Drazil65

We have have taken many cruises over the years from Charleston including a few 5 day. We tend to gravitate towards the newer, larger ships but the Sunshine is one of our favs (love serenity and the ship is not too small). The 5 day cruises we have sailed were great and did not find them to be much different than a 7 day (except shorter of course). I do believe the Charleston location may lend itself to a more well behaved clientele base (maybe?) and it also is slightly more expensive due to port charges for Charleston. For us with Charleston being the closest port for us and we can drive the morning of the cruise if we want to, a 5 day is a nice little long weekend getaway for our family. The 5 day cruises are just enough time to feel like you had some time away and relax. If you are going to try a 5 day this is a great port city (love to explore and walk around Charleston) to do it from. You dont have much more time to get a Charleston cruise in so you may want to give it a try sooner rather than later.

My big dream is to do one of those long 14 day European sailings, but I couldn't leave the pet for that long so I just hope I outlive him long enough to do it haha. His breed can live up to 35 years and he's only 18 and i'm 53 so it's a race against time lol. You are hysterical and this is so true! My grandfather had a green amazon (huge) parrot for 30 years and the bird outlived grandpa. They had to find someone to take him when grandpa passed, one of the younger grandchildren took him and the bird takes way more care than his children at times. Glad you were able to get away for a few days and spend time on your cabin balcony, here is hoping you get to take that 7 day or more cruise in the future. Thank you again the review!

We had a "bump out" corner suite on MG and loved the room (there was a pull over divider curtain between bedroom area and living room, 2 big TVs and our bathroom was good with a larger shower (love the glass doors) than a regular balcony cabin bathroom and plenty of storage. The bump out balcony was great for us (larger and can fit lounger with 2 chairs and table). We love an OS on most ships but really enjoyed them on MG and the newer ships.

Just found out there is a rocket launch at Port Canaveral tomorrow night at 7:38pm; we are hoping to see it! Welcome back TB, I remember your accident well and you turned out to be a poster child for travel insurance! So happy things are all put back together and you are mobile again. This past December (week before Christmas) we were cruising on MG and drove in the day before. We normally stay in Cocoa Beach at the Marriott but decided to book at the new Marriott courtyard in Titusville. We had no idea ahead of time, but when we checked we saw a sign for a rocket launch viewing that evening on the rooftop deck bar of the hotel. It was awesome and DH got great pictures from the rooftop. Then once we boarded MG and we were hanging out on the balcony of our suite right before sail away, another rocket went up and we had another great view from our balcony as the whole ship broke out in applause. Great way to kick off a cruise for sure! Have a blast!

Fresh Creations on MG was open on sea days but the times were not always consistent/set meaning they opened one day at noon and another closer to 1 o'clock. That being said, was very convenient to have it right on serenity deck and was surprised at the variety of items and freshness. We enjoyed that convenience and lack of people in line, thought it was a nice touch, option and right next to the bar.

We have 3 people in our family and now that DS is in college and adult size, it is worth it for us for sure. Also, we have cruised 3 times since restart after covid and 3 more booked at this time. We have found that the extra room in cabin and the extra space on balcony serves us very well when wanting to be further away from the crowds especially. We love to have good conversation, maybe a book and a lounge chair to relax and watch the world go by (and a glass or two of wine). No phones or computers can make for some really good family time (omg, we actually enjoy talking to one another) which is one of the reasons we cruise. Plenty of space for 3 people to be comfortable. We have been cruising for more than 20 years and our routines on a cruise ship have changed as well as our needs/wants in a cabin type. We really like an OS and on the newer, bigger ships its our go to if available.

Go to a comparison site like... insure my trip dot com, plug in your needs are far as insurance goes (like do you want primary medical that pays upfront to a hospital or medical evacuation in case you need to be flown home etc) and it will give you a list. Compare the company certificates and see which fits your needs and purchase.

Room service menu for free/included items are limited now but there are a few more items added for a charge (minimal). DS and DH have enjoyed several of these added items. If you have loyalty items to receive they are no longer in your cabin for the most part and you will need to go to other areas to pick them up if you want them (pixels for your platinum gift or any bar for your bottle of free water etc.). Not sure how long its been since you have cruised but your S&S cards will be in your mailbox outside your cabin for pickup when your cabin is ready. You should go to your muster station (ask where it is located as soon as you board) and check in as that is pretty much it and will take you less than 2 mins to complete. They will also show the process on your cabin TV once you can access your cabin. This is one of the best things CCL has done in the last few years. Enjoy your cruise

Not sure you can change now but in future if DW is using scooter and there are 3 or 4 of you in a cabin, you may want to choose the ocean view category. The balcony of course gives you the extra space outside but the OV gives it to you inside the cabin (220 sq ft vs.185 inside) where it would probably meet your needs better with using and parking a scooter. Of course a suite would be even better (extra room inside and a balcony) if that is something your family wants to explore but obviously the OV would be more cost effective.

You may want to take a look at the MG deck plans and pinpoint all the locations that may work for your child. It might help to print them off (or take pix with phone) as well and highlight the area(s) so that you can easily find them. MG is a very large ship and you can lose or forget your way. Hope you all have fun!

DH likes them and has no issue with using one if available in a suite on an older suite cabin (especially after an active day in port). As mentioned previously the newer ship suites are fitted with a nice shower with plenty of room and no curtain, my preferred choice.

Always book all of our travel myself, cruise, land or international. We travel often and I am too OCD/control to leave in hands of someone else. I have also helped friends and family with booking cruises in the past but have learned to give information out and let the individuals book themselves (too much drama otherwise). For 2023 I have booked 2 cruises later in year and a 10 day land trip to London (we have been a few times so this was not new for us) upcoming in May (all of these trips were booked last year). I know exactly what my family is looking for and our needs so I am the best person to take care of that. We have a lot of travel points (I learned how to play the points game many years ago) and I have learned to book well in advance, do my research and always purchase travel insurance. If something goes wrong I can only blame myself BUT I can also hop right on the issue and deal directly with the other side without waiting on someone else.

I agree with the other posters as to the source of the increase. Have you asked your travel agent about it? As a side note, it really is too bad you will not see St. Petes, (understandable with everything going on) it is by far one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities in the world. We have been there twice (once during white nights) over the years and cannot say enough about it. Hopefully you will have another chance at some point in the future to visit.

On our December MG cruise we were in a suite and platinum, we self debark as we have a 8.50 hr road trip home. We had earliest debark, we were in one waiting room (suites) and FTTF were in another room (they had staff directing and showing you where to go). We left the ship and were in our car (parked at port) on the road by a few mins after 7 AM. FTTF cruisers definitely went before the self debark that didn't have it. If you have younger children with you it would be worth it to be able to drop off your carryons and be hands free (except for the kids of course!) until your room is ready.

Liberty or Freedom, we are not fans of the fantasy class of ships.

We always do YTD and we were on MG in December. We go when it opens as we like to have our evening for shows etc. (we are not late eaters anyway). Never had an issue getting a table for 3 when it opened and also enjoyed having some of the other venues available on the app to choose from if desired.

This may have something to do with fttf. I heard it is sold based on how many platinum/diamond are on that sailing. My guess is if they strip this from being a loyalty perk and sail it exclusively as a paid perk and suite perk they will make a lot more money. On sailings where not as many people sign up for fttf then the perk for loyalty will be retained. This is just my guess. THIS...

Seems like the majority of the complaining relates to once a day cabin service, ice buckets and food portions. We have been cruising 20 plus years mostly on CCL and RCCL (and a couple of one offs on other lines). Truthfully we never wanted 2x a day cabin service and would leave our privacy tag on the door knob until we left for dinner. We still get the same service at dinner time and since I have no service at home, this is way more than enough for us. We always just ask our cabin stew to please bring fresh ice in the evening when he does the cabin and it has not been a problem. The staff definitely has many more cabins to service than ever and less staff to do it with it seems. We have seen menu items come and go on both CCL & RCCL over the years and many that have come back, portions may be smaller but we feel we have many more venues to choose from to eat at and no one in our family has ever starved on a cruise. Things change but after the pandemic shutdown we are happy to have the choice of cruising again.

With uncertainty of flights, potential weather and how to handle with leaving mid cruise, seems like he would be better off being as a no show on the cruise to begin with. I agree with you, this whole thing would not sit right with me either and all that comes with it. I also agree with the above poster, if he ends up leaving mid cruise, be up front about it.

Think of it this way, if you, as the mother never noticed the error on your child's BC (for 2 years) then the chances of someone that looks at it for less than a minute is not likely to notice (question) either. I think you are good at this point.

Dont forget you can bring your own soda also (each person can bring up to 12 cans onboard) or order it ahead from CCL to have in cabin waiting when you board. As well as bringing a bottle of wine for each person 21 and over with you. You can also order liquor (limit 2 bottles) for your cabin and mix your own if you want to.

Never had an issue with bringing our bottle or our wine glass full (which we have always had in our cabin no matter the type of cabin or ship) to MDR. Including our last cruise in December on MG. In 20 yrs plus of cruising never been charged a corkage fee on CCL or RCCL. Just our experience.

But I think this may be by design so that people don't have the opportunity to ask about the time they service the room. We still have gotten pretty good service though. We have been on 3 different ships since restart and MG was the last one in December in an OS. I am glad you still got good service overall but we were asked on each ship (first day) when we wanted to have cabin serviced. Right down to the time preference (we prefer dinner time as we know we will be gone from the room by 6 pm each evening). We always ask for a fresh bucket of ice when they service the cabin so that we have for that night, no issues getting it. We have done this for years well before covid, we have no reason to get cabin serviced more than once a day. We would actually find more than once a day slightly intrusive truthfully.

Bring the picky drinker fav soda on board with you that way no guessing or hoping for what they like.

The only down side is i miss getting ice at night. Its brought during the day when im not around and it will melt but no big deal Not sure if you asked or were given a choice for morning or evening cleaning but last month on the MG we had evening cleaning (when we leave for dinner). We asked our cabin Steward if he would fill our ice bucket at that time. We always had a full bucket of ice when we returned later in the evening for our cabin drinks.