A Wonderful Honeymoon!
Written: May 30 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Itinerary, Cost, Food Quality, Service, Weather, Entertainment.
Cons: Embarkation*, Ship's Age, Drink Costs
The Bottom Line: For a vacation less than $2000 including airfare it was a fantastic trip, we would go on this trip again, or recommend to anyone. It really was a "fun" ship.
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| pa-lois's Full Review: Carnival Holiday |
We booked a five day trip on the Holiday, the second week of May, sailing from New Orleans to Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel, then spent two days in the French Quarter on our own. We were particularly excited about this itinerary because we both wanted to return to the locations in Mexico, and experience New Orleans together for the first time.
We arrived at airport and quickly spotted Carnival's "meet and greet" person who was very friendly and took us immediately to the mini bus that was to take us to the dock. When we got to the place for embarkation it was a madhouse of people, but we went through the initial phase rather quickly to show ID, Boarding Passes, and get our Sail & Sign cards. The holdup was going through the metal detector to get in line to board the ship...then the computer broke down, ugh! But we were on our honeymoon, and were not going to get bummed so early on. Since our big bags were already on carts, we decided to go outside, cross the street and go upstairs to the Riverwalk Mall (maybe a 4 minute walk) and sit on the veranda and have a cold beer. So we did, my husband got his first taste of New Orleans, albeit mall food, and we had a beer a stones throw from the ship, counted windows to see where our cabin was, and went back down maybe 45 min to an hour later and got through the metal detector and were on the ship in maybe 15 minutes. The ladies working the embarkation process were very friendly! The ship sailed on time, our luggage arrived at our cabin rather quickly. Our outside cabin on the Upper Deck was modest, the window is a decent size. The ship is older, shows some wear, and doesn't have a "grand atrium" but it was clean. The ship did seem to have a lot of movement, we did not get sick, nor did anyone else as far as I heard, but some people got the patches and said they helped with the motion. Scuttlebut was we were experiencing more than typical rocking.
The cabin was pretty comparable to our cabin on the Celebrity Line the Zenith as far as size general layout, and decor. The bathroom was smaller, but we had much better water pressure in the shower than I expected, a big plus in my book! A moderately priced hotel room is a good comparison. Our room steward was friendly and on top of things. It seemed as if he just waited around for us to leave and went right in and cleaned as soon as we walked out of the cabin.
We were seated at the "captain's table" at the late seating, not that we actually sat with the captain, but it is the first round table as you enter the dining room. We were so fortunate with our table mates! There was a couple in their forties celebrating an anniversary, an couple in their early twenties who got engaged the first night of the cruise, and a male and female friend traveling together, plus another couple that dined with us only once. Dinner was always fun, discussing our day, sharing laughs and making new friends. We all exchanged information the last night together to keep in touch! The waitstaff from the maitre d' down was friendly and accomodating, as well as entertaining. The quality and presentation of the food was above our expectations, very close to our Celebrity Cruise fare.
The entertainment was good, the comedian, and ventriloquist were very funny, and the singing and dancing shows were what you'd expect, entertaining, but not Seigfried and Roy. Cocktails and beer are expensive, $6.00 margaritas. We kept all of our receipts together, and tracking your progress helps keep spending within reasonable limits. No sticker shock at the end of the trip either! Water, coffee, juice, and iced tea are always free in the dining room off the lido deck.
Excursions...we had been before, and went to Tulum and Xel Ha which is a great tour, but we decided to do our own thing since the reason we went back was because we saw nothing beside Tulum and Xel Ha. So we rented a Jeep ($50 for the day, and it would have been $40 to taxi both ways), shopped in town, drank Corona, and hit the beach. Northern Playa del Carmen has some nice not too crowded topless beaches. We shopped and snorkled in Cozumel. There is a plane "wreck" under water just outside Senor Frogs which is close to the dock. One of our table mates self-booked a dolphin adventure near Chankaanab that they really enjoyed.
Prices in Mexico are good, I guess, it has changed so much in eight years, as anywhere, you need to be cautious. Marble, Silver, Booze, Wood Carvings, Blankets, Hammocks, Pottery, and Jewelry are popular items.
We made debarkation as easy as embarkation, we had a leisurely breakfast, puttered around the Lido deck a bit, filled out our customs form, and waited until all groups were called, then made our way down. Most everyone else rushed to get off and ended up waiting in line again, not us. When we got off it was very easy to spot our luggage, there was a porter readily available, and to our suprise no customs people took our form. We asked what to do with it and the porter said "pitch it". Couldn't have been easier!
We took a cab to our hotel in the French Quarter and had a great time on Bourbon Street, Cafe Du Monde, Margaritaville, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Pat O Briens, Deanies, French Market, and a Swamp Tour.
As a new route for Carnival we were hoping for a great trip, and got what we wished for! Definitely recommend this trip for people that are young at heart. The travelers were pretty close to Carnival's demographic. A good time of year for adult travel, the second week of May, over Mother's Day, but still a month left of school. Some children but not many. I would imagine there are loads of kids after Memorial Day.
I wrote some comparison to Celebrity Cruise Line in this review because I have been on the Zenith for a 7-Day Western Carribean cruise, and Celebrity has a reputation of being a more upscale line. Like comparing a Holiday Inn to a Hilton. To my pleasure, Carnival exceeded my expectations, they were more similar to Celebrity than not, at about half the cost!
The biggest piece of advice I can share is to remember your manners, smile, and be nice to others. If you are rude and demanding, ship's staff and shop keepers at ports of call won't be nice or accomodating to you.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
pa-lois
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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