F
Flyingifr
Guest
This being our first cruise, we went into it not knowing what to expect and what was expected of us. If some of these comments seem a bit “newbie stuffâ€Â, please remember - we ARE newbies at cruises. I apologize for the length. This is being written during the cruise while the impressions are fresh.
PRE-CRUISE: Obviously the choice of cruise line, ship, destination and time of year will involve decisions with things affecting them that are beyond your control. My wife is still teaching so we had to wait until the end of her school year. With the new “unfriendly skies†that the Transportation Safety Administration and the Airlines have created regarding flying, we chose to leave from a port we could drive to. Living in the Tucson area made Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego the choices. That limited us to only a few cruises to choose from. We chose this cruise because it met all our criteria.
With that we boldly set forth and booked - 8 months in advance. Five months in advance Carnival announced its Fuel Surcharge. Needless to say I was less than overjoyed with this because as far as I was concerned, I agreed to pay a certain price for the cruise, and since I did not have the right to unilaterally change that contract it did not feel right that Carnival could - especially since the price increase was announced (and billed) many months before the cruise. Carnival did not say that should fuel prices go back down the Surcharge would be refunded, nor did they say this was the only surcharge they could or would assess in the event fuel prices continued to rise. On their own web site Message Boards I suggested that people who booked before the surcharge was announced simply cancel on the 75th day before the cruise (the last penalty-free day to do so). I figured a couple of thousand angry customers cancelling at once might get their attention.
It didn’t have to go that far. Carnival apparently heard the outcry and decided to refund the surcharge as a shipboard credit to passengers who had booked and paid a deposit before the surcharge was announced. That was fair.
I surfed several Cruise related boards to learn as much about Carnival, the ship and what to expect, as well as get tips from experienced cruisers. This review is being posted on all the Boards I found that helped. Here are some tips I came away with and what I found:
1. Bring a Bungee Cord to keep the door to the Balcony open. EXCELLENT idea.
2. Bring a waterproof shoe rack to store the shower stuff in. While this is a good idea, we found it not particularly necessary. The dimensions of the shower and the bathroom itself are such that if you simply put whatever you may need in the shower on the toilet seat lid, it will be in easy arms reach.
3. Pack whatever clothes you think you need, then unpack and put away half. Good idea if we had followed it. Carnival will wash, dry and fold about 2-3 days clothing for 2 people for you (it is an “all the clothes you can fit into this bag†promotion they give on the 4th and 5th day). So, if you plan carefully, you will only need 4 days clothes for a 7 day cruise. They will then wash 3 and you are set till you get home.
4. Bring your own razor. The one Carnival gives is closer to a hedge clipper. You don’t need shampoo or Conditioner either unless you simply must have your brand.
5. We chose to arrive in Long Beach the day before by car. The Coast Long Beach Hotel (562-435-7676) has a “Park and Sail†package that beats the other area hotels. The Queen Mary next door will cost you the same room rate, but you will have to pay $12 a day additional for parking. The Coast will let you park your car on their property and even provide a free shuttle both ways - to and from Carnival, and the rooms in the Coast are MUCH bigger than on the Queen Mary or at just about any other area hotel.
Check In Day
Make it a “Must-do†to check in on the Queen Mary (in the stern) between 9 and 11 AM. This will save you from having to stand on “Line 2" which is the line of people who have not yet checked in, who then have to stand on “Line 1", which is Homeland Security checkpoint, where you start. Line 2 was twice as long as Line 1 when we debarked. We were on the ship and relaxing a full two to three hours before the last “Line 2" person actually boarded the ship. The Line 1 check-in took us about ½ hour because we were very close to the beginning. I am not counting the Priority check-in, the “special needs†check-in and a wedding party that all went before us. These three together took a little over ½ hour.
When you finally get on board and have your picture taken for the ship’s security purposes, there is a sign saying that the state room will not be available until 1:30. We waited until then and it was indeed ready. Our luggage arrived very quickly - we had all three checked items by 2PM.
HINT: Use Packing Tape to tape a piece of paper to both sides of the outside of all checked luggage that secures to the luggage a slip of paper, written in the largest font you have your name and state room number on it. The handle tags Carnival provides do fall off, and late that night the “Land of Lost Luggage†near the Purser’s Office still had about 50 lonely residents.
Navigating Your Way around the Ship
Realizing that there are three elevator banks on the ship, I could see very soon that getting from one end of the ship to the other would be easiest if we could do so on decks that the fewest people are doing the same thing on. Our State room was in the extreme bow section on Deck 8. Since Deck 8 had nothing to the stern of us other than other State Rooms, that presented the ideal way of getting to the Stern end quickly, and then going up or down on the Stern elevators. Decks 4, 5, 6 and 7 can be used the same way.
The State Room
How many ways can I say “equaled or exceeded all my expectations� It was clean, well maintained and relatively roomy. The Steward introduced himself to us on the 1st and 2nd days. It was obvious he was in the room 3 times a day seeing that everything was right. He had a special tip left for him when we left. He earned it.
Some pleasant features:
Television channels 37, 38 and 39 are music channels. 39 is the Classical music channel, which was on almost all the time for us.
Take a picture of the towel animals daily. We tried to save them so we could take a picture of them all together by placing the first one on the back pillows of the sofa. The next day it was gone and another one was on the bed.
There is PLENTY of closet and dresser space. Even though we overpacked, we still had enough dresser space to allow for space for our dirty clothes and separate space for the clean clothes.
The Room Service is absolutely fantastic. You will get exactly what you request, exactly when you request it to be brought.
Shipboard Activities
Here’s where the perfectionist in me comes out. My criticisms are all over very small things, so don’t just count them and make your choice based on them.
The Super Trivia Contest - My wife and I are Trivia fanatics and we caught the moderator of this activity three times with wrong or outdated answers, or simply vague questions.
The Classical Music ensemble - They are excellent Classical Musicians (Piano, Violin and Viola), but sometimes they seem to be in a race to play the last note. One night the “Tales of the Vienna WoodsWaltz†was played so fast I could close my eyes and picture in my mind the ladies waltzing so fast that they were spinning like ballerinas. The Pride had them performing primarily in the main Atrium - near the Purser. Not a good location, especially for Classical musicians. There probably would have been less background noise if they had performed in the Engine Room.
The show: If it isn’t the comedian, it isn’t worth watching. The first non-Comedian show consisted of dance and song renditions that were excellent in all the technical aspects - excellent Choreography and Execution, the singers were quite good, the Orchestra was phenomenal and the costumes colorful and attractive. Unfortunately, the script for the whole production was so sophomorical and shallow that it failed to engross my mind, just the senses. Never having been to a Vegas show, all I can hope is that this is not what people in Vegas consider entertainment. Having lived in New York for many years and having been to many a New York play - both on and off Broadway, I know what entertainment should be. This production, while well done, missed engaging the most important thing - the audience. The Comedians were very funny and very original.
The food:
Generally all excellent and plentiful. The service is excellent and attentive. There are some weak points though.
The Chinese Buffet makes a good attempt at Chinese food, but having eaten real Chinese food in both New York’s and San Francisco’s Chinatowns, I know better. It’s American Chinese food.
The Sushi Bar is inconsistent. Before you eat, look at the rice he is using. Ask for a taste of the rice. It should not be so cooked that there is no “al dente†in the consistency - meaning it should not be like paste. If it shows any signs of overcooking, it probably is and the Sushi will have the consistency of Elmer’s Glue.
High Tea: A MUST do. The tea selection is top-shelf and the cakes that accompany them are the best a highly skilled Pastry Chef can produce, both in presentation and taste. This was one of the highlights of our cruise.
The Main Dining Room (Normandie): The food is excellent, the service top notch. Actually, we only ate there for one dinner, preferring the informality of the buffets on the Lido deck.
The Buffets: Generally good, but the hours of service leave something to be desired. For an informal buffet the offerings should all be available at the same time rather than opening over a stretch of more than an hour. If you eat early, it’s a progressive meal, not a buffet. If you want a Buffet, don’t plan on eating until at least an hour after the time the Capers says it opens, and even then half of the stations will have closed for the night. Calling it a Buffet on these terms is stretching the definition of the term a bit. “Hamburgers, Cold Cut Sandwiches and Something Else†is much closer to the truth.
The Ports of Call
Puerto Vallarta: Typical Mexican tourist city, but remarkably clean. We took the evening dinner and show - Rhythms of the Night. The dinner was good. Note: If you have any propensity for seasickness and the winds are over 8 knots, take some medicine well before you leave. Use the ship’s television as a guide - there is a channel which gives you wind conditions. The Dramamine they hand you five minutes before you sail will be useless, since it will not be in you long enough to take effect, and will be the first thing you heave overboard. The show is very colorful and well performed. The costumes are as authentic as can be made given today’s sensibilities towards nudity.
Mazatlan: Not as clean as Puerto Vallarta but acceptable. It is certainly not Cancun in terms of the number of attractions, but you can’t really see too much in twelve hours. We took the Show, sightseeing and shopping tour. The last dance of the show - the Aztec Pole Dance - is worth the tour by itself. The shopping district is small and seems to be heavily populated by Carnival’s chosen stores. I cannot help but wonder how much of a kickback Carnival gets for channeling all these tourist dollars to these certain stores.
Cabo: The cleanest of the bunch. Has the same stores as the others, but they are all within an easy ten minute walk from the pier. The tender ride from ship to shore and back is cramped but short. Cabo Wabo is more for the younger set than old fogies like us. We didn’t do any of the shore excursions in Cabo, preferring to be on our own to explore. Having seen all the same stores in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, and the same merchandise on both cities, to paraphrase Caesar: “Veni, Vini, Byeâ€Â- We came, We saw, We left. Do yourself a favor - book a shore excursion in Cabo.
The Shipboard Shopping:
Mostly jewelry and liquor. Is that all that cruisers are interested in purchasing?
The Return Trip:
Even in June it would be a good idea to bring warm clothes. The ship was steaming at 20 knots into a 15 knot headwind made cold by the Humboldt Current. That adds up to a 35 knot cold wind in your face. Or, you could just stay indoors.
PRE-CRUISE: Obviously the choice of cruise line, ship, destination and time of year will involve decisions with things affecting them that are beyond your control. My wife is still teaching so we had to wait until the end of her school year. With the new “unfriendly skies†that the Transportation Safety Administration and the Airlines have created regarding flying, we chose to leave from a port we could drive to. Living in the Tucson area made Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego the choices. That limited us to only a few cruises to choose from. We chose this cruise because it met all our criteria.
With that we boldly set forth and booked - 8 months in advance. Five months in advance Carnival announced its Fuel Surcharge. Needless to say I was less than overjoyed with this because as far as I was concerned, I agreed to pay a certain price for the cruise, and since I did not have the right to unilaterally change that contract it did not feel right that Carnival could - especially since the price increase was announced (and billed) many months before the cruise. Carnival did not say that should fuel prices go back down the Surcharge would be refunded, nor did they say this was the only surcharge they could or would assess in the event fuel prices continued to rise. On their own web site Message Boards I suggested that people who booked before the surcharge was announced simply cancel on the 75th day before the cruise (the last penalty-free day to do so). I figured a couple of thousand angry customers cancelling at once might get their attention.
It didn’t have to go that far. Carnival apparently heard the outcry and decided to refund the surcharge as a shipboard credit to passengers who had booked and paid a deposit before the surcharge was announced. That was fair.
I surfed several Cruise related boards to learn as much about Carnival, the ship and what to expect, as well as get tips from experienced cruisers. This review is being posted on all the Boards I found that helped. Here are some tips I came away with and what I found:
1. Bring a Bungee Cord to keep the door to the Balcony open. EXCELLENT idea.
2. Bring a waterproof shoe rack to store the shower stuff in. While this is a good idea, we found it not particularly necessary. The dimensions of the shower and the bathroom itself are such that if you simply put whatever you may need in the shower on the toilet seat lid, it will be in easy arms reach.
3. Pack whatever clothes you think you need, then unpack and put away half. Good idea if we had followed it. Carnival will wash, dry and fold about 2-3 days clothing for 2 people for you (it is an “all the clothes you can fit into this bag†promotion they give on the 4th and 5th day). So, if you plan carefully, you will only need 4 days clothes for a 7 day cruise. They will then wash 3 and you are set till you get home.
4. Bring your own razor. The one Carnival gives is closer to a hedge clipper. You don’t need shampoo or Conditioner either unless you simply must have your brand.
5. We chose to arrive in Long Beach the day before by car. The Coast Long Beach Hotel (562-435-7676) has a “Park and Sail†package that beats the other area hotels. The Queen Mary next door will cost you the same room rate, but you will have to pay $12 a day additional for parking. The Coast will let you park your car on their property and even provide a free shuttle both ways - to and from Carnival, and the rooms in the Coast are MUCH bigger than on the Queen Mary or at just about any other area hotel.
Check In Day
Make it a “Must-do†to check in on the Queen Mary (in the stern) between 9 and 11 AM. This will save you from having to stand on “Line 2" which is the line of people who have not yet checked in, who then have to stand on “Line 1", which is Homeland Security checkpoint, where you start. Line 2 was twice as long as Line 1 when we debarked. We were on the ship and relaxing a full two to three hours before the last “Line 2" person actually boarded the ship. The Line 1 check-in took us about ½ hour because we were very close to the beginning. I am not counting the Priority check-in, the “special needs†check-in and a wedding party that all went before us. These three together took a little over ½ hour.
When you finally get on board and have your picture taken for the ship’s security purposes, there is a sign saying that the state room will not be available until 1:30. We waited until then and it was indeed ready. Our luggage arrived very quickly - we had all three checked items by 2PM.
HINT: Use Packing Tape to tape a piece of paper to both sides of the outside of all checked luggage that secures to the luggage a slip of paper, written in the largest font you have your name and state room number on it. The handle tags Carnival provides do fall off, and late that night the “Land of Lost Luggage†near the Purser’s Office still had about 50 lonely residents.
Navigating Your Way around the Ship
Realizing that there are three elevator banks on the ship, I could see very soon that getting from one end of the ship to the other would be easiest if we could do so on decks that the fewest people are doing the same thing on. Our State room was in the extreme bow section on Deck 8. Since Deck 8 had nothing to the stern of us other than other State Rooms, that presented the ideal way of getting to the Stern end quickly, and then going up or down on the Stern elevators. Decks 4, 5, 6 and 7 can be used the same way.
The State Room
How many ways can I say “equaled or exceeded all my expectations� It was clean, well maintained and relatively roomy. The Steward introduced himself to us on the 1st and 2nd days. It was obvious he was in the room 3 times a day seeing that everything was right. He had a special tip left for him when we left. He earned it.
Some pleasant features:
Television channels 37, 38 and 39 are music channels. 39 is the Classical music channel, which was on almost all the time for us.
Take a picture of the towel animals daily. We tried to save them so we could take a picture of them all together by placing the first one on the back pillows of the sofa. The next day it was gone and another one was on the bed.
There is PLENTY of closet and dresser space. Even though we overpacked, we still had enough dresser space to allow for space for our dirty clothes and separate space for the clean clothes.
The Room Service is absolutely fantastic. You will get exactly what you request, exactly when you request it to be brought.
Shipboard Activities
Here’s where the perfectionist in me comes out. My criticisms are all over very small things, so don’t just count them and make your choice based on them.
The Super Trivia Contest - My wife and I are Trivia fanatics and we caught the moderator of this activity three times with wrong or outdated answers, or simply vague questions.
The Classical Music ensemble - They are excellent Classical Musicians (Piano, Violin and Viola), but sometimes they seem to be in a race to play the last note. One night the “Tales of the Vienna WoodsWaltz†was played so fast I could close my eyes and picture in my mind the ladies waltzing so fast that they were spinning like ballerinas. The Pride had them performing primarily in the main Atrium - near the Purser. Not a good location, especially for Classical musicians. There probably would have been less background noise if they had performed in the Engine Room.
The show: If it isn’t the comedian, it isn’t worth watching. The first non-Comedian show consisted of dance and song renditions that were excellent in all the technical aspects - excellent Choreography and Execution, the singers were quite good, the Orchestra was phenomenal and the costumes colorful and attractive. Unfortunately, the script for the whole production was so sophomorical and shallow that it failed to engross my mind, just the senses. Never having been to a Vegas show, all I can hope is that this is not what people in Vegas consider entertainment. Having lived in New York for many years and having been to many a New York play - both on and off Broadway, I know what entertainment should be. This production, while well done, missed engaging the most important thing - the audience. The Comedians were very funny and very original.
The food:
Generally all excellent and plentiful. The service is excellent and attentive. There are some weak points though.
The Chinese Buffet makes a good attempt at Chinese food, but having eaten real Chinese food in both New York’s and San Francisco’s Chinatowns, I know better. It’s American Chinese food.
The Sushi Bar is inconsistent. Before you eat, look at the rice he is using. Ask for a taste of the rice. It should not be so cooked that there is no “al dente†in the consistency - meaning it should not be like paste. If it shows any signs of overcooking, it probably is and the Sushi will have the consistency of Elmer’s Glue.
High Tea: A MUST do. The tea selection is top-shelf and the cakes that accompany them are the best a highly skilled Pastry Chef can produce, both in presentation and taste. This was one of the highlights of our cruise.
The Main Dining Room (Normandie): The food is excellent, the service top notch. Actually, we only ate there for one dinner, preferring the informality of the buffets on the Lido deck.
The Buffets: Generally good, but the hours of service leave something to be desired. For an informal buffet the offerings should all be available at the same time rather than opening over a stretch of more than an hour. If you eat early, it’s a progressive meal, not a buffet. If you want a Buffet, don’t plan on eating until at least an hour after the time the Capers says it opens, and even then half of the stations will have closed for the night. Calling it a Buffet on these terms is stretching the definition of the term a bit. “Hamburgers, Cold Cut Sandwiches and Something Else†is much closer to the truth.
The Ports of Call
Puerto Vallarta: Typical Mexican tourist city, but remarkably clean. We took the evening dinner and show - Rhythms of the Night. The dinner was good. Note: If you have any propensity for seasickness and the winds are over 8 knots, take some medicine well before you leave. Use the ship’s television as a guide - there is a channel which gives you wind conditions. The Dramamine they hand you five minutes before you sail will be useless, since it will not be in you long enough to take effect, and will be the first thing you heave overboard. The show is very colorful and well performed. The costumes are as authentic as can be made given today’s sensibilities towards nudity.
Mazatlan: Not as clean as Puerto Vallarta but acceptable. It is certainly not Cancun in terms of the number of attractions, but you can’t really see too much in twelve hours. We took the Show, sightseeing and shopping tour. The last dance of the show - the Aztec Pole Dance - is worth the tour by itself. The shopping district is small and seems to be heavily populated by Carnival’s chosen stores. I cannot help but wonder how much of a kickback Carnival gets for channeling all these tourist dollars to these certain stores.
Cabo: The cleanest of the bunch. Has the same stores as the others, but they are all within an easy ten minute walk from the pier. The tender ride from ship to shore and back is cramped but short. Cabo Wabo is more for the younger set than old fogies like us. We didn’t do any of the shore excursions in Cabo, preferring to be on our own to explore. Having seen all the same stores in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, and the same merchandise on both cities, to paraphrase Caesar: “Veni, Vini, Byeâ€Â- We came, We saw, We left. Do yourself a favor - book a shore excursion in Cabo.
The Shipboard Shopping:
Mostly jewelry and liquor. Is that all that cruisers are interested in purchasing?
The Return Trip:
Even in June it would be a good idea to bring warm clothes. The ship was steaming at 20 knots into a 15 knot headwind made cold by the Humboldt Current. That adds up to a 35 knot cold wind in your face. Or, you could just stay indoors.
