We just returned from our first cruise.  The Holiday (6/20-6/25).  I had been reading these posts practically every day before the cruise to soak up as much information as I could!  Thanks to all those that offered up so much information!  We had a great time!  I had read negative comments so I was trying to prepare myself for anything.  We found no brown water in our cabin (R40).  Also, our cabin was a little larger than I thought it would be. Maybe it just shows we are inexperienced "cruisers". But anything that may have been less than perfect went unnoticed by us!  Our cabin steward (Imade) we very attentive and got us whatever we needed.  Our dining room attendents (Saifon and Ikeatut) were really great.  By the time we left, it was like we were leaving friends.

As far as the ports of call,,,Progresso was a little disappointing but Cozumel was absolutely beautiful.  We wished we could have spent more time there.  We went on a excusion that included a dune buggy ride along the Cozumel coast, snorkeling and a couple stops that included a lighthouse view and a stop at one of the smaller ruins.  By the time we did all of that, it left little time for shopping in the beautiful port.

Given the opportunity, I know my husband and two daughters would agree that we would definately do it again!!!!!

Glad you had such a great time!!  We love the Holliday!  Keep your eye on the prices you can pick up some pretty cheap cruises.  We are going on the Holiday in Sept. and are only paying $199 each....that's cheap for a five day cruise.

Lisa  We have been to Progresso quite a few times and I didn't care for it either.  We cruise on the Ecstasy out of Galveston.  I think the next time we go to Progresso, if my knees are good, we are going to take an excursion to Merida.  I also heard to take the double decker but available right outside the outdoor market at the end of the long pier.  It is $2 pp and it supposed to take you on a sightseeing tour around Progresso.  The people there are very friendly, it just is such a poor little town.  I do know they need the money the ships bring in.  So I am going to try it again.

Next time watch for it to go to Calica, take a taxi to Plya Del Carmen and go through the main shopping area by the ferry to Cozumel dock.  Just pull up some sand in front of one of the beachfront resturants (typically free as long as you are drinking, but may have a small cover charge), and relax.  The Holiday alternates about every week between there and Progresso

teach1:

 

My family and I were on the same cruise with you and I too was kinda disappointed before the cruise by reading so many negative comments about this ship.I could not have been happier on this cruise. Everything and everybody on this cruise was WONDERFUL!! I cannot believe that anyone would have bad things to say about this ship. No brown water that I was leary of and the ship did not seem old or small to me that was said sooo many times on these blogs before I left. I am sad that I cannot cruise on this ship again.

A Fun Ship is a Fun Ship! Any Fun ship is great! We expect to have just as great a time on the Holiday in November as we will on the Splendor in January. The greatness of Carnival is the great friendly crew members. If a Fun Ship evers runs aground and we have to spend an extra Fun Day ar Sea or two with the Fun Crew, that would be like Heaven. We just had to cruise for the Holiday's last voyage. Then we'll be ready for the Splendor and the Dream.

Smitty when are you going on the Dream??  We are booked to go in April.

Hi all. My husband and I just got back from the Holiday yesterday on the cruise after the one posted in this thread (Mobile to Cozumel 6/25-6/29). We had read a lot of bad reviews too, so I was prepared to be disappointed. Most of my disappointments were just a result of being on a smaller ship (not the huge ones you see on commercials). The crew was great, very friendly and good. We never went to our sit-down dinner assignment because we never felt like getting out of our sun clothes and party clothes. We had brown water in our room (R68) when we first got on the boat, but it resolved after flushing the toilet about 5 times. They told us it was a result of turning off the ship's water at port before we left and turning it back on, which happens at my house too so it made sense. We had no other water issues.

We chose our room because it was right next to the elevators, which is good for us because we are heavy sleepers and wouldn't be bothered by elevator noise, and we like being close to the way in and out of the deck. It turned out we couldn't hear the elevator at all, and the only noise we heard was some partygoers once in a while, which would happen anywhere, and we were those partiers sometimes! I liked our deck and room location for the price (we paid $179 each).

While I enjoyed cruise director Tory's enthusiasm and knowledge of her job, I thought the constant lengthy announcements were annoying! But that is because we're night people, and I don't like being subjected to people's early-bird lifestyle when I'm on vacation. The Carnival Capers had all the info we needed (its typos were...amusing), so having Tory barking in the morning or when we were trying to hear trivia questions or raffle drawings was irritating.   

I too hate the morning ....good morning fellow......let us sleep if we want to know something we can read the caper or go ask!!  It is nice to know when we are in port and can get off the boat but other then that go away I'm on vacation!!

Glad you had a good time!

Debbie  I havn't checked out the prices for the dream?  Do they compare with the other ship, or are they higher because it is a new ship?  I would love to go next year.

Well we booked a guarantee balcony because there are no obstructed views so I figured we couldn't go wrong.  They are now sold out for April 10, 2010.  It is a little higher I think we paid $840 for a seven day.  But I wanted to go on the Dream so it didn't matter to me we have been booked on it for prior to a year of the trip.  I saw the boat and feel in love...LOL   I alway watch prices for changes and usually the prices go down when one books this far in advance and if not that's ok.  Point it....they are a little higher, but not much when you compare them to high cruising times like Spring Break/Christmas when we go also.

Enjoy!

We were also on the Holiday 6/20-6/25. The whole family agrees that we can't wait to book another cruise but we know that we won't  have the pleasure of going on the Holiday again and that is sad because she really is a great little ship.  Our room steward and waiters were the best and we too wanted to bring them home with us! 12 year old son was so proud to bring home 3 of the coveted "Ship on a Stick"s.  In Progresso we got a taxi driver with a van to take us into Merida and he seemed to really enjoy showing us around and teaching the kids some Spanish words.  He appeared quite proud of the city.  Even showed us to the public restrooms in the garage area where he parked the van and we had to pay the little man sitting there $1.00 for all 6 of us to use the rest rooms.  There was no toilet tissue, or toilet seats or any apparent way to flush the toilets but as we left we realized the toilet paper was outside and we should have paid for some of it before we went in.  Oh well, makes for a great family travel story! LOL    All in all it was a great trip!!!