amyjoy202697

First time commenter here! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for taking the time to put this whole thing together on your vacation. I really enjoyed it, and you did an amazing job.

I am on this cruise too! This week is DRAGGING by.

I love your Mardi Gras ship magnet! Did you get that on board?  I love the ones that are shaped like the ship!  I collect them!

I am on the July 4th Horizon cruise...really hoping to get good news in the morning and not another cancellation. I don't think Grand Cayman is open so I am hoping we can go to Half Moon Cay!!!

I am on the Horizon 7/4 out of Miami. Unfortunately we realized they took our cruise and the next weeks cruise off of the website on Friday. The Galveston cruises still are available to book.  This is what happens every single time a cancellation is coming.  John Heald posted on FB today that he will have some info tomorrow. We will see!

Yes! Booked a balcony on Horizon 7/4, the first sailing!  $700 for 2 people, $100 OBC, drinks on us in casino.  Now lets hope it is a go.

This is the first time I am getting drinks on us in the casino. If I walk up to the casino bar will I be able to order something or do I need to wait for the waiter/waitress to come around while I am gambling?  I assume they are pretty firm on only being able to get them in the casino.

I am hoping our Grand Cayman stop is changed to Half Moon Cay!

I am still waiting on my Cheers refunds from the first round of cancellations (cruise was supposed to sail 3/15 and we were cancelled 3/14). I have called multiple times - 1st time the rep told me I would have it last Thursday, waited until then and of course nothing. Called Friday and rep said he had to escalate and I would get a call by today, waited until then and of course nothing. I have no idea what to do, this has made my husband super upset and now he wants me to just cancel all 3 of my upcoming cruises and sell our stock in CCL. Very disappointed in the way they are handling this. I waited the 90 days and was very patient.

I am still waiting on my 2 cheers refunds from the first round of March cancellations. I have spent 4 hours on the phone with Carnival over the last week trying to figure out what is going on. I LOVE Carnival and have 3 future cruises scheduled now.  Sadly, I think 2 of those will be in the cancellation announcement tomorrow.  I really want to take advantage of the OBC to book further out next year but the way they are handling my refunds is VERY frustrating and now we are thinking of just requesting full refunds.  Any advice?

I also think they will further delay or cancel altogether the Radiance. I am scheduled to sail on that ship Thanksgiving week.

17 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

Costa and Carnival Cruise Lines are two of the cruise lines owned by Carnival Corp so the information about Costa regulations when cruising resumes may apply to Carnival Cruise Lines ships. There is a separate forum for Costs Cruises for information and discussion of their ships, itineraries etc.  Sorry for any confusion!

My mistake everyone! It was only one question...yikes. I will make sure its all Carnival only related going forward.

9 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

That's a question that should be asked on the Costa forum here on Cruise Critic. 

Sorry to ask here, that's kind of what the post is about though. I was just curious.

When is Costa scheduled to sail again?

I had an amazing deal with RC for Symphony Thanksgiving week so I took it, I am now double booked for Radiance & Symphony. If Radiance is ready I will have a big decision as Symphony is 1/3 the price of Radiance cruise. I decided to double book because I really an not confident Radiance will be done in time and another announcement is coming soon.

I just booked the Magic for 8/1. I have had 5 cruises cancel on me since March, its been crazy. The first 2 I had already purchased cheers and still waiting for the refund. If 8/1 cancels I will get another $600 OBC for one of my future cruises I already have deposits on. I am hoping we are good on this one! Its the last opportunity to cruise since my daughter starts school on 8/10.

22 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The Mardi Gras can't do an 8 day southern because it's home port is Port Canaveral.  It would have to be home based in either MIA or FLL in order to do it.  The other southern choices are based out of San Juan and usually are done with a Fantasy Class ship.

Radiance has 8 days scheduled out of Pt Canaveral... I am currently booked Thanksgiving week

Have you been to Alchemy bar? Curious on who the alchemists are...love that spot and will be on Horizon next week. Sorry to hear you have had rough weather and seas! Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thank you for the live review, its really helped me prepare for mine.

Basil drop and cucumber sunrise are the best! We will not book a ship that doesn't have Alchemy.

This was a great review, thank you so much for taking the time to put it together.  We are cruising Fathers Day on the Magic and it can't come soon enough.  Hope you decide to book another cruise so I can follow along again!

Did you happen to visit the Alchemy bar? Any favorite mixologists?

Since HMC is owned by Carnival the Cheers program should be valid there...this was the deciding factor as to why we are not purchasing it for our upcoming cruises. We don't drink enough to justify it on port days at all. Very disappointed when I heard we would have to buy our drinks there after paying $850 on a drink package.

Yes please report back! We are on the Magic in June, cant wait.  Alchemy Bar is our favorite, let us know who the best mixologist is and hopefully they will still be on board when we go!  We usually spend a ton of time there. Love the fact that its close to the bands and dancing.

I think you got a deal if you were going to buy the spa passes anyway. We wouldn't use the spa passes so I would have passed on it. Also, make sure its a good room location...not under or over anything noisy.

We sailed the Breeze and LOVED the Alchemy Bar.  We spent so much time there the mixologist asked us and 3 other of his regular groups if we wanted to take a class the last sea day before they opened.  He showed us how to make the drinks and we got to taste them. It was a blast, they should totally do this on all cruises.

For quicker service just tip and get to know your mixologists. They will keep you company, tell stories, make you special drinks to your taste. It is our favorite place to relax on a cruise. 

Just disappointed in this for the late night time frame when everything but pizza is closed.  Would love for them to keep open either Guys or Blue Iguana that late too.