cruiselvr04

Sounds like negotiations have not gone well. I know RCL renews contracts from time to time with those that run the excursions on the islands. Excursions make them money.

St Martin is easy on your own. We have even just hired a cab and drove around to some of the sites. Cab to beaches. Walk in to town for the best shopping in the Caribbean.

Next time we have booked Captain Alan's 3 island snorkel tour.

We have also done the more expensive tours off the ship like the Americas cup and a Jeep tour of both sides of the island.

We love St. martin!

Reaching 140 on our Oasis cruise in November. I do not cruise for the trinkets but like the idea of having one to sit in my office with my other travel mementos. I think its a great way to give a small reward to loyal customers.

Have stayed at both the El Convento and Caribe Hilton. Personally I would choose the Hilton. The views are great and grounds are beautiful.

We will be in U 17 next week. Thanks for the pics. It does look better then being in an inside. No chair in the room though? Was it rocky in the front?

It is so close and easy to get to I would go on my own just so you can come and go as you please. We are going next week! You do not need a guide.

This is not what you asked but I will put my 2 cents in. We use snorkel vests always as a just in case thing. You can leave them un inflated unless you get out there and need help. A couple of puffs and you can float for a while. Just ordered new ones cheap off amazon 2 for $66. Going to Cozumel in less then 2 weeks.

We did this excursion with lunch. While I would do the beach again I would not do lunch. It was rice and beans with chicken, not very good and certainly not worth the money. The beach is okAy, quiet and unless you want to go on a long excursion a good option. We have also done the Martha Brea rafting from here a different trip. It was a short trip also. We just do not like to spend hours getting to and from somewhere on land so was a good option for us. The beach was clean and no one bothered us.

One of our favorite cruises was on the the Empress! 11 nights from San Juan in a tiny inside cabin. My closet is bigger then that room was! Great memories.

I don't care which port as long as it's Texas! We can go more often because we can drive vs. fly. We might get bored with some of the ports but enjoy cruising just for cruising too. I so want year around, it would give us some many more choices. We just won't waste our money again on Carnival which means we end up flying to Florida.

The guy on liberty was really talented - can not remember his name. One irritation was that he choose 2 guests to sing with him for the cruise. They sang almost as much as he did. He did not allow anyone else to use the mike...we didn't want to hear them.

Just off Liberty and had the new tipping. We saw no difference in the service I am happy to say. We did give extra to our waiter and to the asst waiter. Still tipped in the Diamond lounge. Left the room steward extra as we checked out of our room at 0930 which we know puts him a little behind.

I am okay with it as long as service does not slip. We saw empty tables all week in the mdr. This would mean less tips the old way so maybe it will be better for the staff.

We have never tipped less then suggested the old way. Doubt I would ever try to remove a tip.

Why not year around with 2-3 months a year with longer cruises, say 10 days to ports further south. We would love it! I don't even care what size ship it is.

Just there last week. Loved the bobsled!!!! Swam at the pool and enjoyed the quiet skylift up and down. Our best day on Jamaica yet and we've been there 4 times.

We have seen lots of strange things but one we still talk about is the short Asian couple on a cruise about 18 months ago who wore flashing red horns on their heads all the time. They were really having a great time but none of us could figure out the purpose or meaning of the horns. Just strange.....

Just got the Caribe Hilton for $90 per night ($209.04 with tax) for Feb 3 and 4, 2011. Thanks so much for the tip! We had settled on the Hampton for $150 per night which I will now cancel since in November I had bid up to $140 with no luck for a resort. Super excited!

Is there a resort fee on top of this does anyone know?

Also if you book under priceline will they honor Diamond Hilton Honors for free breakfast and internet? I assume no but we will ask.

I have bid up to $130 for Feb 3-5 for "resorts" in San Juan with no luck. I will try again tomorrow (after 24 hour wait) for $140. If I don't get it then I'm booking the Hampton for $151 per night which will be about the same as the $140 with taxes. Maybe not as fancy but I'm more sure about the Hampton then some of the reviews I've read about the 3.5 stars with Priceline in San Jaun. And I'll get Hilton points.

We have this room in November. It appears you can see onto the balcony from below - is this true? Just wondering how private it will be. We will enjoy it regardless, just wondering.

$2 for the driver. $5 per couple for a half day, up to $10 for a full day that we have really enjoyed. We are not wealthy but giving a few dollars to the guide is not going to break me and I think most of them can use it. I budget for tips for everyone on our vacation from the bellhop, cab driver and guides. If I get poor service from anyone they don't get tipped. (Except on the ship - I never give less just not more.)

Graham first choice - he was so fun! Clo was also VERY good.

We just had Johnney O on our last cruise. Although he is very musically talented and a nice guy we could not call him fun. The main shows were good but there was very little to do late a night. We only saw him in the evening. The kids that were doing most of work were much better than he was as a cruise director.

Just checked the CDC website for Maleria question also. It indicates it can be found in Limon. Although we are there during the daylight we do want to go into the jungle to see the beautiful country and animals. One form of Maleria is by a daytime biter. My husband got Dugue fever from a bite in Belize on a cruise. I'd hate to take the meds cause of the side effects but think I'll check with a travel clinic to make sure. He was really sick for about 6 weeks-scary but he recovered fine.