robear14

On 2/9/2022 at 7:48 AM, BelleEpoque said:

I went to the whiskey tasting at Notes, which focused on Highland scotch and was great fun. There is a Japanese whiskey tasting later this week and I would love to go but I think the fee is $40. I am trying to stick with the included drinks and dining options going forward (wish me luck).

Thank you so much for doing this live review! I'm very curious about Notes - I can't seem to find any reviews about it. My main question is if the bar is only there for tasting events, or is there a bartender there at other times when you can order anything you want?

Also curious about the movies that are played in the Lido area - I'm sure the selection is different from what Carnival would be playing!

I guess that explains why the wall with the ATK logo looked like this on the the Nieuw Amsterdam:

Just boarded the Nieuw Amsterdam and received this notice:

19 minutes ago, Sunshineliving said:

When we booked Jamacia and Cayman was 8 to 4. Cozumel was 11 to 11. 

a

Aren't the all aboard times usually 30 minutes before the ship actually sets sail? If so, you should be leaving Cozumel as scheduled. 

I'm on the 1/4 sailing as well, and haven't heard about any changes from HAL or my travel agent.

1 hour ago, BSinPNS said:

I noticed on last night's sailaway, tugs were nearby. That is unusual for Port Everglades unless there is a lot of wind and that may have been true last night. 

It was very windy there yesterday - other ships appeared to be using tugs for help as well.

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I just looked at a real time Marine program that shows the Nieuw Amsterdam currently cruising at 15.1 Knots.  She would need both Azipods to making that speed although it is certainly possible that an Azipod might have an operational restriction would could reduce the current cruising and/or max speed.

 

Hank

When the ship left to go to Freeport last week, at one point it was sailing at around 16knots.

On the HAL twitter feed, someone asked if the system was repaired or if clearance was given to sail on one azipod -  HAL's response was "The Nieuw Amsterdam has been approved as completely safe to sail with one azipod propulsion system by all relevant authorities."

So, they didn't answer the question as to whether the system was fixed, just that it was cleared to sail on one azipod.

Someone in another thread mentioned they'd like to see the display in the Crow's Nest that shows the engine speed, heading, etc. That would be a good way to tell if they're using both engines or not.

Either way, I haven't received any communication from HAL about my 1/4 cruise being impacted - I would think if they were going to alter the itinerary, they would have contacted us by now. As long as I can get on the ship I'll be happy - I don't care where it goes!

8 minutes ago, Samanthac25 said:

We are GOING!!! 

 

Has the itinerary changed??

Now she's heading south, in the opposite direction of Freeport... 

Same here - but for 1/4. We've contacted our travel agent... I'd be happy if they just go to Half Moon Key for the week!

6 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

The 1/2 Koningsdam sailing (10 nights) is really cheap. Not sure if you're flying down early enough to catch it (or if HAL would let you switch sailings at this point).

Funny you should say that - I'm on the Holland site now looking at options, and that one stood out!

We've communicated that to our travel agent, so we'll see what happens. Luckily we have a lot of flexibility before the cruise, so it's definitely a possibility. HAL recently changed our 10 day January 2021 cruise to skip one of the ABCs so it would be nice to get all of them!

The other thing is we have the drink package on the NA voyage; I doubt it would transfer over.

Does anyone happen to have a copy of the cruise cancellation letter if there is one?

We're booked on NA for the 1/4 sailing. We didn't have anything planned at any of the ports other than beaches and shopping. I'd hate to have our cruise cancelled though...

We were on the Miracle last week out of Tampa. The LGBT meet up was consistently at the same time and location. I've noticed on other recent cruises that wasn't the case. Our problem on this cruise was that it was at 10:30 every night, and we typically don't stay up that late, so we never went.

I've been eyeing that particular cruise too and noticed the same thing. What's interesting though is that if you check the itineraries after the ship comes out of drydock, the balconies don't appear to be available until after it has done a few more sailings. Maybe they're planning on working on them after drydock? You also are not given the option to choose your own balcony for the sailings when the balconies are available.

We did the Cheers package for the first time on our 5-day Paradise cruise. This was the third time on this itinerary, so our plan was to stay on the ship at Grand Cayman and use the Cheers package like an excursion.

Did we break even or do better? Yes, overall but not each day.

We did run into a problem we didn't anticipate the first sea day... I got 'almost' seasick in the morning due to high waves after we went through a storm at night. My stomach didn't feel right until the early afternoon... otherwise I probably would have eaten and drank more. I doubt Carnival would give a refund if someone was sick for the whole cruise... just something to keep in mind.

We didn't find the program restrictive, and it was nice to not worry about keeping track of how much we were spending. The convenience factor of not dealing with bringing bottles of wine or cans of soda is also something you can't put a price on.

At dinner, our bar waitress was fantastic and encouraged us to order the most expensive glasses of wine and always asked if we wanted a second drink.

Would we do it again? Yes, but probably only if it was a short cruise, or if we didn't plan on doing anything on port days.

Hello everyone,

 

Going on my second cruise with Carnival in a few week's and wondered how gay friendly Carnival Cruises can be nowadays. There's a lot going on in the world right now and I just wanted to see if Carnival is still a fun and safe place for LGBT people since November. Sorry if this question has already been asked...new to the board!

 

Thanks!

My husband was a little worried as well. We've never had a problem, and we just returned from cruise #11 with Carnival. My honest opinion is that the majority of people are on the ship to get away from everything and have a good time.

Thanks -

They finally did get back to me and everything is all set - it just took longer than I was expecting.:o

Our ship itinerary has changed for our cruise next week. I booked a reservation for four adults months ago, but can't get a confirmation from anyone at Nachi that we can go on the day we'll actually be in port.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Should we just show up with our reservation print out?

I've emailed them twice and sent a Facebook message... not sure what else I can do except try calling them...

We used the airport check-in when we dropped off a rental car at the airport. It was really easy. There is a fantastic perk if you're not Platinum or higher or FTTF - airport check-ins are assigned to the first regular boarding group. (First after weddings, diamonds, etc) We were able to get on the ship before a lot of people who got to the pier before us.

On our cruise three weeks ago upon returning to the ship you were able to swap the wet towel for a dry one on deck one just past the security scan. Had not noticed this on prior cruises.

They were doing this on my last cruise as well - I thought it was a great idea. The housekeeping staff was actually encouraging us to swap them out after we went though security. They were usually fresh out of the dryer and still warm.

Now you can finally print the luggage tags!

We did a guarantee on our first cruise... and got an adjoining room. We heard every complaint from the older couple next door. We didn't book one again until this cruise because the rate was too good to pass up.

One more day of work for us - getting the camera batteries charged tonight and finalizing the packing:D

We're actually flying down Thursday to visit family before the cruise, then driving to Miami Saturday. Right now it looks like it's going to be more of a Friday night into Saturday storm, so if you're leaving Friday, I think you should be fine... either way, it's just making my co-workers even more jealous... We missed a blizzard the last time we were out in January!

For St. Thomas, did you book the national park tour?

We want to go to St. John, but aren't sure if we want to just go over on a ferry and hit the beach, or do something more involved.

For elegant night, I'm bringing shirts/ties, khakis, dress pants, and a sport coat. I guess technically you could consider one combination a full suit, but that's not really how I bought it... Apparently on this cruise there are two elegant nights and one 'formal' night, which is the Captain's Celebration.

I'm definitely an over-packer, even though every time I try not to be. I did manage to get all of my own clothes and shoes into one piece of luggage with room to spare. We don't fit into each other's clothes, so that's not an option for us. It definitely would make things easier!

45cm is crazy - I hope you don't have to do too much work to clear yourself out. That amount of snow will just make you appreciate the cruise more!

Any word yet??

We started packing today - definitely getting in the cruise mood!

I did a quick search on Google and on here and didn't find anything...

I installed the Carnival Hub app on my phone to get ready for my upcoming cruise:D. I know it won't do much now, but there's a place on the home screen where you can take a selfie. When you go to that section, it states "Help us find your photos. Show us your beautiful smile." Will this show the pictures that have been taken by the Pixels staff on the app? Has anyone has any experience with this, and how well does it work?