CJDepew

Husband and I took Brita water bottles on our last two cruises. Easy to carry, easy to fill. No fuss, no confiscation.

TBS, TNT, BOOM and not much else...

 

They had a movie channel that showed Dispicable Me 3, Passengers, Cars 3, Queen Victoria, and a few others.

Thanks for this and all your other great info!

We're not cruising until 2019, but I'm one of those early organizers. Any suggestions for a beach visit with such a late arrival in port? It appears that we're the only ship in port that day, according to Cruise TT, but I'm not sure what our options are for an afternoon of sun, sand and water. I saw that one AI offers an afternoon pass from 1-9 p that included a dinner buffet but am wondering if there might be a better idea.

Thanks!

Following. Not there until 2/19, but ship is in port from 1-11pm so the afternoon pass would fit perfectly.

We just returned and had a blast!! I agree with the fake news. I was actually surprised it was the only option. I hate the news anyway but that one is definitely not an option. We watched a lot of Lego Ninjago when we were in the room. Hilarious. This was our absolute best trip so far. The food was great, Emma was great, everything exceeded our expectations and we've cruised a lot.

Ugh! The fake news is disappointing. We just got off the NCL Dawn and at least had our preferred news channel, but not much else to watch. Is there any TBS or TNT on the Sunshine? We just booked for an 8 day southern in Feb of 2019 and I'm beyond excited.

Following...booked for Feb 2019.

Costa Maya is really nice. I strongly suggest Maya Chan. You have to book early as they limit visitors. Was there last Friday and I'd be happy to answer any questions. It was an amazing day!

Have been to Montego Bay. Never again.

One other odd thing...guest services was telling everyone they needed luggage tags because self-debarkation wasn't available at the port of Tampa. They'd already posted self-debarkation instructions in the Friday Freestyle Daily.

I'm looking at the Adventure for a February 2019 Eastern itinerary. Our group ranges in age from mid-thirties to early sixties. Most are couples but we sometimes have single females as well. The value for the itinerary and ship size first attracted me to the Adventure. Most of our cruisers will likely have balconies, but some interiors and ocean view are possible. What can you tell me about the pros and cons of this ship?

Thanks in advance!

When doing research on Las Sirenas I couldn't come up with much. Was there last week and spent a great day. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Seating area

las sirenas by Carolyn Shelly

View from my lounge chair

las sirenas2 by Carolyn Shelly, on Flickr

Bar area

las sirenas3 by Carolyn Shelly, on Flickr

Pool area

las sirenas4 by Carolyn Shelly, on Flickr

More pool

las sirenas5 by Carolyn Shelly, on Flickr

Just got off the Dawn yesterday and both were miserable. The line for embarkation was out the door and down the street several blocks. The porters said the previous sailing had arrived late, but then we heard that we'd been held up because of two illegals who'd snuck on board. I'm guessing the truth was somewhere in the middle.

Disembarkation yesterday was ridiculous. We had our suitcases lined up and were seated in the Bliss lounge by 7:20 am but were held up for over 90 minutes while they continuously called for non-American citizens to report to another area. An hour into it they started announcing individual names. We were all held up by 15 people. People were getting pushy and attempted to cut to the front of the line. The staff presence was minimal.

Once they actually let us out, it was less than 15 minutes to the parking garage.

We loved Maya Chan!

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474234

 

My review has pictures and such from Maya Chan.

I just looked at your review (again). We sail the same itinerary on the Dawn in two weeks.Thanks for the great pier info. Some in our group aren't quite as mobile as others so I made sure to tell them to bring good walking shoes, especially for the walk to the Maya Chan cab.

There's a reason the Epic doesn't have a sister ship. Having said that I enjoyed my cruise on the Epic but there were issues.

This sums it up quite well. We were on the Epic last March, in a balcony cabin. I really didn't mind the odd bathroom setup, but had problems with the bed. Because the walls are curved the beds are too, and if you're over 5'7" your feet are probably going to hang off the end. The ship also doesn't have a traditional atrium, and feels a bit closed in, at least to me.

Personally, I'm much happier on mid-size and smaller ships but there was still fun to be had on the Epic.

Cortrans from the port to the airport is a great choice. We used them in March and were much, much happier with them than Cocoa Beach Shuttle, which is the service that the Radisson uses. The thing about Cocoa Beach is, though, that they run pretty late in the evening so they can accommodate late arrivals from the airport to the hotel.

Thanks, all!

Cruising on the Dawn in three weeks. Is there anything going on during the evenings on the lido deck since there aren't any movies in that location?

Thanks in advance.

We were on the Conquest in March of 2016 and I purchased the social media plan. It was reliable and I had no complaints about the speed.

I Googled "port of tampa cruise ship schedule 2018"

 

https://www.porttb.com/cruise-schedules

 

Click on the ship and it tells you the terminal.

Thank you. Didn't occur to me to check the actual cruise port. That would have made too much sense. It's been a looooooong week.

Does anyone know which terminal the Dawn uses? I'm trying to book shuttle service for next month and can't find that info anywhere.

Thanks!

You only make the deposit in advance. The group I am sailing with next month made our reservations 10 months out. We will receive a final invoice approximately 30 days prior to our visit.

Thanks on the smoking info. Much appreciated!

On the Dawn one month from today so this post has been helpful. Thank you everyone!

I know there are some smokers in our group. Is there an area off to the side on the deck by the pool where they are able to smoke? Something with tables and chairs? There was a tiny area on the Epic, considering how many passengers it holds. They were packed in like sardines.

I only have experience on one of the NCL mega ships, the Epic, but will be sailing the Dawn in five weeks. I'm not a fan of the large crowds, but there was plenty to see, do and eat on the Epic. I wasn't a big fan of having to make reservations for most of it though. I do like more casual attire during my cruises, and was happy that we really didn't need to get dressed up, even for the MDR.

It appears that in May of 2019, NCL is only offering Caribbean cruises out of Miami on the Breakaway. If you don't wish to sail on a ship that large, you'll have to try one of the other cruise lines anyway.

Anyone know how much the bigger taxis or taxi vans are for a group of 6?

In 2016 we paid $4/pp for a 6 seat van. Going back on Feb 27. Will try to remember to update if there is any change.

I'm on the Dawn next month and cabanas are able to be booked as an excursion on my account. Take a look at what's offered at HC and you should be able to reserve one.