Carnival.com Sailaway Gifts: The Good? The Bad? The Cheezy?

[Leo Jay]

Does anyone have any reviews on carnival.com gifts they've purchased for sailaway? I was primarily considering the roses, though I guess flowers can always be hit and miss depending on which florist Carnival happens to be using at any given time. But has anyone ordered the flowers before? Were they fresh, and good quality? What about the other products? Good? Bad? Cheezy? Fun? Rip-off? Good value? No particular occasion -- I'm just considering surprising the GF with a little random perk.

[Eliot Ness]

The Bon Voyage decorations are a pretty nice touch, the casino host had our cabin decorated for us this year on the Valor.

 

My MIL ordered us a tray of the Canapes last year, and I was not impressed with them at all.

 

John

[musicmansmom]

i have ordered the standard flower arraingement and it was lovely. daisy's , carnnations and greenery. othe flowers too but i can remember what they were. the picture on the site does not do them justice. they lasted all week and smelled so nice when i would enter the cabin. im sure the roses would be gorgeous. i dont think there is any thing that would not be good. i have had wine in the cabin, flowers and the bon-vouage decoration package . all very nice. i would not spend money on any of the food. you can get it for free from the buffett on the lido deck. my last trip i bought the ladies nightshirt and i love it. i still wear it at home. good luck on your purchase and have a great trip.

[Timmys_mom]

I bought the Budwiser gift pack. It came with a little lunch-sized collapsable cooler, 4 cans of Bud, a Carnival cap (nice quality), and a beer mug. The beer mug was supposed to be a logo item, but ours was not. Overall, I thought it was nice.

[Peaceful]

I, on the other hand, had the canape tray bought as a gift for us, and thought it was wonderful! We were on the Inspiration. I would order it for someone as a gift, or even for myself.

 

Bonnie

[musicmansmom]

I, on the other hand, had the canape tray bought as a gift for us, and thought it was wonderful! We were on the Inspiration. I would order it for someone as a gift, or even for myself.

 

Bonnie

 

that does look delicious :)

[serene56]

A few cruises ago we ordered the choc covered strawberries to be in the cabin for when we arrived.. nice BUT found that we can buy the same thing in the specilaty cafe for lots cheaper- 5 for 3 bucks.

 

You can go to formalities and have a rose delivered to dinner some night too- instead of in the cabin. (that way you can see the flowers before they are delivered) I have not seen a bad flower on a ship yet-- they are very nice.

 

But your honey will have to leave them on the ship when she gets off.

Custom frowns on taking flowers off the ship

[musicmansmom]

my flowers still looked like brand new. i donated them too my room steward. she was very excited to get them and thanked me over and over again. at least i know they were not thrown out. :)

[Cotton]

I have been sent various welcome aboard gifts. I enjoyed the wine the most.;) Once, a fruit & cheese basket was sent - mostly a wsate. I could get all the fruit I wanted in the dining room or from Lido deck. Also, cheese and fruit are available through room service. I did enjoy a lovely bouquet of daisies my son sent me. Of course, I had to leave it on the ship. All the flowers I've seen being delivered were lovely. I'm not a rose person, but I think three yellow roses w/baby's breath is the prettiest arrangement I've seen - when it was being delivered to a neighboring cabin.

[Cotton]

I have been sent various welcome aboard gifts. I enjoyed the wine the most.;) Once, a fruit & cheese basket was sent - mostly a waste, as I could get all the fruit I wanted in the dining room or from Lido deck. Also, cheese and fruit are available through room service. I did enjoy a lovely bouquet of daisies my son sent me. Of course, I had to leave it on the ship. All the flowers I've seen being delivered were lovely. I'm not a rose person, but I think three yellow roses w/baby's breath is one of the prettiest arrangement I've seen - when it was being delivered to a neighboring cabin.

[mommas2tired]

I ordered a fruit basket for sailaway on our Jan 06 cruise on Conquest it was extremly fresh and very tasty it seemed all the fruit was hand picked and placed in the basket by someone who cared how it looked and tasted I also ordered the chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered on the 2nd night but when we arrived at our cabin on day 1 both items were there kinda took the intention out of it if you know what I mean, but they were very good and sweet. When I looked on the ticket where I had ordered online it clearly said to be delivered on day two along with my message to my DH. Quess they were very busy and just missed the date I requested but it didn't take away from a very memorable 30th anniversary cruise.:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Beginning with our second cruise, I've always had something awaiting my family when they get to their staterooms. It's a fun way to start the cruise. Last night I overheard my DD's speculating on what they might find in their stateroom in two weeks! :D

 

For DH:

Polo shirt...very nice

Baseball cap...also very nice

Fruit and wine basket...we loved it. The fruit was fresh and very good, and we enjoyed the convenience of having it right there in the stateroom

 

For DDs:

Box of cookies when they both sailed with us...big hit!

Beach towel...this was a big white one and DD still loves and uses it a lot

One more item that I can't remember (boy I'm getting old!), but I do know DD liked it! ;)

 

I'm struggling with what to order for our crise in two weeks. After four Carnival cruises, we're sailing Princess for the first time and they don't have the variety of sail away gifts that Carnival offers. I'm sure I'll find something--need to decide today!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[luvz2run2000]

DH ordered the red roses for me on our Liberty cruise in May. They were beautiful and stayed fresh for well over a week. I think I finally tossed them on the 10th day (12 night cruise).

I also received a tropical arrangment once that was still fresh and beautiful a week later when we disembarked.

[beaming90]

I ordered the night shirts for my mom and myself, and they are great! Even though they are one size fits all, they fit us that are overly fluffy, and they still are in good shape even a year and a half and a lot of washings later!!

[LHP]

Is it just me or should we advise folks to stay away from anything that contains champagne. Wine sounds fine...but what is it with Carnival's champagne?? My wonderful PVP sends it to us almost every time and I don't have the heart to tell him it is always terrible. (along with the bottles that they have given us for the Talent Shows and other competitions)

[Butterfinger1954]

Hmmmm....not sure why you feel this way. Perhaps you've had really good (expensive) champaign and that is why you don't like what you TA sends for you. I have never had 'good' champaign and I really liked what our TA had sent to our cabin. We took it to dinner with us one night and asked our waiter if it was ok to bring it in the dining room (told him it was from our TA). Not only was that ok, but he offered to go and trade it in for a cold bottle from their stock. I thought it was delicious and had more than my share. I believe it was Martini and Rosse like I've seen in Wal~Mart and our supermarkets.

 

Kathy in Maine

 

Is it just me or should we advise folks to stay away from anything that contains champagne. Wine sounds fine...but what is it with Carnival's champagne?? My wonderful PVP sends it to us almost every time and I don't have the heart to tell him it is always terrible. (along with the bottles that they have given us for the Talent Shows and other competitions)

[musicmansmom]

Hmmmm....not sure why you feel this way. Perhaps you've had really good (expensive) champaign and that is why you don't like what you TA sends for you. I have never had 'good' champaign and I really liked what our TA had sent to our cabin. We took it to dinner with us one night and asked our waiter if it was ok to bring it in the dining room (told him it was from our TA). Not only was that ok, but he offered to go and trade it in for a cold bottle from their stock. I thought it was delicious and had more than my share. I believe it was Martini and Rosse like I've seen in Wal~Mart and our supermarkets.

 

Kathy in Maine

 

i order orange juice from room service and mix it with the champainge. it makes a great refreshing drink. i take it with me in my go-cup with a lid and sip on it while i set on the deck. it is a great foo-foo drink for me that is free.

[Barkingowl]

I bought my wife a dozen red roses last January on our western Caribbean cruise on the Liberty. She really liked them a lot.

[ladycaveat]

My son is taking me on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera for my 60th birthday next January . . . any ideas about what I could order for him to say thank you.

[Cotton]

My son is taking me on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera for my 60th birthday next January . . . any ideas about what I could order for him to say thank you.

 

What a sweet gesture for your son to make. Mine SENT me on a cruise for my 60th.:D

 

How about ordering some bar coupons? They will have them in the cabin with a note from you when you arrive.

[Cotton]

i order orange juice from room service and mix it with the champainge. it makes a great refreshing drink..

 

My PVP sent me a bottle of champagne for one cruise, and it was, um, not so great. So as not to waste it, I had a Mimosa every morning by mixing it w/orange juice from room service. Made it much more palatable somehow.:D

 

Oh, and I DID tell her, when I booked the next cruise, that I prefer white wine. It was there waiting for me. I have a great PVP.

[ala-kat]

I ordered the flower arrangment with the Birds of Paradise and orchids. Looked just like the picture on CCLs web page. Was very pleased. We were able to take them off the ship in Mobile after customs inspected them.

[Cruiser23490578]

Does anyone have any reviews on carnival.com gifts they've purchased for sailaway? I was primarily considering the roses, though I guess flowers can always be hit and miss depending on which florist Carnival happens to be using at any given time. But has anyone ordered the flowers before? Were they fresh, and good quality? What about the other products? Good? Bad? Cheezy? Fun? Rip-off? Good value? No particular occasion -- I'm just considering surprising the GF with a little random perk.

 

Definitely not a rip-off in our case. I ordered the superior floral arrangement for my wife when we sailed on the Triumph out of Miami, and she loved them. They kept their form and scent all week, certainly high quality. We also did the fruit basket, which most of was left uneaten, because fruit was available numerous places on the ship. We will definitely do the flowers again, beautiful in our room and nice aroma, but probably skip the fruit. Got our son a skipper pack and it was a great diversion while we unpacked. This time, I think we'll also try the chocolate covered strawberries. Bon Voyage!

[seamama1]

My PVP sent me a bottle of champagne for one cruise, and it was, um, not so great. So as not to waste it, I had a Mimosa every morning by mixing it w/orange juice from room service. Made it much more palatable somehow.:D

 

Oh, and I DID tell her, when I booked the next cruise, that I prefer white wine. It was there waiting for me. I have a great PVP.

 

Dontcha love those Mimosa's? There is no champagne so bad that a little orange juice can't fix it!:p

[ladycaveat]

What a sweet gesture for your son to make. Mine SENT me on a cruise for my 60th.:D

 

How about ordering some bar coupons? They will have them in the cabin with a note from you when you arrive.

 

To funny . . . so you're son "sent" you on a cruise? Hey . . . you gotta love these sons of ours . . . they do love their mommies! I'm thirlled to have my "little boy" go with me (even if he is twenty-nine and 6'5") . . . tee hee!!!!!!

 

Loved you idea about the bar coupons . . . thanks.