waterwatcher

We have previously cruised on Carnival. This is our first time on RCL. 12 night out of Baltimore on the Grandeur of the Seas December 2018. On carnival I would order water and carry on can soft drinks. How does this work on RCL? How much is a soda/water card? Can I carry on anything? Thanks for your help.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think we will do it!!!

I will be turning 70 years young in December 2018. I am looking for something nice to do to celebrate and there is a Journey Cruise from Baltimore (my home port) in January 2019. We are not wealthy but with 18 months to pay it off, I could probably swing it in one of the lower priced rooms. This would be a lot of money for us to spend! My question is: If you have taken a 2 week journey cruise do you feel it would be worth it for us to spend this kind of money on one trip or are there other suggestions for me. We do not fly so east coast is it for us and most of the one week cruises from here are to places we have already gone to. Thank you so much for any comments you give me.:)

Just have to keep Credit Card ( NOT DEBIT) on file with them. Just in case any incidentals come up.

 

You can pay off anything on S&S card with cash the last night or leave on Credit Card.

We cruised last October. No credit card. Did not go to guest services. We just put some money on our s&s using the kiosk. Kept cash in safe and when initial amount got low we would add more at the kiosk. So you really do not need to give them a card or cash.

Thanks for clarifying

Just saw deposits are $99 per room til 2/25/17.

I understand what you want to do but the automatic tips cover more than just the people you are in contact with. They are split among buffet servers etc. There is a breakdown somewhere. Most people pay the tips either ahead of time or they are deducted daily from the sign and sail card. Then you can top extra to those who made your experience special if you wanted.

Insure my trip.com is used a lot. I think you have to purchase 2 weeks after booking for pre existing conditions but I could be wrong. Go to their site and see. I am glad your sister will be going! She will enjoy it.

Thanks for the replies

Has anyone been to this port yet? What can you tell us about Princess Cays? Does the boat (will be on the Pride) tender or dock? Thanks for any info you can provide. Going there for the first time.

I was on this cruise Carnival Pride on 10/9/2016. Because we were rerouted to Canada one of the perks we received was 25% off our next 5-7 day cruise within 2 years. I called Carnival's customer service when booking and she got a Lead Customer Service agent to apply the 25% off to my cruise. The discount was for BOTH of us! Really nice discount. If you are wondering how to apply your discount, just call Carnival Customer Service.

Thanks for the information.

Do the 4 k cabins have a mini fridge? Second question, on journey 2 week cruise does the week one menu repeat for the second week? Thanks.

If I were you, I would ask the person(s) who has that date on their signature. If correct, they could give info you are seeking and if an error, you will alert them to it so they can correct it.

We are booked on a 14 day journey cruise on the pride Nov.4, 2018. Booked from Carnival website.

I printed off a PDF map of a self-guided walking tour from this site: http://www.curacao.com/Plan-Your-Trip/Cruisers#.

Hi.would love the map but I can't find it. Do I have to click on something else at the website?

On Pride last week we won tokens for casino hat, casino tee shirt, free drink and mystery prize. The mystery prize was a bottle of champagne.

We were in 5227. Vibration wasn't bad in room but mostly in MDR. Have fun and don't worry!

This was our third cruise aboard the Carnival Pride out of Baltimore, due to its close location and our fear of flying. Before going on first cruise I read as much as I could on Cruise Critic which was extremely helpful. I have listed brief description of our first 2 cruises and a review of this current one. I hope you find this helpful. All were booked Early Saver. Price drops on first cruise but none on second or third.

1. Mother’s Day 2010 – Balcony Room – This was our first trip. We chose a balcony room but seldom used the balcony. Very cute door decoration which was stolen the first night. We chose early dining on this cruise. As advised on Cruise Critic, we went to the Maître D’ to request a table for 2. He advised we wouldn’t have one the first night but he would see to it that we did have one starting night two. We were happy with this. Dinner the first night we were put at a booth with another couple. They were nice enough but we had nothing in common. They were a preacher and his wife, a little older than us. We didn’t tell them we had requested a table for 2 after this although we should have. Rather than feeling like we hurt their feelings if they spot us at a table for 2, we ate all dinners from the buffet after that. That was the biggest mistake we made and dinners were just not enjoyable. The ports for this cruise were Cape Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. Highlights: Won $100 at the casino. Enjoyed the Piano Bar sing-a-long.

2. September 11, 2011 – Junior Suite – On this trip we took two 13 year olds, our grandson and a great nephew, so we booked a Junior Suite. Room had bunk beds which was great for the boys. This trip we had Your Time Dining which was great. We could go when ready and will choose this from now on. Although they were old enough to navigate the ship themselves and play games in the teen game room, we worried about them he entire time they weren’t with us. This left us not enjoying the trip as much as we should have. Ports this time were Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. These ports were much better than the first cruise and we enjoyed these ports very much. Having read on Cruise Critic about renting a Golf Cart at Grand Turk and exploring the island, we thought that would be great fun. Cost $80 and the guy gave us a golf cart that the engine kept stalling out. He said keep giving it gas and you will be OK. Well, we only went a short distance and decided we could not rely on this cart and didn’t want to get stranded, so we turned around and returned the cart. Highlights: The teens enjoyed the teen game room. They enjoyed the water in Grand Turk, snorkeled in Half Moon Cay and went to Pirate Land in Nassau. They really enjoyed themselves and I am glad we took them. Enjoyed the dining room this time. We always asked for the same booth as the waiters were awesome.

3. October 9, 2016 – Booked 4K Room, Inside with French Doors – I didn’t expect any price drops because we got such a low rate when we booked 15 months out. One week prior to the cruise we got an upsell call. $210 total and we went to an obstructed balcony on Deck 5. This trip was for our 30th Anniversary and we cruised alone. Ports were supposed to be Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. However, due to Hurricane Matthew wreaking havoc on the Bahamas, we were rerouted to St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. We were given the choice to cancel and receive full refund or go and receive $100 OBC each and 25% off our next cruise. Since we have never been, we were glad to go. 700 cancelled.

BOARDING: We chose 12:30 – 1:00 boarding time. We arrived at 12:45 and were inside our room at 1:45. After being checked in we didn’t have to sit in the waiting area but were led straight onto the ship. This could have been because of all the cancellations. When we came back to the room after lunch at 3:30, our bags were there. You do not have to stand in line at Guest Services to put money on your account or check on your balance. There is a Kiosk on Deck 3 and outside the Casino on Deck 2. Muster seemed to have more info than I remember previously…more stuff about the children.

ROOM: Contrary to what I read on here, our room did have the Carnival note pad and pen. We were met by Hari, our room steward, who handed us “the card”. Check morning service, evening service or Both. We told him once a day was fine and whichever time worked best for him. He said no, please check Both, that it was better for him. So that’s what we did and we received service in the morning and evening with turn down service and towel animal each night. No chocolate. Card also asked if we had any special requests or needs. We just said ice. The view was nice, the life boat came almost up to the top of the balcony but it didn’t obstruct the view looking out. However, it was a very small balcony IMO.

FOOD: First thing to remember is This is Our Opinion!

LIDO: The first thing I noticed was though there are no trays, but the plates are platter size. Had all the buffet lines including Asian, Mexican, Sandwiches, Pizza, Salad. DH liked a lot of the food but I ate pizza and salad most days. I didn’t try Guys Burgers but DH didn’t like them, he said it wasn’t cooked all the way and the fries had too much seasoning. Also, the Deli was stingy on the lunch meat. Saturday was the Chocolate Extravaganza. Now, in 2011 If I remember correctly, it was a late night event with lots of items, an ice sculpture, etc. This time it was just a line at the Lido with fruit on long skewers that you gave to the server and he dipped them in the chocolate fountain and placed them back on your plate.

SEA DAY BRUNCH: This was great! I loved the blueberry pancakes and pineapple juice. If you get fresh cooked eggs (over easy, omelet) they were good. Scrambled were the same as on Lido. I think they use powdered eggs as we didn’t like them. Pork sausages were boiled instead of fried. But there is a very nice menu so most will like the brunch.

DINNER: We chose Your Time Dining on this cruise and always requested Fernando and Basil as this was where we were seated on day 1. They were so much fun and our table for 2 was always by a window. Water and rolls were always on the table. Tablecloths only on Elegant Nights but that did not bother us. It also did not bother us that some people came dressed for a back yard BBQ. Just surprised that they were allowed in. DH liked the American Table Menu. I did not care for it, again subjective. 3 of the 4 nights I ordered the flat iron steak which, by the way, was always cooked perfectly. They did have a lot of seafood dishes. In 2011 the first Elegant Night was steak and a small lobster tail. Now it was no steak but a larger lobster tail. We also followed a tip from Cruise Critic and one night ordered the banana split from the children’s menu. It was really good and just the right size. One dip of Neapolitan ice cream, half a banana, chocolate syrup.

CASINO: I won $100 in slots but played it back and more. DH was able to grab a pack of $100 ones from the claw machine. He said you have to pick up one that is perfectly flat. They stacked them during the night and he got one off the top first thing in the morning. Again, all money won was put back to slots. We had the most fun on the quarter push machines. We played back all the quarters we won but were able to get some tokens. Tokens won were One Free Drink, Free Casino Hat, Free Casino Tee Shirt, and Mystery Gift. Our mystery gift was a bottle of bubbly! Now we did see a lady win $225 on a penny slots and another won $2000 on a dollar slot machine!

SHOWS/COMEDY CLUB: We only went to part of one show and it was OK. There were lots of comedy club shows each night. Usually 2 or 3 PG and then 2 or 3 R-18. We never stayed up late enough to catch the R rated shows but the PG ones we saw were funny. There was also a couple nights of Karaoke in the Butterflies Lounge. We enjoyed this but when the same people went up for the third time, we left.

DIVE IN MOVIES: I was really excited about the dive in movies as that feature wasn’t available when we cruised in 2011. However, there were too many lights on in Lido and it was noisy; people walking about and with the ship moving, the water in the pool made noise. We didn’t stay to finish watching. Very disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing The Martian but it started at 6:30 while people were still having dinner on Lido and we were still in the MDR.

PORTS:

ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA: This was a very industrial area. You have to book a tour to see anything. We booked St. John Highlights motor coach tour for $39 per person. Stopped at Bay of Fundy and City Market. You only got 20 minutes to spend at the market, not enough time. When we got back to the port, there are tents with shop keepers that rival the market and the prices were a little cheaper for identical items. While docked at St. John we did not get a signal on the ship’s Direct TV, even when we left.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: Here we did the motor coach tour of Halifax and Peggy’s Cove for $49.99 per person for a 3 hour tour. What is actually was, a one hour bus ride to Peggy’s Cove, one hour to spend at Peggy’s Cove, and a one hour bus ride back to port. Peggy’s Cove is beautiful and I am glad we went there. When you get back to port, take the free shuttle and go to the Pier Shops.

ALL IN ALL: We were glad to go on this trip at the price we got it for. Although most of the Canada cruises include New England, they cost a lot more than we paid and they leave from New York. The only drawback was it was cold on the ship all the time and you could not comfortably sit out on the Serenity Deck until Saturday when we were closer to Port and the weather was much warmer. I think that is why we spent so much in the Casino! They did a lot for kids, including the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and a Dr. Seuss Parade and Show in Taj Mahal with Sam I Am, Thing 1 and Thing 2. I hope it doesn’t sound like I complained too much, as overall we had a good time! And yes, there is A LOT of Vibration in the Aft of this ship.

Got the call tonite, first time in 3 cruises. We booked a 4K Inside with French Doors and was offered a 7A Obstructed Balcony for a total of $220. We accepted the offer!

I noticed in some responses that you can use cash in the slot machines as well as your S&S card. Is there an advantage to either one?

You were sailing down the Chesapeake Bay and that double span you went under was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Thank you for your time and effort! I really appreciate seeing the vast menu ahead of time.

I appreciate this so much! Waiting for the rest, thank you.

Loving your review. Could you please explain exactly how to get to Jack's Shack? We would love to go there on our October cruise. Thanks.

My tip is to take a flashlight for each person in your cabin in case of emergency/electrical outages, etc. You will then be able to find you way around.