az_2_nc2013

Hello all!

My husband and I booked cruise #2 this week (Anthem, April 21-28) and we are so excited!

We have not purchased flights yet, but we are likely going to fly into LaGuardia the morning of departure and then take some more of transportation to the port, but neither of us are familiar with the area. My question is, what is the most cost-effective and quickest way to get from the airport to the port? Uber/Lyft, taxi, shuttle, public transportation or something else?

I know it's not usually the best idea to fly in the day of, but that's looking to be the best option for us this time.

Thanks in advance!

Did you arrive in Miami the day of the cruise, or before? DH and I will be on Harmony in May and we are debating flying into either FLL or MIA the day of or the day before. Thanks for all your tips!

Embark took about 30 minutes at the most. But keep in mind that we went to the port at a high traffic hour, around noon. Even though it was a while, it went pretty smoothly and the lines moved quick. Disembark also took about 30-40 minutes, and moved quick as well but again, there were some long lines at US immigration. Yes, FLL cruise terminal and FLL Airport are about 10 minutes away from each other, so pretty near by. It is definitely doable to fly in the morning of your cruise, but, I would recommend a very early flight getting into FLL. If you are like me, I would still choose to fly in a day before (just in case of flight delays or cancellations).

Perfect- thanks for the reply! I definitely prefer to err on the side of caution as well, especially when it comes to flights :)

How was embarkation/disembarkation? DH and I will be going on Harmony out of FLL in May 2018 and we've never been to that port or airport, so I'm just curious about the logistics. It looks like the airport and cruise port are pretty close to each other. Last year we flew into Orlando the day before the cruise (out of Port Canaveral), is it doable to fly in the morning of the cruise, or do you think it's better to fly in a day before again?

The Thenford Grey Grand Tour of St. Kitts is fabulous! He has other tours also. Prices are reasonable and you will not be disappointed. Check out his site at http://www.thenfordgreytours.com/

Browsed the website..beautiful! This would be right up our alley.

Thanks so much for the recommendation!

St. Kitts: Reggae Bar area of Cockleshell Beach.

Thank you! Will definitely add this to our list of options!

Hello all!

My husband and and I finally decided that we will be taking cruise #2 on Harmony in May 2018! Yay! We haven't officially booked yet but I am so excited already.

I've spent some time browsing TripAdvisor and numerous boards and threads here on CC, but I wanted to ask and see if anyone on here has recommendations for excursions in St. Thomas, Nassau, or St. Kitts?

A little background information on us: our first cruise was Oasis this past May, and we did a combination of RCI and independent excursions- we are fine with either. Neither of us are big drinkers. We are very laid back (we enjoy beach days) but would also like a more active day or two mixed in. We love snorkeling but don't have any experience with diving. My husband really would like to do an ATV/Jeep tour (preferably one that he can drive himself).

With that being said, I'd appreciate any and all recommendations for excursions! Are there any places that are better than others for a beach day? Snorkeling? ATV/Jeep tours? Is the Aquaventure water park at Atlantis a must-do? Anything else we can't miss? If I can provide any additional information regarding our preferences or anything else, please let me know! I know it's quite a way off but I'm trying to distract myself until we can actually book the cruise. :)

Thanks!

Following! My husband and I are considering this itinerary on Harmony in May/June 2018!

Had 98% totality in Charlotte! Very cool experience- my first time witnessing an eclipse! (Sorry to continue the non-cruise-related post..just wanted to share!)

DH and I went on that same itinerary on Oasis this past April, and we loved it! That was our first cruise, and I don't have any experience with Celebrity, but I'd be happy to answer any questions about the boat or ports!

DH and I booked an independent snorkeling excursion, and the driver stayed on the boat while the guide was in the water with us. I can imagine RCI excursions would be the same. I kept my passport in the safe all week, never needed it at any ports or on any excursions. We kept our seapass cards, credit card, and IDs in a Ziploc bag within a backpack and that worked perfectly for us. Our snorkeling boat also had a mesh net to hold bags above the floor of the boat.

Hope that's helpful!

Also, make sure that you leave the master switch on the entire cruise- it controls the air! We thought it was a light switch and turned it off leaving the room, and couldn't figure out why the room wasn't cooling! Thankfully, our room steward filled us in on the first day. DH and I prefer to sleep in cooler temperatures, and with the switch on and the door closed, we never had a problem with the temperature!

DH and I were on Oasis in April; he bought the basic soda package and I was satisfied with the included drinks. I don't drink soda so their basic coffee, tea, and water offerings were perfect for me. We did buy one alcoholic drink during the week, and at $13/drink, we didn't feel the need to buy any more. We definitely would not have gotten our money's worth out of the packages. As other posters have mentioned, it's really only worth it if you drink 5+ beverages/day (exclusive of water, black coffee and tea).

Yes! My husband and I booked a snorkeling trip with them in May and it was phenomenal. Great reefs, knowledgeable and fun tour guides, and affordable! Would absolutely snorkel with them again in the future!

"I couldn’t face a week of trying to keep my one-year-old out of the water so we ended up disembarking and lost out on a £5,000 holiday."

You didn't "lose out" on your vacation..you gave it up. Big difference. It's an unfortunate situation, and RC probably should have been clear about the restriction, but ultimately it was the cruiser's choice to leave the boat. Just an observation.

I carried a small fabric zipper-top clutch/pouch with a wrist strap both on the boat and on excursions! It was the perfect size for my cards, camera, lip balm and other small things, and it was always on me. They came in a two-pack at Walmart for $5!

We did that excursion on our cruise last month, but we booked through the cruise line. They brought out food (delicious!) and drinks constantly, there was plenty of shade and beach loungers, and the beach was beautiful. I'd recommend it!

A word of advice, bring a towel for the beach loungers. They have pads, but they are a vinyl material, and they do not provide towels at the beach.

Have fun!

CozumelH20 is great! Their tour is fun, professional, and informative. They work frequently with cruise ship guests and they were very aware of timing and brought us back several hours before we had to board. The tour is about 3-4 hours, and they take you to 4 different reefs quite a distance from the ships, so they are definitely not crowded at all! I highly recommend them.

My biggest tip, and what helped me on my cruise, is listen to your body. If you're full or content, stop eating and don't stuff yourself!

If you can't make it to the gym, try to run a few laps around the track.

Use the stairs! Especially if you only need to go up a few levels.

My husband and I only had one alcoholic drink all week. (Though this was more because of the $$$ haha)

Drink lots of water! If you drink coffee and/or tea, keep it black.

Just remember to enjoy yourself! If you eat a few extra desserts during the week, enjoy them and eat some extra fruits and veggies when you get home! :)

CozumelH20 offers a 4 reef, 3-4 hour snorkeling trip for $65/pp. We had such a good time! The tour guides are professional and knowledgeable, and make it a great time. I highly recommend them! I am not sure if they are wheelchair accessible, but they are very easy to communicate with and quick to reply via email.

Here is my own list I used. Essentially I Google searched "Cruise packing list" and mixed and matched to suit my needs. This may be way more than you need, as I tend to overpack, but I ended up being very happy with what I brought! Hope this is helpful.

cruise packing list.pdf

We used Cozumel H20 for snorkeling, and it was phenomenal. It costs $65 per person; the tour stops at four reefs and lasts about 3 hours, and the tour guides are friendly and professional! As a part of the booking process they will ask if you have your own equipment or if you will need some. They work frequently with customers who are there with cruise lines, so they are very conscious about the time and there were no issues with arriving or getting back to the boat.

We bought a Fujifilm Finepix XP90- it's not the newest model but this one had better reviews than the newer model (XP120). It was $170 and we also bought floating wrist straps for it. It's a great camera! We were extremely happy with the picture quality and the durability of it. I would highly recommend it! Keep in mind, due to the weight of the camera you may need two of the floating wrist straps to be sure you don't lose it. They're pretty cheap though!

Does anyone know what time the Ultimate Abyss slides open on embarkation day.

I would also like to know the menus for each restaurant for each day, including the buffet offerings. ;)

Who was the cruise director? We did Oasis in Feburary and enjoyed whoever it was. I think I'll remember his name if I hear (read) it.

I was on the same cruise, and it was Jimmy Rhodes. Didn't see him much at all. We saw the activities director, Magic Marvin, much more often throughout the week- he was great!