takevtr1

Hi - really enjoy your trip report. I will be on Enchanted May 25. My question is about the tender process to Princess Cay. Do you have to have tickets/reservation in advance? If so, how do you get them or is it just show up/first come first serve? Thanks very much.

ok, I checked it out and it blew me away with all your detail to attention. thank you for sharing this. I found it to be very informative.

following!!

Yes, I just did it for my upcoming cruise. I have 3 cabins booked and handed my TA a total of 18 gift cards. While it is a bit more work for the TA, they should/will take them. They can apply it to your final payment via the travel agent portal that they use.

I don't remember 100%, but there was a bar right behind the beach, maybe a 2 min walk if that much. This hotel was on a huge beach. Don't think there was wait service on the beach itself though. Unfortunately we did not get to spend a lot of time on the beach due to the local vendors being very aggressive and the sand being just way too hot for us. The pool was excellent though and did have a swim up bar.

Hi Sudoku, Sorry but I have no info on the Wyndham. Honestly, I don't remember if the beach was too windy or not. It really does not bring up any bad memories, so I would say the wind was not an issue. While my group liked the Sunscape, it is considered a mid-of the road property. Granted we olny stayed there for a few hours, so it worked out good for my group - other than the issues I noted above. We did like the very big pool with a great swim up bar. My wife loves the beach/ocean and was disappointed when we had to move from beach to the pool due to the vendors. If you can work around that issue, the Sunscape is a great place for a few hours.

Hi Denie, I have done this just last year. I used "Resort For A Day" (not sure if same company as yours) We did go to Sunscape. We were 3 married couples age 35 - 70. The Good: very nice property, very friendly staff, no issues getting chairs or umbrellas on the beach or around the pool, no issues getting drinks at the swim up bar (best part of the day), check-in at front desk was fast and easy and they gave us a welcome drink (and maybe a cookie), no issues getting lunch at the buffet (more on this later), beach was clean and huge with soft but VERY HOT sand. The (semi-) bad: The food at the buffet was mediocre at best (no one got sick though), somewhat limited food choices, beautiful setting though for the buffet (outdoors overlooking pool, but covered), good drink service at buffet, it was a bit crowded when we went (May 2022), resort is pretty big and a nice (long) walk from lobby to the beach. The biggest issue was the beach vendors. They hound you all the time to the point we had to leave the beach and go to the pool. My wife actually bought 2 beach towels from them thinking they would leave us alone, but it just made it worse with many more approaching us. They were in the shaded spot on the beach, but if you stay in the full sun it probably would not be too bad - I like/need shade. At the end of the day, for the $59pp we paid, I would probably go back in the future, just avoid staying on the beach - again no issues around the pool. I drank more than the $59 fee we paid to get in. Don't remember how far from the port (but it was fairly close) since we took a private city tour first, then the driver took us to Sunscape and came back later to pick us up. I would have probably cut down the tour by about an hour and spend the extra hour at the resort (but that was a little poor planning on my part). Any questions just let me know. Mitch

while my phone is too old for the NCL app., my wife just today got a new phone and I hope I will be able to install the app on her phone.

OMG - while I grew up in Wantagh (moved there in 1973 and moved out in 1987 to Patchogue), my wife grew up in Masspaequa (not the Park - but close enough. Her family still lives there on Clark Ave). Yes, small world....

Mike A. Are you from Wantagh??? I grew up there and now live in Suffolk County... I was in the Forest Lake area near the Forest Lake Elementary school.

ok BirdTravels - thanks for this information. Our goal would be to only use it for texting.

Would it help my situation if I got an international (for cruise ship sailing) plan via my phone provider (Verizon)?? If so, would it be through the ships WiFi or I think cellular service with their satellite?? I saw something on the NCL site that mentions a company that you can connect thru to get service.

Thanks for that info. Unfortunately all my family members have android device, but thanks again. When I first posted this thread, I never thought would turn into this. I thought it would be an easy task to just send/recv text messages using ships WiFi. Oh Boy.... I think my group will just have to be more alert to where everyone is and when we are supposed to meet up for dinner etc.

First, the problem with my cell phone is apparently it is too old for the ncl app. I tried to upgrade the version but it won't go higher than Andriod 8.0. I was told it has to be the higher version. Not sure what the rest of the family has. This is a big disappointment as I wanted the app for all the things it offers not just communicating. Ok, I turned ON airplane mode, disabled mobile data and then turned WiFi on and I was able to send a text. I really appreciate all your advice on this...

So we have verizon. I just turned off my mobile data on my phone and while connected to my home WiFi, I was able to send a text. So I assume that means it would work on the ship using our 250 free WiFi mins. So now the problem is, since we only get a share of the 250 min (125pp min.) we would not be able to stay logged in most of the time to be able to communicate back and forth via text only. Which was my goal in the first place. I just wanted texting to keep in touch with all my traveling mates. Don't need access to social media etc.