NotTheBatesMotel

Thanks, all! I’ve been out of the Carnival loop for a bit in terms of the newer ships so I didn’t realize they were nearly identical. I’m going to opt for Mardi Gras since we’ve had better experiences sailing out of Canaveral. 

Curious about which ship you would pick and why? I've narrowed our choices down to Celebration and Mardi Gras based on my casino offers. I've had better experiences sailing from Canaveral (Mardi Gras) vs. Miami (Celebration) but feel like Celebration might be the better ship? I haven't sailed on anything bigger than Breeze on Carnival and am not very familiar with pros and cons of the newer ships. It'll be 2 adults and a 12 year old. 

We’re set to sail at the end of January. One of my family members recently had a medical event while driving and their license was suspended. That is the form of ID he planned to board with because his passport is expired. (Yes, I know the importance of passports and my family will sail with ours) Is a suspended license still considered a valid ID for boarding purposes? It is not expired. 

Yeppp, booked the 7 night for $25 per person and $250 OBC. 

Best crew I've ever sailed with, uncrowded (except for 1 sea day) promenade deck with nice loungers + ocean views, way better food in the MDR than the mega ships. General lack of crowds was also a huge perk. 

I haven't been on Magic, but I've sailed both of her sister ships (Dream and Breeze). I've sailed on Allure, and was prepared to never want to go back to smaller ships. I was so surprised to find the opposite. The Oasis class entertainment was excellent, but the food was gross unless you paid for specialty dining. It was also weird to me how I had to keep reminding myself I was on a cruise ship because there were so many places I just didn't see the water. 

The entertainment will not be as good on the Magic-so prepare yourself for that. It's the one thing that bugged me when going back to smaller ships. Everything else about other ships, though? Excellent. Less crowds, better food, better ocean views. Go into it with realistic expectations and you should still have a great time. 

We had an oceanview on deck 2 and it was great! I worried about being on 2, but it was so convenient on port days and we never had a problem grabbing an elevator. As others have mentioned, the showers have a shower curtain. Grandeur is an older ship but the layout is great and staff is (by leaps and bounds) the best we’ve had on Royal.

I was loyal to Royal for 2 cruises. Then, it was out of my hands when my family wanted to book a Carnival cruise. I was hesitant but we ended up having a great time and found things with Carnival that we liked more than Royal. Since then I haven't been loyal to any particular cruise line. I look for deals, interesting ports, etc. and go with whatever line works.

I really liked the Sunshine. It wasn't too big, wasn't too small. The only complaint I have about it is that the decor is kind of mismatched. Most of the ship looks modern, but the theater area and atrium of the ship are dated. It didn't take away anything from our cruise but it looked a little off seeing beautiful refurbished areas then walking into a theater that looked like a yearbook photo backdrop from the early 90's. The food was really good on the Sunshine and the Alchemy Bar was really fun! We also loved the dive in movies.

I feel so bad for the call center reps today.

It is scary...I mean I know its terrible cliché but in our day we were allowed to play outside till the lights came on, and walk places etc...and guess what there were "bad guys" then too....its just wasn't in our faces constantly with social media.....and we went out in the real world and stayed there on our own two feet...now a days...they can't even play outside by themselves or boil and egg for themselves and yet we scratch our heads and wonder why they aren't standing on their own two feet????

 

The truth is bad things can happen ANYWHERE...on a cruise ship, in your own home and as we all have heard too much of lately at school or church too...so we have to decide do we want to live in constant fear of the "could happen" and live in a bubble or take our chances...

 

Gosh did I just sound like my father...I guess I am officially old now...lol

Parents have CPS called on them if they even let their kids walk to a park by themselves. It’s ridiculous. I’m 32 and remember my mom leaving me in the car all the time when she had to run an errand. If I dared to do something like that with my 5 year old the police would be called.

I love the tone of this post, very refreshing! I’d also like to point out that even when it looks like a “bad kid”/bad parent things aren’t as always straightforward as they seem. Not all disabilities are visible.

Hi everyone, WW-er here too. I joined in Sep, did great through early Nov fell off and finally just got back on track last weekend. I’m pretty worried about my April cruise. If it was a 5-7 night I wouldn’t worry too much but it’s a 12 night (+1 night pre-cruise). I’m not going to try for perfection but I can’t overindulge for nearly 2 weeks if I hope to return to plan when I get home. I really hope I make it through without too much of a gain!

I’m bummed about this too. We’re not huge fans of the mega ships. I’d love to see new, smaller ships but I know it all comes down to maximizing profit.

Beautiful ship and pictures. Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Adding Anthem to my "must sail" list.

In my humble opinion..trying to keep 15 family members together is a recipe for disaster and resentment. When our whole family cruises together, the only time we ALL spend together is dinner. Everyone just does their own thing at their own pace. We always have a blast.

This, exactly. We’ve done 2 family cruises. We meet up for dinner nightly (even then with kids sometimes someone needs to skip a night) and if there’s something several of us want to do then we work it out and make sure to meet up. Trying to coordinate everything together would be a nightmare.

Congrats! Awesome drop!

We’ve used a TA the last couple times (& also for my wedding cruise) but we usually book past final payment/close to the sailing date. Although I do enjoy controlling the reservation, I enjoy the perks (ours typically gives a free bottle of wine to the stateroom and OBC). I was still able to book shows on Allure, excursions and drink packages without calling her.

I’ve sailed 6 times in 7 years. I took a break for a few years when I was pregnant and had an infant. I work for myself now so my schedule is way more flexible than it used to be. Such a dangerous thing when you love to travel! We’ve also done several smaller land vacations and plan to do more of those this summer.

Valuables, sunscreen, meds, sunglasses, documents, wine, my kindle so I can read if there’s a wait. When traveling with my son I bring our swimsuits because he wants to swim as soon as he sees the pool(s).

I was married onboard Freedom (docked in Port Canaveral) in 2010. The only complaint I have was dealing with their “planners” (‘Royal Romance”) was stressful, but it looks like they changed companies? I was very much a “go with the flow” kind of bride and found that a cruise wedding was a perfect fit. I didn’t want to stress about flowers and place settings and venues. The only thing I really cared about was selecting our own music which my husband recorded. That was no problem.

We had an amazing, carefree wedding and had a blast sailing with our families after (we did a separate short trip after as a honeymoon). It was like a weeklong party. They helped us board first, made sure there were no problems, had our stateroom ready so we could relax/get dressed before the ceremony and then ushered us up to the chapel. It was a really special week. I’m still happy with our decision because I would’ve been a ball of nerves the entire day if I went the traditional route.

Freedom (so far). I hop around quite a bit. Really wasn’t a fan of Allure and was surprised to discover that.

Maybe have them board first and have them stand in the centrum/wherever you board so she sees them when you first walk on the ship? There’s usually enough space to carve out so they wouldn’t block the incoming flow of guests. That’s always such an exciting moment regardless.

Nothing new to add since you already received great suggestions. I also swear by white noise when traveling with my son. I used to bring the machine until I realized there's a great white noise app! One less thing to bring/buy.

It's definitely habit-forming!