blkspy

With that kind of luck maybe you should buy some lottery tickets?? :p

 

Congratulations and I can only dream of being so lucky! :D

How are you doing. ....im lurking for awhile. .... if you can....please send me an email.... I want to congratulate you on something. :)

blkspy ten zero five at netscape dot net

Roland

I am considering Gordon Tours in Antigua. He has two tours nearly identical with one going to Valley Beach and the other to Longbay Beach.

 

Can anyone tell me more about these beaches? Are they crowded, are there chairs and umbrellas, a place to eat, etc. Is one prettier or more scenic than the other?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Not to burst anyone's bubble....I find the people in the town at the port to be very aggressive and rude.......Having a tour set up in advance is desirable. ....Antigua has had its cruise passenger problems the past 4-8 years.......There have been robberies to murders......just be careful as you always are. For these reasons I take the ships beach tour on this island.....its always at a great beach and you're back on the ship early and only a 10 minute ride away....As a tourist reminder.....I always check if there are any travel advisories for any of the places I travel to.......fun and safe vacation is the main thing.

Roland

What?????

 

You're also wrong. You cannot get an upgrade when you get to the pier... if you want to insult people, at least make sure you're correct!

You CAN walk to the desk and ask if yoy can be upgraded......happens all the time......every ship is no full.if you feel insulted.....you get your answers correct.......Even Princess will tell you you can get an FREE UPGRADE all the way to sailing time.....then its up to the pursuers desk.......are you an Elite member???

If you want to pay the upcharge.... you can change cabins up to and including when you get on the ship.......ill say it......if you don't know the correct answer say so or at least say you're not sure. ......ITS OK.......giving outrageous answers not only scares people. ...it hurts many who don't get the best possible answers.......

BLAST ME IF YOU WANT.......its how I feel........you have a god given right to spend your money.....and be sure Princess will take it :) Sometimes its good to see if you can get a FREE upgrade.

For the past 4 repos out of Brooklyn I tape together 2 twelve packs of diet coke and put it in a sports bag with a tag on it......its delivered to my room with no problem.

If all goes well......Elite/Platinum boarding will start around 11:30am or so.......REGULAR boarding starts after that....

SUGGESTION-----if you've met someone whom you clicked with on the post.....Who are Elite.......see if you can hoard with them as part of their travel group:) PROBLEM SOLVED.

LOL. Even more reason to like a nice, simple, quiet ride to and from the port. :D That 30 minute ride is a chance to shake off the crazies from the prior portion of the travel day and get ready for the next phase. :) I'm not wild about small talk in general and definitely not on a travel day. I have no desire to be packed in with the person that insists on trying to talk to me, the person that sucked down 3 cigarettes in the 10 mins before getting on the van, and the person that's talking all their personal business on their cell phone loud enough that I can't talk to my own companions. Those things stress me out and I know it and choose to avoid it when possible. On ship, I can always get away from anyone truly obnoxious (even those sharing my cabin ;) )

 

I've never been on Carnival before so I'm not sure how hectic they can be. We wanted to try a cruise without needing to fly and they were the only game in town.

Well get ready for kids having fun:) the water park is a good place if it gets really hot. The BEST thing IMHO about Carnival is their DESSERT TABLE :) great variety and the SUGAR FREE NEPOLIANS are to die for........BON VOYAGE

When we went from San Pedro to LAX a couple years ago, we rented a private van and I think it was about $45 - $50 for both of us with tip. They had a large party at the last minute and ended up sending us a fancy SUV, which was totally fine. I think it was rapidshuttle. I was totally fine reserving a van instead of a towncar. What mattered to me was having private transportation and not be waiting for other passengers to get their stuff and get loaded.

 

I think a lot of it depends on your travel personality. I know after going through the headaches of flying and being crammed into a plane, I really don't want to be crammed into a bus or shared shuttle. I want my space!!! Kind of the same thing at the end of a trip -- I'm over being herded like cattle at that point. When all 4 of us went to Cancun last year, it was a no-brainer to rent a private van to take us to our hotel rather than cram on a shared bus/shuttle. The cost difference was negligible but the convenience was priceless! And we were definitely ready to decompress a little bit.

 

For some people, the social interactions in those shared transport arrangements is fun and exciting and adds to the experience. For others it's draining and adds to the stress. I would definitely sacrifice a DOD to have private transport over the bus!!!

No disrespect intended. ..... But how do you "Decompress" on a Carnival Ship....Especially a kid crazy magnet like the Imagination:confused:

Take a new Princess Cruise and you will "COME BACK BRAND NEW" :)

The best is not always the cheapest. Personally I do not like taking shuttles, so we take a town car from the airport to San Pedro.

 

Personal preference. I don't spend thousands of dollars on a cruise to skimp on transportation to the ship.:)

Amen.... WELL SAID :cool:

.I once met a "PERSON" who had a SUITE and didn't want to pay the auto tips for the 2 FREE EXTRA DAYS we had in port during the SANDY STORM. Never mind the fact that Princess refunded everyone 50% of what you paid for the cruise. AMAZING

We just did this transfer from LAX to San Pedro a week ago Friday. We looked at PrimeTime shuttle but the reviews on Tripadvisor were horrible. We stopped and asked the Princess Rep if we could ride one of their buses (at the suggestion of Princess when I called to see if it was too late to book a transfer - it was) and just charge our on-board account and he said no problem. The problem then came when he said the bus should be here in about 20 minutes and they were taking us to a local hotel to wait until boarding time. Granted, we were early but this didn't sound like fun so we just took a taxi. Yes, it was about $60 but a straight smooth shot. We met a lot of interesting people waiting with us in the port terminal and it turned out to be a smooth start to a great cruise up to Vancouver.

To a nearby hotel???????? NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING.......sounds like a robbery scam....NOT ANY PRINCESS transfer I ever heard of. .....the transfer people DON'T work for Princess. ..they are a hired company........only 34 cruises .......guess I haven't heard all the wild cruise stories. ......Princess TELLS YOU THE AGENT will be there at 10:45am....how early were you?????? If you say 7am.....im thankful you DIDNT GET INTO ANY VEHICLE THEY WANTED TO TAKE YOU TO THIS HOTEL TO WAIT.

Just off the Coral and GRAND PRINCESS ships......Thought Alfredo’s was WAY OVERRATED. ...some will like it.....thought the shrimp and mussel pizza was an AQUIRED TASTE. WHEN they reinstate the $10 charge the place will QUICKLY go the way of the Edsel and Pet Rocks. Something we thought we wanted....BUT didn't want to pay for....this is just IMHO

BEFORE YOU RECEIVED samples of everything on The menu after you o4dered your MAIN course. ..... NOW IMHO you just have to ORDER what you'd like......We had a table of 6 and ordered plates of DIFFERENT things and sampled.....if someone really liked something. .they ordered it.......The chef started sending special things for us to try...kid you not. We ate for 3 plus hours. It was great. We celebrated 2 birthdays also:) the singing was great.

Sailing on Island Princess next month. DH has been awesome about traveling on our first full year of retirement;however, he tends to make last minute plans.

 

We agreed on an inside cabin as we are spending a great deal of money on land tour and ship excursions. We weren't able to secure a stateroom on Caribe deck or the other with no clubs/casino overhead.

 

I knew the stateroom # and assumed we would just enjoy and make the best of the trip. Imagine how frustrated I am when our cabin is listed as one of the worst for the Plaza deck due to overhead noise.

 

Convince me that I am lucky we are able to travel and that we can still grab some shut eye. Ear plugs don't seem to work for me.

 

Thanks.

I just returned fro the Coral Princess. ... I had cabin P503 on Plaza deck near the stairs......NO PROBLEM AT ALL....except on a port day as people v were leaving and boarding the ship....other than those times.....I liked the location.

Can any of you knowledgeable people out there advise me of the best/cheapest way to get from LAX to the cruise port Golden Princess uses and the name of that cruise port? Thanks.

 

Bill

I just boarded the Coral Princess a cpl weeks ago.......I signed up for the Princess transfer......it was my FIRST cruise from L.A. BEST $29 I SPENT Not only was the bus, clean, new and FILLED with happy Princess cruisers. The driver was informative and funny. Saving $10 bucks and piling into some packed van is not the way I like to start a cruise...... The conversation on the bus was nice and the ride was smooth......Princess Shuttle is the way id do it. Save $10 bucks someplace else :D

If that helps keep the base cruise price down then I'm all for it. Helps us poor people get on board and allows those with the means to dine and drink better.

No disrespect intended :) US POOR PEOPLE. .... doesn't fit you at all :D You have some fine cruises planned. ......happy cruising.

Mini bar is this way.........1,2,3,4,5,7 or 10 day cruises get a mini bar set up. 10 or more da y s gets ADDITIONAL MINI BAR.......IN OTHER WORDS......if you book a 1 day a 2 day and a 1 day as a B2B2B YOU WILL GET 3 MINI BAR SET UPS.........each segment is treated as a DIFFERENT CRUISE.......ANY TIME YOU GET A NEW CRUISE CARD.....THATS A NEW CRUISE..

Getting a full mini bar setup valued at about $70 for a one day cruise is amazing :) considering some one days are sold for as little as $29 per person NOT including taxes.

I just returned from a few coastal cruises and was surprised at the mini bar setup.....I DONT drink.....now I have all these littke bottles of booze at home :)

Roland

Just off the grand 2 weeks ago. Overall in good shape the railings could use some stain which did stick out to many passengers. Otherwise rust here and there but would go on her again in a heartbeat.

I also was on this cruise......ALSO THE HORIZON COURT WAS REDONE.... MUCH MORE OPEN AND MORE SEATING AS THE BISTRO HAS BEEN REMOVED. ..... more seating......very nice.

Roland

Just got off the GRAND PRINCESS....Alfredo's has a location in the Piazza. ...on the CORAL PRINCESS. ..Alfredo's is in Sabatini's for lunch.......ONLY PIZZA IS AVAILABLE.....IMHO PIZZA IS NOT THAT GREAT.......I live in the New York area and have had ALL TYPES of pizza....some good...some bad.....SOME GREAT :) BUT..... the SHRIMP and MUSSEL seafood pizza is an AQUIRED taste :o

Roland

Hey Cheryl,

 

I certainly agree with the efforts to maintain national security by traveling citizens having proper ID. Since I live in NJ and recently obtained a 'digital' DL, I am still concerned with whether or not this recently obtained DL will be compliant with an 'Enhanced DL' or 'Real ID' requirements, if and when these regulations are implemented.

 

Obtaining a 'Passcard', although being less expensive than a US Passport Book, makes little sense to me since it is only good for "travel by land and sea between the US and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean, only". If your gonna spend the money and effort to get a 'Passcard' just spend the extra money and get the Passport Book. Passcards will not be available to be mailed to a recepient until Spring 2008...you would receive a Passport Book in less time.

 

I am not a wealthy person...and I understand that the majority of the travelling public is not wealthy either. It just makes sense to me that if you were to get ill in Bermuda, e.g. and had to return to the US by air and did not have a Passport Book, that your return to the US could be significantly delayed in order to verify your citizenship.

 

Thank you Cheryl for your continued advice and updates for the travelling public.

 

Paul

We applied for our passports on January 4th and we received them today, January 14th. :)