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xpanmanx

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    Gold Rock Beach @ Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

    in Bahamas

    Posted

    Thank you so much for the info. We are going next week and were stumped on what to do. Gold Rock beach looks amazing and rental car is $80 and the way to go for our family of 4!

    We were a family of five and had to jump up to the SUV to fit everyone and our beach gear.

     

    Also --- assuming you're from the States, you should mentally prepare yourself for the left-side of the road, left-hand driving experience :eek:

    Gold Rock Beach @ Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

    in Bahamas

    Posted · Edited by xpanmanx

    tinkr2, the Avis SUV was $160, it took about 45m to get from the gangway to the steering wheel, we drove about 35m coming and going, spent about 4.5 hours at the park, and another 45m checking the car in and getting back to the ship.

     

    clskinsfan, we sure did! Such a neat surprise. However we're from a big cave state, with lots of lore and whatnot, and we felt right at home :)

    Gold Rock Beach @ Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

    in Bahamas

    Posted

    Hmmmm...... I wonder if my family and I could pull off this self made excursion. But it's 10 of us.....I wonder what sort of rental car we would need?

    Call Avis Bahamas, or any of the other Rent-a-car places. Consider two cars instead of a bigger ride. Also maybe see if you could hire a private driver with a 15-passenger van for the day.

    Carnival Victory Cruise Documents - March 20th-24th, 2016

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted · Edited by xpanmanx

    Greetings!

     

    This evening, I've scanned and linked in twelve documents from our first-ever cruise, a four-day sailing of the Carnival Victory from Port Canaveral on March 20th.

     

    I hope this information is useful to other cruisers, as I had a difficult time finding similar info before our embarkation.

     

    This is my way of giving a little back to the community after the help I've received. Thank you, all.

     

    Sail well, friends.

     

     

     

    Carnival Victory Cruise Documents - March 20th-24th, 2016

     

    All PDFs hosted at pdf-archive.com, and are searchable and unlocked.

    FUN TIMES

    Planned Itinerary:

    1. Port Canaveral

    2. Freeport, Bahamas

    3. Nassau, Bahamas

    4. Fun Day at Sea*

    5. Port Canaveral Debarkation Information*

       

      *planned edition never published, see actual itinerary below

     

    Actual Itinerary:

     

    High winds in Freeport on day 1 kept the ship out of the harbor. According to the captain, the channel is a very tight squeeze under the best of circumstances. He was able to shuffle our ports of call as shown below.

    1. Port Canaveral

    2. Fun Day at Sea
      --Captain's Memo

    3. Nassau, Bahamas

    4. Freeport, Bahamas

    5. Port Canaveral Debarkation Information

     

    CLUB 02 and CIRCLE C

    1. Club O2

    2. Circle C

     

     

    MISCELLANEOUS

    1. Good To Know Miscellaneous

    2. Souvenirs and Personal Laundry

    3. WiFi Your Way

    Gold Rock Beach @ Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

    in Bahamas

    Posted · Edited by xpanmanx

    And so, our experience went like this...

     

    After the ship was moored, I used my cell to call Avis Bahamas using AT&T's roaming agreement with BTC. I'm sure I'll enjoy seeing the charges on my bill. Then we filled five two-liter bottles with ship's water, dropped them in a beach bag and covered them with some Carnival lido towels, and made our way off the boat. Our bags were given only a cursory inspection, but definitely there were warnings about food and a overflowing bin of digestible contraband at the ship's security checkpoint.

     

    Avis picked us up at the harbor loop in less than 25 minutes. At the airport counter, it took about 15 minutes to finalize the contract and drive away, and yup, I took every bit of optional insurance they offered.

     

    It wasn't too hard to figure out the left-side-of-road, left-hand drive thing. The whole day, we had only one close call, but thankfully the oncoming driver was on his toes.

     

    We made a quick grocery stop at Solomon's, a large supermarket near the airport. $25 and 20 minutes later, we were on our way. I'd downloaded a Google Maps offline package before leaving the ship, so we had great navigation abilities. It took about 35 minutes to reach the entrance to the park, where we were greeted at our car by the staff who took our $5@ admission fee and gave us some good info. There was also a lady in a minivan selling refreshments, towels, etc. We didn't need anything from her, and she was pleasant and welcomed us to the park.

     

    We used the changing rooms to put on our swimsuits, then applied lots of sunblock, and started walking to the beach. It's an easy walk, starting with about 1000' of boardwalk across a tidal stream, then another 600' down a trail, and poof! .....the beach appears as the trail breaks through a line of trees.

     

    Gold Rock Beach is miles of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. We arrived about 3 hours before low tide, and the water's edge was about 150 yards from the tree line. During high tide things probably get a little tight against the tree line, I'd say the beach dwindles to about 50' in most places.

     

    Within eyesight - and you could see for a mile in either direction - were maybe two dozen people. We felt like we had the place to ourselves. And this was during spring break! I'll link some pix for you in a bit.

     

    It was a very sunny, yet windy and coolish day at the end of March, with temps around 75 degrees. I'd say the water was around 70 degrees. The wife and I didn't get in past our waists, but our kids frolicked like sea otters.

     

    At 3:15pm, we drove ourselves back to Avis and filled the tank along the way. So strange having someone pump gas for me. We had a crazy moment or two when I didn't tell our navigator to take us to the INTERNATIONAL terminal, and the resulting confusion caused a near-fender-bender :) After we got it figured out, Avis ran us over to the harbor, and we made it back on board 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

     

    Note that the sun on Gold Rock Beach is intensive. Despite our precautions, which included re-applying sunblock every 75 minutes, all of us got sunburnt to some degree. Nothing TOO bad, the pain was gone in a day, but if you tried to do this without proper preparation, you'd be watermelon red and miserable for a good long while.

     

    So there you have it - a homespun Grand Bahama excursion for the price of a rental car, a few sack lunches and a little sunburn. I'd do it again with no hesitation, except for the sunburn :)

    Gold Rock Beach @ Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

    in Bahamas

    Posted

    Greetings, we'll be in Freeport after St. Patrick's day. We're thinking of renting a car and driving out to Gold Rock Beach. I have a few questions...

     

    Is personal safety ever an issue in Lucayan National Park or on Gold Rock Beach? ...what about vendors/panhandlers/etc?

     

    Could we pick up food along the way to have lunch at the beach? If I were doing this in the States, I'd be looking for an Albertsons or a Subway.

     

    It seems to be ~45 minutes from the harbor to Lucayan National Park. I've read that most of the highway is lightly traveled. Should I expect any congestion coming back into the city at 3:30 on a Monday afternoon?

     

    Thank you!

    Complaint about cruises

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    We ask that you please inform our dining team of any food allergies and special preparation you may require to accommodate your allergy. Please discuss this the first evening of your cruise. Any special dietary and food requests can be accommodated in our main dining rooms only.

    Thank you very much!

    Complaint about cruises

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    did you talk to the special needs department beforehand?

     

    What is this Special Needs department, and how do I contact them?

     

    I have a shellfish allergy for which a mild reaction will have me clawing the skin off my forearms overnight, and a moderate reaction will have me locked in the water closet for endless hours with cramping. The severe reaction has never been life-threatening, but frankly, ANY reaction is bad news.

     

    I asked my PVP about all this, and he said to follow the same protocol on-board as at home....in other words, ask questions when ordering and be attentive to the served food. He also made a note on my account about the allergy, but was diligent in saying he couldn't guarantee anyone would see it and recognize the significance.

     

    I plan to tell the M'D and my wait staff about my allergy, but I'm concerned that with ATD, my wait staff will fluctuate enough that they won't remember my "preferences" (aka dietary avoidances).

     

    Was my PVP's advice golden, or is there something else I should do?

    PVP Kid Swap

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted · Edited by xpanmanx

    Our PVP (who is AWESOME!) had to split our party a little differently than we'd imagined. We wanted DH + DW + DD14 in one cabin, and DS16 + DS12 in the other.

     

    Our PVP said the system was forcing him to swap DD14 and DS12, but assured us it won't be a problem for us to adjust the sleeping arrangements after boarding.

     

    Has anyone had a similar experience, and how did it work out for you?

    Internet Service Preventing Charges

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted · Edited by xpanmanx

    With regards to Carnival's Wi-Fi Service, can I prevent my kiddos from activating an Internet plan?

     

    I want them on ship-board Wi-Fi, but I don't want them able to rack up Internet fees without my express approval. Bless their little teenage hearts, I feel it in my bones that they're gonna test that boundary within minutes of sailing away.

     

    Thanks!

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