jwalk03

Good point! And to further clarify, I think perhaps what the OP meant to say is that a cruise that involves a port stop in a US port other than the one of origin does require a foreign port. So practically speaking, a cruise will always have a foreign port.

Right. This is why Alaska cruises round trip for Seattle require a stop in Canada. If the ship did not stop at a Canadian port it would be a violation of the PVSA, even though it is a roundtrip sailing from the same US port.

Many Panama Canal cruises stop in either Columbia or Aruba. The PVSA is probably the major reason why.

The PVSA is without a doubt the reason why! I mean how many other cruise stop in Cartagena?! lol

I doubt the excursion desk will be open that early. Why not just book them right now?

 

As for deck plans, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Certain excursions can only be booked oboard. (I.e. the Behind the Fun Tour)

Deck 3 has the galley. Cannot walk end to end. Deck 4 has the upper level dining rooms, so depending on the time of day you may or may not be able to walk end to end thought the dining room.

Deck 10 has the steakhouse and upper level of the Lido Restraunt that you cannot walk through, but you can walk end to end outdoors.

All other enclosed decks can be walked end to end. The very top outdoor decks are either not full end to end decks, or are not connected, but it's not difficult to figure out once your onboard.

We have flown with our daughter 4 different times already. (she will be 2 next week) and have never had an issue with her in flight at all. She usually takes a nap for part of the flight, and when she's awake just have a couple of favorite toys or a book or iPad or something to keep her entertained.

Def bring some small snacks, and a sippy cup! Drinking from a sippy cup will help her ears pop. Uncomfortable ear pressure is often what makes babies cry in flight.

Another vote for Valor from San Juan. Counting San Juan you basically get 6 ports in 7 days, it's incredible. Not the most relaxing vacation ever, very busy with so many islands. But each island is so beautiful and unique from the one before it! It's not to be missed!

If forced to chose a favorite from the mainland I think it would be: Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel.

I have not done the 8-day to Grand Turk, La Roma, Aruba, and Curaco yet, but I think that one looks awesome too.

Come on FREE CRUISE! Come on FREE CRUISE!

I have several special offers there currently (Way more than I have ever seen before, but no Freebie at the moment.)

The Disney food is MUCH better than the Carnival food in most respects.

The only thing on Disney I did not like as well food wise, was the lack of a dinner buffet option.

The soft serve ice cream on Disney is just short of a million times better than the ice cream on Carnival, btw. don't miss it!

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Disney try sending the Dream and/or Fantasy over to the Pacific once the Canal is expanded and their PC contract runs out.

I think this is extremely unlikely. PC is and always will be their bread and butter. Getting people to combine WDW trip with a DCL is very very profitable for the company.

I realize SoCa has DisneyLand that could be used for a similar purpose, but only on a smaller scale, and as long as Disney only has 4 ships they won't be parking too many ships in one port year round other than PC. I could see a more regular presence in Cal. from the Magic or Wonder offering more Mexico cruises either before or after the Alaska season in the coming years though. I think Mexico is on the upswing as a cruise destination in general though after a very very bad few years for them.

We did this cruise last year in September and we never saw another ship the ENTIRE cruise. We had every single port to ourselves each day. It was fabulous! No lines or crowds to be found.

Private islands are great, BUT I think they should just be mixed in with other ports as well. I would hate to see cruise lines ONLY go to their own "private" places. This gives them too much control over port spending and would really hurt local places that cater to cruise ship passengers.

I also frequently wonder why they do not use Princess Cay as well. I mean they started using RC's private island instead which I am sure has to be more costly? Doesn't make much sense to me.

what a rip off and the serve you prepackaged generic sysco food service stuff. :mad:

I thought the food was really good on my Dream cruise, 5 star quality, no. But very very good.

Having seen the way luggage is handled in general there is no way it's a good idea to put cans in checked baggage!

Is it ok for me to bring beer on board by ourselves on DCL?

Yes, and Wine and Liquor are allowed too, as long as its all in your carry-on bag.

please tell me

Def not.

has any one or am I allowed to order room service lobster formal night? I would like to have a nice dinner on balcony. Will room service bring lobster or can I go up to the dining room and order a couple plates to go?

Even if the MDR would allow you to get a plate to go, it seems like it would be WAY MORE hassle than what its worth! Just have a lobster in the MDR, and eat another meal on your balcony.

Wow this is the first less than positive review I have read of Palo.

I have not actually tried it yet, we only went on a 3-day cruise last time and I didn't want to miss any of the main dinning rooms.

Will def still try it on my next cruise, but its prolly good you have lowered my excpectations a little.

Thanks for your review, I am really enjoying it! Actually I went and read your Breeze review from start to finish as well, while waiting for you to continue with this one!

I have not been on either ship yet. But I would say try something new. To me a new ship is half the fun of taking a cruise.

Note that all the above responses are for Bahamian/Caribbean cruises. There are DCL cruises that REQUIRE a passport. These are noted on the web site when you attempt to book.

This is true. Any cruise that is not a closed loop cruise (Panama Canal, Repo cruise, etc) would require a passport.

All of the European sailings would also need a passport, but you would also need a passport to fly to Europe to embark anyway.

We just took our 1.5 year old with just Birth Certificate, no issues at all. SS card is not necessary either.

I doubt its first cruise will be Feb. I think Apr is far more likely.

If the Carnival Vista is launching winter/early 2016, it would be unlikely for the Carnival Vista to do Mediterranean or Baltic cruises. Peak season for European cruises on a cruise line that has a target demographic of American guests would be during the summer months. As Carnival stated the reason they pulled out of Europe was due to the same demographic no longer being able to justify the airfare for a European cruise, the ships were no longer sailing full and the return on investment was not as high as they would have liked, due to cruise fares being heavily discounted.

 

If Carnival struggled so much during the summer months, even with there being no school, they would be unable to do the same during the winter.

 

Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway both had their inaugural cruises during the same time period as the expected launch for the Carnival Vista. Those two ships had an inaugural cruise of a Transatlantic, where they would be able to have the ships sailing full with high profit.

If Vista really does launch that early, then I agree that a Euro season is unlikely. No way they will be crusing in Europe in Jan/Feb/Mar, but if Vista launches Apr/May I think they will do a Euro season before coming back to the US. And given Carnival's track record of having ships ready on time I doubt Vista launches Jan/Feb/Mar.

JH announced today that he is going to be doing Alaska again in 2015, so Europe is def out. If they were doing Europe I am sure he would be the CD there instead.

I agree, they will do it again in 2016 as long as Vista is ready to launch in time for a European Summer season before sending her to the US.

I like the Newlwed game and even enjoy the game shows. Most of the big production shows are awful. The only 1 I have ever enjoyed on a Carnival cruise was Ticket to Ride. Most others I can't even sit through the entire thing.

Karaoke on my last cruise on the Valor was also TERRIBLE. Only like 10 people attended and of them about 2 sang. The staff member running it was begging people to sing, and the same guy just keep going over and over again. He wasn't bad, but I never heard of any of the songs he was singing so it really wasn't enjoyable.

I will say that I love the Comedy Club. This is by far the best entertainment that Carnival offers.

We took a Disney Cruise this year and there main shows were AMAZING! Blew Carnival out of the water. I did miss not having the comedy club though.

You're making me want to consider Disney... if only they had a casino... :p:p

There is so much other stuff to do, you will not even miss it.