 Expert Review |  | | | | |
| | | | | Overview
--On November 2, 2009, Holiday embarked on its final cruise as part of the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet. The ship will undergo a month-long refurbishment before joining Iberocruceros, Carnival's Span-based operator, in December. Holiday will be renamed Grand Holiday. It's hard to believe that Holiday was only the second new ship Carnival ever built, and it's still sailing. (Tropicale, built three years earlier in 1982, was Carnival's first new-build and is no longer in the fleet.) It was first in a class of three, with the subsequent honor of having the class named after it, and represents an earlier era of contemporary cruising. At 46,000 tons Holiday was considered a mega-liner in its day -- now it is considered "intimate." And yet it represents a watershed in the incredible growth of Carnival Cruise Lines, a bit of history for them. Alas, like most historical figures, when their name and the word "history" are uttered together, it's a sign they are beginning to show their age. We first reviewed Holiday in early 2005. Since then, the ship has gained tremendously in popularity, local awareness and bookings. When we first sailed on the ship, most of the room key/Sign and Sail cards were red and blue in color, signifying first- or second-time Carnival cruisers. Revisiting Holiday nearly a year and a half later, we noted that the vast majority of those cards were gold, indicating that in the interim many of the passengers had either re-sailed on Holiday, or after their introduction to cruising, had chosen to sail on another vessel in Carnival's enormous fleet. Also during that period, the Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and Holiday was chartered by FEMA (and moved to Pascagoula, Mississippi) as temporary housing for those displaced by the hurricane. Following that six-month deployment, Holiday spent three weeks in dry-dock in the Bahamas undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation, before returning to Mobile. Although nobody would realistically expect that a three-week renovation would include tearing out walls and decks to improve interior architecture, there was much aboard Holiday in 2005 that could have used a serious sprucing up. Back then it was really showing its age in wear and tear. Reflective metal surfaces were dulled or scratched, much of the carpeting was worn or stained, and reflective coating on windows was peeling in many spots. We were eager to return to Holiday again in 2006, following its post-FEMA makeover. Much of the work done during the dry-dock is invisible -- upgrades and repairs to plumbing, engines, propellers and infrastructure -- and while it is true that much of the ship's carpeting has been replaced, and wood surfaces throughout have gotten new coats of varnish, most of the improvements in public areas are in the details, and will be lost to the casual observer. One exception is the installation of a miniature golf course to replace the former topless sunning deck, and even the most casual observer should be able to tell the difference between topless sunbathing and miniature golf! Other improvements, though subtle in nature, are important enough to warrant comment, and each will be highlighted in the applicable review category. Much of the ship, of course, cannot be changed. Holiday's design and architecture were considered bold and innovative when the ship was launched. In particular, its cabins, both inside and oceanview, were larger than virtually any low- or mid-price vessel afloat. Holiday's deck plan is asymetrical: Port and starboard sides of public room decks are not mirror images. There is a bright and bold color palette, featuring liberal use of chrome and other reflective surfaces, and the whimsical use of found objects in gigantic scale to establish themes for public rooms -- all elements of architect Joe Farcus' interior design style. This is a radical departure from the tradition of designing ships to be elegant, serious and calming in their ambience. (Although, compared to Farcus' later efforts, Holiday almost seems tame.) Nowadays, most would find many of its design elements commonplace or outmoded. Holiday features only 10 suites -- out of a total of 726 cabins or about 1.4 percent -- and they have the only balconies onboard. On Carnival's current generation of cruise liners the percentage of balcony cabins runs between 35 percent and 40 percent, and the industry-wide demand for suites has grown over the years as well. Another design wrinkle is the placement of the ship's two restaurants and galley -- putting them on a deck that includes other public rooms creates a major passenger flow issue. Passengers seeking the ship's shops, library, piano bar or the entry level of the show lounge can only get there by using the forwardmost stairway or elevators. If they choose either of the other two elevators (midship and aft) they will find their way blocked. Many of these flaws and deficiencies are forgivable, however, taken in the context of Holiday's position in Carnival's marketing plan. Over recent years Carnival has aggressively developed the Gulf Coast by moving a Holiday-class ship to a city that had not previously homeported a major cruise line, offering short cruises to the Western Caribbean. This strategy yields a triple enticement to first-timers: short duration, affordable fares and a pier that can be reached by automobile. First-time cruisers, ipso facto, have no other ships to compare with Holiday, so it does not suffer so badly by comparison. Thus, these sailings get extremely positive local reviews. The word of mouth generates repeat customers and an expanding market, which a larger ship (usually Fantasy-class) eventually moves into service. But it is not only lack of prior cruise experience that generates such enthusiasm and forgiveness for Holiday's physical shortcomings: There seems to be a genuine esprit de corps among crew and staff in most departments, and the result is a level of service in most departments -- both in warmth and efficiency -- superior to most of our previous experiences with the line. In the early 80's when I lived in Los Angeles, I often sailed with my family on three-night Baja California cruises aboard an older, outmoded ship called the Azure Seas. This 15,000-ton, 800-passenger vessel was already 30 years old and showing its age. What Azure Seas lacked in and bells and whistles, it made up for with compensatory warmth, personal service and a real sense of camaraderie, much like Holiday to Alabamans. In the early 90's, Carnival moved Holiday to Los Angeles to compete for passengers in the same three-night sailings. I sailed that itinerary aboard Holiday a decade ago. Ironically, it was Holiday then who was the "new kid on the block," state of the art, fashionable, but lacking the warmth and caring service found on the nearly decrepit Azure Seas. Though I always enjoy a sailing, it was clear in those days that staff and crew wished they had been reassigned anywhere in the Caribbean, anywhere but doing short cruises on the West Coast. How the tables have turned! But the question remains: What will happen when Holiday and Celebration -- both clearly in the sunset of their lives in the U.S. market -- are retired? Currently Carnival has no ships on the drawing board in the 50,000-ton range, and no current plans to develop any in the future. | | |  top | | | | Dining
Holiday's dining experience reflects the much-touted fleetwide improvements in service, ingredient quality, imaginative recipes, and proficient preparation and presentation. Newcomers such as duck breast, unusual varieties of fish and fowl, and Asian fusion elements like bok choy and lemongrass have crept into the recipes. Meats are of a higher quality, more tender than the offerings of half a dozen years ago, and on our sailing, they came out precisely at the temperatures ordered. Michelin three-star chef Georges Blanc has created dinner recipes for the entire fleet (Blanc parted ways with the line in 2008). On Holiday, these include one starter, main course and dessert each evening. These recipes were consistently tasty, interesting in ingredients and artistically presented. One menu, for example, included an appetizer course of citrus cured salmon served with gingered potato hulls, and raspberry and sherry dressing; a main course of pan fried fillet of grouper with crispy fried vegetables, black olives, cauliflower ragout, grilled tomato, lemon and caper emulsion with Verbena froth; and for dessert, roasted pineapple with caramel pineapple sauce, streusel and vanilla cream. Spa and vegetarian courses can be put together from choices on the main menu. Dinners in Holiday's Seven Seas and Four Winds restaurants follow traditional shipboard assigned sitting and seating format, with two basic seatings (6 and 8:15 p.m.). The decor in the dining rooms is one aspect of the ship noticeably improved by the renovation. Though the rooms were always pleasant, new color schemes, carpeting, upholstery, and higher ceilings accented with wood and contemporary moldings impart a new sense of class and elegance, and the multilevel recessed ceilings ameliorate the noise level. Seating layout hasn't changed -- it still relies heavily on banquette four-tops separated from each other by glass partitions, creating a feeling more like booths than banquettes. The partitions also help to break up the noise level, which can be prodigious on Carnival ships. Lunches in the dining rooms were a welcome surprise, weighted toward low-cal and low-carb offerings. A nice variety of salads was offered through the cruise, ruined somewhat by the fact that all are made and dressed in advance. For example, as a result it's not possible to get a salad without onions, or to order one lightly dressed. The Wharf Grill on Lido Deck serves the conventional cruise ship function of providing buffets for breakfast and lunch, as well as doubling as an alternate dining venue for those seeking a more relaxed ambiance or wishing to dine al fresco. This venue is exceedingly casual, though cordial and accommodating, and since our initial review, linen napkins have replaced paper for all meals. Though there are waiters present to assist with trays, their numbers are limited. There are also dedicated salad and deli/sandwich stations open during lunch. A pizzeria and ice cream station are open (at no charge) 24 hours a day. Curiously, one popular aspect of between-meal food service has disappeared from Holiday: the early evening sushi bar. | | | | top | | | | Public Rooms
Nearly all the public rooms on Holiday are tightly clustered on two decks, Admiral and Promenade. One can trace the age and evolution of Holiday by the changes in style and usage its public rooms have gone through. The aft-most lounge on Promenade Deck, once a high-tech virtual reality experience, is now Doc Holiday's, a country and western bar. Carnegie's library now also houses the ship's Internet cafe. There are two midship groupings of bar/lounges. The more forward grouping is devoted to socializing and gaming, and is Broadway themed. The large "set piece" emblematic of this area in the Holiday-class ships is a vintage bus, and the sitting area forward of it is dubbed Times Square. The bar serves the typical cruise ship casino on one side (the smoking side) and those wishing to socialize on the other. The aft block of lounges is devoted to entertainment and libations, with the aforementioned Doc Holiday's appealing to the two-step and line-dancing crowd, Tahiti for those who enjoy listening music, and Reflections for the late-night disco aficionados. During the renovation, Doc Holiday's gained new flooring, ceiling and furniture; state-of-the-art "cyber lighting" (effects lighting that automatically changes based on the music currently being played) was installed in Reflections, and Tahiti's furniture was also replaced. Flat TV screens have been added along Promenade Deck, some carrying sports programming, others promotions for shore excursions and travelogs, still others with informational displays. Wi-Fi capability has been extended to all of the lounges and major public gathering areas. The Casino added a poker table and a slew of new slots, including one-cent machines (really!). Editor's Note: One thing we wished for was canapes and appetizers at the bars during happy hours. We found a solution when we had had more than our fill of goldfish crackers and salted nuts. It was a simple matter to have our late afternoon/early evening drinks at the inside Wharf Bar. It was just a few steps from there to the pizzeria, or even the French fry bins at the sandwich/deli station, all of which served as dandy spots to pick up appetizers. | | | | top | | | | Cabins
Virtually all standard cabins are identical, differing only in their deck levels above waterline. The 10 verandah suites have whirlpool bathtubs. All other cabins have stall showers. Hair dryers and robes are not included amenities, but there is no shortage of grooming and hygiene products, piled high in a basket in each bathroom. The commercial provenance of all these "free" products (read "free samples") is boldly visible; you don't have to look closely to find the logos, making this amenity a basket full of product placement. The color scheme is bright and warm with lots of reds, rusts and tans. Framed lithographs on the walls are among some of the best art pieces on display around the ship. Most cabins have twin beds that can be put together to form a king. As part of the recent renovation, all cabins on Holiday were upgraded to the new Carnival Comfort Bed sleep system, which features plush mattresses, deluxe duvets, and upgraded linens and pillows. In-room televisions offer Fox, CBS, ABC, either NBC or TNT, three movie channels (most family-appropriate), two all-cartoon networks, three CNN's (Domestic, Latin and International), the Discovery Channel and eight channels of ship information/promotions. Editor's Note: Holiday's cabin walls are very thin. If your next door neighbors are having either a very bad or very good time you will be sharing the experience with them. A word to the wise: sound passes equally well in either direction. | | | | top | | | | Entertainment
Anyone who has ever sailed on any Carnival cruise in the past can write up a report on Holiday's daily onboard activities from memory. There's the usual spate of pool games, hairy chest and knobby knees contests, bingo, horse races, art auctions, trivia games, and the like. The casino provides slot and blackjack tournaments. As on all the ships in the fleet, the cruise staffers double as onstage performers in the evening production shows. Again, because of a seemingly genuine camaraderie among the workers on this less-than-glitzy, far-from-new vessel, there is an elevation of the fun level over some of the ships in the line, where the musical production performers seem to resent having to sell bingo cards or host trivia quizzes. Carnival is known for its flashy, Vegas-style reviews, and on Holiday's four-night itinerary there were two such shows. The other two nights featured individual variety acts and a typical "Welcome Aboard" show. There is an extensive list of shore excursions, including some rarely seen on other ships' lists. For example, though every cruise line calling at Cozumel has a scuba excursion, Carnival offers scuba divers the opportunity to dive the Chikin Ha Cenote Cenotes (underground caverns filled with crystal clear fresh water). And though many lines offer off-roading in the Yucatan in four-wheel-drive vehicles, Carnival offers off-roading by jungle bike. The shore excursion department personnel are knowledgeable and helpful. If there is a fault at all, it's that the staff pushes both shore excursions and "recommended" stores and purchase suggestions far too aggressively. | | | | top | | | | Fitness and Recreation
Holiday has two pools on Lido Deck for adults and a separate children's pool area one deck down on Promenade Deck. There are sunning areas around the pools on both decks, as well as overlooking the pool areas from Verandah Deck (one deck up). The midship sunning area on Verandah also has a pair of whirlpool hot tubs. Holiday has a typical Steiner spa operation located amidship on Verandah Deck. Aft of the spa is the gymnasium, also a Steiner operation. Steiner of London spas are a familiar shipboard fixture to seasoned cruisers. Competent, efficient and offering a full slate of treatment options (from typical massage to various herbal wraps and scrubs, relaxation, toning, and skin care), Steiner's main fault is its staff's high-pressure selling techniques. Don't be surprised if, while being massaged, your masseuse informs you that the oil they're using is available for sale, but that they are down to their last six bottles, so you'd better put in your order soon. Holiday was built in an era when physical workouts were low on the priority list of Carnival's guests, and both the diminutive size and limited number (and variety) of workout machines reflect this. A relatively recent addition is the inclusion of a golf learning center on Lido Deck, complete with an onboard PGA pro who conducts clinics and gives lessons, utilizing the V1 golf instruction computer. Golfing excursions, packaged by Elite Golf, are offered through the ship's shore excursion department. There is a jogging track on Lido Deck (five circuits to the mile). Besides the addition of the miniature golf course, other changes during the post-Katrina dry dock included replacement of the ship's two outdoor whirlpools and resurfacing of the swimming pools. | | | | top | | | | Family
Families are as much Carnival's long suit as is its reputation as the cruise line for high-energy twenty- or thirty-something couples and singles. The minimum age accepted for passage is four months. There are no adjoining cabins, and other than suites, no "family cabins" per se. About 25 percent of standard cabins have third and/or fourth upper bunks. Camp Carnival is divided into four categories: Toddlers (2 - 5), Juniors (6 - 8), Intermediates (9 - 11), and Teens (12 - 15). There's a playroom for under-3's. Group babysitting is available in cabin at a rate of $6 for the first child and $4 each for each additional sibling. Daily kids' specials are offered in the dining room, and there is a standard children's menu comprised of the usual suspects: chicken nuggets, hot dogs, pizza, peanut butter and jelly, etc. Teens-only shore excursions are offered, and walkie-talkies are available for rent. A fountain fun card for unlimited soft drinks and juice is available for $16 ($22 for "kids" over 21). | | | | top | | | | Fellow Passengers
Holiday attracts mainly fun-seeking Alabamans and Mississippians looking for a short spate of high-energy hijinks. The onboard bars were most crowded during the times their TV's were running NASCAR races. Carnival's reputation for family friendliness attracts families as well. | | | | top | | | | Dress Code
Since most of the days on these sailings are sea days, daytime dress tends heavily toward beachwear and cutoffs. There is one formal night, with a fairly high compliance rate, most men opting for suits or sport jackets. Women tended to glitz up more than the men. On the remaining nights, casual was very casual, the only no-no's being beachwear, tank-tops and shorts. | | | | top | | | | Gratuity
$10 per person, per day is automatically charged to guests' onboard accounts. | | | | top | | | | | Expert reviews are provided by CruiseCritic.com, an award-winning cruise community. This objective information can help you choose just the right ship for your next cruise vacation. | |  | |
|
