Nevada Jen

Worked to reel me in.  Just booked a Havana Cabin for Christmas next year!  I actually think its sounds like a super fun activity to do on a cruise ship.

It depends what you want it for. If you want it just so you can have a charge on your sail and sign, its totally worth it!  Otherwise, it is astonishingly bad.  The PP who said like old dial up is exaggerating its speed.  At least on the older ships I have been on (Miracle and Liberty).

That sounds like a dream cruise to me! Hard for me to think of things that don't require banned items. Digital scapbooking would be a good one. All you need is your computer and have the kits you want preloaded. You could even get a bunch of old family photos loaded into your computer beforehand and make a family scrapbook for your parents if they are still around. If you have never done it before, it is pretty easy. Just google it.

Another great project would be a Hawaiian style applique quilt (or smaller quilt squares) that you could work on together. Bring the top with the applique already tacked on. I think the applique part would take a whole cruise and you wouldn't even need to bring the back and the batting. Bonus of that is you could work on the same quilt together. Watch the scissor size limits.

It would be fun to make some christmas ornaments. I have always wanted to make some intricate beaded balls but have never found the time for the beading.

My last cruise had a craft every morning. I never made it to it but it looked a bit on the lame side.

I chose NCL for Alaska. When I added the value of the perks, NCL was at least $1000 cheaper. I can still cancel and I may. For two reasons that likely seem crazy to others. NCL does Pepsi products only. I am a diet coke addict and I really hate Pepsi. Just thinking about the migraine I will have from caffiene withdrawal makes me cringe. And you can't bring soda on board. There is also only one extremely inconvenient smoking area on the huge ship. Those two things alone have me worried. And as a previous poster said, watch the port times. They seem very short or at crazy times on NCL. But with $25 deposits, there is really no reason not to book while you think about it.

Two ports in a 5 day cruise and 2 medium drinkers? Don't get cheers for 3 people. I am a medium drinker and by day 3 of trying to get my money's worth, I never wanted to see another alcoholic drink in my life. Really don't second guess it. You need to drink at least 18 drinks a day for 5 straight days between the 3 of you and two of those days, you won't even be on the ship. If you are flying, really do not underestimate tips and transportation to and from the airport on both ends. That is what always ends up surprising me.

On Miracle, we preordered and once we drank that it had to be ordered from room service. And I am with the OP, its worth it to have a starter supply in your room for the price.

got off an 8 day cruise with 6 sea days on Sunday about noon. I'm still feeling like I'm rocking back and forth. How long does this last? I actually didn't notice it Sunday but I'm kinda maxed out with it right now.

I can't remember if they guy told me when we checked in (about 11:30) or when he was walking me onto the boat (we had an escort onto the ship for unrelated reasons). I am pretty sure it was when we were walking onto the ship about 12:30. My advice is stop and check your bags with the porters outside the terminal and then show your SO around the area before you check in. Embarkation was a nightmare and very delayed. They actually ended up closing the terminal to new arrivals because it was at capacity (and didn't tell anyone left standing out in the sun) for a while. When we returned, disembarkment was totally delayed and slow also, so the people waiting to leave for their cruise also were just stuck in the terminal until at least 12. Not sure how long it lasted after that as we finally managed to escape! No gold stars for the port of Tampa in the last couple of weeks!

Tapi is spot on. Embarkation and debarkation on Miracle was a bit of a disaster. We had a suite so had most of the FFTF perks but wanted early room access and the special guest services line. So I got it (and I generally love it). It was not worth it. Debarkation took over 2 hours of standing in line. By noon during embarkation, the terminal was at capacity and they locked the doors and wouldn't let anyone else in, despite our priority status. I didn't look but I suspect it was closer to 12:30 before they let the first passengers on board (and that is because the prior debarkation was just as slow as ours ended up being).

That said, a good quiet place if you want to be inside is on deck 2 (I think). There are a bunch of comfortable chairs with little tables near the red frog pub. But like Tapi said, your best bet would be to eat lunch on shore and arrive closer to 1:30 and then go hang out in the red frog pub.

Interestingly, I was specifically told I could not when I asked in Tampa last week. I wanted to get the gangway photo with my dad in our matching t-shirts and his flight was delayed so we didn't arrive together (and I wasn't sure he would make it at all). I even told the story of why and was told no. This was by the guy who checked us in and walked us on board from the terminal.

There was a lot of grass type stuff last week in the water. Not great for hanging out in the water but not smelly. After swimming in the ocean with the rays and snorkeling in the ocean, we were perfectly happy to not swim at rum point. I suspect there are much better beaches for the straight beach experience but for the combined experience I would still go with this tour. Rum point is kind of an experience by itself with the food and drink and hammocks and chairs right on the water. Its got a fun vibe

Native ways has a shorter tour you could do and still have a couple of hours to hang out on 7 Mile beach. I just really like Sharon and the company. I wouldn't ever chose anyone else if I went back.

Rays reef and rum point tour with native ways. Just did it and it was awesome. I can extra recommend it because I was sick that day with a very bad cold and they worked around me. I felt very safe and it was still thrilling. And its a small group tour. Not a million people in the water with the rays all at once. We were not babied on the snorkling but they kept a good eye on the weak snorkler. I don't have the link handy but you can Google. Sometimes it takes Sharon a bit to get back to emails and make sure the times work. If they don't, just explain it to Sharon and she will likely adjust. She is a native English speaker as were the bus driver and the boat guys but they seem to struggle a bit with ship time versus grand Cayman time. So make sure you have that straight before you sail. Its a safe and very American port. It felt safer and easier to communicate the than Tampa!

Just got back from Limon as part of a Panama Canal cruise. In Port Limon, we had limited time and really could not figure out what to do we wanted a tour appropriate for younger people (our average ship age had to be in the 70's) and it had to be relatively short. I had my heart set on the Jaguar Rescue Center but the timing simply did not work. I found reccomendations for Jorge (who can be reached through Portlimon.com and decided to test my luck. He responded promptly to my email. He says he is "fluent" in English and that is true (although, it is clearly not his first language). He picked us up in an older but perfectly fine 4 door car. He provided water (good thing because it was hot!!). Before we got there we worked out through email with him what we wanted to do. We basically told him what generally sounded good to us and he came up with the ideas. We said animals and beach. He came up with driving tour and canal boat tour and a tour of the Chahuita National Park (I'm sure I butchered the name). He stayed with us the whole time. Didn't continuously chatter but was generally pleasant and pointed out points of interest and told us cultural stuff along the way. There was a strike going on the day we were there and it was probably a bit scary for passengers who were unaccompanied. We felt super safe the whole time. I highly reccommend Jorge. Oh and the cost was extremely fair. Less than we would have paid for any carnival excursion for 3 people and no doubt, a much better, personalized tour.

about a million dollars ;) Not that much but it is an hour and a half drive. Also note the very limited public tour times. I REALLY wanted to go there and we could not make it work. To the OP. There is nothing to do walking distance from the port. There are people pushing tours right when you get off the ship. We hired a private guide I am about to start a thread about and we were extremely happy with the experience.

Check out the Aquarium. They will hold your bags. They have a couple of tours through there also that will easily take up your day. That is what we are doing. I found a resort for a day daypass at the Hyatt in Clearwater. I think you would want to rent a car for that. That was my first choice but the child won. Busch Gardens probably isn't worth it. It doesn't even open until 10. Seems like a lot of work to get there for not much time in the actual park.

Bring champagne and orange soda!

Is there anywhere in port to have your passport stamped?

FWIW, I emailed with Sharon from Native Ways last night and explained the discrepancy and said I would need to cancel if the times she was stating were right and she changed the time of the tour. But we were the only ship in port that day She goes off ship time which should match your itinerary and matches the time on Cruise TT. Your ship and dates show 7-3 on cruise TT but the two other ships in port arrive later and leave later according to cruise TT. Email her and ask about it but I wouldn't be surprised if your timing doesn't work for the excursion. Although there may be enough people from Vista to make a separate tour. There is a shorter tour that does not include Rum Point from Native Ways that she originally suggested I take before she understood the time issue.

Its worth it to me. Last cruise I didn't sleep at all the two nights before (because I was so excited) and all I wanted was to be able to get on and get settled. Plus, the magic guest services line is worth its weight in gold to me! I will be up from my nap on board before most people have even gotten on the ship.

We have FTTF and are in a suite. What is the earliest we can checkin and board Miracle in Tampa? My arrival appointment is 11:30 but I know that does not matter.

That would be "problem" not "phlegm." thanks autocorrect!

I'm having the same phlegm with native ways. Sharon is telling me the last tender leaves at 530 but carnival says my ship leaves at 5. I really want to take this tour but it doesn't seem like I can fit it in. Wondering if its a time difference thing.

Our tour doesn't start until 11 am but our ship gets in to port at 7 am. Is there anything open that early that makes it worth rushing to get off the ship? I don't want to miss anything. I am totally willing to rush, but not to find that everything is closed.

I think you are going to pay more than that price for uber. It was definately 95 from port when we took it. Surge pricing will get you on the return trip. Unless you have a lot of people, making it not cost effective, Contrans was actually awesome. And I hate shared transportation with a passion. But it was actually pretty fun to be on a shared shuttle with a bunch of other people going on cruises on the way down.

On international drive there is an entertainment center of sorts. It has a madame trousseads wax museum, the giant ferris wheel (The Orlando Eye) and a couple of other things. Its a perfect amount of time for that. Check if any of those places will hold your luggage. If not you will need to rent a can (but it might be cheaper to rent a hotel room!) Leave plenty of time at MCO. Last time we were there we barely made it with 2.5 hour advance arrival. I think that was unusual, but you definately want the full 2 hours. Resortpasses.com also has the Hyatt Regency for a day pass. THat would take care of the luggage issue.