Daphne'sMom

When I cruise little things make me deliriously happy. The attention of the room steward. The gracious service in the dining room. Getting dressed up so the photographers can make me look pretty. Having a few drinks with no worries about transportation home. Going to a production show, then a comedy show, then the casino, then a midnight snack - maybe not going back to the cabin until 1 or 2 a.m. Not having a care in the world. For me cruising is like having a fairy tale life for a week or so. But family members just don't share that feeling. They like cruising, but in a different way. And it puts a damper on my enjoyment. Our children are grown. We can cruise now in the off-season without them. I retired. My husband did not. We went on two cruises. I told him I wanted to go on a solo cruise. He thinks it's a waste of money - yeah, he's sort of right. We got beyond that. I went on a solo last month.

I liked having the cabin to myself, having a shower without scheduling it, not feeling bad about turning lights on when I came in late or got up early.

 

I went on an excursion that my husband wouldn't have liked. Might have done the same excursion with him, but then knowing it's not his thing would have dampened my enjoyment.

 

I got dressed up for dinner every night, make-up, jewelry, the whole thing - and enjoyed that so much more than when my husband is there and just can't be bothered.

 

I got lost in a book on the serenity deck and didn't worry that maybe my husband wasn't finding something fun to do.

 

Spent time exercising before breakfast and didn't hurry to finish up, worried that my husband was getting hungry waiting for me.

 

Cruising solo was wonderful. There was no awkwardness, no loneliness. Like SMSACE6 I am not out-going; am completely comfortable doing things by myself and will interact with others when the mood strikes or circumstances require it. Also I recharge on me-time. If this is you and your significant other understands this, then solo cruising is for you.

This is how I imagine a "perfect" solo cruise would go - for me (I know everyone has different tastes). I have been been so hesitant but think this thread is my "push".

My husband and I had a great cruise routine - I would do all the planning and he would pretty much go along with whatever I had planned. He would also get coffee for us every morning as he was an early riser (mine would be cold and need refreshed :) ) Sometimes we had our daughter and later son-in-law along. I have been on 2 cruises in the 5 years since he passed away with another one planned for next month, all with family. After reading other members solo reviews, I think it sounds more and more appealing. Nothing against my family. It would be nice to only schedule around my job, do as much or as little as I like. For me the hardest part would be going to meals or comedy shows alone as I am not always the most outgoing person.

UGGHHHH - hate the last day. I enjoy planning so much that sometimes I think the anticipation is as much fun as the cruise itself. Good news for you is that you have an upcoming cruise to plan for. I usually have a year or two between.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your vacation to share with us. You've connected with everyone that has been following along. I lost my husband 5 years ago to lung cancer when he was 53. Fortunately, we had been able to go on 8 cruises together. I have gone on a few cruises since then with family members but it is not the same. Your reviews have helped me decide that I can do this on my own and I think I may even branch out and try NCL.

Please enjoy your last day. Try a new drink (or is there anything left that would be new to you ? :) - Another new concept I got from your review - pack first thing and get it over. I dread it, procrastinate all day and then have to scramble and stuff everything together at the last minute.

I hope the 3 of you have an absolutely beautiful cruise. There should be a lot less tension without the former friend along.

So that was like a real life cliff hanger :) Kept wondering all day if you made any/all of your connections, if not where would you be posting from??? It was nice to get home from work and check in to see that other than the bugs and the heat....your schedule went as planned. Do you collect souvenirs from each place you visit in addition to tickets and photos?

Enjoying your review. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your vacation to share.

P.S. - I love my Pixel II XL - best phone I've ever had!

Key West & Cozumel - because I've never been to Key West. I been to Cozumel about every other cruise and still love it.

or

Nassau & Freeport but stay on the ship at one of the ports and treat it as an extra sea day (can't get enough sea days!!)

Enjoy your cruise!

Usually 3-4 days for me. Most noticeable when seated or standing in one place. I kind of enjoy my little cruise souvenir while it lasts. Might change my mind if it became as bothersome as some experience.

Our room steward approached our daughter & son-in-law about purchasing a book in order to earn a day off. They asked us about it as we had the same room steward. They were later told that another passenger had already purchased a book so they didn't need to purchase one. We were not approached about purchasing anything.

On a different note - before we started getting a free bottle of water as a perk, we were twice charged for a bottle of water that we did not use. Both times it showed up on our statement slipped under the door on our last night. We did not want to stand in line over a $3 charge but find it odd that it happened to us more than once.

Your PVP can link these for you.

The "kind of" exception to the rule with Your Time Dining - Be wary if they ask you you would like to dine with others unless you are fine with having your meal last forever. My Mother and I were on the Splendor last year and had Your Time Dining. On one of the elegant nights, they asked if we would mind being seated with a group vs a table for 2 as the dining room was very congested. We were the first ones seated at a large table for 10. We were given a drink menu but no-one ever came back to take our drink order. No food was brought to the table until they found 8 additional passengers. The final couple seated ordered multiples selections for each course. The remainder of our table would not get service until the "final couple" finished each course.

Since my Mother & I were the first ones seated at the table, we were in the dining room for well over 2 hours. I can see how this would be a major issue if you allowed families/groups to be seated before all of the party arrived. Good for Carnival to follow their rules on this.

The other bit of this that is a variable is the number of berths on the ship versus how many actually sail. If they plan port fees and taxes for fully loaded ships then the ship sails with less than maximum, they refund that onboard too. Most of our sailings have had some level of refund around $10 per person because the ship was not at full capacity, even with all the rooms sold out.

 

When they quote the taxes and fees when you book it is based on maximum berths.

Thanks for the explanation Seems we always get a small refund in port fees but have never had our account charged extra. To me, if Carnival was charged more but didn't pass that on as an extra charge, it was surprising that they would pass on lower port fees in the form of a refund. I didn't lose sleep over it but did wonder every time the refund showed up on our cruise statements. It does make sense for Carnival to charge the higher amount and adjust the passenger accounts than have to eat the extra fees. Approx $10 per passenger x a few thousand passengers adds up.

Just an idea - There are several decks that have public balconies at the front of the ship. You could book two interiors in the vicinity of one of these balconies. They are not private and usually only have a wooden bench if anything to sit on but they are free and much roomier if you all want to use it at the same time. Also, look at the cabins that face these public balconies, I believe they are considered insides but not sure about capacity....

I just don’t get the whole bring-something-for-the-light thing... Why not just use the sign and sail card? In land-based hotels with a similar thing, you always use your hotel door card... but, whatever...

If I recall, it is not just the lights that turn off. If you have something charging in the only outlet in the cabin, the power is also cut when removing the car. If this is incorrect, there will be several posts telling me I'm wrong:D:D;)

That does sound like a good deal. Spreads out the cost and convenient.

We booked a family cruise nearly a year ago. I like to watch/listen to the news while getting around in the morning and like to catch up with it at the end of the day. One of brothers has been diagnosed with cancer since we booked. He has been given the go ahead and will take a break in chemo treatments for our cruise. He will need to rest a little more often and it would be nice if the same limited channel selection we were used to in the past was still available. My grandson will probably bring his Ipad but it would be easier if the tv could be used instead when it is time for him to have a little quiet time in the afternoon and at night.

Am I unhappy about this....yes. Will it ruin our vacation - no but it will make it less pleasant (especially for my brother). I will not apologize for my opinion.

Wishing you safe travels and wonderful vacation. Be sure to give us a review when you return

.....when you want to change your doorbells to sound like the PA announcement chimes.

Just curious, where was it on the Splendor? Was on April 2017 cruise and missed it entirely.

We had FTTF on the Dream in 2014. All of our luggage showed up at the same time except one. It showed up hours later and was the only piece that was missing an orange sticker. We were happy it showed up just would have been more convenient to unpack everything at the same time.

As for the earlier comments about missing luggage, we've received flyers on every cruise we've been on regarding missing luggage. Sometimes there were repeated requests to look for the awol luggage well into the week. The subject came up at our table in the dining room on one cruise. My husband & I were wondering why/how there would ever be missing luggage. One of the couples said that her father had luggage missing on an earlier cruise and it was never found.

They need to move comedians to larger venue, issue tickets but make shows longer by including both comedians under one ticket, or ??? not sure

Most aggravating experience we had was on the Dream 3 years ago. We were lined up waiting for the next comedy show to start. The line went past the bar that was adjacent to the comedy club and one of the assistant cruise directors decided it was a good idea to have a break in the line so people could get in and out of the bar and then he walked off. Everyone coming to join the line would hop at the end of of the break in the line instead of going clear to the end of the line. When the passengers that were stuck at the ends of the line had to tell people that they were breaking in line. Most of them would go into the bar instead when they saw how long the line was as there was another door in the bar that they could use to bypass the line.

That may have been the only time that happened as the staff member that orchestrated the broken line never seemed to know what was going on when we encountered him. My brother had FTTF and needed to take care of something at guest services. This same staff member snapped at him to get in the regular line. Next time my brother needed guest services the long wasn't long so he got in the regular line and got chastised by guest services people for not using the priority line.

Did it ruin our vacation? No, but surprised at how inept this guy was. Our interactions with the entertainment staff up to and since then had always been positive.

I've wondered this as well. Is the overall atmosphere different? I love the Caribbean but would also like to know how noticeable, if at all, the west coast cruises are.

I will be on the Magic in March so can't give a comparison until then but.....the Breeze is my all time favorite ship so far. I unfairly compare all other ships to her. I would have LOVED the Dream if I had been on it first but it just didn't quite measure up when there was only a year between the two sailings. .

I get plenty of emails but as I said, the survey is hit or miss for us.

Not sure if you were responding to my ramblings. I kind of forgot to mention that I have received surveys for the cruises since updating my profile. Will have to see if they send one after our March cruise.....

You may want to check your profile settings on the Carnival site. I always do all the booking & planning but my husband, daughter & son-in-law would get emails but not me. My brother went on his first ever cruise and got a survey and was flooded with email offers afterwards. I never heard a peep - no offers, no junk emails, no survey, Not only did my profile not have a little box checked - it had my hotmail address!! I had forgotten that I ever even had a hotmail address. Updated my profile and voila!