Last full day of the cruise! There are still a few things which we haven't tried so today is the day to cross them off the list!
First up, breakfast at the Blue Iguana cantina where they serve up breakfast burritos or soft shell chicken tacos with fried eggs on top :) we had the latter while watching John and Calvyn host the good morning show on the pool side big screen.
After that, ropes assault course which was fun but a little tame (clearly mainly aimed at younger kids) but fun to be doing on a cruise ship!
Lunch today will be an Indian feast from Tandoor as we've not yet eaten there. Dinner tonight is with our New York dinner buddies at Cucina del Capitano. This is a dining options that costs $12 per adult and $5 per child.
At 230pm today, Calvyn is hosting a "gender wars" show which should be entertaining, then it will be time to start to get our main luggage packed (any large suitcases need to be outside the cabin door by 11pm tonight)
The cruise has been amazing, the ship incredible and comparing it with Royal Carribean, I would definitely choose to cruise Carnival again. The only thing that I think didn't live up to the standard of Royal Carribean was the evening shows. In fairness we didn't go to them all but they were mainly just singing and dancing to different era's or styles of music each show. They also had a special guest pianist and vocalist (both of which we didn't go to) and the magician (who was a bit dire). Still, the shows are one of the last reasons I would come on a cruise. Everything else has been amazing from the layout and facilities of the ship to the food and the crew. Every time you pass any crew member they all greet you like you're their best friend - ok, it's part of their job and I'm sure it's drilled in to them constantly - but it never seems forced or fake. The design of the ship from the marketplace to the lounges, pool areas, outside bars and eating areas and of course the awesome water park were all brilliant.
The 5D theatre was out of action for most of the cruise (they had to wait on a broken part to be flown out) but it opened up the other night so we went along. Cost was $7.95 each - a little steep really for a 20min show - but it was different and fun :) you wore 3D glasses and in addition the seats rocked back and forward, you got squirted with water and ticked with tubes down by your feet as well as having air blasted at you from large fans. Worth trying once :)
Obviously additional costs are where they make most of their money, the cost of the cruise itself is very reasonable (depending on cabin choice of course), but still a couple of things I feel are way overpriced. Firstly - photos. They take every possible opportunity to take photos of you and they take some great snaps but the costs are excessive. The cheapest is $9.99 each for one of their smallest prints, $11.99 each for medium sized ones (taken at dinner times) up to an eye watering $21.99 for the larger photos taken at the specially set up photo areas (about 8 of them on board with various backdrops). We initially selected 3 of these that we had taken, until I found out it would cost us $65 for 3 photos! We ended up taking one (plus we got a few of the smaller ones from previous nights). It must cost them pennies to print these photos (ok, so hundreds go to waste that are not purchased) but the prices they charge are ridiculous.
The other thing that is very expensive is excursions. The guides are very good, transport excellent but the prices are very steep. Of course you're not forced to take them, you could try and organise something yourself, but it's not so easy to do so, you can't be bothered cause you're on a holiday where you don't need to think and lastly, if anything goes wrong on something you've organised yourself and you end up late - the boat won't wait! The dearest excursion we took was at Naples. This involved an hour on the bus from Naples to the Amalfi coast, a private charted boat from Amalfi to Capri, lunch at Capri, a public ferry from Capri back to the port and a brief shuttle back to the ship. Cost for 4 people = USD $1200! Lunch would surely have cost no more than $200 for the 4 of us with wine, the price for the ferry back from Capri was 5 euro each, not sure how much a public bus would cost from naples to Amalfi? Also no idea how expensive the tours are in the first place and how much Carnival is creaming off the top. Certainly all the tours were very good, nothing to complain about the content/quality/organisation - be nice to see some cheaper options though!
I remember the excursions being expensive with Royal Carribean as well but I'm pretty sure that Carnival was considerably dearer. Certainly definitely something to factor in when choosing who to cruise with/where to go.
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