kenrad

Can you still buy just 24 hours of access on board? I'd like to be connected at times, but do want to disconnect for the majority of my cruise. 

Did 6357 have noise? I'm trying to figure out what's below, it seems to be between Guest Services & The restaurant.

There does not seem like there is a lot to do at night. How were the shows?

I agree with you on the lack of nighttime events. I was on the May 18 sailing. Shows were decent, but that sort of thing generally isn't my cup of tea. But due to lack of other options, ended up going to them anyway.

This is true...and was in practice on the Adventure of the Seas on the May 18 sailing out of Bayonne. I was skeptical about it at first, but not a big deal in my view as it turns out.

Prior to picking up the card (in slot with your room number on it), you use your Set Sail Pass for anything you would need the card for (except of course going into your cabin). And I can tell you that you would know if your cards were tampered with.

Along with the roving check in staff with tablets?

I didn't see any roving agents with tablets. Was on the May 18 sailing, arrived in the terminal at 1030ish, and the lines at security and the checkin counter were minimal. Felt crowd & line management was handled well. Also, cards weren't in the room...they were in an envelope outside the room in the slot with the room number.

unless the OP is going an Anthem in which case the keys will be in the cabin.

They do this on Adventure out of Bayonne as well

Of all the photos that people have posted since her refurb there never seems many people in Izumi.

 

It’s a shame, I like sushi and always visit if the ship has an Izumi but I’m not sure about its location on the promenade.

 

Surely it’s too busy and noisy to have a meal?

 

 

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Last week, there were never more than a handful of people in there that I saw. Place looked sharp though.

There would be two. That is across the board on all RCI 7 night cruises. Most common are nights 2 & 5, but that is subject to change according to the itinerary.

May 18th Sailing: 2 Nights, Days 2 & 6

Can someone tell me which dining room is being used for anytime dining.

Deck 3 last week!

I'm surprised any ship going in or out of Bayonne's port would circle up to the Statue of Liberty, seems like it would take time, and not to mention turning around in busy NY Harbor doesn't sound like something you would do unless you had to. This is where leaving out of the Manhattan Terminal on Carnival or Norwegian has a very nice advantage.

Eh, using the GFS. Good luck with that one on out of season tropical development. At least it's better than the Canadian.

Funny how I came across this thread today...to this point, I've only sailed Carnival. I like Carnival's product (I'm well into Gold territory...closer to Platinum than Red), and I'm going to give Royal a try in 2018. After going on Carnival a few times, I've wanted to try other lines for many years now, but generally the combination of home ports, sail dates, and price always favored Carnival (and usually considerably). However, that gap narrowed this year, and for the 2018 sailing I found, Royal just worked out better, and was actually significantly less expensive, yay for sales. So I'll give it a go, and see how things shake out.

Maybe they won't be ready to support a regular complete schedule yet. Since Carnival controls Grand Turk (and therefore has a financial interest in taking you there if at all possible), there must be some reason (and I'll be willing to bet it has to do with $$)

Oh. The. Pain. At $40 per day, it quickly adds up. Been there and done that.

Best alternative to me is some sort of drop off. I've driven to friend's houses, had them drive me (after throwing them a few bucks). And depending on where you're coming from...even an Amtrak/NJ Transit/LIRR to Taxi situation might be a viable one (I've done it...and it's not that bad). I believe at least one NJ hotel just across the river has some sort of parking package and you just hop a bus into the City, never did that one though.

I was once on an early tender to the island (yay for priority!), and there were more supplies and Carnival crew on the boat than guests. It was pretty remarkable all of the cooks and materials/supplies they were moving. Best part for my wife and me was that the photographers were also on that tender, so that when we got off the boat, they weren't setup to take the mug shots in front of that same 'ol HMC banner.

Ken was NOT on the May 21-28 cruise.

As many have said, it comes down to personal preference. I don't know off hand my breakdown of how many insides vs. OVs vs. balconies, but i'd imagine it's about 50% Interior, and 50% everything else. I usually do a cost/benefit analysis on whether or not it's worth the extra cost. In addition to the actual cost, other important factors in that analysis include time of year (northern ports in the Spring or Fall can be chilly and make the Balcony a bit less appealing), embarkation port, itinerary, and location of available balconies (tip: avoid balconies just below the pool...it's an unfortunate 3am wake up call when they clean). The one thing is, if I go for the Balcony, I have to use it fairly often, otherwise it's kind of a waste.

I posted on John Heald's page about this a few years back, I was looking to give feedback for the same reasons as the OP. Not sure if this is true anymore, but he responded back that about 40% of guests are emailed a survey afterwards. Having said that, I wouldn't hold your breath for an email survey...post your comments on John's page, and he should make sure they get to the right place.

The only thing that will keep the chance for Spirit-sized ships being built in the future are the ports that can't support the larger ships (Baltimore, Tampa, etc.). A business decision to be made. The Spirits can't sail forever, something will eventually have to replace them, or some ports will no longer be served.

Interesting. I'm sailing in May as well, have been booked for a few weeks, and nothing showing besides the regular online checkin.

Anyone know how far in advance of a sailing the checkin time options become available on the online checkin site?

Looks like she's departing

It's very common for Carnival ships to leave late from NY...though I thought she'd be underway by 5:30. I guess making full use of that "extra hour" tonight.

One time in the MDR on early seating...with full meal (bread and salad to dessert) we were in and out in 45 minutes. Yes this was a huge anomaly...not sure how this happened but it did. Top notch wait staff...the other nights it was more like 1 hr 15 minutes.

Not surprising that it's another Sea Day. It's already a tight fit getting from Freeport to Baltimore on one Sea Day. The Pride usually leaves at 1:30pm from Freeport on Friday to make it to Baltimore Sunday morning. Like others said Nassau would be a consideration, but probably wouldn't work too well time wise.