mcgratru

Is anyone else frustrated with the Price Protection form for Early Saver?

 

You have to submit it to get price drops. I almost always get a pretty quick, obviously computer genrated reply that says "No, please be advised that the rates available are more expensive than the rates on the booking." Which is wrong. Then you have to call or email to get them to actually check it.

 

Why bother with the form? Just let me call or e-mail in the first place!

We get less fog in Sept and Oct than we do in the summer months.

1. All of the pastries at the International Cafe are free. The chocolate desserts in the mdr were also very good. My husband loved the meringues at the IC and the chocolate croissants from room service. I loved the hot chocolate at IC available with my soda & more package.

2. We had a Caribe balcony and thought the views there were great. There were also lots of people out on the forward deck above the bridge (all the way forward and through the "secret door" on Lido) and on promenade on deck 7 because it is covered and closer to the water than top decks.

3. No kettles (or irons) in any of the cabins but I am a tea drinker and I was pleasantly surprised that room service water was very hot and you could steep a decent cup of tea in the carafe of hot water they brought.

Yes. The messenger was working but we didn't use it much as there were only two of us. Easy to set up and great to have access to both the patter and your sign and sail account on your device.

Princess was 10% for my July cruise but it is going up to 20% (or has already for new bookings). That is still a significant improvement over the current exchange rate you get with Carnival (close to 30% depending on the date) and is set when you book rather than fluctuating with the market.

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in real life. Especially the "fried egg blobs" hanging from the ceiling in the Mdr, the pink sparkles and zebra stripes by the elevators and the morrocan themed comedy club....like being in an Austin Powers movie:(...but some people also like the "art" on Carnival ships)....just not for me....doesn't detract from being on a cruise!

It is a very, very ugly ship!

Princess offers rates in Canadian finds as well and I wish Carnival did with the Can Dollar dropping daily.

 

Carnival is most often cheaper but you also get what you pay for.

 

With the exchange rate where it is right now Carnival is losing it's "cheaper" status.

Both times we have had fttf and an early flight we have been among the first 25 people off the ship (carrying all of our own luggage)

Or to pour a glass in your cabin and take it with you to dinner.

I agree. Our suggested time was 1:00 pm. We arrived at 11:30 and we were on board by 12:10 and sitting in the dining room by 12:30. We just didn't have anything else we could do between hotel checkout at 11:00 and 1:00 (especially with all of our luggage in tow) so decided to head to the port and were pleasantly surprised.

BTW...every single person we encountered mentioned lunch on the Lido (without us inquiring about it) and said they had no knowledge of a dining room being open when I asked. It was, and was even listed in the patter. Just outside the dining room we were once again approached and asked if we were looking for the buffet. I said "No, we are headed to the dining room for lunch."and then they led us right in with a smile but they are really pushing for people to go to the buffet.

Yes, we were off by 7:10 but could have been off a few minutes before seven if we had been in a hurry.

Absolutely! New carpets in many public areas, elevators area, stairs etc and fresh paint everywhere. We were in a Caribe balcony and didn't see anything new there. Overall, I felt the ship was in great condition but, living next to the ocean, I also realize that it is almost impossible to keep all the rust on a ship covered all of the time. Were there a few small spots on our balcony floor...yes... But I am not sure how you could possibly expect that not to happen on a ship that is constantly at sea. The ship felt well amintained and clean.

They have open seating in all dining rooms beginning at 5:30 so even if you have traditional dining the rest of the cruise, you can go to the dining room early in Victoria (I also think they did this in Juneau). We ate at 5:30 and then headed into Victoria for the evening.

Many people out on that deck in Glacier Bay and throughout the week during the July 11 sailing on the Crown....and on the Ruby in 2012...on Caribbean in 2014 it was locked due to high winds on one side with a crew only sign on the other side. Obviously depends on wind or some other factor as determined by crew.

I would avoid Splendor at all cost. Truly ugly ship and staff seem over worked and unhappy....worst ship we have experienced. Would probably not have continued cruising if it had been our first experience.

Didn't eat at Horizon much but as far as I can remember the desserts were just at the end of the buffet.

Re: Children onboard....

 

Surprisingly quite a few onboard. Not as many as a carribean itinerary but many families with young chilfren and teens...and lots of crafts and activities every day and always seemed to be kids in the pools.

Yes. The traditional Pub Lunch was offered on the first sea day...Sunday and Fish and Chips was on the dining room lunch menu on a few days as well.

Food was great every night. Beef was amazing and even the Lobster was pretty good (hard to beat the lobster from where I come from). Chocolate desserts were awesome and I am not usually a chocolate fan.

 

Service was excellent (with the exception of the unorganized excursion department). Great service in botticelli each night.

 

Formal nights were Sunday and Thursday. Only saw one tuxedo all week but they were monitoring dress in the dining room (no shorts, torn jeans, muscle shirts etc)

I did find the evenings a little sparse on entertainment. This was due, I think, to the demographic on the ship and the late/ odd port hours on several evenings.

 

The production shows were average ( although the first show had a few strange choices). We did have a great comedian onboard but I would have liked to see more of him. (Carlos Oscar)

Wheelhouse & Explorers

 

Tritone Duo

Vocalist Will Dickerson

Pianist Robert Deans

Jazz with Princess Orchestra

Big Band with Princess Orchestra

Pianist David Moore

Icon

Uber Rossi - Comedian & Acrobat

 

MUTS (infrequent and impossible to attend if going to dinner as most started at 7:00 pm)

 

The Rewrite

Billy Joel Live

Age of Adaline

The Proposal

The Longest Ride

Shark Week - Shark Ninja

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Elton John Special

Cinderella

Sound of Music

We just debarked on Saturday from the Crown - Inside Passage with Glacier Bay. Happy to answer any questions??

Can't see any disadvantage....twice the size....option of covered or uncovered...private and shady or sunny and open or both!

I just had the USM package on the Crown last week. Got large Hot Chocolate to go every day at IC and it was amazing!! I don't know how they made it but it is the best I have ever had!

Yes...the first time I got the "unlimited sodas & more" card I thought I was limited to the mocktails listed on the bar menu (none of which were appealing to me)...but you can get any drink's "virgin" variety....I can taste the pina colada now:)