Stevesan

Thank you...had already looked at that but often find longer range forecasts are not always accurate...thought it would be helpful to have opinions from people who are actually there.

 

Thanks anyway.

I've lived in this region 40 years. Still can't forecast the weather better than professional meteorologists, who by the way, are locals.:rolleyes:

Book Mark this site:

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USTX0499

:p

Just FYI, the Princess 2-letter abbreviation for the Caribbean Princess is "CB." The "CP" is the Sea Princess. When someone refers to the CP, it could be the Crown (KP), the Coral (CO), the Caribbean or the Sea Princess. :) If you use CB, people will know which ship you're referring to.

 

It's generally acknowledged that the entertainment on Royal Caribbean is better than on Princess but there's still plenty to do every evening with a wide variety of options scheduled throughout the evening, often at the same time. Princess ships aren't as wide open as Royal Caribbean ships. They have a number of lounges, show lounge, theater, etc. and the CD schedules entertainment in all of them.

While we're standardizing, the ship's name is a pronoun. Donald Trump has dibs on prefacing his name with "the".:p

Just looked at the cards, nothing is filled in on the back regarding ship name or voyage date...

The back of my most recent (January) card has space for "Ship Name" and "Voyage Date". These are to be be filled in by the barrister.

Take one of your ship's tours.

I recommend the Intracoastal Water Way Cruise. Excellent narration, and the best hot dogs on this planet :)

Most folks take the Intra Coastal water way Everglades Air Boat Ride tour. I thought it just okay. The bus trip to and back is long.

It still is easy.

 

a) As an earlier post suggested, once onboard go to the shore exciursion desk and have them move the charge for all the excursions to your account. No need to bring all the tickets, just know their cabin numbers.

 

b) For any excursion at the same time with multiple busses, railcars, etc., you need to go to the meeting place as a group and you will then be given stickers to be on the same bus. I do not know for the White Pass excursion if you are asisgned at that meeting time to a specific car or if you just need to stay together when getting on the train.

 

c) No need to try to put OBC on their onboard accounts, just do as suggested in (a) and have any charges moved to your account. (But if you do want to go to the trouble of going the OBC route, just call Princess with credit card in hand and know their booking numbers.

Or give them cash.:p

Computers! How did we ever live without them. :eek:

Computers are heck of a lot lot more reliable than people.

Witness Titanic as an example.

I'd recommend Eagle Ray. They have a 2 reef snorkel option.

The often have both scuba and snorkelers on board, but each has a dedicated guide

Their dock is a short cab ride from the cruise piers.

http://www.eagleraydivers.com/snorkeling_caribbean.htm

If you do book with them, consider the 3 reef trp. The 2 reef trips are to near shore reefs. They are good, but the 3 reef visits the much better off shore reefs.

They end the day with a snack stop at the Money Bar. I have a burger, tip the guide, and cab it to the ship.

P.S. Odd but true: Money Bar had the best hamburger I've ever enjoyed.

When I need a limo service I always reserve Elite Limo. Extremely reliable.

http://www.elitelimohouston.com/default.htm

he only critical tem is the mask. As you may have discovered, a poor fit results in a leaking mask,

Its best to try the mask on in a scuba or sporting goods store to assure a proper fit.

Mask Fitting

How many times have you gone into a dive store, tried a mask that seemed to fit just great, got on an airplane to halfway around the world, jumped into the water and the mask leaked? There seems to be a nearly universal way to try a mask, which unfortunately happens to be the wrong way. Put the mask on, inhale through your nose and guess what? The mask fits. Right? Wrong!

The big mistake is that no one dives or snorkels with a vacuum in their mask or shouldn't be if they are. By inhaling through the nose, an unnatural seal is created. Some divers have tried on masks that don't even come close to fitting but as soon as they inhale, a tight seal is created. While diving though, they are not constantly trying to inhale through their nose (which is what the store clerk told them to do) and now the mask leaks.

Someone told a tale of a dive store that displays all masks without straps. The idea apparently is to check that a really good vacuum makes a really good fit. Once again, no one dives trying to inhale through their nose constantly and without a strap no less.

Almost all modern masks have an outer seal and a narrower inner seal. This inside seal covers everywhere except just under the nose. If both of these seals touch the face than the odds of that mask fitting and not leaking are very good. This is done by putting the mask on with the strap loose, but in place, and then tightening it to what would be normal if you were diving. Some divers who have had very bad masks are in the habit of over tightening the strap on a new mask in hopes of a better seal. Don't do that especially while trying masks for fit.

The next step takes a second person or a mirror. Look around the entire inside of the mask checking to see that the inner seal touches everywhere. It is very important not to inhale through the nose which forces the mask seals to touch if they didn't naturally. Next check the outside seal the same way.

If the inner seal is not touching the face, especially next to the side of the eyes, it is likely the mask won't work well. But do check everywhere around the inside. The outer seal might keep water from dripping in but not as well as if both seals touch. Make sure the seals do not cut across any hairline or eyebrows. Also that the side seals are not right at the edge of the eye.

One other problem can occur when someone laughs, smiles or even squints. This motion creates lines or wrinkles next to the nose. Sometimes this makes a passage where water pours in. Almost every mask will leak when this happens. So don't laugh! Occasionally, depending on the person, these wrinkles may remain even after they stop laughing. In this case it may be necessary to straighten the face by pulling down or sideways on the cheeks. Again this is not necessarily a mask problem. So don't run out and buy a new mask.

If absolutely necessary, to keep everyone happy, you can now inhale slightly to check any unseen leaks. Sometimes a mask leaks around the glass. This is very unusual and is a one off problem, not the design of the mask. You can check this by holding the mask with the face plate parallel to the floor and putting water in the mask. If the face plate seal is faulty, drops of water will appear on the outside.

Don't be fooled by the size of a mask's frame and lenses. This has little if anything to do with how a masks fits. People will look for what seems like a narrow or wide mask, depending, but what counts is the size of the skirt where your face is actually touching the mask. An exaggerated example but if the lens of a mask is 1 foot wide but the skirt is only 4 inches, this would fit a rather narrow face but the mask looks huge.

With literally 10's of dozens of masks on the market, there is one that will fit. It may take awhile to find but it is out there.

Maybe I am just paranoid but hope that I am not on a cruise where someone "gets by with bringing household appliances" that are restricted. They are restricted for a reason. This is why I asked earlier if Princess allowed household appliances.

 

It is like the person saying they always bring an iron and never get caught...does that mean it is okay? A fire on a cruise ship is serious business.

An example what a just a cigarette on a balcony can do:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=star+princess+fire&qpvt=star+princess+fire&FORM=IGRE

We sailed on the Carnival Magic last year the last week of March. There were just over 1500 kids on board. Now, either they were the best behaved group of kids or the kids' activities are outstanding, because I never would have know there were that many.

Not sure if that's better or worse than spring breakers...but we must have hit on somebody 's vacation week!

I've had the same experience sailing from Galveston, but it's explainable:

The great majority of youngsters are from Texas and have had a proper upbringing.

I booked CB last Wednesday, March 19. Wait listed for 6PM, but it's looking good.

I started out number #29. #7 today with 22 days left.:)

I, too, like the Fettuccini Alfredo. But I miss the times when the dead waiter prepared it table size.

Has anyone seen this done on a recent cruise?

P.S. The last time I ordered it was on Caribbean Princess. It arrived lukewarm and stuck together. A dog wouldn't have eaten It!:eek:

I, too, am a coffee fiend. I either order room service from HC (yucky stuff), or a much preferred maneuver:

Go to the IC café on Plaza deck and get a large cup to go.

An extract from this morning's Houston Chronicle re Galveston beaches:

Late Monday, authorities reported tar balls on East End beaches. If they don't get it up in the next day or so, we're going to start feeling the impact.

There will often be bottled water and some cans of soda in the cabins of non-elite and not a suite. These are for sale.

 

If they are in your cabin, just put them out of your way.

Or have your steward remove them.

Does Princess dock at Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay since Princess is owned by Carnival?

Normally, Mahogany Bay.

It might depend on the number of Carnival flagged ships in port.

Mahogany Bay can accommodate two ships.

On a tour in Aruba in Feb. the tour guide did the first 1/2 of the tour with the group. The last stop was a beach stop where you go and sit on the beach/swim for one hour. The guide said that for those who do not want to sit on the beach, he would drive them to town for shopping (near the pier). He would then go back and get the beach people. He said the shoppers would be on their own to get back to the ship.

 

Many of us went shopping instead of the beach and we had no problem getting back to the ship.

It's virtually impossible to get disoriented (lost) at Aruba. Not necessarily true in a Mediterranean city.

One morning I had a great upgrade offer for a prebooked HAL cruise.

I didn't respond until late afternoon. Alas, the offer already expired.:(

If you snooze, you loose.

Doing an Alaska Cruise Tour on the Coral Princess June 17...Southbound...looking for excursion ideas apart from those that Princess offers...anyone able to help?

Thx!!

Cruise Critic's Alaska Message board has dozens of recommendations.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Lucky you having an evening stop at Victoria. :)

Your ship will offer a tour of Butchart Gardens. Butchart Gardens is magnificent, especially at night when it's lit up.

http://www.hellobc.com/activitylisting/4543363/butchart-gardens.aspx

I was at Coki Beach in September. I think we were the only ship in port, but I was on the Allure (one of the biggest ships), which mitigated that advantage.

 

It cost $5 or $10 to rent a locker for the day. They're not huge, but they're big enough.

 

I didn't bother buying a milk bone. There will be plenty of fish swarming the people who do.

 

The rocks on either side of the beach will have the most fish. I mostly stayed on the right side and ended up swimming about 1/3 of the distance to Coki Point. While the greatest number of fish are fairly close to the beach (where they're getting fed), the greatest variety was further out. In addition, certain fish hang out in by the rocks. Others hang out in the sandy areas.

 

There were also some pelicans (and other seabirds) hanging out on the rocks on the right side.

Since milk bones aren't a fish's daily diet plan, that's a good thing.

You/we can purchase fish food in nearly any sports, and/or, fishing stores. Much better for their tum tums, and their longevity too.

Here are fish food examples:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/aquarium-fish-food/ps/c/3578/7927

Meanwhile, back to OP's question.

Eastern Caribbean water in winter is cool, I often experienced some upper body chill.

Solved that problem with a rash guard shirt. Surfers are the primary market for these shirts so they are often slim fit.

You can find "loose fit" shirts at scuba and Sports Authority stores, or their kin,

I require the loose fit and "Body Glove" fits my need. They not only provide some warmth, but my Body Glove also has some UV protection, as well as protection against the tiny stingy things.

Body Glove is a long sleeve.

There are short sleeves, too.

Neosport and Speedo are a couple examples.

List by date of ships in Port Everglades:

http://www.portschedules.com/