Cruising4me

Now maybe they will work on bringing Captain Morgan back….

6 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Oh yes ☹️
however i can report that the food is 100000x better than in September.   Crew is happy, but weary, not having been out for four months 

Getting on Thursday... how full is the ship this voyage?  Did you haver any issues boarding at Port Canaveral?

3 hours ago, goldmom said:

We've stayed in the Haven and in Non-Haven suites on the Jewel class ships.  The only real difference that I remember is that Non-Haven suites obviously don't have Haven access and also may not have access to the reserved seating in the theater, although this seems to vary by Concierge and how crowded a particular show might be.

We've pretty much decided that for us the price difference to the Haven isn't worth it, not that the Haven isn't nice, but we just usually get a spa pass now and forego the Haven.   We might put in a low ball upgrade offer if the starting bid isn't too high, but are perfectly happy with a regular suite on Jewel class ships.

Thanks, these were my thoughts also, but just wanted to get confirmation... Don't get me wrong on the bigger ships we have enjoyed the Haven very much, I was just trying to figure out with these start up cruises where the ships are not as full what is the point of trying to bid the high upgrade price for a Haven when a Suite, (not a Club Suite) can be had for much less.  Also we do enjoy the time in the spa and purchased those packages for our October cruise already, in addition to all of our Specialty restaurant reservations it does make more sense at this time to not worry about a Haven upgrade and just go with the room we have or the possible higher suite upgrades

We have been in Haven rooms before and have always enjoyed all the extra perks but mostly enjoyed having the "private" bar and restaurant.  Trying to decide if I want to bid for a Haven upgrade on the GEM, but just wondering if it is really worth it since there is no Haven Bar or Restaurant?  

Thoughts on if it is really worth the extra $$$$.

FYI, there is no "Florida University." There is an University of Florida and a Florida State University, but neither of those were on spring break this week. There are a number of Florida colleges on spring break this week, so I'm sure it was one of them.;p

Actually.. University of Florida Spring break started March 3rd...

Spring 2018Dates and Deadlines

Holidays No classes :

March 3 - 10: Spring Break

and there were well over 1000 U of F students on board this week...

Cruising4me, are you part of the piano bar group? I don't know yet how many are in our group or how far we will make it!

Yes we are

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thank you for the input! That is just the kind of info I am looking for. I will keep the street name in our plan:cool:

Sounds like a fun time, DW and I are on the same cruise with you. If you have room for a couple more in your crawl let us know we would love to join in.

My wife booked a beverage package for herself today, (I had booked one a couple weeks ago for myself), even though the site said 20% the price was lower than what I had paid previously for our upcoming 9 day cruise,I paid $467.28 and she paid $403.56. I am thinking they just never updated the website to reflect to 30% since it is a "sale"

I also have one that I just got on my last cruise

You do wait in a separate area for CAS guests when sailing out of New York. As for the casino drink card yes they do use your UBP card for drinks while in casino, but use your casino drink card while playing to get bottled water and energy drinks since they aren't covered by the UBP

I agree and like I said, maybe it is just how MSC likes to do things, I have no idea about if it is a tips thing or not, just found it odd.

Please by no means should anyone take my points as bad things, they did NOT make this a bad cruise.. we had a wonderful time.. they are just things that many Americans may find odd or weird.

Not doing a whole review but will give a few thoughts...

We were a group of 10 ranging in age from mid 20's to mid 70's

Overall cruise was above average and there were only a few things I would like to see changed...

The good:

1. Not sure why others have felt the food quality was bad, but our group of 10 thought the food was amazing every night in the main dining room, our server Windi was great even working through the tables who would show up 30 - 45 minutes late every night. Everything we received was hot and amazing!

2. The entertainment - the Shows were all high quality and the best we have seen at sea.. the theater is truly one of the best i've been in on a cruise ship.

3. The ship itself is really great and pristine and the crew is always taking care of it.

4. The pool areas were really nice and we could always find a place to go.

5. We had an inside room, (12256) and felt it was good sized and had plenty of storage.

The changes we would like to see:

1. Bars did not have everything they had in the menu, very inconsistent some would have a brand of liquor and others would not. When they didn't have what you ordered they would just substitute something else without asking. For example, ordering a drink with Capt. Morgan would come back served with Myers Dark Rum, not the same thing at all. It was just very inconsistent if they would have something in stock, and even ran out of Apple Pucker on Thursday so you could not get an Apple Martini.

2. Inconsistent in what was included in the drink package, we had the drink tickets, some bars would serve us a drink and others would tell us it was not included. It even got to the point when we were at the piano bar that when my wife ordered a drink only to be denied by the server she just said never mind let us all order our drinks and she got up walked down the steps to the casino bar and ordered her drink and carried it back to the table to show the server she could get it in other bars.

3. Why don't the bartenders interact with customers... more often that not when sitting on a bar stool in front of the bartender ordering the drink from them they would tell the server to come over and get our order and take our card and ticket... very odd practice.

4. Yes this is a personal gripe, but the procedure to leave the ship in ports was chaotic at times.. what did not make sense was they had to scan your card then look at your picture then look at you then look at your picture then hand you back your card,... really need to learn from other cruise lines on this process. It just seemed to take FOREVER to exit the ship when you wanted to leave,

Like I said overall this was a above average cruise, and we all had a really good time. Would I do another MSC cruise, I'm not so sure right now... but I would not tell someone not to try a cruise on the Divina

If you would like me to answer a question or clarify anything please let me know.. just ask and i will try to answer...

Does anyone know if we have 5 cabins booked together, do we all have to purchase the exact same package or just a package? Do they really require everyone to purchase, as that just doesn't seem fair to those who want a package to require others who see no benefit to order the same one.

 

Also with the premium package - adding the pastry and gelateria - what do items from there typically cost and what are you even buying. Does anyone have a menu to see the offerings. I don't know that I would want to pay another $13 per day for those offerings.

 

Yet we have 2 in our group, that at best might order 1 drink a day. The alcohol package isn't worth it to them. But then does that cause the ones who do want a package to not be able to order?

We are a family who likes to dine together, but we all have different drinking habits, if one couple in our table has the "Premium" package do we all have to have it or everyone just needs to have some type of package?

Ron, thanks so much for your review, my dh & I really enjoyed it! We leave less than 2 weeks & can't wait! Thanks to you we upgraded our drink package since we also enjoy a martini or 2 daily while cruising! Enjoyed your flicker videos of the bartenders as we'll!!

Sharon & Ed

Still trying to figure out an option in Dominica, dh didn't seem too interested in bumpiing tours to the falls & such. I'm sure we will find something good!

I have to say, it is interesting how strong people feel about the Captain.

Yes people do have strong feelings on this subject and yes some would even go as far to choose to sail another line.

Just ask yourself one queston, if you save for a vacation and you enjoy something which you can get any other place you might choose to go and you get to your vacation and find you can no longer get that special meal or that level of service or yes even that cocktail you enjoy when you relax. Why would you want to keep going there when you have so many other choices available?

You all can sit back and say to any of us who are, (or were) disapointed when we could not get something we wanted, but don't be upset one day when someone judges you after you express your opinion on what you expected in any expereince..

Go ahead tell me again how JH said I am a liar and starting rumors.. then tell JH to kiss my rosy red ... cheek.

I was trying to understand your post. What did the beard say?

Ok so I figured I was supposed to private message "Eddie the Beard" to get this resolved... here is the message and response:

Question to Eddie:

"It is my understanding from this Cruise Critic Thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1929952 that you and John Heald belive this to be incorrect. If this is the case, perhaps you should send a memo to your staff indicating there is a "typo" on the new menu and even though it is not listed they should stock and sell Capt. Morgan Spiced Rum. I can tell you from first hand experience i was on the Carnival Pride 10/13/2013 through 10/20/2013 and the bartenders on more than one occasion told me they were no longer selling Capt. Morgan.

Response from Eddie:

Good afternoon. I rarely check this FB account so if it ever takes me a few days to respond i am sorry. We had some issues with Captain last week it appears but all have been corrected. We do not list every spirit we carry on the menu, other examples are the various flavored rums and vodkas we carry, Hardy Cognac,etc. Captain is still available on all Carnival ships and at all bars."

So I guess now we wait to hear feedback from others on cruises this week to see how things went for them.

I've been told by Carnival reps that this is NOT true. They will still be serving Captain Morgan. At least that's what the rep and the Senior Cruise Director told me.

All I can tell you is this, if they are telling you that I would suggest you ask them to send you a copy of the "NEW" drink menu which includes the new Hard Cider Selections. Once you see this menu you will see Capt. Morgan is not on the menu any more.

If it is supposed to be on the menu, please ask your Rep and Sr. Cruise Director to call Kirk on the Pride and ask him to report back why ALL the cruisers on the 10/13 sailing were told Capt. Morgan has been removed from the drink menu and they only serve Bacardi Oakheart.

I realize many are not aware since the drink menu is just rolling out and we were on one of the first ships with the new drink menu, but it was removed and is no longer listed. As well as all bartenders are informing guests it is no longer available. If Carnival corrected this mistake more power to them, but why would people from my cruise, the Freedom and the Dream all have reported the same thing?

I welcome and desire to be proved wrong and that Carnival will still be selling Capt. Morgan to all current and future guests.

Yuck! I just tried the Bacardi Oak Heart and didn't like it at all. I hope they aren't really getting rid of Captain Morgan..........

So far we have only found 1 bar that still has any left & we plan to finish it before the cruise is over! Lol!

That oak heart tastes like bourbon not rum!

We are on the pride & effective our sailing there is no more captain Morgan being served! Carnival is replacing it with Bacardi Oak Heart as the same! Definitely not! I hope they bring it back or we will have to sale another line!

Sharon