mcfaddensfarm
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Posts posted by mcfaddensfarm
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So, not much help, but like I said, maybe a slight nod to the Imagination.
Bob
No, that was a great help, thank you! I appreciate the input. I think we're leaning toward Imagination, especially because of the Sun-Thurs schedule. (And who doesn't love a great show, too?!)
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Thanks for the input everyone!
The most relaxing and family-oriented are the 4 days. The 3 days only require a couple days off work for the average person so in my experience they're a younger crowd, a fuller ship, a more party atmosphere.I'm hoping to do the four day for two reasons:
1) Both my husband and I grew up in Long Beach and in all the years we lived there we never have been to Catalina Island. So we thought it would be a fun little stop to do.
2) Exactly the reason you stated above. We're hoping for a little less "party crowd" and a little more relaxation.
If you take him on those 2 old clunkers he will never cruise again.Ha ha! As I mentioned before, my very first cruise ever was on Fantasy and I managed to still love cruising after that. I'm hoping for the same with one of these ships--at least there's been refurbishment.;)
The Imagination sets sail on Sundays for its 4-day cruise and traffic in LA is generally much lighter on Sundays.Good point! Whenever we come back to Long Beach to visit family, I always make my husband drive the whole time we're in California. I've lived in Idaho for 20 years now and I just can't take that California traffic...
Only differences are decor and day of week.Too bad you can't sail a 7 day the Miracle out of Long Beach.
Look into flying into Long Beach (LGB).
I wish we could afford to take a 7 day right now, but it's just not in the cards. And we need a vacation (however small it is) ASAP. Whenever I fly out to visit family I always make a point of flying into LGB. Love that airport. I haven't flown into LAX in probably 15 years. :D
I was just on the Imagination in September and had a great time.I will be on the Inspiration in 2 weeks.
I'd be interested to hear what you thought after being on both recently and whether you preferred one over the other!
Again, I appreciate the input and hopefully I'll be able to make this work, one way or another. Besides, any cruise is a good cruise, right?:p
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I'm looking into taking my husband (who has never cruised before) on a short getaway out of Long Beach so he can get his first taste of cruising. I've been on several cruises, although most have been on Royal Caribbean. The last time I cruised with Carnival was my very first cruise in 2001 on Fantasy.
I know there has been renovations on both Imagination and Inspiration, but I'm wondering if any of you seasoned Carnival cruisers could let me know if there's really any difference between these two ships that do this identical itinerary. Should I choose one over the other for any particular reason(s)? I know these are older ships and some of the wow factors of the newer, bigger ships won't be there, but I still want to make sure my husband's first cruise experience is a good one. I'd love for his first cruise to be a seven day on a large, brand new ship so I can really hook him on cruising, but due to available funds this will be just a quickie to get his toes wet.:p (Plus we live in Idaho so this is the closest port for the cheapest flight.) I'd appreciate any advice you could give me on this.
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Smoking is prohibited on all balconies on Allure.
Thank you! I thought I'd heard that this had changed so I wanted to be sure. He'll just have to take a walk to one of the smoking areas. ;)
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Chrystal,
I just sat and read through your entire review this morning. I just booked the Allure for next year in December (ugh, a whole year away, too long)!
Thank you for posting such an in depth review. I found it because I was trying to find information about the cabin we booked, 7190 (which is same as your cabin on opposite side of ship).
Question: Do you know if the smoking policy is still the same on Allure? Your pictures showed that smoking was allowed on ocean view balconies. Is this still the case? My husband is a smoker, but is very good about always smoking outside and being sensitive to those around him. Just wondering if he'll be able to have a morning (or nightcap) smoke out on the balcony or will need to find one of the other designated areas instead.
Thank you!
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Loved the cooking class in Cozumel (we have also done the tequila tasting and the dune buggies, which were both good). The chef's and attendees were a riot. Cups were never empty, and, even though cooking your own food on vaca is not everyone's cup of tea, we had a blast. After we were able to use the beach, bar, buffet and other amenities at Playa Mia. The bus ride home was companionably rowdy:D
Who did you book this through? Sounds like it might be fun!
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IMO, two of the obstructed view cabins with the best view on the Grand class are E218 and E219, which are cat. GG and overlook the deadend portion of the upper level of the Promenade walkway.
Cabin E218
[ATTACH]201480[/ATTACH]
Thanks, this is just the advice I was looking for! My head was starting to spin earlier, looking at all of the pictures & trying to keep track of all the cabins. This looks like it would be a great view--thanks again!
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I think I've spent the last couple of hours trying to search through pictures & posts on this thread & on CC, but I'm not finding the information I'm looking for.
We are wanting to book a cabin on Golden Princess & are looking at cabins on deck 8. Originally I was planning on Cat. E (E402 - E414 port & E401 - E415 starboard) because it said it's only "partially obstructed". But I think I found some pictures that showed one or two of these cabins had a pretty obstructed view. Then I read somewhere here on CC or saw a picture that showed some of the ones that are listed as "obstructed" (Cat. FF?) actually have a less obstructed view than some of the "partially obstructed" depending on the location.
Can someone please give me some advice on what would be a good cabin to book where we will have the least obstructed view? Does anyone have pictures of some great views from these "obstructed" cabins? Any help with this is appreciated. If we could save some money but still have a decent view we would be really happy. Thanks!
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Next: Leaving Oasis (sniff, sniff)
Hey, you never left the ship....does this mean you're still on board? Luck you! LOL! Seriously though, this was a great review. Any last thoughts?
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<snip>
This was such a wonderful meal. If you absolutely wanted to go to ONLY ONE specialty restaurant, GO HERE! (I’ll tell you why I say that at the end.)
Brian, I'm so glad you said this. We are on a fairly limited budget on this cruise and I was trying to decide exactly this! If we could only go to one specialty (i.e. extra charge) restaurant, what would it be? And now you've given us an answer! :D Thanks for all of the great detailed food info.
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<snip>
This was such a wonderful meal. If you absolutely wanted to go to ONLY ONE specialty restaurant, GO HERE! (I’ll tell you why I say that at the end.)
Brian, I'm so glad you said this. We are on a fairly limited budget on this cruise and I was trying to decide exactly this! If we could only go to one specialty (i.e. extra charge) restaurant, what would it be? And now you've given us an answer! :D Thanks for all of the great detailed food info.
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Seriously? I thought the European style was only on the French side of the island. I thought the sign was a joke.
Yeah, I had thought the same thing about the sides...guess it doesn't matter. We walked up to the bar at the end of our visit to the beach, to catch our cab and it was one of those things where you kind of do a double take. She was just sitting there at the bar, topless. I was joking with my son, asking if he wanted to get his picture taken with her so he could brag about it to his friends back home, lol. He got all indignant with me and refused to look in her direction. (I'm sure when I wasn't looking he was furtively sneaking a peek....):p
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LOL, that sign at the Sunset Bar explains the topless woman we saw sitting casually at the bar last time we were there.:D My son (then 14 years old) was trying SO hard to purposely avert his eyes, it was funny!
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Next up: Midnight at the Oasis (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Oh great...now that song is stuck in my head, LOL! :p
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I love that you caught your daughter's expression when she was trying the escargot! I remember when my son tried it for the first time, he didn't mind it too much but didn't finish it. Love your review, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks again Patti! :D
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Patti, so I CAN transfer just that open NextCruise booking (with no specific date or ship picked out yet) to my Travel Agent (by faxing the transfer form to RCCL), correct?
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One thing I would like to point out is that if you decide to have the NextCruise booking transferred to your TA immediately, upon receiving your Confirmation Letter, look it over carefully and make sure that your TA's name is indicated. If not, go back and see the LA and tell her/him that you want it faxed to them. If you wait until you get home, then you have to fill out Transfer Forms from RCI. So take a few minutes and check it over very carefully ensuring that all information is correct before you leave the ship.
Okay, I do have one more question regarding what you wrote here. If you make your NextCruise booking on board and do NOT put a TA down, you can still transfer just that NextCruise booking to a TA (without having a specific ship picked yet) by filling out the transfer form & sending it in, correct? Or do you have to make the actual ship/date booking with RCCL first and THEN transfer it?
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Thanks Dianna!:D
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Patti, or whoever can answer this...
I've read through all of these pages and I understand how it works for the most part. (Thanks to everyone who has posted examples and explained all of it!) But I am a little unsure of one thing: If I have booked a Nextcruise with just my name on it and gave them a $100 deposit, then later decide to use that but want to take a friend or family member, do I need to make an additional $100 deposit at the time of the actual cruise booking? Or does it then revert back to the usual $500 deposit for two? Or is no additional deposit required?
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These were two stools sitting next to each other in the casino on Mariner of the Seas:
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1199236221051639614PpUpKp
Me & the frisky monkey outside Habana Banana in Ensenada:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2713773150051639614ksTlLk
My son on the canopy tour in Jamaica (they couldn't find a helmet big enough to fit over his huge 'fro. I think with his expression he looks a little bit like Napoleon Dynamite in this picture, without the glasses.):
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By the way, for anyone interested--Last night I was checking out the Freedom website and they have a very short video that shows the windows in the Promenade area. (Along with several other videos that show the building process of other parts of the ship.) It was very exciting to watch that video and think, "Hey, one of those windows they're showing could be the one I'll be looking out of on my cruise!" You can check it out at freedomoftheseas.com
Made this ship seem a little more real to me, seeing it being built!
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Thanks for the info Digital. I called RCCL just a few minutes ago (probably while you were answering my post!) and asked about deck 7. They currently don't have any open cabins on deck 7 that aren't connecting. So I think I'll stick with our original on deck 8. I'm not claustrophobic, so the ceiling shouldn't bother me.;) Thanks again for giving me so much great information. You helped put my mind at ease.
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Better view (not quite as much looking down on the action).
Digital, what do you mean by "not quite as much looking down on the action"? You're saying though that 7 would be a better view than 8, right?
As for people not seeing in, last cruise we were on the very front of Mariner and if we didn't shut our curtains anyone could see in from the heliport area.:o So I'm used to making sure curtains are closed.
Here is the link to Freedom's deck plans:
Right now booked in 8283, but looking at possibly moving to 7283, 7583, 7297 or 7315. (Depending on which might be available.) Any input on this?
Pictures for Amazing Secret River?
in Cozumel
Posted
We just came back from a cruise on NCL Escape and did the Amazing Secret River tour through the ship. At the end of the tour, they showed us pictures that we could purchase since we weren't allowed to bring cameras inside. We picked one out and paid cash for it and they said they would send us a link where we could have access to the picture. But we've been back for several days now and still haven't received an email. (We've checked spam, etc.) Does anyone recall what the name is of the company who runs this tour or how to reach them so we can get the picture we paid for?
Thank you!