cruiser620

I toured with Beyond the Beach in Martinique just a week and a half ago.  We did their northern tour and had a nice day.  They gave very detailed directions for meeting them at the port, and seemed very organized and responsive. Our guide was very good.  The same tour through Princess would have cost much more.   

Thanks for the responses.  I'm on Carnival and they have NOTHING listed for Tampa.  I saw the Aquarium on Google maps and had wondered if that is an easy walk from the port.  I'll have to check on the luggage storage.

Never been to Tampa before and wondering if there are any options to kill time after our cruise before our 2:30 flight from TPA.  In Miami and Ft. Lauderdale there are cruiseline excursions that go somewhere and then take you to the airport, but don't see anything like that for Tampa.  Suggestions?

Going to Belize in December.  Would it be better to visit Altun Ha, Lamanai, or Xunantunich?  Will probably do a ship tour since I don't want to have a problem with getting back to the ship on time in Belize.

Unless something has changed since I was there a couple of years ago, there is no reason to go to Cockburntown.  There is nothing there of interest.

Hi everyone,

 

I'm booked on the Breakaway for 8/20. I did not buy trip insurance when I booked last fall, but as it gets closer I'm starting to regret that decision.

 

Is it too late to purchase? I don't have any pre-existing conditions so I wouldn't need the waiver since I know I'm passed being eligible for that.

 

I'm just looking for something basic in the event that myself or my travel companion cannot cruise due to illness, as I have elderly grandparents.

 

Thanks in advance.

You mentioned elderly grandparents -- are you concerned that you might not be able to cruise if something happened to them? You need to be aware that with most policies "pre-existing condition" doesn't just refer to you. If your grandparents were previously treated for an illness or injury in the "look back period" (which varies with policy but can be several months), most policies will not provide trip cancellation coverage for you if their illness led to your cancellation.

Very helpful. Thanks!

Thanks again for so much specific and helpful information. We have sailed out of MCT 3 times before, but it's been a few years ago and we drove and parked instead of being picked up. Actually our cruise is not returning from the Bahamas -- it goes to Canada with final port in Portland. I was wondering if we might be cleared faster since we are coming from a US port.

Short answer, logistics are rather challenging in general - please provide more specifics and we can see whether it's possible. There is no waiting area at/near the terminals - private cars, like car services, are usually directed by port security and/or police stationed there to meet nearby, i.e. across 12th Avenue @ W. 48th or W. 49th Street, etc. It's typically "easier" on Sunday but Saturday isn't too bad, as long as there's just one or maybe two ships docked there, still looking at 5,000 to 8,000+ pax coming off the ship and thousands more arriving to sail.

 

Disembarkation date/name of ship and if you can manage your luggage (# of pieces) and whether you plan to/willing to use porter's services; and, if you have priority disembarkation and plan to walk off the ship with all your luggage. Once you cleared CBP inside the terminal, you are allowed once again to use your cellular/smartphone to call - as it's easily a 10 minutes walk with the crowds, to exit out to 12th Avenue - for the driver of your private car to come around, as local street traffic congestions can be pretty bad.

Thanks for the info. We will be disembarking from NCL Gem on Sat. June 18. Scheduled arrival is 8:00 a.m. We can manage our luggage -- probably only have one bag -- so will probably do self assist. My daughter will be picking us up. She lives in Ossining and it will take her a little while to get there, so I wasn't sure what time to tell her to be there and where she could wait if we aren't out yet. My husband isn't able to walk very far. We have a handicapped tag if that helps with anything in terms of where we can meet her.

Our ship is scheduled to dock at 8 am. If we keep our luggage with us, what time do you think I should tell someone to pick us up?

Can anyone give me info about the logistics of getting picked up from the Manhattan cruise terminal by private car? Is there anywhere for a car to wait for passengers to disembark?

If you want to park at the NYC cruise port, my daughter found a 25% off coupon. Not sure where, but you could look for one. We were going to park there, but decided to have her pick us up instead.

There is no construction on the actual hotel grounds. It is going on next to the hotel. The pool work has been completed.

I can't recommend Resort for a Day. I booked the British Colonial day pass with them, received a confirmation, and the deposit was charged to my credit card. I thought everything was set. Then on the morning of the day we left on the cruise they sent me an email saying that they made a mistake, there was no availability, and my reservation was cancelled. I was very upset.

thanks, did you have old or new menu? and what time is the welcome aboard show on the first day.

It was still the old menu. I think I read somewhere that the new menu got pushed back to November. The welcome aboard show on the first day was at 7:30 pm.

The airport is not that close to the cruise port, and I would not be willing to risk a 12:40 flight! On the Carnival debarkation information sheet they state that early flights are considered to be any time before 3:00 pm, so yeah your flight is pushing it timewise. We were also on the Pride sailing that returned today, 9/27/15, and didn't actually clear the terminal with our luggage until 1:15. Once off the ship there was a very long line to claim luggage and go through customs. You will definitely need to do "self-assist" and keep all of your luggage with you. When everything goes as planned, the scheduled debarkation for self-assist is as follows: Deck 6 - 10:00-10:20, Deck 4&5 - 10:20-10:40, Deck 7&8 - 10:40-11:00, Deck 1 - 11:00- 11:20. For people not doing self-assist, the decks are called starting at 11:00 with the last deck at 12:15. You will need to tell guest services that you must leave with the first group. All of these times are altered when "things happen", which seems to be most sailings. The ship returned late the cruise before us because of a generator problem, and on our cruise the helicopter medevac and the storm on Saturday delayed our return. The ship was rocking and rolling pretty good and many were sick and the show was cancelled. Not the best way to end a great cruise.

We are on the 9/20/15 Pride cruise and plan to take this tour. I rarely do the ship's tours since they are so overpriced, but decided to do this one since, as you mentioned, port time is short and if we aren't booked with Carnival getting back to the ship on time may be a concern. I'm not sure I understand your question about where you are picked up and dropped off as all tours booked through Carnival leave from the ship. The tour is run by Grand Bahama Nature Tours. Almost every review I have read on Trip Advisor, Cruise Critic, etc. is overwhelmingly positive. I was going to just stay on the ship in Freeport since it's one of my least favorite cruise ports, but all of the good reviews for the jeep tour made me decide to give it a try.

I definitely recommend prebooking online well in advance. I had procrastinated making any plans for Stavanger until a week before we left on the cruise. Because of our times in port, the only Rodne boat that we could take was at 10:00 and the website showed only 2 seats remaining at that time. I was really glad that I prebooked those seats because there were a lot of people on our cruise who wanted tickets and could not get them. Yes, you won't know what the weather will be, but I figured I may never be there again and wanted to go on the fjord trip no matter what.

Both falls in our group were not caused by anything extreme. One was caused by a wheel getting caught in a sandy place which made the Segway fall over, and my husband's fall happened when he was stopped and getting off.

We did the Segway tour also, and the people couldn't have been nicer. We really enjoyed it until................ the Segway made a sudden movement and my husband fell off and broke his leg. Our cruise was ruined and we incurred over a thousand dollars in emergency medical expenses and the cost of changing our airline ticket to put him in first class so that he could keep his leg elevated. (Still waiting to find out if our trip insurance is going to cover this. ALWAYS buy trip insurance -- but that's another thread.) Another person in our group fell backwards also, but landed in sand and was uninjured. I'm not telling you NOT to do the Segway tour, but do be aware that as with any motorized vehicle there are risks not to be taken lightly. As part of the training we did watch a video of the risks, were given helmets and elbow pads, and completed a practice session before heading out. The Segways are fun and after awhile you become so comfortable that you forget the potential dangers. One of the tour guides admitted to us that someone falls every day.

Bonnieg,

I'm also thinking about renting a car in Messina, but haven't looked into it yet. What company did you rent from? How far from the port are they located. Thanks for any info you can give me!