simkoreb

My son who is 14 was able to hook up the Switch for our Alaska cruise on the Miracle.  I don't know how, but he and my husband are pretty tech savy and knew what to bring to do it.

Hello!  I have been on 8 carnival cruises.  The Magic was a very fun trip which we took in Feb!!!  However, cruising with my kids, we are always experiencing cruise "firsts."  Unfortunately, this trip it wasn't all pretty.

The good: I celebrated my birthday, and ordered the filet which was upcharged in the main dining room (we did not do the steakhouse).  It was AMAZING.  My boys and husband were drooling over my birthday dinner!!!  So yes, if you don't want to do the steakhouse, it was very worth it to pay the money for the steak.  I was warned it takes longer as they have to get it from the steakhouse.  I think I will do this once each cruise.

The bad: I was woken up the night of my birthday to my son (of course he was on the top bunk) getting sick across our room.  He tried making it down the ladder but was unsuccessful, and of course all our backpacks/beach bag were being stored under the bunk ladder.  I had no idea what to do at first...so my husband took him into the bathroom where he showered and continued being sick.  I looked around in awe and disbelieve over what just happened, and noticed he managed to get it almost everywhere.  Now I understand why there is a housekeeping number 24/7.  The guy that came took the next hour cleaning the room, replacing bedding, and he was AMAZING.  I felt so horrible, and tried to help when I could.  I did give him a nice cash tip, as that's all I could think of, and wrote his name down on the survey once the cruise was over as being outstanding and helpful.

The following day a lady introduced herself as the floor supervisor.  They shampooed the carpet, brought in a huge fan to dry it, and washed the bed skirt.

Hopefully no one experiences that on their cruise, and hopefully it's a last for us.  I did learn never to store things under the ladder again.  What a disaster trying to wash that off in the shower!!!

FYI, son was feeling fine after a day of rest and we enjoyed the rest of the cruise.

Happy to answer any Magic questions, and Deck 5 was my favorite place to hang out and had the BBQ place.  Go there early before people find it if you want to try it out.

Just off the Magic last week and we had no ship issues.  It was a great cruise!!!

Thank you all with helpful information.  We are not rescheduling, as it's our 20th anniversary and many things are bought and paid for.  My friend is in the class with me.  I will see if the professor can record the class or get notes from her.  Which is actually nice as I don't want to be doing school work on a vacation anyway!  

Hello!  I booked an Alaskan cruise over year ago.  Today I just found out there is a college course I will need to be taking, and part of the time I will be on the ship.  It will be 2.5 hours over 2 separate days.  So I'm wondering if it's possible to zoom, as I believe that is the platform my online course.  Is there a cafe on the Miracle, or should I use my cell phone or laptop?  Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

Thank you!  Carnival just posted excursions for our July cruise!!  However, we decided on a fishing trip instead.

I emailed the zip line people, and they said you have to book it through the cruise ship.  Our cruise (Carnival Miracle) shows no excursions for this port.  I don't know what to do here.

Thank you!  That is exactly the info I needed to decide.  I think we are going to go for it!   

Looking at taking my first Norwegian cruise on the Breakaway in Feb.  I know we are going to pass on the free drink offer as my husband doesn't drink and I only drink 1-2 a day.  There are 4 of us, probably in 1 balcony (we have done this before and it worked ok).  Anyway, there is another offer for dining when you book, called Free at Sea specialty dining.  I called and I believe the agent said it was 2 meals for the first 2 guests and I just pay gratuity .  Is it worth it?  Are there kids meals if they come, or are kids frowned on in the specialty dining rooms?  They will be 11 and 12 when we sail.  I'm just not familiar with Norwegian enough to know what to do.  Thanks in advance!  

We used a TA and cancelled last march....all but $423 was refunded to us.  The $423 was a commission charge carnival still hasn't released.  I'm so angry...we have called 6 times.  TA calls Carnival, who has this money and it's been "processing" since June.  Good luck everyone!  I don't know if I can dispute it this far out with my credit card company but I will be trying on Monday.    

Cancelled my cruise in March (was supposed to sail this past August).  Costco refunded all but $423.94 which apparently is the commission (refund went through in late June).  We have called 5x at this point, and they promised it would be refunded this past week.  Still nothing.  Get to call again next week.  I'm beyond frustrated.  

I booked through costco for my Aug 8th breeze trip.  We are on deck 11 spa balcony.  It looks like there are no cabins in this category left, so how do I know if there is a price drop?  Never done this before.  Thanks!

my kids live for these two things.  On our August cruise on Sunshine we were disappointed the water slides were not open when stated according to the fun times.  However, the other days I want to say 9 or 10 am they opened and stayed open all day.  There were huge lines when they finally opened the first day, but the rest of the cruise was fine.  They did close ropes course a few times due to wind. I was very happy with their hours...my boys played there for hours each day.

We always pack a fan and never have a problem.  We bring one of the smaller table top fans (like 15-20 dollars) that plugs in.

Went in August on the Sunshine.  It was 5 dollars a person I believe and we had a lot of fun.  Kids got the crazy waffles and french toast you see in the above pics.  We got the steak and eggs.  Overall would do it again!

Was there in August.  You rent the clamshells on shore, although I don't know the price.  The small rental booth was right behind me on the beach (I was sitting just before the big pirate ship).  Someone was trying to sit on one without paying and got into an argument with an employee about it...they gave up finally and used a free lounge chair.  drama!

We were off the boat early and found lots of shade using the regular chairs....fyi. 

I've done 2 cruises with my boys, most recently this past August on Sunshine, they are 8 and 9.  They love the kids club!  We would look at the schedule each day and decide each day what to participate in.  On shore, we just did beaches which was just fine for them.  They did learn how to snorkel off the beach this past trip and said it was their favorite part of the cruise.  We would eat together each night in the MDR, and used it as a great opportunity to try new foods.  We encouraged them to try something new to eat each day...not just live off pizza and ice cream.

They loved the shows too.  I think the most fun I had was the Dr. Seuss brunch.  It was very well done, and the food was fun.

Enjoy your trip!

Hello!  Just got home a few days ago from the Sunshine.  I went in with very open expectations, since some reviews were pretty bad.  

Charleston....super easy embarkation!  We had FTTF but it didn't matter.  Arrived around 11:15 and were on the ship before noon.  SOOOO glad we were able to have access to our cabin early with the FTTF.  Once on the ship, we should have eaten right away, but we weren't hungry....big mistake.  A bit later and everyone was in the buffet area with their stuff waiting for cabins to open.  We were Hangry, and couldn't find anywhere to sit with lunch.  Ended up standing up by a counter and eating.  It was super hot, which I think was part of the problem.  If I was smart I would have taken our plates back to our room.  Oh well. Waterslides according to the brochure thing were supposed to be open at 11:00....they didn't open until 5 or 5:30.  My kids were very bummed, and got a little bored waiting.  And when they finally opened the lines were huge!

Our room was a balcony on Lido, and there were 4 of us.  It was a great configuration, and we love being on Lido.  Close to everything!  

The serenity deck is awesome on this ship!!!  3 floors of heaven with a waterfall!!  

No issues finding deck chairs for us, but we don't like being by the main pool.  I really had no issues with crowds, but we tend to avoid them when we know things will get congested.  Research research!

Everyone was super nice!!!  Our waitstaff was so overworked I felt bad for them.  But everyone around the ship went out of their way, especially making conversation with my 2 boys (8 and 9 years old).  The dining room food was hit or miss, few items were very good, some were just ok. 

The next day was a fun day at sea.  I didn't have any issues with crowds.  We did the brunch, and arrived around noon.  Almost no one was there.  It did take a while to get our food though...

Half Moon Cay-Love love love this place.  We got the note saying where to meet for FTTF, and were on the first tender off.  We stayed until 1:00, and ate lunch on the ship.  I heard the line was super long for food on the island.

Bahamas-did a Carnival 2 stop snorkel....it was ok.  Rough waters, but saw some cool fish.  Again, ate lunch back on the ship.

Day at sea...lots of fun.  The 80s show and party was great, and the had a lot of trivia all day too.  Dr. Seuss brunch was fun!!  Loved the atmosphere and everything about it.

Camp Ocean was great for my kids.  They did the waterslides everyday and the rope course, basketball, etc.  They loved all the fun stuff this ship had for kids.  Other than embarkation day, the lines were almost nonexistent for the slides.  Port days we always came back by 1:00 to eat and let them enjoy the ship without a lot of people on board. 

I'll try and check back if anyone has specific questions.  Overall we had a very fun time!!

Thanks!!!

Hello all.  The pictures of Cable Beach look amazing, and I think it fits what we want for our upcoming cruise.  However, reading reviews, some people post security guards will not even let you walk along the shoreline in front of resorts.  Others have posted they walk/run the beach every day.  We were just going to bring beach towels and set up by the shoreline somewhere, but I'm nervous that the resorts "own" their stretch of the beach.  Is this really an issue?  I've also read by the shoreline it's all public.  I just want a place to set my towel down and play in the water for 2 hours....I just have been reading so much conflicting information.  I'm also looking at Saunders Beach as an alternative.

Thanks for any help/perspective.  I do not want to pay 100 a person to use a beach for a couple hours, so not wanting to do an all inclusive. 

The one time I booked a group, I made all the big decisions about which line, and ship.  They choose if they wanted to go or not.  So I said something like, we are going on the miracle Feb 15th.  Book or call this travel agent if you want to come.  Take it or leave it.  And they booked the type of cabin they wanted.  They booked excursions based on what they wanted to do, but we did eat together each night by linking our bookings.  It was pretty simple and everyone was happy.

I have done both with and without having my kids with me.  I prefer early dining only because I love having a personal connection with the waitstaff.  We have sailed many times, and met some amazing dining staff.  I have never had that vibe with anytime dining, and the few times I have had to wait a few times, been crowded in, etc.  The one advantage I loved about anytime was once we were at a table for 10, and they were the coolest people ever!!  But we still prefer to have same table, same waitstaff each night. 

We were above the theater once.  You could hear the rehearsals during the day, and shows at night.  I would not do it again. 

Yes the locker room showers are great! I use them a lot because I prefer them to the cabin showers. Just grab all your stuff and head down there.

And remember lines are always longer at prime times...I despise waiting in lines, so I always try to avoid the busiest times to eat because everyone is there trying to do the same thing. If you can hold off and eat a late breakfast and lunch, that's the way to do it. Just be flexible if possible. I know with kids this isn't always possible, but it works when it's just me and DH.

Thinking about booking the dream with my two younger kids. How were the lines on the ship? I'm thinking at the buffets and things like that...thanks!