dandeck

On 1/21/2024 at 2:59 AM, matymil said:

Ive had afew days to process our cruise on the Carnival Venezia and I wanted to give my honest thoughts of the whole experience. It seems like the Venezia and departure port of NYC are pretty polarizing amongst cruisers these days so just remember that this is my honest opinion of my experiences. We may not have the same opinion but it doesnt mean that either are wrong 🙂 Quick background; I was on the Venezia sailing leaving on 1/5/24 (HMC/Nassau/Freeport) out of NYC with my wife and 5 year old son. This is my 14th cruise, all with Carnival, 4th out of NYC and 1st on the Venezia.

 

The Good:

The ship: It is absolutely gorgeous. It looks nothing like any other Carnival but at the same time still seems very familiar because it is essentially a Vista ship. The attention to detail is nothing like any other ship in the fleet that's for sure. 

Nassau: I cant believe it but Nassau is actually a port worth getting off and exploring now. We had been to Nassau a bunch like most cruisers and like most cruisers we knew that unless you were doing an excursion, you really didn't need to get off the ship. After our excursion we came back and explored the new port area and honestly it is 1000% better. We didnt even get harassed after we left the gated port area. Its honestly like night and day.

The food: Did not have a bad meal on board. Everything from the MDR, lido, guys, etc was all great. La Strata was a great surprise. It takes the place of Guys BBQ on deck 5 outside. Very good quality all the way around (aside from the late-night snacks which basically the same on all ships)

MarQ: We sailed with him before, but it was back in 2016 when he was part of the Vista fun squad with Cookie, Nono and Matt Mitcham. You can see a blend of Cookie and Matt Mitcham with his energy and quick wit. Everyone in our group and everyone else we talked to all seemed to love him. He is easily our favorite Carnival CD now. 

 

The Bad: 

The staff: Another thing i can't believe because in all of our sailings we've always had awesome staff across the board with very few exceptions. Aside from the fun squad and our room steward it seemed like most of the staff did not want to be there. We never had the same MDR wait staff twice which was weird, i heard multiple people say that they think they may have been training? Some of the MDR staff seemed downright rude. I was used to long waits but afew of the nights our dinner took almost 2 hours which is tough with a 5 year old, plus our friends with us had an 18 month old. We talked to some of the staff and afew of them openly told us that they weren't happy. The casino pitboss openly told my friend "its the worst ship ive ever been on, my contract is done at the end of this cruise and im never coming back". The rest of the staff weren't necessarily rude but I always come off of a Carnival cruise with afew names of staff that I remember so I can praise them in the email survey. Aside from MarQ and afew fun squad members, I could not tell you one name of a staff member. This could very well be because of the clientele that deal with on a regular basis but either way it was the worst service weve ever had from Carnival by far. Not only did the other people in our group share the same opinion but others we talked to on the ship did as well. 

The layout: After we got settled in and we quickly started to realize that this ship was not designed for us. At first it was little things like there not being any laundry rooms (I was told its more custom for people to send away for laundry in Asian culture, which was the market this ship was meant for). Then we began to notice things like how crowded places like the MDR and lido seemed because of the design. Most lido decks have three tiers, this one has two but it also has a large stage that takes away several rows of deck chairs. Because its only two tiers, the screen is much lower. Not to mention that the second deck of the lido is very sectioned off (same with the MDR). You'll see lots of nice looking marble pillars but when youre trying to watch the screen, it makes it very hard to see and seating at a huge premium. The layout in the gym is also by far the worst I've ever seen. You can tell that the machines are European but if the weight area had more than one person in it, it felt crowded. I even went at off hours and it was still a mess. 

HMC: Got cancelled because of the rough seas. It is what it is but i can't wait for the pier to be built 🙂 

 

The NYC:

I'm probably going to offend NYC locals but my wife and I agreed that this is the last cruise we ever take out of NYC, no matter the time of year or the price. My last cruise out of NYC was last July and to say that was a disaster is an understatement. About a week after I got back from that cruise, Carnival announced the new curfew and cited the behavior of the kids on the Magic (sailing out of NYC) as being a main reason. 

First issue: we had was getting into the building. For some reason there was a delay getting us on board and we ended up having to wait outside in the cold, in a 5-block line for over an hour. 

Second issue: 30 seconds after boarding, we encountered our first (of many) extremely rude people. A lady who filming the atrium bumped into our 5-year-old son without saying anything and then proceeded to give my wife an instant attitude, which lead to a very heated argument. Granted my wife did not handle it the best but we had just got done waiting for almost 2 hours to get on board at this point and my wife gets very defensive when it comes to our son. Our friends saw the same woman later in the cruise with her arm in a sling so may she tried the wrong one🤷‍♂️

Third issue: The day that HMC got cancelled, we were up early so we decided to go to the back pool. We found 3 open lounge chairs next to three other chairs that had towels on them. We only took two chairs because my son did not need one. After about 20 mins he wanted to go to the splash pad so my wife took him and left her bag on the open chair. At this point, the open chair to my right was taken now. About another 25 mins past (45ish minutes after we took the chairs) and I hear this nasty lady yell "HEY!!!! YOU TOOK OUR CHAIRS!!!" I looked around, looked to my side and said "me?!?" She yelled back "YEAH!!!! We had 4 chairs saved and now we only have 3!" And this point a lady she was with starts chirping to. Side note; it was extremely windy and items weird blowing around the area including shirts, a flip-flop and.....(wait for it) the almost empty can of sunblock that the woman used to reserve the 4th chair for at least 45 mins. At no point did i move anything for any chair which I told the woman but that did not stop her from yelling so i responded by taking my bag, my other stuff and getting up. I said to her "You know what! Take both chairs because I dont want to sit next to someone like you anyway." I went off to the side, got dressed and texted my wife to not come back to the pool. As i walked back by the scene of the crime a group of people sitting on the other side stopped me and said "Hey! We saw the entire thing. You did nothing wrong. If you want, you can have one of our seats." To which i replied "Thank you but i have to meet with my wife and its not worth it" The lady heard and saw all of this so i really hope her made her feel fantastic. 

Final straw: Im gonna keep this one as brief as possible because it wasnt my kid in the center of this issue but this is the main reason we arent sailing NYC again because I dont want him around this behavior. I was taking my son to play mini golf when a group of about 15-20 kids came running towards us yelling about how they just beat some girl up. Me and my 5-year-old walked up on a lifeless girl, with her glasses on the ground, laying on the deck (about 13 years old ish) who wasn't responding to me. I ran and got security. When I got back to her, she was sitting up and crying. At this point security had said that they saw her messing around before and were basically blaming her which made her cry even harder but it wasnt my kid, wasnt my business and figured that it was under control. About 20 mins later im with my son in the arcade and the same group of kids come in and they start talking about how they are gonna beat up some other kid so i decide to go to guest services. While waiting i find out that i am standing behind the mother of the daugther who is talking to guest services. I take her off to the side and explain what i saw and give her my information if she needs someone to write a statement. At this point shes in tears and tells me that her daughter is autistic, and she has been getting bullied by these kids for the whole cruise. She told me that even her 9 year old was complaining about getting bullied. After that this is not an environment that i want my kid around. I know you get bad kids on every ship but I don't care what anyone says, there is a huge difference when it comes to sailing out of NYC.

Thats pretty about it. Thanks if you made it this far 🙂 

Thanks for the informative review!  I doubt anyone is surprised about unaccompanied kids on a ship out of NYC.  Wife & I are diamond, closing in on 50 cruises each.  We are waiting until this ship starts sailing out of Cape Canaveral before we try her.  NYC?!  No friggin way.  Again, Thanks for confirming our suspicions!  (-: 

On 1/20/2024 at 5:09 PM, sid_9169 said:

Pool deck is almost empty. Tomorrow it'll be a whole new set of passengers.

 

 

Yep!  The cycle of cruise life! (-:  Wife & I came aboard this morning for 5 weeks!  Enjoyed all you guys & gals posts so much I joined / started following The Tribe as of a couple weeks ago.   

8 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

I didn't even look at the actual charge, but I assume it was under the Cheers limit of $20... That does seem kinda high though...

11.5% sales tax in SJ

Used to be Dooney & Bourke handbags outlet store there in Old San Juan.  My wife was crushed when it closed probably 5 - 6 yra ago? 

On 1/14/2024 at 8:36 AM, MeganGC1983 said:

Checked in. Quick, easy. 

Enjoying ur posts!  Quick question please.  Does this terminal (F?) have a separate entrance / line for Diamond?  

Thanks!

11 - 11:15 is the norm.

Been on a lot of cruises.  Most of them Carnival.  If the weather is not perfect, I'd suggest no earlier than 10am.  If the weather is nice, earlier is fine, but ya may be outside for a while.   

On 10/30/2023 at 5:31 PM, Frank12 said:

 

Hello!

Last few cruises out of Miami have either been quick to the ship or a nightmare! (-:

Heading out on Celebration this time in a couple weeks.  How are Sundays there?  To Celebration specifically if ya been?  Seems like we've always embarked on Saturdays in the past.  Normally not a problem.  Last time a wreck in the tunnel and it was shut down.  A friggin nightmare!  After an hour, got luggage and walked rest of the way! LOL 

Anyway, Sundays OK if no wrecks...?

Thanks and happy sailing!!

What a fantastic posting!  Wife & I are boarding for a few weeks on the 21st and your review has answered so many questions for us!  Thank you guys very much!

On 12/17/2023 at 6:59 PM, ldubs said:

 

I tip at certain places in America because it is customary and expected.   Do the same on cruise ships.  So far I've avoided being a victim of "emotional blackmail".   I am seldom a victim of anything other than what goes along with old age.   

 

Sorry to hear you are experiencing such dissatisfaction with the Carnival's standards of service.  I have a rule that has served me well about not doing things I don't enjoy.  

Bingo!  A repeat "dissatisfied" passenger??!  LOL 

On 1/4/2024 at 1:58 AM, crazyank said:

Tip what you want, when you want to whoever you want.  Remove the auto-grats if you want.  Don't let anybody guilt trip you in paying something you don't want to.

The guidelines are spelled out in no uncertain terms.  By booking you are agreeing to those terms.  Now, if something goes completely off the rails, then adjust accordingly.  However, barring that, the deal was spelled out in plain English.  The gratuities are simply part of the cost of the cruise and the folks working on board are counting on them.  Again, if there's a serious lack of service by someone, address it accordingly.  Other than that, you knew full well what was expected.  I'll add that in 40 Carnival cruises to date, some with kids as well, I've never felt the need to reduce any gratuities.  Since the cabin Stewart is our main contact, I normally give them an extra $10 a week.  As a beer drinker, an extra $1 for a bucket.  I've had in depth discussions with the guys on the ships.  They need the $ and really appreciate any extra.  Not to mention they will find you like a heat seeking missile with your  drinks! (-:  

Wife & I will be on Celebration for 5 weeks soon.  Have read every page of your review and it is the best one I have ever had the pleasure of reading!!  Thank you for taking the time to do it!!

Have a great rest of your cruise! 

On 12/2/2023 at 8:22 PM, Rdclfamily said:

I'm trying to calculate what our gratuities will be this time and I think they will be at least $800-1000 for the week if we keep auto-gratuities.  That feels tough to swallow, especially considering the fact that we are off the ship for 3 out of 7 days.  I wish I would have removed it and then just tipped individually.  Now I'm in a confused state.  

 

That's the $ amt you knew when booking.  Therefore, you should not tamper with that.  If you want to tip someone special / extra, do it.  Wife & I have been Diamond for last couple of yrs now.  We rarely eat in the MDR.  Just don't find it convenient, too time consuming... however, the folks working there are counting on that $$ and it's not their decision we ate at the buffets instead.  The preset / auto gratuities are the bare minimum.  We tip on drinks, give the room Stewart an extra $10 or so per week (we normally do B2B's) in addition to the auto $$.  Oh, and we may have our room cleaned 2 times @ week.  Most days we simply swap out some clean towels, wash rags...

On 7/1/2018 at 12:32 AM, Lucky TGO said:

 

You took the words out of my mouth. If this is not a joke?? Maybe we can play for some extra Butter at dinner. 😮 . I can only think of one thing better a bottle of that Great Princess Champagne :bottle-pop: the boy make fresh every Tuesday in the boiler room. 😄

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

Your comment didn't age well.  Almost every ship in every line has now.  Not to mention ESPN has a long term contract with the ACL (American Cornhole League for those who don't get out much! LOL)  Several lines even cater to leagues now with cruises organized around tournaments on board.  Bottom line is NO, I wasn't kidding.  Fastest growing sport in the US with a strong movement to make an Olympic sport.  I assume you are still playing for butter. LOL  BTW, never do your own stock picking.  You obviously can't see a winner. (-:  

On 6/27/2018 at 12:28 PM, Pickels said:

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!! ( I hope this was a joke).

I can see not taking a particular cruise because there is no rock climbing, or flow-rider, but a bean-bag toss?? Give me a break! "Hey honey, I'm checking out the cruises for next year, found one that has a bean-bag toss, let's go!"

Your comment didn't age well.  Almost every ship in every line has now.  Not to mention ESPN has a long term contract with the ACL (American Cornhole League for those who don't get out much! LOL)  Several lines even cater to leagues now with cruises organized around tournaments on board.  Bottom line is NO, I wasn't kidding.  Fastest growing sport in the US with a strong movement to make an Olympic sport.  Not sure about your "flowrider"??! LOL 

Hello!

Anybody ACTUALLY been on the Spirit recently and know if they have cornhole boards (bean bag toss) boards on board for passengers to use?  We have been on most of the ships over the years, but haven't sailed on Spirit before.  

Thanks and happy cruising!!

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

I don’t know how streaming services work with the captive portals on the ship. But in any event you’re in for a great deal of frustration getting carnivals Wi-Fi to do anything more than refresh a Facebook feed. 

Won't be streaming.  Will simply be viewing, on the TV screen via the HDMI port, what I have downloaded on my phone.  

Hello!

Anyone know for certain if the TV's in the rooms have active HDMI port(s) or not?  Want to be able to watch movies from my own source. 

Thanks! 

4 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Not true. They were always ready when we boarded before, including Jan 2020.  We were always there for the priority boarding time.

I stand corrected!  You are exactly right.  Been a while, but you are correct!  

4 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Unfortunately, rooms still won’t be ready when boarding.

Depends on your boarding time.  They have never been ready if boarding early.  Can simply board later and they will be.  

Fantastic!!  That's great news!  

Thanks Carnival!!

As diamond we got a "partial priority boarding" in Seattle in July getting on Splendor headed to Alaska.  By partial I mean there was a priority section once we had gotten passed the security check point.  Like the 2nd step of the check in process there.  Allowed us to avoid a much longer line at that stage.  It was nice to get a portion of that perk once again.  This current "2 day advance" registering is not nearly the same.  Frankly, not worth a damn! (-:  Hopefully that loyalty reward will be reinstated now that COVID is "over."  May sound a little picky to some, but that's one of the reasons we have sailed about 600 nights between us and currently have several weeks scheduled.  Anyway, hope that helps.

Happy cruising!! 

Also, be aware to get a lower price there must be similar rooms on the same floor still available.  If not, your floor & category of room is sold out, no decrease will be honored.  

On 10/18/2022 at 8:20 PM, handbellplayer said:

We normally cruise on Royal and don't buy a drink package because we get a certain number of drink coupons per day due to our status.  We tip a couple of bucks per drink, because we figure the servers don't get any kind of gratuity for these free drinks.  We have purchased the Cheers package for our upcoming cruise on Magic.  Should we tip for our drinks, or has the tip already been included in what we paid for the package?  Will tipping get us better service?

We are regular cruisers and if you want the best service on the seas, simply tip a $1 or two.  The answer to your question is absolutely!!  You will be sought out like a heat seeking missile!!  Some will say it's all ready included... ignore, if you want next level service!