luv2travel06

I read over on the Ports of Call board that locals have moved all the Carnival lounge chairs from the beach and are now making passengers pay for chairs/umbrellas? Can anyone shed some light on this?

We were just there. There is a sign on the pier letting you know about vendors approaching you on the beach. The chairs are free unless you use one set up by a vendor past the port area. We always use the beach to the right of the pier as you face the beach as it is generally quieter, especially if just one ship is in port.

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Are you allowed to bring a 12 pack of pop on board with you???? Thanking you in advance for any info!!!!

Yes you can, and we did, but once we were aboard, we bought the Unlimited Soda And More package. We each drank about a 2 liter of Diet Coke and enjoyed several mocktails each day, so the package was worth it for the +/- $80pp we paid for our 10 day cruise, including gratuity.

So if you can't live without your special flavor of soda, bring it on. But if you just drink Coke, Sprite or other gun-dispensed soda, and a lot of it, don't bother hauling it.

Second time cruising Princess....last time was on Caribbean Princess.

 

Came on here to ask for your suggestions which balconies might be best on Regal...Now I am turning to you again for help.

 

Not sure if there are any balconies like we had on CP(half covered,half uncovered)...That was the best!!

 

So what do you suggest??? I do prefer cover over uncovered,if I could only have one.

 

Thanks in advance..

If you want any privacy, get as far away as possible from the skywalks on either side!

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Based on disembarkation on the Regal (last Sunday) the meeting times for walk-offs varied from 6:15 - 6:45 AM (they had 4 walk off groups labeled "A" - "D). Once cleared we were able to walk off beginning at about 6:40 and suspect all the walk-offs were in the terminal by 7am. One would suspect that the Royal would have a similar schedule giving a typical 6am (or earlier) docking time.

 

Hank

Our experience disembarking the Royal this morning was that walk off groups A-D were from 6:30 - 7:00am.

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Enjoy your cruise. One of the nights can you see who the band is that is playing in the atrium? The was a great band on board when we were on this year. I believe they were from Barbados and the singer all ways wore a hat. We will be back on in Dec. and would love to see them again.

It sounds like you are describing Rhapsody. They were the band on the Royal, which we disembarked this morning.

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Early flights are a great plan until you have to make an extra stop for a medical emergency and can't make up the time....like on our last cruise.

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Early flights are a great plan until you have to make an extra stop for a medical emergency and can't make up the time....like on our last cruise.

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For our 25th anniversary we stayed in Honolulu near Waikiki for 5 or 6 days, then sailed on the Pride of America. Did our tours on Oahu then toured the other islands, where we rented a car and saw things at our own pace. Loved that trip!!

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In my conversations with our cabin steward throughout the cruise I find out if he will be getting off the ship in a particular port then give him a $10 or $20 when we see him in the hallway as we get off the ship that day and tell him to treat himself to something while he's ashore.

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How much does it cost to get from the airport to the Sheraton?

We shared a van with other cruisers from our roll call. Four couples, $22/couple plus tip.

We booked a January 2017 14 day Panama Canal transit cruise on the Jewel for $1009 plus taxes and fees for inside cabin. They were also offering a 16 day for the same price. Seemed like a good deal to us. Despite the small cabin, our Pearl cruise was one of our favorites.

How much is this tour? Sounds fun!

On the Pearl it was $75. Included tour of the bridge. The nice thing was that we could take all the photos we wanted. Cost was $55 on Carnival Elation, where they confiscated your cameras and phones and wanded you. Not complaining. We got a group photo with the Captain and several great souvenirs.

They will normally run a drink of the day special, like a $1 off...

That's the way it was on the Elation, from which we disembarked yesterday. We like the HAL happy hour: buy one, get the second for $1. We're cheap; we bought 2 drinks total on our 10 day Elation cruise. We buy one for each of us every day on HAL (except for the first day of the cruise when they don't do the BOGO.)

Enjoying Old San Juan before our sail away on a 10 day repo cruise to Jacksonville on the Elation.

Flew in early yesterday afternoon, shared a van to the Sheraton across from the port with some other CC members, checked in quickly and dropped our luggage in the room, then ventured off.

Stopped to talk to some pax of the Maasdam, walked along the base of El Morro next to the bay taking pictures along the way, did a loop on the HO/HO Trolley, then cooled off with a frozen mojito at Brain Freeze across from the port before stocking up with soda at CVS. Since we had to be up at 3am to get to the airport that morning, it did not take long to fall asleep once we showered and crashed in our amazingly comfortable bed.

Woke up early for an abbreviated walk along El Morro again along with some pax from the now-docked Veendam and Valor, as well as the Elation, which we expeditiously boarded after checking out of our room at 11.

Dropped our bags off in our cabin after a quick lunch outside the Lido, then off to the Museo Del Mar on Calle San Francisco and Frankie's antique store at 363 Calle San Francisco. We bought a nice photograph from Jonathan Lopez and his sister Natalia, who had a cart set up across the street from the piers. Cooling off with another Frozen mojito before watching the Valor and Maasdam sail away, then off to our sunset cruise with San Juan Water Tours.

Nice way to start our journey!

Hi everyone,

 

 

 

I’ve been staring at these two cruises for the past month and I’m having a hard time deciding one which is the best. I’ll be cruising with my husband and 11 year old twins, flying from Minneapolis. These two cruises happen to work the best with their school schedule and they won’t break the bank. Because this will be the kids’ first cruise I’m really planning it for them. I’d like them to have plenty to do when at sea so I can relax as well. Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

Carnival Breeze out of Galveston TX (April 2017)

 

Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

 

Notes: I’ve heard that flying into Houston and getting to the port of Galveston can be a pain and expensive.

 

 

 

Carnival Splendor out of Miami FL (April 2017)

 

Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

 

Notes: I realize there isn’t a waterworks on this ship BUT it does go to one extra island so that’s one less day at sea.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!! :cool:

Not even considering having been stuck in the port in Galveston because of an oil spill, we much prefer the Eastern itineraries over Western, as do our children.

At Amber Cove there is s huge pool area to enjoy once you are done with your excursion. Likewise Grand Turk--once you take a tour and see the beautiful beaches around the island you can spend the remainder of your day at the pool area at the port.

Sailing into San Juan is amazing and there is so much to see and do from historic tours to the rain forest.

St. Thomas is one of our favorites with beaches, shopping, Coral World, and the ferry to St. John to name a few things to do..

We were on the last Eurodam cruise before it went into drydock. We posted comments about our cruise here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2287946

The dining room managers were walking around every night. We have had issues in the past and addressed them with the manager. Usually dining room stewards are promoted up to that position so they have to be good. It would not seem that one who receives negative comments/reviews would be in the position long.

Wishing you a better experience on your next cruise.

We often stay at a hotel on Stirling Rd close to that movie theater. We would not recommend walking there from your hotel.

You may want to consider renting a car at the airport when you arrive. You can drive where you want to go, return it to the airport, then take the hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel. $30 or so for a 1 day rental give you a lot of freedom.

Anyone can advise on rent car option after cruise. We coming back to port early in morning and our flight from FLL late in evening. Thinking to rent car for

Day.

Any idea.

We just take a taxi to the airport once we are off the ship and rent a car at the airport. When you are done sightseeing you can come back to the airport and fly out. We have a huge corporate discount with Enterprise and find they are not usually as busy as the other counters.

We usually cruise in off-season, mid-January or early February. For 2017 we're looking at taking the kids on a Caribbean cruise...but I'm wondering how different the experience will be during spring break week.

 

 

 

Kids will be 16/14 at the time of sailing. They aren't likely to do the teen clubs; on our last cruise they hung around with us a lot.

 

 

 

Two options, I would love peoples' opinions!

 

 

 

1) Looking at either the Adventure or Jewel out of San Juan - wondering how crowded the ship will be (I know they usually sail full, but I'm guessing during spring break there will be lots of 3rd/4th passengers). Also, will we likely lots of locals onboard? I have heard a few horror stories about quinceanara (sp?) groups overrunning the ship and wondering if spring break is the season for that.

 

 

 

Love the idea of the port-intensive itinerary on these two ships. Only other RCCL cruise has been on Indy and kids really enjoyed that.

 

 

 

2) Other option is one of the Oasis class ships out of Fort Lauderdale. Lots of passengers/crowds to begin with...but will it be even worse over spring break? Do the pools get super crowded on sea days?

 

 

 

We've already done the western Labadee-Falmouth-Grand Cayman itinerary, so we'd be looking at Eastern...but wow, that's a lot of time at sea. I really wish RCCL would shake up their itineraries a little. Once you've done eastern and western they're all the same...

 

 

 

I know, I know, this itinerary is more about the ship! Which I think the kids would enjoy. So...I'm clearly all over the place...any advice?

We kind of did a RCCL cruise out of Galveston that would have been nice if we had hit all the ports. But if your kids don't need all the RCCL activities consider Celebrity or HAL. Certainly fewer kids on HAL.

QUOTE: Comfort Suites 17th & Federal Hwy. - $119.00

 

 

 

 

 

I just checked for this Comfort Suites on 17th & Federala Hwy. Does NOT come up on the Comfort (Choice Hotels) site. When I did a google search, it says that this hotel is CLOSED. Does anyone know if this hotel has a new name or is it definitely closed? Also looking for a reasonable place. Have booked the Quality Inn on Sterling Rd. but looking for another reasonable alternative.

That Quality Inn is a bit old, but we have stayed there several times. There is a new Comfort Suites just down the street and a Hampton Inn next door. Our primary credit card is the Choice Privileges card so we usually stay for free.

I'm looking for something that may not exist. A budget friendly hotel in Ft. Lauderdale (under $100.00 a night for two) with shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to Port Everglades. With good reviews (at least three stars), in a decent area, and within a short walk (less than a mile) to restaurants and stores (to purchase sodas and last minute items). I've looked on Trip Advisor, and found a few "maybes", but reviews are mixed. The closest "maybe" I've found so far is the Comfort Suites in Dania Beach for $110.00, but I don't know what's close by.

Brand new property. We stayed there in November. Have to pay for shuttle to port. Airport shuttle is free. Strip mall with Kmart and other stores and restaurants nearby. We always stay at one of several places there at I-95 and Stirling Rd. Never had any problems.

I recall we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the quiet while everyone else got off. Reason being, I do believe this is a volcanic island with dark sand and not so pretty beaches. We docked in St Kitts on a Summit cruise that left from San Juan. If you are on this one where ports of calls are antigua, barbados, st marten, etc, I would suggest staying on the ship in st kitts, from a pure beach perspective.

If the beaches on St. Kitts are unsatisfactory, we have found the catamaran excursion to a beach on Nevis enjoyable.

Exciting! I can hardly wait for some reviews to come in from the first cruises! Getting closer.

Exciting for sure!! We are booked on the 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise in November.

We are not big beach people, but always look forward to HMC. We like the fact that no one comes to try to sell you anything, you can go for a walk and feel safe both on the beach and on the island, chairs are free, water is crystal clear, and beach sand so white and fine. It is just a relaxing day!

DW, who loves to go to the beach says, "DITTO!"

Here is a picture of the equipment rental prices sign.

 

After reviewing it, I can't seem to add it so it is legible.

So, what it says is:

$10 pool float all day

$26 half hour, $46 one hour 2x4 aqua cycle

$60 half hour, $100 on or 4x4 aqua cycle

$19 half hour, $34 one hour one person kayak

$26 half hour, $46 one hour 2 person kayak

$12 zip line adult unlimited

$6 zip line child unlimited

$8 umbrellas

$275 ocean cabana

$250 hillside cabana

$250 poolside cabana

$1495 grand cabana

$20 half hour, $32 on hour stand up paddleboard

$6 lockers all day

$6 refundable locker deposit

$8 wifi all day