realtrip

Thanks those are both great options. Prices right too!

Thanks. I'm seeing the family tomorrow and we will make a decision . I agree with ES. I've stayed there a few years back and location definitely sucks.

Hurray!! Thanks everyone!

Hampton Inn Brickell = 387$ a night. Only one type of room left.

Homewood looks good = 225$ a night.

Or I might just get ES and rent a car. That way we can head to the beach and shopping.

I'll talk to the family and see what they prefer.

Again thanks everyone!

Thanks for all the advice. I'm frantically checking out all the suggestions. Exact dates are check in Dec 31 and cruise is January 4.

Oh boy. It is nice but over 800$ a night!!!! My per person cruise rate for 7 nights was much much less than that, LOL!

Thanks! I will check out right away.

Thanks Trevor for that site recommendation. It looks really good1

Hi all,

I'm looking for a hotel with a suite in Miami. An actual closed bedroom and a sleeper sofa in a living area. Most of what I've found ( except for Embassy suites) has just a wall divider. Budget around 250$ a night. We have no car and will be staying 4 nights so having some shops or restaurants nearby is a must (ES is great but location sucks). We are going at end of December until Jan 4.

Thanks!!!

Will stores be open on New Year's day for last minute shopping? What about restaurants? Here in Montreal, it's a ghost town. Every thing is closed.

I used to give my teens the equivalent of 10$ a day. They could spend it in one go or spread it out. Any left over, they could keep.

I just went to guest services and put the money on their card the first day. On some cruises, the girls added some of their allowance to the card. The liked to buy cake at the coffee shop and milkshakes. The candy store was also a hit.

We like the amenities at Embassy Suites: breakfast, manager's evening reception, pool area etc. Plus it is within walking distance of many shops and restaurants.

I second this. Embassy suites is great. They also organize a shuttle service or you can take a cheap cab to the port.

My hubby and his buddies liked saying they had the coldest beer in Hell and they have pictures to prove it. It's one of those places that you go to once. Been there-done that type of place. But still funny. We went with a mini tour. Walked out of the gated port area. A lady cab driver offered us a tour of the island for 10$ a person. We stopped at the turtle farm , hell , somewhere else I can't remember and the beach. It was fine.

How about : Killer cruise by Laura Levine. It's a laugh out loud murder mystery.

I love Janet Evanovich, easy reading and funny.

I liked the invention of wings and Gone girl too!

So, I've now sailed on Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and Carnival and experienced their various methods of doing the muster drill. I found the one on my Carnival Splendor cruise this past April to be by far the most painful...forcing everyone to pack in like sardines and remain standing, repeatedly demanding quiet and threatening to "not start until there's silence" (what is this, the high school cafeteria?), then walking through the crowd with those ridiculous clickers to get head-counts (uh-huh, I'm SURE that's completely accurate).

 

Yes, obviously, muster drill is important. If there's an emergency, I want to know where I'm supposed to go and what happens when I get there. I understand that they want people's attention so that everyone can get the information. But is it really necessary to do it in this way? We were fortunate in April that it was cool standing on the deck. I was reminded while reading "Ben the Bendy Man"'s review of his recent cruise how difficult an experience it was and how fortunate we were that it wasn't 90 degrees outside while we were enduring it!

 

Now I ask my more experienced CCL cruisers...do all the Carnival ships do muster like this, or is it unique to the Splendor? We're heading out on Freedom next Sunday and wondering that experience will be like.

 

This is also a plea for Carnival to start using the scanners for Sign and Sail cards to get an accurate headcount. I'm sure it would be a time saver and actually enhance safety. Princess has the technology; I'd bet they'd share. ;)

Hi

I was on the Freedom July 5-13. Muster was at the lifeboats. It was very hot. Took about twenty minutes. One senior lady in our area fainted from the heat.

I think half hour but I don't remember. On the way to Maho check how long it takes and double that to feel comfortable with the timing.

Hi

We definitely paid 8$ per person each way. It was a large taxi van. They filled it up. ( maybe 8-10 people). We were not the first off the ship, maybe 30 minutes later, there were tons of taxis.

The biggest plane we saw was KLM, it was at around 1 o'clock. You can check the airport web site before you leave home. They also post a sign with flight times by the bar ( the sign is a big surf board).

We left the beach early ( around 2 ). There was no traffic. Taxis are very easy to get when done with Maho. Again the cost was the same 8$ so I don't think it was a fluke but again it wasn't a private taxi for two.

BTW the beach is really small. It's not the best for a beach day; it's really all about the planes.

I just wanted to apologize because I am one of the teenagers that was in cabin 9291 across the hall from you and we didn't realize how loud we were being at the time. We tried to keep our friends as quiet as possible, but hey kids are kids. I just want to say sorry one last time and wish you & your mom the best.:o

Thanks! That is really nice of you.

I really enjoyed the cruise!

There are no particularities as far as being Canadian and getting off the ship. We got off at around 8:30. I think only Galveston does it differently for us Canadians. Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades we stand in the same lines as Americans, the border control doesn't have many questions for us. They basically want to know if your going straight home and if so that's the only question.

My first trip report! Woo hoo!

I love reading reviews and find them so helpful and exciting before going on a cruise. Well, I've been on 11 cruises and figured it's about time I paid back.

The cruisers: mom (68) and me (46). We've cruised together 5 times. We are from Montreal, Canada.

The cabin: balcony, lido deck, 9289. Great location. We were unlucky though as the cabin in front of us was inhabited by teenagers. Said teenagers made friends, lots of friends. It got noisy in the middle of the night. Mornings were quiet though, lol

Embarkation: quick as can be. The lounge for Platinum, Diamond was full!!! We saw quite a few blue and red cards, so I assume FTTF was in our not so exclusive pre boarding lounge. Oh, well. We still got on fast and I was third in line for the Wok, so I was a happy cruiser.

Our luggage got to the cabin by 1:30.

Muster drill was painful. It was so hot and they did it outside by the life rafts. A lady next to us fainted and one of our table mates felt faint and had to sit on the floor. I wish all the ships did the drill in one of the lounges.

Food: love the Mongolian wok! We had delicious deli, Guys burgers, salad from the buffet, all suppers in the dining room. We were seated with 2 groups of friends. So 7 gals at the table. We had a great time! We skipped dessert every night in the DR but caught up with dessert in the buffet area a little later. We loved doing this. Sometimes we even brought dessert to eat in bed. It was fun.

The platinum gift was a ceramic coffee cup that is lined with metal and has a lid. I like it.

We also got chocolate covered strawberries one night.

The ports:

St-Marten: we went to Maho beach to see the airplanes. It was lots of fun. Taxi was 8$ per person each way. Beach was free. We had a margarita it was 7$.

St-Kitts: we went to Carambola beach club. We got 2 chairs with super thick mattresses. They were so comfy, I had the best nap. The beach was beautiful, the sand so soft. The water refreshing, ahhh perfect day, my new favourite place. Taxi was again 8$ each way per person. Our taxi driver asked us for a return time and he picked us up promptly. He even gave us a guided tour with a picture stop on the way to the beach. Chairs were 10$ each. Margaritas were10$ each. The have a beautiful restaurant. Food is pricey but quantities are huge. A 20$ pizza is the size of a medium at dominos. So good for two or three people. Port to beach is 30 minutes.

Puerto Rico: we did the Bacardi tour on our own. So easy! We took the ferry it's a two minute walk from the ship. 15 minute ride (on the 15 and 45 of the hour). Once on the other side, there are shuttle taxis waiting to take you to Bacardi. At Bacardi, the tour is free. You get two coupons for free cocktails

( like rum punch, rum and coke...) they were 5 once glasses. Then you get on a trolley for a short tour, then go inside for another tour and a movie. All in all it took around two hours including transport to the sight.

Afterwards we hopped on the free trolley in the port area for a bit of sightseeing , got off for some shopping and back to the ship.

There is a CVS right across the street from the ferry pier and a huge Marshalls nearby. We got off the ship at 9 and were back on board at 1. A very productive morning.

Ferry over 60 y.o. was 25 cents, the others 50 cents each way, taxi 3$ per person ( I was expecting to pay 2$ but it seems the price just went up), tour and drinks = free

Grand Turk: beach and pool right off the ship. Very nice and free, yippee!

Random thoughts:

My mom bought our usual dress up photo, we had two lobsters each on elegant night (day 2), crème brulé was delicious wish they had it more often! A lot of people really dress fancy on elegant night ( including us) it was beautiful sight. People slam the balcony doors allllll the time. It's insane. The piano guy ( Seth) was a lot of fun. We liked the shows= 88 keys, Heart of soul and I can't remember the other one. Did not enjoy the Hasbro game show nor love and marriage , to me if your not playing it's boring. The comedy shows were funny.

Debarkation was easy until you go to border control (They are on a reduce crew as a pressure tactic so there were two agents for the whole ship, it was loooong.).

Let me know if you have any questions.

No. They have Blue iguana cantina with tacos and burritos, Guy's burgers, fish n chips but no Mongolian Wok. Bummer as it is very good but they do have a good deli on that ship. The Guy's and blue iguana more than make up for the lack of a Wok though.

Oh, no! They had it last time I was on the Glory and I looooooved it! It's a great low fat alternative!

stretching has been at 7 am on all the ships I've been on. Last cruise I was the only participant. The instructor was really nice but I didn't go back. I stuck to the treadmill.

Class was easy and I learned some new stretches.

Thanks!

I reserved + or -50 days out.

Hi

I got one for my daughter. She loved it. The size was as expected. She wears a medium adult at home and I got a large adult from Carnival so it would be a bit oversized and comfy. It was fine!