Just back from the Holiday*Must read for 1st timers

[terri910]

I don't chat in paragraphs I just keep talking.

*LOL* That is a classic line, F5Loar!

 

I enjoyed your review, even though hubby and I sailed the Holiday years ago, out of Los Angeles. Kind of like hearing someone talk about a visit to an old friend!

[mcfam5]

before going to our huge oceanview cabin. We had a fold down bunk, two twins together for that fake queen size and a roll away for our 4th person. Plenty of room and storage space for 4.

 

For our cruise on the Holiday in August, we ended up booking two rooms because it appeared to us on deck plans the rooms were very small (and our PVP told us the rooms on the Holiday are smaller than those we sailed in on the Glory). We would prefer to stay in one room because we have younger children and the Holiday is not equipped with adjoining doors. I am wondering if your 3rd and 4th travelers were children and how you set the roll away up in the room.

 

Also, if we book one room for the four of us but do not want the roll away bed, does anyone know if that is allowed? Does anyone know if there has to be a bed in the room for each person? I ask, because on trips our youngest always ends up sleeping with us or his sister and then we have one unused bed. We would rather have the floor space than the empty bed. :o)

 

Thanks for any insight! :)

[Kurbanfan]

Perhaps you need to take a refresher course on the Community Guidelines as below:

 

Spelling and Grammar Errors

It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes at one time or another, and that there are many users who use English as a second language, especially on our Cruise Boards. There are also a number of people who suffer from learning disabilities and who have difficulty noticing their spelling mistakes. Do not make comments on the spelling and grammar of other users. It is simply not a productive expenditure of energies.

 

Please tell me what I posted violated the guidlines......

Nice try though;) ;)

Btw the op clearly understood what I was talking about as mentioned below:rolleyes:

 

PART II: Holiday 1/19/08. Sorry I don't know how to make the font bigger and double space here. Other than that I thought it read like any other long review. Long winded? Is that what you meant?..

 

 

submit button. I actually did not put breaks in my typing and I noticed they were there in a few places. I don't chat in paragraphs I just keep talking.

 

Yes long winded lol! You can tell when people are excited by the way they post. Glad you had a great time.

[Travel Angel]

Wonderful review with details that many will appreciate......Kudos to you and may your future cruise adventures be memorable experiences as this one apparently was !

[Travel Angel]

Wonderful review with details that many will appreciate......Kudos to you and may your future cruise adventures be memorable experiences as this one apparently was !

[F5Loar]

It's hard to read the little *?# stuff on the deck plans as some say it's a 3 room or a 4 room and some read a 3/4 room. I thought it would have 2 pull downs like the room we had on the Celebration and other Carnival ships. Our room E155 must have been one of the 3/4 rooms and they just put in a roll away bed under the pull down bed and pushed the two singles together. We had our 11 year old who choose the upper bunk and our cousin who choose the roll away and we slept fine in the two pushed togethers. You could ask for the singles to be separated with a small walk space between them. We've done that too. The roll away mattress was not as comfy as the regular beds are maybe I should say it was too comfy as it was very soft on my 210 pound body. You'd have to book really early to snag a double pull down bunk room for 4.

Can you sleep 3 on the pushed together singles? We have when our daughter was smaller(small kids don't complain about the hump split, adults would). Our steward left the pull down bed down all the time after the first night which was fine with us. He would push it up everyday if you asked but really how much time do you spend in your cabin? Sleep,shower and dress with maybe a little TV. They will do whatever you ask them to do once you get there so if you want to sleep like the Darling Family on Andy Griffith all piled up in one bid bed so be it. But these rooms are plenty big for 4 anyway you do it. We found you could make a small dressing room when meeting the closet door with the bathroom door when dressing if you need that privacy.

Interior rooms are pretty close to the same size as oceanview rooms. I didn't get to see the few suites they have but hear they sleep up to 5. Here is a tip for newbies: When you find a review you like just hit print and save it for closer to time for you review. You can read it and highlight important tips you might like to remember. I use my recycled paper and hit the print and save them to read when I have more time to read something that long. There are many great reviews posted here and not on the regular review section and finding them a week from now can be difficult.

[JoshGrrrr]

I've enjoyed every cruise I've ever been on, except for the Holiday. I was actually looking forward to it being over so I could go home.

 

We heard the grinding noise almost every night. It was so bad that we could actually hear items on the table in our room vibrating around. I guess I should have complained. The food was bad. Our server was horrible, he went as far as calling one of my friends a "big girl". I don't think he meant it that way, but it definately came out bad. The ship smelled like sulfer. I really can't think of a positive thing about that cruise..lol.

[F5Loar]

How long ago were you on the Holiday? That can make a difference. Even ships change over time. This is a 1985 model ship so she's been through many dry docks and many changes in staff over the years. No doubt the grinding noise at the back of the ship is one of the downfalls of the Holiday and Celebration. New bigger ships even had those pod problems in the back. Some like that vibration others can't stand it and learn not to book anything other then dead mid ship interior rooms. Some like far aft rides some love the upper forward rides. You got to cruise at least once in those places to find out if you can take it or not. Not everyone can book midship the week you want to go. That's why it's important to book more than a year out to get the exact location you want. As far as food I can't help you there. The Holiday has consistantly gotten rare reviews on their meals. Maybe when you went it was not so good. I've said Carnival has continued to improve their food each time we go back to Carnvial. The varitey is so great it would be hard to not find something on there you don't like. Some people would complain about the boxes of cereal they serve in the morning because they didn't have their favorite box of GrapeNuts or use only regular miniwheats instead of the frosted miniwheats. We found the omlets great in the morning the powdered scrabbled eggs not so great. The pancakes in the main DR great not so great on the buffet. Pizza always super and don't forget to ask for a calzone as they are worth the wait. They use fresh ingrediants most of the time and sure they skimp on many places to save money but the final preparation is just fine for a mass market cruise ship. Remember Carnival is not up there with HAL or X or Crystal or Cunard's food but then neither is the price of the cruise. You get what you pay for and for someone wanting what use to be a rich people's only vacation Carnvial delivers the best deal for the money when comparing everything offered as a total package. Your server was bad but where the other 1400 people's servers bad? Probably not. You can asked to be moved if you find your server not up to par and like in any service related product if that server can't cut the mustard he's off of there after so many complaints. I'm sure you complained to the head waiter about your problem as you should. Getting a bad server does not make a break a good cruise.

Some employees are just better than others. Not everyone can be served by the best senior server and have their rooms cleaned by the best steward on board. And then we all tend to fall into two category's: My glass is half full or my glass is half empty. I bet you can tell which one I fall into.

[JoshGrrrr]

I went on the Holiday in 2005 (see sig).

 

I'm sure my server was the exception. I was only speaking for myself. My room was bad. My server was bad. My food was bad. The entertainment on that particualr ship that week was bad. The ship smelled horrible. The ship looked worn out. There were holes in the carpet on the stairs, etc. As a result, my cruise was pretty bad. I learned not to sail on old boats.

 

I've been on 3 carnival cruises. I have no problem with Carnival. They are actually my 2nd favorite line. It was that particular ship that I didn't like. When I say that the food was bad, I'm speaking in comparison to other carnival cruises I've been on. I'm no cruise expert, but I'm not new to cruising either. The layman's explanations aren't necessary. I never expected the food to be as good as Cunard. I'm aware that you get what you pay for. However, I expected it to NOT be bad. McDonalds would have been better than some of the food we were given in the dining room.

 

Like you, my glass is always half full. Sometimes you have to stop forcing optimism and just face reality. That ship sucked that particular week.

[Kurbanfan]

I went on the Holiday in 2005 (see sig).

 

I'm sure my server was the exception. I was only speaking for myself. My room was bad. My server was bad. My food was bad. The entertainment on that particualr ship that week was bad. The ship smelled horrible. The ship looked worn out. There were holes in the carpet on the stairs, etc. As a result, my cruise was pretty bad. I learned not to sail on old boats.

 

I've been on 3 carnival cruises. I have no problem with Carnival. They are actually my 2nd favorite line. It was that particular ship that I didn't like. When I say that the food was bad, I'm speaking in comparison to other carnival cruises I've been on. I'm no cruise expert, but I'm not new to cruising either. The layman's explanations aren't necessary. I never expected the food to be as good as Cunard. I'm aware that you get what you pay for. However, I expected it to NOT be bad. McDonalds would have been better than some of the food we were given in the dining room.

 

Like you, my glass is always half full. Sometimes you have to stop forcing optimism and just face reality. That ship sucked that particular week.

 

We sailed her in 2000. While we didn't have half the problems you mentioned we choose not to sail her again either. She just wasn't to our liking...she was the 2nd of our 10 Carnival cruises. Every ship is different and it doesn't matter if they are all run by the same line.

Great memories bad ship IMO...

[JoshGrrrr]

We had some good memories with the friends who went with us.

 

I still enjoy Carnival. I am in the process of booking a Carnival cruise right now. I will avoid the Holiday though. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.

[F5Loar]

For some reason my computer does not show anyones signatures below not even mine. Does mine still show? I think when I got this new computer XP package a few years ago it has something in it that defaults those things for whatever reason. I'm sure it's a switch I hit somewhere within my computer but with over 100,000 things to push to find it I'll just leave it alone as is. I'm still trying to figure out why some folks have HTML and others don't .

I'd say 8 years ago was a long time ago. And I'd say Carnvial's food is not as good today as it was 8 years ago on any ship. Salads plain,rubber bacon,tough steaks,stinky fish, fries whimpy,tea awful,etc. But today it has improved greatly and I'm saying the Holiday has kept up with the Carnival upgrades like other ships even though it's an older ship. I know the staff is not the same because Steve Cassel was on Celebaration in 1998. They move staff and employees all the time. So what I am writing about is what the Holiday had to offer last week. I'd don't think I would enjoy reading anyone's review from 8 years ago on any ship. Next month the dancers will change and maybe they won't jump as high. Steve may go on a 1 month vacation leave and the replacment guy won't play the fiddle in the Country show. But the food for all Carnival ships comes from the same source basically. They buy in bulk and then deliever to each port as needed. They ran out of bannans the last 2 days my week. We must have had more than the average bannana eater on board my week and some people thought that was just awful to not have that fresh bannana on top of their CocoPuffs. I'd don't blame anyone for saying they won't go back on "X" ship because of some horrid experience. We don't even if it was the best ever ship. We find a different ship everytime we cruise and like the exploring of a ship we've never been on. For those future Holiday people I hope you find it as great a cruise I did a few days ago and not the cruise some of these folks had 8 or more years ago.

[JoshGrrrr]

8 years ago? This was 2 years and 8 months ago.

 

The food may come from the same place but the people working on each ship can vary quite a bit. Saying the food on all carnival ships is the same is like saying the food in all Olive Gardens is the same. The people in charge and the people preparing the food can make all the difference. It's very possible for one ship to have great food and the same exact dishes to be worse on a different ship. That goes for Olive Garden as well.

 

By your logic people should just disregard any review over a month old. I disagree.

 

By the way, I'm fairly certain there is an option in your Cruise Critic user CP that allows you to enable or disable sigs. Just click the UserCP link in the upper left of your screen.

 

Nice review. I'm sure you had a great time. I'm glad you did. My short little review wasn't meant as an argument to yours. I only posted it because the title of this thread includes "must read for 1st timers". I wanted to make sure they got the good with the bad. The friends who were with me on that cruise were first timers. I can't talk them into going on another cruise with us now. I'd hate for the same to happen to another first timer.

[Kurbanfan]

The food may come from the same place but the people working on each ship can vary quite a bit. Saying the food on all carnival ships is the same is like saying the food in all Olive Gardens is the same. The people in charge and the people preparing the food can make all the difference. It's very possible for one ship to have great food and the same exact dishes to be worse on a different ship. That goes for Olive Garden as well.

 

 

 

Sooo true! This is what alot of people don't understand. Especially when someone sails on one Carnival ship and then says "I will never sail Carnival again" Every ship is different regardless if it is in the same line. Every ship has different hotel managers, restaurant managers, chefs etc....

So no two ships will be the same. It is all about management and how it is ran........it happens on all cruise lines. Some teams are just better then others....

You mentioned Olive Garden....perfect example along with many other well known restaurants and hotels.........no 2 are the same.

 

Now I'm not saying the Holiday has not improved since our sailing. We just choose to spend our money on different ships rather then go back after having a bad taste in our mouths.......so many more options to choose from, would be silly to go back to something that was not to our liking the first time around.

[IndyGirl]

thanks, for the great and very detailed review. We are THINKING about sailing with her in June. We have sailed her before, and enjoyed it then. I'm like you, I like the smaller ships!

[F5Loar]

Sorry I was speaking of the person who said they sailed it in 2000 not yours in 2005. Either way it's not last week which is what I reported on. If you can go back to 2005 and tell me the percentage of Holiday cruisers that loved it vs. the ones that hated it then I'll listen closely to your comments.

In 2005 I had a fantastic low interest variable mortgage rate...... today they want to take my home and yet every Olive Garden I go to has the exact same menu. What I am saying is what you thought about the Holiday 2 or more years ago has nothing to do with the Holiday of last week. They can fix bad food. They can fix sewer smells. They can even smooth out the vibrations with better parts. I called it like I saw it last week. It's a fun cruise typical of any Carnivial cruise.

[Kurbanfan]

every Olive Garden I go to has the exact same menu.

 

I think you missed Josh's point regarding the Olive Garden. His point was they do all have the same exact menu....but it doesn't mean that each of their restaurants food or service will be the same. Unless of course the same team worked at all of them.....but I think that would be impossible;)

 

But regardless I'm glad you had a great cruise:)

[The4Cruisers]

I called it like I saw it last week. It's a fun cruise typical of any Carnivial cruise.

 

Thanks for the review F5Loar. I've seen lots of good stuff on the Holiday with some negatives peppered in for balance. We're sailing on her this November. Like you, we love the Holiday/Celebration sized ships compared with the larger ones.

 

BTW, saw you are in Salisbury. Makes us almost neighbors. We're over here by I77 in Big Mo (as Dale Jr calls it). :D

[F5Loar]

That would be Mooresville, home of "Big Daddy's Seafood" on Hwy 150.

Sorry but I've been in dozens of Olive Gardens and they all seem so close to the same it's a safe bet on what you will get. Same goes for McDonalds or Hardees or Wendy's. You know what to expect when you place your order.

Same goes for Carnival. You order the Pumpkin soup you know how it's going to taste regardless of how it was served to you. Some too hot, some not hot enough most just right but same taste. Some ships cook the lobster tail too long, some not long enough but you can expect a lobster tail. For many first timers on Carnival it's the first lobster tail they've ever had. For many it will be their last once they found out cruising is not for them. I'm just happy to see Carnvial offer a cruise for the everyday person. If you got the big money and don't want a ship that vibrates on the aft and severs 5 star meals with 5 star service better stick to Cunard but I'd sure hate to spend the price for a Cunard cruise my first time out to find out I get seasick everyday I'm on a ship. The Holiday is a great ship on a great cruise for first timers and others that enjoy the art of cruising. It offers all you could ask for in cruising in today's market. It's cheaper than others and still delivers a powerful punch on a vacation you will never forget.

[futaba951]

I've enjoyed every cruise I've ever been on, except for the Holiday. I was actually looking forward to it being over so I could go home.

 

We heard the grinding noise almost every night. It was so bad that we could actually hear items on the table in our room vibrating around. I guess I should have complained. The food was bad. Our server was horrible, he went as far as calling one of my friends a "big girl". I don't think he meant it that way, but it definately came out bad. The ship smelled like sulfer. I really can't think of a positive thing about that cruise..lol.

 

Your avatar is the most annoying thing I have ever seen on these boards. :D Everytime you post I'm trying to wipe that little bastxxxd off my screen.

[CMK1970]

Thanks so much for your review! This will be our first cruise(me, DH, DS18, DS15 & DD13) we had booked for May 19th but had to change because of kids exams..so we are going July14th...we booked a balcony and very excited:D

It seems Holiday has more loyal cruisers than not...I'm going on with an open mind and a positive attitude:)

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for your review.

[JoshGrrrr]

That would be Mooresville, home of "Big Daddy's Seafood" on Hwy 150.

Sorry but I've been in dozens of Olive Gardens and they all seem so close to the same it's a safe bet on what you will get. Same goes for McDonalds or Hardees or Wendy's. You know what to expect when you place your order.

Same goes for Carnival. You order the Pumpkin soup you know how it's going to taste regardless of how it was served to you. Some too hot, some not hot enough most just right but same taste. Some ships cook the lobster tail too long, some not long enough but you can expect a lobster tail. For many first timers on Carnival it's the first lobster tail they've ever had. For many it will be their last once they found out cruising is not for them. I'm just happy to see Carnvial offer a cruise for the everyday person. If you got the big money and don't want a ship that vibrates on the aft and severs 5 star meals with 5 star service better stick to Cunard but I'd sure hate to spend the price for a Cunard cruise my first time out to find out I get seasick everyday I'm on a ship. The Holiday is a great ship on a great cruise for first timers and others that enjoy the art of cruising. It offers all you could ask for in cruising in today's market. It's cheaper than others and still delivers a powerful punch on a vacation you will never forget.

 

 

Many of the points you are making are completely irrelevant. You are actually making the same point I was. Some lobster tail may be over cooked, some may be cooked just right. But it's still lobster tail. But, over cooked and just right can be the difference between GOOD and BAD food. You can go to Hardee's or Wendy's and expect the same dishes, but they may be prepared properly at one and they may be garbage at the next. At one your hamburger may be made fresh just like you ordered and handed to you with a smile, at the next it may be old, dried out, and have toppings that you didn't ask for and handed over by someone who obviously hates their job. But hey, it's still a hamburger so you can't complain right?

 

You make it sound like people who want an affordable cruise should expect loud stinky boats and crappy food. Believe it or not, you can go on a very inexpensive cruise without having to settle for any of those. You don't have to drop big money to go on a cruise that offers good food, good service, and a room that doesn't shake you awake at 4am. I don't know how many cruises you've been on, but to say the Holiday offers all you could ask for in a cruise is a little much. IMO it's scraping the bottom of the cruise barrel. It isn't one of the lowest rated ships in Carnival's fleet for no reason. We will just have to agree to disagree. You think the Holiday is the perfect ship for first timers. I think the exact opposite. I think a ship with a history of bad reviews like the Holiday is a poor choice for a first timer. It definately scared my friends away from cruising. Sure they could fix bad food. They could have fixed the sewer smells, but then again you may have gotten lucky. I would suggest one of the equally affordable ships with a better reputation for a first timer.

 

I'm glad you have fun. I'm sure people had fun on the cruise I was on. I'm sure most people will have fun every time the Holiday departs. You called it like you saw it last week. I called it like I saw it when I went. People can see when I went and decide for themselves if 2 years is enough time to consider it a completely different ship.

 

EDIT: After looking at the dates again, it was 3 years since I sailed on the Holiday.

 

Sorry to rain on your thread with my negative review. I didn't expect it to turn into an argument. You posted about your experiences. I posted about mine. I figured that would be the end of it. I didn't realize that I would have to defend my opinions of the Holiday. If you say it's improved, I'm sure it has. But future cruisers should still consider it's past before booking.

[greenboi]

with the exception of the soup for lunch on the lido deck, is there the same thing on both sides? or do they have different food on each side.

 

Are the menus posted for the lido deck or do you have to walk up to the serving area to see what they have and then go back and get in line?

[F5Loar]

Menus not posted you must look and they have name tags for those things you are not quite sure what it is and that was quite often. Looked the same to me on both sides other than the soup. I can't recall a ship on any line that post what they are having on the Lido deck buffets. I've seen themes posted like Mexican or Asian. This was my 30th cruise in 14 years. I stated that in my first post in the 2nd line. Since booking the Holiday about 10 months ago I've read every review I could find. I found very little negative about it since it has sailed out of Mobile. I found no total negatives. The way I look at these reviews is you need to hear the good with the bad and then make your judgement based on what was bad and what was good. And I don't get the stinky ship part. I've been on 1 month old ships that had sewer leaks and sewer smells in public areas. Why dish the Holiday for that?

It was not bad my week. Our cabin never had it and some hallways did have it but it sure didn't effect us. When you see the pros far outweigh the cons you get a feel for what to expect. If you hear about those negative problems maybe you can avoid them when your week comes up. Like the aft noise problem. Why didn't you book more mid ship if you knew aft noise would bother you at 4AM? How about a room under the disco? Many don't know that could be a problem until you find it out but read about it hear you should be able to avoid it. I suspect if you had read reviews of the Holiday before you booked it you knew there would be that aft noise. And if noise at night was a problem did you ask to be moved? All ships keep empty cabins for emergencies. Same for food. Have a problem? Send it back, ask for something else. About 3000 people ride the Holiday each week. I bet less then 10% even know about this chat room. If it was as bad as you say it was how could Carnival continue to keep it booked solid? And not to mention the many awards the Holiday has won for excellence in many areas. They are posted near the Pursor's area. I also believe the other people cruising with you can make or not make a great cruise. You can't choose those people and that will always be an unknown until you board unless you charter a whole ship with your own friends and family.