30scruiser

No, you have to check in with your cabin number for ATD and cannot check in twice. But you could get eat dinner in the buffet and then dessert in the MDR or vice versa. Most of the options are the same in both locations.

For the kind of differences you are asking about the only real procedural difference we noticed is that for Anytime Dining there are no reservations and they do not try to give you the same waiters each night unless you specifically ask (which could potentially increase your wait time). 

Other than that most things basically work the same.

Also, I am generally a rule follower but I don’t think anyone would notice or care if an 18 year old is in Serenity as long as she’s not with a group of teenagers or acting obnoxiously. 

I’ve seen the occasional dish like pad Thai or a green curry usually as a vegetarian dish on a few lines but nothing exceptional. 

Specifically on Carnival I don’t think there’s any Thai dishes on the current MDR menus and none of the food we had at Chopsticks seemed particularly Thai

The Steakhouse actually gives you a free bottle of wine on the first night (or half off any bottle on their wine list) so I think it’s a great idea. I don’t think it’s a problem with the MDR. If you are worried about not meeting your table mates you could make the reservation for a little after your MDR dining time and go say hi and explain. 

9 hours ago, KhaturtleQueen said:

 

Are Guy's ,Blue Iguana, and the pasta bar an extra charge?

 

What does a typical meal for 2 cost at one of the speciality dining places?  I assume that we have to go to specialott dining to have a romantic dinner for two for our anniversary since the MDR is seating with others?

 

Do we need to make reservations ahead of time for speciality restaurants?

Pasta bar is free at lunch. Becomes Cucina which is $15/pp at dinner. 

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I would agree that Lido could have more variety, I posed that statement to a big Whig and he then asked like what?   I was struggling with an answer, you have thoughts?

Maybe fun toppings for pancakes and French toast other than maple syrup?

I think there are plenty of options, they are just very normative versions of breakfast dishes, but nothing really creative. Doesn’t really bother me, but it’s nice to have some more exciting options at Blue Iguana and the MDR.  

My real gripe about the Lido breakfast was lack of fruit variety. I would have loved some berries or pineapple, but every day was just honeydew, cantaloupe, and citrus segments. 

What ship? The buffets differ somewhat in terms of lunch offerings, etc like some ships have chopsticks and some don’t.

For breakfast the options are more creative in the MDR vs more standard in the buffet but you can get made to order omelets in both.

For dinner it’s basically the same choices with more options in the MDR. Lobster is not served in the buffet.

The new buffet cakes are great! My only issue with them was they didn’t seem to repeat at all so there were some delicious ones I would love to try again but they never reappeared (although I didn’t check every day) Also they were only at lunch. At dinner they mostly have the same options as the MDR minus the WCMC. 

Some of the the best food like the pizza and blue iguana are in or near the buffet too but Carnival seems to count them as separate venues.

30 minutes ago, bartzcrew said:

Then I will clarify. My question is, if its not on the menu, is it still able to be ordered. Or, if the menu for my specific ship, the Magic, doesnt show it, then that means we are out of luck.

Evanbob posted that it was available on the Magic last week. I think all the ships now have the new Steakhouse menu that does have it so if you saw a menu that does not have it I believe that’s a mistake/ the old menu.

I think it’s technically not allowed since non-alcoholic beverages have to be in juice boxes or cans that are 12 ounces or less, but my guess is that if you brought it instead of wine they would probably allow it if they even noticed that it was not wine. 

Can you tell us more about your priorities? IMO (included) food is much better on Carnival but entertainment is significantly better on RCCL. I do think it’s surprising that they are the same price and would probably pick Harmony.

You and Will were such good sports about the quarantine. Glad you’re having a great trip.

I am sensitive to smoke and would cross on other floors to avoid walking through the casino, but did not have issues in any of the surrounding areas you named.

One of the great things about the Pride is you can go through on any level unlike other ships that I’ve been on where the galley or something is in the middle of some floors so you have to go up or down to go across.

1. On John Heald’s Facebook page he was selling Horizon dining packages. They have stayed publicly that they don’t put cheers on sale but on Black Friday they often post discount codes for excursions.

6.People have reported that the first day the Mongolian Wok and Pasta Bar are good options since people typically don’t know about them or that they are complimentary on the first day.

Another option is to post on John Heald’s Facebook page the week before your cruise to ask him to see if he can get it changed

If entertainment is your main priority any of the RCCL megaships would be your best pick. It is different ship to ship and each of their megaships has its own main Broadway type show plus other production shows, diving shows, etc. 

Are the prices comparable? I do think a lot of things look great about Mardi Gras but I haven’t heard that they’re doing anything different with the entertainment so it’s probably the same production shows you’ve seen on other ships.

Also if you have a medical reason or young kids or something I would mention that when you reach out to John Heald or the Maitre’D

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Four days before you sail, post on John Heald's FB page with your request and he will forward to the Maitre'D to try and get your request in.

This. Or some people have reported success with emailing the Maitre’D directly a week or so before. If you do a search on here for the ship code you should be able to find the email address.

TBH, we have done anytime dining on a bunch of cruise lines but would probably not do it in Carnival again since you can’t make a reservation. Most nights we had about a 20-30 minute wait for a table for 2 at a variety of different times. One night we said we would eat with others and it was still quite a wait and they sat us with just one other person which was kind of awkward. 

The buzzers do work most places on the ship, but not in the Casino, but because they were also bad at estimating the amount of time it was hard to get engaged in another activity. 

Otherwise the food and service was great. This was really only of two negatives on our cruise, but will definitely just do late dining next time.

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Which ships are designed for one year olds?

Some of the RCCL ships have splash pads for babies and baby activities as do Disney.

I think it depends how picky. If it’s 3 or 4 specific things you won’t eat, you could give them a list and they should be able to accommodate. If you don’t eat any vegetables and the only protein you eat is chicken or whatever then I think that’s too much to ask.

Not sure what you mean by splash pad area. Like the slides in water works? I didn’t pay a lot of attention to that area but I didn’t see a splash pad anywhere else. If in the water works area, I wonder if it’s in the area that gets a bucket of water dumped on it intermittently. Definitely not a place for infants.

Either way I definitely would not choose this ship for one year olds since there’s not much for the age group.

6 hours ago, JaxsMama said:

My past few cruises there was an 80s night. I haven't seen a white night in a while tho.  My husband and I dressed up for it last cruise. It was fun but we got some crazy looks. 

We had a White night on the Pride 2 weeks ago, but just in the club one night. I didn’t go (and didn’t plan ahead for a white night) so I don’t know how many people went, but we didn’t really notice a lot of people wearing white around the ship. I wish there was some way to know ahead of time about theme nights or some more consistency across the line so people could plan better.

Bingo, casino, lots of trivia. Some days they have contests by the pool like lip sync, hairy chest, etc. Most ships have a card room that has some board games. Some days they may have cooking demos or ice carving. 

On the Pride 2 weeks ago we got a menu that had only Baked Alaska, sugar free baked Alaska, fruit plate, and WCMC on it (maybe cheese plate too). I’m not a Baked Alaska fan so I was glad to get my WCMC. 

While technically FTTF is per cabin, they let minor children go with their parents if the parents have priority or an earlier boarding time, so you really just need the one.