ABQrobin

Thanks! Our port time in Nassau is 7am, and they say at Stuarts Cove that the bus pickup is 7:15am so he will have to make a run for it. Sunn Odyssey sounds good, we are e-mailing them today. Thanks.

Carnival now has some scuba excursions, but not all they used to have. I think eventually they will bring them back afterall.

We are Platinum, have sailed from Galveston mostly, but also Seattle, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral.

No one can get on the ship until the previous cruise people have gotten OFF the ship, and the crew is able to clean the whole ship. Even with FTTF you won't get onboard before 11-11:30 at the earliest.

I forgot I did a video of the walk... here it is:

thanks! We went ahead and booked, will be there March 1st.

We did a self walking tour, going up to Queens staircase, the fort, then back down to bus station, took #5 bus to Fish Fry food area, had lunch, then walked back to port along the beach road. It was a nice day but do beware of criminals. We picked up a stalker who followed us the whole way walking back from lunch. He never approached us, but was talking in his phone to someone we guessed ahead of us. Every time we stopped and turned around he would turn his back to us and act like he was talking on his phone. We just held onto our camera equipment and backpack every time we stopped along the way. No kidding, they are out there.

We just booked the Carnival Dream for Feb 25-Mar 5th and will be stopping in Freeport and Nassau. Hubby wants to dive at both if possible. I have done some research and it looks like Stuart Cove's is the best option at Nassau, and Freeport has a few options. Anyone have recent experience with either place? thanks

yes!!!!!

Trying to figure out if Feb, March, or April are best. The prices of cruises is so much more $$ in late spring. We'd like to snorkel or enjoy the water.

We had the same issue on the Vista last month. After 2 horrible nights in the main dining, we did the Lido buffet a couple of nights, JiJi's one night, and Bonsai sushi the other. No kidding, the main dining room was horrible, 1 waiter trying to do too many tables and waiting half an hour for an appetizer then another half hour for main course, etc. Never did get dessert the 2nd night, we just left. And we found the Lido buffet had many of the same items, and you could see it so you knew if it was worth getting. I had "stuffed mushroom" appetizer in the main dining room that was a puddle of tomato soup with 4 slices of mushroom floating in it. Really? That is NOT stuffed mushrooms! This is just an example of how bad things were. Hubby had a steak that was a ball of fat.

yes, actually Rio Rancho now. We're retired military now working here in NM and love it. We've been here almost 20 yrs now.

You are welcome! The nice part about using Bodden tours is that they will adjust the tour as your group wants... so if you want longer at one stop and shorter at another, they will see if the whole group agrees. They promise to get you back to port, which ever port you are at, in plenty of time, too.

We are platinum and our adult son is gold... the last cruise when he was able to join us (on the Vista BTW) he had to go thru the longer line, we went thru the Priority boarding line... guess what.. he met us in the lobby, he got there first. So you never know.

Another vote for Bodden Tours.

I wouldn't go independent in Belize for any of the ruins past Altun Ha. They are a long distance and if you get back late the ship will not wait for you. When we did Xunantunich thru our ship we got back barely in time, but since it was thru the ship it was fine. Lamanai was the same way, we got back to the pier and the line for tenders was over 30 minutes long.... but we had gone thru the ship so no issues. If you do independent and arrive after that "last tender" time, no guarantees. We've been to Belize 7 times now and our ship is always pulling up anchor right at the time they state.

Also, JiJi's is served family style... so each person orders an appetizer and main course, but they bring a plate of each with enough for 2 people (or more). Tons of food and the best stuff. We have been 3 times and it is our favorite Carnival restaurant. Here is the duck appetizer.

I am confused.... why do you need a cabana for 8 people. It is a free beach with plenty of free chairs under palm trees. They also have the sun shades you can purchase.

If you are looking for really good snorkeling, you probably aren't going to find it in Cozumel. Cozumel is known for its scuba diving, some of the best in the world, but not snorkeling. The reefs are too far off shore and too deep for "great" snorkeling. YOu can take a boat to Paradise reef and see some nice shallow coral reef and fish but it isn't great as compared to other places. (I am a scuba diver and have been going to Cozumel for 22 years now), Roatan has fantastic snorkeling, if you are going there.

I forgot to mention.... there is not a lot of walking, but the walking is either up stairs or down stairs, and walking in a dark cave on rocky surface. You also have several points where you are bending over and crawling under stalagtites. DO NOT do this excursion if you have any difficulty with walking. No kidding.

It depends which tour and at what point you are put in water, as well as which cave. We just did the Crystal Cave tube adventure with dry cave exploration.... totally different place than where we went on our first cave tubing experience. The first one we did was a hike in jungle, put in tube and float downstream, get out of water. This time we hiked UP a hill, then down wooden staircase into a cave, tube went in cave then we drifted back to same entry point, climbed back up wooden stairs and up hill, down the other side. It was a workout! Lots of walking on uneven surfaces this time as well as stairs.

Mayan ruin tours are AMAZING in Belize. So are all the Cave Tubing excursions. I would book one of those.

Wow. I remember that, sorry its still a problem. Take care and enjoy your cruise. We are contemplating a cruise early next year because we have some remodeling going on for our house and the $#%^#!! contractors are booked up until spring. Maybe we will go on the Cabo/Mazatlan cruise. We love Mexico and the culture, never been that far south though. New adventures!

I doubt we would go there again.... there are too many other beach clubs and we have never seen such weak food offerings and tiny drinks. I am sure some people had decent food, if they paid extra for it. Guess we should have done that. Hope you are doing well and hi to the whole family!

OMG... why would anyone want to go to Greenland?. My hubby was stationed there for a year remote in AF and it was horrible... no trees, just ice and snow and dark. Summers weren't better even though the sun was up.. he hated it and gained 30lbs since there was nothing to do but eat, work, and sleep.