Univfire

On 6/27/2022 at 4:39 PM, blonde375 said:

We've booked with Mykonos Sailing for our day on July 20.  They have been very attentive and responsive to my emails.  I'm happy to post when we return if that will help for your sail date.

How was it?

Just got back from 5 nights on the carnival breeze. We left out of Galveston and visited Progresso and Cozumel. 
 

We had three adults and one child (10) in an interior stateroom. Yes, it was small but for us it worked perfectly. We also spent plenty of time in our room. It’s not for everyone but when looking for a great deal this worked well for us. Our room steward was Ketut and he was awesome. He provided towel animals every day, kept our ice bucket full, removed items I asked to have removed, provided my son a fan, etc. Any time I saw him in the hall way he always asked if there was anything he could do for us. IMO, he was THE BEST crew member ever. 
 

We are in the Saphire MDR every night, usually around 6:30 ish. I would rate the food as being on par with a moderate priced restaurant. Maybe 3 stars. Good, very edible, but nothing spectacular or rave worthy. (Much better than the MDR on RCL Adventure of the Seas in March!) Crew in the MDR were great with special recognition to Edwin and Iputu. They were both exceptional. 
 

My son THOROUGHLY enjoyed Ocean Adventures. Was hard to get him to go there but once he did, he went every minute they were open. Lots of activities and completions with prizes. 
 

Met a lot of wonderful, friendly people. Jasper the cruise director was fantastic. Hoola hoop competition was fun! No bad experiences with unruly kids. 
 

I had the thermal spa pass. It was “ok” but I wouldn’t purchase for the entire cruise length again. The aromatherapy areas weren’t working properly and it was overall just too warm for me. If that’s your thing, you’ll love it. Never a crowd. Honestly, the most crowded was 3-4 people. 
 

Saw two shows. They were entertaining enough but not overly so to where I would rate them as “can’t miss” experiences. 
 

Can’t comment on shore excursions. We got off the boat and did our own thing. Progresso isn’t as “nice” as Cozumel but also isn’t as “expensive” for shopping. I actually liked feeling as though I was experiencing their culture better than a tourist trap. We walked around and enjoyed $1 street tacos and horchata. Lol 

Overall I feel the value of the cruise was great (price to experience). 
 

7 hours ago, MSarahM said:

Thank you everyone for your advice!  I decided to get the package because we are curious about ALL the restaurants on the Mariner!  

I think you will be happy that you purchased it. We just got off the Adventure and were majorly disappointed in the MDR. We ended up at the windjammer but I missed the waiter service. 

In the promanade there are 2. I’m not sure about the windjammer. I know there was at least 1 but I cant recall. 
 

there was never a long line, if any line at all. 

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't realize until after I posted (even after weeks of searching) that NCL was out of Houston. So I did start looking into them as well.

NCL and Princess will have their last cruises right around that time. I didn't understand why they didn't have anything listed after April but then I saw they were pulling out of Houston. Would it be bad to go on one of their last cruises?

NCL has an offer right now where we could choose to get free drink programs for two people, or $50 credit per excursion per person. That's a pretty good deal and the price is $2700, which is about $600 more than Carnival but still cheaper than Royal. The "perks" would make it about the same price as Carnival if hubby and I purchased the drink program, which we probably would not. Also, 3rd and 4th guest are free on NCL and for some reason when I checked the price of four per room it dropped the total price down to $2600. I thought maybe we would invite my mom to go if we went with NCL.

I'm really leaning towards NCL or Princess now. Carnival and Royal seem too big with too much for us. I am not keen on the anytime dining only because one thing I liked about my past cruise experiences was sitting with the same people at dinner and the waiter knowing what you want and how you want it every night. But oh well, times are changing.

We are looking to take a 7-day cruise, balcony cabin, in April out of Galveston. It will be my husband (46), myself (34), and our four year old son. (We have three other children 14, 12, 9 that will NOT be cruising with us.)

As far as I know our options for cruise lines are RCI, Carnival, and Princess (out of Houston). I'm struggling to make a decision on which line to book with.

Carnival -

Cheapest

I've not cruised carnival before but know many people who have.

RCI-

Most expensive.

I've cruised this line in the past and was very satisfied.

Princess-

Costs is half way in between Carnival and RCI

I don't know much about this line at all.

I've cruised on RCI and Disney in the late 90's/early 2000. From what I've been reading, things have changed.

I think I would prefer RCI over Carnival but I can't justify the $1000 price difference. I don't know if Princess is a line we would be interested in at all??

What would you say is the pro's/con's to each line?

I know Carnival and RCI have a lot of activities for our son that I'm sure we all would enjoy but it's not a requirement for us. We have season passes to Six Flags and go frequently. So the surf simulator or water slides aren't deal breakers for us. We want to have fun... send our son to the kids club occasionally but also spend a lot of time with him. We plan to eat in the MDR every night at the late seating as we have found that was what worked best for us when cruising previously. We also eat late dinners at home. My husband enjoys drinking while I do not drink. I would say what I want the most out of our vacation is to eat good food and to relax.

That was hilarious. That's exactly how I expect my husband to be as well. Never a dull moment!

I think I'm starting to understand the cheers program.

My husband is a drinker and I am not. We probably will buy the program (for both of us as required) and I will have a couple of drinks occasionally.

Now I know you can only get one drink at a time with a certain amount of time in between drinks. Is this for alcohol only? If I have cheers I get unlimited soda, correct? So could I get a soda AND an alcoholic beverage at the same time? The only way I figure I'll be able to drink is if I have a few sips of an alcoholic beverage then some soda and repeat.

I've only been on three cruises:

1998 Carnival Sensation

1999 RCI Majesty of the Seas

2003 Disney Wonder

Are you telling me that the waiters no longer scrap crumbs off of the table linens?

They no longer serve caviar and escargot?

They no longer carve ice sculptures pool side? Nor do they have an extravagant midnight buffet?

I remember the topless deck on the carnival sensation. And the table side flaming desserts. We dressed to the nines at dinner time.

Planning a cruise in April on Carnival with my husband who has never cruised. Perhaps I should stop telling him all my wonderful memories of cruising since it seems so much has changed! ;-)