larkz

Just off Magic Dec 12-19 and in our subjective opinions (redundant phrase) the food was extremely good. We ate at the Lido buffet and Blue Iguana for breakfast and lunch, in the main dining room, and at the well-hidden pasta restaurant. The 24-hour pizza was also great. The selection was excellent, a nice variety of healthy options, and even the sugar free desserts were delicious.

We cruised Magic Dec 11-19, and were also surprised to not have the sail and sign card until it was delivered (fairly quickly) into our stateroom mailbox. I didn't feel complete without the card in hand!

Getting on the ship was pretty smooth and took about 45 minutes. The muster for us was in the theatre and it was over in 10 minutes for us as well.

My quick impressions (if I may butt in on your review)...

It seemed just like a "normal" cruise pre-Covid with the primary exceptions being the required masks indoors and lots and lots of crew disinfecting handrails, doorknobs, and whatnot around the ship. The ports requested masks to be worn, and we complied with this. Grand Turk did not allow unvaccinated guests and had just reopened -- we were both vaccinated so no problem for us.

The food was excellent. I was worried that Carnival would drastically cut back on quality, but it was some of the best chow on any cruise we've taken. We frequently ate at Blue Iguana, in the Lido buffet, and YTD in the main dining room. We tried to walk off the calories as much as possible, of course.

I wasn't as thrilled with the musicians -- some were kind of bad, some okay, one couple were very good. And the live shows had great whiz-bang electronics, but occasionally mediocre talent in our opinion. These weren't important to us, just a way to pass the time while relaxing.

We mostly do our own thing in the ports, and other than booking the St. Thomas cable ride up the hill or mountain -- whatever it is technically called -- we took roads less travelled. The standard faire of port activities seems to be a game of copycat from one cruise destination to the next: ziplines, catamarans, snorkel, dolphins, stingrays, dune buggies or hummers or segways or whatever, beach getaways, cabanas, town tours, and so on. Each of these is fine, but they can get old if you cruise a lot and like doing your own thing.

Disembarking via self-assist was a bit messy because people were trying to get into wrapped lines from all directions and not enough staff to manage the lines -- but it still went fairly fast. We were driving away by 9am.

My unofficial impression is that the cruise may have sailed around 75-80 percent capacity. Hardly any wait for anything, lines were short. The Eastern ports on this itinerary were all docked, so no shuttles. Nice!

This is for Carnival Magic in December. Guess I'll give the casino method a try. What the heck, there's at least a 5% chance I'll actually come out ahead on the slots! (Maybe that's optimistic)!

What exactly is the "casino trick"?

I didn't see -- but may have missed -- any information on this from recent cruisers. Is it possible to cash out the cancelled/rebooked cruise promo OBC? I know Carnival has terms and disclaimers, but what is the real world experience? Is it usable in booking Carnival excursions, in the casino, as gratuities, for the soda program, restaurants, and so on?

The new design is intended to control your options, and to make fast comparisons more difficult.

It's also heavy in "AJAX" code, which bogs down the process and increases the number of clicks you need to make in order to achieve a result. Carnival's website violates a dozen tenets in user-friendly website design (Google "web pages that suck" -- for which Carnival's cruise planning engine is a great candidate). The most important thing for a website design is to meet the needs of the user, and to stay the h*ll out of the way in the process.

Go to the Carnival contact page, and submit the question: "Why does your website's cruise planning engine suck so much?" Then describe why it sucks -- including a mention that you're onto their deliberate attempt to make cruise date, price, and category comparisons more difficult. Maybe receiving a bunch of comments will fix the problem. Probably not, but it only takes a minute to try.

In recent years there have been various warnings for Chikungunya, Malaria, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Encephalitis and West Nile in various Caribbean ports, mostly spread by mosquitoes. The wise response is to carry travel size cans of both DEET and a repellent containing Picaridin (this should be at least 20% concentration), and reapply frequently as needed. Wooded areas, lakes, swampy areas and rivers are the primary habitats, so it pays to be especially cautious in those areas, and in this case it might also be a good idea to spray clothing with permethrin -- it can be applied many weeks before you travel and will actually stick to clothing through several washings.

That should take care of the issue for anyone who isn't pregnant and doesn't have a compromised immune system. No need to cancel vacations for such an insignificant likelihood of infection.

I tried it once, it was good, but not so great that I would pay the additional fee to try it again. I'm not a steak eater -- I had lobster -- so a steak eater might have a different and better founded point of view on the question.

It seems like most people who try the steak house enjoy it, based past postings. So if anyone is tempted to try it, I wouldn't let a couple of poor reviews change your mind.

We did the rainforest excursion, which got us to the airport just after noon, if I recall. The bus met us at the ship and our luggage was safely stored, then after the excursion, we were dropped off at the appropriate location for our flight. The price was acceptable, and the tour was pretty good.

hmmm, we took a water taxi over to Caye Caulker ($20 RT), did some snorkeling, then hit a great beachside restaurant/bar for lobster and lots of cheap drinks. A totally wonderful time!

Looking forward to a Western Caribbean on Glory in February. I'll be grabbing a plane ride at the little municipal airport, and hopping over to the little town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. A water taxi would work, too but the plane is more fun. The same water taxi firm offers rides to Ambergris.

San Pedro, Ambergris Caye is by far my favorite excursion. Inexpensive restaurants, lots of water activities, beaches, kayaking, bike rentals, friendly islanders, and not so many tourists. One of these times I'll try Caye Caulker as well.

I got this 1:00pm notice even when I had FTTF, which would make the feature of going to my cabin right away upon arrival worthless. It's silly. What, is Carnival going to calculate every mode of travel into this magic boarding time equation -- shuttles, airport arrivals, cabs on rush hour vs non-rush hour days, etc and actually get it right? Of course not.

They need to stop imagining they have the capability to micro-manage this process: if the ship is boarding, then let passengers board. If it isn't boarding, then don't let them board.

Also, and I've pointed this out before, but if everyone complied and came after 1:00pm, they'd never get them all boarded by 3:00 or 3:30pm. It would be a total mess.

Okay, I am sure I will get flamed but here it goes.

 

Guys Burgers...can't stand the stinch of the grease on the Lido deck from them and to me they are just okay. Give me a homemade burger with a homemade bun any day over those.

 

I agree on CMC...not a fan here.

I agree, Guy's Burgers is nothing special.

It's meaningless. Depending on whether people are arriving by plane, car, shuttle, the day of or the day before, and what they have planned for the morning of the cruise day -- all of these factors come into play and there's no way Carnival could easily enforce a schedule beyond the starting and ending time for embarkation. I always ignore their emails and phone messages about when to arrive unless there's some major issue causing a delay.

Good to own right now (or sell at a profit if it tops off again) but I wouldn't buy Carnival stock at the current price. Cramer is notoriously wrong on stocks -- Google "cramer wrong" and spend a few hours chuckling at all the analysis on his faulty predictive talents. I'm glad that Carnival has managed to crawl out of their bottom from several years ago -- and after a series of corporate blunders -- but reviewing the multi-year performance for Carnival and any other cruise line shows that these are not long term growth stocks.

Car rentals (one way drop off typically costs an additional $25 or so) are a good way to go. There are several car rental offices just down the street from the ships and they offer pick up and drop off to the ports. I think I used Budget or Thrifty and it worked out nicely.

Would you really leave Carnival and choose another cruise line if you don't have chocolates on your pillow, or towel animals, or complimentary robes, or turn down service, or a 'reward' for being a return customer, or any of the other little "services" that have no impact other than they are a nicety?

No. Every single one of those things are pretty much meaningless to me. Food, cabin, beautiful ocean, nice overall environment on the ship, and get me to the ports - those are my requirements.

I would recommend keeping your wits about you in any country that you visit, and in most U.S. cities.

Given the news that I watched over the days before and after my most recent cruise from the Port of Miami -- shootings, murders, carjackings, and violence galore in the the Miami area -- I'd recommend caution in that city first and foremost.

Any of the Caribbean ports will have risky areas, but other than the random bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, lots of people tend to behave in such a way that they might as well be wearing a bulls-eye to get the attention of criminals. For example, it isn't safe to be blasted drunk anywhere, let alone on a cruise ship or in a foreign port. And if you're venturing out of a port's gated cruise paradise, then you need to do your research. I often set out on my own adventures, but I never go into anything blind, and I have a series of backup plans. I know where hospitals are, where police are, where airports and alternate transportation are located, and I know the areas where one doesn't go without a guide.

To be more specific, Belize, mainland Honduras, parts of Mexico, Jamaica, and St Kitts-Nevis seem to be at the higher end of reported murder, violent crimes, theft, and so on. I seem to recall talk about some of the ports in the Bahamas, having travel alerts as well (again, beyond the gated malls of the cruise companies).

Good points throughout. As (hopefully) a traveler and not a tourist, I'd love to go to Cuba -- and I have occasionally looked into schemes to enter from other countries. From what I've researched, I have a great deal of respect for its people and their make-do attitude.

It would be heartbreaking, however, to see a Carnival gated mall installed there. I'd take a cruise there in a heartbeat, but would probably just fly there if travel opened up.

At any rate, this policy change is long overdue. About 40 years or so.

The world quickly found its way to making amends with a European country that in the late thirties and early forties committed one of the most destructive genocidal wars in all of human existence -- yet the U.S. can't seem to get over having our butts handed to us by a group of Cuban revolutionaries 60 years ago. During the same time, we've embraced the "butchers of Bejing," as well as numerous Central and South American dictatorial thugs, Middle Eastern tyrants whose countries behead women for the crime of being rape victims, and so on. We even looked lovingly "into the eyes Putin and saw his soul." But Cuba was just too darned evil.

Love the Liberty.

 

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Same here. I'll be on Ecstasy in a couple of weeks, introducing an adult nephew to cruising -- but I think I'd rather be on Liberty. Anyway, I haven't had a bad cruise, so I'll be happy just the same.

If I cruise next year, it will probably be Liberty again.

The breakfast burritos make GREAT diving food, in my humble opinion. My wife and I will hit the Blue Iguana for breakfast, especially on port days, before heading out to our dive for the day.

The burritos are GREAT kayaking, hiking, and biking food, as well!

My bottom line before helping somebody is that they must desire help to begin with.

It sounds like this person has decided to throw in the towel and drink until his brain and his physical health have completely fizzled out. He has made the choice.

That said, I'd be inclined to report the situation Guest Services (with a fairly good chance that they wouldn't do anything about it until I showed them video and explained that the situation needed to be taken care of or this would make a great YouTube episode...)

Unless Carnival has decided to add an assisted suicide package to their cruising options, they need to properly train each and every one of their bartenders and servers, and to enforce a policy to withhold alcohol from people who are stupidly, dangerously drunk.

Same here. It amazes me that someone can say I'm not interested in trying Epic, Getaway/Breakaway, or Oasis/Allure but they will happily sail on CCL's Dream Class...just can't wrap my mind around that!

Well, zing, you missed the point. It's gone right past you, headed into the stratosphere.

On whether Carnival is falling behind... the trend of cruise lines is to make behemoth ships with half-butted versions of activities that I can do on land and in much better quality at Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison -- all of which are an hour and a half away from me. No cruiseline can beat the theater and live music that I can get on any weekend within a short drive. No ship beats my nearby gyms, rock walls, mini-golf, and none beat the rope climbing routes that I've built in the trees of my own back yard. Not that I'm into shopping, but Michigan Avenue and State Street in Chicago totally wipe out any shop found on a luxury cruise ship. To me, most of the fluff offered on these ships is totally unrelated to any cruise that I'm interested in taking. What Carnival does offer, I tend to avoid. If you like it, enjoy.

Much as I enjoyed Dream, and even found Dancin' in the Streets to be a stellar production, my two favorite Carnival ships by far are Valor and Liberty.

And, I've frequently expressed an interest in Epic plenty of times right here on this board. I'd gladly sail any line. I have no reason to avoid any, but they will not beat the prices I've gotten on Carnival. (And for those who claim that it's easy to beat Carnival's prices, let's stop counting in the Pack and Sail specials for people lucky enough live near ports and who have wide open dates for vacation; be real, most people have job commitments and need to fly or drive many hundreds of miles to get to a port -- putting in a vacation request as long as a year out, booking flights, etc.)

My last 7 day solo cruise on Carnival with price drops was less than $400, and it was booked 9 or 10 months out. No solo supplement. No Pack and Sail. Great deal, that I've never seen the likes of on another line.

Not interested in cruising mega-ships, nor most of the highly touted add-ons.

This is hardly any different than taking a giant resort, cutting it loose from the mainland and setting sail -- and calling that a cruise. Some might enjoy it. I don't. If I ever had a hankering for that kind of vacation, I'd probably look at other cruise lines (and I'd plan on being flat broke for a year or two to cover the added cost!)

Carnival offers good accommodations, good food, good service -- and amazingly enough -- the same high quality views of the seas and the sunsets as cruiselines charging two to five times the price for the same itineraries.

Smarter reps -- who are at least a little attentive to the customer's interests -- will alert you that the new sale price or lower fares will likely cause you to lose promotional OBC that was earned in a previous promotion. I've had one rep who spotted this and warned me, another who didn't (but I already was aware of it, thanks to posts like this on CC).

Those of us older than XYZ age can compare these promotional offers to the old Let's Make a Deal show; when Monty Hall would tempt a contestant with whatever was in the large box where Carol Merrill was standing, in exchange for previous winnings. Contestants didn't get to have both. One or the other.

That's my dream cruise! Looks like fun.