pool is heated, but no retractable roof. Once in awhile a good island band plays there. The indoor one in the solarium is pretty small and can be chilly. It's for adults only unless there is inclement weather - then kids can use for certain hours. Depth about 5.5' - so make sure kids can swim.

Casino: sorry, don't use. Both are smoky.

Food and Alternative Dining

Food great on both ships. I liked RC's menu a lot because it was different for me. Sometimes for dinner I feel like there's not much I want on Carnival: but I prefer vegetarian foods and seafood. I liked the dining room fruit /cereal bar at breakfast and salad bar at lunch on the Grandeur.

Pizza is terrific on the Pride. No pizza place on Grandeur: we missed that.

Buffets: both have very good food. We like the Chinese area a lot on the Pride (have not sailed since dry dock). I think the Grandeur manages to have almost no lines there. Also, the way they pour beverages and you just pick them up works well.

Food on private island: we thought RC did this a little better though they are similar. Also, no lines!

steakhouse on Pride: has gone downhill, I would skip it. Didn't try alternative dining on Grandeur.

Public areas

Both very nice, I would give the edge to the Grandeur. Older ship but elegant looking. Then again the cabins are tiny so maybe that's where the space come from! Overall I thought the Grandeur was less smoky. Sports bar non-smoking which was good.

Level of service.

Both excellent. Awesome staff. No problems.

I will add that we thought the show were better on the Grandeur, but the Pride now has new shows. Comedy shows much more frequent on the Pride.

Kids program.

My child does not enjoy going to these much so I'm not the best judge. Rooms on small side for both. Staff seem very nice. Schedule is more detailed with Pride so you can take them at the exact times if they just want to try 1 activity.

Grandeur does not have mini-golf and we like that a lot (Pride has).

Grandeur has shuffleboard. Rockwall not in use a lot for us due to weather.

I will add that HMC is paradise. Coco Cay is not. Very shelly / rocky, not good for swimming or even walking on the beach.

I love cruises in general and would try RC again - but only on a larger ship with a larger cabin. We had a great time on both of these ships.

I found the Wii in the Schooner Bar to be a bad idea for an activity because there was only 1 TV and only 2 kids could play at once.

If you post it as an activity, why not have the set up so that many kids can play at once?

I will agree with you, I think the excursions are way overpriced. We prefer to do things on our own as long as we are someplace safe.

We just got back from our 1st Royal cruise but a different ship as I see you were on a Western Caribbean. We loved the food on the ship but the cabin and bathroom were too small!

OP, thank you for posting this. I agree with you based on our experience on the Pride - David's a couple of years ago. Our experience was similar but we didn't have to wait to be seated and we weren't comped for anything. What bugged me the most is that no one came over to check on our meals and see how they were at all. Food was variable but nothing was outstanding (except chocolate sampler dessert), service was NOT good. We noticed a major decline in the meal since the Pride first sailed - when it was indeed wonderful.

I think it's good that fellow cruisers and mgt is aware.

Now I would try the Italian restaurant for lunch if I sailed on a ship that had it...then maybe dinner if I enjoyed the lunch.