New Carnival Cruiser

[woneill63]

First off, I am somewhat of an experienced cruiser, six times with Royal Caribbean and once with Princess. A group of us guys do a cruise together once or twice a year, a shorter one is fine, don't want to be away from home for too long. The last three we did were Royal Caribbean and they each got a little more boring than the previous one. One of my brothers, a big Carnival fan, has been urging me to give them a chance, however, most of the guys who cruise with me had been dead set against it. To me, a vacation is what you make of it, and I will have a great time no matter what, sure beats work, right ? Long story short, the stars line up just right, and we booked a five day out of Tampa on the Legend. Most of our preconceived notions proved to groundless, and all six of us had a great cruise. Naturally it wasn't perfect, Carnival's customer service is certainly lacking in some areas, and down right horrific in others. But, on the whole, if you factor in the price, the party atmosphere, etc...Carnival offers a lot of bang for the buck. As soon as we got back we booked another Carnival sailing, ten of us now, on the Victory Jan 30 four day out of Miami. We had more fun on this cruise than you can imagine.

I am looking to book another 4-6 day itinerary this October, if anybody has a suggestion it would be greatly appreciated. Cozumel is the only port that I would purposely avoid, we have been there too many times recently.

 

Cheers !

[BenjiRodney]

First off, I am somewhat of an experienced cruiser, six times with Royal Caribbean and once with Princess. A group of us guys do a cruise together once or twice a year, a shorter one is fine, don't want to be away from home for too long. The last three we did were Royal Caribbean and they each got a little more boring than the previous one. One of my brothers, a big Carnival fan, has been urging me to give them a chance, however, most of the guys who cruise with me had been dead set against it. To me, a vacation is what you make of it, and I will have a great time no matter what, sure beats work, right ? Long story short, the stars line up just right, and we booked a five day out of Tampa on the Legend. Most of our preconceived notions proved to groundless, and all six of us had a great cruise. Naturally it wasn't perfect, Carnival's customer service is certainly lacking in some areas, and down right horrific in others. But, on the whole, if you factor in the price, the party atmosphere, etc...Carnival offers a lot of bang for the buck. As soon as we got back we booked another Carnival sailing, ten of us now, on the Victory Jan 30 four day out of Miami. We had more fun on this cruise than you can imagine.

I am looking to book another 4-6 day itinerary this October, if anybody has a suggestion it would be greatly appreciated. Cozumel is the only port that I would purposely avoid, we have been there too many times recently.

 

Cheers !

 

Look at a stop in Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay.

[Sparky2]

Look at a stop in Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay.

 

I agree with these 2 ports. We're looking forward to returning to Aruba & Curacao along with Grand Turk next year.

[CheckersMidwest]

The Freedom out of Ft Lauderdale has a 6 day that goes to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Key West. We really enjoyed Key West.

[Mutumbojimbo]

5 nights on the Freedom to Nassau, HMC, and Grand Turk departing 10/13 seems to fit your criteria. I know it looks good to me!

[woneill63]

The five nighter might work, six is just a little too long. From what I saw, there was a lot more night life on our four night compared to the five, everything is a compromise. In my group they call me the 'Cruise Director' and usually give me free reign to pick and plan the upcoming cruise. Fine with me, as long as they don't complain too much about my choices. Thanks to all for the input, I am going to take a hard look at the five night Oct 13 sailing.

[Georgiagolfer]

As you live in Georgia, you may want to look at Fascination out of Jacksonville. They do 4 and 5 night cruises, with stops in Nassau, Freeport, HMC and LSC, depending on the cruise. You would really like HMC if you like the beach.

 

She is an older ship, but easy to navigate, and well maintained.

[IPlayWithString]

Look at a stop in Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay.

 

Seconding a stop in Half Moon Cay...the beach is gorgeous and being off season (I think you said you're going in October, yeah?) it shouldn't be too crazy.

 

That was the only thing..well..that and the tiny little cups they gave you for your drinks..that bothered me about Half Moon Cay when we went. It was nuts..you couldn't get a locker for your stuff because by the time we got off the tender all the lockers were taken.

[DarthGrady]

I'll agree with the other posters, try to get to Half Moon Cay. It's the best private island I've yet been to. It easily bests Coco Cay. And it's amazingly beautiful beach even gives it an edge over Labadee's zip lines and roller coaster.

 

As you live in Georgia, you may want to look at Fascination out of Jacksonville. They do 4 and 5 night cruises, with stops in Nassau, Freeport, HMC and LSC, depending on the cruise. You would really like HMC if you like the beach.

 

She is an older ship, but easy to navigate, and well maintained.

 

This is a very good idea. I did Fascination out of Jax last year. We didn't go to HMC, but did have a really good time. Jaxport is a smaller, local terminal, but it was easy to get in and out of.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited February 22, 2014 by DarthGrady

[abisha]

I agree with the others..HMC would be a must. And with that many of you...renting a cabana would be even sweeter...they are awesome and come stacked with beverages, fruits n dips, chips n dips, snorkel gear, floatation mats and comfy furnishings, along with misting fan, AC, ceiling fan and outdoor shower! Only one person in the group needs to book it (it is not a per person price which is misleading when it comes up in the search). They now have the larger two story cabanas with a hottub.

 

I also agree with Grand Turk..lots of fun there! There's a gorgeous beach right there at the pier so no need to spend tons of money on transporation to get to a beach, and also Margaritaville is right there with one of those flo riders.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruises on Carnival.