kelkel2

We agree. Balcony or no go. So the loss of the balconies on family harbor rooms is a no go for us. It’s too bad, we would have loved to take advantage of that while ours kids are small. But their first cruise was on the Mardi Gras and our next one is jubilee and neither of those have the balconies. Is it just horizon and vista that have the balconies in family harbor?

I think you will be. We turned gold on our cruise we just went on and we started the cruise with gold cards.

I don’t know about a cutoff date, it seems to typically sell out. Which also answers your first question. Yea, there is some sort of cut off but I don’t know how they determine how many spots they sell. There’s a lot of people on CC that theorize that they base it off of how many plat/diamonds are on the ship. But I really don’t know if they do or not. I have done FTTF pre covid and we liked it. It was cheaper back then. We really wanted it for priority tendering in Grand Cayman and pre covid your room was ready and you could stay in it as soon as you boarded. So it was worth it. Oh and the priority debarking is nice too. Fttf goes right after the Diamond/plat/suites. So if you have an early flight to catch it could be very beneficial to you. Don’t let the masses in CC tell you how to spend your money. If you see the value in it, get it.

We made friends with our next door neighbors while on the Mardi Gras. We had an ocean suite and they had a balcony. The husband was a POS too, and in a scooter. They were really jealous of our bathroom and yes, ours was bigger in the ocean suite. But even ours felt small. But it was do-able. I wouldn’t have wanted it any smaller!

Thanks for doing the review!! I’m following along. We were just on MG in January and miss her!

I agree, it’s a huge downgrade. The only thing I can think of with their thought process is that they have the family harbor on deck 4, which is the same as Camp Carnival. So it makes sense to have all of that together and maybe they didn’t want to give up the space of all of that and take that away from the cove balconies and have it on deck 5? I know the coves are really popular and I’d love to book one, but right now while my kids are little we prefer to all be in one room, which really makes us need a suite. I wish I could have both worlds.

We had the same debate for our cruise on the Mardi Gras. We ended up opting for an ocean suite. We liked the extra space, the kids had their own area and own tv that was separated from our sleeping area by a curtain. There’s 2 tv’s so we could watch tv after we put the kids to bed without disturbing them. It was really nice and worth it for us. I really like the idea of the family suites, but the. I balcony thing is a huge negative that keeps me from booking them. I love the idea of the family harbor and the little snack area they have, and how close it is to Camp Ocean! But the no balcony thing was the deal breaker.

I mean, I get it. I work at a hospital and people want to bring stuff for us all the time. Which we do appreciate, but we are always leery of home made stuff. You just never know what people’s houses look like… so I can only imagine the crew probably feels similar. im happy to just tip in cash vs. bring a gift.

I binged and now I’m caught up. Do those slides really go though balconies? Like why would they do that?? Who would want those balconies? Thanks again for the awesome review!!

I bet that’s what it is then! I bet the booking isn’t open yet. When I went to my June 2024 booking just to look, we don’t have anything listed at all under specialty dining.

Did you guys check the drop down for the last sea day on the reservation? I think it’s only offered on the one day.

Well I just found this today after a long weekend of work. I can’t wait to keep following along! Thank you for all the time you spend on these!

I’m not sure if that’s true. Just recently in Port Canaveral they had a line specifically for plat/diamond/suites/and FTTF. Then there was a line for on time and another line for late/early arrivals. So although each port may be different, FTTF was welcome to check in via the priority line whenever they arrived.

I didn’t stay on deck 16, we were on 14 mid. But, I don’t think you’ll hear it. Bolt is more aft, but even when being on deck 16 passing though, I never heard it.

I just got off a cruise last week and AirTags worked sporadically. Once out to sea I was constantly getting alerts that my luggage was left behind. AirTags rely on other iPhones in the area to ping your tag. And I think your phones need to have cell service to ping it, not Wi-Fi. So yes they do work, but not the entire time.

Correct. That’s how ours was. The only suite in that area. As far as the extra tips go, I just assumed it’s because the room is bigger and maybe requires more of their time? But I will say I don’t believe service was any better than you would get in any other cabin. At least it wasn’t on this cruise. And I agree, I think Carnival has quietly changed the policy of giving you night or day service. We certainly weren’t asked.

I think this cabin is perfect for a family with kids. I don’t think you’ll regret it. It did have a pull down extra bed, but I didn’t trust my kids on it, so we left it up and they shared the couch. They were fine with one on either end.

We really enjoyed the ship and the cruise and both agreed it was the best one we had been on! I hope you have a great cruise!

This is absolutely to a T what happened to us on our balcony. I’m glad my kids didn’t get hurt falling. But if they’re going to clean the balcony they need to take the time to make sure the water is gone. I don’t mind wet, but standing water is totally different.

I haven’t been on Oasis, but have friends who have. I think the cabins are bigger. But having just got off the Mardi Gras, I can say I was pleasantly surprised with how well it handled the crowds. I feel like it was much less crowded than our last cruise was on the Breeze. Mardi Gras seemed to disperse crowds, we were 107% capacity and I couldn’t tell.

Yes, that’s gone with the return from covid (maybe before)

Thanks for sharing your review! I’m going to have to check out cruises on celebration!

Honestly, my husband and I talked about this several times that for being 107% capacity it never felt crowded. The only time I really felt the crowds was the lido buffet on a port day. It was crowded but not unreasonable. We never even had a problem getting a deck chair whenever we wanted them.

I’m a surgical tech. I’m impressed too!

I’m finally caught up! We just got off the Mardi Gras yesterday, so I was a little behind. But I’ve been waiting for this review. We had one of those L shaped cabins on the liberty years ago. Did you like it? Thanks again for another awesome review!