We've done YTD or ATD since 2011. We don't always go to the MDR, by doing those options you don't have to worry about letting anyone know if you are not going to be there. PLUS we are not fans of eating with a group of strangers and it's hard to get a table for 2. Even with YTD you can meet the Maitre D. Done it several times, including asking for the same serving team. May not be the same table but the same team. The "older" ships don't have a lot of specialty restaurants. The Spirit class hasn't received all of the 2.0 upgrades they only have Bonsai and Steakhouse. On the Spirit Class the sports deck is above you for the steakhouse. The 2 new Cunard ships won't have all of the food venues either. Alaska we used Shore Excursioner Group. You won't find all those venues on the small class ships.
Spot on with your Highs and Lows. However, unless Carnival dry docked her and really made the Red Frog Pub, Blue Iguana, Guys Burgers and added at least a few specialty restaurant’s, we wouldn’t book her again. Thank You for a great video
Just got off the Luminosa yesterday. Horrible ship. I did 23 cruises in 23 months. This is the worst! The "buffet" are is a joke...not a true buffet. Narrow isles. The MDR was the only option, and I've never returned food repeatedly. Seat benches had dips from butts over the years and stained....the Atrium is ridiculous with that DONNA statue taking up all the room. Port access was great, staff great, but felt bad they had to deal with so many complaints. The Spa area is beautiful...but not everyone gets to do that. Carnival can send this back to Costa!@
Hi Paul & Cindy- my family and I leave for Alaska next week on this cruise line. First time to cruise! A few questions- Do we need passports? Or would a DL work? We start and end in Seattle. Also I am in a cloud 9 suite. Does that mean I am close to the spa?
@@deannamiller8644 first off thank you for watching. You will love cruising on an Alaska cruise adventure. You can use a passport or birth certificate with a valid driver’s license. Alaska is considered American territory. All spa cabins are very close to the spa. Happy cruising!
Thought it was a pretty mediocre ship, although nothing can beat the Alaskan experience. LOWS: Lido layout, tiny casino, tiny comedy club, dining experience took forever waiting for a table and waiting for food/service HIGHS: serenity, the theater/shows, spa & spa amenities (no one really uses the locker room showers or sauna)
Hi Paul & Cindy - We very much enjoy your videos. We are on Equinox in 2 weeks and are staying in Retreat Suite. I was surprised to see a 12:30 check in. How early should we arrive at terminal with a 12:30 check in. Thanks very much
We just returned from our cruise to Alaska. The views,amazing. The ship itself, awful. So many complaints. Closed the pool for 6 days. The kids were playing Marco Polo in the hot tub. No music on the pool deck. Told us to go to priority meeting place to disembark. No one was there. We ended up in a HUGE line to get off of the ship,which took 35 mins.as we were sitting on the deck, they proceeded to tell my husband to lift his legs so they could sweep and mop. Lido deck looked like a deadsville or a restaurant that you showed up to one minute before closing time.. icecream machine was down in the adult area the entire time..the main icecream machine was like a liquid dispenser the days it actaully worked. I would never go on that ship again.I dreaded getting back on after our visits to ports. Also. If you play the $5,000 bingo.you only have 49 numbers to win that price. Then they take off 3,500 immediately and the next runner up to win gets 1,200.which is down right raggedy and out of all of the people in the casino, i think 3 people won something.and dinner wait 120-150 mins is down right uncalled for. Just unreal.
4 of us on the May 25 Luminosa. We all agree with your bad list. It was HORRIBLE! We have over 40 cruises each under our belt but our patience was blown almost by evening the first day. The lido is a bad arrangement. The deli I timed because of lazy staff with zero energy. 6 people got a sandwich in 20 minutes! Notice that many sandwiches are PRE_MADE! With the cover closed over the tiny tiny pool any noise was turned into an echo chamber that made listening to the announcements by the captain or the cruise director or anything on the video screen almost indecipherable. on and on and on... geez
Agreed!!!! The echo on the lido was TERRIBLE. Especially when it’s nothing going on up there! I have never seen so many board games being played in my entire life
@@Oregonlibra when you have a set time, you do not have to check in. You go straight to your assigned table on your sign and sail card. Now brunch is a different story. You will have to check in to be seated.
Where did y'all fly out from to go to Seattle like to have more information on that we supposed to be flying out of Charleston South Carolina to Seattle next year just wondering what airport y'all went out of and what plane did y'all take
This restaurant is on Deck 2 for YTD and deck 3 for early/late dining. Both of them are called Vela Restaurant. We ate at both decks. Brunch is on deck 2. Thank you for watching.
We booked for August. This is our first. Do we need passports? I am hoping ours get here by then, we just realized that ours are expired. I have never used mine. Are we going to have issues if they don't show up?
PLACES TO CRUISE WITHOUT A PASSPORT By Carnival Cruise Line Places to Cruise Without a Passport Alaska The Bahamas Bermuda Cozumel New England and Canada The Caribbean Hawaii Baja, Mexico For “closed-loop” cruises, U.S. citizens will need to provide: A boarding pass A government photo I.D. if 16 years of age or older And a certified birth certificate or certificate of U.S. naturalization
@@christinechristoffersen6256 once we boarded the ship, we never showed our passport to get on or off the ship. I just took my driver license and it wasn’t a problem.
Any cruise to Alaska is expensive. I do believe that is why cruise companies bring their mediocre ships in to get more money then they can if they are going to the Caribbean. Thank you for watching.
