bingo3

Thanks all! :)

debbie

We sail western Caribbean Jan 29, I could post them after we get home on the 8th

Thank you!! :D

debbie

I tried searching without much luck. Looking at booking 2 oceanview/balcony cabins. I usually prefer lower decks for less movement. Looking for pros and cons of decks.

For deck 6: Are there obstructions to the ocean view or noise from deck 5? I saw something somewhere about lifeboats.

Any benefits to being on a higher deck? My parents will be 79 and though in pretty good health, have been having some knee issues, so a lot of walking or stairs could be a challenge. Will probably try and get close to an elevator.

Any tips?

Thank you!

Debbie

If you eat at the buffet, go all the way back to the Havanna bar section for seats, will never have a problem finding a table, often by a window!

I have only sailed 3 lines and food decline has been evident on all 3. Similar changes on all such as no midnight buffets, etc. They seem to follow suite in certain areas. Yes, more people on the ships, but less crew per staff than the "old" days as well.

Yes they do, and yes on the breakfast. It is $5.00 per person, well worth it. You can call and make reservations when you board. Ours was the last sea day, choice of two times. The characters come out and take pics with the kids (they won't let you take with your camera). You can also take pics with your children at several stand-up signs. They give you way too much food though, especially for the kids. It is fun. I had the steak and eggs and it was great!

debbie

Just a heads up be prepared for altered itinerary if storms are around that week. We also had a Bermuda cruise scheduled last October and due to pending hurricane weather, our itinerary got rerouted to an eastern caribbean cruise instead. It turned out to be a wonderful cruise however we had to scramble to change all our plans for our 8-day cruise at the last minute. Lesson learned always be prepared for changes and have a good attitude to make the most out of your vacation.

yea, that is not the best time to plan a cruise to Bermuda, sept./Oct. big hurricane seasons unfortunately.

We have been on 2 cruises to Bermuda, loved them both and would go again!

All I can say is I wish I had thought of this....someone's getting rich off Pokémon! :D

When we were on the Sunshine May 26, we were told there were no kids menus printed, but they could order hamburger, hot dog, fries, etc. They ordered some off regular menu and sometimes had the kids stuff. Not sure if our section just didn't have access to kids menus or what, but it wasn't an issue, though having something to color may have eased some of the restlessness! Thankfully, we were at a table in the back by the window and not too close to others. :D

Med. Cruise :D

glad I already sailed out of Charleston in May. I am not a fan of this. :(

Well I don't book flights to enjoy myself while on them, they are a means to an end. The cruise companies are selling vacations and fun so they are trying to keep their customers a little more happy so they come back. A lot of companies are not required to do a lot of things customer service related, for example accept returns with no receipts, comp your dinner if it's super late or really bad, that kind of stuff, but they would like you to come back and tell your friends to use them. That's why I expect a little something if they change up their itinerary otherwise you have a lot of ppl like the OP who might switch cruise lines.

To my knowledge, most cruise lines have the same wording (basically) in their contracts and none compensate for missed ports. All the ones I have sailed have been that way anyway. So switching lines will not solve their issue.

One person being comped a meal in a restaurant, etc., does not equate to the same as compensating 1000's of people on one cruise.They could not afford to compensate every time there is an issue requiring a missed port without increasing cruise prices substantially. Not to mention, it IS in the cruise contract everyone signs, whether they read it or not is their problem. Not sure why people feel "entitled" to something when it clearly was in the contract anyway. But then again, we do live in a society, many of whom feel "entitled". Therefore, as others have said, best for a land vacation if port is most important aspect of the vacation. JMHO :)

I booked my cruise last week and now my daughter wants to book the same cruise. We have both traveled on one other cruise with carnival. When I put in my vifp #, it gives me an "exclusive vifp club offer" that includes half off deposit. When she puts hers in, no similar offer can be found. She's a single mom so 50% deposit is very helpful. Why would I have that offer but she doesn't? There shouldn't be any difference in our accounts...benefit wise.

I would call Carnival and get a PVP who could most likely get her the rate with her explanation.

This is correct. The star mean triple and the square means quad.

 

Just a heads up, since these are connecting (have a door that let you access from stateroom to stateroom) you cannot open the balcony divider. Sometimes that is important to people other times it is more important to have the connecting door.

Does this mean if you get two side by side rooms that are not "connecting" the balcony divider can be opened between the two?? I think that is more important to us. We opened our own on last cruise (wasn't carnival though) and shut it when we went back in.

Thanks all for the clarification on the star, that is not clear in the "key".

debbie

I am looking at booking 2 connecting cove balconies on the Magic and have a question. One of the rooms has a "star" in the key which means twin/King and single sofa. The other room has nothing from the key. What would be different in that room? I thought they all had the twin/king and a sofa?

I am looking specifically at rooms 2293 and 2297, though other connecting rooms are the same, one has a "star" and the other does not.

Thank you!

Debbie

I've cruised to Bermuda twice, none on Carnival because their ship or itinerary/date was not desirable, and loved it! We too loved being there overnight for two nights. It's beautiful there. :D

Last week on Sunshine, most were 5 x 7 and were 15.00 each, there was one picture that was a tad smaller and it was 11.99. I paid ~$150.00 for 10 pictures. I would not have purchased any but they were with grandchildren and I may never get that opportunity again. Conversely, I came home and ordered 1077 4 x 6 prints, I took with my digital camera, for 102.00!

debbie

If children under 13 cannot be signed up for a VIFP number, how do they get credit for their cruises before turning age 14?

thanks!

debbie

I was unfortunately on the 5/21 departure out of Charleston. It was my 6th cruise and I became a gold member, but it will be my last. We got in the parking line to get onboard at 1230, sat in the line until 430, and got onboard by 515. Everything that could have gone wrong did, and Carnival's Guest Care has done nothing. No hot water in the room, a non-working phone, missing onboard credits (which never got resolved despite printout from their system showing it was owed). Poor overworked wait staff, and the same meals served at every buffet every day. Even debarkation went haywire when they decided midstream to change the bus method and ended up dropping everyone in our bus in the wrong area such that we had to drag our baggage long distance to where we parked. I could go on, but it just depresses me since I paid to take my mom on her first cruise and this was our experience. Thankful that Charleston was beautiful so we enjoyed our few days after the cruise. :)

Sorry for your experience, ours was quite different on May 26, no problems with either cabin we had, water hot and great pressure, never any smells, etc. While the buffet was typical buffet type food, it was different each day, except for breakfast of course. I felt there were plenty of food options available and if we had not had a 6 and 8 yr. old with us, we would have tried others! Sorry you did not enjoy it.

The embarkation/debarkation parking lot issues may have been because this was the first cruise out of Charleston on a bigger ship, with more people to contend with. Hopefully, they have learned from their mistakes.

The May 21 ship could not depart Charleston on time because of customs inspections and nothing/no one was allowed onto the ship until they completed them, a complete ship inspection I believe. Inspection teams....should be a better way!

An elderly man passed away on 6 the morning of the last sea day. I was on 6 as well and was woken by all the commotion. I saw them walk his body to the atrium elevators. You would think they would have went down something more private. Also towards the front of 6 there was a heavy smell of pot on the first sea day. I completely understand people trying to have fun but take in consideration of the young children on the boat. I have never been on a cruise with so many medic calls but from what I was able to gather, a lot of injuries occurred. A lady had alcohol poisoning to the extent of needing her stomach pumped, another women broke her leg in a restroom & a man sliced his head open in his bathroom by tripping.

Was this the May 21 or 26 cruise? If May 26, I missed it all I guess! But that is OK!

debbie

We sailed out of Charleston on 5/26 and had no issues aside from the strange routing through the parking lot and then back out onto the street when we arrived. Other than that, embarking and debarking was very smooth and getting through the port was really easy!

We also sailed this same cruise. I just prepared myself in advance for the port and did not let it bother me. The fact is, the port terminal was never originally a cruise port and not designed for that. Until Charleston can get their act together and a new terminal is built, we just have to accept it the way it is. My husband thinks they send you back out and around and into the lot again to help keep lines from backing up.

As different as it is, I found it better than Port Canaveral when it seemed like 1000's of people trying to get dropped off or picked up at the same time and so confusing where to go. Despite the snaking and waiting in Charleston, you know where things are. Just be patient, you will get on the ship.

I just expect there will be delays, crowds, etc. at embarkations and debarkations and I don't let it bother me. Not worth the stress! And our debarkation on Monday in Charleston was the easiest and fastest I have ever experienced on any cruise. I did tip a porter $10.00 bucks to take my luggage (3 suitcases on a cart) and our family though customs quickly and straight to a bus (where taken to drop-off area). Whole process took less than 10 minutes. There are other porters there when you are dropped off the bus to assist if you need to get luggage a further distance than can carry. Another option would be for one person to go get the car and you take your luggage over out of the way of the drop-off tent and get picked up.

It was our understanding the reason for the even longer delays with the May 21 sailing was the ship had just come from drydock and there were custom inspections that held embarkation up and Carnival had no control over.

Since I am only 2 hours from Charleston, I do hope to see a better terminal and bigger ship based there in the future. :D It is unfortunate a small group is holding up progress. Many in Charleston would like to see improvements.

I think one problem is the port was not originally a cruise port and they "make do". Hopefully, if a new terminal ever does get built, things will be better. :)

Just off the Sunshine for a 4 night cruise out of Charleston to Nassau, Bahamas. This cruise was with myself, hubby and our 2 grandchildren, 6 and 8 years old. I chose this one because I have wanted to take the kids while they would still be in the same Camp Carnival age group and before their 1 yr. old brother is old enough to know he's left behind! Charleston is a short 2 hours away and the Sunshine is a much larger ship than the Ecstasy, that is normally sailing from Charleston. I don’t typically like small ships. Alternately, I did not want to drive 7 or more hours with the kids for a FL port and larger ship, so this rare Sunshine cruise from Charleston fit the bill perfectly.

Embarkation: We arrived at the gate at 11:00am and cars were already being admitted, we went through a line to drop off our luggage, then weaved around where there was a bottle neck for a while, then on to pay for parking, then weave all around and go back out the lot and in again to park. My husband thinks they did all that to keep the lines from getting too long. We then walked to an area to get on a bus to the ship. We did not have that long of a wait, there were several busses lined up and as one filled another pulled up. From the time we got to the gate and onto the ship (through registration, pictures, security, etc.) it was 1:00pm. It did not truly seem like it was that long to get through all of that though. Everything moved smoothly. We asked a woman if the rooms were ready yet and she told us we could go check. Ours was ready, so we left our carryons and went to eat. None of the lines we were in were too long and it didn’t take too long to get through registration, etc. It may have been a little quicker if we were at a higher cruise level or paid for FTTF, but all in all, it was not bad for us and our room was ready!

Having read all the reviews for a year, and you all being able to do the same, I will not give as much detail. I did not find the ship as bad as some make it out to be, but I am also not negative by nature and enjoy any cruise. I go with an open mind and know what to expect in advance. Yes, we did find it difficult to navigate parts of the ship because you cannot get through all the decks from one end to the other, but we eventually learned how to go up or down a level, walk around and go back up or down. The map I picked up (readily available on the Guest Services counter, don’t have to wait in line) to help navigate the ship was very much appreciated and useful. We also took advantage of the posted deck maps at the elevators.

We had two outside connecting cabins, which gave us more space than cramming 4 of us in the same room. We could also put the kids to bed earlier if desired. The cost was only about $200.00 more total than if I had paid for 4 of us to be in the same room, and that was worth it to me for the extra space. It also gave us 2 bathrooms. I like lower levels and middle of ship, just to be safe from movement and I have to say, we did not experience much movement on this ship, even in the front and back and despite Tropical Storm Bonnie in the area. I could see white caps one day, but did not feel anything differently.

Despite the storm, we had great weather and I could not ask for more! It was sunny most of the trip. In Nassau, we had a couple of short showers that passed quickly.

Food is subjective and I am not a foodie. Food is plentiful, it is not gourmet, but I didn’t expect it to be. We did not go hungry and I did not have to cook or clean, so was satisfied. We ate most breakfasts and lunches in the Lido buffet, one lunch from the Italian restaurant and the kids had a couple of tacos from Blue Iguana. There were longer lines at Guys and the Burittos, so we passed on those with kids in tow. Lines at the buffet moved quickly for the most part. I just don't let things like small crowds bother me and use some patience. We never had trouble finding seating back in the Havana bar area and got right by a window most days. We ate all dinners in the Sunrise restaurant, early 6:00pm time slot. The only thing I found odd here was there was no children’s menu. Our head waiter said there were no printed ones, but the kids could have hamburger, hot dog, etc. Most of our meals there were 1.5 hours long and kids get restless. It may have been nice to have the menu and crayons to keep them busy some of the time. They ordered some items from the adult menu and ordered hotdog, hamburger or chicken nuggets the other times. Our wait staff; head waiter and two assistants were excellent and attentive. They worked hard to keep many tables happy. Food came out in the order it was ordered and they remembered who got what. There was the fun “showtime” each evening, which my grands enjoyed very much. One of the assistant waiters made each child origami from a dollar bill (a ring and a shirt) and they were thrilled. The staff were all friendly and smiling all the time. I realize everyone has different personalities and not all staff are going to be outgoing. As an introvert myself, I can understand this.

I had not told the kids about the towel animals, so the first night, they each grabbed them up before I could say a word and they promptly fell apart! LOL! They learned not to touch them after that. My granddaughter went to the towel folding session and enjoyed that. Our Stateroom attendant, Bagus, was very attentive and serviced our room twice daily. We had ice each time, even though I only requested it for the evenings. He was excellent.

We went over the Camp Carnival schedule the first evening and the kids chose the activities they wanted to participate in. They made T-shirts one session, which is a nice souvenir and no extra charge. They also made very nice memory books. They did the Build a bear workshop. Most of the animal choices were $24.00 and extra outfits were $10.00. Both kids slept with their animals the remainder of the cruise.

We did not have the towel animal extravaganza on the pool deck this cruise (not to my knowledge anyway), maybe because only a 4 night, I don’t know, but was looking forward to that. Oh well, next time!

The one main pool is small, so don’t plan on doing any swimming, it was usually overrun with older kids, my two did not swim much because kids were too rambunctious. They did enjoy the waterworks, the smaller slides for young kids and then they finally braved the large slides the last 2 days and loved them. The deck chairs were pretty full most of the time and the serenity area filled up quickly as well. If you want a good seat or spot, I guess you have to get out there VERY early. I had no trouble finding a chair to sit at and watch the kids at Waterworks. Though shade is rare! I already knew from other reviews these areas would be crowded, and frankly, they have been on any ship I have sailed, including some of the largest ships.

We did not watch any of the nightly outdoor movies, but the screen was nice and large and loud enough for all to hear. The only production show we got to was EPIC Rock and the kids especially enjoyed that. My husband too. I’m not really a rock fan, but appreciate their talent, the costumes and stage work. The cast came out afterwards and took pictures. My grands thought that was awesome.

Our beds were very comfortable and so was the air in the room. No trouble keeping it cold. The water was hot and the pressure was great. We did not smell any bad smells throughout our cruise and the only smoke I smelled was when we had to walk through the casino to get around and to another level.

There are numerous outdoor showers available in the pool/waterworks areas, which I have not seen on another ship (I have only sailed on 2 small Carnival ships and 2 large RCCL and one large NCL). The hand washing stations and Purell dispensers are numerous and around all eating venues as well.

The cruise Director, Emma, was very enthusiastic and fun. Anytime I saw her, she seemed to truly be enjoying herself and I love her British accent of course! All of the entertainment staff I saw were very good at what they were doing. The Camp Carnival staff were also great.

The only thing that was a pain to me was the photo section. I never did find some of our photos and got tired of looking for them, which may have been for the best financially! I normally do not buy them, because to me they are too expensive. But, since this was possibly a once in a lifetime cruise I wanted some with the Grands. I ended up buying ten for 150.00! one was 4 x 9 and the rest 5 x 7. I came home and ordered a total of 1020 (many duplicates) 4 x 6 digital prints I took with my camera for $102.00! I was also able to make copies of the 10 Carnival prints for family (52 copies for 20.00). You can print off a release at the Carnival website, but no one asked to see it. I wish they had a better way to find and purchase photos. I would prefer a digital method and print my own in the sizes I want. Like I said, if it had not been the grands, I would not have purchased any for those prices. There’s a lot of waste too, so many of the printed photos go in the trash, gracious! A lot of wasted ink and paper!!

Since we had the grands, there were a lot of things we did not do on this cruise we normally would have without them, but that was ok, it was only 4 days and the trip was for them. It definitely was not relaxing as we stayed very busy and young children are a handful for us older folks!

In Nassau, we decided to do the day passes at the British Colonial Hilton, not far from the ship. It took us about 20 minutes to walk there because of getting through all the crowds of people coming off the ships and getting through all the “merchants”. I think it only took us about 10 minutes to get back to the pier area. The Hilton was very nice, great loungers, pool area and beach area. Very calm and nice for kids, but forget snorkeling, etc., not a good spot for those things. But, my granddaughter did find a conch shell (with conch inside) while swimming, and was thrilled, we took pictures and she put it back in the ocean! The day passes include towels and vouchers for food/beverage ($40.00 per adult, $20.00 per child). The waiters come to you at the pool or on the beach and take orders and bring everything to you as well as pick it up. Tips are included within the voucher and I guess if you go over the voucher amount, they charge it to your credit card. I think we left with about $20.00 still on our vouchers. The only thing I would suggest is a children’s menu, the servings are way too large for kids and a lot of waste. I could not even eat it all! We went through Resort for a Day for the passes. You pay a deposit and the rest at the hotel front desk. The hotel is behind Senor Frogs and before you get to Junkanoo Beach.

We did the Seuss at Sea breakfast the last sea day. They had one at 8:30 and one at 9:45. The room was decorated nicely and 4 characters came out for pictures (Carnival takes those). The food was good, but again, portions for kids were too large and wasted. I loved my steak and eggs though and I think they serve that daily in the dining rooms. Best steak I’ve had in a long time, juicy and tender. It was $5.00 per person, not a bad deal at all. The kids also received a booklet with coloring and other activities. The dining staff were excellent. I highly recommend this breakfast if you have kids. I also suggest if you’re on a tight budget and have more than one child, because of the expense, have them take group shots with the characters. Then you can just be torn between buying 4! Oh, and we did not know we could only enter the dining room at one entrance and of course, we were at the wrong one along with another couple! They told us to go around, which of course meant going down a level walking around and up again, but it was fine, they were still checking people in. I had made reservations by phone the first day on the ship. The number was in the funtimes. Highly recommend this if you have kids.

My grands also enjoyed the Seuss parade and storytime.

The Funtimes is a smaller, trifold version. Small print as well. I downloaded the Hub app before the trip, but did not use it much. I did pay for the social media package for one day ($5.00), to send facebook massages and pics to the kid’s parents. Well worth it. We could use our phones in Nassau, so I did not need it that day. I used the onboard Kiosk to load two Carnival gift cards to my account and to check my account. They also put a receipt under our door the last night.

The only time I used Guest Services was to get a replacement muster station band for my granddaughter (hers came off sometime in Nassau) and to ask for our debarkation tags to be changed to an earlier time. I did not have to wait too long in lines either time. They were all attentive and efficient.

Debarkation: We were given tags with number 34, which was the last or almost last time off the ship. I went and traded for number 14 at guest services, which would have been about 9:00. We put our luggage out by 11:00pm the night before. We got up and left the cabin around 7:30 to eat, we took everything with us, gave our steward extra tip and went up to Lido. It was not as crowded as I expected. We headed to the Liquid Lounge around 8:00am to wait on our departure time, but when we got to the area on deck 3, we directed right off the ship. The attendant said they were running ahead, when we asked. The lines were not long and we did not wait long to get to the part where you pick up your luggage. Section 14 was right in front where we entered the room and I found our luggage quickly. We elected to use a porter to get through customs quicker and to help since we had the kids and it would have been more difficult. It is worth it to me to pay them the extra money to walk right past everyone in lines, go right through customs and straight to a bus. There were also porters available to help get your luggage to your car when you exited the busses in the parking areas. Took us no time to the parking lot and were on our way home by 9:00am! Best debarkation ever!

We did not use any of the bars, so cannot comment on that or the casino. I also did not shop much this trip. I walked through the gift shops, but that was about it. I had ordered water and some photo albums, a t-shirt, a beach bag package, etc. through the onboard shops and that was all in our room when we arrived. We did not go to Cherry on top, or the Shake Spot. We did not have time or the need to go to the Warehouse: games, video, skeeball, etc. The Grands stayed busy enough without it. My grandson played some video games at Camp Carnival and enjoyed those. The Grands really kept us/me busy and pretty much dictated our schedule. The next cruise will be more relaxing and just my hubby and me!

Overall, we had a great cruise, the ship was very clean and staff were always working to keep it that way. I also did not witness any unruly behavior, which I understand is typical on shorter cruises, not to say there wasn’t some, but I did not witness it. Most everyone seemed in control of themselves. Everyone I saw was polite, let wheelchairs onto elevators, spoke to each other, etc. Of course, Charleston is in the south and we are a friendly bunch!

That’s our cruise experience. Great memories made with our Grands. I would recommend the Sunshine. I don't dwell on crowds, I know beforehand it will be crowded. I am sure the bigger ships have more amenities, but I could not find much wrong with the Sunshine. Just go with an open mind, good attitude and patience and you will enjoy yourself!

I tried posting this in the review section and got some error message, so put it here as well, just in case! I will answer any questions that I can.

Debbie

READ YOUR CONTRACT!! Yes, I would be disappointed too, but the contract is pretty clear on this. And, if they do this for one cruiser, have to do it for ALL!! How ludicrous and impractical is that? :rolleyes:

I'd call it "stealing" and that is sad someone went without their luggage because of some idiot! Not nice people and glad I do not know them! :(