Staying Focused

DH and I are contemplating booking a cruise in May and taking my little sister with us as a high school graduation present. She has some mobility issues due to Cerebral Palsy but does walk/run unassisted. She tires pretty quickly though. Having said that, I'm trying to decide which of the 3 ships mentioned in title have the best itinerary. DH and I have been on only on other cruise. Enchantment of the seas out of Port Canaveral a couple years ago, with only stops being coco cay (loved) and Nassau (could do without). We want to experience a bigger ship and better ports. What we would possibly be interested in:

Ruins tour - if option at the Port

Good relaxing beaches

Zip lines

Marine life encounters

Snorkeling (not high on list)

Food

We don't drink/party and need options that don't require a ton of walking. We aren't huge on tourist trap activities but would want my sis to see some sites that she might not get the opportunity to see again.

Please help me. Any ports besides Nassau just not worth getting off the boat for? Must see? Any ares more prone to water roughness? The port options between the 3 itineraries look like Cozumel, Costa Maya, St. Martin, roatan, Labadee, San Juan, Nassau and Falmouth.

Edited to add: we assumed we would have an interior room but have you noticed if having a port hole or balcony makes much/any difference if motion sickness prone?

Narrowing down our possible dates to go it's looking like the Dream out of NOLA with stops in Mohogany Bay, Cozumel and Belize. After talking with DH we agree that it's not a huge deal to expand our departure port so i've also found one out of Ft. Lauderdale (less than a day drive/cheap flight) on the Conquest with stops in Nassau, Half moon Cay and Grand Turk. Just based on what i've read in a few short hours i have to lean towards the Conquest for the itinerary. Of these two, itinerary wise, what are your experiences? I've been to Nassau and IF we even get off the ship we would probably go to Blue Lagoon. I know the two itineraries are probably apples to oranges but still looking for advice/tips/preferences.

Is there a way to change the title of the thread since i've obviously gone away from the original question?

which ships and destinations do you prefer? I have only been on a small ship on another line and want to know more about the ships themselves from these ports as well as which of their ports of call to "must-do" or avoid. Thanks!

ETA: Jacksonville would be a possibility as well even though its the opposite direction.

Let me start by saying i lived in Mobile for 20 years so i don't need to know about the city specifically. The fact that i know so much about it is why i'm hesitant to want to sail out of it. I currently live <2 hrs from there and we now have a toddler age son that would be staying with my parents who still live in Mobile so that is the only reason we are considering it. We have only cruised once, on a different cruise line, out of Port Canaveral and had an amazing experience, but we are still very new to the whole thing. We have also considered leaving from NOLA. We don't drink, party, or gamble so all i care about is relaxing, good food and ports of call that are worth getting off the ship for.

With this in mind, i'm needing tips on ships that leave from these two ports and what you feel are the destinations in Mexico and western Caribbean that will provide adventure worth seeing (i.e. snorkeling, hiking, zip line, kayaking) we live on the gulf coast with beautiful beaches so those aren't a priority.

Looking at 4-6 night cruises around May 2018.

Thanks for any help!!

They are in their 60's and do not need any physical assistance. They live in Mobile and I know there is a port there but only for an older Carnival ship. I feel they would enjoy RCI better. We had a great experience out of port Canaveral and it's not a terrible drive, although ports are limited for anything less than 7 days.

What's types of discounts are offered? I've searched a little but I'm on my phone at work and not seeing much. I've been thinking about booking a cruise for my parents, who have never been before. DH and I went in May and found it to be a good time to go. I'd definitely want them to go when waters are more likely to be calm. Maybe just a 4-day. Not sure what destinations would be best either. They don't drink or party so relaxing would be most important. Thanks!

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I've only been on one cruise and it was in late May with another cruise line. My question is, how is the water in September? It was really smooth on our Cruise in May, just wondering, besides the possibility of hurricanes, is the water generally smoother or more choppy in the fall?

ETA: i'm talking about cruises out of Canaveral.

We have been on one cruise, ever. We went this past May on RCCL Enchantment of the Seas on a 4 day Bahamas cruise. We had a blast but want to look into maybe a 7 day Alaskan cruise at some point and from what i read, Celebrity is the line to go with. Some things i would like to be factored in if possible to be included on/with cruise.

-calmer water (husband gets sea sick and had bad side effects with patch on last cruise. Sea bands are great on flights but i don't know about on rougher water)

-chance to see northern lights

-see whales

-good/multiple ports with good scenery/hiking.

We don't care at all about partying and we don't care if we shop much. i'm sure i'll have more questions later but want a good advised place to get started.

Sounds like I'm going to be spoiled on this cruise after hearing all your stories of other ships/places!

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Thanks for the replies. I also pit this on the RCCL forum and am getting multiple responses that at the new port Canaveral terminal people are off and leaving in about 30 min!! We will see in a couple weeks!

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Excellent! Thanks!

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Good to hear! Anyone else agree this is hopefully the normal time frame?

We are planning to carry off our own luggage sine we are A)parked right in the terminal garage, B)trying to get to Disney asap. About how long might it take to go from ship to driving away? just a ballpark figure is fine. Need to know if i can plan for 30 min or if (hopefully not) something like 2 hours.

It will be me and my husband with one suitcase each and my small carry-on so no worries there. The itinerary says off at 7:00am, I was hoping to be driving away by 8.

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Approximately how Kong might this be? More like 30 min or maybe two hours?

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I read in my booklet that i should bring an overnight bag since luggage will be collected the last night. I had planned to keep it and just take if with me when we disembarked so we could leave immediately (parked in the terminal garage). I'm assuming i can just let them know that i want to do this and i won't have any problems? I'm cruising with RCCL.

I've read that there is a lot of shade at CoCo Cay but i'm specifically interested in the barefeoot beach (and any other more secluded area) that the island has to offer. Are there hammocks there too or only in the more crowded areas? This is our first cruise and i want to be prepared. My plan is to be one of the first to the island and to claim my secluded and shaded piece of heaven for the day!

Also, if we are out snorkeling/swimming, should we be worried about leaving our belongings on our chairs? I would assume it would be ok but i don't want to come back and my stuff be moved or gone!

Should we bring bug spray? We live on the Gulf Coast and sometimes experience biting flies at the beach here.

I wonder if the Grandeur also changed hers. The website i check to see who will be in port with us still has both EOTS and Grandeur in port on the original scheduled day (when CocoCay was on the second day, not fourth). I'm just assuming that website has not updated yet. I wonder why they changed it around.

The problem now is what if I call and they don't see it? Its not online for me to cancel that way and I've already paid for it. Now I'm really worried. I'll just have to call tomorrow and see what I find out.

Edited to add: I found my reservation on the cruise planner under order history, its just not showing up on the overview. Plus I paid $30/ea and its on the first night. Although, since prices have gone up from what I hear, that may have been accurate. Still wondering if I should cancel (I'll get my money back right?) And re-reserve when we board. I wonder if we could still get it the first night that late in the game.:confused:

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I reserved Chops for the first night a couple months ago. Now that I've created an account for my cruise on the RCCL website, I see that I have MTD but I don't see Chops. I never got a reservation number, just the day and time I paid for. Should I be worried? I took a screen shot on my phone of the confirmation the day I got it but I don't know how, or if I eve can or need to link that to the online check in/itinerary page. Thanks! Hope I made sense.

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An addition to my original question... I've been reading about people making reservations with MTD. Is this something you have to do once you get on board? Can you also request a specific area/table? Its just the two of us and we would like to sit alone by a window. What is the likelihood if this happening every night?

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Glad I'm following this post! I'm sailing May 18 and just checked and my sea day and coco cay day have swapped as well! Thankfully our day at Nassau stayed the same, since we have an excursion already paid for.

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Lol sure

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I'm going in May. Is it more likely that they make it in the summer time than in winter or is it always up in the air?

Anxiously awaiting the review of the new place!

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