Good morning,

I'll be visiting Mr. Sanchos next month and are planning to do the horseback riding while there.  Looking online at horseback riding pictures from their beach, I see some folks wearing close-toe shoes.  Does anyone know if that's a requirement?  Nothing is posted on the beaches website.

Thank you!

Nevermind, I found my answer.

Does anyone know anything about the tram service on CocoCay?

How often does it run?  How many trams are there?  Will it be waiting for passengers as soon as we disembark?  Does it drop off people clear down to South Beach?

Any help you can provide is appreciated.

 

😄

Interesting.  Thank you for that.

Hello,

I haven't been on a cruise in 9 years.  I'll be sailing on the Independence of the Sea next month.  The last time we sailed, I believe men were required to wear collared shirts in the dining room.  Has this changed?  Has the dress become more laxed?  Just trying to figure out what to pack.

I don't remember - is there a formal night on a 5 night cruise?

Thanks for the input.

Hello,

I haven't been on a cruise in 9 years.  I'll be sailing on the Independence of the Sea next month.  The last time we sailed, I believe men were required to wear collared shirts in the dining room.  Has this changed?  Has the dress become more laxed?  Just trying to figure out what to pack.

I don't remember - is there a formal night on a 5 night cruise?

Thanks for the input.

Yep, we did! We were on this sailing! So cool you got a pic. :D

And here she is headed out with new passengers. I hope they have as good a time as we did. Bon Voyage

 

I don't know about drinks made with top shelf vodka but the first night DH & I had a mojito. Our bill was $24! DH decided it was time to purchase the beverage package. Since he only purchased the package for himself, he found a way that our son could enjoy some soda and I could also enjoy drinks without having to pay extra. We found the prices to be ridiculous. :eek:

I see you're from OH. In talking with Kelly, DH & I learned he is also from OH. I don't remember exactly what area but he and his wife (who is on the ship with him) are living the dream. They love it! So jealous.

We were amazed watching Kelly's hands on the monitor behind him. As I'm sure you noticed, he would frequently take one hand off the keyboard to wave it around while he continued playing with the other hand. Without looking at the keyboard, he would then drop his hand right back to where it was supposed to be to play the next chord. That may be normal for a pianist that puts in many, many hours, but it's impressive for a non-pianist to watch.

Not from our experience. How long did you wait around?

At the end of the Beatles set he ran to the casino and never came back. Kinda weird, is that normal

DH & I loved Kelly's show when we were on Freedom last week. We were at the Schooner's Bar every night to see his show and then for the time he played afterwards. He's very talented and my DH commented several times that he couldn't believe how one person can know so many song lyrics from so many genres. Watching the video makes me want to be there again.

I have a lot of info about St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but let me quickly cover a few random bits of info.

 

Internet - We decided that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to deprive our teen daughters of internet access for an entire week. How would they survive without Instragram, Twitter, and Snapchat? The price was $20 per day for one device at a time, and an extra $10 a day for 2 devices at a time. I was only willing to pay for 1 device at a time and told my daughters that they'd need to share. We were never sure about how to log off one device so that we could log on a different device. We ended up just logging onto the second device and assumed that the first device would automatically log out. About 5 days into the trip we realized that we had more than one device with access at the same time. I verified that we were only being charged for 1 device. Not sure why this happened. Maybe it's a loophole in their system? In any case, it worked.

 

Internet speed was slow but manageable. Uploading pictures took a couple of minutes. Uploading videos to Snapchat took longer, but worked. DD17 tried to Facetime her boyfriend but they couldn't even get audio only to work. They had to settle for iMessaging and Direct Messaging on Twitter to communicate with friends.

 

Entertainment - We thought the singers/dancers/production numbers were just so-so. We really enjoyed some of the other entertainers though. Kelly Goodrich was the piano player in the Schooner Bar and he was great. He would do a themed hour most nights, dressed in a costume. One night was Billy Joel, another was Elton John, and another was Jimmy Buffet. He also did 30 Beatles songs in 60 minutes one night but we missed it. Here's a short clip of Kelly playing Rocket Man dressed as Elton John:

 

[YOUTUBE]W-b0W2b23j4[/YOUTUBE]

 

One of the comedians was Chris Bliss. He also does an amazing juggling routine sync'd to a medley of Beatles music. See a Youtube version here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiq8Z4dBwE

 

We very much enjoyed the aerialists. Their routine in the Welcome aboard show was good, but their routine in the Farewell show was even better. A few things they did in the Farewell show had me nervous about witnessing a major fall that would not have been good.

 

The Now You See It Drew Thomas Magic Show was also very good. I'd read mixed reviews here with some really liking it and some thinking that integrating the ship's singers and dancers was too forced. Overall though, I thought his magic was very good and left me very entertained.

 

I was pleasantly surprise by the Headliner who was a former member of Foreigner. I'm blanking on his name and it's not in the Cruise Compass. He actually only played a few Foreigner songs at the end of the show and that was the least enjoyable part to me. He had a nice voice and played the clarinet, trumpet, sax, and guitar. I thought he played very well with the Freedom orchestra. My only complaint is that his "style" is a little too Vegas, if that makes sense.

Awesome! Guess what I'll be buying at Walmart today ;)

So here's a question...for those travel cups with a straw that you can buy at Walmart, can you use those to fill up in WJ and then take out to pool or stateroom?

Thank you notes.

 

Large black garbage bags for dirty laundry.

 

A map of the Carib.

 

A nylon fold up duffle bag. We use it to put our clothes in on the way home and pack our trinkets in the sturdier luggage.

 

Ear plugs.

 

Tiny individual servings of liquid coffee creamer. Great for room service coffee before breakfast.

 

We bring two pair of binoculars so we can both look when someone spots something.

 

Large cheap plastic cups.,we fill them up with ice, tea, lemonade from the Windjammer to enjoy on our balcony.

 

A visor or hat for shore excursions.

 

A sweater to wear in the ice skating rink.

Snacks for diabetics to be used in case of a ship breakdown or delay, and a battery operated fan for the same reason.

 

A list of hotels in port with phone numbers in case of a departure delay.

Lady in tx: I haven't posted in awhile b/c of vacation. Did you get an answer about the beds?

Does this mean no more of those wonderful looking beds on the beach? :(

I must admit I was disappointed to hear the massages weren't offered on the beach anymore but holy cow, the new massage room is beautiful! :D

Okay, I"m game. DH & I was on the EOC back in June. Was a first time cruizer in a balcony room...what a delight!

1. What is your favorite spot on the Enchantment to enjoy a cocktail? (extra points - what is your favorite cocktail for cruising?) Viking Crowne Lounge and anything fruity.

2. Quest: Do or don't? (I've not been yet, but hear it's fun!) Didn't see the Quest.

3. What are some interesting foods you've tried on the Enchantment? The most unusual was the Watermelon Soup. It was delicious and refreshing.

4. Any suggestions for the activities on board? Anything from towel animal classes to the comedy show - what's fun? Thought the Love & Marriage Game was a hoot!

5. What's the most mischevious thing you've done aboard the Enchantment? Mischevious, well maybe...a little hanky panky on the balcony. ;)

 

I think...

-If you can't buy it the first night onboard.

-They should make it so you can order online and then allow pickup with ID at the store the first night.

-If they want to set a limit, thats fine.

2 bottles of the hard stuff is ok with me.

This is a great idea.

Although I have not experienced my first cruise yet, I chose that I would not pay b/c I think $15 is way too much. If I HAD to pay, I think $5.00 would be more reasonable. I understand that liability may be one of the reasons why RCI did away with this practice but on the flip-side I think it's a shame that for a few of the unresponsible passagers, RCI that to go to the extreme and ruin it for the rest. I think the poster above has a great idea of allowing bottles to be purchased beforehand and picked up with proper ID but place a limit on how many.

This may not be real helpful but I found this through a websearch. It was mentioned in a review of the new EOS posted by Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor of Cruise Critic. I was really excited to read this seeing that our cabin is in the new section, at least I think it is.

"If you can, whatever the category, try to book one of the cabins in the new section; we snuck a peek and televisions were new (and quite large), furnishings were dynamically colored and bathrooms definitely reflected a new-ship mindset (better storage, rolling shower divider rather than a wrap-around nylon curtain)."

This may not be real helpful but I did a websearch and came up with this that was posted in a review from

I would love to know this too. Dh & I will be crusing on EOS in June for our anniversary. We'll be in 7582 which I read somewhere that that cabin is located in the new section. What section will you be in?

Any insight from anyone would be great. :D