ericrz

Blender cup not included, according to the website.  I have a Margaritaville "5 o'clock somewhere" clock beverage holder that I got at the Grand Turk M'ville a couple years ago.  If I bring it, will they fill it?  😄

I've had a drinks package on my last two cruises (one Carnival, one Royal).  I think I came out ahead financially, but even if it's close -- it's so nice to have the booze paid for in advance, and not get a big bill on the final morning.

My mom and I are taking the Islander in September, even with the two port days, we'll do our best to get our money's worth!!

From the FAQ page (Ultimate Beverage Package | Margaritaville at Sea) --

• There is a 15 maximum per day for drinks, like Carnival
• Covers beer/wine/cocktails up to $20, mocktails, soda, specialty coffees, 500ml bottled waters
• Like all other cruise lines, everyone 21+ in a cabin has to purchase the package, except in the case of a documented medical condition

I just called and added it to my 5-night Islander cruise in September.  With gratuity added, it is $336.25 per person for a 5-night voyage.  I am not quite sure how the math works, because that seems to be only adding 12% to $59.99 x 5.  But the website FAQ says an 18% gratuity.  Hmm.

Boat drinks, here I come!

On 12/11/2023 at 7:35 PM, pr8hd said:

The MAS website is bit by byte adding more information and concept art about MAS Islander.  I am looking forward to July!

 

Just hope they use the same model drink plan as MAS Paradise.  

Is the only MAS drink plan the 10 for $99 offering?  Not to sound like a lush or anything, but 10 drinks is pretty low for a 5-day cruise.  While I know you can obviously purchase drinks after the pre-paid package is used up, maybe MAS will add a 20 or 25 drink package for the longer voyages??

Showed up on the website today:

Islander Cruise Ship Deck Plan | Margaritaville at Sea

So my mom and I went and booked the MAS Islander for a September 2024 5-night cruise to Key West and Cozumel.  Happens to leave on September 1, which will be the first anniversary of Jimmy Buffett's passing.  I was thinking about going to Key West that weekend, but the cruise is much more economical!

I picked a balcony cabin on the phone with the rep, but she warned me that cabin numbering may not match the existing Costa Atlantica deck plans still available on the Internet.  She said Islander deck plans should be finalized next week, and I can call back and change cabins if I don't like where we ended up (deck 9, forward -- trying to keep my mom relatively close to the elevators).

The rep said that major structural items on the ship (pools, dining rooms, etc.) are not likely to change locations.  But there definitely could be some renumbering.

Fins Up!

Confirmed (via their social media rep on Instagram) that when booking online, you don't get a cabin choice.  Can call them to pick a cabin.

The rep also said they will have deck plans for the Islander "by the end of the week."  Obviously there are still deck plans available on the internet for the Costa Atlantica; not sure how much would change in terms of stateroom numbering / locations.

Ron, I'm experiencing the same thing.  Doesn't seem to be any way to choose your cabin number, or even general location (Forward/Mid/Aft) or even the deck you are on.

Was trying to book the new ship (Islander) but seems to be the same on the Paradise as well.  Does anyone know if this is just a glitch?  Or, if you book over the phone, can you pick specific areas/cabins?

13 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Random Sightings on our Sea Day:

 

Carnival Magic trying to pass us... it did not work...LOL!

 

 

 

Apparently, we passed the Magic (which had departed Curacao about two hours before us) sometime on Saturday morning.  A couple of my family members watched us overtake them, and apparently the two ships were reasonably close to each other!!

Hi all:

My family and I were on the Symphony of the Seas last week and in Labadee on Monday, November 20.  We rode the tram to Columbus Cove beach and got a nice set of lounge chairs under a couple of umbrellas.

When we looked at the water, we couldn't believe the amount of trash floating in it.  Plastic bags, bottles, bottle caps, papers, you name it.  I have been to hundreds of beaches in my life and I've never seen anything like it.  Literally, the first thing people were saying as they arrived at the beach was "look at all the trash in the water."

My brother took it upon himself to start cleaning some of the garbage out of the water.  He soon had several kids helping, making a game out of it, and some adults jumped in to help as well.  After about 20-30 minutes of this, some RCCL staff showed up with garbage bags and rakes.  The in-water volunteers would pile the trash on the shore, and the RCCL staff would rake it into piles and then bag it.  Whether they were already planning to do this or if they were sort of shamed into it by seeing passengers picking up garbage, I don't know.  (In any case, the staff never went into the water to retrieve any trash, leaving that to the passengers.)

Has anyone else ever seen this at Columbus Cove?  Maybe we were just unlucky, a recent storm pushed a bunch of trash into the bay or whatever.  But it was surprising and kind of disappointing to start our beach day by picking trash out of the water!!  Given that RCCL recently reported more than a billion dollars in quarterly profits, it would have been nice to see them be a little more on top of this (either with additional staff or some sort of technological solution to filter trash at the mouth of the bay).

16 hours ago, APDMOM said:

My Favorite View: End of day 6 - Curaçao:

 

Thankful to see "God is love" in my native tongue❣️  If you have ever lived in a foreign country, hardly ever hearing or seeing your language, you will understand... This is why I try to learn how to say 'thank you' in different languages.  The joy you see on the face of a waiter from Philippines when you say, "Salamat" is priceless. 🙂

 

This is so incredibly true.  My sister in law is Filipina and the crew from her native country love getting a chance to talk to her!!  (Side note, we also found a great Filipino restaurant in Aruba on this trip).

Loving this review, @APDMOM.  We were also on this cruise and your review is helping me remember things as I make notes!  Not sure if I'll write a full review or just a pros/cons list, but I'm loving yours!  We might have crossed paths at Chobolobo, we were there for an 11AM (10AM ship's time) tour on Thursday!

13 hours ago, pinto18 said:

The problem is with the carnival app it has to be open in order to get messages. So you'd have to rely on your daughter to always have the app open and check it every once in a while. Lets just say it didnt work with my husband and I since he never remembered to have the app on nor check to see if he had messages ( I think I would trust a pre-teen more than a 60 year old man though) 

To clarify re. the HUB app: you don't have to keep it actively in use (i.e. as the focus screen on your phone) to get messages.  You just can't close it entirely (as in, swipe up on an iPhone and swipe the app up).  If you do so (again, at least on an iPhone) the app will warn you "Hey, you have to keep the HUB open to receive messages).

If configured to allow notifications, the phone will buzz when a new HUB message is received.

We used it with our party of 6 (including two teenagers) on the Mardi Gras last week and found it worked really well!

I was on the Mardi Gras last week.....6384 passengers, the most ever carried by a Carnival ship!

Despite that crowd, we never waited 30 minutes for a drink.  That would be absurd.  Now, 10-15 minutes?  Sometimes, especially at busy bars -- Red Frog on sea days, or the Brass Magnolia when they had live music, etc.  I do think Carnival has cut staffing levels too far, the bartenders and other staff are almost constantly slammed.

However, once you get to know the ship a little bit, you tend to learn where to go to avoid the crowds when necessary.

On 10/19/2022 at 3:58 PM, PRINCESS Sweet Pea said:

I pulled up a Princess cruise and the notice at the top, which should show any restrictions, said ALL are welcome on this sailing.  Princess has no requirements or protocols in place.  So,  who is checking?  Very confusing.

But, "welcome on this sailing" does not automatically mean "allowed in every port."  Some countries (Turks and Caicos seemingly being one) still require vaccination for 18+ visitors.

On 11/24/2022 at 12:30 PM, crewsweeper said:

is the flowrider up and running? 

 

Sadly, it is not.  Our cabana waitress told us that they've been waiting for repair parts "for a long time."  My 13-year-old nephew was super bummed.

We were in Grand Turk last week on the Mardi Gras.  Carried our vax cards per instructions from Carnival, but no one ever asked for them (we did not leave the cruise terminal / Margaritaville area).

As others have said, I think vaccination status is coded onto the S&S cards, and the idea is they stop unvaxed guests at the gangway.  Maybe even with notification beforehand, per this anecdote from TxTeach79's outstanding live report from last week:

For what it’s worth, I just got out of the Tides pool after chatting with a nice couple from Florida, and they said they got a letter in their cabin yesterday reminding them they couldn’t get off in GT today because of their vaccination status. Nothing was checked by any GT official period (even coming back through to the pier), so it makes me assume that it’s coded on your sail & sign card. 

Yeah, we were just there last week and my nephew was super bummed that it's down.  According to our poolside waitress, they've been waiting for repair parts for quite a whole.

Was in Amber Cove this past week on the Mardi Gras.

Water slides are open -- two of them, one open and one enclosed.  Umbrellas are $20 for the day.  Zip line all day pass is also $20.

Chairs are pretty plentiful in the first couple of hours, then at least for us got crowded.  Depends how many ships are in port, of course.  We had two others (one Celebrity and one Holland America) with us.  And being Thanksgiving week, the Mardi Gras was carrying the most passengers EVER (!!) on a Carnival ship, at nearly 6400.

Pool was great, there's a small lazy river and a swim up bar, and one end is zero entry,

1 minute ago, TxTeach79 said:

man, I never did make the Piano Bar! I talked to more than one person that said Keith was a show all by himself, I wish I had now! My gf is a big piano bar fan, so I figure we’ll be in there at some point on the NYE cruise, but it looks like it’ll be another fella. 

"A show all by himself" is a great way to describe Keith.  Energy level off the charts.  You can find a few clips of him on YT.  If you get a chance to see him on some other ship, highly recommended!!!

Paul, thank you so much for writing this review!!  We were on this same cruise, and hit many of the same spots you did.  Frankly, I was surprised not to see familiar faces in the background of some of your photos!!

This was a family cruise, me and my brother and sister in law (all in our 40s), my mom (in her 70s) and my nephew and daughter (teenagers).  We had three balcony cabins in a row on deck 11.

Amazing that this was the highest passenger count on any Carnival ship, ever.  With very few exceptions, it didn't feel like it.  As you mentioned, I think the quick service places could use one or two more employees each.  There were times when there were only two people working at Big Chicken, and they were slammed.  Serving customers, but also serving as runners back to the kitchen for more food when they ran out.  That's too much to put on two people.  I saw a similar setup at the pizza place.

(Side note: I wish the pizza place didn't sell sodas/bottled water.  There are plenty of other places to get drinks on the ship, and it slows down the line SO MUCH when one of the employees has to ring someone up.)

First time I've ever had the Cheers! package, and I'm sold.  With the break even point being 6-7 drinks per day, it's really a no brainer.  Between you and I (and my brother) we drained a lot of the Woodford supply on this ship!

I also spent some time in the casino (like you, I'm a Vegas guy).  Taught my mom how to play roulette, which was fun.  My SIL also saw the $18K jackpot you mentioned (assume it was the same one).

Did you ever make it to the piano bar?  Keith was amazing.  That dude plays for 3+ hours straight, never takes a single break.  Unbelievable.

Anyway, thanks again for writing this.  Fabulous review.

Canceling our Horizon 4/4/20 cruise.  My 74yo dad has underlying medical concerns (including breathing issues) and it's just not worth the risk.  I also don't want to miss multiple (or all!) ports.  Not interested in an 8 day cruise to nowhere.

Still trying to determine when to rebook -- for us, that week is spring break for our daughter and the best time to go.  Since you have to use the future cruise credit within a year, we can't rebook for spring break 2021.  So now looking at late summer (though I'm not at all convinced COVID-19 will be gone by then), Thanksgiving, or Christmas.

I know that all ports can be dangerous but recently, my brother and his wife went to Mahogany Bay and said they would NEVER get off the ship there again. They felt like it was exceptionally dangerous there. Like I said, all ports have sketchy areas but they did do a Carnival excursion.

Mahogany Bay at Roatan is a Carnival-owned cruise terminal, with exceptionally clean shops, restaurants, and a lovely beach. It's very much an extension of the cruise ship itself.

Now, if your family members did an excursion to some other part of Roatan, I don't know anything about that. But Mahogany Bay is perfectly safe and not "sketchy" in any way. In fact, it's a little "phony" in that it's a sterilized island experience (not that there's anything wrong with that, sometimes it's exactly what I'm looking for!).

We made a 12:30 flight from MIA (!) last month with no problems whatsoever -- in fact, we had about 90 minutes to kill in the Centurion Lounge. But, we had FTTF (which I bought for expressly the debarkation advantage), Global Entry (bring your cards, no waiting!) and TSA Pre-Check.

My main review of our Conquest cruise is here (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49750684) but here are a few notes on our experience at the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

I feel a little silly not to have left the grounds of the cruise center in Grand Turk. But then I remember how gorgeous it was, how I could have easily spent another two days there!

Carnival owns a huge cruise center in GT, including a giant pool (with wave simulator), a Margaritaville restaurant / bar / gift shop, cabanas around the pool, a beach, and multiple other stores including a Ron Jon’s Surf Shop.

My middle brother and his wife rented a cabana at the pool ($140 for the day). They have a two-year-old, and wanted to be able to get him out of the sun as needed, maybe even have him take a nap (didn’t happen). The small cabana had air conditioning, a couple of couches and a coffee table inside, and four chairs on the front porch. It also featured a dedicated button to call one of Margaritaville’s servers over, a nice touch!!

We claimed 4-5 loungers right in front of cabana #5, and the 11 of us made that spot our home base for the day. We were in and out of the pool all day, which was only 20 or so steps from the cabana.

Many of our group (myself included!) are huge Jimmy Buffett fans, or “Parrotheads,” so this was paradise. And, when I discovered the swim-up bar at one end of the pool, I never wanted to leave! The pool area is absolutely gorgeous and huge, with pedestrian bridges crossing over it in a couple of places. The swim-up bar is fairly small (maybe 10 seats or so) but the bartenders were friendly. I opened a tab (handed over my credit card) and repeatedly sent family members over throughout the day to get a drink. My bill was around $250 when all was said and done, but it was well worth it.

The pool was warm and gorgeous, and one end (nearest our cabana) was “zero entry,” the depth gradually sloping down. This was great for the kids, especially the 2-year-old.

My 6-year-old nephew spent about 45 minutes taking turns on the wave simulator, the “FlowRider.” The staff was great with him, and he was able to progress from body surfing, to kneeling, to standing on the board during our time there. My brother of course then had to purchase the professional photos that they take of each surfer as well (I mean, he didn’t have to, but they were so good, he wanted to.)

We ate lunch at the cabana, delivered by one of the servers. If you’ve ever been to a Margaritaville restaurant, you know the menu -- it includes the famous “volcano nachos,” and I didn’t even look any further!!

We only got a brief glance at the beach, never went over there to spend any time, if only because the pool was so nice!

Especially to be on our last of four consecutive port days, it was such a nice and wonderfully relaxing day. Maybe, on a future visit to Grand Turk we’d actually book an excursion and explore the rest of the island.

But, honestly? I kind of doubt it.

Pictures are here!

Cruise 2016: Grand Turk

My main review of our Conquest cruise is here (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49750684) but just a few notes on our experience at San Cristobal during our time in San Juan.

We realized that with a short port call in San Juan (7AM - 2PM) there wasn’t really time to get too far away from the cruise terminal. We also realized that there wasn’t much sense in paying Carnival for an excursion to the fort; we could easily walk there ourselves. So our group of 7 left the Conquest about 8:30 and headed through Old Town.

We made it through the gauntlet of tour guides trying to entice us, and headed up the hill to the fortress, passing the shops and restaurants that were just opening for the day. When we got to the intersection near the fort, we chose to go towards the “visitors center” instead of the “main entrance.”

This was a minor mistake. Our daughter (a 4th grader) had the “every 4th grader in a park” voucher from the National Park Service, and we needed to exchange it for her true NPS pass. Unfortunately, you can’t do that at the visitor’s center -- you can only do that at the main guardhouse. Seems a little counter-intuitive.

Anyway, we got that done while the rest of our family paid the admission fee (the kids also saw some cool iguanas climbing the walls) and then we explored the fort. Compared to the Brimstone Hill fortress we’d seen in St. Kitts the day before, San Cristobal had more explanatory signage and historical information. Well done, National Park Service!

We spent about 90 minutes at the fort, exploring each level and marveling at the ocean views from the upper floors. My mom bought the two kids each a “spyglass” and treasure map from the gift shop.

Afterwards, we walked back through Old Town, stopping at a small bar and grill (“El Asador”) for some mojitos and other drinks. A short storm passed through, so we waited out most of the rain before heading back to the ship.

Pictures are here!

Cruise 2016: San Juan

ericrz

 

Glad you had a nice cruise.

 

Do you by chance have the FunTimes and/or Entertainment Schedule. If so could you post them?

 

Thanks

I forgot to save either, sorry!