bahacca

Spa pass. Then they can time their day and use it on a day(s) they don't need to prepare for a nice dinner. Adding a gift card would work, too. The spa has good specials on the first night and on port days. Have them do the spa tour when they board the first day, and specials often save around $50 if booked the day you board.

The kids clubs on Carnival ships are spread out, so thinking of one leaving to go get the other on a ship that is twice as big as any ship they have been on doesn't appeal to me or my kids. I did not look at the specific locations on this ship. Also, odds of there being a large amount of kids from which to make friends at the end of April is slim to none. It will be right after Easter Break and before any schools are out.

After looking at the list of things to do on some itineraries, it was determined they would probably get rather bored. They would be with just my parents, so no mom and dad to take them around to different things on board. They showed no interest in the lazer tag or cars on board either. 

Looks like grandparents will plan something else with them instead.

Thank you all for your input.

My parents are thinking of taking my daughters on Norwegian Bliss in April. One will be 12, the other 13. I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck moving a child down or up in clubs so siblings can be together. Mine aren't reliant on each other by any means, but it would be nice since my rule is they must be with a buddy at all times if they were in one club so they could come and go together.

I used the maitre d email for Imagination. I requested a 4 top and 2 8 tops for our party. We were seated at a 4 top and 2 8 tops. So, for me, it worked.

1 hour ago, Sotermarler said:

We were on that cruise with you. I did see a few kids roaming the ship but not many. After your review I’m glad we left out DS10 home. I would have been pissed if they kicked the kids out early. 

 

 

At age 10, your son would have been in a different club. Circle C is for ages 12-14.

Do yourself a favor, skip bottomless bubbles and let your child splurge by getting non alcoholic, delicious, refreshing drinks made to order at Alchemy Bar. Mine drank copious amounts of water since the cruise is so dehydrating and got pre and post dinner drinks at Alchemy. You can get smoothies and soda anywhere. If you want to lower the cost, join the AARP "rewards for Good" (you do NOT need to be 55+) You just click through some surveys and quizzes and get points, then you can buy $100 gift cards for $90. 10% off. Put the gift card onto your sign and sail account.

My kids were with a group of 7 friends in Circle C, so they had plenty of people to hang out with that they knew. I think there were only 4 or 5 other kids in that club on the rest of the ship. They have some games to play and they have Mario Cart and Just Dance. 

As for the cruise itself, we missed Catalina due to weather. I know others have enjoyed renting the golf carts and going around the island with this age group. My family didn't disembark at Ensenada. One family took a bus to the blowhole. Their daughter complained the whole time that she was missing her friends. They were encouraged to spend some awful amount of money to go see a zoo or something with tigers. She wouldn't go. We both work in rescue here in the states, so we know the animals are treated poorly, often having teeth and claws removed so they can do "photo ops". 

There was trivia-Michael Jackson, Harry Potter, General, 1960s music, movie line(which most movies were rated R, so....). Our kids spent lots of time roaming around, eating way too much food and just hanging around. I would suggest bringing small board games, card games, books even if they enjoy reading. Mad Libs would be fun too. There is also a ping pong table, shuffleboard and cornhole on board. Weather should be better over spring break, so the waterslide may keep them occupied as well. It was 60* and stormy most of our trip, so....

One thing my girls LOVED that others didn't do was order virgin drinks at Alchemy Bar. They use fresh fruits and real fruit syrups. Just have your kids tell the mixologists what fruits they like, and they will mix something up. One of mine ordered pomegranite and blueberry and the other wanted muddled berries in hers. There is also a coffee shop with frappes, etc. Both kids said they will now order these drinks as opposed to their usual sugar laden pina coladas and strawberry daquaris. My kids are foodies, so they loved the fruit bisques each night, and one orders shrimp cocktail every night. Their friends ordered hamburgers and such. 

I love that they have a hot tub in the gym/spa to use. At least they did in 2016. And IIRC, they have a pool on Serenity deck that is adults only if you are sailing when you would use it.

2 minutes ago, bingomamma19 said:

cancelled...as in...for any reason you don't go....they don't keep your port fees if you don't go on the cruise.

Great to know. I figured they would keep them if you were simply a no show.

I'm fresh off Imagination and deck 9 was terrible. Alchemy is aft, so at least there was that bar to go to, but it shut down before midnight most nights. Then the only 2 bars left open were casino and nightclub--so I get lung cancer with my drinks! They need at least one non-smoking bar open at night.

2 minutes ago, bingomamma19 said:

You do not need to include the port fees...those would be refunded from carnival if cruise was cancelled.

Odds of a cruise being cancelled are slim to none. Will they actually reimburse if you are a no show due to illness, work, etc. and didn't insure through them? If the answer is no, I'd include those fees in the insurance rate.

I always insure for total amount that is charged to my credit card. 

I meant that the taxes were only a few cents per drink, even if you have Cheers or Bubbles.

SInce Carnival is the only cruiseline in Long Beach, I will post it here. When disembarking and getting your luggage, GET A PORTER to take your luggage. They go to a different line for customs. We didn't realize until it was too late. Our friends, who got off over 30 minutes after we did, walked right through while we were stuck in the long line. You are welcome. 

Taxes in port are NOT included, at least out of Long Beach. Once we set sail, no taxes were added to drinks. Even on Cheers. My friends who had Cheers were charged several cents per drink while we were in port. Same for those with Bubbles package. Gratuity of 18% is automatically on the bill. I always tipped an extra dollar or 2, but I was paying by the drink. 

Carnival Imagination Mixologist's creations:

Order: "Fruity, not too sweet with vodka" A watermelon with cinnamon creation by Samael

Order: "Fruity, not too sweet with vodka and berries" Muddled black and raspberries and magic creation by Samael

Order: "Fruity, not too sweet with vodka" creation by Jorge

Order(Not pictured, but was orange in color with an orange slice garnish): Spicy Mango syrup. I think it had St. Germaine in it. 

This was a "chillada". Lemon on the inside of the glass then sprinkled with Tajin. Layers of cucumber peel. I have no idea what went into it. Made by Samael. 

Order: "Coconut and vodka" I saw rumchata go into it. Garnished with gummy bears and cinnamon. (Gummy bears were because I was dressed in a Grumpy Bear onesie for 2 nights). By Samael

Order: "Passionfruit syrup" Passionfruit syrup, St. Germaine and chamapgne with orange peel and the best cherries on earth. BySamael

These were made by one of the ladies there. Not Ludja, the other Serbian mixologist. They were for some of the crew. Guava bottom, apple pucker, champagne. SO pretty!

No clue what this one was, but it was pretty.

Order: "Something with ALL of the cherries in it" I called it the "Grumpy Bear Snowcone" Cherries and vodka were in it. I think there was something citrus in there too. Made by Jorge 

I asked for a whole glass of just the filty black cherries and was denied. I'm sure if I had asked for a shot glas of them they would have obliged!LOL

Not pictured, but stay away from the Perfect Storm. To us, we said it was like a Strawberry Daquari got left next to a campfire. Unless you like that. The other drinks on menu were all very good. I ordered all off menu, so I have no pictures of the on menu drinks. 

My kids both had alchemy creations. So much better tasting than the sugar laden virgin pina coladas, etc. One got a pomegrante and blueberry creation and the other muddled berries.

Here are the activities for Circle C. Note it says they are open until 1 am, however, several times our kids were asked to leave at 10:30 or 11 pm. So when people complain about tweens/teens running around the ship at night, they can thank Carnival staff for not doing their jobs. Most of the late night activities never happened. Granted there were not a whole lot of kids on a Jan. 13 cruise, but...

Also, one of our kids got asked to leave for wearing fluffy pajama pants. My daughter was asked to "stand up" because she was bending over in a short dress, but she had shorts (and not booty shorts) that covered everything on underneath. I have yet to find a dress code for Circle C or anywhere else on the ship other than the dining room (and we all know how loose they are with those rules). I mean, there was a lady in a thong bikini on the water slide with kids, so how is my daughter bending over with shorts on an awful thing? And pajama pants??  I'm thinking it may have been the lady who was in charge being a pain. 

The kids did have fun doing Just Dance with their friends and playing video games and some other games they had there. 

circle c 2.pdf

Circle C 1 .pdf

1 hour ago, Verde Man said:

I do not understand the reason for this rule.  If you are limited to 15 drinks a day with the package, what difference does it make if one or two people drink.  As I understand once the limit of 15 is hit you start paying for the drinks for the rest of the day.

They only limit alcoholic beverages, not anything else like coffes, shakes, smoothies, bottled waters, etc. Keep in mind that Carnival is wel known as the "fun ship", so alcoholic purchases are probably a large part of their revenue stream. My guess is that people would seriously try to "cheat" if not everyone was on the program in the stateroom. 

#1- Who is going?

#2- When and destination?

#3- Ship

I did Alaska with my parents so opted to try Princess since they did Glacier Bay. Chose ship from their fleet I thought we would enjoy. My cruise in 3 days is local friends. We live in S. CA, so Long Beach was the closest port. All of us are families with tweens, so Carnival. When I decide to fly to FL for a cruise, I am going to have a LOT of stuff to think about! SO MANY more ships, lines, ports to consider.

My only question would be how much is she going to drink that is included in the package? If she is only drnking some juices, a couple mocktails and water, the combined cost may be well under paying a la carte. Happy cruising!

Passport, boarding pass and method of payment are all you REALLY need. Well, I need motion sickness meds, too, but... Enjoy your trip! (And if you don't know if you get motion sick, bring meds anyway. Would be terrible to spend your trip sick)

If you have a valid passport, even better.

There isn't a code. You need to make your own account under the "Rewards for You" thing. You earn points by taking little quizzes. It took me like 15 minutes to get enough points for redeeming the $500 gift card for $450. You just log into the rewards, select gift cards or travel, find the carnival gift cards and then buy. The points will "pay" for the discount.

Awww! Got it. I thought there was only one like the Stanley Cup.

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

master motivator

 

 

 

 

I'm betting it was NOT the real Lombardi trophy. You think the Eagles gave it to the Saints for the coach to incentivize a win against their own team??  I guess they want a fake trophy.