Carnival Venezia maiden voyage live

[firefly333]

29 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Carnival Hub is working just like usual.

Ouch on the wifi price. On rcl I get 2 free days of wifi no matter the cruise length as a loyalty perk. I gotta admit I miss free wifi on carnival. $30 a day yikes. Maybe they will switch over to musk's wifi .. cheaper. Lol I'll have some obc in jan but not enough to even pay for wifi. Ouch. One thing carnival doesnt win at. $330 some serious money. 

 

I was looking for your review. So many going on it's getting hard to find you. Lots of excitement. I'm presuming you will try the italian restaurant onboard?

[gkbiiii]

I think most Comped Casino offers, include wifi.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Well, the AMAZING FOOD pics couldn't last forever...

[IntrepidFromDC]

44 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Ouch on the wifi price. On rcl I get 2 free days of wifi no matter the cruise length as a loyalty perk. I gotta admit I miss free wifi on carnival. $30 a day yikes. Maybe they will switch over to musk's wifi .. cheaper. Lol I'll have some obc in jan but not enough to even pay for wifi. Ouch. One thing carnival doesnt win at. $330 some serious money. 

 

I was looking for your review. So many going on it's getting hard to find you. Lots of excitement. I'm presuming you will try the italian restaurant onboard?

Yes, I'm booked tomorrow night. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Roast beef so hard and chewy I thought I might lose a filling.

[IntrepidFromDC]

[HxFx]

9 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'd like a lot of it but not the octopus. In Hawaii what I've had was too chewy.

They didn't know how to cook it then. It's usually really good at a Greek restaurant.

[IntrepidFromDC]

I think the free water tastes better! 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Tomodoro, where Blue Iguana used to be, is just Blue Iguana with some Italian subs added.  The burrito station looks the same,  and the salsa bar and "tacos aqui" sign are unchanged.  The chicken tacos are the same.

[IntrepidFromDC]

16 minutes ago, HxFx said:

They didn't know how to cook it then. It's usually really good at a Greek restaurant.

Agreed.  If you had chewy octopus something is wrong.  Like calamari. 

[firefly333]

22 minutes ago, HxFx said:

They didn't know how to cook it then. It's usually really good at a Greek restaurant.

Lol you mean beating the octopus against a rock isnt enough? I lived out in the country in hawaii with the locals. Wasnt 5 star, but fresh.  I was spoiled by fresh fish and seaweed and homegrown hot sauce.

 

The main gripe I have with carnival is their dinners to me hardly edible. My steak had so much gristle I couldn't chew it. BLT kept giving me burnt hard stale toast. I'll be interested in this review of the food. That's why i booked fewer carnival .. and i can book rcl for less. Carnival has the best fast food, burgers and pizza but i went hungry for dinner in the Mdr. Lots of reviews coming up. Hopefully of the food. I'm a picky eater, though not high class, i just want good food. Not watery cold fruit soup. I also don't eat fat, I cut every bit off .. doing more pay restaurants. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

[IntrepidFromDC]

Casino is small,  maybe a little smaller than Pride's. If Mardi Gras casino is an envelope,  Venezia casino is a postage stamp. 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, gkbiiii said:

I think most Comped Casino offers, include wifi.

No, not at all the only casino offer with free wifi are Elite cruise offers and that's only the social plan

[IntrepidFromDC]

Cruise Director has top-5-most-annoying potential.  At the end of a very serious and long safety briefing he let out a shriek. Like a teenager who fakes the extra-long fake shriek at the end of a rollercoaster ride. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

17 hours ago, carsastic said:

Op, thank you for your wonderful tour.. truly outstanding. I just returned from a little trip and got caught up.with your review. may I ask a question about your lodging in Paris ? What arrondissement was it in ?  I headed there in a bit for a couple nites and trying to decide on one .

 

6th arrondissement, St Germain,  Latin Quarter. 10 minute walk to HOHO pickup,  Louvre, Musee D'Orsay and Notre Dame,  20 minute walk to Eiffel Tour. Price was great,  great restaurants and a jazz club 1 and 2 blocks away. Bed and shower were good, very clean. Good cappuccino at cafe next door. Safe walking after midnight. 

Edited May 29, 2023 by IntrepidFromDC

[IntrepidFromDC]

My steward is Aswar from the Pride Italy cruise last September.  He's awesome,  always smiling and trying to exceed expectations. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

First night MDR menu looks typical Carnival, with a few Italian additions...

[ninjacat123]

11 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

First night MDR menu looks typical Carnival, with a few Italian additions...

I think tomato soup is tomato soup even if you say it in Italian.😉

[sammee]

26 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I think tomato soup is tomato soup even if you say it in Italian.😉

Had it on MSC 2 weeks ago, tasted and looked just like Carnival version. It's all in how you brand it, lol.

[kwokpot]

40 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

First night MDR menu looks typical Carnival, with a few Italian additions...

I'm curious how the lasagna turns out and hope it's better than it was last year on the Pride. It was a disaster and looked more like meatloaf with dried out cheese covering it. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Chop chop, Carnival,  I'm starving!

[fmp4369]

Man I hope that wait isn't like that every night.  Horizon we never waited more than 10 minutes,  and it was mostly less than that. With all the decorations in the MDR are there fewer tables? 

 

I'm also curious if the pool area is a small as it looks. 

26 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Chop chop, Carnival,  I'm starving!

 

[pcrum]

On 5/19/2023 at 5:26 PM, IntrepidFromDC said:

Just 10 days til the 15-day TA cruise starts!  I'm so excited to see the branding differentiation. I really have a feeling the "fun" is going to be dialed back a bit. Instead of Hairy Chest Contest it'll be Baci Ball.

I am hoping Venezia is different from regular Carnival cruises. If it is, it just might bring us back to Carnival after a 10 year hiatus. We turned platinum just as we discovered we preferred other lines. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

The hub is not working for MDR. I was assigned table 656, arrived early,  ushered and it had a couple eating.  Went back and was reassigned table 707, more people eating.  The people in front and behind me had the same issue. Must not be too widespread because we're not planning a riot.  Yet.