Waterloomarc

Since your main concern was the food, let me add one more thing to elaborate on my "carnival MDR is better" comment. By that I meant that carnival seems to have a better variety each night. On NCL some nights it was hard to find something that sounded good. Whereas thus far on Carnival I've never had that problem, some nights it's hard to choose which sounds better! However once I actually picked something on NCL I found that the food was fine and didn't have a complaint about it.

So, for me, it wasn't that Carnivals actual food better but that they had more to choose from - which was better.

I did like that there was a New York strip and a rib-eye on the menu every night in each dining room on NCL though. Much more consistent than a flat iron, which I like btw but it needs to be cooked properly. An over cooked rib-eye is still edible albeit not particularly enjoyable. But an over cooked flat iron is flat out terrible and could be used to sole shoes!

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I've only been on one NCL (Star to Bermuda) vs 8 CCL. I

Of course everyone is different AND this is the Carnival board but I'm surprised how much NCL is disdained.

Anyway, IMO NCL is just as much fun if not more so than Carnival. The demographics are pretty similar so you have the same type crowds. NCL's entertainment absolutely beats CCL into the dirt, especially since the 2.0 bs went into effect. There was much more live music on the star vs any carnival sailing I had been on. The activity around the pool was a little more lively than than CCL where it's pretty much just a tv playing most day, however this was just a slight edge.

Carnival wins hands down on the waterslide front though! (Although if you're looking at Getaway this might not be true). I also agree that MDR food on Carnival is better, although I preferred NCL desserts. (I prefer a less sweet dessert than the typical American palate)

All that said, the Getaway is a gigantic ship compared to virtually all of carnivals so I would take CCL any day over her. I don't like crowds and lines.

But for me I'd take any pre-Epic NCL ship over CCL if the itineraries were the same.

And before the cheerleaders flog me, I'm not slamming Carnival. Remember I've sailed them 8 times as have another booked. But based on my one and only NCL experience I did prefer it.

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My question why do people need to use 5 hr Energy drink on a daily basis?

It's a generational thing IMO. My generation drank coffee, today's younger folks drink energy drinks like they're water.

If you want to look young grab one and get a few tattoos ;)

-Marc

PS - I'm 35 so I guess by energy-drinker's standards I'm firmly in the old demographic!

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I'm late to the party with this but on the Fascination in January they were all the push to the table types, even in the buffet.

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Yes plenty of shade at Chankanaab as well.

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Tagging along. Leaving on a similar itinerary on NCL in 3 weeks.

OP We took our daughter on her first cruise (on carnival) in January when she just turned 7 months. It was great, I'm sure you'll have a blast!

I agree with others here. I am a big fan of Belize when it was just the 2 of us. But now with what will be 9 month old I think we're just going to stay on the ship. There's not enough in the port area to make the tender trip worth it to us and I'm just not ready to take her on a long, possibly hot, bus ride to do an excursion.

Don't worry about the carnival board btw. There's some pretty hateful folks on there an they seem to be getting worse lately and not just about family topics!

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For me the final straw has been the lack of entertainment. It has become utterly terrible. The shows are terrible and the. They'll just repeat them on different nights on top of that. When they're not showing one of their incredibly cheap karaoke-esque shows everything else is audience participation.

There have been other cutbacks but nothing that really affects us significantly. I still found the drinks suitably strong in January.

The 'problem' for us that that other lines don't often coincide with where we want to cruise when we can cruise. Carnivals sheer size and availability/convenience have kept us coming back more than their actual product. Which is pretty sad.

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I don't believe you can. But I'm sure if I'm wrong I'll be swiftly corrected...

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Before ING Direct was bought out for Capital One (and became Capital One 360) they owned/operated an entity called Sharebuilder. I never used it but as a savings account holder I got numerous emails! IIRC their raison d'être was to allow people to do just as OP was wanting: buy shares a little at a time. OP I would suggest looking into something like this because, as mentioned, commissions will kill you otherwise. The benefit to something like the Sharebuilder program (and I would think there's others out the that do the same) is that it allows you to buy overtime without the onerous commissions and allows you to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging rather than HOPING to buy low or on a dip. (A statistically very difficult task)

But anyway this is about the worst place to get investment advice. I will say that I do own more than enough for the OBC and I'm ok.

I use Fidelity btw. $7.95 for most trades.

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Sorry, hard to believe. Who calls up to make their final payment and cancels on the spur of the moment because they didn't like the way customer service was talking to them?

I would absolutely do it. In a heartbeat.

I've said for years now that I would love to sail RCL but their website is/has been the absolute worst for a big corporation I have ever encountered. I refuse to book until they have a website that doesn't give me a headache ;)

Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

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Nassau? I think NCL keeps that port knowing we've already been there many times before so stay on the ship. Staying on the ship can bring them more alcohol revenue! LOL

 

 

 

Harriet

My opinion as well. Oh well as long as the ships keep sailing with enough newbies that get off and leave me with a mostly empty ship I won't complain too loudly. Although Nassau holds as much appeal to me as shoe shopping with the bride!

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Yep happened to me a few times. The solution to avoiding the calls is either staying logged out or keeping a cruise booked ;)

It weirded me out the first few times but I actually took the call once and liked the girl that called. I guess she really is my PVP now (as they always introduce themselves, even if you've never spoken with them before) and I use her to book my cruises now.

Big brother is watching...and wants you to book a cruise!

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I can see the "need" for this position declining in the new Carnival world. From our perspective, it will be missed.

This. This is also what alluding to in my post about the serving suggestions being on the box. I wasn't trying to ridicule the OP and I hope it wasn't taken as that.

The fact of the matter is that Carnival is pursuing a demographic to whom this isn't important.

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Nice pics.

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I've seen a kiss goodnight on the Triumph 2x, the last time was Oct of 2013, so it is still around. And they do advertise it as a burlesque show!! It's adult only, in the aft lounge late, late at night. And yes, packed house!!

Just wait until "the beards" get ahold of it and turn it into an audience participation burlesque show! :o

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We have sailed out of New York, Baltimore, Port Canaveral twice, New Orleans, Vancouver, San Juan, and Long Beach. Our best port experience was Baltimore. Our worst was New Orleans. I have never seen such a disorganized embarkation as that place.

I agree with this. It's been our worst to date as well, by far. Very disorganized and such rude staff! However our next two cruises are booked from there, one NCL and next on the Dream.

I did, however, very much enjoy the trip down river and it was a positive factor in deciding to go back. I really enjoyed seeing the lights from ALL the rigs once you get in the gulf. I had no idea how many there were!

Snowyowl,

The cruise port is smack in the middle of downtown NO. You'll have no problem getting there. It's not that the port is far away from town it's that town is far away from the gulf. By river anyway.

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Hello we are wondering if anybody can answer our questions and thank you. We will be on the Fascination 5 night Key West and Nassau.

 

 

 

Does anybody know whether they still offer the outdoor deck party and do they serve food outside and if so, what types of food are offered here?

 

 

 

In Key west, how far is the pier that this ship is docked from the main town, such as the main famous streets, my father in law never been there would like to see it.

 

 

 

Nassau is our least favorite port does anybody know what else there is to do in Nassau, we don't want to go to the Atlantis again....

 

What is this Fish Fry I hear about, how far is it from the ship and what is there? Any suggestions where to eat there?

 

 

 

Does anybody know of a nice restaurant we can have an early dinner at in Nassau?

 

 

 

Does anybody know the name of the live band on this ship?

They have a deck party every cruise. On the stage by the pool. They have a buffet bar outside by that stage as well. The Mongolian Grill is there and well as the the burger and hotdog counter. Neither of which are worth eating IMO ;)

Unless something happens you will dock right by the Westin, pretty close to everything. I've never paid attention to the distance but I doubt it's more than a 10 minute walk at a healthy person's pace to Duval street. They usually have pedicabs around as well if you don't feel like walking as well.

It's a stout walk to the southern most point marker though it's and enjoyable walk depending on the heat.

No help on Nassau. We've done Atlantis and the other times have just gone walking for a while.

Enjoy your cruise. The Fascination is our favorite ship, in fact we just did this itinerary in January. I sure hope you have better weather than we did! It rained everyday but the last. I guess we were due it was the first time it rained on any of our cruises (besides random 10 or 15 minute showers that I don't count). It was 60 degrees and raining this time when we were in Key West!

ETA: Nassau is our least favorite stop as well. But next time I go I think I'll hit the Pirate museum. I hear positive things about it.

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Interesting. Never seen a pool table on a ship before. Been on the legend too. I never would've thought they'd have them, being on the sea and all. But I guess I was wrong bill have to look next time.

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I have seen them on a couple on a couple cruises in 2011-2012. I had actually forgotten about them until I saw this thread. They were pretty good actually. They were held in one of the back lounges and were clearly labelled adult only. Although, of course, there was no nudity at all.

As to what happened to them, they got cut to be replaced with the farce carnival currently calls entertainment. In other words more FREE FOR CARNIVAL audience participation crap ;)

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Im sorry, but how are Playlist Productions not "real" entertainment?

Try to sit through one and you'll understand. I was determined to not drink the cruise critic look-aid and not believe the negative hype...and then I had the misfortune of seeing them on the Fascination in January. They are simply terrible and an utter waste of time.

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I say longer cruise, so Breeze. Like you I share your aversion to the bigger ships. Going on Dream in April...we'll see!

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No.

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I was on her in January with FTTF. The luggage literally beat us to the room.

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Lots of people do that but as mentioned the Imagination won't have the mini-bar/fridge in the room. Most Fantasy class ships don't seem to have the fridges. Or hair dryers for that matter, although your steward will bring you one if you ask.

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I just purchased this for my next cruise in November. Can anyone tell me, do you still drop off your luggage with the porter, or do you bring it with you when you check in, so they can get it to your room quicker?

 

 

 

Thanks, Sandra

You drop it with the porter the same as always. If you purchase FTTF your luggage tags will have it printed on them and they will put them where they need to go. Of course you can always choose to lug your luggage with you if you don't want to check it. Although that does defeat the purpose of earlier delivery ;)

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