unseemlygamer

Update - we're staying near our airport the night before, so I got nothing to worry about :)

Sorry, but where is Coconuts Bar and Grill, if you don't mind my asking?

It's downtown, across from Main Street.

I've observed this plenty of times, when I traveled with my parents and my teenage brother - my mother would stay up all night packing just because she was too disorganized to get it done sooner. My brother would stay up all night because he was a teenager (and because mom did most of his packing, so he stayed awake to make sure that between the two of them, they didn't forget half his stuff).

 

They both would be semi-conscious by the time we get to the cruise ship so basically that whole afternoon would be completely shot, instead of unpacking, relaxing and exploring the ship and what-not, they would be napping just so they could stay awake through dinner. Just...stupid.

I always pack up everything on my own. Maybe if it doesn't take too long, I could get at least a little bit of sleep, but I don't organize my room quite as well as I used to.

In my view, staying up the night before a flight makes sense when it helps to "force" sleep on your flights, thus facilitating time zone changes.

 

Flying west coast to Europe, it's an 8 hour change to the Continent. If I'm somewhat whipped from the night before, I hit the zzz's easily. Ditto to Asia.

 

Now, if you are only changing one or two time zones, then it's a different story. You DON'T want to disrupt your normal sleep pattern.

 

However, staying up past midnight and sleeping in may not be a good pattern to get into. You say you have alarms on your phone....try getting an actual alarm clock with a loud alarm. Have it across the room from where you sleep, to where you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off. It's what I did to make 8am classes in college and 8:30am start times at work.

 

Finally, unless you are in a profession where you can come and go as you please, developing a reputation as someone who's chronically late or absent can be a career killer. Sleeping late fits that pattern. I'm a natural night-owl, but learned to get up with the chickens. Just a thought as you mature and grow older.

 

PS: Thanks for an interesting question that wasn't another "can I make this flight" or "is this connection OK"

There won't be any time zone changes. Our flight's gonna be within the same time zone as us, and it's only a three-hour flight :)

Hello again.

This particular question doesn't just have to do with flying to a cruise, but basically flying to vacation anywhere, whether it be a cruise or land-based vacation.

We always fly in on the day of the cruise, and almost never fly in the day before like many people do. Some people stay in a hotel near their airport the day before their flight, depending on how far it is from their home. When we go on our next cruise, my mother and I insist on staying at a hotel near the airport to make things easy for us, but my father insists on leaving straight from the house as we usually do, since the airport we're flying out of is only about an hour and 15 minutes from our house.

However, our flight is closer to like 7:30 in the morning, and we don't usually fly quite that early.

To top it off, I am a 17 year old male, and due to me staying up past midnight playing on the computer and listening to music, I've been sleeping in almost every single night this summer. I do have alarms on my phone, but even if I have the volume on my phone loud enough, I end up sleeping through them most of the time, probably because I'm a rather heavy sleeper in the summer, and even if I hear my alarm and wake up, I just go right back to sleep, so I might as well not even have alarms.

Because of this, alongside our unusually early flight, I figured, "I might as well stay up and spend the entire night preparing and packing up," to which my parents don't recommend, saying that I need at least some sleep.

Well, I could sleep on the plane, but I never do that. I always occupy myself by watching a movie on my DVD player, playing some video games, or even talking to the Internet. Speaking of which, expect a review of my cruise when I get back, and a series of vlogs. :D

If you are a teen, or if you are a parent with teens, would you get at least a little sleep, or is preparing the entire night something you don't mind?

Paradise Point is a great spot to relax at with the view after a beach or other excursion but you can go early.

You can also usually buy refundable tram tickets a little cheaper at your excursions desk if you go there early.

Love Coconuts!

Coconuts is always a tradition for us!

You're all set.

Super! :D

Mike: I'm with Bill on this one. Are you saying they are selling an excursion that just goes to Paradise Point? That is very easy to arrange on your own. Do whatever you want in the morning and have the taxi drop you off in Havensight for the tram ride. When you get done, just get a taxi back to Crown Bay.

Well, it's cheaper to go to Paradise Point through the excursion rather than purchase tickets at the tramway itself. And no, Paradise Point isn't the only thing we're doing. We plan to do it first, and from there, we plan to do Magen's Bay, Coconuts Bar and Grill, and then back to the ship.

Hello again.

You probably may have seen my recent post regarding whether to go to port in Nassau or stay onboard.

This time, I have some questions regarding an excursion in St. Thomas.

That particular excursion is the Skyride to Paradise Point, which my mother and I are planning to do. I've heard that the tramway is a very short walk from the Havensight Pier, but the ship I'm going on always docks in Crown Bay, and thanks to Google Maps, I see that the tramway is a 15 to 20 minute ride from Crown Bay.

The ship arrives in St. Thomas at 10am, in which case the gangway opens at 10:15am, and the excursion departs at 10:30am, but the duration of the excursion is for the passenger's desire.

When the ship is docked in Crown Bay, does this excursion pick you up from the pier, or are you responsible for getting a taxi to catch the excursion on time? I know that excursions always pick you up, but I'm not exactly sure how this particular excursion works.

No, I'm not worried about crime or anything, since St. Thomas is very safe. I kindly ask that you please refrain from telling me to stay onboard, because in St. Thomas, we always get off the ship, and we especially look forward to our traditional stop at Coconuts Bar and Grill. :D

Now, this is the way it used to be- but they are remodeling, and I dont know if they have finished the remodeling, so again this is the way it used to be-

 

your ship docks, think of a parking lot for ships, and you get off, and there is someone with a sign that says (imagine) YOUR EXCURSION, and you walk over, and when every one has arrived, your guide walks you through that parking lot full of ships via a sidewalk, and then you walk through the Festival Building (which is approved by the Bahamian government-arts and crafts for sale) you then walk out and get on bus or boat.

 

Now, a few suggestions, for your information. Walking around with an expensive phone, camera, gold necklace, is saying "Hi, I'm rich." So perhaps in Nassau you simply take a camera, not something worth a lot. It would be terrible to be robbed of your camera before you get to see the other ports.

 

The American dollar is the same as the Bahamian dollar, that may be true for what's in your wallet, but not for salaries, hence the higher crime. So take just what you think you will need for one day in Nassau. Nothing more.

 

On Woodes Rodgers ST, you will be one of thousands of tourists. Walk one more block in, and there are officers on every corner. Walk one more block inland, and the tourists are less, the cops are not on every corner, and you are a target-IF YOU LOOK LIKE ONE!

 

So be smart, look sharp, and be attentive. And that is true for every city. I have been to Nassau 5 times by ship, and years ago spent a week there. I never felt unsafe. I have to admit I did not get off the ship the last time I went, only because it was raining so hard, my excursion (a day at the beach) was cancelled, and I was alone and didn't want to walk around alone.

 

Cruise Happy!

I always carry my phone with me, and in addition to my Sony Handycam, I have a GoPro I got a few weeks ago. My only concern about that is carrying them around without becoming a target.

Stay on the ship. The pools aren't crowded. Enjoy the ship's facilities instead of wasting your time in Nassau. If you're going to be in port more than a day, get a day pass at one of the hotels, but aside from that it's not that great of a destination. Bermuda beaches, on the other hand, are a must go in my book.

We're only in port from 7am to 2pm.

We've always gotten off the ship, and done things on our own, and never felt unsafe. My teens headed over to Junkanoo for a couple of hours with some friends. Just be smart.

Well, whichever excursion I do, I plan to do with my parents, so I could be pretty safe. It's still necessary to be aware of surroundings at all times though.

We don't even plan to do anything other than an excursion, because it's a short stop in Nassau (7am to 2pm; the gangway opens around 7:30am and everyone's gotta be back on by 1:30pm)

I've been to Nassau 5 times while on cruises and got off every time. I've enjoyed my time there and have never felt less safe than any other city.

I think one time when I went on a cruise with my father that stopped in Nassau, we got off the ship, but I don't remember anything lol. About a year later I went on a cruise with the same itinerary, with my sister and both of my parents, but I don't think I got off in Nassau that time.

I'm sure I'll most certainly have a great time :)

Hello everyone. This is my first post so please be kind. :)

First off, I am a 17-year-old male going on a Royal Caribbean cruise through the Eastern Caribbean in a few weeks. Our first port of call is Nassau, and since I'm vlogging this cruise, I plan to vlog every port of call. :D

I've been thinking about doing an excursion - either the Glass Bottom Boat Tour, or the Paradise Island and Sightseeing Tour. Why am I mentioning those specific excursions, you may ask?

Well, I've heard that the way excursions work is that the tour guide picks you up safely right from the pier, but as far as the excursions returning you to the ship safely, I'm not entirely sure, though I'm pretty sure that the Glass Bottom Boat Tour does do that.

You're probably wondering why I'm using the word "safely." If you know, that's great, but if you don't, it's because of the increasing crime rate.

I've read that crime in Nassau is usually targeted toward locals, in areas what they call "Over the Hill" where tourists usually stay away from, but it's been expanding to tourist areas, and I've read reports of armed robberies taking place during excursions :eek:

One of these reports was during an excursion that included a stop at Queen's Staircase, and that's kinda starting to give me second thoughts on the Paradise Island and Sightseeing Tour, because Queen's Staircase is part of that excursion.

I don't know if I should even god forbid get off the ship at all, because you could be greeted with armed robberies or drug dealers near or at the dock itself :eek:

Really, part of me wants to do an excursion, but part of me thinks I should stay onboard. :confused:

I'd gladly appreciate tips from you guys! :)