MELSMOM47

On 3/13/2024 at 10:10 AM, TheHawk1 said:

Just got back from a cruise stop at Grand Cayman, where I thought I was following the advice described here.  Jumped in a shared taxi at the ground transportation area of the port with other strangers and when we reached Public Beach was told to pay $12 pp for round trip.  Tried to tell the driver we ust wanted to pay for one way, but was coerced into paying full price and guaranteed a return time.

 

When it came time to return to port, of course no taxi in sight.  Had not thought to ask for a return ticket, so all we had was a wristband with the driver's name, which was not transferable to any of the other taxis.  So, ended up paying a second time for a different taxi to take us back to ship.

 

Felt totally scammed by this situation.  These taxis should have better regulation, so beware.

That’s a shame.Im sorry that happened. 😬 Maybe he had an issue. I’ve taken taxis in the islands for many years and they have always returned. 

On 4/10/2024 at 7:37 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

DH started feeling sick yesterday and by today he was full blown sick. I've just tested him and sure enough, he has covid. 

I feel like I am probably coming down with it as well. Great. Just great. Right in time for my birthday.... 😞

 

There were a lot of Typhoid Marys on the cruise. Adults were coughing into their hands and sometimes without even covering up. On the last night, there were two of them sitting behind us in the theater...

Ugh. It was quite a while ago but I’m just reading. Hope it was extremely mild and short lived. 

On 4/10/2024 at 5:21 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Sea day lunch, day 8

 

They had shrimp with sauce, not self-serve, so the lady was giving out 5 shrimp at a time. Also, a mushroom risotto which was also very good and much less salty than the MDR dinner version the night before.

 

 

There were many different cakes that day in the dessert section. And a white chocolate fondue station with pieces of cake and fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

These menus were on every table at the buffet. If you didn't want a drink service, you were supposed to lay them down flat on the table.

 

Hmmm. Most on the card are over the price of the classic beverage package 🤔

On 6/25/2024 at 12:37 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it's not like it's a tiny beach. It's quite long - if you don't like one spot due to crowds, just move a bit to an empty spot.

That would be ok. Are there chairs and umbrellas though?  It seems I’ve read that they run out. 🤔

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Ouch!!!!!    

Perhaps you can look into ways to pre-book, or find a day-pass????

 

With the current issues, that seem to be coming from the North Amsterdam Manor area...  I would be hoping to land somewhere on the South end of the beach.

 

Yes. Ouch 😬 Last time we were there we did a day pass at the Barcelo. Could it really be $110 pp? In 2020 it was $30 Yikes

Glad to hear this. We will be there in February as well.  How did it work as a beach club in the past. Did they take reservations?

Are the tables set up along the water’s edge all day or just for dinner?

I checked the cruise schedule. There are four ships in port on our day and we are the last scheduled to dock. 😬 I’m thinking there won’t’ be chairs and umbrellas available by the time we get there. Am I right?

35 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

Horizon and passions are two restaurants on the beach there. And yes you can rent chairs and umbrellas too. 

Thank you 👍🏻

5 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

Amsterdam Manor Hotel is were we disembark the bus. Everything you need is there. 

Is the restaurant named Passions or does Amsterdam Manor has another. I’m assuming chairs and umbrellas are for rent. 

Indeed. Read the big thread and then Googled Passions. I’m confused. 

59 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Bed near the bathroom is preferred.  We have had some very rough seas on Star Breeze.   One night, during rock and roll time, it was so rough that it was impossible to stand up. Luckily our bed was near the bathroom. My spouse rolled across the bed to reach the bathroom. There was no way that you could walk around the bed.  Once on Windsurf, we had a very rough night. Fell down trying to get from the bed near the porthole to the bathroom.  

I agree 100% for a number of reasons. Ease of access is definitely up there. I also want to sit by the window to look  out when getting ready in the evening or when having my morning coffee as opposed to sitting on the bed. Never made sense to me. 

5 minutes ago, Nearpost345 said:

just for clarification, they are juliet balconies. 

Yes. Thank you. I know but...... at least we can get some fresh air. 🤷‍♀️

Looking to book a Star Balcony Suite (SBS) deck five midship. 534-541. Does anyone have any information good and bad. Ideally I’d like the seating area by the balcony and the bed close to the bathroom. Thank for your input. 

14 minutes ago, schmidlapp said:

Next winter we're booked on the Surf. One of our ports is Tortola BVI. Our plan is to take the ferry , (very short ride) to St John USVI for a few hours. This will require us to have our passports for the day. Wondering how they will handle this?

Hmmmm. That's interesting. Last month on Windstar in the Caribbean we saw a couple speaking with the Pursers office about getting ahold of their passports. Perhaps it was for something like this. We finished our business and walked away without knowing the outcome. 

40 minutes ago, ridethetide said:

If I recall correctly, they did not collect our passports when we embarked on the circumnavigation of Iceland. Perhaps it is not necessary when all of the stops are in the same country.

Did the cruise begin and end in Iceland?

Thank you. Viking did the same. Perhaps on the mega ships it too much trouble. 

I recently returned from the Caribbean on the Wind Surf. We were required to hand our passports over to the ship for the duration of the cruise.  We were told that this was in order to facilitate clearing immigration. Does Windstar always do this? the question came up on a thread about another cruise line and people said that they had heard of such a thing and would never give up their passports. I remember this on my previous Windstar cruises and didn't think anything of it. TIA

Thank you 👍🏻

What times are the shows in the theater? My memory says 6:30 and 9:00. Does that sound right?

I was just in the Caribbean and heard stories about getting home and being told the items didn’t appraise. Scared me off buying 😟

18 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we usually end up going to the beach bar right where the taxi drops you off. It is not very big, so it fills up pretty quickly, but people do leave sometimes in the middle of the day so you can get a better spot. Last time we were there, they roped off a large area for our own cruise's beach break, but before that - the entire beach bar area was available.
 

I think there is Sorobon Beach resort right next to it (to the right if looking at the water), but we never looked closely.

 

 

I believe other people recommend Chogogo resort for fuller amenities, and it's not very expensive for the day beach break option. I think $25 including $10 food credit.

 

Thank you.

2 minutes ago, Boxerlover2 said:

We have experienced both balconies and both of them are our favorite. However, we like the deeper balconies for the space and also to enjoy the shade and no rain. 

Thank you. We like to take breakfast on the balcony. Are regular chairs available too ?

We did a very nice tour with about 20 people. Best snorkeling ever. Adult crowd. A nice punch and lunch on the way back. I’ll look for the name and come back. Woodwind is the name on the company 

6 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

Yes, the staterooms on the slant/angle have 2-3 times larger balconies than the aft balconies.  1407 has a normal sized balcony with little overhang from the sun/inclement weather.  9298 has 2x larger balcony than 1407.  I would go for 9298.  Better location on the ship.

 

 

Thanks. It didn’t feel like a tunnel? The same cabin is available on the port side. Is there a big difference?