GrandmaHofmann

Doesn’t matter when you buy it, you pay tax only on the drinks you have while in a US Port of Call.

 

Carnival hasn’t given out cups with the package ever since I started sailing with them back in 2003 so that’s a no. But you can buy one.

Maybe it's different with kids. My grandsons were given tall mugs with their Bubbles just 2 years ago. We are taking them on a cruise the 24th of March, and they have Bubbles. I will see if they get mugs again.

Soil, Sand and Minerals

Soil-borne organisms threaten both plants and animals. If you visited a farm or ranch in a foreign country, agricultural specialists may have to examine and disinfect your shoes or clothing. Vehicles must also be cleaned of any soil. No soil or earth of any kind is allowed into the United States without a permit issued in advance by USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine Permit Unit. Pure sand, such as a small container of decorative beach sand, is usually allowed. Always check with the permit unit in advance for details.

Sand is inert. It is not soil. I have mailed it all over the world, identified as sand for customs. It has never been rejected.

If you collect it, I would advise you to put it and any shells you may take in your pockets going back on board instead of the stuff that is x-rayed as I have seen different scanners take both away.

Thank you so much! this is the first answer that actually has me doing tons of research! After a quick Google image search I was in love! I'm going to be heavily looking into this. After hubbards mentioned that Singapore can be done in 1-2 days and Thialand in 3-4, it makes me think I may be able to just sort all three locations into one trip. I'm also considering Hong Kong, but these three are really looking amazing to me!

I can't imagine being able to do Singapore in 1-2 days or Thailand in 3-4.

Bangkok is a dirty, rather dangerous city. Singapore is a beautiful, clean, safe city. We did New Year's there last year prior to a cruise and it was just wonderful. We stayed at a Holiday Inn just two blocks away from the area where it was held and were able to walk there as often as we wished. There are neat things to see in Bangkok but I prefer to do them on a ship's excursion than wander around on my own. As far as flying in the day before the cruise-- last year we flew from Chicago to LA where our flight was delayed 3 hours and we were unable to leave that night. Then we had to fly to Hong Kong the next day and overnight it there and the following day fly to singapore. So we lost 2 days. I would be careful about arriving so close to your cruise.

We always get our currencies from our Chase bank at home. The service is free to us; we pay no exchange.

Why not rent an apt or house through VRBO and do a land tour of Iceland. Last August we did just that and it was incredible. You would see so much more. We flew to Britain on Icelandair which gives you a free stopover in Iceland if you wish. Wonderful, comfortable airline. Lovely people. We flew on to Britain and stayed a week or ten days, and dropped down to Southampton where we picked up our Norway cruise. Worked out perfectly.

I'm sorry. I just can't understand why anyone would refuse to wear a dressy pant for 2-3 hours at night. Was he raised in a barn? Just because some people have no taste and no consideration for others, doesn't mean the rest of us should let it all go. A few years ago women were wearing full formals to dinner and the men, tuxes on formal night. Now a white wife-beater seems okay. The cruise lines try to have some standards but they can't very well offend their passengers or they will lose passengers. So it is up to us to have some sort of taste.

Complete safety is an illusion. Before what happened in Vegas happened, would you have feared going there? Anything can happen anywhere. That said, I would not be quick to get on a ferry. We flew to Paris two weeks after the concert goers were killed. We flew to Brussels a week after the train station was shot up. We stayed two blocks from Molenbeek while we were there. We rode the bullet train from Strasbourg to Paris a few weeks after it derailed. We went to the Christmas market in Berlin that the truck bashed into. What can I say?

Thank you all for your input. I went through NCL. $25 or $75 or $50-- it hardly matters when you consider what you already paid for the cruise and the flight to get there.

Sorry! I am talking about Cuba. I took part of a response on a forum about Cuba on cruisecritic. Someone is saying you need a different visa to go around Cuba than the $75 one you pay for on NCL.

Just spoke with NCL the $75 visa is only in conjunction with a shore excursion. If you get a "regular" visa then you can get off the ship on your own. Looks like a regular visa may be $139

Is it true that you can't get off the ship with a $75 visa unless you are on a ship's excursion?

We got them as "rewards" once. I have an ocean Christmas tree in my office with ocean themed ornaments, blingy seaweed, ship ornaments from our cruises, wallet sized pictures from our cruises, and lanyards holding cruise cards. Only have one Carnival lanyard on there.

We were just there a month ago. Unfortunately, the hurricanes took a toll on the beaches. We made a stop at Magen's Bay and they had just planted a lot of small palm trees to replace the ones knocked down.

I still have one or two around.

Ours met is at thr ship and walked us off to our waiting bus. However we did Ruins and were gone all day. There were others just off the ship with signs for other excursions booked.

 

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Thank you. We are doing Uxmal and will be gone all day as well.

I have difficulty walking more than a block or so. We always rent a wheelchair that is placed in my cabin before the ship departs and taken out of it at embarkation. You will have no problem moving around the ship or on shore with a wheelchair.

Thank you for the review, your title grabbed me in, and now I am about to go check out the triumph, and see what we have been missing. We love the smaller ships, and the Triumph might be just the right size.

 

I have done a couple of the ruins from Progresso, and Uxmal would fascinate your kids, all that snake history built into the ruins If you go again, I think you should try it. But my friends stayed in town, and enjoyed some of the shopping. Glad you had a great cruise!

We are sailing on the Triumph this month with our grandsons, now 12 and 14 1/2. We plan to visit Uxmal with them this time and also so the Mayan Ball game. They have been sailing with us since they were 5 and 7. We took them to the ruins in Belize five years ago and they loved it. So don't think kids don't like ruins. They loved running across the large areas and climbing the pyramids in Belize.

or do you have to get to the end of the pier to board them? thank you

I get that and I never told anyone to do so.

I believe that in your fervor to advocate for Haitians, you jumped to an erroneous conclusion.

Any mention of Haiti was a factual comparison with so-called poverty in Cuba.

 

 

 

And Cubans have a proud culture as well.

They are comparatively well off in comparison to many of their neighbors, in contrast to the preconceptions of some.

 

 

 

I admire your dedication. Very lucky children to have you in their lives.

 

 

 

And the same idea for Cuba (where education and housing is taken care of already). Bring a big duffel bag full of over the counter and prescription medications, that are occasionally lacking during the common fluctuations/shortages of items, and donate them to a religious organization or hospital.

I would be very careful about bringing drugs and distributing them. Did you know aspirin is a prescription drug there?

Thank you! I feel much more at ease. I booked the cruise long before the cut off date but was still a bit worried.

Hi! We are traveling Aug 22-27 to Cozumel and Progreso with Carnival Liberty.

My boyfriend is a paraplegic and is wheelchair bound 100%. He can transfer out of his wheelchair (manual chair) and fold up the chair to put in a trunk etc.

We are trying to figure out things to do during our port in Cozumel. Carnival is no help in advising us on what to choose in regards to excursions.

I would like to find an accessible beach. Or even an excursion to go on.

Any advice? Thanks!!

What about salsa and salsa? That was fun and no difficulty in doing it. Uxmal, though not huge with handicapped people, has taken steps to make much of it accessible. I myself am not able to walk very far at all and have difficulties, but we want to take our grandsons to see Uxmal next month. I will let you know how we do.

"The ferry crossing is very rough, and not a pleasant ride."

 

 

You mean the day you were there. The seas are constantly changing, just like your cruise ship. The crossing can also be like a lake with no wind or waves.

I have made that crossing four times in four different years and seasons. It has always been rough as a cob.

Did you have any difficulties getting off the ship if you were not on a ship's excursion?

Did anyone check to see the category of your tour?

Did you make arrangements for your tour originally with a US citizen, a Cuban, or the ship?

The new regulations do not affect any of our sailings to Cuba. However, self-guided “people-to-people” travel will no longer be allowed. This means that in order to enjoy Cuba, guests will need to participate in a group “people-to-people” tour that complies with the new regulations if they do not qualify for the other categories of authorized travel or hold a specific license issued by OFAC. All Royal Caribbean tours have been designed to comply with the regulations.

 

In addition, OFAC published a list of prohibited entities where direct financial transactions are not permitted. The list can be found on OFCA's Cuba Restricted List website.

Unless you booked before Trump's changes. We did. So we can still do people-to-people travel.