nelsonbrandyl

For 7 days. I think the first day depends on the port you sail out of. The last 2 we done were from NY and Tampa and the bars we could get a drink as soon as we got on the ship and that was before midday. I believe that if sailing out of Texas you have to wait until you reach a certain point before the bars open fully, except for some select drinks.

Awesome thanks. We are sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on the Harmony of the Seas. I am not sure about Royal,I know Carnival I have got a drink before we left port but that was back in 2013 so could have changed by now.

Is the package charged for 7 days or 6 since that first day is only for

4pm on and the day you get off you can not use it right?

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St Thomas is safe for visitors who want to explore on their own but there are excursions offered on the ship that you can only do through the ship.

Ok awesome. We will most likely do a excursions just checking our options though.

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St.Kitts is not Jamaica. I would do Mr.Thenford Grey's island tour. You shop down at the dock. But I do not feel the bad vibe in St.Kitt's like I get in Jamaica. We are done leaving the ship in Jamaica. We have done what we want to do there on past visits. We did the Marriott Resort as a beach day in St.Kitts on our most recent visit. Great day.

Awesome thank exactly the info I am looking for. I feel the same about Jamaica I will only get off in Falmouth and that's only to shop in the shopping center and then get right back on the boat.

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Check out "Park n Go". Reserve on-line and if you pay in advance (charge card) you get a discount. This is right before you go into the terminal area and is so convenient. they have shuttles to and from the cruise terminal. We've used them several times and works really well. We prefer it to the port parking. It's less expensive, but we would use it even if they were the same price.

Are they patrolled and secure like the port?

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It's certainly easy enough to "do your own thing" in Nassau!

 

Enjoy! :)

Awesome thanks

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sunny.org has some good info

Thanks

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Nassau is one of my favorite ports! I usually go to Cable Beach, Saunders Beach, and / or Ardastra Gardens & Zoo on my own. You can take a taxi very easily or hop on the #10 jitney (local bus). The water is crystal clear and so turquoise blue!!! And the Fish Fry is along the way if you'd like some fresh local food for lunch.

 

We've also done a couple snorkeling excursions there. The best was with Bay West tours (not through the cruise lines). I found them on the internet - very nice guys - great excursion!

 

 

We go again in Sept. and are looking into taking a boat to Rose Island for the day, with snorkeling and lunch included. I can't wait!! The pictures and reviews make it look like lots of fun.

 

 

- You can also walk right off the ship and do some shopping. There are plenty of stores right there, plus the huge Straw Market. - There's always Señor Frog's, if you like that kind of thing...(!)

- We've walked to the Queen's Staircase before. There's a Pirate Museum close by.

- You can ride the water taxi over to the Atlantis side (Cabbage Beach is there).

 

 

Have fun!!

Awesome thanks. So it's sounds kind of like Grand Caymans. Like the way you can just walk around town and not be bothered or worry about things happening like in Jamaica?

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Ok thanks

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Just wondering if this is a port you really want to do an excursion at or just get off and explore on your own? I know in Jamaica I personally will always do a excursion unless in Falmouth, then I stay inside the little shopping area if not doing one, all. Cause of what goes on in Jamaica. Opinions please.

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Just wondering if this is a port you really want to do an excursion at or just get off and explore on your own? I know in Jamaica I personally will always do a excursion unless in Falmouth, then I stay inside the little shopping area if not doing one, all. Cause of what goes on in Jamaica. Opinions please.

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Just wondering if this is a port you really want to do an excursion at or just get off and explore on your own? I know in Jamaica I personally will always do a excursion unless in Falmouth, then I stay inside the little shopping area if not doing one, all. Cause of what goes on in Jamaica. Opinions please.

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We are going May 26, 2018. We will be driving from Texas does anyone know how much parking runs at Port Everglades? Also good hotels to stay at.

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+1. I would never even consider driving that far for anything... our time is worth a lot more than that. Especially driving that far after a vacation--it would be so depressing to me!

 

 

 

Then again, with the exception of European cruises, we've always been "fly in the day of" people, so maybe my opinion isn't worth much :)

Thanks. I actually like driving and being able to stop and see things. Plus he hasn't been to several of the states we are going to drive through. I think it's fun. But again when we went to places when I was a kid we always drove

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You're contemplating a 19 hour drive, and I'm here trying to decide if driving 2 hours, to fly from a cheaper airport, is with the hassle. Lol

Lol we have decided to drive it almost 100% but that could change between now and then. We shall see

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I know there are people who enjoy driving but I just cannot imagine trying to drive 19 hours in one day, even switching drivers every couple of hours. And it's not just about the hard costs of gas, tolls, parking etc. There are soft costs to think about....You have to consider what your time is worth, your mental well being, and how you'll feel upon arrival and so forth. Everyone is different, but I would tend to be more flexible in terms of flight costs, and not limit my deal breaker price to exactly what gas, parking etc. would be. For many people, a couple hundred dollars over and above that $250 would be well worth it to avoid driving 19 hours there and another 19 back. YMMV

 

 

 

I know you said you aren't paying for oil changes for a while, but you still need to consider that a 19 hour trip (really 38, when you consider the return trip) will put a lot of mileage on your car that will contribute to its depreciation.

I understand that. My car is brand new. We just bought it in Jan. Also we only use it maybe a couple times a week. Or if we make a trip. It only has like 5000 miles on it. But I have been on driving trips all my life cause as kids we took trips all over the US. I also drove this drive (a little less) because I lived in Lake Bunea Vista when I worked at Walt Disney World. I think we would have so much fun driving though.

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Spirit also does Dallas, not sure your dates but take a look. You will need to add the cost of bags to their price but still usually way cheaper (oh & bags on spirit are 40lbs vs 50lbs)

 

You do not have to make reservations for the shows, they let people with reservations in earlier & about 5-10 minutes before the show they let people without reservations fill the remaining seats. There are so many shows though and they are not every night so you will literally wind up with a spread sheet to make sure you see them all if you want to. There are also a couple of shows that will not be in the reservations that will just be your standard first come first serve. For example You will be able to make reservations for the aqua show but it only happens 2 days, there will be a second aqua show that there are no reservations for & it is different than the first one. Grease is the main theater production but it is only the first 3 days, they will do the headliner in that theater next, after that they will have another theater production in that theater for I think it is two days. Scheduling your shows in advance is a lot easier to juggle the shows & figure out what best suites you for dinner reservations each night. There will also be two ice shows as well but only one that you can make advance reservations. You can change/make reservations for the shows once onboard but you can only have one reservation so if you miss a show and did not cancel your reservation you can only see it later by going to the standby line. We did reservations because we had 11 of us and very hard to find 11 seats together if you can't get there early, much easier if there are only 2 of you. But I was glad we had them as trying to figure out the schedules to see them all is not what I would have liked to do on board.

 

 

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Awesome. Thanks for the advice

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Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

We always arrive at least one day in advance and in our case usually three or four days but that is to enjoy the area we are leaving from.

 

If you are flying the day before I would leave in the morning. This way if something goes wrong you still have some options to get there. Things can go wrong from cancelled flights to significantly delayed flights and even luggage that goes astray. Also flying can be tiring so by arriving a day or more before it gives you sometime to relax before you board the ship on embarkation day.

 

Be careful on your return flight. Many times someone after booking the air will post on the boards saying can I make this flight and it would have been better if they asked before booking. Glad you started to ask about that.

 

Since you are sailing out of Port Everglades ideally I would fly to Fort Lauderdale. In terms of hotel you'll have lots of options of hotels near the Port. For your return flight if you are flying out of Fort Lauderdale I would get a flight that departs Noon. I used to say 11:00 AM or later but assuming you don't have TSA Approv and with the changes on which electronics have to be taken out of carry ons this would just give you more time at the airport if there is an issue with longer then anticipated security lines.

 

If you need help with hotels once you make your flight arrangements please come over to the Florida Departures Board and several of us can give you advice where to stay.

 

This link will take you to the Florida Departures Board which is part of the ports of call section of Cruise Critic.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=495

 

Keith

Awesome thank you. I think right now we're thinking of driving. It's a 19 1/2 hour drive. We're thinking either drive 16 1/2 stay in hotel then drive 3 more. Or drive all 19 stay at hotel and get up to go. It's actually going to be cheaper. We have a brand new car so oil changes etc and all are taken care of for awhile and we can kinda sight see. Looking at the estimated amount of gas there and back, plus the parking. We're looking at around $250 possibly. So unless we find a flight for 2 people around that amount we will probably drive, also we don't have to worry about our luggage and all that. Thanks for advice though. I will check that board out because we will be going ahead and booking a hotel soon.

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Keep an eye on airfare we have friends that get great rates from Austin to FLL on jet blue. We have done Spirit from Houston to FLL all in with bags for under $130 RT per person. If you fly from DFW you may get a deal on Southwest (probably not as good as JetBlue & Spirit though). By the time you pay for gas, parking at the port, & wear & tear on your car it maybe cheaper to fly. Spend the time you would be driving enjoying a precruise day in FLL.

 

You'll enjoy Harmony, we took kids when we went. I'd like to try it without the kids as I know it would be a completely different experience. Make sure you make reservations for the shows when they open the reservations, it took a lot of planning to make sure we fit them in and made it more relaxing that it was pre-planned.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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Thank you. So we have to make reservations for the shows? Also I looked into it the cheapest tickets I found were $400 per person out of Austin. Houston is like 4 hours away. So it would be Austin or DFW for us

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So I think we decided on May on the Harmony of the Seas and we're driving from Texas

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If you're tired of the normal ports out of Galveston, Carnival Freedom does a once-per-month itinerary that stops in Key West, Nassau, and Jamaica. My husband and I really want to take that one. No flying, but no Cozumel!!

 

We prefer Carnival for trips that are just the two of us, and RCCL for trips where we bring the kids. The Carnival comedians are usually really good, and we like the cove balconies.

 

I'm doing a 5-day in January (the first week back of the spring semester). I chose Carnival because I liked the excursions in Progreso better than what RCCL offered; my mom is actually doing a 5-day the week before and chose RCCL because she likes their ships better.

 

I do also highly recommend cruises out of San Juan (I did that on RCCL 15 years ago and loved the islands), or Alaska if you don't mind skipping the beach.

Thank you that's a lot of info. I am nervous on Alaska cause I don't care for the cold. Maybe one day I will go, but not sure. I am really looking at us actually driving the 19 hour drive and leaving from Ft Lauderdale on one of RCCL 's bigger ships. If we do Carnival their bigger ships seem to be leaving Galveston, other than the Magic

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What airport is near Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) that's what I am looking at

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Thank you. Leaving from Galveston we always stay in hotel the night before. So if we fly probably the day before. Drive is 19 hours. My main thing is flying home. Is it easier to stay another night once back or just got to airport and catch late flight?

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Just like a late flight?

 

 

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Have you had problems with timing and all flying home?

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We fly in at least one day in advance (more for European departures) and usually fly back home the same day we get off the ship.

Just like a late flight?

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