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It makes me wonder what's so great about this John Heald guy. I've seen his name mentioned in so many threads.

He has a different sense of humor. Some like him, some don't. But he won't make or break a cruise for me. Was interesting to see the different perspective he has on things since he came from the bottom ranks of the cruise industry to get to where he is today.

John H was on the Pride Repo. He is an interesting person and we had a few brief chats with him. But he was NOT the CD on the cruise. Yes, the CD can make things more entertaining, but in my experience, it is usually the entertainment staff that does a better job than the CD.

But in either case, we do NOT book a cruise because of who is or who isn't the CD.

just got back from a 14 day western, southern, eastern trip (repo on the Pride). For the first 13 days, we were in shorts/t-shirts. Weather was in the upper 70s/low 80s. When we got up to around S. Carolina, it started to drop in temps.

So, I am sure you will have warm days and nights. And yes, the interior tends to be cooler, so have a sweater or light fleece.

Carnival will tell you about 9-10 months out from the cruise. Just check periodically.

Wife/I were on the Pride coming into Baltimore this past Sunday on the 14 day repo cruise. Was an awesome trip. Would have loved to see the Chesapeake Bay as we sailed through it. However, they hit the southern tip around 1030pm on Saturday night. So, was a bit dark.

I see they have replaced the Splendor for the Canada/NE trip. We did this trip last Sept on the Splendor and doing it again this Sept. A 3+ hour drive to NYC from near Baltimore. Was a great trip and so different from the Carib.

roatan,, in fact right off the beach is fantastic snorkeling... Cozumel sometimes was good sometimes was murky and Belize I found the water ea little rough and not as calm as roatan

Booked a West Carib cruise for next Feb. Going to try the West Bay snorkel area that is available right off the beach. Though, thanks for the tip for Subway water sports. Will have to check them out.

I have his email address and phone number if you would like that? It really was incredible- make sure to use sun block on your back though :)

cnoel, thanks for the info. Are you willing to share his email/phone# here or would you prefer a private email to you.

Steve

Reading all the posts about this and it looks like it's between Trunk Bay and Coki beach. We have our own gear.

 

Those who have gone your own way to Coki - any other info/details you have would be much appreciated! Cab price? Distance away?

 

Any other gems in St Thomas for snorkelling?

 

Thanks :)

we did sapphire a couple of years ago. I think it was $20 each way for cab fare and I think coke is a bit closer along the way to sapphire beach.

the cruise I am about to go on I booked 14 months in advance. We usually book about a year out for a cruise; gives us the opportunity to get a lower price. Though the price we initially pay for the cruise is still a good deal and if it stays at that price, we are happy. Which is what happened with the upcoming cruise. The price NEVER came down to what we initially paid.

We also try to book onboard to get the additional OBC for the future cruise. We like to choose the cabin so booking late would not give us that opportunity.

You can always get the OBC out as cash through the casino slot machine. It works for now but I am sure Carnival will fine a way to stop that soon.

You can get the "refundable" OBC out at the kiosks too. And I too like the extra OBC by booking onboard. Just make sure you have all the information ready when you get to the FCD (cruise, date, rate type, cabin).

Ha ha. My husband's name is BJ. I'm guess you are not his mom though.

 

We cruise a lot (sometimes twice a year). We have never done New England though. I think it would be great seeing/doing something different. We will have our 9 year old son with us also. He loves the water and beach. Think there will be enough to do to keep him happy?

We were on the same cruise as BJsmom and did enjoy the "different" cruise from a caribbean one. We enjoyed it so much, we booked it for this Sept as well.

Not sure how much a 9 yr old will enjoy it. My impression it is mostly an adult-type cruise. But as with all cruises, people of different ages will enjoy it. Though, there were NOT a lot of young kids on the ship in early Sept due to school.

You should call. All they can say is NO. However, if you are past the final payment date, you probably won't get the price reduction.

was that a private excursion,or ship snorkel?

Maya Key I am pretty sure is still a ship excursion. But you can probably also get it as a private excursion.

Sorry to hear that you cancelled your trip. Yes, the second trip sounds more to my liking. Thanks again for your information.

thanks, have rescheduled it for May to the southern carib. And you are welcome. The beach snorkels I feel are MUCH better since you have more control over how much you can snorkel. Most I have done is off of Maya Key in Roatan, was there for about 4-5 hours, snorkeled close to 2 1/2 hours there. Was nice until to many people got into the water beyond the reef edge, then started running into people.

Not worth it for me. I would rather have all the information on the web in front of me as I narrow my decision.

you can use the computers on board the ship to do that and then take your decision to the FCD and get your extra OBC :)

It really makes no difference what the cruise price is if you book Military or Early Saver on the ship. You get the lowest price up to final payment for Military or ship sailing for Early Saver. You just have to watch and apply for them.

 

As for getting the best price several weeks before hand, that is not always true. What matters is how booked the cruise is and that can be hard to predict. Even Carnival does not know that so their prices can go up and down.

Agree with you fully Rich. I booked a cruise last Jan for this March and got ES. Even today, the cruise is still $1000 higher than when I booked.

You will get an extra OBC depending on the length of the cruise ($50 1-5 days, $75 - 6 days, $100 7-12 days, $200 13+ days). You will also get 2 Friend and Family certificates which give your friend/family the same OBC if they book the same cruise within 60 days of you booking yours.

You don't get any discount than you would get if you booked directly thru carnival.com. But if you do want to book while onboard, do your homework first. Find the cruise, date, price, cabin you want. Makes it MUCH easier. I have done this a few times and it was no problem at all. And the extra OBC is nice.

since you can get to your cabin when you get onboard, just carry your swimsuits in the carry on; this is what we do. We check our big bags with the porters and carry our electronic and other minor items with us in small bags. I then toss them into the cabin and go grab lunch, not having to carry anything with me.

Good point. I read a previous OP thread and it said that only those that book with cruise line get priority tenders. I read on the same thread that the cruise line boats are "cattle calls" as they really pack them in. Your experience?

Thanks for the info.

If you go to a beach snorkel event, then you are pretty much able to do what you want. If done off a boat, you are pretty much at the whim of the people who don't snorkel for long.

Saying this, I have had good and bad off of Belize. The boats do tend to be more crowded than a private excursion, but I've had some good ones there too. The worst was a snorkel/beach excursion where the first part was a snorkel and the second was at a beach (no snorkeling). About 45 minutes of snorkel, 90 minutes of beach. Will never book like that again. The best was taking the boat to a little isle and then snorkeling from there. Had planned to do that this past December but had to cancel my cruise.

It really depends on how long it takes the passengers to get off the ship and for the crew/workers to get it ready for the next group (yours). There have been times I have been able to board (w/FTTF) by 1045. There have been others where it was noon. For me, with FTTF boarding, I get there by 1015/30. Sometimes I have to wait a while, sometimes not.

However, if you don't want to wait long, get to the ship around 1230 and they should let you go to the current boarding line.

Thanks Laszlo for the reply. We have booked for an Island tour on Roatan so, Belize Barrier Reef and Snorkel Beach Break it is. Did you book the tour with the cruise line or on line?

 

Thanks again for the info.

Jumping in on this since I love snorkeling in Belize and Roatan. For Belize, I stick with Carnival excursions because of the need to tender in/out of port if you do a private excursion. There are people who do private excursions but I am a bit more concerned about missing the ship if you miss that last tender.

Have you used any private excursions in Grand Turk to snorkel and if so, what was it and what was your experience? Looking at doing this instead of the Carnival one.

I'm thinking of taking my tripod on board this trip.

 

Obviously fine for shots on board (with the camera attached ;-) but what has been people's experience of taking shots, let's just say of the moon or shore and cityscapes in low light.

 

Does the movement of the ship muck up the shots?

I got some really good ones of Boston last Sept as the Splendor was pulling into port at sunrise without a tripod

Have you setup your booking in the carnival website linked to your account? You will probably have to do this first. The excursions usually start popping in around 9 months out. But sometimes they come out earlier. So keep checking.

If you have your own equipment, grab a cab and go to Coki Beach. This is one of the better sites on St Thomas.