silvercrikhix

First off, the weather varies widely. On Spirit in Aug 2012 it snizzled or rained the entire time except a couple hours 1 afternoon. We saw some Dolphins and Whales, Seals, etc… On Luminosa in Aug 2023, we had beautiful weather all week except a 1 hour light rain. We saw lots and lots and lots of Whales. Taking the Spirit again this August, I’ll continue to pack for all weather—a bit of it all. And check weather forecasts. We enjoy each and every cruise for what it is. I’d sail either ship anytime. I’m an addict. The Luminosa was fine, just obviously not a Carnival ship. Not as much for kids comparatively. That said, I’m looking forward to the Spirit, Guys, Blue Iguana, the familiarity of it. On either ship, try for an extended or premium balcony if you can’t swing an aft wrap. We enjoy the evening in Victoria very much. It is a very very beautiful city at night! We are hoping to take a land trip there soon. -Take the 90 min long Carriage Tour. Beautiful, and also Romantic. Very Informative (If you want to propose at night, THIS is the place! Especially at the Gardens!) . -Reserve a Pedicab Tour pre-cruise. It’s absolutely amazing. Very Informative. We snuggled with our 6 yr old GD last time and she fell asleep. One for the memory bank there. Juneau, whales, car rental. Skagway, scenic flight, car rental, train trips. Ketchikan, Go Bears.

The Funship strikes again!

Deck 4 has the biggest balcony. The glass angles in the higher up you go. The balconies get smaller as you go up. You also have an overhang on 4th deck for some occasional shade and great when raining in Alaska. We were able to be outside because of that. We’ve sailed 4th deck many times. Best rooms hands down on Spirit class. Never had stuff thrown down on us. Or soot.

No bidding system. Drink pkg $60/day & 18% required gratuity / per person.

Thank you so much for all the time and consideration you are putting into this review. It’s very timely as I’m considering booking the Panorama!

We’ve been on both in Alaska. Luminosa being last August. We would personally take the Spirit, if it was that choice. Luminosa is a pretty ship but there is no Guys, Blue Iguana, etc…. We were unimpressed by the Luminosa. It’s a ‘sister’ in the Spirit class of ships. The aft wrap deck 4 suite was huge as usual but a bit different. Pool use? It’ll depend on the weather and personal choices. For us, Alaska is the reason to cruise with the ship being not really that important. The staff was fine.

Take them out yourself or have your travel companion help you. It’s just not that hard to do. Forgot I had a matched set manicure kit in my purse. Last cruise, the lil girly running the scanner insisted on taking the 1/2” long scissors from me. Just BS. That night they handed me a steak knife at dinner. OMG. Common sense has indeed left the planet!! #annoyed

There are 3 Monkey experiences from Puerto Plata area. Monkey Island is at Taino Bay port for those docked there. Monkeyland is south a bit, I believe. Monkey Jungle is a 55 min drive each way. It is where they care for neglected/abused monkeys. It includes a tour of the hospital/facility. There is a very interesting history of the vet coming to DR.

Thanks for the huge review! Bravo on your wrap up! Thanks so much for all the time and consideration! Enjoyed the vicarious cruise through your days 😃

I recently had this situation on a Viator offering. I took it, same conditions as the OP. I’d assertively dispute any attempt at keeping my money without delivering their services. Its not a large amount of coin like the OP’s, I accept this financial risk. If the vendor has multiple satisfied customer reviews you should be fine. I make sure the reviews are over a longish period of time and the reviewers have more than a couple reviews under their belt. If there are 20 reviews in 1 month by a bunch of 1-2 reviews experienced travelers, I’d pass on that. It’s also helpful to google the company and look at any other information you can glean off the internet.

Another HMC ? Do the Villa rentals include towels?

Woohoo another way for Carnival to make more money❣️

We have a kid or 2 that will need a life jacket. Do we bring our own? (Yuck) Rent from ship? Rent on HMC? Anybody know this? TY

We have a kid or 2 that will need a life jacket. Do we bring our own? (Yuck) Rent from ship? Rent on HMC? Anybody know this? TY

And miss out on trying to keep your product bottles balanced on their dispensers? 🤭

We have 3 different soft sided coolers about 12 x 12 that have a hard sturdy plastic bin in them. We used them for NASCAR track carry-ins. They all came from a Target/Walmart type place. We take them everywhere now. Perfect cruise cabin coolers!

On Carnival, they used to, but it’s been whittled down heavily, as has everything else!

So I know unopened food can’t be taken off the ship. However, since HMC is a private island does anybody out there know if we’d be able to bring these ship prepared food items to HMC? Yes, we know of the BBQ served on HMC but the party trays are amazing and very fresh. Esp. the fruits & veggies. Sure would be great if we can do this. We have a large group and a villa rented.

Woohoo. Next up for us Magic, so we are ready for a Magic review! Thanks for sharing!

It is definitely a peace, love touchy feely show. Not a regular production show at all. The best part are the kids in it. They worked really hard to learn sign language for a part of it. My GD enjoyed being in it. We would not watch it again, unless we have a kid in it.

Wow, been off this a few weeks and bam! Weed Controversy. ok, did AK this summer. Rec weed is legal there. We smelled weed in a hall once. ‘but, I know for a fact that several people had edibles on board. We think that’s nuts so we quickly walk away. We want no legal issues We could care less, but it’s STUPID. And yep, you can’t cure stupid!!. 🤷‍♀️

We were on the Luminosa in August. Beautiful ship. From what I read, this ship is nearly identical to Carnivals Spirit class ships. We had the usual 4th deck giant aft wrap suite found on that class. To us, Alaska is about the destination way more than the ship. That said, Luminosa had very little lining up. It was well maintained. if your a smoker, they have the best smoking area, a large “indoor” and even larger outdoor space with lots of comfy seating. However, there is no water park or slides, no Guys or Blue Iguana. The regular grill burgers were good tho. Our GD enjoyed Camp Ocean as usual but, For kids, we’d say pick Spirit, otherwise for that itinerary, either will do.

We’ve had most of the suites, not on the newer ships yet tho. We will 90% of the time get the suite for the huge aft wrap balcony. While the extra room and dressing area/larger bathroom are nice, it’s all about the suites balcony for us. It’s a very private paradise back there. And room for our friends/family to hang out with us too.

There are many reasons why cabana renters would want it air conditioned. Not everyone can just go jump in the water. My paralyzed brother for one. My grandma. Etc…. Some people can get way overheated and need the air nearby to cool down. You’ve taken quite the liberty in calling people addicts and telling them what YOU think they should or should not want or do. You don’t pay my way in life so my air conditioning and its cost are none of your business. Heck, fix Europes faults before you try and change ours.

…so are you saying that you believe we should all slink away and be like sheep. That is exactly what we wouldn’t do unless obviously it was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Granted there are situations when take-off is the best. If we continue to let people get away with this behavior we are only going to get more of it. When there are no consequences for bad behavior, there is no reason to change their horrible behavior. It’s hard to make split second decisions when you’re 1st off pretty shocked and stunned too.