shootingstar07

I'm trying to plan our day when we dock in Ochos Rios. I would like to hire a private driver.

 

Is it worth going to Dunn's River or Blue Hole if we have no desire to climb the falls or jump? I know these are considered "must-dos," but for a number of reasons the climbing/jumping most likely will not work for us. Is it worthwhile to just stop at these places and take a look around? I know there are entrance fees and I have no problems with that.

 

I also plan on doing Turtle River Falls and Gardens and stopping somewhere for some food.

 

Any other suggestions for a day with a driver? I don't want to venture too far from Ochos Rios because my husband can sometimes get car sick and I know the roads deeper into the island can get interesting.

 

Thanks!

I am heading to Ocho Rios on Nov 6. I am planning to use Courtney Taylor for a private tour to the Blue Hole, tubing, touring and lunch at Scotchies. I do not plan to go to Dunns River Falls because of my DH's knee surgery. He isn't too steady on his feet. I will report back when I return to US Nov 9.

Let me know if you have specific questions and I will try to get answers for you.

Kathleen

This is a four minute video from our recent day trip to Jamaica on RCI. It shows pictures and video clips from the Blue Hole, a beach and Scotchie's restaurant.

 

If you're considering an excursion to one of these places you might like to check out the video for an advanced look.

 

Jamaica Day Trip

Great video!! So enjoyed it as well as your photos on your blog.

By the way, Courtney Taylor tours does a fantastic job!

Thanks for info. Your photos from the Blue Hole are beautiful. Did you swim?

Hello fellow cruisers,

I am leaving for a 5 day cruise Nov 3 that ports in Ocho Rios. Currently I have a ship's tour booked but I am also in communication with Courtney Taylor about a private tour to the Blue Hole.

My question: DH had 2 knees replaced and can't walk long distances. He is 75. Do any of you experienced travelers know if he could enter the Blue Hole without having to act like Tarzan? Is it easy in easy out? I would love to see it with him but he is concerned about getting there and sitting in a van.

Thanks for your input.

Kathleen :o

...except that there have been many posts here about 'free' cruises.

 

Where people expected to book a cruise for $398, and receive $400

in OBC.

 

Really the cruise is only 'free', if you are able to cash the OBC and

use it to pay the Credit Card bill for the cruise fare.

 

I agree to a point. I have a warped sense of what is "free". To me getting $400 OBC makes it a quasi free cruise. Now I don't have to "pay" for perfume, a specialty dinner, tips, the sanctuary and/or a tour. Not bad because I won't have those additional charges on my credit card when I return home!!! Thanks Princess for my "freebies"!!

I looked on the Ports Board and did not find an answer. Since I am on Princess, I thought I might get an answer here from all you experienced Princess travelers.

I am booked on the Ocean Princess 64 day RT Ft. Lauderdale to South America in Jan. 2016.

Question:

Has anyone done a Princess tour to Iguazu disembarking in one port and returning to the ship in another? I do not have the luxury of either a pre or post cruise package since the ship sails RT from Lauderdale. I would love to include Iguazu if Princess offers this.

Ditto for Galapagos leaving the ship in Lima and reboarding in Guayaquil.

Thanks for any help.

Do people wear a lanyard with their cruise card on Princess? Is it the majority that do? I was thinking about getting one if those cute bling ones to wear that they sell at Walgreens. Or use one of the many Disney ones that my daughter has. Any suggestions?

 

I also read on another post that there are different color cards depending on their Captains Circle level. They only mentioned blue and black. What colors are associated with each level? What about suites? Just curious.

We carry several lanyards with us. Sure makes it easy getting around the ship since you generally don't have a purse. A few words of warnings - and perhaps they are just my personal problems! My DH won't go out of the cabin without his around his neck. I can't find any photos of him without!! Now this is great if you like photos with a lanyard. After a while it got to be a pet peeve - I was always asking him to tuck it away.

In the evenings, when I did carry an evening bag, I found the magnetic clasp on many of my bags was de-activating my I d strip. There was many a night I would be at passenger services getting a new card in order to get back into my cabin.

BTW:I got a ver nice "blingy" yanyard at Staples!!!

If you are on the Ruby now, or just disembarked please confirm the present price of the sanctuary.

There have been several posts of speculation due to priced on Royal and other ships. Will be onboard the Ruby very soon and would like current pricing.

Thanks in advance.

Sharon

I just got off the Ruby on Monday. I booked the sanctuary for the 4 day cruise. It was. $30/day or. $120. They said if I booked per day it was $40!! Yes prices have gone up. The menu is more limited and they add $3 serv chg. but they added an afternoon tea, something I don't recall on a prior cruise. Since this cruise was packed and we had 3 sea days , the sanctuary was booked. People told me they were in line 90 mins early.

I was disappointed in the noise level in the area from some overgrown men trying to race against the lap machine. Their screaming and cheering was annoying.

Pizza in Alfredo's and Goat Cheese Souffle.

Two thumbs up for both of these!!!

Ok smarty pants, I need to know where the laundry rooms are with the ironing boards are located on which deck! Yeesh...

Every deck has a laundry room. They alternate forward or aft pending your deck. I was amidship on Baja and the laundry was aft around the bank of elevators.

On most ships I have been able to access them from either port or starboard side cabins.

On sea days it is best to get there early and you can get to a washer pretty quickly. Not too many people iron - most of the time I see folks ironing on formal night.

BTW: they have money changing machines as well as laundry product dispensers with boxes of soap, bleach and fabric softener.

I can't think of anything better than kicking my feet up on my balcony and enjoying the evening sun.

 

 

Aquahound,

Great, fair review. Since you said your only port was Grand Cayman, I figure you were on the Feb 20th sailing - the same one I was on. Nice photos, too!

You were spot on about the noise in the sanctuary from the the pool below. When I left my not-so-quiet chair in the sanctuary (that I paid Princess for the "peace and quiet") to check out the source of the noise, I too saw the overly-out- of-shape, inebriated fellows cheering each other on at the lap machine. That has to be the worst placed piece of equipment in Princess history.

I like this review in that the OP has both positive and negative points about Princess. I am avid Princess cruiser so I agree with his positives. I have to admit, so far, I also have to agree with some of his negatives as well. However, I have never had any problems boarding other than waiting my turn.

 

Did I miss something. Did the OP mention where he embarked from and where he is sailing to.

I too was on this sailing. I am elite, and I have never seen such utter chaos at embarkation. But to be fair to Princess, it started shortly after arrival when the coast guard had an unannounced life boat inspection that meant all boats had to be deployed. Needless to say, you can't deploy dock-side lifeboats without turning the ship! That took some time.

I felt most sorry for those in transit. They probably thought they could just exit, get their new cruise card and return to their fun in the sun. They sat in the terminal in a secluded area waiting to reboard. They got on first and I was one of the first in the elite/platinum lounge on the ship just shortly before noon. I can only imagine how crazy the rest of the terminal was by 1 p m.

I will be sailing on Ruby Princess, I was wondering if there are no handicap cabins available, are there grab bars in bathrooms in balcony staterooms? I will have to shower her, and is the size of shower large enough for a shower chair to go in? What are the size dimensions of the shower?

Thank you

I am assuming you requested a handicap cabin. If so, those are quite large. Also the bathroom does not have that step up. Be careful, my sister took a nasty fall on one of the regular cabins.

Is a mini suite an option? That has a tub/shower combo. That would only work if she can step over the tub.

But I agree with other posters - those showers are very small. It is tight getting 2 people in there in the morning. - one in shower and the other brushing teeth.

Good luck with cabin assignment and have a great cruise.

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Can anyone, who is currently on Ruby, know if she is sailing full?

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There were still sanctuary seats available this morning when general boarding started.

Sorry you weren't able to get one. There will still be day seats available

I am sailing 2/20 and hoping to get sanctuary chairs when I board. I want to surprise my DH since this is our 50th anniversary cruise. I plan to send him to find cabin with carry on and I will run to sanctuary. I use that word "run" very loosely!!!

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I got a very nice call from the Passenger Services Director, and it seems the internet charges have been refunded. And they are running the Ultimate Ship's Tour in about an hour. That's all I asked or hoped for, and I'm happy. Also taking great care to put some cloth inside the balcony door to block it! Thanks again to all.

Wehwalt

Great news about internet and UST!! Have fun doing it. I hear it is a great tour.

Kathleen

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OP here. As we live in Australia this really will be a once off cruise. I know I'll love it but it's a bit of a trek to get up to Canada although plenty of visits to USA planned.

 

Just waiting for 2015 to be released. Pretty much sticking with Coral, north bound cruise with Glacier Bay, selecting a Port side almost aft balcony on a good deck (can't remember which one right now). And have two coffee cards from a recent trip already. :p

Pushes

Sounds like you are ready to go with those 2 coffee cards!!

There are a lot of great excursions in each port depending upon your interests, budget and if you are a do-it-yourselfer, cruise-line only excursion believer, or all private tours type of traveler!!! So much on the ports board. Perhaps you have already started searching these. But whatever you do , you will love Alaska, the Last Frontier!!!

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There actually is quite a difference between port and starboard and port is far superior on a Northbound sailing if you plan to view scenery and take photos from your balcony. When sailing north, the sun will be rising from the east, which is the starboard side. Most of the time you will have mountains off to that side and the height of the mountains will cause the starboard scenery to be cast in shade. But the morning sun will bathe the port side in flattering morning light which will make a big difference in your photos. Then, as the sun peeks over the starboard mountains, you will be staring into it if you are on the starboard side making photography difficult. Later in the day, as you sail out of the ports, being on the port side will give you sunset views, light and warmth...something that cannot be overlooked in AK. In Glacier Bay, port is far, far superior. Yes, going up on deck is great. But you will be in Glacier Bay very early in the day, (like 6:00 a.m.) If you aren't ready to make a public appearance at that hour but still want to take in the scenery, you absolutely want a port side cabin. As far as the better side whilst in the ports, that is a toss-up unless you know for certain which dock you will berth in.

 

Here is my full review with photos and some commentary about which side presented the better photo ops.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1903541

To the OP

I second JimmyVWine's recommendation. I love the port side balconies going into GB. The naturalist told me on one cruise to head to a quiet place and listen to the glacier. You will hear the cracking long before the calving. I got some marvelous photos. The other thing about port side - you can listen to the naturalist on the PA system and see what he/she is talking about as it is happening.

And on my last cruise in 2013 I was surprised that the captain spent a lot of time with port side facing Marjorie Glacier but as he turned he started to leave the area. I felt for anyone on starboard who was on a balcony waiting. They did not have as much time for listening, watching and photography as we did on port.

I am not familiar with the Coral, but it appears Caribe deck balconies are larger as on the Grand class ships. They are partially covered, which is nice. My favorite balcony cabins!!

Warning: Alaska will get under your skin. You may find what you think is your one and only trip to Alaska will be the first of several even though you have a long way to travel!!!

Enjoy. It is a great adventure.

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Hardly a rescue … I could in the worst case have gone down the ladder to the bridge level. However, it did not look safe, especially with the wind. And I'm uncertain what reaction I would have gotten. Especially since I just went and spoke with someone at the Passenger Service's Desk and apparently they will have to get back to me on the internet matter. She did ask me if I had climbed over onto the bow, and I admitted it freely. She said don't do that it's dangerous and I said, don't lock me out on my balcony and I'll promise not to do so. Very unimpressed. If I don't get a "yes" by the time I go to trivia this afternoon will raise hell. I told them all I want is not to suffer expense by being locked out on my balcony, and if I was 80 and in poor health rather than 50 and in good, they'd have an issue on their hand and Princess should not be nickel and diming. Jeez.

Wehwalt

I am so disappointed at initial response from front desk. Hopefully you will have someone more helpful in the afternoon. Kinda like my call to California. The first gentleman didn't give me a warm fuzzy, promoting me to make the second. It was "Joanne" who kept me on hold while she contacted the ship. She also read your entries - I guess to dispel any chance that I was a prank caller. Loved her attitude. Hopefully you will find your "Joanne" post trivia.

BTW: glad you didn't climb down the ladder while ship was underway!!! I would think you had a good 30 knot wind blowing and generally it seems it is cross the bow.

Keep us posted on the internet issue.

Kathleen

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I did flash my laptop screen at the bridge, in what I hoped would pass for S O S. They were not watching me.

Wehwait

Maybe you morsed-coded "come have a cig with me" which may have gotten their attention

OR

They were looking forward and completely missed your SOS!!!

It was a great thought, though. Shows you were calm cool and collected. My type to have in a crisis!!! Would love to meet some day. Saw you are on Pacific out of FLL to Sydney. I was on it but sadly had to cancel.

Kathleen

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Thanks all. I imagine I will be joshed at the informal meet n greet we are having on Wednesday. No, I'm not planning on asking them for anything. I figured Princess will likely read this thread and if they want to make the UST more likely, that would be cool, but that is as far as I go in that department. There are people who demand OBC for the least inconvenience.

Wehwait

I was on the phone with Joanne from Princess while she read the entire thread!! But that was before you mentioned the UST. So hopefully someone from CA will read this and that will be your "compensation".

Glad I was on line and was some help. It is good to know so many CC'ers are out there and willing to help. My problem would be I would get stuck out there and my computer and phone be inside!!!

I had a drink in you honor tonight. "All's well that ends well"!!!

Kathleen.

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Fun thread. Thanks for starting.

I would love to do a world cruise as others have said - all the way around.

I want to see the Norwegian fjords.

I am booked on Singapore-capetown because I have always wanted to see Phuket and the Seychelles. While in that neck of the woods, I want to see Victoria Falls.

Finally, Alaska again and again. I can't get enough of that great adventure.

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Well, I am back inside. I attracted the attention of someone coming from the bridge, and security came. Apparently they were not specific what about, because he asked if I was smoking out there. I do not smoke. Anyway, with a total lack of fuss, it's over. Oh, and I got a call from customer service, and they didn't clear whether I had called about someone else, or whether it was about me.

So happy you are back inside. Was the door locked? Since you are a forward cabin, I was wondering if the steward locked it.

I was on the phone with Princess CA when I saw your message. She had me on hold while she talked to the purser. Perhaps purser contacted security. Anyway, I thought my second conversation with Princess and this Joanne was very efficient. She even followed the thread!!

Glad you are safe. We all will now have a virtual drink with you!!!! Enjoy your cruise!!!

Kathleen

Wehwait

I just sent that email according to what was given. It did go through. Will let you know when I hear from them or should I say, if I hear from them!! You know, you might make the DVD Reflections.

Got my fingers crossed for you.

Kathleen

 

 

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Wehwait

I am back on phone with Princess. She is calling purser right now. Hang in there. Calvary on the way!!!

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Sorry about this but either my cabin attendant locked my balcony door when he turned down my cabin or its stuck but I'm in L107 and can't attract a response by shouting. I'm not in any distress, but would like to be let in. Thanks all. Sorry to be a bother. Will stay online.

Wehwait

Looks like you have a lot of friends "partying" with you on your nice balcony.

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