piggiepuff

I find it a lot harder to find info online about MSC ships and onboard activities.  Is it just me?  Is there somewhere to find out what kind of entertainment/shows are on my cruise?  Or anything like that?

I did a search, but didn't find what I was looking for.  What's the earliest you'd book a flight at Hobby?  Is 11:30 too early?  What's the earliest you'd book at IAH?

How long is the taxi ride here?

On 10/10/2021 at 9:36 AM, ninjacat123 said:

Yes!  My mom and I split the lobster with butter ($20) and it was very tasty. When the taxi dropped us off I thought "oh dear this looks a bit sketchy" but we were greeted by a server and walked to a table in the shade.  Very pretty palapas and palm trees kept us cool as Gabriel our waiter brought samples of lime margarita.  We ordered a large margarita ($7) and enjoyed the beach breeze.  There were vendors milling around but they were respectful when we said "no thank you".  I did buy a t shirt for my DH from a vendor and bought 2 souvenir coffee mugs and a plate from the shop near the rest room.  Had a nice conversation with Juan about his local church that he is the pastor.  I also had a terrific hour long massage on the beach on a massage table by a female masseuse for $20.

Mauricio came by and was charming as he made sure we were comfortable.  

Next time we go to Costa Maya we will go back to The Krazy Lobster!

Do they have other flavors of margaritas?  How much are they?

I can't speak for the casino rules, but the OBC can be used online to book excursions in advance!  We did it last year and combined out OBC with a Black Friday sale :)  

• Ship:  Summit
• Length of Cruise: 7
• Cruise Sail Date: Jan 25 2020
• Date email offer received: 60 days
• Captain’s Club Tier:  first Celebrity cruise
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA:  online TA website
• Current Cabin: inside cabin 12
• Bid?  Yes/No: Yes

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: veranda & Family Veranda
• Bid Offer: Veranda bid $150, FV $160
• Notification Date: still waiting.... (Jan 16, 9 days out)
• Accepted / Rejected: 

Aqua minimum: $300 pp

Concierge Class min: $200pp

Family Veranda min: $150pp

Veranda min: $100pp

OV min: $40pp

Is there Moscato on the Summit?  And if yes, is it included in the Classic package?

1 hour ago, vickykay said:

Do you have to use your WiFi minutes to talk on your phone?  Thanks.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can actually talk on the phone on the app.  It's just a chat feature, like texting.  Also, you do not need to purchase an internet package from them in order to use the app.  

We haven't done Celebrity before and we are heading out to get on the Summit in 10 days!  I have a couple questions and I'm sorry if they've already been asked/answered.

1.  Does anyone know if the Caesar salad tastes like fish?  I know that's how it's "supposed" to taste, but where I'm from, that's just not how it tastes and I don't like fish...

2.  Is there soft-serve ice cream at the buffet?

3.  I know there's gelato but what is the cost?  

Thanks!

We are renting a car and driving from San Juan to the ferry terminal on the east coast (Ceiba).  My husband will be driving, but I'm a little nervous b/c we don't know Spanish and we've been in taxis and ubers with crazy drivers around us.  I saw on another post about toll roads, though - does anyone know if there are toll roads between San Juan and Ceiba that we will need to worry about?  

We've had great success just wandering until we found food that caught our eye.  We stopped and ate outside at a little bar like place with really yummy drinks and local style bar food.  We found a restaurant with a train that delivers your food to you.  We also really like to ask the uber or taxi drivers what their favorite local place is.  Last year, our uber driver suggested a "BBQ" place around the corner from our AirBnB, so we tried that.  It wasn't what I was expecting and I personally didn't love it, but I'm incredibly picky in my food, so don't go by my thoughts haha.  My husband and in laws loved it.  And while we were there, our uber driver came in to pick up dinner, too, so clearly he really did love the place!

San Juan is split into zones for taxis. As mentioned above, it is $19 (not per person but for the total fare) plus $1 per bag (they've only charged us for suitcases, not our carry-on backpacks).  There used to be an additional $1-2 fee for the airport itself, but I don't know if they've gotten rid of it.  I haven't done an uber FROM the airport (yet), but we did uber TO the airport and had no issues at all.  I believe our uber rides in San Juan were all slightly cheaper than the taxi rates and they did not charge us for luggage.  

ZONE 1 → San Juan International Airport

ZONE 2 → Isla Verde Hotels & Resorts

ZONE 3 → Condado, Miramar, Ocean Park – Hotels, Resorts, New San Juan Beaches

ZONE 4 → Old San Juan & Hotels, ALL Cruise Ship Piers, Puerta de Tierra

ZONE 5 → Puerto Rico Convention Center, Isla Grande Airport

We've done the Pan American pier three times... twice with Royal and once with NCL.  We bought wine twice, but I can't remember exactly which cruises we did it for.  The store is in the terminal.  We went in the store after checking in.  If I remember right, you show your ship card when you purchase, they pack your stuff up, and you walk on the ship. Nobody stopped us or asked us anything about our purchases.    

I was going to suggest the supermarket, just like Stinger-pr.  We went to a Supermax and they had a large selection of alcohol/wines.  

Another option might be an AirBnB type thing.  Some of them have lock boxes outside with they keys, so you don't technically need a person to check you in.  I'm sure a lot of rental owners would be fine with the late/early arrival if they had the lock box type set up and you let them know in advance.  

We've been to OSJ twice on San Sebastian weekends, but never the first day.  Yes, taxis were harder to find, but definitely not impossible.  However, I completely agree with bonsai3s: go for uber.  We've done both multiple times.  I feel like uber is more likely to come to you, probably quicker, and it's slightly cheaper usually.  Plus, as mentioned, no cash in hand, which is really nice.  

I guess if it were me, it would depend on the cost of the tour.  I feel like it might be more expensive than just doing a taxi to OSJ, leaving the bags, exploring, and then taking a taxi or uber back to the airport.  The tour is less "hassle" or planning for you, but you have more freedom if you do it on your own.  I think I would probably do it on my own if it were me.  

I haven't heard of them, but like hal2008 suggested, maybe just use a taxi or uber.  There is a taxi stand directly outside of the baggage claim with lots of taxis ready to go.  And they are now letting ubers pick people up at the airport, so that's a great option, too (usually slightly cheaper than a taxi).  We've done both taxi and uber in San Juan multiple times with no problems.  

I was going to suggest the Isla Verde beach, too.  At the far end, there is a water sports company with jet skis, parasailing, etc.  It seems like a popular local beach and we went on a weekend day last year (Sunday, I believe), and even though it was crowded, we didn't feel like people were in our space.  The water was nice and it was fairly shallow walking out into the water where we were at (no steep drop offs).  I'm not sure what else to see in the area, we usually do OSJ when we have part of a day in San Juan.  You could try to go to the rainforest to see something different.  I'm sure a taxi driver or an uber driver would be happy to give a tour for you, but I have no idea what they would charge for it since they usually have flat rates to/from certain areas of town.  When we stayed overnight in Puerto Rico, we hit the local supermarket and Walmart.  It's fun to find some snacks and drinks that we don't have in the US (my fave is Sour Cream and Onion Doritos, my husband loved the rum punch juice boxes - like Capri Sun but for grown ups!).  

After the last two winter cruises we took, we checked our bags at Barrachina, but it wasn't free.  They charged per bag, but it was a minimal amount.  There are lots of amazing restaurants in the area.  There was a really good gelato place just down from Barrachina - I can't remember the name, but it was within a couple blocks and I highly recommend passion fruit gelato with passion fruit liquor on top, yum!  We grabbed a taxi one year and last year, we just used our phones to schedule an uber to meet us back at Barrachina and get us over to the airport.  Our flight this year is around that same time frame, 330 or 345 (I can't remember exactly!) and this is exactly what we will be doing - leaving luggage at Barrachina and wandering OSJ.  There is a jewelry store a few blocks away that I got a beautiful mystic topaz ring at last year and I want to go back and see what else I can find there!  Oh, yeah, and like others said, the agriculture scan is just another xray machine for your luggage.  The first time we flew out of San Juan, we didn't know about it and we went to the airline desk first - oops.  It's quick and easy, just don't have fruits and nuts in your bags (my hubby had some trail mix left  - that he brought with on the way to San Juan - that they weren't super thrilled about, but they let him keep it).

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.    If your ship is supported by the APP you can pick a current cruise and see the times and what's on each evening.   Even if your ship isn't supported you can see a sampling of what's on another ship.  

 

Shows are generally at 7:00PM and 9:00 PM.   

 

A second option would be to read one of the many live blogs - many post copies of the daily.

Thank you!  I didn't realize you could look up a different sailing on the app.  

Is there a way to find out in advance what kinds of shows will be going on while we are on the ship - and what time they are at?  Just planning dinner.... 🙂  

I booked on November 19 and I believe that was in the window where they were charging extra, right?  How can I tell if I was charged?  My email confirmation I got from my TA was pretty plain and didn't say a lot (I had to call them to make it include that we got a beverage package, free tips, and $300 credit).  I assume, since I was in that window, that I paid the extra amount, but don't have anywhere that actually says it.  

Has anyone gone to Harrison's Cave on their own recently?  How difficult is it to do by taxi and approximately how much does it cost (the taxi, not the cave)?  Thanks!

1 hour ago, OCruisers said:

Are you sure it's free/ included with your enterance fee?????

 

The boatyard is $25 for entrance and it includes one drink, a shuttle back to port, and the turtle/shipwreck snorkel.