Badfinger

Are the 7 day couple thermal suite and thalassotherapy passes worth it?

For our August 2018 cruise on the Breeze, I bought the weeklong pass for myself (we did not get a Cloud9 Spa Cabin like our previous four cruises). I went 2-3 times everyday (17 visits total about two hours each visit).

I would keep my swimming trunks in the Spa locker room...easier there than finding a place in our cabin to hang them. Also those showers are huge...I never showered in our cabin. And there is an endless supply of towels. I figured I used 7-8 towels during each visit to the Spa...or about 130 during the entire cruise!

I paid $139 for the pass. I would pay twice that amount without hesitation.

My wife on the other hand..she would not step foot in the Spa even if it was free.

Not really, it's down $10 from it's year high, also dividends are paid at certain time periods, not how long you owned the stock. I also have held CCL for many years and have double my money. Don't invest $6000 + just for OBC of $100

This ^

I have state before that buying this for the OBC is just a bad idea....but it is great for CCL as it provides an almost captive shareholder...and what other stock "dividend" (some like to compare it to that), requires you to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in order to use it? And beyond that, there are many stocks that are much better investments than CCL.

I have read several people talking about taking food back to their room from the buffet. Is it normal for people to do that? Are you able to get a cover from the staff or do you need to get creative on your own?

The reason we don't is because we usually get an interior cabin, and finding a "window table" in the lido is not all that hard. Just another chance to enjoy the view.

I’ll ask if the need anything from port. On occasion they’ll ask for something if they’re not getting off.

Only other time I made our three stewards some hats/ear warmers for Alaska a few weeks ago. It was on the Alaska Journeys cruise and the only time the Splendor’s in Alaska. Otherwise the Splendor is in Mexico. Many of the crew were cold.

"I made our three stewards some hats/ear warmers"

Yikes!

How soon do you have to cancel shore excursions . And also if you arrive at shore excursion destination and it is determined that you are unable to do it is a refund given? For instance, if you are over the weight limit or dont appear fit enough to do

I have never seen any excursion company weight anybody. But on the other hand, if the description says the weight limit is 250 pounds, and you are pushing 300, well you might not pass the eye test. We did a biking excursion and the limited was 250lbs. The bikes were pretty rickety, so I suppose if the bike broke they might question your weight.

As for cancellation, in August we were in Cozumel going on a Jet Ski excursion. At the port, we were told of potential bad weather (there were sprinkles, heavy clouds and some breeze at that time), and were given three options....back out and get a refund, wait one hour for better weather for the next departure, or go as planned. We chose to go as planned and had to sign a waiver...basically saying that upon signature of the waiver we were committing to the planned excursion and there would be no refund after that point, even if severe storm forced cancellation. Frankly it was only a few hundred dollars so not the end of the world if it was cancelled after our signature Worth the risk to us!

Very similar ships, except Breeze has the IMAX experience and Magic has the Guy's Pig and Anchor. I enjoyed both ships with the win going to the Breeze. Having said that, because they are so similar I would likely go with the ship with best itinerary. A ferry from St. Thomas to St. Johns will lead you to beautiful uncrowded beaches.

The Breeze has the Pig and Anchor too.

Which ship you prefer

 

Magic st kitts. St marten

 

Breeze. St Thomas amber cove

 

And why.

Looking more for blue clear not crowded beaches or island tours more so then suba diving kinda tours

 

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Either ship is great. You should check to see if any other ships are in port on the same days.

Hi there,

 

I know deck 12 gets more sun on the balcony (which I do not want), so I am leaning to deck 11, but had a couple of questions if anyone may be able to help:

 

What are the other cons of deck 11 besides having to walk up to the spa?

 

Is there a private spa entrance from deck 11 or do you have to walk out to public stairs and up to the main entrance of the spa?

 

Can one walk to the kids club (also on deck 11) from the cabins (on deck 11) or will we have to walk down and around and back up to deck 11? It looks like there may be decking going around on the deck plans but not sure if this is just open space.

 

Thank you!

Never paid attention to where the kids clubs are, but you can walk on deck 11 all the way to the back of ship. Makes for a quick trip to the lido or aft area for pizza or Indian food...avoiding that hot mess on the lido deck. As for which deck, having been on the Magic and Breeze a total of 5 times, my favorite cabins are interiors on deck 12. There are only four of them and unlike the other interiors, they are turned 90* which makes the layout of the room different and much more spacious. No bumping into each other getting into the closets, bathroom or going out the door. On deck 11 you can access that "private" elevator/stairs up to the spa. Realize on deck 12 you have to go up one flight of steps to get to the Spa which is on deck 14. But if channeling your inner vampire sounds like your priority, then it sounds like deck 11 is for you. Deck 12 has a lot less cabins and is much quieter than 11, but I would not call deck 11 noisy either (especially compared to the lido deck cabins...those hallways are just a free-for all).

I was referring to fish on the main menu. The one night she had fish it was the salmon offered on the alternatives. There are other lines that offer barramundi, basa, etc.

That salmon is excellent. I could eat it every night vs the 3-4 nights I usually order it.

On Fascination, our steward left us a $50 gift card. It was only good in the Spa and was non-transferable. We did not use it. I thought it may be a gimmick.

 

Is there anything you can get in the Spa for $50? Or would it be like $50 off a $100 manicure (which is still no deal?)

We received one. My wife was not interested. Either of my sons could have gotten and haircut with it, but neither needed one. I used it for pedicure. I think all said and done it cost me $13 out of pocket. Pretty good deal IMO.

I wish I had one on our last cruise. On the 6th night they announced over the PA to the entire ship that the Spa was offering one-hour $99 full body massage...but it had to be that night and it was already 7:30 and you had to book it for no later than 9pm. I jumped on it...it was great...and seemed like a very fair price.

I would pick Conquest. This class of ship just seems to be the right size. We've sailed Breeze, Dream and they felt crowded.

Sailed Conquest, Liberty, and Glory (sister ships) and enjoyed every ship tremendously.

 

Breeze is newer and has more bells and whistles but there are also a lot more people. We found that we had to show up 30-45 mins early for any show, movie, event or we couldn't find a seat.

I just got off the Breeze 19 August. We had no problem showing up at the comedy club and main theatre shows 5 minutes before curtain and found decent seats no problem. The biggest crowds were lido on embarkation day and elevator lobbies at disembarkation. On the first sea day the lido breakfast line took about 10 minutes, but it got better from there. Otherwise we had no issues with crowds, lines or wait times. And this was summer with lots of kids.

Even that increase,a good option value.

Most non chain steak houses will charge this for just the steak alone. You add the other items mentioned the same meal equals over double and more.

Willing to bet still going to be someone complaining about the cost of why dine there. Its an option. There were sailings I didn't bother and other like my upcoming cruise I will dine more than one night.

Don't forget to add the value of the inclusive meal you would have eaten elsewhere on the ship. I always figured a dinner in the MDR would be about $30 (at least given the appetizers and dessert) on the economy, so that would put the "cost" of the steakhouse dinner to be at least $68.

Even though i don''t eat at the steakhouse (I would rather take that $35 and go for a lunch at the local Brazilian Steakhouse a few months after the cruise), seems like a fair deal and the $3 increase is nothing.

Just off the Splendor and the T pool was working fine. One day water temp medium, one day very warm but all in all was great. Jets were all working fine. We really enjoyed our spa cabin. They were checking water temps when we were there..

On our previous four cruises on The Magic and Breeze, I found the T-Pool to be just not quite hot enough...one could sit in it for as long as they wanted without over-heating. But this past Breeze cruise, like you and above, there were a couple days it was really hot..probably 101-102* (which I really like, but some were complaining...). I would do a couple cycles through all three saunas, heated loungers and T-Pool. It was all good

My sister, a friend and I are going to Cozumel on the Carnival Fantasy. We are all over 60 and not interested in snorkeling.

Please recommend a fun excursion for us. Thanks.[/quot

 

Wave runners. Fun for all ages! Absolute blast.

Is the chocolate buffet a thing of the past? I have been on two 7 day cruises on the Vista already and have not seen it or perhaps I missed it. Doing a Journey Cruise soon on the Breeze and I hope to see it. Thanks.

It was on the Breeze last month. Last sea day in the lido. Started at 12:00.

To me, the total number of offerings was less than in the past. I spotted two cakes that looked really good, so I got one piece of each. Turned out that even though they had different names, there were the exact same cake (maybe the chef mixed them up?). They were good...but two pieces was too much for me, so I wasted half (expected to eat half of each piece). Anyone who saw my plate might think I did not like it No, it was fine, just too much. They also have these orange candy pieces dipped in dark chocolate that are pretty good. And based upon my past experiences, some of it is really bad...waxy and no cocoa flavor at all. The fountain is awful.

I am not defending the un-defendable in the overall quality of the chocolate as to me it rates one notch below a Hershey Bar and I think Hershey Bars are below average, but IMO you see so many plates laying around full of chocolate because people will eat a meal at the lido or a couple Guys Burgers or the BBQ, then load up a plate full of chocolate..only to find their eyes are bigger than their stomach. Kids are probably the biggest offenders. Plus at that point in the cruise, many are just tired of eating.

Yep, news flash! Galveston floods, especially Harborside drive. It'll drain quick enough if yall just wait til it receeds. Highly likely to flood again next weekend. Turn Around, Don't Drown!

 

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No way would I be wading through those flood waters. Just think if a manhole lid was displaced and you step through that hole. Dead dead dead dead....and dead. But hey, it WAS going to be a fun cruise.

You can't do this anymore at ports that provide S&S cards at the rooms. Unless you have some kind of priority, your cards will not be put in your mailbox until 1:30 PM.

 

I have never understood why so many people state they like FTTF because they can drop luggage off in the room right away. Maybe I am missing something, but we have always dropped off luggage with porters when cruising with Carnival. I always carry on a small bag with important stuff like medications, electronic devices like a Kindle, etc. I can easily carry this around the ship all day if needed. However, the first thing we do every cruise is head right to the atrium bar and usually spend 1-2 hours there. By that time our room was available in our pre-platinum days.

 

But from a business perspective, you have to respect Carnival for providing a "service" that is free for passengers and getting them to pay up to $100 for it depending on the length of the cruise.

They did not come up with this idea...Six Flags, etc have had flash passes that put you to the front of the line for at least a decade. Costs the park basically nothing.

Pictures I saw showed people walking in water just above their ankles.....about 10" deep. Nowhere near thigh high. Your video might show something different.

But come on people. The road is flooded. Yet you continue to driver down a flooded road to an area you know is going to be horribly congested and chaotic. Then they (cruisers) complain (in a social media post I read) that Carnival does not have a protocol. A protocol...to cover stupidity? Yeah your life if worth risking for silly cruise....drive on...drive on.

We are sailing on our cruise on October 1st on the Valor out of Galveston. Our check in time is noon. I was looking at the FTTF and it shows check in time noon - 1pm as well. Is FTTF worth the 80.00? Is there really that much of a difference?

On our recent Breeze cruise, we did not buy FTTF. I never considered it.

We arrived at parking about 12:00. We were seated in the Italian restaurant by 12:30, only having to deal with one small suitcase loaded with soda's.

Our tender port we booked a non-carnival excursion. We left our cabin at 8:00 were onshore by 0830.

Debarkation they called our deck 10 for self assist at 7:40. We were driving in our vehicle by 0800.

I went to GS twice. The first time I waited 3 minutes. The second time 16 minutes. Both time there was one person waiting in the priority line.

Our luggage was outside our door after muster, so no big deal there.

So the only benefit for us would have been saving about 12-15 minutes at quest services and the ability to take one small suitcase to our cabin on deck 10 directly instead of taking it to the Italian restaurant and than back to our cabin. We had two cabins..so $160 for that benefit...um..no thanks.

Has anyone had success at making this at home? we have the recipe that carnival put out a while back and it was not good. Any tips or recipes would be greatly appreciated.

I am not sure even Carnival has success with WCMC anymore. On recent Breeze cruise, I ordered it 4 times. The first time was really runny..about 85% liquid. The second time it was not runny at all...basically cake through and through about 0% liquid. The 3rd time it was how I think it is suppose to be...about 30% runny all in the middle. The 4th night was like the first.

Did you ever get the chance to try out Mongolian Wok or Tandoor? Those are the two spots I've heard the most good things about. If everything else is terrible, I'm totally fine eating pizza all week too :')

Seems many who criticize the lido food fail to wait in line for an omelet or the Mongolian Wok. IMO the MW is excellent. The Omelet station is very good...especially when you request eggs cooked to order...three sunny-side up please. Add some toast and some fruit and skim milk. Oh my!

Do the cabin attendants still ask if you want morning or evening service and can you still say both? Or are you limited to just one service now? We'll be on Liberty in November.

We asked for both, but if we happen to see her in the hall in the evening, we would just change out the towels and call it good.

Luckily we will be on a cruise while you are stuck on land playing make believe with other lost souls.

 

How you like me now?

Just go for the personal attack when my response was not even addressed to you. Well done.

Truncated your post. The shops right at the port in Cozumel won’t sell you anything without scanning your ship card either.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I’d think Carnival knows how much each cruiser spends at their port shops in including alcohol purchases.

 

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Hmmm...we were in Cozumel on August 17th and bought some T-Shirts, a few Mountain Dews and a few other things and nobody ever asked us for our S&S cards.

Please, I love a good laugh as well. Could share which drinks are "horribly" over priced?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....

All of them is the simple and obvious answer. But drinkers will disagree. You can buy one of those airplane size bottles of whiskey at the local liquor store for 0.99, but pour that over ice on ship and you are paying what...$8 plus tip? And what is one of those aluminum bottles of bud light beer on ship...$6.25 plus tip? Seems to me a 6-pack is about that price at the local grocery, so over $7 for one cheap beer... Yeah, where can I sign up for that bargain of the century?

And the cheers package..is what $52 per day plus 15%..or about $420 for a 7-day cruise. $420...are you kidding me? Think how many hours you have to work at your job to NET that much. And then most even tip the waiter even more to ensure prompt service. Yikes! If I was going to drink that much, I was just hang out on my back patio and drink until I passed out. After 6-7 drinks, do you really care where you are..on a ship, patio or in some smokey dive bar?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Luckily I am one that does not need to drink to enjoy myself, or make anything I am doing even more enjoyable, so I can easily refrain from such ridiculous prices in these types of situations I do drink on occasion. In fact, I will have a 22 oz draft tall-boy later today when we have our Fantasy Football draft. Of course, I will get there during happy hour prices and pay about $3 plus another $1 tip. Then they will comp me free soft drinks the rest of the night.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha