coasterjan

On 3/23/2023 at 9:40 PM, luckyinpa said:

one trip i decided i wanted to see the staircase. it was 3 of us walking. we got near the hospital and it just didnt feel right. no particular reason. turned around to head back to the ship. the area near the pirate museum was ok, mcdonalds and even the tortuous straw market seem pretty safe though.

 

now as far as vendors literally chasing  you down the street to get you to buy a tshirt. thats another issue.

 

i do hope the new terminal is done by May so thats at least something new to look forward to!

My daughter and I experienced the exact same thing - walking to the Queen's staircase and we both got the sensation we were walking into trouble. We had gotten off the ship and headed left towards the hospital using Google maps. It was seriously "sketchy".  We doubled back the way we came and when we got back to the "touristy" area, we headed up the hill and *then* left to the staircase and fort, and it was much better.

16 hours ago, carfman1960 said:

I,M LEAVING ON A CRUISE OUT OF THE PORT OF MIAMI IN 2 WEEKS, I HEARD THAT TRAFFIC GETTING TO THE PORT IS VERY BUSY DUE TO CONSTRUCTION AND CAN TAKE WAY LONGER THAN NORMAL  WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS TAKEN THAT DRIVE RECENTLY AND ALSO IS FINDING A PARKING SPOT AT THE PORT DIFFICULT .

I made the horrific mistake of trying to drive a rental car into the Port of Miami to drop off our friends and suitcases before returning the rental car to downtown Miami almost 2 weeks ago - Sunday Jan. 15. Traffic was a NIGHTMARE.  Miami-Dade police had blocked off almost all the cross streets, making us go all the way down to Terminal A and across in front of ALL 7 ships in port every pass of the island. The ramp onto the bridge was closed, forcing us to go back in front of the cruise ships *again* to be able to get off that cursed island. I will *never* try to drive to a cruise out of Miami again....   We had 4 companions that drove to the port and parked, and they had a bit of a rough time too but they arrived before 10 am and didn't run into as much traffic as we did.

We used Uber to get to Miami airport when we got off the ship and traffic seemed to be much better at 8 am than it was at 11 am the week before, but still more cars than I ever want to deal with again...

Please allow yourself plenty of extra time, and brace yourself for what could be a harrowing experience if the police are out there blocking roads like they were 2 weeks ago.

Janis

3 hours ago, tdbates said:

 

My experience has been that Carnival uses the available sea water to fill their pools each day, and empty them to clean them at night.  Unless something is different on the Sunshine, they are using untreated ocean water that is definitely not heated except by the body fluids of your fellow swimmers (which is the main reason I avoid the pools!).  As has already been pointed out, 12 year olds probably don't care.

On 8/20/2021 at 1:01 PM, newpherchris said:

I've said this on a couple of other threads but better to be safe than sorry - please consider researching a Plan B in advance. CVS cancelled our rapid antigen appointments in the Richmond, VA two days before the scheduled date. we had booked two weeks in advance and scrambled to find available appointments elsewhere (Walgreens 25 minutes away).

I also live in the Richmond VA area (East End), and I have rapid tests booked at a CVS for my husband and I for next Thursday morning  (cruise on Saturday).  Now, I'm seriously worried that they are going to cancel our appointments, too.  UGH!  I couldn't help noticing there weren't many places around here even willing to do the rapid tests.  At least I'm forewarned, and I'll keep an eye out for cancellation emails,but I sure hope I'm not going to be frantically trying to find someplace for us to get tested next week....!

7 hours ago, isladonna said:

We have a 10am flight out of fort lauderdale.  we are doing self assist.  How do we insure we get off the ship asap?  Just get in a line to debark or what?

Can or do you tell someone you need to get off asap so there won't be a issue getting off early?

Thanks!

 

Hubby and I just did self-assist at Port Everglades yesterday morning (got off the Carnival Magic).  As Platinum VIFP members, we were among the first off the ship, and were standing in FLL before 7:00 am.  I have no idea if it is always that easy - I'd been fretting about making a 11:45 flight!

They were only allowing Platinums and Diamonds to get off in that first wave, though - all others including Faster to the Fun had to wait until we were off. I have no idea how long that took - I was already in a taxi heading to the airport...

Wow, thank you for sharing those pictures, Bostonjetset.  We are staying on the Queen Mary before our cruise in less than 2 weeks, and now I'm even more excited to see this her!  My husband's grandfather rode home from WWII on the QM.  I wish he was still living so we could talk to him about it!

Janis

The #1 thing I learned on my first cruise: Don't let Carnival plan your flights.  They had us arriving just a few hours before our Port Canaveral cruise, and of course our plane was late leaving Virginia and we *barely* made the ship. I really don't need that kind of stress!  I book my flights *myself*, arriving at least one day ahead (more, if there's something interesting to do near the embarkation port).  Also, I learned to not stop at the ice cream machine every time I was walking past - I gained 15 pounds that first cruise! And, take more money and less clothes than you think you'll need.

I won't pay Royal's price for laundry service, so I pack a few plastic-coated wire hangers and some (deflated) balloons, along with a bit of Woolite and I wash out anything that needs laundered in the bathroom sink. After washing, I'll spread the item out on a beach towel that I roll up and stomp on to get excess water out, and then hang it on the plastic hanger and put a (now blown up and tied off) balloon in it so it will dry fast (the fabric gets more air circulation with the balloon inside). I pop the balloons and throw them away at the end of the cruise. Works like a charm, if you don't mind laundry hanging around your room for a few hours....

Janis

Hi all,

 

I wanted to pass on my recent experience, hope this helps when planning post cruise transportation and airport arrival.

 

Sailing 8/19/18-8/26/18

Ship Oasis of the Seas (we beat two CCL ships into port)

Disembarkation - we self assisted

Pre-arranged Transportation - AA Access Transportation ($14 one way)

 

 

How did you get the $14 price? I can't find anything cheaper than $20 one way, including AA Access Transportation...

We've got 4 of us, would love to save a little bit more...

Thanks,

Janis

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to add that sand, beach heat, etc. can be torture for a diabetic with peripheral neuropathy.

 

I’d appreciate any ideas on water shoes that can protect from sand getting inside the shoe.

 

Going over suggestions in this thread again — some great ideas.

My diabetic husband has a pair of Speedo water shoes he bought at Costco that work very well for him.

They are more supportive than those cheap ones from Wal-mart, and the lining doesn't bunch up and slip.

My first Royal cruise was on Grandeur, one of the least expensive inside staterooms, and it almost turned me off RCI permanently. The room was absolutely *tiny*, the closet was woefully too small, and the bathroom bordered on unusable. The sink was so small, I could barely get my hands wet in it. My 300 pound husband was very unhappy with the size of the shower. The room was so small that we couldn't even pass each other - one of us would have to step into the bathroom or out of the room if the other wanted by. Luckily, our friends talked us into trying a promenade room on the Freedom of the Seas, and we've loved Royal ever since. But I'll never stay in one of those teeny interior rooms on the older ships again!

Janis

I've used Eagle Ray divers many times. Much better than the Carnival scuba excursions - small groups, personalized service. Carnival did you a favor!

Janis

This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! Hardcover – September 8, 2015

by Jonathan Evison

Ooh! I just downloaded this one on my Kindle for my cruise in 2 weeks!

I've read "Santa Cruise" by Mary Higgins Clark and "Killer Cruise" by Laura Levine. I preferred Laura Levine's book - she sprinkles her mysteries with humor, too.

Janis

I was disappointed when I found out that they don't have the Freestyle Machines on Adventure (we board in less than 3 weeks). This is only my third Royal cruise, and the other 2 ships had them (Grandeur and Freedom). Hubby and I are diabetic, and I am also very sensitive to caffeine, so my beverage choices are really limited when I can't get Sprite Zero, diet ginger ale, and all the other calorie-free, caffeine-free choices a Freestyle machine provides. It'll be diet Sprite or water for me all week.

Ah well, could be worse - I could be going to work instead.

:)

Janis

 

Also in port with us was a Silver Sea ship, the Silver Spirit and two mega yachts. I heard a rumor back on board and confirmed it when I got home thru the ever trusty internet ;) - one of the yachts, the Seven Seas, is owned by Steven Spielberg. Was he there? Who knows, but its’ fun thinking he was sitting there looking at all of us with no idea he was there.

 

The other *huge* white yacht in port, the Rising Sun, is owned by David Geffen. We were told by locals (our divemasters and crew) that neither Steven Spielberg or David Geffen actually spend any time on those yachts when they are docked in St. Maarten - the crews pull into port to restock the yachts, and occasionally one of the owners will happen to fly in on a private jet and be whisked to their yacht which immediately pulls out once they are on board, but most likely neither one of those guys were anywhere around the day we were there. Still pretty cool to see their yachts. Rising Sun is among the largest yachts in the world, originally built for Larry Ellison of Oracle fame.

Janis

 

An option for frustrated Photobucket users is tinypic.com. No membership required (although you can if you want). You can upload from your computer or from a picture on another website by entering the url to the actual image file.

 

You can resize right there in the tinypic page (i generally use "message board - 640x480 but if you're talking about a picture of a menu or newsletter you might want to leave it default so people can read it better) and it gives you the url to copy and paste into CC's "add image" dialog box.

Thank you for this tidbit. I've never actually tried to add any pictures to any of my posts here, but I think I might be able to do this.

Janis

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. It was such a great cruise, wasn't it?

 

I didn't think about the wasted bread, nor the ackwardness if you were at a table with people you didn't know.

 

It's interesting that out of our group of 9, two of us also came home with the crud. That would be me and DW...

 

Feel free to keep commenting along the way; I wonder if we crossed paths? Stay tuned.

If you went to either of the Titanic lectures, or the one about D-Day, I was the dork down front taking notes. (I have memory issues, so if I don't write it down, it didn't happen!)

Janis

I'm glad you're enjoying the review. It's a lot of work; but fun to re-live the trip.

 

Somehow, I missed the new sheet you get at the beginning that has the entire Entertainment schedule. I thought I saved all of the Fun Times, but somehow I missed Friday.

 

I've had a lot of problems in the past posting photos; so I'm not going to be able to scan and post the Fun Times. Are you on the 8 night cruise?

 

The Playlist shows were Epic Rock, The Brits, Divas and Latin Nights. Edge, a juggler, comedian and Marcus Anthony, who did a Motown show, were the extra entertainers. Those might change with your cruise, though.

 

I can try to answer any specific questions you might have.

I've got that entertainment sheet plus all the FunTimes, but sadly, I am so computer illiterate that I have no idea how to actually share them besides merely re-typing all the information....

Janis

I know this is strange, but weirdly, I prefer Splendor to Conquest because I adore the inside hot tubs on Splendor deck 10. What can I say? And I also missed not having a Serenity deck on Conquest. Little things I know, but if I was choosing between Splendor or Conquest with comparable itineraries and prices, I'd choose Splendor. I enjoyed Conquest too, so neither choice is going to be "wrong".

Janis

 

This is our 2nd cruise with the new American menus. There are some things on both menus: lobster, filet mignon, prime rib, BBQ ribs, crème brulee, and of course, WCMC. I must say, my family finds plenty of things on both menus that we like.

 

But, let’s discuss the American menu table settings. Even though the wood tables are beautiful; most in our family did not like the loss of table cloths except on formal night. Having water pitchers on the table was great; but even with the containers they were in, they still dripped everywhere when you poured from them. And, most importantly; we really noticed an increase in noise with no table cloths compared to the formal nights.

 

My husband and I were on this cruise with you along with 2 friends, and I couldn't agree more with the comments about the tablecloths. I also didn't really like the waste of bread by setting a full basket on the table each night, and would have been a lot unhappier if we'd been sitting at a large table with strangers all pawing through the bread basket before us. Also, no clean place to put silverware truly annoyed my husband (the germophobe). Interestingly, he's the one that got terribly sick on this cruise with the creeping crud (cough, congestion) that just *won't* go away. He's convinced it is from his silverware touching the dirty tables in the main dining room.

I'm enjoying your review very much - great memories!

Janis

Hubby and I weren't impressed with the shop selection on Conquest, either. We'd picked up 2 T-shirts for $30, but once we got them back to the room and really looked at them, decided to return them. They seemed to be extremely cheaply made, almost see- through, and not even worth $15 each. I really didn't see anything else I even wanted, but he bought an overpriced hat, since he couldn't bear to be on a new-for-us ship and not buy *something*. I liked the former shop vendor better than the new one.

Janis

I saw on some ships you can gat social media wifi for just a few dollars a day.

First of all, does conquest have this option?

 

Second, how does it work. Where do I sign up?

Hubby and I were on the April 2 sailing of Conquest. We signed up for the middle level of internet that included all social media plus gave us pretty much full access to the internet and email. It cost $60 for 8 days. To sign up, we just opened an email browser and went to Carnival's wifi page, then created an account. The log in was my husband's folio number and birthdate. We both shared one account, but only one of us could be logged on at a time - next time, I'm getting my *own*!

Social Media only (Facebook, Instagram, etc) was only $30 for 8 days.

Speed was surprisingly good for on a ship - don't expect it to be as fast as broadband at home, but it wasn't bad at all. My husband was able to keep up with all his sports teams, which made him very happy.

Any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them.

Janis

I wasn't really all that happy about banning us from bringing on our own water, since we prefer Deer Park spring water to filtered water, but at least it was almost reasonably priced (almost).

But now, almost $8 a case for filtered water? Really?

I'm sorry we invited friends who've only sailed on Royal before to come on our next cruise. I'm just not happy with some of the choices Carnival is making lately. And the American Table menus look disgusting.

This just might be our last Carnival cruise.

Deck Four... Boleros for Aft and the Schooner Bar Fwd.

 

We arrived just before 0700 and we where queued up through the casino ( Boleros aft) and moved right along and to the car at 0730

Thank you! Noted in my cruise notebook.

:-)

Janis

We just got off the Freedom of the Seas last Sunday and did self express debarkation (you carry your luggage ashore) - very smooth in our case.

 

Since we had a 12 hour drive to Virginia, we wanted to get an early start. We lined up at the forward gangway at 6:15 am. At that time, there was already a short line in front of us at the gangway. By 6:30 am there were a lot of people coming down and the line extended down the port side of the outside deck 4 promenade (yes - that's the smoking side). The ship's staff did a great job of directing folks to the end of the line (no cutting). At one point, the end of the lines for both the forward and aft gangways met on deck 4.

 

The announced self-debarkation time was scheduled for 7:00 am but they started early at 6:45 am. In the terminal, there are 3 ways down to customs; elevator, escalator and ramp. The escalator requires a free hand, elevator and ramp does not. There was no line for the elevator so we took that which saved a bit of walking. There were plenty of customs agents and no lines when we arrived at customs.

 

We were parked in the terminal garage so we loaded up our bags and were on the highway at 7:00 am. Lining up at 6:15 seemed to make a huge difference. Sure we waited 30 minutes for them to start debarkation but the plus was no line at customs.

Thank you so much for this information! I will most likely be awake half the night anyway, so being in line by 6:15 should be easy enough.

Being new to Royal, can you tell me where we should wait to debark? Which floor? I'm not at all familiar with the layout of Freedom of the Seas yet, but I will hopefully have it figured out by the end of the week!

The other line I've cruised has us wait in the theater or bar on deck 3, not allowed to wait anywhere near the gangway, and I've waited in the "wrong" spot before, making for a miserable time trying to get off the ship.

Thank you so much!

Janis