RW20

I love everything Disney. Especially Star Wars!

For my money it's a matter of what is worth it. We have always had a great time on Carnival. Is Disney better? Possibly. Can I afford it? Yes. But am I willing to pay that much more knowing I will enjoy my Carnival cruise? No.

So instead I cruise out of Port Canaveral and spend time at Disney before and the price is similar to that of a Disney cruise. My next cruise on the Magic is preceded with a whole week of Disney! Can't wait and yes my favourite park is Hollywood Studios! I may not get Star Wars days at sea but I get a whole day of Star Wars there (and Indiana Jones too!)

I am so happy to be a mother of boys... the only Disney princess I like is Leia.

We have done this twice with a third planned and booked. We also fly out of Toronto so the flights can be quite pricey.

The last two times we did 2 days of parks with 3 nights at Disney prior to the cruise. Next time we are going for a full week. The key thing to remember with Disney that park tickets after you have 4 days only cost about $10/day to add additional days.

We bought our tickets back in May. Disney had a 35% discounted rate for Canadian residents. Even though we will be there a week we are only doing 4 days of parks and planning min-golf and waterparks for the other days.

We have rented a vehicle from MCO and dropped off at Port Canaveral and the reverse the last two times. This time we are taking the Magical Express then renting from National at the Disney Car Care Centre the day before the cruise. This gives us a chance to go out and get our carry-on wine and pop for the cruise. Then also go to Olive Garden for dinner.

On the day we disembark we also book late flights (about 9pm). This gives us a full day and no worries about delays into port. Last time we went to Blizzard Beach and the time before we went to Kennedy Space Center for the day.

In January 2016 we were in early traditional in the aft upper. This past January early traditional in the mid dining.

There is no bbq set up on the sea days.

When going to the buffet we also found the best place to get a table and be able to meet our party was to go to the back where the pasta bar is. They also do custom eggs back there for breakfast.

We used the free bottle then refilled it. The ice cubes from the lido machine also fit through the bottle opening.

Also if you are a repeat you get 1 bottle per person. If you stay in a suite you get two for the room. So if you are 4 people in a suite you get 6 1L bottles.

What nobody ever mentions is that ALL past guest (yes, even Red Cards) receive a free liter of water in the cabin.

 

It's NOT the one on the desk that you would be charged for if you drank it, the steward is supposed to bring it to you the first night.

You don't need the DL for camp carnival. When they swipe your s&s card it shows your photo. Only thing you need on the ship is your s&s.

Thank you for the responses! I'm only interested in carrying cash for tips and I was told DL was needed to get child out of Camp Carnival. Is that correct?

I am glad to there there weren't any problems but anything can happen. Yesterday all British Airways flights were grounded due to a computer issue. Another reason I like to fly in early.

Generally I want to ensure my flight is scheduled to leave before I hit the I don't have enough time to drive. To Florida for me that is a 24 hour minimum.

Well this isn't on the ship but on the Carnival boards. Whenever anyone on a post mentions staggered boarding instead of staggered check-in they get flamed by someone within minutes... then someone else and another...

We were at the Cucina del Capitano one night. There was 8 of us including three children aged 10, 8 and 2. The table next to us was having a domestic and the wife was swearing at her husband and calling him some very vile names. My husband spoke to them and asked them to watch their language as we had three kids at the next table. Her response was "Oh I am so f___ing sorry!" After that she swore at her husband and they both left.

If you don't have anything useful to say then don't bother responding. If you had been on one of these and could provide insight then that would be infinitely more helpful than your comment!

do you really think the cruise line is going to schedule unsafe tours? Maybe best you stay on the ship.

I am trying to figure out what to do in Belize. Ideally I want an excursion with snorkeling that will pick me up at the ship so I can save time not having to tender. Basically I don't want to go to the mainland.

The snorkeling at Rendezvous looked like a good option and now it is gone. There are some sharks and rays tours but how safe are they? I have two boys who will be 12 & 10 and don't want them to freak out. Anyone done this with kids?

Well I seriously over do it.

Our first cruise we flew in the night before. It was just me and my husband. But since then the last two cruises and next one sail out of Port Canaveral with the boys.

The last two we flew in 3 days early and went to Disney. Our next one we are going a week early and going to Disney. We cruise in the winter and fly out of Toronto. If I am spending around $2000 CDN to get my family to Florida I figure I will make the most of it and get in a Disney vacation before my cruise!

One change that I love is the new perks for suites includes most of the FTTF perks and a free bag of LAUNDRY! After spending a week at Disney before hand I have laundry when getting on the ship. It's amazing how much you can tightly pack into one bag. Hey they had to return it in 3 separate bags!

I will be travelling to Cozumel and Costa Maya. We will likely be going to Playa Mia in Cozumel and on an excursion in Costa Maya. So other than that the only shopping we would likely do would be at the cruise port.

Is there an advantage to having Pesos or will I be ok with US$?

On the new Carnival website I am looking at an excursion which shows multiple times available. However it doesn't seem to give me an option of which time to pick. Has anyone else experienced this or know a way around it?

The green eggs is pretty cool. They said they use broccoli to make them green. Don't tell the kids lol!

Mmmm vanilla diet coke!!

We had a suite on deck 7 forward near the atrium and I agree it was loud every night!

Were you on a Carnival ship? I have seen you can buy packages with the tickets for shore excursions which include chairs etc. But my kids will never use the chairs. Can you buy just the lift ticket on board?

the above post makes a good point concerning which dock your ship will port in, as well as what type activities you like. I'll tell you what we did --

 

My family of 4 adults just returned from a cruise stopping at Roatan, Mahogany Bay dock, and we chose to take the less expensive option of booking the aerial chairlift to the private island of mahogany Bay beach. On our ship tickets were only $9.95 pp ($14 on shore) and it was a fun day. There is a height requirement for the chairlift, so if you have small kiddos they may not be tall enough. The timing is at your leisure to/from the beach and you can ride the chairlift as often as you wish to return to the ship and go back to the beach later. It is also possible to walk through the shopping area and across a bridge to the same beach area.

 

Look for other posts for more info on this board, First timer to Mahogany Bay, stay at port or Little French Key? Enjoy your cruise!

I am interested in hearing about your excursion. Who did you book with and how was it?

While on your cruise did ship time change at all or remain at the Florida time?

I did this excursion in St Thomas with my husband and it was great. When you weren't on the scooters they provided snorkeling equipment. We saw lots of fish very up close. After the morning we went back to the ship to get changed and both fell asleep. The ship pulling out of port woke us up!

Next year we are looking forward to doing this again now that our youngest will be old enough to do it too.

Both - The last cruise we were asked and because there was a trundle bed in the room I requested both. However my sister picked only AM. The reason being her daughter was 2.5 and she didn't want service to interfere with naps or bed routine.

As long as we have a pull out or a trundle in our room I will ask for both. But I do ask if they could just make the beds in the morning and they can do the rest am/pm as they prefer.

In January 2017 it was still $5 pp. We just called guest services on embarkation day to book.

Once on board you can go to or call guest services to sign up

And now the funtimes for the 8-Day Eastern on Carnival Sunshine Jan 13-21