Ron_L

Has anyone ordered from the Lifestyles Collection site? I've compared prices on a few items against Amazon.com and with the savings from my credit for buy the Cruise Reward Cert the same products at the Lifestyles Collection site are lower, even after including shipping costs. This may not be true for all items, of course.

My wife liked this one on the Epic...

[YOUTUBE]

I thought it was funny when the cows were "beamed up" :D

We tries to use iConcierge last week on the Epic and found it very frustrating. Even when my iPhone had a good connection to the ship's wifi network the app would frequently be unable to access even the free services. I would typically have to turn off wifi and then reenable it to get the app to sign in. Others experienced it, too.

We also tried to use the messaging feature to keep in touch with others in our roll call, but the app doesn't notify you of a new message, so you have to look constantly, and, whenever the phone goes to sleep the app disconnects from the network, so you won't receive messages during that time. The guest services staff are aware of the problems and they are supposed to be fixed in an update that is planned for about three weeks.

But, we still had a great cruise :D

Airport (zone 1) to the piers in OSJ (Zone 4) is $19.

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/getting-around-by-taxi/

I'm a chronic over-researcher, so I may not be the best person to give advice, but here goes...

We prefer early December or mid to late April. As mentioned, it's cold at home, so getting away to the Caribbean is a welcome break, and our daughter is older and out of school, so we prefer to travel when there are fewer kids on board. Nothing against kids, but we've had to travel at school breaks in the past, so prefer to avoid them if we can.

I look at the options for the timeframe we want to travel and break down the ships, port and departure cities, including airfare. For us, new ports and the chance to try a new line or ship will get bonus points :D. Once I have it narrowed down to a few choices then I look at the roll call threads here and look at Trip Advisor and the Ports of Call forums here to see what there is to do in the ports. By the time we decide to book I have a pretty good idea of what we want to do in the ports and have a healthy list of bookmarks to do further research on.

After booking I look in more detail at the roll call thread and my bookmarks and narrow down each port to a couple of choices, typically based on our preferences and any group activities that the roll call group is doing. From there we can make our final decisions and book excursions and begin looking forward to the trip!

Did I mention that I am a chronic over-researcher? :D

On our last cruise I had three or four people come up to me because they recognized me from my avatar! It ranged from a group of folks yelling "Captain Ron!" in one of the lounges to a young lady quietly telling me that she enjoyed my posts in our roll call thread. The first time was a bit weird, but after the second time it became pretty funny!

I just discovered how to use this new feature on Cruise Critic.

Hope you enjoy my collection of videos over the past couple of years!! :)

Great videos! Thanks for sharing!

What video camera did you use?

I was on the Epic the beginning of this month and had a Posh pass. We were absolutely allowed during the sailaway party and had a TON for free champ and Mimosa's. It was VERY nice.

 

6&8

We were fortunate enough to get Posh passes on both legs of a B2B in late Jan./early Feb. and we thoroughly enjoyed the sailaway party in Posh both times. I hope you have a great cruise!

Thanks to you both!

Is the sail away party in Posh on the Epic when leaving Miami open only to Haven guests or are folks with Posh passes allowed in as well?

I've read conflicting posts on here (imagine that :rolleyes:)

She will be inspected by the CG again after going thru the incident area?

A CG helicopter flew around them several times, probably checking for oil.

According to our friend on board they are heading to Grand Cayman! :D

The Magic has moved from it's pier and appears to be underway. Anyone know if this is a pier change or if it has been cleared to leave?

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4

According to friends on the Magic they are pulling away from the dock to clean around the ship. The Coast Guard flew over the channel and it is still closed. A lot of passengers debarked this morning. If they can leave by 11am they can still make it to Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but that isn't looking good. Lots of busses lined up on the dock right now.

That is still true. Friends of mine are still on the ship waiting - it is a quiet ship this morning. A line of buses took whoever wanted to leave back to the terminal starting early this am.

I have friends on the ship, too! I wonder if they have met your friends?

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

How/when did the spill occur? that is really terrible.

Yesterday. A ship and barge collided in the fog.

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2014/03/collision-galveston-bay-causes-oil-spill

Caribbean Princess is still docked at the Bayport terminal. According to a report from someone aboard they have opened the casino and shops.

Carnival Magiv and RCCL Navigator of the Seas are sitting outside of the harbor along with a bunch of other ships, waiting. Carnival Triumph is due in port tomorrow.

The blue dots in the picture below are the Magic and Navigator. one of the two dots in the channel off of Galveston Island is the ship involved in the collision.

We've been on Carnival three times (Valor, Imagination and Breeze) and have enjoyed them all. We also went on the Celebrity Summit last December and enjoyed that. We're booked on the Epic in a couple of weeks and I'm sure that we will enjoy that, too :D

It's really what you make it. We enjoy the ships and seeing different ports and go with the flow while on board. If you want to party or participate in the various contests, etc. great. If not, there are plenty of places where you can get away from those activities.

Here it is on YouTube.

Fun song and video!

Check out the Caribbean Ports of Call section...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

There are separate subforums for each port.

Also, check here to see if there is a roll call thread for your sailing. You may be able to find filks to share an excursion with you.

http://cruisecritic.com/rollcalls?cruise_line_id=8

Pick Valor for the ship and then you sailing month.

Dominica - I highly recommend Bumpiing Tours, we had a great time on that tour. bumpiingtours - We did ROSEAU VALLEY TREASURES.

Thirded :D

Levi was fantastic!

We did the same itinerary in December. I have lots of pictures in my review, linked in my signature.

Booking the Bumpiing wet tour for November Summit cruise. Not sure what to wear since it involves so many different stops. Would shorts and tshirt over a bathing suit be best? For footwear, I see Keens are recommended, do you swim with the Keens on at the Titou Gorge? or would it be good to wear an athletic shoe for the hike and a water shoe booty type for the swim?

Thanks!

Most folks had either shorts and a shirt over their bathing suit or a cover-up of some sort.

We wore our Keens for everything but snorkeling. There are rocks and ledges underwater in the gorge so having some protection is a good idea.

Terminal C is at the Port. That shows where the ship is docked. When you enter you will enter into the Casino. You should see the escalators, or just ask one of the staff they will quickly point you there. At the bottom of the escalators you will see guest services up a bit to the right, you cant miss it.

 

6&8

It is actually up and to the left. I apologize for the mistake.

 

6&8

Thanks... I know that Terminal C is at the port, but from reading on here it seems that they board the Epic from Terminal B and Terminal C, so I was wondering which boarding point your instructions were from.

Take half as much stuff and twice as much money!

:D

Have you looked at the Roll Call thread for you cruise?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1937482

7) Posh is 100% without a doubt worth it. It cost $59 to get a pass. You will need to get to the port early to snag one as they only sell 20, but I was in boarding group 3 (first person in the group mind you) and I went right to guest services (Down the escalator when you board) and asked for them. I was only the second person to ask about them and easily got two. Now...the Posh experience....it was awesome. Drinks are much better up there, the staff (Rhoe, and Burton specifically) were amazing. It is very peaceful up there. There was always a beautiful lounger, bed, or clamshell to lay in. The people were MUCH more friendly. The sailaway party was flowing with free drinks. It was the best money we spent on board. Having access to the private elevator from the pool deck was fun too.

Thanks for all of the great info! You mention guest services is down the escalator when you board. Does it matter which terminal? Our docs say Terminal C.

Thanks!

:confused::confused::confused: Sorry if I sound stupid, but what is biodegradable sunscreen?????

Most sunscreens contain chemicals (PABA or others) that can harm the environment, particularly coral reefs when snorkeling. Biodegradable and reef-safe sunscreens use natural ingredients that won't do this.