buffy24

Awesome. Thank you!

I was inquiring about the time to arrive in Galveston. Thanks for the advice!

We are driving to Galveston and will arrive on a Saturday, the day before our cruise, and stay at a B&B. Any guidance on the best window of time to try to arrive in Galveston? I know there is at least 1, maybe 2 ships that leave port that day. We would like to have time to look around the Strand and have some dinner. Our son has never been to Galveston or on a cruise.

Thanks for the input.

So many of us struggle with the same feelings you have. A year and a half ago I was back at my heaviest weight, the weight I was when I was pregnant with my son, who is now 16). In 14 months, I have managed to lose 36 pounds (slow but steady) by eating a healthy food plan that works for my body and walking (with a little jogging thrown in). I still have about another 30-35 pounds to go and I will be cruising in August. I know that I will not be to my goal weight by then, maybe down another 5-10 pounds, but who really knows. The bottom line is learning to be comfortable with who you are and not worrying about what others may think. You can't control it anyway. I admire the people who are comfortable wearing a bikini, no matter what they weigh. You can see they are confident in who they are and that is really awesome. I personally don't think I will ever be comfortable wearing a bikini, but I never was even when I was thinner. Just my own personal hang up. I'm happy with my skirted tankinis. :)

I have sailed with both Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but as you can see, my cruises are spaced quite a bit apart. My first one was with my travel school class, my second was a girls' trip with my 3 best friends. The last two were with my husband. We are sailing the Breeze in August and taking our 16 year old son for the first time. We prefer to sail out of Galveston, because we can drive there in 15 hours, so our options are limited to Carnival and RCCL. Our first cruise was on Carnival and we had fun, but wanted to try something different last time and I had very positive memories of the Viking Serenade and how pretty I thought it was, so we went with RCCL. I thought it would be as upscale as I remember. In reality, it really wasn't that different then the Carnival ship we sailed on. We had fun on both trips, so for our latest booking, we went with itinerary and price. On our last trip, there were a couple of great shows and couple that weren't so hot. I also use to love going to get spa treatments, but it seems like the pressure to buy their products has gotten so high that it isn't worth it for me anymore. That is simply my opinion though. We will likely try other cruise lines in the future, not necessarily because we are dissatisfied, but just to try something different.

You might consider checking the availability at the Lost Bayou Bed & Breakfast. We stayed there 3 years ago and are staying again in August. Great property and they offer free parking to cruise guests for the week of the cruise at the secured lot by the train museum. They have great reviews on TripAdvisor and the owner, Dave, is awesome. They have a nice full breakfast in the morning and also have a room with snacks and drinks available 24/7. You have to book with them directly.

My family went to the turtle farm last year while we stayed on the island. The only limitation to swimming with the sea turtles is I believe they close the lagoon around 2:30pm, so go there first. It was definitely the highlight of our trip. Quite honestly, if we go back again at some point, I would be happy to pay the admittance fee and just swim with the sea turtles. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

As far as umbrellas, I don't remember if there were any, but I do know we were able to find some shade under some trees. It seems to me there were some "screen like" awnings that provided some cover over an area of chairs. If you end up by the swimming pool at some point, there is an awning area there as well.

I hope you enjoy the turtle farm as much as we did!

We actually were staying on the island that time, so we had rented a car. I know while we were on the island, we did see buses running often, so that would be an inexpensive option. You could always take a cab back. We bought our tickets online through the turtle farm. You may contact them and ask about if the tickets are refundable in case your ship wouldn't be able to offer tenders because of weather. I had to contact them about different things several times, and they were incredibly helpful. I hope it works out for you to go!

I was there about 3 years ago. We did a guided food tour, but then went back out on our own to have some drinks at a bar/restaurant. I don't recall being harassed aggressively by anyone at that time, and I tend to be on the nervous side, so I would remember. I don't know how far you would have to walk to get to a beach, but if you want to explore town, it isn't that far. Never felt threatened in any way while we were there either. Like any place, just be aware of your surroundings and you should be fine.

We definitely would choose Rum Point. Been there several times and it has always been a good experience. For us, Starfish Point has been hit and miss. Sometimes we see starfish, sometimes we don't,

It is appropriate to tip and you are correct, shuttle drivers are separate from the guides. We really liked everyone we dealt with at Captain Marvin's last year.

We have done Eden Rock and Smith's Cove a number of times. We continue to go back.

Check out mitsugirly posts about the Carnival tour to Rendezvous Caye. That helped us make our decision to go there in August. She has some really awesome pictures in her review.

This is great. Thank you!

Negril is pretty far from MoBay. I think when we stayed on the island, it took about 1 1/2 hours to get there. If you have enough time in port, you could do it, but I'm not sure how much time you would have to spend there. That being said, the beaches are wonderful there. We did a half day all inclusive there a few years ago, though the resort has changed names now. When we were looking into doing a half day there, there were quite a few of the all-inclusive resorts that offered day passes. If you decide to go, I would negotiate with a driver/guide to take you there and pick you up. We used the same guide for all of our travels the week we were there. Good luck.

You are awesome! I've been waiting for someone to post these so we would have a general idea of what to expect when we sail the Breeze in early August. I'll be following!

I also have to do low carb and I usually go with vodka and club soda with lime (or lemon). If you like it a bit sweeter, you can always mix in a no calorie sweetener. Sometimes I put a stevia in mine.

I would check bigger bags, but definitely have the clothes you want to wear for dinner in your carry on. Last time we sailed, my bag got misplaced and we didn't get it until about 10 minutes before we had to leave for meal time. Bless our room steward for tracking it down. He was a Godsend.

The stingrays in the Caribbean won't kill you if you get stung by them. It is also unlikely you will get stung, as they are there because they want to get fed. The guides will advise you to shuffle your feet as you move around, to avoid stepping on any of them hidden in the sand, as that is the most common reason people get stung, by accidentally stepping on them. I have been to stingray city 3 times and have never had a problem nor witnessed anyone having a problem. I will admit I was nervous the first time I went, but I love it now. When we went last year there were 6 of us: my son (15), my husband and I, my parents (72 and 68) and my mother-in-law (81). Everyone had a great time. If your dad and son get there and are too nervous to stay in the water, they can always get back on the boat. Hopefully they will see how cool it is though.

Where does your cruise stop? I have seen turtles in Grand Cayman a couple of different times, out by Eden Rock. Once in December, once in June. That being said, we went to the turtle farm in Grand Cayman and booked the full admission (not just the cheap one). They have a special pond/lagoon, where you can snorkel with younger sea turtles. It was by far one of the coolest experience I have ever had. They would swim all around you, both in the shallow and deeper water. I would do that again in a heartbeat.

You could try Captain Marvin Tours. We had an excellent experience with them last year.

We were planning on bringing some prepackaged bars with us to have when we go into the ports, so we could probably bring some extra and stockpiling some snacks in the room from the buffet is a good idea. Even some fruit and cheese would work well. We generally aren't late night eaters, but I was just wondering. When we were on the Navigator, we only sought out a late night snack one of the nights and we ended up at Johnny Rockets, as that was all that was open. It's not like I couldn't stand to lose a few pounds anyway...

I am wondering about the hours of the restaurants on the Carnival Breeze. Anything besides pizza after 10? I saw a couple of places that Bonsai was supposedly open until midnight, but I'm not sure how old the article was. Also is Blue Iguana Cantina open for breakfast every day or just on certain days?

Thanks.

We booked a Jamaica Culinary Tour with Janet Crick. It was really a food/walking tour. We tried several foods, including a wonderful beef patty. Everything was great and it was cool to learn some of the history of the area. We had two guides with us and no one really bothered us at all. We very much enjoyed our time there.

The Cayman water is clear everywhere we have been, for the reason stated by zdcatc12. When we stay on the island, our two favorite beaches to snorkel from are Smith's Cove/Embarcadero and Rum Point. Rum Point is a bit far, but has chairs you can use for free and food and drink is available. Smith's Cove has restrooms and showers, but no other facilities. Cemetery Beach (along 7 Mile Beach) is not crowded and is nice, but no facilities at all. Otherwise, Eden Rock still has good snorkeling and you will see a lot of fish and maybe a turtle (we have) but some of the reef there was damaged a few years ago by a Russian barge. Still plenty to see though. We were there last May/June.