StormySeas

do all the ships decorate for Christmas by Thanksgiving night? this will be our first cruise this late in the year

I think we are all planners....after all, we love cruise critic!

I always over-pack, take too many photos and eat more than I should. I'm not a newbie....I am a CRUZIE

I have seen some recommendations for Red Stripe beach and Hampden Estate Rum. are these easy to arrange on our own or do we need to have a tour booked?

such good information!!! I am making my plans for our fun day in Cayman! thank you!

Falmouth

we are cruising Royal in November on Liberty. In most ports, we choose something pretty close to the ship and do "our own excursion". ie: grab a taxi and go to a pre-chosen site. sometimes we just walk off the ship into the local area. I am concerned about doing this in Jamaica. we have been once before and took a ship's excursion to Appleton Estate. the tour was amazing but the loooong bus ride was not what I had in mind. don't want to do Dunns falls or tubing. we like a nice beach, some local shopping (I want some coffee and rum cream) and maybe see something we don't see at home. We are not into large crowds and crowded buses. any suggestions?

Our cruise is in November. I'd like to look at the beach from google maps but I can't find a red stripe beach. does it have another name?

just wondering how many outlets are in the rooms on Liberty. Is there an outlet in the bathroom for my hair accessories? (a girl has to look good!!) bringing the European outlet adaptor with USB hub sounds like a good plan. any objections to this?

Wow! what a great review!! thanks for all the wonderful information and the heads up on the anniversary and birthday! when we plan to sail next, we will also celebrate both! (it will be a while) and it will be the first time we will be in a suite so all the suite information is helpful for me too! thanks again....look forward to the next post

I bring a couple of small touch lights with me. one for the bedside if we need to see to get up and one in the bathroom. very soft light and you can turn them off to save batteries. best part is they use standard AAA batteries. no button batteries to replace

Thanks for all the input. I am still on the fence about a travel agent but will ask around to see if anybody I know has used a travel agent that was responsive and honest. I know that I can book direct (this is the way I have always done it) but I try to learn from all the experiences of others. it is the reason that I love reading cruise critic!!

I do not like using a travel agent at all. I much prefer to have control over all the moving parts of an adventure that includes a cruise.

Amtrak can have major delays so maybe do that after your cruise to get home.

Make sure you have "good" travel insurance that covers you from start to finish. Lots of recommendations on here for the travelinsurancestore.

thank you for your advice. I am planning to get travel insurance since we are investing quite a bit of money and time in this trip. I know Amtrak can have delays, I hope to arrive a day or 2 before the cruise so we won't be in such a rush to get to the cruise ship. I have gotten lots of good information on these boards for places to stay prior to departure. We also plan to travel home by Amtrak too.

I also am going to address the Amtrak portion of the trip. We did a similar trip in 2013, riding Amtrak from Phila. to San Diego prior to a series of cruises ending in Europe. Amtrak, especially in a sleeper, is not cheap, but it is so much more fun than flying, especially if you have to change planes two times...

Those of us who are fans of train travel have a website where we can exchange information, just like Cruise Critic.

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/

There are a few members that are Amtrak employees, but it is not connected to Amtrak. There you can get lots of hints to make your long distance ride easier. There is also a website to watch fares, if your dates are flexible, or you are just looking for the time to book:

http://biketrain.net/amsnag2.0/amSnag.php

It is only for watching fares, you can't book there. And a little known fact is that you can call Amtrak and have your fare modified if you see fares have gone down.

You have lots of time to plan and research, and by that time you may feel comfortable enough to book everything yourself. EM

wow!! thanks for the links! very helpful. now I have a new place to dream about my vacation.

This comment is directed to your plans to take Amtrak.

Have you done long trips on Amtrak previously? If the answer is "no", be aware that you really, really, really need to book a sleeper.

The general seating cars are terrible. The sleepers have bathrooms with showers that aren't available to the other passengers and you get all your meals included.

And "yes", use a travel agent for the cruise.;p

we have taken one Amtrak trip before but not this long. we plan to book a sleeper with the private bathroom and shower. I can't imagine taking a trip that long without these! I would be miserable in the general seating for a trip that long! also, I would like a little privacy and quiet! thanks for the advice! :hearteyes:

It is hard to plan for 2020 at this time. Using a travel agent that gives you OBC or Store credit would be a good idea.

I know it is a long way off but I am thinking ahead. we are putting aside a little money each month so the cruise, train trip, hotels and extras will be less of a burden. I don't plan to contact anyone this early but just planning ahead. I need the excitement of the planning to keep me motivated!!!:D

If you want to save 8% to 15% on your cruise then get a good TA.

A Princess VP will not give you the same savings, it's just like booking direct.

FYI........not allowed to mention TA's or companies here on CC. ;)

thanks for reminding me that I cannot mention companies. I have edited my original post. I am really not looking for company names, just advice.:*

We are planning a really special vacation for 2020. we plan to take Amtrak from Arkansas to LA then cruise to Hawaii. I usually watch prices and book thru an online vacation service. I also watch the prices at the Cruise company website too. We have not cruised Princess before and want a wonderful stress free vacation (for our 35th wedding anniversary). I contacted Princess for some information and a personal Cruise Vacation Planner contacted me by email. she says she can help us plan and get a good price for our cruise. I have not used a travel agent before so I am not sure if I should have the vacation planner help me or if I should seek out a travel agent. I am reading the boards and it looks like having a travel agent would be a better choice. Any advice would be appreciated. Love reading cruise critic (even when I am not cruising!):D

I know that the food on cruises can be fantastic and the deserts indulgent. I want to ask if anybody takes "snacks" onboard with them. You know nibbles like pretzels, peanuts, chex mix or animal crackers. we like to have a drink on the balcony and enjoy something salty to snack on. I always take animal crackers (not the shortbread cookies) because they help settle my tummy when upset. is it worth it to anybody else to bring something like this onboard?

:D thanks! this looks like something we could try. and yes, we planned to load content before we left home. this is good advice!

I've done something similar (and no you don't need Internet, assuming by "from your device" you mean the media is stored on it).

 

I bought a RAVPower travel router/hub and added a 128GB MicroSD card to it, which I loaded with content beforehand. I was able to use a FireTV stick (with a program called Kodi installed) to playback my media from the hub using a local wifi network. (Took a little more set up while still on land, but worked perfectly once aboard.)

Has anybody tried using a Roku to cast content from your device?