Lisa loves Pooh
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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The Cast:
Both are extended family vacations. Carnival was with Hubby's family and Disney will be with my sister and her immediate family.
Disney comes up for us next weekend, so this report begins with the Carnival portion.
Carnival Crew: Me, DH, DD1, DD2, DS, BIL and his DW & DS, SIL, BIL and his DW, FIL & MIL.
CARNIVAL GLORY
Eastern Caribbean Itinerary
Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maartin
I will preface this by saying this was NOT our choice in cruise. We cruised on our honeymoon and had a few problems on board, so we went with the LOWEST of expectations. I am pleased to say that our expectations were exceeded. I think they would have been even if we had average expectations.
Embarkation: Well at debarkation, we finally "got" why you couldn't get into the port at a reasonably early hour (you would think by 11am you were good, but our family members were turned away saying they couldn't even begin offloading bags until 11:30am). So we had lunch at the pizza place by the Raddisson. Yummy pizza and yummy bruschetta! We never made it to the welcome aboard lunch or whatever they called it. But that's okay, we really didn't miss it.
We got to the port and unloaded our bags. Porters were ready and waiting for them. HUGE HUGE signs that make known that the porters are salaried and tipping is not required. Very nice! We did tip $1 per bag. Kinda felt guilty not to do so. But very nice that they get a paycheck and Carnival makes specifically known that you are not obligated to tip.
We went to park the vehicles with the family in the parking garage. FIL opted to have an impromptu tailgate party. Guess they weren't in a rush to get inside.
I had read on cruise critic that embarkation is a bit of a debacle. So went prepared for the worst. We brought our own pens as you fill out your Nassau forms once you get there. They do not send them ahead of time. (I had debated taking them from my Disney documents and then just getting fresh ones for the Disney cruise but opted against that as we would be waiting for hubby's family anyway to fill out theirs).
We got to the line to get inside--then they sent us and a bunch of others to the VIP entrance.
We went in that way--did the whole x-ray machine bit. We had a stroller so our family was sent to the elevator while the rest of the family took the escalator. Got upstairs and the terminal is divided in half. All I know is eventually we had to go to the left side--where you checked in was based on your deck number. (VIP had their own room and then were personally escorted off of the ship. I don't know what other perks they got except that they were one of the first zones to disembark on the last day--very nice since there are 40 zones plus 11 decks of folks who chose to self-assist.)
In between all this was a tiny little island with the Nassau forms. And a sea of people trying to fill them all out. Okay, that was as expected. Then the family went to the right. I knew they shouldn't have done that, but kept my mouth shut. Then it was a fun little jaunt through the ropes to get to the otherside. (They didn't back up and I don't like to make waves
). Finally we get to where we check in. That was easy and painless. We got our sail and sign card (equivilant of the key to the world card) and were on our way. Down the restricted walkway, up the stairs--then to our cheesy picture and to the gangplank then to our cabin to get rid of an obscene amount of carryon luggage. (lesson learned, carrying much much much less next week!)
Stateroom: We had cabin 6300 and 6302: A balcony and an interior cabin. Out on our balcony to a lovely view of the Disney Magic!
We never got to hear "When you Wish Upon a Star". I was looking forward to that, but alas--our ship left first and not sure if it was my hearing, the distance, or what--but I guess I will have to wait. The cabins seemed rather small to me. Especially since Carnival's marketing materials kind of gloat about how their cabins are bigger than other cruise lines. It might have had something to do with traveling with 3 additional passengers than the last time I sailed. We really loved having the balcony. Very nice to watch the water, catch the sunrise, watch the ship dock, et cetera. All away from the crowds!
The Glory had complimentary room service as well. The offerings were the cold selections from the breakfast buffet, sandwiches, some desserts, and drinks. I loved the roast beef and brie. Not sure if it was available elsewhere on the ship, but most of the menu seemed to be. Still it was a nice convenience.
The Ship:
For the most part clean. The carpet in the hallways of deck 6 seriously needs replacing as it is severely stained. But the rest of the ship was being kept quite spiffy by its crew.
I was unenchanted by the atrium. I guess since my last sailing was on the Destiny (which is super huge!), I expected much more of a wow factor. But the ceiling with the colorful lights hung over deck 5---so part of the atrium was "only" 5 stories high, while the other half was the full 10 stories high. It kind of interrupted the awe factor for me.
The ship has a "color" theme--so all restaurants, bars, and entertainment areas have a color name. The "Blue" Bar, the "Platinum" and "Golden" Restaurants.
I had heard navigating the ship could be quite confusing as some of the areas are "interrupted" so you can't just go from forward to aft quite simply. But it really wasn't that difficult. Deck 5, promenade connected as well as our deck 6 and some of the other cabin decks. So when we wanted to go somewhere, we just thought ahead of whether it was forward, mid-ship, or after and then went to the appropriate bank of elevators or staircases. If you have a "plan" of how you will get around the boat, it can actually be quite easy.
Dining:
We were traveling as a group of 13--all our family got seated together except for our group of 5. We had 1st seating in the Platinum Restaurant but were on 2 different levels of the restaurant. We had to go see the Matre D' at the "Golden" restaurant for any requests. After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was our turn. The Matre D' looked up my seating arrangements. He made note of when we booked (sept of last year) and was able to move my family to an adjacent table on the upper level without any trouble. Some nights we dined at this table and others we dined at the same table depending on who actually went to dinner that evening. We did tip both servers. The full amount to our assigned serving staff and then an amount comparable to the days we dined with the other server. (B/c of how the restaurant organized its staff, the 2 tables had completely different serving teams).
Formal Night was Sunday and was the Captain's cocktail party. The second Formal night was on Thursday. Lobster tail was served on the first day. I am not a lobster fan, so didn't order it.
The food--was okay. It was typical mass produced food. It is what it is. Nothing really wowed me except for the creme brulee dessert on the first night and the warming chocolate cake that they served each evening. They served baked alaska on the second formal night and whatever they did, was a total cheat. Even for mass produced baked alaska. The meringue was soupy--and not stiff at all. (I kind of didn't mind as I dont' like a stiffened meringue anyway)--but it seemed that instead of being "baked"--they just torched the tops with the blow torch tool they use for the creme brulee. I had quail on the last evening and can't really remember any others. Obviously it didn't leave a lasting impression with me.
The buffets were okay at times. Very cafeteria like. But good I suppose since I did eat from them.
Breakfast was a disappointment. Their french toast was quite yummy, but they only served it twice.
Other than that change of menu--the breakfast buffet was exactly the same every day. So the first day, it was good--by day 7 I was ready for something else!
Entertainment:
Wee Jimmy was our Cruise director! A really fun guy who tells totally corny jokes----and really really really has fun with his nickname---Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee JIMMY!!! In any case, I was a bit worried that he wouldn't be any fun in the beginning since he did sound so darn corny, but he really does grow on you. He is Scottish and wore a tux and kilt on that evening---and carried teh "wee" schtick a bit way past its prime.
The dancers--holy heaven! My cousin danced with Carnival for 4 years, so I don't mean anything against them--but the choreography the first night was on par with an end of the year recital. Later in the cruise, you could better tell the talent of some of the dancers, but the first show was just so cheesy and the dancing was bad. Most likely due to the choregraphy. There was a comedian that night as well who also did an R-rated night the next night. He was so funny but I never got to see the second routine.
Happy Cole (I think that is his last name) was another comedian. He was very R-rated (due mostly to profanity)--but he was hilarious. I ended up leaving b/c I was so tired, but enjoyed his show up until I had to go to bed. He joked mostly about the cruising experience--the life boat drills, the staff, the bill.
Justin Illusion was an amazing illusionist. Much better than whomever they had on our destiny cruise 9 years ago.
There were other shows that the family and my hubby enjoyed that I never made it to either b/c I was sleeping or a child was.
I think their dance shows could be improved, but otherwise entertainment was good.
Ports of Call:
Nassau: I didn't think I wanted to get off the boat. I had worked up in my head that they are incredibly pushy. Not so much the case. Sure they offer to sell you stuff, but they are quite polite about it. Walking around town we did see the pirate museum. We didn't go, but it is easy to get to. The British Colonial Hilton was also very much in Walking Distance. I have heard you can do a beach day there for relatively little money. There was a Senor Frogs near the Straw Market.
The straw Market evidently over the years since I have been has evolved into a straw/flea market. I could have sworn they were in some type of roof covered building--but they were in a tent. It was overwhelming to me with quite small aisles, so I did not spend much time in there.
We did get offered weed a couple of times. I don't know what they thought we'd do with it with a baby...but I guess you won't know if you don't ask. We just ignored that, or simply said "no thank you".
For those into the Hard Rock Cafe collecting--once you leave the port area past the taxi's--it is straight up the street. Not far at all.
Tipping:
Carnival does "auto-tipping" to your account. I was quite surprised that they did not auto-tip for my son. We made sure to tip extra on the last day, but I was still surprised that even though we paid full fare for him, that they didn't do an auto-tip. Tipping is $10 per day per person, so for the rest of us, that came to $280.
Kids Programs
Carnival's kids program is called Camp Carnival. They have the age groups of: 2-5, 6-8, 9-11, and then 2 groups of the teens. My girls had an absolute blast! The counselors were simply amazing. So many different activities. My girls came home with a suit case (carry on size) full of crafts. They had different parties as well and many themes going on.
Now--they are not open all day long. On Sea days, they close from 12-2 and on 2 of the sea days, they clased again from 3:30 to 5:45. Everyday they close by 5pm for a 45 minute transition to dinner. You can then drop them off again at 5:45 for dinner in the red sail restaurant on the upper level. They again "close" at 10 and from 10 to 3am they have paid babysitting. $6 for the first child and $4 for each additional child.
One night they had a party for the 6-8 year olds with extended activities, but since it was within the babysitting time frame, you had to pay for them to participate.
The only time you can drop off under two's--was in the 12-2 times they were closed to the older kids, and from 10pm to 3am. They also had limited hours for the under 2's on port days.
The counselors were wonderful--but the hours made it hard to focus on relaxing when we kept having to pick the kids up.
Camp Carnival had their own version of the Carnival Capers for the whole week so the girls could pre-plan what they wanted to do. For most of the cruise it was "everything". For kids 5 years and under, they loan you a pager. They do not do this for the older children.
My girls had dinner with Camp Carnival on 2 of the nights.
My 7 year old also met her first boyfriend. This was quite the talk among the counselors. It was quite funny.
Also--there were plenty of "free" souvenirs that the girls got from Camp Carnival. I believe you had to be present at the activity to get what was offered (i.e. the T-shirt was an actual activity). But my daughters each got complimentary t-shirts, back packs, cd-cases (for participating in the talent show), medals with a carnival ship on them (contest prize), as well as more things covered in glitter glue than I ever thought possible.
Debarkation: I really really wanted to pull my hair out. Debarkation started and then suddenly stopped. They didn't call groups when they said they would. So I don't know what the hold up was. There was 1 hour where they didn't call anybody. After the VIP/early departure zones 1-5 disembarked and the self-assist folks (called individually by deck for 11 decks)--they began with zone 6 at about 9:30.
We finally left our cabin about 10am and headed down to the Amber Palace. We were directed to the seating areas in the lobby (even though they announced a million times they didn't want folks hanging out in the lobby ). We were zone 27 out of 40 and decided to heck with it and got in line at zone 24 with no trouble. We were off the ship by about 11am 
and headed to the baggage claim. We had our luggage within 10 minutes!!
So their zone system is good for something. We got home about 12:45. Quite honestly, we expected to be home much much sooner living so close to the port. So whatever delayed the process did not put me in my happy place.
Luggage Pickup: OMG---after the lenghty wait to get off....Not sure if this was worth the long wait or not--but the zoning, times it so that about the time you get off, your zone's luggage is being placed on a baggage carousel just like at the airport. Not 5 minutes after we got to the carousel, we had 6 of our 7 pieces. Not sure what the delay was on the 7th. We might have missed it the first time, but the Carnival staff had also told us that they placed some of our zone's luggage in another zone by mistake. They had all the odds where we were at. The even zone's were at some other section and they had split off from us long before we got to the carousel.
But way cool! No sea of luggage--no searching the luggage desert for the oasis of your baggage! Just stand and watch it all go by just like at the airport until you collect yours.
Summary
The cruise was not that bad. Now I am not falling all over myself wishing I were back on that boat or anything, but for what it was, it was nice. I can't say that we will sail on Carnival again or even if we ever will again after the Disney cruise.
My hubby is discovering that cruising just isn't his cup of tea. He hates schedules and I love them. I love going to activities--he could take it or leave it.
We shall see when I post the follow up next week after our Disney Wonder cruise.
Both are extended family vacations. Carnival was with Hubby's family and Disney will be with my sister and her immediate family.
Disney comes up for us next weekend, so this report begins with the Carnival portion.
Carnival Crew: Me, DH, DD1, DD2, DS, BIL and his DW & DS, SIL, BIL and his DW, FIL & MIL.
CARNIVAL GLORY
Eastern Caribbean Itinerary
Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maartin
I will preface this by saying this was NOT our choice in cruise. We cruised on our honeymoon and had a few problems on board, so we went with the LOWEST of expectations. I am pleased to say that our expectations were exceeded. I think they would have been even if we had average expectations.
Embarkation: Well at debarkation, we finally "got" why you couldn't get into the port at a reasonably early hour (you would think by 11am you were good, but our family members were turned away saying they couldn't even begin offloading bags until 11:30am). So we had lunch at the pizza place by the Raddisson. Yummy pizza and yummy bruschetta! We never made it to the welcome aboard lunch or whatever they called it. But that's okay, we really didn't miss it.
We got to the port and unloaded our bags. Porters were ready and waiting for them. HUGE HUGE signs that make known that the porters are salaried and tipping is not required. Very nice! We did tip $1 per bag. Kinda felt guilty not to do so. But very nice that they get a paycheck and Carnival makes specifically known that you are not obligated to tip.
We went to park the vehicles with the family in the parking garage. FIL opted to have an impromptu tailgate party. Guess they weren't in a rush to get inside.
I had read on cruise critic that embarkation is a bit of a debacle. So went prepared for the worst. We brought our own pens as you fill out your Nassau forms once you get there. They do not send them ahead of time. (I had debated taking them from my Disney documents and then just getting fresh ones for the Disney cruise but opted against that as we would be waiting for hubby's family anyway to fill out theirs).
We got to the line to get inside--then they sent us and a bunch of others to the VIP entrance.
We went in that way--did the whole x-ray machine bit. We had a stroller so our family was sent to the elevator while the rest of the family took the escalator. Got upstairs and the terminal is divided in half. All I know is eventually we had to go to the left side--where you checked in was based on your deck number. (VIP had their own room and then were personally escorted off of the ship. I don't know what other perks they got except that they were one of the first zones to disembark on the last day--very nice since there are 40 zones plus 11 decks of folks who chose to self-assist.)In between all this was a tiny little island with the Nassau forms. And a sea of people trying to fill them all out. Okay, that was as expected. Then the family went to the right. I knew they shouldn't have done that, but kept my mouth shut. Then it was a fun little jaunt through the ropes to get to the otherside. (They didn't back up and I don't like to make waves
). Finally we get to where we check in. That was easy and painless. We got our sail and sign card (equivilant of the key to the world card) and were on our way. Down the restricted walkway, up the stairs--then to our cheesy picture and to the gangplank then to our cabin to get rid of an obscene amount of carryon luggage. (lesson learned, carrying much much much less next week!)Stateroom: We had cabin 6300 and 6302: A balcony and an interior cabin. Out on our balcony to a lovely view of the Disney Magic!
We never got to hear "When you Wish Upon a Star". I was looking forward to that, but alas--our ship left first and not sure if it was my hearing, the distance, or what--but I guess I will have to wait. The cabins seemed rather small to me. Especially since Carnival's marketing materials kind of gloat about how their cabins are bigger than other cruise lines. It might have had something to do with traveling with 3 additional passengers than the last time I sailed. We really loved having the balcony. Very nice to watch the water, catch the sunrise, watch the ship dock, et cetera. All away from the crowds!The Glory had complimentary room service as well. The offerings were the cold selections from the breakfast buffet, sandwiches, some desserts, and drinks. I loved the roast beef and brie. Not sure if it was available elsewhere on the ship, but most of the menu seemed to be. Still it was a nice convenience.
The Ship:
For the most part clean. The carpet in the hallways of deck 6 seriously needs replacing as it is severely stained. But the rest of the ship was being kept quite spiffy by its crew.
I was unenchanted by the atrium. I guess since my last sailing was on the Destiny (which is super huge!), I expected much more of a wow factor. But the ceiling with the colorful lights hung over deck 5---so part of the atrium was "only" 5 stories high, while the other half was the full 10 stories high. It kind of interrupted the awe factor for me.
The ship has a "color" theme--so all restaurants, bars, and entertainment areas have a color name. The "Blue" Bar, the "Platinum" and "Golden" Restaurants.
I had heard navigating the ship could be quite confusing as some of the areas are "interrupted" so you can't just go from forward to aft quite simply. But it really wasn't that difficult. Deck 5, promenade connected as well as our deck 6 and some of the other cabin decks. So when we wanted to go somewhere, we just thought ahead of whether it was forward, mid-ship, or after and then went to the appropriate bank of elevators or staircases. If you have a "plan" of how you will get around the boat, it can actually be quite easy.
Dining:
We were traveling as a group of 13--all our family got seated together except for our group of 5. We had 1st seating in the Platinum Restaurant but were on 2 different levels of the restaurant. We had to go see the Matre D' at the "Golden" restaurant for any requests. After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was our turn. The Matre D' looked up my seating arrangements. He made note of when we booked (sept of last year) and was able to move my family to an adjacent table on the upper level without any trouble. Some nights we dined at this table and others we dined at the same table depending on who actually went to dinner that evening. We did tip both servers. The full amount to our assigned serving staff and then an amount comparable to the days we dined with the other server. (B/c of how the restaurant organized its staff, the 2 tables had completely different serving teams).
Formal Night was Sunday and was the Captain's cocktail party. The second Formal night was on Thursday. Lobster tail was served on the first day. I am not a lobster fan, so didn't order it.
The food--was okay. It was typical mass produced food. It is what it is. Nothing really wowed me except for the creme brulee dessert on the first night and the warming chocolate cake that they served each evening. They served baked alaska on the second formal night and whatever they did, was a total cheat. Even for mass produced baked alaska. The meringue was soupy--and not stiff at all. (I kind of didn't mind as I dont' like a stiffened meringue anyway)--but it seemed that instead of being "baked"--they just torched the tops with the blow torch tool they use for the creme brulee. I had quail on the last evening and can't really remember any others.
Obviously it didn't leave a lasting impression with me.The buffets were okay at times. Very cafeteria like. But good I suppose since I did eat from them.
Breakfast was a disappointment. Their french toast was quite yummy, but they only served it twice.
Other than that change of menu--the breakfast buffet was exactly the same every day. So the first day, it was good--by day 7 I was ready for something else!Entertainment:
Wee Jimmy was our Cruise director! A really fun guy who tells totally corny jokes----and really really really has fun with his nickname---Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee JIMMY!!! In any case, I was a bit worried that he wouldn't be any fun in the beginning since he did sound so darn corny, but he really does grow on you. He is Scottish and wore a tux and kilt on that evening---and carried teh "wee" schtick a bit way past its prime.
The dancers--holy heaven! My cousin danced with Carnival for 4 years, so I don't mean anything against them--but the choreography the first night was on par with an end of the year recital. Later in the cruise, you could better tell the talent of some of the dancers, but the first show was just so cheesy and the dancing was bad. Most likely due to the choregraphy. There was a comedian that night as well who also did an R-rated night the next night. He was so funny but I never got to see the second routine.
Happy Cole (I think that is his last name) was another comedian. He was very R-rated (due mostly to profanity)--but he was hilarious. I ended up leaving b/c I was so tired, but enjoyed his show up until I had to go to bed. He joked mostly about the cruising experience--the life boat drills, the staff, the bill.
Justin Illusion was an amazing illusionist. Much better than whomever they had on our destiny cruise 9 years ago.
There were other shows that the family and my hubby enjoyed that I never made it to either b/c I was sleeping or a child was.
I think their dance shows could be improved, but otherwise entertainment was good.
Ports of Call:
Nassau: I didn't think I wanted to get off the boat. I had worked up in my head that they are incredibly pushy. Not so much the case. Sure they offer to sell you stuff, but they are quite polite about it. Walking around town we did see the pirate museum. We didn't go, but it is easy to get to. The British Colonial Hilton was also very much in Walking Distance. I have heard you can do a beach day there for relatively little money. There was a Senor Frogs near the Straw Market.
The straw Market evidently over the years since I have been has evolved into a straw/flea market. I could have sworn they were in some type of roof covered building--but they were in a tent.
It was overwhelming to me with quite small aisles, so I did not spend much time in there. We did get offered weed a couple of times. I don't know what they thought we'd do with it with a baby...but I guess you won't know if you don't ask. We just ignored that, or simply said "no thank you".
For those into the Hard Rock Cafe collecting--once you leave the port area past the taxi's--it is straight up the street. Not far at all.
Tipping:
Carnival does "auto-tipping" to your account. I was quite surprised that they did not auto-tip for my son. We made sure to tip extra on the last day, but I was still surprised that even though we paid full fare for him, that they didn't do an auto-tip. Tipping is $10 per day per person, so for the rest of us, that came to $280.
Kids Programs
Carnival's kids program is called Camp Carnival. They have the age groups of: 2-5, 6-8, 9-11, and then 2 groups of the teens. My girls had an absolute blast! The counselors were simply amazing. So many different activities. My girls came home with a suit case (carry on size) full of crafts. They had different parties as well and many themes going on.
Now--they are not open all day long. On Sea days, they close from 12-2 and on 2 of the sea days, they clased again from 3:30 to 5:45. Everyday they close by 5pm for a 45 minute transition to dinner. You can then drop them off again at 5:45 for dinner in the red sail restaurant on the upper level. They again "close" at 10 and from 10 to 3am they have paid babysitting. $6 for the first child and $4 for each additional child.
One night they had a party for the 6-8 year olds with extended activities, but since it was within the babysitting time frame, you had to pay for them to participate.
The only time you can drop off under two's--was in the 12-2 times they were closed to the older kids, and from 10pm to 3am. They also had limited hours for the under 2's on port days.
The counselors were wonderful--but the hours made it hard to focus on relaxing when we kept having to pick the kids up.
Camp Carnival had their own version of the Carnival Capers for the whole week so the girls could pre-plan what they wanted to do. For most of the cruise it was "everything". For kids 5 years and under, they loan you a pager. They do not do this for the older children.
My girls had dinner with Camp Carnival on 2 of the nights.
My 7 year old also met her first boyfriend. This was quite the talk among the counselors. It was quite funny.
Also--there were plenty of "free" souvenirs that the girls got from Camp Carnival. I believe you had to be present at the activity to get what was offered (i.e. the T-shirt was an actual activity). But my daughters each got complimentary t-shirts, back packs, cd-cases (for participating in the talent show), medals with a carnival ship on them (contest prize), as well as more things covered in glitter glue than I ever thought possible.
Debarkation: I really really wanted to pull my hair out. Debarkation started and then suddenly stopped. They didn't call groups when they said they would. So I don't know what the hold up was. There was 1 hour where they didn't call anybody. After the VIP/early departure zones 1-5 disembarked and the self-assist folks (called individually by deck for 11 decks)--they began with zone 6 at about 9:30.
We finally left our cabin about 10am and headed down to the Amber Palace. We were directed to the seating areas in the lobby (even though they announced a million times they didn't want folks hanging out in the lobby ). We were zone 27 out of 40 and decided to heck with it and got in line at zone 24 with no trouble. We were off the ship by about 11am and headed to the baggage claim. We had our luggage within 10 minutes!! So their zone system is good for something. We got home about 12:45. Quite honestly, we expected to be home much much sooner living so close to the port. So whatever delayed the process did not put me in my happy place.
Luggage Pickup: OMG---after the lenghty wait to get off....Not sure if this was worth the long wait or not--but the zoning, times it so that about the time you get off, your zone's luggage is being placed on a baggage carousel just like at the airport. Not 5 minutes after we got to the carousel, we had 6 of our 7 pieces. Not sure what the delay was on the 7th. We might have missed it the first time, but the Carnival staff had also told us that they placed some of our zone's luggage in another zone by mistake. They had all the odds where we were at. The even zone's were at some other section and they had split off from us long before we got to the carousel.
But way cool! No sea of luggage--no searching the luggage desert for the oasis of your baggage! Just stand and watch it all go by just like at the airport until you collect yours.
Summary
The cruise was not that bad. Now I am not falling all over myself wishing I were back on that boat or anything, but for what it was, it was nice. I can't say that we will sail on Carnival again or even if we ever will again after the Disney cruise.
My hubby is discovering that cruising just isn't his cup of tea. He hates schedules and I love them. I love going to activities--he could take it or leave it.
We shall see when I post the follow up next week after our Disney Wonder cruise.
)
For Carnival, I think this is a missed opportunity for many families. They can accomodate families very nicely on the ships in regards to programming, it is a shame they can't do it in terms of cabins.
, but the rock was fun. It was kind of like going back to middle and high school dances. Cruise staff were all decked out in popular 80s/90s rock stars get up....and they lip synched to rock music. Totally funny and a great time! 
Also we were all feeling tired and off. So that may have affected our experience. I probably wouldn't do the brunch again personally. I had the Eggs Julia--my English muffin was extremely difficult to cut with a knive. I think it was a little well done in the toaster. BIL had the chicken cacciatore, DH had the pepperoni pizza (both said their meals were good), Dsis had the beef dish but didn't like the sauce.
We spent about a half hour or so up there. I only had the baby in Flounders for 2 hours (forgot a part to my pump, so I couldn't leave him any bottles...oops!). We did the treasure map and got a little treasure when we solved it.
and we were on the Glory last year. The service from the crew, food from the dinning room were excellent the ship and activities were soooo blahhhh, no wow factor. We previously sailed on RCL, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess, and can't wait to cruise on the Wonder. 
