Aauclair

The Uber locations are very clearly marked, as is the Taxi stand and the 747 Bus. The easiest way to get downtown would be Uber. If for whatever reason that is not working for you, you can easily get a taxi ( the line can be long but it moves fast ) or even get a town car ( there is a counter inside near the taxi area ).

( we did not have a great St Lucia excursion or experience…chaotic pier experience, weird excursion transfer, a barely okay activity…our bus nearly got hit by a truck…I would have preferred a sea day;)).

Yikes. That does not seem to be a fair trade. So you have an extra sea day tomorrow? We loved our day on St Kitts, so you have a fab day to look forward too.

I am so sorry your tour was turtle free. Been on a few excursions where the wildlife has not shown up ( whales are notorious for this ). Glad you enjoyed it anyways, and now with all the exercise, you have no excuse not to sit around and nurse a drink…or three?

There can be no crabbiness while swimming with turtles, I promise you! I hope your girl loves it! I loved hearing my almost 6’ 14 year old screaming underwater when the turtles swam to, under and by him:).

You mean SHOULD sing along;)…

We just came off the Haven on the Epic and had the best time. The staff was outstanding and they totally catered to our teen:). So many good snacks and always a chocolate milk in the fridge. We have been in the Haven on two other ships and The Epic was as great as our other experiences. Maybe it depends on the staff, partly, in which case, we struck gold:). Have fun!

Howl at the Moon is all requests! If you add a couple of dollars OR a beer for the boys and a cranberry vodka for Genesis, you will definitely get consideration…add that you want to mortify your teen and they may be all over it! Miley is possibly in their repertoire ( so is Baby Got Back…). The Elton John shows are really good - not imitating him really, kind of a tribute to him. The second show is very different than the first ( good broadway feel ). I was surprised how much I liked it. The Beatles is more imitation. My kid really liked the Elton John show ( summer camp songs he knows ) and didn’t like The Beatles ( despite being raised in them ).

Yep. Our guy was the only kid at the table full of overly nice seniors. He would have crawled under the table if that was possible... Anyone getting you to the turtles will be great. If it is the same spot, be warned that there is a man who will yell at everyone from the pier - he is harmless but very loud. Also...water shoes. Teen absolutely refused to put them on...and then did because the rocks were rough. There are no photos with him in those shoes. Also, absolutely find a waterproof camera ( even a cheap one ) for the turtles. They get really close and the photos are amazing! We even had a pelican land on us. Maybe don't tell her that. If you can get her to go to Howl at the Moon with you, do it. We couldn't get our kid to go but it is a lot of fun.

You are hysterical:). We survived and thrived on the Epic three weeks ago with our 14 year old ( poor kid…I booked the trip on the wrong week of his March Break, so while he got a three week March Break, we could bring no one with us and he was stuck with just us ). He completely rejected the teen club. Aruba and St Kitts had awesome beaches, We did the Aerial Tram in St Lucia which was interesting if your kid likes naturey things. We had a guide tell us about all the things that can kill you in the rainforest:). Pro tip: book the swim with the turtles tour in Curacao with Samurai Tours - total hit with the teen. Also Teppanayaki…but basically he loved the buffet and all the ice cream he could eat. Pro Pro Tip: unlimited wifi for the teen paid off. Had him find five weird and interesting facts about every stop every morning. I know people criticize unlimited wifi for kids on the ship but they don’t usually have teens. He was not on his phone the whole time;). I hope you have an awesome time and as with all things, the Free At Sea drink package helps with everything:)

We just got off the Epic and we had a great time. We ate well, had great stops and tons of good entertainment. We have also sailed over New Year’s ( on the Bliss ) with our kids and that was memorable - lots of families with kids of all ages. My advice, because these are big ships, is to try and book everything as early as you can. The big shows always seemed to have room on the Epic ( we were on a full ship ) but the smaller locales where you can’t reserve ( Cavern Club, Howl at the Moon ) took getting there early to get a good seat ( or changing seats as people left ). Take all the specialty dining you can. ( we did Teppanyaki and Cagneys ). We sailed Haven on both so I do not have cabin info outside of there ( but if you can swing Haven…do it! Your life will be much easier as you will have the concierge who can organize everything for you ). We made a reservation for Taste ( MDR ) but we didn’t really need to. The meal was delicious. The only tiny criticism I had is that my white shoes got stained orange on the ship. There is an issue sometimes with blowback from the smokestacks that can cause this ( only found out about it after my shoes were stained ). We were at the basketball court when this happened. Have fun!

Haven check in in NY was the fastest Haven check in we have had. It was seamless and we were on the ship within 20 minutes. The whole parking the car to being on the ship took about 45 minutes - kind of crazy. Getting out was as easy:). Have a great cruise.

I loved the FF Haven room we had. We had a ton of space, it took no time at all to get to the Haven restaurant and pool area and I really enjoyed the experience of being able to see where we were going. The balcony was fine, just different and we did not find it's size to be a negative. It is noisier but not in a way that interrupted our sleep at all - we always knew when we were arriving into a port! I like trying different rooms and would book a FF room again.

I was really happy with many of the images I got with my 70-200 f2.8 - great shots of passing islands, seals and whales and it was more than enough for the glaciers. I have printed many of those images and they remain favourites. I love shooting off the top of the ship while sailing. I have the 100-400 f4.5-5.6 now and I am debating between the two of them for my next cruise in a few weeks ( so not much help there am I?). You can't go wrong with the faster one, but what if you run into Alaskan surfers...then you might miss the 100-300;). ( I am joking not joking...I love photographing surfers, one of the reasons I got the 100-400 this year ). I love the challenge of thinking which two lenses I would bring if I could only bring two...it would have to be the 70-200 F2.8 and then my Sigma Art 35mm F1.4. And then I would sneak my FujiX100 on as well;).

Bring them all:). Alaska was one of my favourite cruises, with many of my favourite images. I tend to print my images quite large and would have been devastated without my 70-200 f2.8. Whales off the ship, islands covered in seals, a glacier calving in front of me, park rangers jumping from their boat to ours...never a dull moment. But then my 50 f1.2 for the wildflowers and moss in Juneau and family moments. And then my 24-70 F2.8 for everything in between. You will love this cruise, as a photographer. Bring mittens and a hat, it gets chilly on top but make sure you get out there! Enjoy.