Just got back from a cruise!

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Bat-mite

Rocketeer in MD
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We sailed out Sunday, 9/1 and got back this morning. Carnival Pride out of Baltimore. Had a great time.

Monday's weather was rough due to Dorian, but the rest of the trip was phenomenal. Great experience.

A few pics:

Grand Turk beach
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Monday's sunset
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Monkey Land, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
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Heck yeah! Such a good time. Have you been on their line before? We went last month on a 7day carnival conquest. Were the bars empty in the DR? Ours were ghost towns. Isn't that Grand Turk water amazing!
 
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We did a cruise (MSC Cruises) last year, around the Mediterranean. We have never cruised before so were not sure if we were going to enjoy it. We are not the people who like sitting around at resorts doing nothing. What really made it for us was downloading each day at a new port and exploring, if only for a short time. La Spezia, Corsica, Majorca, Monaco, Genoa, Cannes, Barcelona. A stunning part of the world.

Very happy we chose to cruise.

Next holiday is Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Probably Mexico after that. No cruising though!
 
Heck yeah! Such a good time. Have you been on their line before? We went last month on a 7day carnival conquest. Were the bars empty in the DR? Ours were ghost towns. Isn't that Grand Turk water amazing!
First time on Carnival, first cruise for me and the kids. My wife had been on them before when she was young. Carnival seemed to cater to the partying crowd a little too much for my taste. Might try Royal Caribbean next time. Still loved it, though.
 
Wife and I went via Norwegian to Alaska in July. Wonderful time. Only wish is that it would have been a bit cooler. Temps hit 85 in places.... Not exactly Alaska-like. I bought some nice 'fall' weather type clothes for the trip and didn't get to use them much. Regardless, beautiful trip. Can't wait to go back!
 
Wife and I went via Norwegian to Alaska in July. Wonderful time. Only wish is that it would have been a bit cooler. Temps hit 85 in places.... Not exactly Alaska-like. I bought some nice 'fall' weather type clothes for the trip and didn't get to use them much. Regardless, beautiful trip. Can't wait to go back!
My in-laws did Alaska some years ago. Looked great in the pictures.
 
First time on Carnival, first cruise for me and the kids. My wife had been on them before when she was young. Carnival seemed to cater to the partying crowd a little too much for my taste. Might try Royal Caribbean next time. Still loved it, though.
My wife and I love cruising and have been on several. She's a VIP with the Carnival line due to lots of cruises in her previous life.

Unfortunately the Carnival line has cut back on some things (I guess to try and save money) such as ordering food after 10pm. It used to be a fun way to end our day to come back to the cabin at 1am or whenever and have a late snack of PB&J and milk delivered. Now I have to run back to the room before 10 to order them, and let them sit for a while until we get back. About half the time I forget.

There are other cut backs that we've noticed, such as a general reduction in cleanliness on the ships and fewer workers, but the lack of a late night sandwich really hurt. Haha.
 
My wife and I love cruising and have been on several. She's a VIP with the Carnival line due to lots of cruises in her previous life.

Unfortunately the Carnival line has cut back on some things (I guess to try and save money) such as ordering food after 10pm. It used to be a fun way to end our day to come back to the cabin at 1am or whenever and have a late snack of PB&J and milk delivered. Now I have to run back to the room before 10 to order them, and let them sit for a while until we get back. About half the time I forget.

There are other cut backs that we've noticed, such as a general reduction in cleanliness on the ships and fewer workers, but the lack of a late night sandwich really hurt. Haha.

I would agree it's not the same anymore. This was my 3rd cruise with them and was night and day from the first 2 cruises back in 2011, 2012 especially for the $$.
We are going on MSC next.
 
We didn't really feel the impact of the hours of dining. We also didn't use room service. There were a few 24 hour joints on Norwegian Joy (assume it is the same on all Breakaway class ships, anyway). One regret was not finding out how AMAZING the chicken wings were from the 24 hour joint until Thursday... I made 2 more visits after that before we disembarked Saturday morning.

I was impressed with the service on Norwegian. From check-in, to general cleanliness and friendliness, to general atmosphere. Very enjoyable. After passing some of the other ships in port, I could sense the massive difference between cruise lines, and I would not hesitate to go Norwegian again. The hull of our ship was being scrubbed every time we were in port, and all windows were washed everyday, inside and outside (they have some pretty sweet machinery!). I will admit I felt guilty for some of their employees when managers were going around and barking "clean that up!" - after they just put forth their best effort in cleaning this or that (which far exceeded my expectations). But I understand why.

Other shipgoers that we ran into on excursions expressed disappointment in saving $500 by going with other lines, when they realized that our ship had multiple water slides on it. I don't think that was their only complaint, either...e
 
My only real complaint is the volume of the music/PA. It was deafening. I wanted to do Karaoke, maybe see a show ... but every time we tried, we had to leave due to the volume level. Has to exceed legal standards. Every night at dinner, music would start at 7:00 PM. My wife and kids would gran their ears, I would pull out my hearing aids, and we would literally flee the restaurant. Insane!
 
In my younger days when I did a lot more sailing I used to love doing the bareboat charters in the Caribbean.
Nothing like a small group sailing around the islands. Very informal and relaxing.
Not sure I would like those floating hotels.
 
Unfortunately the Carnival line has cut back on some things (I guess to try and save money) such as ordering food after 10pm. It used to be a fun way to end our day to come back to the cabin at 1am or whenever and have a late snack of PB&J and milk delivered. Now I have to run back to the room before 10 to order them, and let them sit for a while until we get back. About half the time I forget.
There are other cut backs that we've noticed, such as a general reduction in cleanliness on the ships and fewer workers, but the lack of a late night sandwich really hurt. Haha.

I entertained on the cruise ships for over ten years from 2006 to 2017, as many as 25 cruises per year.
Every other cruise it seemed they were cutting back on something.

I'd go to the Cruise Director's office to check in and be greeted with: "Oh, by the way, there were some changes.
We've cut the size of the band (which really screwed up my arrangements) or -
We're now doing three (shorter) shows instead of two longer ones." That messed up the set lists.
Over time they have cut back on entertainers that use the band. Comedians are easy, one mic and the band stays in the bar
hopefully to sell drinks.

Food variety cuts, shorter stays at ports, less stewards - one guy had to clean more rooms. That was the running joke: "What did they cut now?"
I still had a great time though, I saw the world on their dime.

All the cruise lines are owned by three parent companies. If a cost-cutting decision is made at corporate headquarters, it is carried out by all their lines.
 
Next holiday is Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Probably Mexico after that. No cruising though!

Be very careful in Mexico. If you go there, stay on the main streets - no "exploring".
There is no OSHA. You never want to spend the night in a hospital in Mexico - I know why!
Many cruise lines have stopped going to some ports because of gang violence.
 
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