jpurdy

13 hours ago, LarryCruiser said:

How is Snorkel Park Beach? I’m going to Bermuda next month and have heard conflicting opinions. And is there a cost? Thank you!

We debated this too. Very enjoyable. Brought our own equipment. Beach and bathrooms very clean. Nice assortment of fish along fort wall and rocks. Can’t comment on food/drinks. Yes entry fee of 15. More to rent chairs/umbrella etc. We rented one chair and sat in the shade next to fort. Our goal was to snorkel for a couple hours in calm water. This fit the bill. 

1 hour ago, Ladyintheheights said:

@jpurdy I keep hearing about choppy waters and a lot of sea sickness.  Can you give your thoughts on this.  I am taking this trip in September and now so afraid of getting sea sick.  Too short of a trip to be sick.

Only slight movement one day. Seas never over 3 ft. We had a rainy day, and wasn’t rocky either. Very enjoyable ride.

7 hours ago, tap_out said:

We are going on this same cruise August 15th. How were the crowds on the ship? overall ship condition? Its a cruise and were going to make the best of it but Magic has been getting beat up pretty bad lately. 

Gotta admit, the first day crowds seemed excessive. It evened out the next day. We always found a place to eat outside, anytime dining was never full. Overall condition was fine, except the cabin issues I mentioned. My biggest complaint is that people are slobs, don’t care about who cleans up after them. Hallways littered with used dishes and food. I realize this is what is done, but if it gets knocked over, it stays there. 

7 hours ago, Weeziblu said:

We're booked for this itinerary at the end of September and I can't decide if I should arrive at the port as early as possible or much later.  We typically like to arrive early and just wait in the terminal but there are benefits to arriving a little later and walking on board. 

 

What time did you arrive to the port?

Our ck in time was 10:30, we were about 10:40 after parking. 

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I took 3 post pandemic cruises (NCL) from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.  The first 2 were to the Bahamas...and embarkation was a breeze.  The last one, to Bermuda, was a nightmare.  I think it had more to do with the destination than the terminal.

 

@jpurdyDid you see any of the shows?  Is the theatre a real theatre with permanent seating....or setting up chairs for that specific function?

As another poster said, permanent seating. We preferred the lowest floor as I am short and need more visibility. We saw both shows. 

2 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

You can only edit a post within about 15 min of making the post.

 

It is now there forever, unless you report the post to a Mod and ask for the correction.

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

51 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

Am guessing you meant embarkation (getting on) here?

yes sorry. Can’t find where to edit….can anyone help me find it.

16 minutes ago, kelly4126 said:

Hi there !

we are traveling of this same cruise on August 15. Do you think it would be better to arrive later ? Trying to avoid what you experienced !

thanks

kelly 

I do. This way the early arrival seekers will already be on board. 

Just now, shof515 said:

i am going to Bermuda in August. Did the SHIP time change to local Bermuda time with the hour difference? if it did, when was the time changes?

Yes the time changed. So sorry can’t remember if it was first night or second.

23 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I see that Magic cruised out of New York.  Is the embarkation process typical for that port, where no-one "respects" the check-in time?

 

Glad everything else went OK, despite the imperfect cabin.  

 

I'm guessing that Bermuda knows whether everyone on the ship filled out that form, and maybe that's why they don't check.

 

Regarding the showers - you will not find shower doors on any Carnival ship except the new Mardi Gras (and upcoming other future builds like Celebration and Jubilee), at least AFAIK.

Have cruised many times from NY. Never experienced this. There were check in times areas, but Carnival herded us all into one extremely long line and the free for all. Almost witnessed a fight.

Debarkation- Absolute nightmare. Got herded outside to a long line. Arrival times did not matter. Had to speak to a rep. Who put colored stickers on boarding passes. If you were lucky enough to speak to a rep, you got inside. Very disorganized and started off the cruise negatively.

Once inside, the rest of the process was much better. Very few of us wore masks indoors.

Cabin - Balcony, deck 6 mid ship. It was in decent enough shape, but found several long hairs out in the open, on the couch, counter and even attached to the lamp next to bed. Yuck. The mirrors inside the closet were smudged with obvious hand marks, and our daughter found sand in her closet. Our shower over flowed two times. Someone did come to look at it, but only resolution was to lower the water flow dramatically to prevent it overflowing over the lip. You are forewarned. We will look for ships with doors in the future. We are seasoned cruisers, pretty tolerant, don’t expect perfection. No one should have to mop up after a shower or find hair as we did. That said, all staff works very hard. Cabin staff seems overworked. They need help. Carnival suits, give it to them.

Food - Very good.  If the buffet doesn’t work for you, the anytime dining is a good choice. Not formal, and good coffee!  We weren’t going to use dining room and eat outdoors exclusively, but some gf family members did much better there. Be aware Cucina is a great choice for free lunch. Pig and Anchor was a hit too.

Entertainment - very good. Ryan, the CD is an A+++. Staff all work so hard. Musicians seemed varied. Comedy show was good too. Casino was really fun and had a good assortment of machines to choose. Always had staff walking around to take drink orders.

Bermuda - No one ever asked to see our $40 authorization Forms. Really. Certainly a money grab for Bermuda. Walked to Snorkel Park. Convenient and it provided us a beach, calm waters and walkable to/from ship. We enjoyed snorkeling along the fort wall and rocks. 

Debarkation - Off the ship in 5 minutes. Self Debarkation. Carried our luggage. Completely different than getting on.  

Had a great time. So convenient to drive to port. But….they must clean up embarkation. It really was horrible. Happy to answer any questions.  
 

On 5/27/2022 at 9:51 AM, tbedard1 said:

We went to Snorkel Beach on our Norwegian Joy Cruise week of 5/15. Its as open and perfect. Walked over. I think the price went up entrance for 2 and two chairs was 75.00 I think for the day.Including a bottle of water each.

 

Could you expand on your day there? Was the area well maintained?  Bathrooms clean? We have one day to snorkel and would love to walk over to this beach. Appreciate a recent experience, as it has been several years since we last visited. Thank you.

So easy, if coming from north on 95, I believe exit 1 right before going over the GW bridge, to Henry Hudson Parkway. You won’t be going fast due to traffic, so just keep in right lane when close. Once on HH, straight shot along Hudson River to port. You will see the ship and easy off with signs to parking. We get to port by 11 and have never been turned away. Just as easy to get back on 95. Good signage.

9 minutes ago, young_ens said:

+ @jpurdy

Good to know it is secure.   I had those exact feelings in the second sentence, leaning me to local parking which would be nice at disembarkation. 

 

Follow up: Does the lot become full and I'd need plan b (or c) for parking?   How's driving in NY?   Signage good for out of towners?

We love this port. Parking at the pier is right off I95 and the HH parkway. This convenience is well worth the cost to us as we don’t fly. 

Will my gmail function the same? Am opting to get notified from dog sitter through gmail if any problems.  Value package seems the most economical. Thanks for help.

I just called RCCL to get a full refund and they JUST got the article a bit ago. Am so disappointed, but at least I have an answer and can plan something else.  

We are the cruise right after you. Going to call RCCL again this morning. I know it does no good, but if they are tracking phone calls, I want to be included. 

Ditto: We are on Oasis July 16th. Any news would be welcome, even if it is a disappointment. They must know this is a PR nightmare not communicating with us. 

29 minutes ago, dswallow said:

True. Still, gotta point it out from time to time, too. Sometimes newbies see these discussions without realizing that. 🙂

A few on here think they know what is going to happen and won't let it go. They don't know. Everything could change today. 

1 minute ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Royal is not planning on having any 95% vaccinated ships, they will all have to have test cruises. 

All can change. No one knows except them. Very fluid situation. 

23 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

That isn’t a Matt Hochberg post, Cruise Industry News (a fairly worthless website) posts that same article every month, it’s just a cut and paste from the “master schedule” 

There will be no July 3 sailing from Bayonne, guaranteed 

With all due respect you don't know this. Everything is changing very rapidly. Am hoping for news tomorrow.

I wear a magic band at Disney all the time. It opens our hotel door, admission into the parks, purchases inside parks and food. This is not a big deal. If it gets me on a cruise ship sooner, sign me up.

20 minutes ago, NJsharon said:

 

Do we know for sure they haven't vaccinated anyone from the ship.  They need 3-4 weeks before, so they have that.  Could be readying the ship already too, right now.  No idea as we aren't hearing anything about Baltimore, just FL or Alaska.  😞

 

We are in limbo re: Bayonne also. No one can say for sure what will happen, though some think they do.  Am positive lots going on behind the scenes to ready the ships, crew, ports, etc. once they open. I remain hopeful, but realistic that our July cruise may not happen. 

1 minute ago, jrapps said:

My guess is they were getting this language ready and it "slipped" into the marketing email.

 

I expect the CDC will come out with their new guidance later today or early next week (which will allow sailing of 8 days, revise mask guidelines for fully vaccinated cruises etc), and once that new guidance comes out we will start to see official emails from Royal indicating the cruises that will start first, and your options if you are required to be vaccinated but are not.

Can confirm this. I reviewed all of my marketing emails and today's had that verbiage, nothing before that.