FloridaMac

Virgin Voyages newbie here, so be gentle!  On RCCL we've always carried on wine, and always taken it to the restaurants.  Never been charged the corkage fee. 

Is it the same on VV?  Do they actually charge the corkage fee if you carry your bottle to the restaurant? 

Many more seemingly obvious questions to come 😁

Hi,

We're booked for Zipline at 10am and Coaster at 1pm.  

• How long does the Zipline take?
• Does our reservation time for the Coaster matter, or can we go anytime?

First time at Labadee and have a cabana at Barefoot Beach. Are there lockers close by?  

On 12/5/2023 at 12:23 AM, TravelFiend said:

Once at the Blue Hole, Oneil hooked us up with a couple of friends of his, who escorted us through the falls and helped us over the rocks....

Great review!  Question about Blue Hole.  Is it an easy walk to get to the Blue Hole?  Some of our party won't climb to the top of the falls, just hang out at the bottom. 60's, 70's knee replacements 😉  @TravelFiend

On 2/2/2024 at 12:19 AM, Cruise.Loon said:

Hello FloridaMac, My family took a tour with Real Tours Jamaica and had a great time...

On 2/12/2024 at 5:12 PM, Louis77 said:

Hey @FloridaMac I am booked with Oneil Jamaica Excursions. He can definitely assist you... 

Thank you both for the recommendations! We're going just the two of us this fall.  Will probably take a tour with one of these to check it out and then bring the family in Spring 2025

We're also looking for private tours in Puerto Plata.

Hi,

We're visiting Jamaica with our family and would like to do a private tour.  There will be 12 of us, 6 adults and 6 kids ages 6 to 17.  We're open to either a land based tour or on the water.  We don't want to spend a fortune, maybe $2-2.5K?  Would love to have recommendations.  

On 2/2/2023 at 2:38 PM, mitsugirly said:

Here are our experiences with both:

 

NACHI COCOM

 

PARADISE BEACH

 

Thank you for these reviews!  What years were these? 

Great News!  Hopefully they'll lower the price of the chair/umbrella rentals too.  Makes no sense to price them high and have almost none rented out!  Price them where you almost sell out, maximize profit.

On 7/5/2023 at 3:20 PM, JamieLogical said:

• Difficulty of acquiring both toast and butter at the same time

🤣

4 hours ago, debnjoe1438 said:

Are specialty coffee's included in the Easy Plus drink package? Thank you

Yes, according to this: https://www.cruisegear.com/msc-drink-packages-complete-guide-with-prices/  I was researching Easy Plus earlier today as well

2 hours ago, bull1815 said:

The last time I cruised with MSC I found Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Sumpin at one bar on the ship. Maybe it’s still around somewhere. 

I can hope 😃

Tell me it ain't so.  I've heard there are no IPA's.  Does anyone know if they've added one?  I saw a list that included a bunch of pilsners and lagers plus a hard cider, a brown ale, and a stout. 

They have villas or cottages there too, which is why I'm trying to remember the name of the place.  TIA

Thanks again. Both of the videos you posted are very acceptable views, in my opinion.  I'd enjoy either one of them.  What I wouldn't enjoy is the view in this video 🙁

Here's a pic if you don't want to watch the video...

Thanks for that video!  I wish they had panned down a bit looking aft.  It doesn't seem there would be a significant obstruction for the deck immediately below.  

This side of the ship is all available, the other side is booked, makes me think there's an obstruction blocking Aqua Theatre?  Any info on these rooms or other decks at the end of the boardwalk?

Following this thread, thanks to all for the info.  New to MSC, first cruise coming up soon.  Love that they do status match!  We're Diamond on RCCL and MSC gave us Gold.

Like the OP I'm also interested in embarkation info.  It appears we don't get assigned times, so do we just show up?  The website says our cruise starts boarding at 10:00 AM.

Has anyone taken the wreck snorkeling tour? 

Do they visit the wreck that's right next to the island (visible on some pics and videos) or do they go elsewhere? 

Is it possible to snorkel the wreck right there at the island?

Is there any other good snorkeling off the beach without a tour?

Thanks! 🙂🏊‍♂️

If anyone has published info or just a guess based on experience much appreciated.  🙂 

We're big thrift shoppers and would rather visit a local thrift store than the cruise-industry-approved shopping areas.  Are there any good thrift stores in St. Thomas?

Also on Allure 😀 Great trip so far, but one small disappointment at Vintages. Previously on other ships (Harmony 3 months ago) one of the benefits of paying for a wine tasting was that they would sell you bottles of the wine you had just tasted at a 20% discount. This is no longer the case, at least on Allure. The wine steward informed me this has been discontinued. 😕

22 hours ago, NautiGirlGA said:

Following to see what kind of feedback you get, as I'm wondering the same. 👍

I decided it's too small.  Looking pics online of that model, 11 people (13 with captain and mate) will "fit" but it would be too tight.  For only $200 more we booked a 44 foot catamaran and will be able to spread out and relax 🙂

On 1/16/2020 at 3:35 PM, crossfitmama said:

https://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/excursions/st-thomas-catamaran-tour/ . they have private half day tours for up to 12 passengers so that might be a good option

Thanks for the suggestion!  We ended up booking with SV Blacksheep http://svblacksheep.com/

We're looking for a half-day private tour, snorkel and sightseeing, on a catamaran for 11 people while we're in port at St. Thomas in March.   Prefer a sailing catamaran.   We've looked on Tripadvisor and most of the highly rated ones are booked.  Anyone with a first-hand experience on a boat that you recommend? ⛵🙂  Thanks!