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We have done 32 cruises with Carnival and in our experience, booking early has been better. 

We are already booked on the Mardi Gras TA October 2025.  

Another vote for Celebration.  We've really enjoyed both ships, but Celebration has more options (more "included in fare" dining venues, more comedy shows, center stage in addition to the standard theater, etc). 

I do like the Imax theater on Horizon though.

Thank you for the replies, I think I will change it just to be on the safe side.  

Is LGA better than JFK?

We are sailing on Venezia in September and booked our flight home for 1:00 out of JFK (as Carnival states that 1:00 or later is required if we want to use their transportation).  We just got notification that the airline changed our flight and it's now leaving at 11:45.

We can get a refund on the airfare and rebook, but the other flights add 4 hours to our travel time. 

If we did an Uber instead of Carnival transportation would we have sufficient time?

We always do priority debarkation with the diamond group, only travel with carry-ons, and have TSA precheck.  But this is a flight across the country and don't want to risk missing it or being stressed/rushed.  

We have never flown home from New York before so any advice would be appreciated!

4 minutes ago, nc762shooter said:

I am curious if the soot and vibrations are better or worse depending on ship class, I can't speak to soot but I know the few aft cabins I've cruised in on Fantasy-class ships vibration wasn't an issue.

That's a good point - we were on Miracle (and that was before she went into drydock so maybe the issue causing the vibrations has been fixed).  

I am in the minority here - I'll never do an aft extended view balcony again.  Between the soot all over the balcony and vibrations that would wake us up in the middle of the night, once was more than enough.  

3 hours ago, CruzerDeb said:

as a solo cruiser in June,

I'm also more inclined to take my chances on Carnival choosing my cabin and flying in the day of the cruise (although I always fly direct in that case) when I'm solo.  I guess I'm fairly flexible, but don't want to worry about stressing out somebody else. 😄

Look at it as more of an adventure!

We had digital debarkation on Jubilee back in January and it was kind of disaster.  To be fair, that was a sold out New Years Eve cruise (and only the second sailing of Jubilee) about 50% of the passengers had "priority" status, and it was a new process, new crew, etc.  So considering all that, not too bad.

We had no notice at all that they had switched to this process and we didn't get any notifications in the app, so we were late selecting our debarkation time.  We are Diamond so it usually doesn't matter, we just go to the gathering location for Diamond debarkation and it's really easy.  From what I understand they combined Platinum and Diamond and then split us into different group locations.  It was absolutely packed.  I overheard lots of complaints and heard the crew telling people that the same thing had happened the prior week (inaugural sailing and Christmas).  I think the issue was that when everybody has priority, nobody has priority.  I think they did pretty well with it considering.

I'm sure things have settled down now and the crew is more familiar with the process. 

23 hours ago, rlloyd3 said:

We're currently booked at the Cambria Hotel for a pre-cruise overnight in mid-May. Neither of us has ever been to NOLA before, but the hotel seems to have solid reviews online.

We stayed at the Cambria the one and only time we sailed out of NOLA, and loved it.  Great location and the staff were so nice and helpful (recommended places to eat, see, etc).  We walked everywhere (to the mall, to dinner, to the Casino (I think it was Harrahs?), to the fire station where we bought shirts for the firefighters in our life🙂), and then the next morning we walked to the port.  I would definitely stay there again.

Our Journeys cruises were my favorite (Spirit to Hawaii and then Spirit complete transit through Panama Canal).  Yes, there were more Platinum and Diamond than usual, but the Spirit never feels crowded to me. And although Carnival warned us not to expect priority embarkation and things like that, it wasn't an issue (not everyone showed up early for boarding so priority was still in effect and boarding was quick/easy).  

In both cases it was a really calm/quiet/laid back crowd.  Mostly couples (very few children).  The bars were almost desolate.  People seemed more interested in the journey/destination than partying/having fun.  It was definitely a different feel from the Caribbean cruises on Carnival (but I love those too!).

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I found our last invoice and yep, $5 plus 18% is $5.90. It was then that I found out fresh squeezed juice is no longer included in Cheers.

And it was also not an option for us as the complimentary beverage at sea day brunch (for Platinum/Diamond).  

On 3/14/2024 at 9:15 AM, ChinaShrek said:

Does anyone know if a Balcony Guarantee could be a Cove Balcony cabin or are they excluded?

We've only booked one Balcony Guarantee, and we got a cove balcony under the dining room (absolutely loved it!) and now I'm hooked - it's my favorite.  I'd been on over 30 cruises at that point, and felt like I'd been missing out having never tried one.😄

Add me to the list of people who love Mardi Gras (actually I love all the Excel class ships - we've done Mardi Gras twice, Celebration twice, and Jubilee once). 

Yes, there are more people on board, but these ships were with built with that in mind.  Embarkation day (before people can get into their cabins) is a bit crazy, but after that, I think the crowd spreads out fairly well.

On 3/7/2024 at 7:30 AM, purplephenom said:

Balconies really aren't worth it for me, because I'm never in the room on my Caribbean cruses, and I found that to be the same (for me) in Alaska

I agree!  

Even with Hawaii, Alaska, and Panama Canal where people say balconies are a must, I was fine in an interior.  When we do have a balcony, I don't to stay on it when watching the scenery. I'd rather be on one of the upper (or back) decks where I can go back and forth depending on which side is interesting. 

We have done the Alaska itenerary many times (usually in an interior since the price was exactly double for a balcony).  We spent very little time in the room, and both the Spirit and Luminosa have an excess of really nice interior and exterior common space, and never feel crowded.

Of course I'll always take a balcony if it's close in price to an interior, but never for double the price - I'd rather take another cruise!  🙂

In regard to Spirit vs Luminosa, we were on Luminosa in August and Spirit in September.  I can see why people (especially if traveling with kids) prefer Spirit, but Luminosa has its positive aspects too.  Both are are great ships and Alaska is such an amazing itenerary.

On Celebration a few months ago we went to Pig & Anchor for embarkation lunch and it was so nice and quiet - we only saw about 5 other couples there.

Another vote for Mardi Gras - love it.  

We have been on almost every Carnival ship and Vista is one of my least favorite.  We sailed prior to Vista's drydock and it was in bad shape (hopefully improved now).  Our cruise was last summer and I posted pictures here of mold on the ceiling and rusted ceiling tiles.  The air conditioning didn't work at all in some areas and not consistently in others.  There was pipe in the wall that leaked periodically our entire cruise, and the carpet outside our stateroom (and many others down the hall) would get saturated.  They used a carpet cleaner to suck up the water and constantly had industrial fans in the hallway trying to get it to dry.  It smelled damp and musty the entire time.

I think it really cuts down on extra crowding from people jumping in at the last minute.  Though I agree, at busy times overcrowding can occur as described above, so nothing is perfect.  But we quickly got used to, and now prefer, the smart elevators.

3 hours ago, tpnladybug said:

Any suggestions on how to get our seats upgraded on Delta & American?

Sorry, no suggestions, but would you please come back and let us know how it goes?  I considered using Fly to Fun for Europe but ultimately decided I'm too much of a control freak when it comes to flights (but I'd love to know for future).

2 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

The cruises we are looking at only have that late evening stop in Victoria to satisfy the international stop requirements - 8PM-Midnight. But I will keep that tour in mind in case we pivot again to another cruise. 

 

Do people even get off the ship in Victoria on those short night stops? 

Oh that is unfortunate - we love Victoria.  It's such a beautiful place and easy to walk everywhere.  Last summer Luminosa had a long day in Victoria.  Since we've been there before, we didn't do a planned excursion, we just walked into town.

We walked past the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel - both are beautiful. We found a mall downtown that had lots of little shops - did a bit of shopping before heading back to the ship. The entire journey was almost exactly 5 miles total, so lots to do within walking distance of the port.

We were on Luminosa in August and Spirit in September (both departing from Seattle) but different itineraries.  We really enjoyed both ships and I think it comes down to personal preferences. Both are a nice size and layout, never really felt crowded.  No long lines for anything.  They are older ships but both were clean and well maintained.

On Luminosa we enjoyed the on-demand movies in our room, but that was not an option on Spirit.

Spirit seems to have a lot more for kids (water slides/water park, etc.).  Luminosa doesn't have the slides/water park or even a mini golf course (well I guess they have a putting green or something but much smaller than Carnival's typical mini golf).  Both had the pool with retractable roof.  Aside from the kids club and the pools, it didn't seem like there was much for kids to do on Luminosa.

We liked the food a little better on Spirit, but that might have just been due to timing and that specific cruise.  

I've heard the spas are different on each, but I'm not a spa person, so I don't know for sure.  According to the website Luminosa has Cloud 9 and Spirit has Spa Carnival (from what I've read Luminosa has Thermal Suite and Hydrotherapy pool but I did not see those listed on Spirit (but again, not personal experience, so I could be wrong).

I liked the walking/running track better on Luminosa.  I thought it was bigger/better located.

Luminosa offered a Steakhouse Brunch for $25 per person, so we expected the same on Spirit but never saw it on the schedule (though I've heard others have experienced it so maybe just not on our itenerary).

When booking our trips, I was a bit concerned about Luminosa because the reviews I had read were not good.  Several mentioned plumbing issues, but we had none (aside from a slow draining shower).

The weather in Alaska is so unpredictable - we were there the first full week of August and it was extremely warm and sunny (everybody wore shorts and tank tops or t-shirts).  The following week I heard they had terrible rainy weather (so much so that there was flooding and canceled excursions).  

On 2/23/2024 at 6:16 AM, Oakman58 said:

Considering her age I think she is still a beautiful ship.

I agree - of all the Spirit class ships, I think they've done a great job keeping it clean and well maintained.  We were on Spirit for the Panama Canal transit when she moved to AL and it was such a great trip (so nice and relaxing).  We have been on Spirit multiple times and it has never felt crowded to me either.  Enjoying  your review and loving the pictures of the big waves!

29 minutes ago, Hoosierpop said:

It’s hard to know what level of crowd will cause her anxiety but I’ve been on the Celebration several times now (on it as a write this) and for as big as the ship is, I feel less crowded than smaller ships.

I was going to say the same thing.  I try to avoid the crowds and I really like the Excel class ships.  Being the middle of July, there will be a lot of families/kids/teens but I find it pretty easy to avoid the places they are likely to hang out (serenity deck was usually calm/quiet).  Recently on embarkation day, for lunch we went Pig & Anchor.  While the crowds up on Lido were kind of crazy, there were only about 10 other people in Pig & Anchor and no line at all.  Of course this will vary depending on passengers, but the Excel ships do a pretty good job of spreading people out with multiple options at the same time.  Same for breakfast - Pig & Anchor was typically a calm quiet breakfast venue (almost like people didn't realize it was open).  Just check your app to see what is open/available.

I agree, the first day is the worst (when nobody can get into their cabins) but I was still able to find some quiet deck space outside (usually on deck 8 - it seemed like people hadn't discovered it yet and congregated on the familiar upper decks.  I think the Excel class ships have a lot more interior common space (especially on 7 and 8).  Recently on Jubilee for New Years Eve, the ship was extremely full, but my family was always able to find a quiet table inside somewhere on deck 7 to work or play games.

The Excel class ships were built for a lot of passengers so I feel like they handle the crowds much better than the smaller ships that Carnival renovated to add more passenger cabins (reducing common space).  I love the deck space on Radiance but if the weather is bad, you won't be able to find a place to sit inside except your cabin.

Have a great trip!

On 12/20/2023 at 4:51 PM, wurm914 said:

I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025

Thanks to OP for posting about this cruise!  After reading about it here we (actually several family members) booked it, and are really looking forward it.  We have been on all the Excel class ships and just love them.  In our experience 7 days is not enough time to do everything we want onboard, so this is going to be great.

18 hours ago, colesc15 said:

we already have Mardi Gras booked on an 8 nighter in August.

I think it depends on if ship or the ports are more important to you.  I have been on all the ships you mentioned.  In general, the excel class ships are awesome (and we loved Jubilee) but the Galveston port is a pain (drink package doesn't start until second day, long drive from airport to port, etc) so I'd eliminate that one.

Legend is the smallest/oldest ship on your list, but we'd still book it for a great itenerary. It has a nice layout and doesn't feel crowded.  But if food options are important to you, it won't compare to Mardi Gras/Celebration.

I like your itenerary on Horizon, and I like the ship.  It would be my second favorite on your list.

Celebration - my favorite on your list (for ship, not necessarily itenerary, but we've done about 35 cruises, and have been there/done that for most itineraries).  

I think it really depends on conditions.  One evening it was raining lightly and between that, wind direction, and the soot, several decks on the back of the ship looked like someone had poured chocolate syrup all over the place.  They immediately closed the track and some nearby decks because it was so slippery.