TheDivineMrsM

Another question regarding taking bottles of wine on board. RCI rules state you can take two bottles per cabin. We will be taking a charter bus to Baltimore to board our ship. Would we store the wine in a carry on? I guess also wrap them in something so they don't hit against each other and break.

Tony, is the purchase of bottled water pricey? Can I pack any of that in my suitcase?

We are 1st time cruisers going to the Bahamas on an 8 day cruise this summer. One way we plan to keep costs down is not purchasing a drink plan for the three of us. What are the drinks we will have access to? I am thinking water and coffee. This is just about all we drink anyway, but is there anything else?

 

Also, I'm a little confused about the dining. From what I understand, we can eat at any time at some kind of buffet place. But two nights are formal dining? How do we figure out which two nights those are? Are there any other dining tips we should know about? We don't plan to eat at any specialty restaurants, also to keep costs down. We preferred to splurge on a balcony room and do excursions at the different ports.

When you say you have them in your carry on, may I ask exactly how you do that? Do you wrap them in something so they don't hit against each other and break? Is it a large handbag you use or small suitcase?

We are going to visit three ports on our cruise to the Bahamas. (!st time cruisers) and booked excursions at each one. My question goes like this: say we get to Nassau at 1:30 pm and our excursion begins at 2 pm and lasts 4 hours. What do we do after that time? Are we taken back to our ship? Do we check out other stuff at Nassau? Our ship is supposed to be there until almost midnight on that day.

 

The same question for the other ports, which are Port Canaveral and CocoCay. I'm just trying to figure out how it all works. Taking my hubby and grown son, but they just go along for ride and don't really do much to help figure things out!

It's probably something we'd have on our balcony. I sure sounds nice that we could ask the waiter for a corkscrew and wine glasses. Looking forward to the trip.

Which is preferred: dolphin encounter in shallow water or dolphin encounter in deep water? Hubby and I are in our 50s and will be with our 21 year old son. The shallow water books at $179 and the other is $249 or $299.

Would you chose between the shallow water dolphin experience of the deep water dolphin experience where you actually get to swim with the dolphin. Hubby and I are in our 50s and going with 21 year old son.

Hi, soon to be 1st time cruiser here. I see we can bring 2 bottles of wine with us when we cruise. Just checking on the rules that says if it's consumed in a public place there is a $25 corking fee. So, if we chose to drink this wine in the privacy of our cabin or on our own balcony, the corking fee doesn't apply? Wanting to make sure, thanks.

There is a similar excursion offered by RCI for: Atlantis Dolphin Cay Shallow Water Encounter. You get some exposure to the dolphins and then get to check out a bit of Atlantis while you're there. How does that sound?

 

I guess I don't want to get my expectations up too high. I know the dolphin encounter is minimal, but this is the only time I'm probably ever going to have this opportunity and would love to try it.

 

I'm more inclined to want to book online and through RCI for the simplicity and less worry about getting back to the ship on time, ect.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

Greetings. We are 1st time cruisers going to the Bahamas this summer. I would like to book an excursion in Nassau to swim with the dolphins.

 

When I view the one I want online, which is "Blue Lagoon Island Dolphin Swim" is says it cannot be booked online and to please check onboard the ship.

 

Is this a fancy way to say it's sold out? Why would it not be available to purchase ahead of time when all others are? Thanks.

Is there a forum specifically for "excursions" or is this it? We are newbies going to the Bahamas later in the summer, and I have some questions regarding things to do at Port Canaveral, CocoCay and Nassau. Thanks.

Less than three months to go before husband, college-aged son and I take our first cruise. I'm starting to focus on it more now and had a few questions about the the food and drinks.

 

If you don't get a drink package, what is available to drink? Coffee? Water? Milk? I can't justify paying hundreds of dollars for one week's worth of stuff to drink when most of the time we drink water with lemon.

 

But I read that some cruise lines allow you to purchase a bottle of wine at the ports and bring it on board. Is this true of RCI?

 

We are traveling to the Bahamas for an 8 day trip. We have two formal nights I think. So do we eat in the main dining room every night, or is the option to eat the buffet stuff available if we don't chose to do that? But I was wanting to understand that at any time we go to the MDR, it is dressier than if eating at the buffet and formal attire for the two formal nights?

My husband, college-aged son and I will be cruising for the first time this summer. We live an hour from Pittsburgh. I was able to find a cruise trip where we get a charter bus in Pittsburgh to Baltimore and board the ship there. That saved me the headaches of figuring out airport travel/hotel arrangements/car rental logistics. The best time for us to travel is in late summer before I head back to school & son goes back to college. I preferred a 7 or 8 day trip.

 

I happened to be looking through a Triple A newspaper advertising different trips and came across the Royal Caribbean trip to the Bahamas that offered all this. That's why I chose it. The cruise line didn't matter, I'm sure they all have pros and cons. We just wanted to experience the cruise and visit someplace tropical. If it had been going to Bermuda or any other of those places in that area, that would have been fine, too. After that, it's what you make it. We'll be stopping in Port Canaveral, not a place that's high on my list to see, but we are the kind to make the most of it and enjoy something new, learn something new. Best of luck as you figure it out. Have fun.

Capt. BJ: Wow~ Those two links...I almost thought it was a joke! Have you tried either of them or know anyone who has?

We are taking our first cruise this summer and I mentioned to my husband that there are two formal dining nights and we'd have to take proper attire. To save packing space,he said, "We could always wear the same thing to dinner for both of those nights."

 

You know, only a guy thinks like that. lol

Okay, so what if the excursion is the swimming with the dolphins one? Are there a number of guides to help with that? Do you tip them all or leave a tip in a jar? I am going on a first time cruise in August.

Love the pictures of the decorated doors! The ones with your photos attached to cartoon drawings is so cute. Is that one big sheet of paper? How did you attach that and your netting/life preserver to the door?

We are planning our very first cruise for next summer...I would love to see some photos of these decorated doors! It's definitely something I'd be interested in doing.