trivia addict

Depends on how young the kids are. We have done both and if the children are under 4, I would do neither. I would chose a warm weather destination with beaches and pool time. Last year we took our two and a half year old granddaughter with her parents on the Anthem to Alaska and it was hard to keep her occupied. She didn’t want the kids club and was too young to do any of the active excursions. Conversely, when our kids were preteens we took them to Alaska and they had a great time. We waited until they were teenagers to do Europe. They were old enough to have had background knowledge on what they were seeing, and could appreciate the culture and history.

Agree with the Bermuda Craft Market and I have also seen Christmas ornaments at the Variety/drug store at the Dockyard. ( Don’t remember it’s name) I would also think that the small shops in the Clocktower would have some ornaments.

I did Coco Reef about 10 years ago with a Day Pass. The resort was pretty and in great shape and the staff was helpful. The pool area was very nice and our lunch was enjoyable. However, it was many steps down to the actual beach and water. I would recommend it only you are fit and don’t mind stairs, or are satisfied with only the pool and lunch.

Thank you both for your responses. It’s good to know the distance we are facing. But when you are 3 years old and are the only grandchild you tend to get what you want 😊. We will probably rent a car for our 2 days in Waikiki before the cruise. And seriously, our family has always been known for our long car trips, so no big deal for us.

Thank you for the kind response

I am not a regular, but sometimes I check in to see what tasty recipe is posted! You are a very tight warm group of friends. I had to comment on todays port. On our Holland Panama cruise some years back, we also stopped at Leon and Corinto. It was my worst port ever. They first took us to a local open air food market. At one stand, the man was holding up two little live lizards bound with twine. The poor little fellows were wriggling their heads and tails frantically trying to get loose. Apparently they can be someone’s dinner. I was gagging so hard, I had to leave. Later the tour included lunch. We had a choice of chicken or something else. While everyone else ate happily, I was NOT going to trust anything! I had another experience while there but since this is a family board I will not repeat it. I will never return there. As mentioned, the only reason it is a port of call must be for humanitarian reasons.

Fun. The point is to have a bit of fun. Why do people do scavenger hunts? Go beach combing for shells? Collect whatever? Why do people do slot pulls on cruises? Why do some do bar crawls? Fun. All of us have different things we like to do. You may not like ducks but I’m sure I could find one of your hobbies pointless too! And from what I understand, a lot of the crew enjoys finding the ducks. Perhaps they send them to their children or keep a special one to remind of a special voyage. Most cruisers do this for the same reason. They will either take them home or leave for someone else. I don’t think we have to worry about hundreds of plastic ducks floating in the ocean. And I have never heard that the cruise lines object to this. To the OP who suggested Oriental Trading. Thank you. Haven’t thought of them since my GS leader days! Will have to try them.

I believe all cruise lines have people who hide and look for ducks. I have seen them on Holland, Celebrity and Royal. And know for a fact that it is done on Carnival. I never paid much attention to them until last year when we had our 3 year old granddaughter with us on Royal. An older woman had found a duck and stopped us to give it to my granddaughter. She was so thrilled to get it. Now, when ever I cruise we bring along ducks to hide for others to find. It is actually fun to find good hiding places and have something to do on a sea day. BTW, many different varieties of cruise ducks can be purchased on Amazon.

First, I agree with those that believe that solariums on ships should be adult only. As I have witnessed myself, people neither abide by the hours or the ages posted. I have left solariums when seeing small children in the hot tubs or taking up lounges meant for adults. But, for those of you that think it’s ok to take your child out of school for a week or two, because you “ get the assignments from the teacher”, did you ever stop to think of the extra work you are putting on the teacher? Teacher is dealing with 20-25 children all with individual needs. Now teacher has to sit down and figure out what curriculum will be covered in the next 1-2 weeks, writing out specific instructions for 4-5 subjects, making sure that child has all of his needed books and worksheets. Then child comes back and teacher has to find free time in his day to administer any tests that child missed. Please DON’T hijack this thread to be a discussion on teachers, but since it was brought up, I want parents to know that taking a child out of school for a week or two is not as easy as you think.

Besides renting a car for the day, which we will probably do, is there any way to get from our hotel in Waikiki to the Aulani Resort for the Character Breakfast?

Clearwater Beach also has a snack stand with food and alcohol. At least it did when we there last June. As a fellow Long Islander used to beautiful beaches, I recommend you look into it.

Age has nothing to do with it. Your object for taking the cruise is what counts. Do you want a lively bar scene? Big Show Productions? Bingo? Duty free Shops? Pool Days? Game Shows? Beaches? Karaoke? Then do the cruise lines that you know. River Cruises have none of this. Do you want the culture of European cities?,Do you want to see castles and cathedrals? Eat fresh local food? Enjoy Good Wine and a quiet bar? Have quiet evenings with local entertainment or a cooking or craft demonstration? Then do a River Cruise. We have done many cruises on RC, Celebrity, Holland and Norwegian and enjoyed them all. But for a different type of experience, we love Viking. We are over 60 and truthfully, river cruises attract an older crowd, but younger adults also have been on the cruises

You were probably on our cruise. We got off from the Joy yesterday (2/24) Like you, we never waited long for a drink on this full ship. And as someone else said, if your bar looks crowded, just move a few feet down to the next one. We also bring a roll of dollar bills with us and tip a dollar a drink. ( sometimes more if we are sitting for a long time at the bar). We know how hard the servers work, and feel they can use the extra money. We also during quiet times will chat with our servers. That will often translate into better service because you are now recognized as someone they know. But again, this is not expected and you are not pressured for any extra tip.

All ships on all cruise lines charge a tax on drinks served at American embarkation and American ports of call ports.

Good idea to check your weather before reserving VIBE. We just got off from a Mexican cruise on the Joy. We had Vibe passes but due to unseasonably cold and windy weather we got very little use from them. Loved the Vibe experience but only used it twice during the week and we sat wrapped in towels, the whole time!

Walked off this morning with the first group. Then walked to the white tent where there was a fast moving taxi line. The walk took about 5-10 minutes. All was very easy and organized. Now sitting at LAX waiting for flight.

Thank you all for your input and to the original author of this thread. Currently we are looking at, and deciding if we should book a Haven experience on the Joy to replace a Celebrity cruise that is becoming way too expensive for what we would be receiving.

Can you tell us how you found the activities on board? We took our first post Covid Celebrity cruise last summer and found that there were very few activities scheduled. The ones offered each day only seemed to be the ones that were selling something. Each day the Dailey posted almost the exact thing as the day before. Truthfully we were bored. We chalked it up to post Covid staffing problems. We have another Celebrity cruise scheduled for June, but due to the high cost that we would be paying and the many bad reviews we are reading, we are thinking of switching to NCL.

Oh dear that is terrible. Not even worth the port taxes, is it? I definitely would stick around the dockyard or even stay on the ship for that length of time. Best bet would probably be the mini golf as mentioned and a walk on the Dockyard beach near it, and a trip to the mall to buy a tee shirt that says I was in Bermuda! Maybe go to the Frog and Onion for a swizzle!

Definitely leave the Dockyard if you are there overnight. Except for a pub, an information booth, and the ferry dock there is very little to do here. There is a mall with tourist items but that can be done in very little time. When we are there, we do book water excursions from The Island Tour Center, but we are there when it is warmer. Not sure if they have excursions this time of the year. Why don’t you look on Trip Advisor for suggestions for tour activities?

I am thinking that the OP meant wire cutter. And I agree with the response. In the decades that I have used my plastic tags attached by their wires, I have never had a tag stolen from a piece of luggage. And truly, what would be the point for someone to do that?

Yes!

I bought a set of these tags many many years ago after standing in line one morning at a hotel desk waiting for a stapler to attach my tags before my departure that day. I have used them over and over throughout the years. They are convenient, sturdy and last forever. If you plan on cruising more than once, they are worth the nominal price. You can get them on Amazon. I have two sets. The narrow one for Celebrity and Royal and the wider ones for NCCL and Holland.

Loved the thermal spa on the Pearl when I was on her about 5 years ago. Actually have not yet found one that I like as much on either Royal or Celebrity.

I would agree. Do not rent the electric cars or scooters in Bermuda. The roads are narrow, hilly and as mentioned congested. We have been to Bermuda many times and almost always witnessed a scooter accident. Last year we had a first hand encounter. One evening at the Sunset Bar, we noticed a woman limping, covered in bruises and with her arm in a sling. We asked if she needed help. She began to tell us of a scooter accident she and her husband had been in the day before. A bus had come around a curve and ran them off the road. The husband had spent the night in a local hospital in emergency surgery to repair his broken arm. That morning he was released and was now under pain killers in their room. Obviously she needed some space and maybe someone to talk to. We helped her carry a plate of food and a drink back to her room. Interestingly, she received no support or advice of any kind when she called the emergency number for the cruise line while she waited at the hospital all night, with no one to give advice on any protocol.