Seems like a vacation tip day. Anyone have experience with Carnival? How's the ship? Any tips or recommendations for activities or shows? Tips to avoid getting price gouged (I heard drinks are 8-10 bucks each)? Is it more of a family friendly atmosphere or a party atmosphere? or recommendations for any shore excursions in Cozumel? thanks!
It's a good time. If you're more into the "partying" and drinking / enjoying beautiful places take one that stops at Isla Roatan. They have their own private island there. It's fake, tacky (out door bars and restaurants), but meant for mixing with the locals. But a lot of fun nonetheless. We took Triumph, it was good. Nice cruise, and then last year we took Carnival Dream IIRC. Newer ship, very nice. Drinks are pricey, but if you buy the drink of the day and reuse the souvenir cup you get a discount (like $6 for drinks IIRC). We've gone on Carnival the last 2 springbreaks.
It depends on what you like to do. I think I have been to Cozumel 4 or 5 times now and the best excursion I have done there is a trip to the Tulum Mayan ruins. Its an all day thing. I have also done Atlantis Submarine and that was very fun and interesting. You get to see things that you normally would never see if you went snorkeling.
We have done three cruises: Princess to southern Caribbean, Royal Caribbean to Mexico, and Carnival (Conquest) to western Caribbean and Mexico. I liked the food and entertainment on Princess a bit better, but Carnival was still very good. The last time was with our two daughters and the atmosphere was very family friendly. The excursions were pretty good (horse ride up mountain and on beach in Jamaica was the highlight) but I find just being on the boat is a lot of fun. I describe cruises as being in a nice hotel, dragging along good restaurants, and visiting cool places. btw, the Princess boat had a very good basketball court that I used a lot.
During the day there is alot of stuff to do on the boat including games, challenges and obviously meeting people is really easy to do. At night the dance club is really cool (dress to impress) and some of my friends are comics on the boats, and really funny guys. If you see Tommy Drake tell him I said hello. My fav drink of my last cruise was the long island tea, a really good and potent drink well worth the 6.75 I paid for each. And finally, work on this dance... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siqrFpXBvBU It's almost the official song of the cruise, whenever or wherever the song was played (which is everywhere and often) people seemed to lose their minds, Fun stuff.. Have Fun!
plenty to do on ship, lots of activities to do. You can stash bottles of liquor in your luggage, and bring cases of soda to ship as a carry on. Triumph is the newer boat of the Ecstacy I rode last year. Its smaller than the new Magic shipped that started sailing this month, but still has plenty of stuff to do. As far Cozumel, what are you looking to do? First time I went, I did underwater diving/treking, second time we went to a hotel resort that had a beach, pool, and my cousins went scuba diving. Let me know if any other questions
We went to Cozumel in March. Didn't do any big excursions, just one to a beach that was all inclusive and came with a snorkeling tour. As far as the ship, all I really did was play blackjack. In order to save money on drinks, I purchased drink tickets. It's $23 for 4 of them. Basically what these do is keep you from paying the mandatory 15% gratuity, and also helps you keep track of your drinking/expenses. To top it off, it's really nice getting the bill at the end, and realizing you've already paid for a majority of it beforehand. Here's the link. Of course, you can also sneak alcohol on board. I didn't do this, but I heard Rum Runners are great because they're made of plastic, so you don't have to worry about the metal detectors. If you go to the Carnival web site, they actually have forums that talk about the excursions and shows, as well as the ships themselves. Enjoy your trip! Pugs
Yep, lots of stuff to do on the ship. Relax in the sun drinking "fruity" drinks, lots of shows. Stand up comedy, casino, dance clubs, piano bars, sports bars, etc. I loved our first trip on Triumph because we had 2 days at sea right away and got to enjoy / explore the ship before our first shore excursion. (out of New Orleans to Belize, Isla Roatan, Cozumel). The last one arrived at Bahamas at 8am and left by 2pm. It was a waste, we didn't even get off the ship after partying all night. (out of Port Canaveral)
Go on the boards on the Cruise Critic website. You can meet people who will be on your ship with you. You can find the cheapest excursions that you can book at the islands (You can normally save about 50% compared to booking through the boats). I have been on 12 cruises and I still have friends that I meet through this site. Website: http://www.cruisecritic.com/ Website Boards: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/
carnival is more for partying, imo, than families... however, during off time of the year, im sure it will be normal.
If you're lucky, you'll run into this guy. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YVtEX1J7tXQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sneaking alcohol onto a cruise ship is incredibly easy. At least on Carnival. If you're buying, they don't have well liquor. So a Bacardi, Smirnoff, etc cocktail is going to run you about $6-7. Plus, there's always a free liquor tasting event the first night of the cruise. Definitely a good way to get a free buzz going!
LOL...I read on another site you can just empty out a 2 liter of sprite and fill it with clear liquor. You are allowed to take soda and water in your luggage. Also did not realize you can bring a bottle of wine. well, I'm planning to not pay for alcohol on the ship if it's really that easy. Thanks for all the tips! pugs, I think we're going to do the snorkeling on the beach.
Call me crazy but this worked... Used a couple one liter bottles of mouthwash. Emptied them out, soaked them in soap/water for a day or two, soaked them in some lemon juice to neutralize any odor. It worked. Snuck a liter of vodka and Bacardi on that way. Plus, as you mentioned, you are allowed to bring a bottle of wine so we had that too. All you need to remember at that point is a 12-pack of soda and you're all set.
Open I don't know about sneaking the liquor in that way. Before our cruise I was reading up on it and read that they confiscate any open bottles. People used to bring a case of water (which is allowed) and fill the bottles with vodka. You may be able to do that now if you somehow fill the center bottles, and get all the bottles back under the plastic that holds them in place. Oh, and if you want to get the most for your money, Fosters is the best thing to drink. The snorkeling was awesome! Be sure to bring a disposable underwater camera. I do wish I hd taken more advantage of the free drinks on the beach...I only hd 3 or 4 pina coladas. It's great because you can relax by the water while they bring you your drinks. One last thing. I can't stress enough to buy the drink tickets, they really pay off! Pugs
