iCruise717

I've cruise on both and had two very different experiences. While we didn't really enjoy our Carnival cruise, I know enough about the hospitality industry and CCL to know that there are plenty of Carnival ships and itineraries we could have enjoyed, we simply picked the wrong cruise for us.

The positives of Carnival:good service, similar to RCCL (actually better than on the larger RCCL ships); food was good, we had no complaints (we, however, are not picky eaters); had great excursions!

Where we were disappointed was the entertainment. Like most others have said, your vacation will be what you make it and the two are more similar than different. Enjoy!

Loving these pics! We sailed the Oasis last June and haven't stopped talking about it yet! :D

Hey Victoria, thanks so much for this review! I am doing a post-grad cruise on the Breeze on the May 18th sailing with my friends and it has been nice to get a fellow college-kid perspective. I will definitely be trying that fishbowl!

My sister and I were on the Oasis last June and in the 18-20 category. Things could have changed, but we never got a separate flyer for any 18-20 activities/events, just what could be found in the compass. I hope your stepdaughter finds events for her age-group!

I wish there was a "terrace" outside the Windjammer towards the aft with

outside seating. The Grand Princess had a terrace deck near the buffet

and we always ate breakfast & lunch out there.

This would be great! I would love to enjoy breakfast in an outdoor seating area like this.

I also like the idea of having something similar to Cafe Promenade, Sorrento's or Park Cafe on the Boardwalk area. It would give people more reason to hang out in that area and make it less of a useless space. Even if they served similar food as the other venues, at least it would be something.

My other "want" would be to add more of the infinity hot tubs! Those were my favorite when they weren't crowded :D

For my upcoming cruise, here is what I have tentatively planned:

Formal nights: Gold maxi dress, probably going to pair it with some sort of metallic heel and minimal jewlely. And for the second formal night, a LBD with nude pumps and a simple pearls set.

Casual nights: I don't ever recycle and typically wear shorter dresses but this cruise I am planning on wearing a maxi skirt with a top one evening. On the first day if my luggage is not available, I will wear white skinny pants and a pink blouse, if not, a casual sundress.

As for shoes, I mentioned a metallic heel, nude pumps as well as a brown leather wedge that pretty much goes with all of my casual night outfits.

I don't do a ton of jewelry but when I do it's usually wither pearls or a gold necklace BUT I almost always wear a gold watch with outfits.

LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Thank for sharing with us! :)

Subscribing! Great pre-cruise post, can't wait to see what this upcoming week brings.

Safe travels and have fun! :D

This review is really making me feel like I am going on vacation with you! Makes all this snow we are getting a little more bearable.

Great job and thanks for sharing with us!

Really looking forward to this! :)

Space seems to ALWAYS be at a premium for me, so for my last cruise, I was very meticulously with planning outfits and shoes and even bough some new ones so I could be as versatile as possible.

Here's what I bought & brought:

Platinum Jack Rogers Navajo Sandal - These are great for casual outfits around the ship and go with the majority of my wardrobe.

Bronze/Gold Wedge Sandal - Wore these to dinner on most casual nights; the color lets them work with a lot of different outfits/colors.

Nude Pumps - Used these on both formal nights. I only wanted to bring one pair of pumps but my dresses were black and navy, so I had to choose a shoe that could go with both and these worked perfectly!

Sperry Topsider Boat Shoes - These are great walking shoes for excursions!

Running Shoes

Flip Flops

I usually wear the Jack Rogers sandals or the Sperrys on the plane and to board the ship, flip flops in my carry-on (in case I want to get some pool time in before the rest of my luggage arrives) and then the sneakers, wedges and pumps get packed in the luggage.

On my last cruise (Oasis), I LOVED getting up early, grabbing my Starbucks and watching the sunrise from the Solarium! It was so peaceful up there (especially in the morning) and I would have one of the huge comfy chairs all to myself :D

Other things were:

Sitting in the rocking chairs at the back of the ship on Deck 5 (jogging track) and watching the wake/reading a good book.

People watching EVERYWHERE!

Sunning at the "beach pool." You can sit in the shallow water to keep cool and still ready your book.

Drinks at the Rising Tide bar :D

We did Red Strip on our June Oasis sailing. Here are my thoughts:

We enjoyed it. We enjoy relaxed beach days and this fit the bill. Yes it is expensive for what it is, but most of the excursions in Jamaica are, mainly because of the transportation/safety factor (I personally would not venture outside of the port gates in Falmouth; a RCI excursion is a must for me at this port). The place is clean and the staff are fun and friendly and eager to please. We personally had no issues with the beach. We didn't have the seaweed problem another poster mentioned and the beach was clear of rocks in the designated swimming area. There are a few amenities (chairs and mats available, bathrooms, a place to get food & drinks, etc.), and for the most part, the beach wasn't very crowded and we were on a full sailing of Oasis. I didn't get food, but the drink prices were not bad.

I would have enjoyed having a bit more time, but I also liked that we had time to shop in the port area after we got back. Overall, it was a good excursion for us; as with everything, it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for something specifically geared towards kids, this isn't it, but I would still say it is very family friendly.

Best of luck!

I would have been very happy with Wicked (seen it on Broadway twice, and it's still amazing!), but I think Mama Mia is a great choice. I honestly don't think there are any shows that will please everyone or be "family-friendly" enough. I personally thought Hairspray was a great choice for the Oasis, but I know others think it's inappropriate for kids.

At any rate, I'm pleased with Mama Mia and am already excited to know what show the Anthem will feature :D

Subscribing! Looking forward to your posts and updates. Safe travels & enjoy :D

At the risk of sounding extremely redundant, you're pictures are stunning! I hope you doing pictorial reviews of your other upcoming cruises!

Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

This is always a big decision for me! The men in my family don't understand why I care to board the ship, but it really is a big deal!! :D

On our last cruise we sailed in June out of FLL (HOT!). I wanted o wear a dress but we were flying in morning-of and I don't like to wear dresses when I fly. Instead, I wore shirts and RL button down with boat shoes/Sperrys. It worked well enough for me and my Sperrys were SO comfortable.

For our next cruise I am planning on wearing white denim with a tank top. We are flying in morning of again and I am going to wear a Lilly Pulitzer murfee scarf that I can use a wrap on the plane in case it gets cold and then stash it in my carry-on once in FLL as it will likely be too warm for a scarf.

Good luck and have fun!

I would look into drink package and Dinner packages. They can save you a lot.

Agreed!

We had a Boardwalk balcony and the noise was a factor. They have some late night activities in the Aqua Theater and they have the speakers turned up way too loud. If you don't go to bed until, say 11pm, it won't be an issue. We are early to bed, early to rise people and found it quite unsettling.

Good point. We were rarely in our cabins before 11 pm; most things had quieted down by then. We are booked for a Boardwalk balcony on the Allure for our next cruise, but for us, I don't think it will be an issue. Plus, we like that we can see the ocean.

I was a first time cruiser not to long ago, here are a few things no one told me that i wish I had known:

1. Look into motion sickness meds and start taking them the night before you board. You might not have an issue, but it's better to be prepared than miserable. We learned our lesson our first time and used Bonnine and Sea-Bands and had no issues on our last cruise.
   
2. Do research on the ports. I found the best info here on CC in ports forum. It might seem easier to book everything through RCCL, but sometimes you can save money/have a better experience if you do it yourself. We did the western itinerary this past summer and really enjoyed Labadee but wish we had booked a cabana just to get some shade and relax. We also LOVED the jet ski tour, highly recommend if you enjoy that. Falmouth is a skippable port day IMO. We did the Red Strip Beach excursion (approx. $30 pp) and had a nice day but on our net cruise, I think we are just going to stay on the ship and enjoy having the pools to ourselves. We did the Royal Dolphin Swim in Cozumel, which I really liked, however, if you aren't doing the dolphins, I'd say there are better beaches in Cozumel than Chankanaab.
   
3. Bring a lanyard/lanyards to keep track of SeaPasses. I lost mine the first night and while RCCL makes it easy to replace, wandering the decks at 1:00 AM looking for my SeaPass and being locked out of my cabin wasn't the highlight of the cruise.
   
4. I second whoever said make sure you have all passports! If you don't already, I recommend getting started on that ASAP. There is still a bit of a back-up from the government shutdown a few months ago and may take longer than usual.
   
5. Pack a few essentials in your carry-on in case there is a mishap w/luggage.
   
6. Get ready to have fun! Congrats on the anniversary and enjoy!
   

I am probably not the best person to answer this question, as I am not picky when it comes to food on cruises, but I rather enjoyed my experience in the MDR. Not everything was wonderful, but there were some highlights (including the tiger shrimp someone posted a picture of). We also liked having the same wait staff and felt the service was good. I would say give the MDR a chance and if you don't like what your get, you can always order the filet from Chops and then do specialty dining the other nights.

Champagne falls under the category of wine. If you get the Select package, then glasses up to $8 are included. If you get the Premium package, then glasses up to $12 are included.

Thank you! :D

Does anyone know the deal with champagne? I have been looking for an answer on if champagne is included in any package and if so, what kind, but can't seem to find anything. Anyone know??

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm leaning toward Allure first and then taking the advice of booking Oasis while on board. My next question, who had a boardwalk balcony? I'm curious as to whether it was noisy or not?

I depends on where your cabin is located as to the noise you will hear. We stayed in a Central Park cabin but friends of our had Boardwalk balconies and they had no complaints. The higher deck you are on, the more noise you will get from the sports deck/teen area.

Lot's of great info! We did the same itinerary and I agree with a lot of what you said. We LOVED everything about Labadee and my mother was one of the people paying cash for a floating mat :rolleyes:. We actually enjoyed Jamaica and Cozumel but that's because we are simply beach people and both ports provided that. In my review, I said the Western itinerary is NOT for everyone, but if you are just looking for beaches/limited water activities, I think it passes.

Also, we really like Dazzles too! They had a lot of fun theme nights and only once did I see it overly crowded.

Thanks for taking them time to post, really enjoyed your thoughts :)