Carnival Luminosa - March 2023

We love cruising and when we had the opportunity to try a 'new to us' cruise ship, we took it. We booked it in December and had to wait until the beginning of March to cruise. We didn't know what to expect on our very first Carnival sailing. 

We had heard of fights (didn't witness any), poor quality food (certainly didn't have any of that), and bad service (definitely not on this cruise - the service was great). 

I must be honest, there were  couple of things we didn't like, but over all we had a good cruise and will happily sail on her again. We booked a window cabin on deck 1. Read about it here.

Booking via Carnival website was easy and quick. Embarkation was quick. We arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled boarding time and as there were no queues we were allowed straight into the terminal, and the inside queue. We had to show the usual RAT tests, vaccination certificates, and insurance (required by New Caledonia). It was a fairly quick process. 

We went straight upstairs to the Lido Marketplace for lunch, and this was our first 'shock' dislike. The food was ok, we had lunch there most days and always found something nice to eat. We were surprised that there was no washing area. No sinks with soap to wash our hands and no hand sanitizers. Luckily I always carry my own sanitizer. I'll talk more about food and drinks next blog. We did find it difficult to find hand sanitizers around the ship.

Sail Away was great, even better than P&O, and we like P&O Sail Away. There was even a visit from the cat in the hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2.

The entertainment was very good in general. Heaps of trivia and games all day in the Ocean Plaza. The Ocean Plaza was also where sports was played on the many TV's. There are also TV's in the casino for sports and the staff there can change the channel, whereas in the Ocean Plaza staff can't change the channel.

 

The Ocean Plaza was our go to place during the day and after the show each evening. The band there were very good.

 

The theatre was large and over two levels. Two shows were on each evening. The early show was while we were having dinner - 7.30, and the late show started at 9.30. Often dinner was slow and I had to leave before dessert, and one evening I had to leave half way through my main. Early dinner is too early. We would be seated at the table just after 7.45 and often main meal was not served until 9. Staff were lovely, but service was very slow. Even though all at the table were seated by 7.50, next time we will request a table by ourselves to see if we get served quicker. We went to most shows in the theatre and enjoyed them. The theatre was full about 15 mins before each show.

The Punchliner Comedy Club was a small venue and the comedians were ok. Some old jokes but entertaining. Get there early for a seat.

The best music entertainment was in the Atrium. There is a weird stage high behind the bar and we often wanted to stop and listen to the music but there are very little places to sit and do that. The best music was there.

Cruise Director Simon London was great, and was often seen around the ship 'doing his thing'. The ship is beautiful. Many places to sit and read, to watch the water, to listen to the music.

The adults area at the back of the ship on the Lido Deck was lovely, with its own bar and BBQ food station. One can find a deck chair in the sun, but getting a pod was very difficult. We did sit in the shade of the bar a few afternoons.

We accidentally found the library, very sparse, and not very inviting. There were a couple of books and a few board games and that was about it.

Daily puzzles and suduku are found at the Java Cafe outside the Punchliner Comedy Club. After the late show I would check to see if the sheets were out, and they usually were.

Make use of the Carnival Hub App. It has all the menus, drinks, events, and even the weather. Bookings can be made on the app, and the app will tell you when your table is ready.

What we didn't like was the sewage smell at the lifts on floors 1-4; and the lack of hand sanitation stations.

LUMINOSA FACTS

Built in 2009 for the Costa Cruises fleet, Luminosa was sold to Carnival in 2022 and now sails from Brisbane October to April (East Coast Aust, and PAcific Islands and Seattle April to October (Alaska).

Length - 294m

Decks - 16 (12 for passengers)

Passengers - 2,260 duel, maximum 2,826

Crew -926

Tonnage - 92,600 gross tons