JAJameson2010

Thanks for the review! We board today on our first cruise!

Awesome review!!! Thank you!

In Freeport we've gone off the ship to the Lucaya shopping area. There are some nice shops and a few restaurants. We had some great cracked conch there! But...just didn't feel it was worth the 20 minute an ride. Last time we were there we just went to the pier and walked around. The vendors are only pushy if you look like you're going to buy (i.e. handle their merchandise). I never have any issue saying NO. Also, there's a Senor Frogs and a Fat Tuesdays there, so you can buy a couple of drinks, too.

 

Nassau is fun, and you can do it without paying for an excurrsion! We walked down to the British Colonial Hilton and paid for the day passes. They are $65pp but $45 of that is a food voucher. You get a private beach, pool, towels, chairs, etc. Waiters come to your chairs and take you food/drink orders. We also walked from there to the Watlings Rum Distillery and too the tour and had some complimentary drinks at the end of the tour. From there we walked to Grey Cliff and visited their chocolate factory and cigar factory (separate operations, no chocolate cigars LOL). And finally after we waled back to the port area, we took a cab to Atlantis for a little casino fun.

Thank you!!! That's super helpful! :)Very glad to know the pushiness isn't all the time! LOL

Good find! I was getting dizzy checking out TripAdvisor. I heard about Stuart Cove for snorkeling (with sharks!), but their afternoon trip leaves around 1PM, which seems a bit tight considering we have 2 senior foreigners.

 

What are you doing in Port Canaveral? We plan on spending the whole day in KSC. I'm thinking of Ubering there. Our terminal doesn't seem very accessible for Uber though.

 

Ugh, so stressed!!!

I think we are just going to use that day as a nice day to stay on the ship and explore. :) Then in Nassau, maybe walk to Senior Frogs? I've seen that place mentioned often online. Then in Freeport we have an excursion booked. Garden of the Groves and City Tour, we booked through Costco and saved a few dollars. I think there's going to be lots to do on the ship too. My goal is to not overplan and try and relax! :) But we are first time cruisers too.... So that may not happen!

Same trip here! I'm so stressed out since this is our (4) first cruise ever. What activities are recommend in Nassau (11AM - 8PM)? Snorkeling? Should I just bite the bullet and order the supposedly overpriced cruise excursion or plan our own? Many thanks!

I'm trying to figure out the same thing! I just found this website. It even has a map!

http://www.cruiseportinsider.com/nassau.html

Congratulations! I hope you have a great time. We actually did this same cruise for our honeymoon almost 9 years ago.

 

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Oh wow! Hopefully a good omen!

I was on Pride 2/4 and 3/4..Just another tip:

 

Freeport has some smaller shopping kiosks as soon as you get off the ship.

 

Some had some cute things but don't take credit cards. The bigger stores do.

 

A woman near me went to buy a $4 trinket and they wouldn't take her CC.

 

Carry some "small bills" in case you come across this as well

 

Have fun! I love Pride. Going back on the 14 day Journey in November.:)

Super helpful! Thank you! We will bring a small amount of cash with us when we get off. We have an excursion booked for Freeport. A tour through waterfalls, then shopping? This leave at 8am though... I'm not sure if we will actually get to that one! LOL

I keep reading that Nassau is really pushy with vendors at the port, so we may not be off the ship there for long. I'm totally a "don't touch me" person.

I still have to research what to expect at each individual port :) Running out of research time! LOL

Just wanted to say we'll be one the Pride with you, boarding at the same time! If you see a lady with 2 crazy kids, her husband, in-laws, and brother, that's me! See ya on board!

 

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Wow! That is a lot of people to travel with! :') It'll be just us on our honeymoon! :) I'll be the crazy paranoid anxious lady!

I honestly don’t get the idea of separate prepaid cards... If you find questionable charges on your bill, you report it to the CC bank and they remove it and you have no liability. Wouldn’t that be the same if you used your normal CC vs getting a separate pre-paid card?

 

There’s only three things we do with CC when traveling:

- Make sure that the CC doesn’t have an international transaction fee...

- Notify the bank of our intended travel (as someone else mentioned)

- Have a family member carry a second different CC as a backup, in case the main one gets lost, stolen, or cancelled.

 

We’ve used our CC all around the world for decades and never had an issue.

 

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Thank you! Good tip about keeping the cards separate! The main one we will be using doesn't have foreign transaction fees. Our back up will totally ding us though. Although in that case, I assume the fees will be the least of our worries.

I think with the prepaid cards, you don't have any fraud protection, but it just limits the amount of damage that can be done. Just diff comfort levels for different folks. With technology it's easy to see in real time any issues. If I see crazy charges on my credit card, I don't panic, just pick up the phone and start the dispute & the change the card number process.

As I understand it if you are using Cheers you will be charged a per drink tax until you've left the Chesapeake Bay. My son had the soda plan and was miffed by this. I also understand that the ship turns its cellphone tower off in port. I don't understand the hesitance to use credit cards, they have fraud protection after all and I'd rather deal with that hassle after the trip rather than trying to figure out something else to use before the trip which is a hassle in and of itself.

I kind of agree on the credit card front, but I also don't have any automatic debits for bills hooked to any of mine. So switching card numbers isn't hard. I just called 2 of my credit card companies to let them know we will be traveling. So we have a backup card in case something happens to the first one. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my thought process.

Good to know about the taxes in the Chesapeake! How on earth does the ship keep all of this straight! Wow!

Super glad to know they turn off their cell towers in port! Giant relief! I was researching using the cell phone in port and there were lots of complaints about incorrect crazy charges due to connecting to the ship's tower. So we will be patient and not rush turning that phone back on until everything is completely docked and settled. :)

Thank you so much for the insight!

Thanks luckymbt! Fascinating way to get out of paying the taxes! I never would have thought! We totally prepaid right before they increased the price of them.

The Pride sails at 5:00 not 4:00. Could be, later if the prior cruise was very late.

Many thanks! We will def be there as close to 2pm as possible. Hopefully we won't have to drive in too many circles if we are an hour early :)

A needed reminder for everyone!!!! Thank you! I've been meaning on downloading their phone app and inputting that info. :) Doing it right now before I forget again!

Every time we go we we take several prepaid visas with us. That way when we are done we can toss them and not worry about anything major happening to our accounts or identities. If you want to carry cash you can do that, that way you can budget how much you want to take with you to each port without over spending. We usually buy the $50 visas and will only take one with us to each port.

Thanks! We will look into the prepaids :) Sounds like it's a better idea. Although the main benefit to our regular credit cards are that we have is fraud protection. That's why we internet shop with only credit cards. There's only 2 types of credit cards. Those that have already been compromised and those that already are. Just a matter of time these days :/

Tracking the ship: www.marinetraffic.com. It takes about eight hours to transit the bay from the entrance to Baltimore. It's about two hours from the Bay Bridge near Annapolis to the port.

Thank you! I heard about people tracking the ship but I didn't know how! :)

Cheers package starts the second you step on the ship, you will either get the sticker on your card when you pick it up at check in, or stop at the renaissance lobby bar as soon as you board and they will put it on. (I have had it both ways).

Perfect!!! Hello Frozen Cocktails! :) Thank you!

Thank you so much! I totally don't mind cancelling the CC and getting a new number once we are back home. I didn't even think of that risk. Maybe cash is safer then...

Boat leaves at 4, got it! We are planning on leaving the house at 11:30, so we are already padding by an hour. Good to know you didn't have any cell phone issues! Thank you so much! :)

We leave on the Pride this coming Sunday and I've been learning all about cruise ships for months, but I still have a few last minute questions.

1. We are supposed to board between 2-2:30pm, but I guess that will be later if the ship arrives later in the morning. Where can I track progress of the Ship?

2. We bought the Cheers package. When does that start? When we step on board? Or when we set sail?

3. We are stopping at Nassau & Freeport. If we buy things there, can we just use a visa card? I want to avoid carrying cash off the ship. Just seems like the safest plan of action!

4. Has anyone had trouble turning their cell phone data back on when they reach port and it connecting to the ships cell tower, instead of the towers on land at the port? Is there a way to prevent that in my cell settings? Android phone on T-mobile, if that helps. The tower on the boat is crazy expensive, but data on the land at each port is included in my cell plan.

Thanks for any help! I'm starting to get really excited about this trip!

We are going on our first cruise in March. Everyone is going to hate me! I rarely finish an entire plate... That's the whole reason I have dogs at home! :'):'):')