The seas were calm the whole trip. There was a large group on board that had many “private functions” throughout the ship on sea days. Sadly, many people in this Marketing group acted as if the ship was only there for them and were often rude to other passengers and took over places even if it wasn’t a “private function” designated area. It moved the “build a bear” to the atrium which cause a lot of noise and congestion for earlier diners that evening. It was amazing to me how different the second leg of our adventure was because of the passenger component.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Because we were on a B2B we didn’t go through the regular boarding process. Let me just say, this could become a habit.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We finally got to stay with our preferred wait staff, except one night there was a mistake by the hostesses. I don’t know which one goofed , but the Maitre’d was upset, since he was the one that arranged things. To compensate for the confusion, he gave us a bottle of wine.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
This leg of our B2B had more people interested in the Trivia games and it was a lot of fun. There were different questions asked than on the first leg which made it more interesting for us. We also play a lot of mini golf. It was always busy in the Sports Square and many children (even those with their parents) would jump in front of us while we waited our turn playing mini golf.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
There was a master Juggler and he really was fantastic. The singer/dancers had a Q&A that was very interesting. One of the young performers was on the wait list for a year before she got her first contract. While others were hired almost immediately. They were very open with their answers and the only thing really off the table was salary. Two of the comedians were great, the others not so much.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
We had no children. But again there were close to 500 on this cruise according to the youth staff. Sadly, fewer were attending any of the chaperoned activities
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Many of the crew remembered us from the first leg of our B2B, making it like we were old friends rather than passengers. Gede decided the only way to top the towel animal zoo from the first leg of our adventure was to make a life size “person” sitting in the bed. We added a lanyard and then he added one our hats throughout the day
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I dislike needing to walk through the casino to go from the front of the ship to the back (and the other way). In an attempt to make the walk through tolerable the machines, bar area and tables lining the “isle” were non-smoking, but smokers ignored this and management didn’t enforce it. Fortunately, one can go fore to aft on deck 4.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Gede was there more than the two times a day, because we often came back to the room and something new was there.
Ship tip
If you can't find something to do it is your own fault. There are constant activities.
We knew the drill having stopped at this port on the first leg of our B2B, so we picked up numbers for the water shuttle once they were out but before it was announced where they would be. After contacting a fellow traveler we chose #24 to miss the crowd. My only complaint was that the people taking the tag numbers didn’t pay attention to the number of the passenger, as there were people on our shuttle with #45 and only those up to #28 had been called. It saddens me that people think the rules are for others and not themselves. Again this passenger component was more rude (nothing Carnival can really do about that).
Since we had the tour of the island on the first leg, we just got off and enjoyed the beach for a while. We share the port with a Holland America Ship.
We chose to do a shore tour of Curacao on the pink tram. We had fender bender on the taxi to the tram. No one was hurt and the cab driver did everything right. Some idiot stopped in front of us for no apparent reason, no traffic and a clear street. Our driver stopped as quickly as possible but still reared ended him. Her first reaction was to be sure all 10 passengers were alright and then to remain where we were until the situation was resolved. She called for another taxi from the shore tour company to come get us. Before we could be transferred to another taxi the other driver decided not to pursue the situation and we were on our way. He drove about two car lengths and stopped again. Either he was trying to scam folks or didn’t know how to drive his vehicle. The next day we were contacted by the shore tour desk to be sure we were not injured. The tram did wait for us and it was good historical information. I recommend the tour for a bit of information concerning the island. There is still plenty of time to do other things.
One of our favorite places to just enjoy the town. We have been several times and just walked into town and went to Starbucks (I know silly) and chatted with other cruisers. We met several folks from the Princess ship also in port.
We set out luggage out the night before and for the first time in our memory, all the pieces were set together in section 1. We proceeded to the lines to the custom agents which moved smoothly (if not quickly) and were on the shuttle and at the airport by 9:20AM
It was so nice to be able to chat with ‘Aunti Pinkie’,. We were part of the 2 couples from Washington State. Perhaps we will see you on a future cruise!
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