sunkey1

They've definitely digitized almost everything, deck plans, menus, Fun Times, are all available on your phone. You can usually find regular menus at the restaurants and bars and hard copies of the Fun Times as well. I use my phone on the ship, but as little as possible, typically only for the occasional picture. I personally miss the days when we got on the ship, locked our phones in the safe and didn't touch them the whole time. Simpler days.....

For me it's largely the atmosphere, which one appeals to me the most? That's the one I'll likely go to the most.

My father in law was just cremated and they offered a box of sorts which was biodegradable and allowed my husband to place him at the inlet in Ft. Pierce. That "packaging" keeps it simple and saves money on an urn that would otherwise not likely ever be used. I know that's my plan.

Exactly why we're heading out soon on the Mardi Gras for the third time - love this class of ship.

Most likely as their website is sorely lacking in a LOT of ways.

Yep, told them to book a cruise, drop me off and have a blast.

Is there any additional paperwork that needs to be completed when bringing ashes onboard?

If you're wanting to dine with friends then YTD is actually perfect as you'll always be able to get a table together. I don't see what the fuss is about and I certainly would not let it ruin your poor wife's cruise. Eating early you should have no problem getting a table pretty quickly.

Agreed! We were going to try the Celebration as we love the Mardi Gras but after looking at pictures and figuring in the trek to Miami vs Port Canaveral, it was an easy decision to just book the Mardi Gras again.

And this is where things are totally subjective and up to personal choice. I LOVE the Mardi Gras and went on the Magic a few years ago and it was one of my most disappointing cruises so far. Ship was run down (I got locked out on my balcony due to a broken door lock), lots of rust and not great service quite a few times. This is why one person’s “perfect” vacation may not be the case for someone else.

LOVE the Mardi Gras! Have sailed on her twice and going again in March. Would love it if you could share the Fun Times later just to see what may have changed.

I did do it as separate transactions. I will say that when the agent did it she did five and then had to start over with the next four. The website let me enter all nine, it was just weird as it looked like it was accepting them with the balance due declining each time. I also had issue with a cabin hold being removed from my account as well - website issues big time this week.

Just applied nine gift cards to an upcoming cruise, each time showing a declining balance due. At the end, I owed $21.30 on a credit card, tried to pay that and it said I needed to call Carnival. Needless to say the gift cards were never actually applied, I had to do this manually with an agent, over the phone. Their website has been really crappy lately.

Yep, it was Topher and he loved chasing balls into the surf. Was sad to hear of his passing and also that Jack sold the bar. Haven’t been since the new owners took over.

Agree with the statements about the Serenity area on Sunshine. The new Excel ships have the largest, nicest Serenity areas - other than the Sunshine, which just stands out with the waterfall. It's beautiful.

We've been taking our own large beach umbrella to the private islands as well as regular island beaches for a few years now. It has a carrying case/bag and we just put a luggage tag on it when we get on the ship. Granted, could not easily do that if flying.

Agreed, enforce the policy or remove it, you can't have it both ways - or I guess they can....

That's really sad to hear. We saw someone get turned away from the MDR on an NCL ship for wearing shorts. They were nice shorts and he was wearing a golf polo but the MD was having none of it. I was thrilled to see them actually enforce a policy that we were following. If you don't like it, go to the buffet, it's not like you can't eat, just not in the MDR. Yes it's your vacation, but it's also mine and if I can follow the few, relatively minor guidelines, I think you should be able to as well. Just my thoughts.

We have an upcoming cruise on the Equinox and I'm just a little nervous as we were on her when she was much newer. Hopefully X does a better job of maintaining their older ships than some other lines do. Quick question as we also will have a balcony cabin - what were the bed pillows like? Were there options? Trying to decide whether to bring ours with us as we're both a little picky. ;)

Again, perfect example of different strokes for different folks. I don't personally care for the non-stop comedy shows on Carnival, a big reason we are trying Celebrity again after a long break. I will say that (some of) the production shows on the Carnival Mardi Gras were excellent, there just wasn't enough variety and enough options for us. The food variety on the Mardi Gras was endless. Looking forward to seeing what Celebrity offers on our upcoming cruise.

Thanks for the great review, we will be on her in October. Have you been to any of the shows? How has the entertainment been?

To be honest, I've been on over 50 cruises and have never seen a catfight, nor someone vomiting in the elevator on ANY of the cruises I've been on, Celebrity, NCL, RCCL, Princess OR Carnival. I also worked on NCL for a year back in the early 90's and even then never saw such a thing. I don't doubt that it happens, I know that it does, but I don't believe in pigeonholing an entire line based on random occurrences. Yes, Carnival does have a lot of party cruisers, but it also tends to skew towards the shorter cruises. We were on the Mardi Gras three times now and it's a beautiful ship, we had wonderful entertainment, some of the best service we've experienced anywhere and also some of the best food. I don't believe that one line or ship is going to be perfect for anyone ALL of the time, that's why I hop around. I personally like changing things up. The biggest disappointment I've had in the last 10 years on a cruise WAS on Carnival, we took a last minute cruise on an older ship with friends and I will never sail an old ship of theirs again, it just hadn't been kept up and yes, on that ship there was not much entertainment (unlike the Mardi Gras). That being said, I am nervous about sailing the Equinox as she is also older and we sailed her many years ago. We'll see how Celebrity does on maintaining their older vessels. Regardless, I go in with an open mind, happy that I have the opportunity to be on a cruise and will make the best of it, no matter what.

I also miss seeing people dress nice for dinner and seeing amazing shows every night. Cruising has changed, just as life in general has changed. I miss the “good old days” but I’ve adjusted my expectations and, (sadly) in some cases, lowered my standards. This stops me from being disappointed and allows me to have a great time on EVERY cruise. I simply remind myself of the people in Ukraine, Maui or Libya and realize how great I truly have it to be on vacation and to have family, a home and a job waiting for me. Kind of makes me realize how minor some of these issues that people constantly gripe about truly are. If you don’t like the cuts or changes, stop cruising. It’s really quite a simple solution.

I agree, "back in the day" NCL used to feature Jean Ann Ryan productions - full length, full scale productions of Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, etc. that would rival anything I've seen on Broadway. Their "Vegas style Revue", Sea Legs was also fantastic. Add to that people like Sha Na Na, Vic Damone, Clint Brown and you had an unparalleled week of entertainment. Nowadays we make sure to sit at the end of the row so that we can get up and leave discretely should the need arise. It's a shame, as the shows were always a highlight for us. We still love cruising, always find something fun to do in the evenings but definitely miss those aspects of the "good ol' days".

My husband (who very seldom reads leisurely) just read a book about Buddhism and found it fascinating. I tried to read the same book and couldn't get past the second page. To each his own! I do hope that there are still talks onboard the Equinox when we go as I think this would appeal to him.