MaxTheHorse

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

What about San Juan and Key West?

 

My itinerary is Miami, HMC, Amber Cove, San Juan, St Thomas, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Key West, Miami.

 

We move out of the US and in again several times. I've had to do immigration in San Juan, but it was a long time ago. 

 

So how many times will we need to do immigration? I'd love to do it in Key West because that would speed up arrival/processing in Miami.

Our cruise itinerary was changed/shortened for this question I originally asked and St. Thomas was dropped. We instead did HMC, Key West, then back to port in FLL. Even though we'd only gone to the cruise line's private island, we still had to clear immigration at our first US port of call (Key West).

On arrival in Key West, ALL passengers had to clear immigration. Those with excursions were called first I think starting at 8 am. Then starting at I think 8:30 you were assigned a time slot deck by deck. They announced it and there was a letter in your cabin the day before with times and instructions. I don't think the scheduled clearing times lasted more than 90-120 minutes in total.

They had us queue on deck 3 through the atrium and shops, and there were USCIS officers checking passports in one of the meeting rooms. After the check, a crew member punched your key card and you could exit the ship or go back to whatever you were doing. 

We had an excursion so were in the first group allowed through the line. Took about 10 minutes and moved very quickly. It was quite efficient.

13 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

Years ago there was an immigration process and one had to shuffle past officers, but that hasn't been in place for a while. Just disembark and find your tour.

Thanks! Indeed I was looking at old posts from the 2000s so the information was outdated.  Thank you for clarifying! 

7 minutes ago, REOVA said:

No immigration unless you are disembarking the ship, which I will assume you are continuing on the cruise after visiting St Thomas. 

Correct. After USVI it’s Half Moon Cay then return to Fort Lauderdale. 

Sailing next month on Nieuw Amsterdam with St. Thomas as one of our ports. Stop is after Grand Turk and Samana so I know we’ll have to go though immigration. Question is: what’s the current HAL procedure and does it take a long time to clear? 
 

We have an 8:30 am private tour booked (leaves from Havensight where we are docking) and I’m second guessing if we’ll have enough time to make it if its a lengthy immigration process. Arrival time is either 7 am (time on my booking receipt) or 8 am (time showing on HAL site).

8 minutes ago, heworkssoitravel said:

I am on your cruise and was looking for the same info.  I read that a multi-million dollar cruise terminal was set to open late 2023. Maybe we’ll be the first visitors?

We shall see! I booked a the "countryside & culture" excursion today. A few of the excursions they had a few days ago no longer appear. 

9 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

I wonder why they aren't going to Amber Cove which has a nice little shopping area.  

I just booked, but according to our roll call thread the port was changed from San Juan to Samana sometime this summer. Cruise is 12/16.

11 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

Here is a picture from our HAL shore excursion. The local police/military escorted us around town with shotgun toting officers on dirt bikes.  Very reassuring.  😲

 

Yikes! Was that recent?

3 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

I think it was 2016 that we were there.

 

It's an area where a lot of whales spend the winter. At the time, HAL offered a number of excursions.  I can't remember the exact excursions being offered, though I think there were some day trips to nearby all-inclusive resorts that catered mainly to North Americans. There was probably a whale watch but I can't remember for certain.

We tendered, and it was a pretty looong ride to shore.  There was an area near the dock (an easy walk) where local vendors had set up stalls, and that area and the area around the dock were clean and seemed safe.  Everyone we interacted with was pleasant and helpful.  We didn't go far from the dock and the vendor area, though.  There were quite a few dogs that seemed to be cared for, but were free-ranging without supervision.

There was, at one time, a report on CC from someone who had arranged a private tour into the countryside and spent time with a local family, including having a meal with them.  I can't find that report now.  However, it sounded like a really good experience.

 

It is a good place to shop for larimar jewelry if that's of interest 😉

 

If we went back we would either stay onboard or would go on an excursion after checking Trip Advisor for reviews of similar excursions.

Extremely helpful. Thank you. 

Have searched the boards and coming up empty on info about quality of HAL excursions in the Samana port of call. Is this a new port for HAL or something? We're on the 12/16/23 sailing on NA.

With Freeport being such a short stop, do you feel you got your money's worth with your excursion? We are looking at a sail or a beach day, just wondering if walking around the port is an option?

I think the VIP Luxury Sail we did in Freeport was comparable to the length of time we spent on the Catamaran Sail & Snorkel in Nassau. About 4 hours or so total.

The immediate port area in Freeport is just a little open-air mall type thing with a Senor Frogs and some souvenir shops. It's very self-contained as it's in a fairly industrial port type of area; there's nowhere to walk around to outside the terminal area. We spent about 20 minutes there after our excursion and that was plenty of time for us.

Thank you for the "thank yous." Happy to answer any more questions while the cruise is still fresh in my mind. You all were a lot of help when I was planning, so I'm happy to return the favor.

And, yes, I keep visiting the Carnival site pricing out future potential cruise dates! Haha!:D

It was operating I think one day on our cruise last week (6/26 sailing), then down the rest of the week. I did see a dude working on it intermittently. The attendant on the yellow slide said the Green Thunder door wasn't working right when I asked him about it on Wednesday, June 29.

Excursions Part II. I also did the "Behind the Fun" tour on the final sea day. It was $95 which I feel is a bit overpriced.

No photos since cameras and cell phones are not allowed on the tour. And, yes, a security officer checks you for these items or anything dangerous before you're allowed to join the tour.

We saw a good portion of the ship from the laundry rooms two decks below sea level all the way up to the bridge. We got to meet the chief engineer, the captain, head sous chef (the actual head chef was disembarking and Pride's getting a new one next sailing), the provisions officer, one of the Playlist dancers, and many other people.

One downside is that English is not the first language of pretty much anyone in the galley, engine control room, or bridge, so it's a bit difficult to understand some of the officers. Interestingly, someone from the Human Resources department led the tour and took us by his office, where he showed us that any crew can take a Rosetta Stone language class for free.

Got to see the crew mess (actually there are three: one for staff, one for crew, one for officers) and the crew bar.

The tour ends at David's steakhouse, with mimosas and some parting gifts. Later we received a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and a note from the head chef to say thanks for visiting. Felt those were nice touches.

Bottom line is if you enjoy that TV show Mighty Ships, you will probably love this tour.

Excursions. Posting a bit since somebody asked.

Port Canaveral. Stayed on the ship. This was the only day we were able to get a hammock on Serenity deck. Clam shells were all occupied by the time we got up there around 10 am.

Nassau. We did the "Catamaran Sail & Snorkel. It was decent but a lot of people, maybe 60 or 70 pax. Snorkel site was about 40 minutes out of the harbor past Atlantis; I think it was called Angelfish Reef. We like to bring our own snorkel gear rather than use a snorkel 18 trillion people have had in their mouths. Rum punch served after the snorkeling; tip the bartender to get an extra shot. He later came around pouring it straight into people's mouths if they so desired.

We shopped a little along Bay Street and had a mediocre lunch at Sharkeez after (with free wifi).

Turned out Capt. Galotto was on this excursion too along with his wife and two young boys. Nice guy, and everyone mostly left him alone to enjoy a day off with his family. (He later told us they are visiting him for three weeks from Croatia).

Elation docked in front of Pride in Nassau. View from our catamaran.

Bartender doing the Wobble with some folks on the catamaran.

The view from the balcony at Sharkeez. That's Elation in the foreground; Pride is behind her.

Freeport. We did the "VIP Luxury Sail" excursion. First off, I was disappointed there were 19 people on this excursion when everything I had read said there would be about 12. But...there was plenty of room on the sailboat. We boarded a small bus over to Tainto Beach (15 minutes away, near Lucaya). We were given mimosas then sailed straight out from the beach under motor, then unfurled the sails for about 30 minutes of actual sailing.

One of the things I like about sailing is the quietness of it. This being a Carnival excursion, there was of course music blaring the entire time. Pitbull and Ne-Yo were not the soundtrack I wanted for this, but oh well. Sit farther toward the bow to be away from the music if that concerns you.

We dropped anchor and snorkeled for 45 minutes. It was not a great snorkel area but still beats a day at work. Haha. Lunch was a bento-box type thing shared by two people, with a pasta salad, salad with chicken, fruit salad, ceviche, guacamole, chips, and rolls. Rum drinks flowed freely.

I would do this excursion again, but I don't think "VIP" or "luxury" really belong in the name of it. The best part about it was it was a relatively small group compared with our catamaran experience the previous day. I also think other reviews gripe too much about the food portions. It was more than enough for a light lunch on a sailboat, and if you're still hungry you can cram some Guy's burgers down your gob back on the ship. :)

Sailboat for the VIP Luxury Sail.

Lunch for two on the VIP Luxury Sail.

Thank you so much for your review! We are booked on the Pride 27NOV and I am eagerly reading every post about her. What night of your cruise did you do David's? My son will be celebrating his birthday, and I want to celebrate there, hoping we can get in.

We ate there on the first sea day (Monday), which also was elegant night in the main dining room. However, David's had a promo of either a free bottle of (not very good) wine or 50 percent off anything on the wine list. So that worked out pretty well for us.

We had no problem getting a reservation prior to the cruise, or even changing the time the day of our reservation.

Have a great trip!

In ports you always use either the forward or middle gangway from the lowest level. The only impact that the Baltimore gangway incident had was in regards to boarding and debarking in Baltimore.

 

The slow going in Freeport is partly due to it being a short day (so many people try to re-board at the same time) and partly because they use only the forward gangway which is smaller than the centre gangway.

Good point about the short port day in Freeport.

Can you please tell me what time you actually got to the port? We are cruising in October and have FTTF, I don't want to get to port too early though.

Thanks!

We arrived in our car at port around 11 am. Had to wait in a line of cars to proceed to baggage drop and pay to park. Got into the cruise terminal about 11:30-11:40. Zipped through security and check-in line, then waited until about 12:30 for FTTF to be called for boarding after diamonds, platinums, and wedding parties.

I think it was somewhat worth it for embarkation just to jump to the front of the security screening line. To me, the real value was being able to self-assist disembark first.

Tricky to find, but this top deck by the funnel was the darkest spot on deck for star gazing at night. Loved it there.

They do nice work at the Alchemy Bar.

Dude keeping it classy at the Taj Mahal theater.

And another classy passenger hocked a loogey on the floor outside David's.

Here's a nicer image of David's to leave you with.

Pools and public areas. Pools were crowded on sea days. Stayed onboard in Port Canaveral and finally had a little room at the Serenity Pool, though it opened a bit late as you can see from the pic. Kids splash area looked fun, though we left our kids at home this time.

Kids splash play area.

Waterslides as seen from Serenity pool. Green Thunder was out of service all week due to a problem with the door.

Main pool on sail away day.

Serenity Pool just before it opened for the day.

Finally got a hammock on Serenity during a port day.

Ship's coin is in a display case by the basketball court.

More food, more food!

"Crab cake" on the 2nd formal night in MDR. The Marylanders at the table didn't like it; I thought it was adequate.

Filet mignon with braised short ribs, 2nd formal night, MDR. It was so-so.

Baked onion soup, MDR. This was a good one.

Prime rib in the MDR. Wasn't bad, wasn't spectacular.

Cherry pie, MDR. I had pie most nights and they were all surprisingly good.

Chocolate melting cake, of course. Fun concept but I stuck to the pie, which I liked much better.

More food pics...

Braised rabbit in a pastry puff, MDR appetizer. Quite good.

Mango-tuna tartare app at Bonsai. It was tasty.

Sushi boat at Bonsai. Not the best, but not bad and a nice change of pace.

Bonsai - butterfly carrot decoration.

Bonsai staff does this sing-along thing with customers. Some junior officers were there and took part in the shenanigans.

Port of Call selection in the MDR, I think pepper steak. Delicious.

Food: If you're like me, you're reading this review for the food porn. This was my first cruise and my expectations were low. That said, Carnival exceeded my expectations most of the time in the food department. The Main Dining Room standard options tended to be bland, but I thought the Port of Call selections were usually much better. Guy's was a lot better than I expected, considering how much that dude grinds my gears with his schtick on his TV show. Blue Iguana's breakfast burritos were great, but I found the arepas and huevoes rancheros stale. MDR sea day brunch was fantastic. David's steakhouse also was great, though I found the service to be a bit slow and inattentative. Bonsai Sushi was not bad, but not necessarily the best sushi I've had...still was a nice change of pace to dine there however. Here are some pics.

Guy's burger. Tasty! Or jacked up and off the chain as Guy would say.

Escargot app at David's. Very good.

Caesar salad at David's. Good, classic anchovy flavor.

Spinach salad with blue cheese, which I think tastes like poison but the wife enjoyed it.

David's ribeye with roasted garlic. Wow it was great!

Apple dessert at David's. Delicious.

Let's try these pics again...

Embarkation: Was glad we bought FTTF. This let us bypass a very lengthy line for security screening. It was moving quite slowly because a lot of people paid no attention to the rules about bringing on bottled beverages, how much wine you could bring, etc. Probably saved us 20-30 minutes right there. We were called for boarding about 12:30 pm and were able to drop our bags in our room, have a Guy's burger, and jump in the pool before most people were onboard. It was also worthwhile having FTTF for debarkation, as we were among the first to leave the ship at 9 am and we had a long drive ahead of us that day and were eager to get started.

First glimpse of the ship at the terminal.

Sea of humanity in the terminal.

Bon voyage!

Well, I obviously had some issues with the images. Will try to fix that before proceeding!

Just back from the 6/26/16 7-day sailing out of Baltimore of Carnival Pride. Ports of call were Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Freeport. Here are some thoughts and photos.

Embarkation: Was glad we bought FTTF. This let us bypass a very lengthy line for security screening. It was moving quite slowly because a lot of people paid no attention to the rules about bringing on bottled beverages, how much wine you could bring, etc. Probably saved us 20-30 minutes right there. We were called for boarding about 12:30 pm and were able to drop our bags in our room, have a Guy's burger, and jump in the pool before most people were onboard. It was also worthwhile having FTTF for debarkation, as we were among the first to leave the ship at 9 am and we had a long drive ahead of us that day and were eager to get started.

First glimpse of the ship at the terminal.

Sea of humanity in the terminal.

Bon voyage!

Food: If you're like me, you're reading this review for the food porn. This was my first cruise and my expectations were low. That said, Carnival exceeded my expectations most of the time in the food department. The Main Dining Room standard options tended to be bland, but I thought the Port of Call selections were usually much better. Guy's was a lot better than I expected, considering how much that dude grinds my gears with his schtick on his TV show. Blue Iguana's breakfast burritos were great, but I found the arepas and huevoes rancheros stale. MDR sea day brunch was fantastic. David's steakhouse also was great, though I found the service to be a bit slow and inattentative. Bonsai Sushi was not bad, but not necessarily the best sushi I've had...still was a nice change of pace to dine there however. Here are some pics.

Guy's burger. Tasty! Or jacked up and off the chain as Guy would say.

Escargot app at David's. Very good.

Caesar salad at David's. Good, classic anchovy flavor.

Spinach salad with blue cheese, which I think tastes like poison but the wife enjoyed it.

David's ribeye with roasted garlic. Wow it was great!

Apple dessert at David's. Delicious.

Braised rabbit in a pastry puff, MDR appetizer. Quite good.

Mango-tuna tartare app at Bonsai. It was tasty.

Sushi boat at Bonsai. Not the best, but not bad and a nice change of pace.

Bonsai - butterfly carrot decoration.

Bonsai staff does this sing-along thing with customers. Some junior officers were there and took part in the shenanigans.

Port of Call selection in the MDR, I think pepper steak. Delicious.

"Crab cake" on the 2nd formal night in MDR. The Marylanders at the table didn't like it; I thought it was adequate.

Filet mignon with braised short ribs, 2nd formal night, MDR. It was so-so.

Baked onion soup, MDR. This was a good one.

Prime rib in the MDR. Wasn't bad, wasn't spectacular.

Cherry pie, MDR. I had pie most nights and they were all surprisingly good.

Chocolate melting cake, of course. Fun concept but I stuck to the pie, which I liked much better.

To be continued...