Princess tries Carnival

[COTINGEY]

Good Morning,

 

Part one is done and here are my thoughts:

 

History - we've only sailed with Princess, but the patriarch of our family picked this cruise for the 16 of us. Since he pays, we go with his choice or don't go.

 

My family consists of four, husband Dan, myself Robyn, our 17 year old daughter Julia and our 14 year old daughter Tara. We are in our mid 50's. Our two daughters are special needs - Julia has cerebral palsy, is in a wheelchair and is total care. Tara has had a stroke which imitates a form of autism and is very sensitive to loud noises, crowds and has right sided weakness. We like cruising. We purchased Faster to the Fun for three reasons - having our room ready, luggage delivered (want not need) and priority tender. We always get two rooms - a wheelchair balcony room for us to hang out in and an interior room nearby, which we refer to as the sleep room - since that is its total function.

 

Sunday, February 1, 2013

After reading numerous Cruise Critic notes, we elected to come early. We had a taxi bring us over from the Comfort Inn. We had arranged for him to pick us up at 10 and he was there right on time. We made it to the port at 10:30 and unloaded. There were a lot of people in the drop off area that were leaving. We didn't see a porter anywhere and so we took our luggage and headed to the check in signs. We had about a five minute wait before checking in. As we were checking in the lady said that our rooms would be ready by 1:30. I told her we had FTTF and that guaranteed our rooms being ready on embarkation - she was surprised and said she didn't know that. She went to get our sign and sail cards and couldn't find them - that was until she look in priority and they were there. She didn't know why (although we did) they were in the priority section. With luggage still in hand we went and tried to get on board. The taxi man told us to go stand at the priority sign. There was no representative of Carnival anywhere in sight, except in the dome. I felt that someone should have been out there. It was after several minutes that we noticed that nobody else was pulling luggage. So Dan (husband) went back to the drop off area and was able to find a porter to take our luggage. We watched as the ship unloaded and people headed to their various places. The taxi man seemed to be in charge of directing traffic - either to the shuttles, private rides, taxis or sending passengers to their waiting area. He was constantly sending passengers back that were trying to embark. We waited out in the cold for about two hours - again with no information given to us by any Carnival representative. It is certainly not Carnival's fault for the two hour delay in embarkation, the ship was late coming into port from Hawaii - and we choose to go early hoping to get on and that backfired. However, the lack of information was poor business; debarking passengers are the ones that told us that they were late. The Carnival staff stayed inside the dome, where it was warm. It was a cool overcast day with the breeze coming in off the ocean. Kudos to Princess on embarkation. When arriving at San Pedro, the cars pull up to the curbs and porters are there to take luggage and direct you to the building. There you go inside and are greeted by a Princess employee - some are surly and others are great - and fill out a wellness form about nausea/vomiting etc. Then it's upstairs or elevator to check in. There are many lines, and you go to the line depending upon room location on the ship, special access or suites/elite. It is there you receive your room key and are directed to general seating or priority seating. If general seating, you sit in zones. When we wait, we wait inside and there is plenty of seating for all. The passengers that are leaving take other elevators/stairs down to retrieve luggage and leave on the lower level. I like that the embarkation passengers go upstairs, while the disembarkation go downstairs to retrieve their luggage. They are "two ships passing in the night":) I like that we are inside.

 

We have two rooms, wheelchair accessible 6281 and an interior 6261. We finally got on board around 12:30 and dropped our stuff on in our room - which was ready. (You don't get your keycard on Princess unless your room is ready and can go directly there.) I took the advice of K&P Luv2Cruise and we went to the aft elevators and dropped our stuff off and then on up to lunch. I like the food stations - it disperses the crowd nicely and there appears to be plenty of seating. It was cool enough outside the almost everyone was eating in and it still worked. Compared to Princess, there are more selections at Pirates Pizza, less on the salad bar. Chopsticks is a nice change as they don't offer that or a Deli on Princess. If you want lemonade on Princess, you have to get one of the staff members to bring it to you, on Carnival it's available in a dispensing machine. I will not comment on quality of food - if I don't have to plan for it, shop for it, fix it and then clean up after it, then it's all good. I've yet to see anyone leave a ship starving. Okay, we went to the room and did not have luggage. We had two bags show up after muster around 4:30 and the other two were there by 6:00. We've had our room steward take out all the liquor/soft drinks/bottle water, etc and replaced it with our own.

 

 

Up next: Our rooms

[Sparky2]

What ship were you on and what was the port you sailed out of?

[WetToes]

I'm following. :)

Waiting for more.

[WetToes]

They were on the Miracle.

[Aplmac]

I'll bet the biggest difference they noticed

is how much fun they had on the Carnival cruise (the kids especially)

 

- and Princess, while very nice an all, now seems comparatively-sedate?

.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Aplmac

[Georgie562]

What ship were you on and what was the port you sailed out of?

 

 

Seems like the OP sailed the Miracle to the Mexican Riviera out of Long Beach.

[WetToes]

I'll bet the biggest difference they noticed

is how much fun they had on the Carnival cruise (the kids especially)

 

- and Princess, while very nice an all, now seems comparatively-sedate?

.

 

I don't know ... sedate may be more desirable for them with the special needs kids.

Guess we'll have to wait and see, ... not too long I hope. :)

[carrieluvsgreg]

Unfortunately, your first boarding experience was with a delayed vessel. Normally, you'd have experienced something quite different. I do think they should've been more informative at the terminal. I don't understand why you weren't allowed into the building, especially in inclement weather. The disembarking passengers do not go through the passenger waiting area. (Well, I never have...)

 

 

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[COTINGEY]

I don't know ... sedate may be more desirable for them with the special needs kids.

Guess we'll have to wait and see, ... not too long I hope. :)

 

Since our girls are who they are - Julia being in a wheelchair can't do what the other teens do and children being children don't often watch where they are going and run into her - even when she is not moving, she no longer attend the teen club. Tara operates on a seven/eight year old age and so she doesn't fit in with her age-class either. With smaller kids groups, ie Princess, Tara has been able to go and do the younger kids things without it being too obvious that she has a disability. So the level of activity or non-activity is a wash for us. Thank you for your understanding.

[COTINGEY]

I'll bet the biggest difference they noticed

is how much fun they had on the Carnival cruise (the kids especially)

 

- and Princess, while very nice an all, now seems comparatively-sedate?

.

 

We actually had more fun than we've ever had on any cruise on a trip to Hawaii on the Golden Princess. They had immersion programs that kept us going all of the time. Between learning to play the ukelele, hula dances, lei making and having a husband/wife team entertaining us - we had a blast. They even brought on a group of students in Honolulu for our show one night. Since our life is so busy with doctor appointments, therapies, etc, sedate is a welcome change for our family. Cruising is where we get to just - well - be a family. We were pretty low keyed on this trip also, since that is what we want.

[COTINGEY]

Unfortunately, your first boarding experience was with a delayed vessel. Normally, you'd have experienced something quite different. I do think they should've been more informative at the terminal. I don't understand why you weren't allowed into the building, especially in inclement weather. The disembarking passengers do not go through the passenger waiting area. (Well, I never have...)

 

 

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The people coming off the Miracle were all coming out of the doors that we eventually went into to get into the dome. We also came out those same doors after retrieving our luggage and saw the early birds waiting for their turn to get on board. I wish they would have let us in to stay warm too.

[WindsorFred]

We were getting off when you arrived. It was Sunday 2/2 and we were not late getting into Long Beach, we arrived on time. We were late getting into Maui. our first stop, due to rough weather. We were off the ship by 9:30, did self disembark, and were at LAX by 10. When we embarked on 1/18 there were all kinds of porters at the parking ramp drop off. They do have you standing outside when there is a long line, it stretches thru the building to the outside.

Edited February 10, 2014 by WindsorFred

[COTINGEY]

We were getting off when you arrived. It was Sunday 2/2 and we were not late getting into Long Beach, we arrived on time. We were late getting into Maui. our first stop, due to rough weather. We were off the ship by 9:30, did self disembark, and were at LAX by 10. When we embarked on 1/18 there were all kinds of porters at the parking ramp drop off. They do have you standing outside when there is a long line, it stretches thru the building to the outside.

 

We watched passengers disembark through the dome until noonish. They are the ones that told us they were late. There were no lines, just groups of people huddled around the signs, waiting for our turn to get on. We had priority disembarkation due to our FTTF status and we were off, after getting our luggage, by 9:30. I had read other cruise critic members write that they were at the port by 10:30 and at lunch by 11:30 or noon. We were hoping for that same luck to hold.

[COTINGEY]

Sorry – as most of you surmised it was the Mexican Riviera on the Miracle. I love the size of ship. It is similar to the Island and Coral – Panamax ships.

 

Interior room 6261 – WOW. It’s very big and roomy compared to Princess. Loved the size, layout and storage. The shower is large and I can turn around without having a shower curtain stick to me. I think the storage in the bathroom is fantastic. I like that the chair and table is next to the head of the bed. It sure was nice. A lot of Princess people complain about the hardness of the bed – I did not notice any difference in the beds or bedding. I like that there is a sheet and duvet to sleep under. Princess is just the duvet unless I request a sheet. The girls looked forward to the towel animals – I could take or leave it.

 

Wheelchair room 6281 - I am very disappointed. It appears they have taken a balcony room and taken out most of the storage to get a bigger bathroom and called it a wheelchair room. Jacqueline Johnson of guest access support wrote “Cabin 6281 - There is wheelchair access up both sides of the bed when the twins are made into a king (please see picture attached”.

There is no way that there is access up both sides of the bed. Th

 

This picture is taken at the door; you can see the frame to the bottom left. We had the bed pushed up against the wall on one side and there were maybe 10 inches between the bed and door. We use the bed when it comes to dressing Julia as we lay her down to get her dressed. The bed is placed just inside the door and so there is no privacy when the door is open. To the extreme left are three usable drawers, the top one holds the hair dryer only. The cupboard on the other side holds the fridge. The doors behind the chair are where there are two shelves, one of which holds the safe. Just above the bar set-up are two shelves. There was only one chair – thank goodness. We figure that it is about 100 square feet smaller than on Princess. Due to circumstances, we've put a roll away in the wheelchair room on Princess which makes the room tight but we still can get to the bathroom and balcony – I’m not sure that a roll-way would even fit in this room. The door to the balcony is behind the bathroom and so the sea is not visible unless I go into the alcove to look out.

 

The balcony is of a nice size with two chairs and two loungers. It is longer than those on Princess, but not as deep. Hands down Princess' wheelchair accessible rooms are better. The balcony for these rooms is a wash as one is deep and the other long. Due to the automatic door – there is no interior lock. Most rooms have the deadbolt lock – these do not. Loved the location! Without a doubt the location of these rooms for wheelchair users can’t be beat. It’s up three decks to Horatio's and down four to the Bacchus dining room. (We had traditional dining.) Since this is where we spend most of our in-door time, it was a real let down compared to our excitement over the interior room.

 

Sorry about the pictures - I'm still learning how to attache them, etc.

 

Up Next: Spaces

[SadieN]

Sorry you didn't know about the porters or the Priority Building where you could have waited indoors. It is talked about often when Long Beach is brought up, here and especially the West Coast Departure board.

 

We've sailed most of our cruises out of Long Beach.

 

As you now know the porters are located at the pickup/dropoff on the parking structure. Sometimes they are shuttling luggage so there might be a small wait. Since you had FTTF you should have had an orange sticker placed on your luggage. I've found it best to point it out to them since the logo can be easily missed.

 

The Priority building is between the parking Structure and the Dome. It is a small building and not too much room (especially for 16) but your DD and a few others could have waited in there after checking in. Usually there is a sign posted in front with several employees manning the door. With a throng of people the sign can be missed.

 

The Dome has always had problems with outside crowd control since the same few doors are for entering and exiting. We've found the best time to do Priority check in is around/after 11:30. The doors have just opened and the milling crowds are gone. By the time we get to the entrance it doesn't take long to get thru.

The big bottleneck is only having two screening stations.

 

We are Platinum and use the Priority Building. At times our non-platinum traveling-in-the-same-car friends have checked in quicker than we have. There are over 20 check in stations inside the Dome and only three in the Priority building. It's quite possible that you checked in quicker using the regular lines. Most pax in the beginning do Early checkin at the tables in front of the Dome.

 

FWIW the Dome is nicer now with the covers. Before there was no shade.

[COTINGEY]

Sorry you didn't know about the porters or the Priority Building where you could have waited indoors. It is talked about often when Long Beach is brought up, here and especially the West Coast Departure board.

 

FWIW the Dome is nicer now with the covers. Before there was no shade.

 

There is a building called the Captain's Lounge. If this is the building you are referring to - we did ask the guy outside the door and we were told it is for Platinum and Diamond guests only not FTTF. If there is another building, we didn't see it.

[COTINGEY]

Sorry for the delay in finishing. My daughter caught the flu somewhere between cruise and home and so we’ve been dealing with that. Then it was back to work for me on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 12 hour shift and so I was sleeping when not at work.

 

Now that I’ve finished my rant about the interior room – some final thoughts about the rooms.

 

I’m not sure how I feel about the automatic dispensers in the shower for body wash and shampoo. Ecologically and economically they are great, but there is something indulging about having small bottles of shampoo, conditional and lotion replenished throughout the cruise. Whenever I get cruise fever I go get one of the small soaps from Princess and dream.

 

I like having the outlet in the bathroom on Princess that I can plug a night lite into. I couldn’t find an outlet in the interior room and couldn’t make it work in the wheelchair room. I also like having two 120v outlets and not one of 120v and a 220v.

 

I really like having the interactive TV. It’s nice not having to go to passengers services to get a copy or our statement.

 

Once we asked our steward for ice, it was delivered twice a day.

 

SPACES

Guest Services. I thought it was small to be taking care of the amount of people. There were usually two behind the desk. It sits right next to a bar with live entertainment and so hearing was sometimes quite difficult. Princess has a desk manned with three to four people and it’s by the shops so it’s much quieter.

 

We do not drink or gamble, so I have not comments on the bars or casino. However, we did ask for and received two lanyards. They did want to make sure they were for the adults only as there were afraid if we had them for our girls, other kids would want them.

 

Gatsby’s Garden Interior Promenade – a whimsical place. But I have to agree with what I’ve read here on cruise critic, a waste of space. It’s too bad it’s not open so that the entire promenade could be walked around without doors.

 

Phantom Show Lounge: This was pretty impressive being two decks high. There was plenty of seating also. Since it had to be designed for safety, the plexi glass railing makes it hard to see on those rows directly behind them. It also appeared to me that there was reduced seating for wheelchairs. However I never came in on the second level and so there may have been more up there. Overall, I really liked it. I was not impressed with the shows. However, my SIL is a high school drama coach and she stated that the choreography and costumes were really well done. My girls did not attend Generations but they did attend Ticket to Ride and they both really like it.

 

The Raven Library and Internet Café: Just one small wall of books that can be used. Really nice flat screen monitors. We made plans to not use the internet to see if we could – it was nice not knowing what was going on and yet restrictive as we wanted to stay connected to the outside world.

 

The Fun Shops: We walked through them a couple of time and it appears it’s the same stuff they sell on Princess, just with the Carnival logo instead. There was a candy store with The Fun Shops and I saw people in their buying candy that can be sold in bulk, ie jelly beans. Nothing like that on Princess – which can be good or bad depending on your waist size:D

 

Bacchus Dining Room: I thought the decoration was a bit loud but not over the top. There were sixteen of us traveling together and they placed us at four tables of four. We didn’t even think to talk to the Maître’ D until night three and by then it’s too late. On Princess we have sat at two tables to accommodate us. Then every night we move around and visit with other family members we’ve not seen in a year. I was not impressed with the menu. In fact two nights I had the custom burger – which was very good. However, I ate their every night and I did not go hungry nor did I have to go the Horatio’s to fill up. One night my daughter wanted a “grilled cheese”, which she asked for. I was expecting a sandwich; she received four pieces of cheese that had been put under a broiler. We laughed, put it on her steamed vegetables and I ran up to the deli and got her a grilled cheese SANDWICH. However, the Chocolate Melting Cake was AWESOME. I had it every night. By the end of the cruise, the chocolate aficionados were also having it with me. Should we cruise again, we would just eat at Horatio's.

 

Spa Carnival: I worked out four of the six days. I was up in the gym by 7:20 and by 7:30 all the treadmills were being used but there were elliptical and bikes still available. I brought a book to read, but others had hooked up their headphones to iPod’s or were watching TV. They had towels/spray to wipe down the equipment and to wipe down me. It is two levels. The first was the machines and the top was the weights and a smaller floor plan. I did think it odd to have a hot tub in the gym, but it sure looked nice. I was too lazy to bring clothes to change into and by the time I’m done I just want a shower and food.

 

We did not use the pools except for wading, which is when we discovered that they were quite cool. We knew they were salt water but even so, did not look inviting being kind of greenish.

 

We did take the elevator up to Nick and Nora’s – that is pretty darn impressive, then took the see-through stairs back down a deck. I don’t quite know what to say about those stairs, except we did them several times. They were thrilling in their own way.

 

Horatio’s Lido Restaurant: As stated before, I really liked the food here. There was a hostess at the front, but I never figured out what she did. I like on Princess that the head waiter’s from the dining rooms are in the buffet in the mornings and help find tables. In Horatio’s it was on your own. I like having the dispensing machines for lemonade and juices. We have to ask for that on Princess. I like the food stations. It seems to me that the food is fresher than being set up buffet style. There are fewer choices on the salad buffet and deserts, but overall I think there are more choices everywhere else. I like the deli and being able to have fresh made sandwiches. I also appreciate the omelet station and having them prepared right in front of you. Princess takes your order and then goes into the kitchen to have it prepared. I think the wait time is the same, it’s just more entertaining to see you omelet being prepared. Food aside – the think I like the best is having it spread out. I waited in lines a few times at different stations, but they lines moved pretty quickly. I’d say I waited no more than ten minutes in any one line. I use that time people watching as that is one of the most entertaining things to do. The pizza line is the only exception – when there are several people wanting whole pizza’s it does take a while. When those same people are making up their own pizza with the available ingredients, it takes a few minutes longer as there are communication barriers.

 

Next up: I think it will be FTTF

[Lerin]

We too were on this cruise and I'm in the midst of writing my review titled "Miraculous Miracle".

 

We also had FTTF, arrived early, but weren't on board until after 1:30. Room ready but didn't get our last bag until after dinner. :mad:

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks for posting.

[Skeetersmom]

Enjoying your review. Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[p_mori7]

OP: For ease of adding pictures to your review, I suggest you use postimage. It is really easy.

 

1- Open a new browser window.

2- Go to 'postimage.org' (no account needed)

3- Use the 'browse' button to select a picture from your files.

4- Resize to 640x480

5- Hit the 'Upload It' button, it will process for a few ticks, then the page will change

6- Hit the 'Copy' button next to 'Hotlink for Forums'

7- Go to the text you are typing in Cruise Critic, place the cursor where you want the image to be, right click and hit 'Paste'.

 

Done !

[twindaddy]

Enjoying your review. I am the opposite: Cruised Carnival twice and Disney a bunch of times, giving the Sapphire Princess a try. I am worried it will be a nursing home floating on the ocean, but we shall see. I will give it a fair chance, and honestly, I could be on a cargo ship and have fun just eating and looking at the ocean.

[halos]

I'll bet the biggest difference they noticed

is how much fun they had on the Carnival cruise (the kids especially)

 

- and Princess, while very nice an all, now seems comparatively-sedate?

.

 

We actually had more fun than we've ever had on any cruise on a trip to Hawaii on the Golden Princess. They had immersion programs that kept us going all of the time. Between learning to play the ukelele, hula dances, lei making and having a husband/wife team entertaining us - we had a blast. They even brought on a group of students in Honolulu for our show one night. Since our life is so busy with doctor appointments, therapies, etc, sedate is a welcome change for our family. Cruising is where we get to just - well - be a family. We were pretty low keyed on this trip also, since that is what we want.

 

I sailed to HI on CCL.

It seems we should have gone with Princess.

 

Our CCL cruise to HI was VERY sedate. Just because it's a CCL ship does not mean it's always non-sedate. The itinerary/length of cruise dictates that. You know there is a huge difference between a 3 day and a 7 day cruise, right?? It's the same when you compare a 7 or 8 day to a 14-15 day cruise....massive difference.

Not that sedate is always bad....but you would like some fun/music and better planned activities on a sailing with 9 sea days.

Edited February 18, 2014 by halos

[tncap]

I will give it a fair chance, and honestly, I could be on a cargo ship and have fun just eating and looking at the ocean.

 

I would go on a container ship cruise in a heartbeat! Most of them have a couple of passenger cabins. Unfortunately most of the sailings are several weeks in duration.

[COTINGEY]

I too could be on a container ship and I'd be happy as long as I didn't have to clean or cook. Give me a chair and a view of the ocean

 

FTTF: I don't think FTTF had benefit to embarkation because we travel with our 17 yo DD who is in a wheelchair. I saw alot of people in wheelchairs and walkers and they were receiving priority embarkation. I can't think all of them were FTTF members or Diamond/Platinum members.

 

However, we bought it so our rooms would be ready and we could move Julia from her manual chair to a power chair (which we rented and had arranged to have it on the ship by 11:30) and so that we could drop off all our carry-on luggage.

 

The first time it paid for itself was in Cabo San Lucas for Tara and Dan. (Julia was not permitted on the tender - more on that later). With FTTF, Dan and Tara went to passenger relations and were taken to a private elevator that was being used only for guests that didn't have to have a number. We ran into family that waited for about an hour to get a ticket and their tender time was still several hours away. Since Julia and I stayed on board, we noticed that they stopped calling numbers for the tenders at 1ish to go to shore. The last tender back to the ship was at 3:15 per the Fun Times.

 

Another time is was a huge benefit was getting off the ship. We went to the Bacchus dining room when we were ready to go and waited there. The first off were priority that were carrying off their luggage. Then they started calling the floors to disembark. Once luggage had gone through customs and was ready to be picked up, we were allowed off. It was very organized and well done. We were in our taxi to the airport by 9:30. Since Princess doesn’t offer anything like this, I can’t compare it. However, it was the best disembarkation we’ve ever had.

 

There was a priority line at customer relations and there was never any waiting. Whereas the general line always had several people waiting.

 

Since we get two rooms, we had bought FTTF for both rooms. Dan went and spoke with guest relations on the ship and they indicated that we would only have needed to buy it for one room as children are not separated from their parents. This makes sense since we have all our luggage delivered to the wheelchair room and we only needed that one room to be ready when we got on the ship.

 

Next up Sea Day Buffet