KajunCruiser

This is my first Carnival cruise and my first ever cruise review! For reference, I have cruised Costa, Holland America, Norwegian and Disney.

My group included, Myself, DS 21, DS 19 and DS's girlfriend 19.

Our flight arrived from Milwaukee at 9:40 am Thursday morning. Because I am not familiar with New Orleans I elected to grab a cab at the airport because that seemed the easiest route. In the future I will use Uber, then cab fare for 4 was $60.00! Expensive in my opinion. We arrived at the port around 11 am, our check in time was 11:30-12. We were met by a porter who took our luggage and told me we should be able to head right into the terminal. I wasn't sure about this since it was not technically our check in time yet but we headed over to the terminal and handed out boarding passes over. The lady said "Oh you are faster to the fun" " Head right in" I did not pay for faster to the fun and did not think anything of the little faster to the fun logo on my boarding pass... I thought they all looked like that. Anyway, we walked right in and everywhere we showed our passes they said the same... you are faster to the fun. Hmm...? The final lady we checked in with must have seen somewhere that we did not pay for faster to the fun because she crossed it out. No problem here.. I was fine with that. She took our pictures and gave us our sail and sign cards and we were sent to group 3 to wait for boarding.

We boarded around 11:45-12 pm and headed to the Lido deck for lunch. We opted for burgers from Guys, the line was short and the burgers were pretty good. I am not a fan of seasoned fries but the seasoning was not overwhelming and they were pretty tasty. The only thing I had some reservations about were the cloth napkins. I understand the need to keep paper waste to a minimum but they were quite dingy.

After lunch we explored the ship some, while waiting for our cabin to be ready. At 1:30 we headed to our cabin on deck 7 . The cabin was ready and our luggage was waiting outside our door. We had a Balcony cabin with 2 twin beds one sofa bed and a pull down. We had plenty of storage with the 3 closets, ample shelving and drawers. We stored our suitcases under the bed. There was plenty of space for 4 adults. Our cabin steward was not around and we did not meet him until I had to call for towels since there were 4 of us in the cabin but only 3 towels. I have not cruised since 2004 but in all 5 of my prior cruises the cabin steward has always been very visible at all times. This was one of only two times I ever came in contact with my cabin steward. We chose evening service for our room since I knew my boys would want to sleep in and the steward said since we had late dining he would come at that time to take care of the room. The only other time I saw him was on day 3 when he came by early 3 times to try to clean the room. He was a nice enough fellow, but I really didn't get the opportunity to get know him and truthfully I was disappointed in his service. Two nights in a row he did not stock the toilet paper and left us with a half roll. :o The first night I called down and they told me he was off duty but they would send someone up. The second time no one answered the phone :loudcry: Good thing there was an extra box of kleenex! Seriously, I am pretty easy to please but needless to say I had an envelope for extra tips and unfortunatly he did not recieve any.

As far as the ship, I found it clean with an easy to manage deck plan. The food was hit or miss. We enjoyed Guys, I tried the Blue Iguana Cantina and while the meat was tasty I found the tortillas to be a little doughy. Not awful but not as tender as I like. The kids had the pizza and it was just okay. We did not eat at the buffet. My kids had fun trying lots of different foods in the dining room. Lobster, rabbit, escargo... some they liked and some not. I found the food to be hit or miss... the best meal we had was the night we ordered from the steakhouse menu. The filet was excellent. The service in the dining room was adequate, the wait staff were constantly moving and service was decent if not as personable as I am used to. But they were very busy so it is understandable.

DS21 and I had the Cheers beverage package. While I did not come anywhere near the 15 drink limit DS maxed out 2 of the 4 days. My advice to future cruisers... don't buy your 21 year old child the cheers package unless you can tolerate them "stupid drunk" :'):') Even though I did not "max" out I do feel like I got my monies worth. All of my drinks except for a cpl beers were purchased at the Alchemy bar. This was the place to get drinks! Top shelf liquer and great bartenders!! The guys were always super busy but always acknowleged me, knew my name and made small talk. Needless to say they got my room stewards extra tips. They were great!!

Because we had late dining we did not see any of the shows in the main theater but we did see the comedians each night. I will warn you if you go to the late show and you are somewhat sensitive, I don't recommend it, they can be pretty crude. They do warn you and give you the opportunity to leave but just so you know it ain't Leave it to Beaver. I enjoyed the lady comedian a lot but the guy was just so so.

We spent our fair share of time at the craps table in the casino. It was pretty much full every evening and we had a lot of fun! The dealers were very friendly and got to know our names but I will say they seemed like they were fairly new. They made a few mistakes here and there.

Debarkation was uneventful, we were in the later group so it gave us time to enjoy breakfast and then we hung out near the Vienna Cafe to wait for our group to be called.

In summary we had a great time and my kids are already planning their next cruise! If you have any questions I will be happy to answer if I can!

Great review luvny2boyzz -- My wife & I along with twin grandkids (11 year old twins) that have never been on a vacation much less a cruise or leaving on the Triumph Feb. 12th on a 5 day cruise. The kids are excited and counting down the days (the cruise is during Mardi-Gras break -- they are off school for the week. We have a balcony on Deck 10 & I was curious of how the room (beds) are arranged. I would appreciate & would share any pictures of the room with me to be prepared for what to expect.

Thanks

It's the only food on a cruise ship I have felt I needed to salt...sometimes I just add some extra butter. :) but they have been on every ship I had sailed in the MDR and on the buffet and, yes, in the MDR they do tend to bring them out first (like cereal) instead of with the rest of the meal. Be sure the say you want everything at the same time (unless you want something else earlier).

Thanks

Just don't faint when you see someone put milk and sugar on them.

WOW - Never seen or heard of that

Just don't faint when you see someone put milk and sugar on them.

WOW -- Never seen or hears of that before

Great ---- Thanks for your quick responses --- Got to have my Grits

Great ---- Thanks for your quick responses --- Got to have my Grits

Thanks

Jimmy

I guess I have a crazy question but does anyone know if they have Grits on the Pearl? We are on the Pearl out of Los Angeles through the Panama Canal to New Orleans

Thanks

Dora@Cartagenatour.com

 

No payment needed in advance

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I emailed her twice and still haven't got a response. We will be stopping there in Oct.

We did Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel in February - similar itinerary. I envy you with cruise ending in New Orleans :)

 

In Cartagena we booked tour with Dora (our guide was not Dora but one of her guides). We enjoyed the tour but next time we'd probably taxi into the old city and wander. Felt very safe there and it was interesting.

 

In Puntarenas we did the 8 in 1 tour with Giotours. It was really great and we'd do it again.

 

We were a group of 8, four couples in upper 60's and lower 70's. We booked the above tours for the 8 of us. It made it nice because we had more flexibility than with a larger tour group.

 

Could not book Giotours. Our ship arrives to late for the snorkel tour & leaves loo early for the sunset tout. Also I emailed Dora twice and still haven't received any feedback

Thanks

I just wanted to mention that we did the full transit of the Panama Canal a few years ago on the Pearl, and the PHOTOS of the ship during the transit were actually pretty amazing - I believe that you could buy packages of 3, 5, 10 or more photos and they were well worth the package price (we chose the photos over the video, simply because they were very good). :)

thanks

It really varies by ship, in my experience. Most likely the laundry special will be offered twice, but no guarantee. We have been on NCL cruises where it has been offered twice/week. On our last 14 day cruise, it was only offered once. We usually bring enough clothes for a week or so no matter how long our cruise is, we have clean clothes.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks

The video is only of the Panama Canal transit. I don't remember the price, but we felt it was reasonable and worth it, and we normally never buy anything from the Photo shop. The video includes shots of people hanging out over their balconies and along the railing of the Promenade Deck and the Sports deck. If you want your photo to show up on the video it will almost certainly appear if you're at the Promenade Deck railing. And we feel that's the best place to be anyway, even if you have a balcony, because you can easily cross from one side to the other, and you can socialize with others--yet it's not as crowded as on the Sports Deck and the Bow.

Thanks crayola

We do have a balcony & I appreciate the quick response & information. As this is probably a once in a life time cruise of the Canal I know I will spend the money. Any idea how long the video is? And I sure someone will post the price. Do you order before, during or after passing thru the Canal.

Kajuncruiser

I can't remember if NCL offered a video of the cruise or not.

We will be on a 14 day full transit of the Panama Canal & was wondering if they offered a video of the whole cruise, just one going through the Canal, or neither. If they do what is the cost & is it worth it? Or do they just have photo's available?

Just a guess, but I would think you would be using the old locks... but really can't be sure unless I know the name of the ship. Basically if a ship has used the old locks previously, it will continue to use the old locks. You will be able to see the new locks on the Pacific side from the port side. They will come into view after the ship travels under the Bridge of Americas and before you get to the first set of locks (Miraflores Locks)on the Pacific side. The new locks are not really visible from the old locks even though they are relatively close to each other. However, you will be able to see a ship passing through them from the old locks if there is a ship in the new locks at the that time. The new locks on the Atlantic side will be seen on the starboard side after you clear the last locks (Gatun Locks) later in the afternoon.

 

I am sure others will advise you to move around the ship during the transit and see the sites from a number of different vantage points. I agree with that strategy completely. Here is one quick example if you are too anchored down to your port side balcony... as you arrive at the Pacific entrance of the Canal to begin your transit, the port side will offer you a great view of the various islands in the Bay. You will probably see a number of other ships waiting for their transit of the Canal, however if you are not where you can take in what the starboard side has to offer, you will miss the striking skyline of Panama City, well worth seeing.

Thanks for the quick response. Good information

Thanks again

How much clothes can you put in the bag & what's the charge?

Has anyone had any issues with clothing get lost or not returned?

It has to do with what you are importing into the country.

 

Doesn't matter if you are out of the country for a week or months.

 

ALL items purchased abroad and being physically imported (in your possession at the time you go through customs) must be declared on your customs form. You will pay duty on anything exceeding your exemption.

Thanks BirdTravels that's what I thought

My wife & I are doing a full transit through the Canal in October 2017 & I was wonder which side of the ship will be facing the newer locks (Port or Starboard Side)? Can you see the newer locks or older locks while going through your set of locks? Not sure what locks we will be using.

What is the best side of the ship to be on during the transit? We have a balcony on the Port Side.

We will be leaving Long Bech, Ca to New Orleans

We are on 14 day Panama Canal Cruise & was wondering if you purchase cigarettes and smoke them onboard (during the cruise) do the count has things you need to claim with Customs when the cruise ends?

Are the Custom limits the same on 14 day cries as a 7 day cruise? Cigarettes & alcohol

Thanks in advance for your responses

Kajuncruiser

Make sure you visit the ROLL CALL for your trip as others will be sharing some plans there.

Thanks GaryCarla

I couldn't find a roll call so I started one myself and it is finally starting to get active

Thanks again

Can't help with beach ideas but here is what we did on our reverse of your cruise:

Cartenega - i arranged a private tour. Interesting, but if I had it to do over I might just catch a taxi into the old part of town and wander.

 

Puntareanas- a fellow CCer arranged a day at a resort in the mountains ( so much cooler) which included zip lining.

 

Huatulco- I arranged a cooking lesson for a group from our rollcall. We made two types of mole and it was wonderful.

 

Acapulco - we didn't get off the ship as every excursion involved cliff diving ans having had my own unfortunate cliff diving incident in Cozumel years ago, I didn't want to relive it.

 

Cabo - we didn't stop there on our cruise but on a precious port stop, we had GREAT massages at Krystal Resort for an incredibly cheap price.

 

If you want details for any of these suggestions just let me know!

Thanks Clay I appreciate the suggestions

Hopefully this post is not too long but looking for ideas / suggestions for our port days (14 day cruise). We are 59 & 62 years old. Any good beaches near ports, how far, is the areas safe? Also any not to miss places or excursion ideas?

Ports visiting:

Carbo San Lucas, Mexico -- from noon-8pm

Acapulco, Mexico -- from 8am-5pm

Huatulco, Mexico -- from 8am-4pm

Puntarenas, Costa Rica -- from 9am-7pm

Cartagena, Columbia -- from 8am-5pm

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions

KajunCruiser

Thanks to everyone for the quick response

What type of underwater case is the best for using iPhone 7. I would like to get one before my cruise in October. Would like suggestions from fellow cruisers, their opinions & experiences with using one. Are they dependable and worth getting one?

Thanks everyone looks like some good suggestions & some good ones to try

Thanks everyone for the info