IMDORY

I am looking for recommendations for a good beach to go to on the French side with parasailing for my teen nieces.  Seems like Orient Beach is the place to go, but what part would be good for us? I would also like to rent some beach chairs with umbrellas and have access to some food and drinks. I see a lot of posts talking about getting reservations. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Just for your info, there are regular minivan taxis that operate on the meter. They are around 50 % more expensive than a regular taxi. They are not as widespread as normal size taxis though

Just to clarify, the regular minivan taxis that operate on the meter can fit 4 people and 4 medium size suitcases and still charge the same as a "regular" taxi? If that is the case, than we will try to see if we can find one of those at the airport.

I have a question about the City Pass. I know you can order it on your mobile phone. Is there any way when we are in Copenhagen to buy a 24 hour pass not through our phone, a paper ticket, and save it to use the day we disembark from our cruise?

How many suitcases can fit in a cab? We will have 4 people with 1 large suitcase (30") and 3 medium suitcases (24"). Would we be able to just walk up and get a regular cab with this number of people and suitcases?

We just ended our cruise and it worked beautifully. When you put airplane mode on, the WiFi goes off. Put it back on and it will go to royal WiFi. Then text as usual. It was fast and I used it to text the 9 others in our group who all had iPhones. I also texted friends at home with iPhones. I WAS able to send photos as well as videos. Try it again. We used it multiple times a day. Enjoy your cruise. We did.

Will this only work on specific ships? I will be on Serenade of the Seas in about a week and would like to do this.

We did taxi hotel to airport and it was about $42. Very convenient. A little pricey but it was ok and the guy took a credit card too.

Thanks for the info! That is about the price I estimated for a regular taxi. There are 11 in our group, so I think my husband and my mom will take a taxi with their luggage to the hotel and the rest of us will do public transit and meet them there. My mom would have a hard time with her luggage too.

The next step up in taxi would be an 8 person mini van and the lowest price I found for that was around 125 usd. We all will have the Copenhagen card, so to spend a lot extra for taxis seems like a waste.

Take a taxi.....it's "easy' to travel via public transportation BUT the streets are cobblestone in most places and walking and rolling luggage is difficult for the average person. Since you stated your husband has some disabilities I would do a taxi.

 

We just got back from our Baltic Cruise from Copenhagen.

 

We did the train into the city. We managed but the cobblestone was a PITA LOL

 

To get to the port we did a taxi since more cobblestone streets plus luggage plus bus and figuring out were we were going wasn't worth it to save $$.

Thanks for the info. He has MS and has issues with balance and strength, so trying to walk with a suitcase down a cobblestone street is definitely not something he can do. Just walking with his walking stick/cane will be enough for him. Thanks for the heads up!

I have been reading all of your helpful information Danish Viking-thank you! We will be in Copenhagen in a few weeks and I am trying to plan how to get to our hotel with luggage and then again how to get from our hotel to Oceankaj with our luggage. Although you have made it very clear how easy it is to do with the public transportation, I am worried as my husband has some disabilities. He will not be able to carry a suitcase up or down stairs. Should we just take a taxi for these two trips?

I'm starting to think about booking flights for next summer. I see there is a direct flight to Toronto, but it departs at 10:05. I'm not sure if we could make that flight the morning we get off the ship. Any advice on how early we can book a flight? We may have to settle for a flight with connections or maybe consider staying in Copenhagen that night and leaving the next morning. We would rather not do that as we are staying in Copenhagen for 3 days before the cruise.

I did something like this on Carnival several years back-before the majority of the world had smartphones. There was a call with questions before the cruise. I had a journal to fill out during the cruise. Then there was a meeting on one day of the cruise later in the week for about an hour and a half pretty early in the day on a sea day. They offered me a good OBC for doing it. I can't remember how much-but I remember that it was pretty decent for the little time involved. My husband was sleeping in late the day of the meeting anyway-so it really didn't take me away from anything-I probably would have been sleeping or reading a book that morning. It was worth it to me. It was kind of interesting too.

This one sounds like it is a little more involved-but nothing too terrible. Sounds like the compensation is pretty good-free wifi for the week and $700 OBC. I'd do it.

I haven't been able to get the site to work to check pricing.

I had a hard time yesterday and today to get the site to work myself. :(

I just called and got a price adjustment for my August 2018 cruise that I booked last Thursday. :D

We didn't have any OBC- so no issues there. I saved $233 for the three of us. Not a fortune-but worth waiting on the phone for about 10-15 minutes.

I just love saving money! :cool:

I've had the best luck with Lands End

We were on the Liberty out of Miami last month when there were lots of storms and tornadoes in the west and south. Many people missed connections because of this. We departed Miami on Saturday around 5pm and when we got to St. Thomas at 9am on TUESDAY there were people who missed connections and flights to Miami getting ON the ship for the first time that morning in St. Thomas-they missed Sat.-Tues. am. They missed HMC. I felt very bad for them.:(

I see by reading some of the posts about going to Trunk Bay first for a while then get a cab to Cinnamon Bay for the remainder of the time. About how much would the cab be to Cinnamon Bay from Trunk Bay? Any idea how much the cab from Cinnamon Bay to Cruz Bay is to catch the ferry back?

You purchase your tickets in the terminal before you board. They are $6 per person each way. I also recommend purchasing your return trip ticket at this time too so you don't have to wait in line in Cruz Bay to purhcase return tickets. Tickets are good for any ferry....they do not have a time on them.

 

PJS is right...things can and do happen. Allowing enough time to get back to the ship is always a good idea.

Great info-thanks!

When you get to Red Hook, do you buy your tickets for the ferry before or on the ferry? Any idea about how much per person?

Host Anne-

Thank you SO much for all the details about going to St. John-just what I needed. Your pictures are amazing! Thanks for sharing those. I think this sounds just like what we'd want to do. I think the ferry may be the way to go for us-and it sounds like fun too. :)

Very interesting perspective on St. John about the journey being part of the destination. Thanks!

We went to St. John many years ago thru the ship excursion. It was the best. I still think about it. It was a wonderful day of relaxing on the beach. We went to Trunk Bay of course. It was not crowded at all when we went, not sure how it is now days. It was just soooooooo pretty. I always recommend people to go there, especially if you have done St. Thomas already. It may even be a little adventure getting there for your son (however you decide to get there).

Thanks for your thoughts. I hear it is really beautiful and worth the trip.

We (me, my husband, and son who will be 10) are going to St. Thomas on our next cruise. We were there on our last cruise, we went to Emerald Beach and had a really nice time. A lot of people have mentioned that we should go to St. John and we were thinking of going, but not sure how to do it.

This is what I know so far:

• we can do one of the excursions that the ship offers to St. John
  
• we can do a day sail with a private company on our own
  
• we can taxi to Red Hook, take the ferry to St. John on our own
  

Any experiences and/or advice? I know there are pros and cons to each. Our main objective is to relax and have a really nice beach day. We have never snorkled before and I'm not sure we are that into it. Maybe we might want to try it for a little bit-not sure. Is it more hassle than it is worth to go to St. John? Should we just pick a different beach or go back to Emerald Beach on St. Thomas?

Opinions please! :D

The steak/lobster and all the other menu items at the Steakhouse are far superior to the food found in the dining room. I also received samples of appetizers and unlimited champagne. Plus there was a musical group with dancing (6 years ago). The experience was well worth the price. I am looking forward to my upcoming cruise and visit to the Steakhouse.

I didn't get free Champagne:( that has changed. We did each get a little tiny "compliments of the chef" item before our appetizers came. No live music, but a lot of good tunes on the stereo system that I enjoyed.:)

Sure about the "maine" part of the lobster? I was on the Liberty two years ago and they were serving carib tail, was on the Valor last summer and again, carrib tail, no maine. Others have reported this too and it sounds like fleetwide cutback.

Very sure-and I was shocked to see that the lobster tail in the MDR was a Maine lobster tail also. It actually said Maine lobster tail on both of the menus. I had read on cc before we went that it wouldn't be and I told my husband to expect carib tail and we both noticed right away that the menu in the MDR said Maine lobster tail.

We didn't have that option in the MDR last week on the Liberty. There was the lobster night with shrimp and you could have ordered prime rib-but no filet all week at all in the MDR. (well, I don't know what they served the night we went to Harry's...)

I had the surf and turf at Harry's on the Liberty last week-it was very good! Very tender filet and Maine lobster tail. We had a great night at Harry's.