Vagabond Knight

Visit https://caribbreweryusa.com/. Under "Visit the taproom," you'll find the hours, a button that goes to the calendar of events, and a button that takes you to the sign-up for the tours. The taproom's Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/321LimeHouse

Go to the beach. Look around online to see which area/park suits you best. You may consider Lori Wilson Park (which has a nature hammock walk, as well as restrooms), or the area by the Cocoa Beach Pier (where there are a couple of restaurants), or Jetty Park (which is on the outside edge of the port), or Cherie Down Park (in a quieter area in north Cape Canaveral, restrooms available here too). Eat some seafood, have some drinks and watch the fishing and pleasure boats and cruise ships come and go at one of the waterside restaurants at the port. Use Google to check out Gator's Dockside, Fishlips, Grills Seafood, Seafood Atlantic, and Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar. Visit the Dinosaur Store and Museum in Cocoa Beach. Visit Ron John's Surf Shop if you haven't been there yet. Take a Canaveral Wildlife Tour (https://www.canaveralwildlife.tours/). Get THE BEST key lime pie at the Florida Key Lime Pie Company in Cocoa Beach (just to the north of Ron Jon's). Get your grind on at the Cocoa Beach Skate Park. Go over to the mainland and visit historic Cocoa Village (Cocoa is on the mainland, Cocoa Beach is on the ocean, Merritt Island is between them with a river on each side). Cocoa village has boutique type shopping, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars, and the Dirty Oar Brewing Company microbrewery. There are often arts & craft shows and sometimes entertainment or festivals in the park on the weekends. Visit the Caribe Brewing tasting room in Port Canaveral, just outside the port. There are paddleboard rentals, kayak rentals/tours, putt-putt golf, boat tours, surfing lessons, an aerial adventures park, a Wizard of Oz Museum, Segway tours, pedal cruises, dolphin tours, etc. Just google what interests you. If you rent a car for the day, there are several airboat ride options about a half hour away, in west Cocoa and in Christmas: Twister Airboat Rides, Grasshopper Airboat EcoTours, Airboat Rides at Midway, Capt Dukes Airboat Rides, Backwoods Airboat Adventures, St John's Airboat Tour.

Depending upon which/how many ships are in and which terminal you're going out of, you may be in standstill traffic once you head into the port area. Last November, it took us an hour to get to the parking once we got to the port area. We were on a Norwegian ship for that cruise.

Oh gosh, didn't even think about BYOB drinking on the bus or the train... is that allowed? I was mainly thinking about bringing the allowable bottles of wine onto the ship to supplement the four drinks we get a day as one of our Elite perks, but I didn't want to have to buy it at the beginning of the land tour and travel it all through the six days before boarding. Glad to hear that the luggage handling is done for us. With the late arrival to the ship, well past lunch, and not having to worry about luggage check-in, we're going to have to re-evaluate if we want to keep "The Key" or not. I guess it mostly depends on the price comparison with buying internet alone at this point. I'll have to check and see how much we paid for it, though I know we got it on sale.

@cruiselvr04, what a delight to find a description of the exact cruisetour we have booked for this year! Very glad you recommended the meals on the train since that was what I was thinking we'd be doing. I really wish the start of the trip was more organized (sounds like it's rather messy) and we think it's kind of nuts that you can't just book your land excursions ahead of time, but it is what it is. Were any of the stops on the cruise portion tender ports? Other questions relate to the last day of the land tour, the day we'll board the cruise. Are we correct in assuming the tour and cruise folks will be checking our bags in and taking them onto the ship so we won't have to schlep them though security and check-in ourselves? I noticed that you said we'll be dumped in town for some shopping time prior to heading to the ship. On one hand, that's not enticing since we rarely do much in the way of shopping on trips/cruises, but did you happen to notice if there's anywhere we'll be able to purchase a couple bottles of wine to bring onboard during the "shopping time?" Again, thanks for taking the time to provide so much insight into this cruisetour!

We're booked on a southbound RCI cruisetour for this summer (land first, then cruise boarding in Seward). We had The Key on a previous RCI cruise and thought it was worth it, so we got it for the cruise portion of this cruisetour. The boarding day lunch was particularly nice. Now we're wondering how it actually works for this more unique situation and whether we should keep it or cancel it. From the description of The Key: Start your cruise with priority access into the terminal and enjoy personal drop‐off service that delivers your carry‐on bags directly to your stateroom. Might we get this anyhow with the cruisetour service, or will our bags simply be handed over to us to check or bring onboard? I'm not exactly sure what happens at the Anchorage/Seward end of the tour and how we transition to the port/ship. Follow this up with an exclusive welcome lunch... I believe the ship departs at 8:00 PM. Are we really going to be onboard in time for lunch? Heck, is ANYONE going to be onboard for lunch??? What time does boarding begin for an 8:00PM departure? Would like to hear from those of you who've actually done a RCI southbound cruisetour and boarded the cruise portion in Seward.

Wow, excellent information, @Milhouse! We really appreciate the "where not to go" advice as well as the tips on fun things to see and do around the city. We booked our lodging a long time ago for the front end of the trip but haven't booked it for Vancouver yet, so that should help us narrow down the hotels and AirBnB options we're considering. If you ever head to Florida, tag me in your post so I can try to return the favor.

We will be disembarking our ship on Friday, July 12th this year in Vancouver. I looked at the historical weather data and, although you never really know, it seems that the temps and precipitation will probably be pretty favorable. We'll have all day Friday and Saturday to visit Vancouver, and then we fly out Sunday morning for our next adventure. Looking for suggestions on a couple of things... 1) Are there any areas to be avoided regarding where to stay or where to walk? 2) What are some recommended "must see" places/things (which doesn't necessarily mean the iconic/popular places/things)? A little about what we like to do on vacation in a new place. We enjoy experiencing a location through our taste buds. We're foodies, home cooks, and home brewers, so we love tasting the local cuisine, local brews/spirits, and indulging in ethnic cuisines. We're not going to rent a car in Vancouver and don't mind doing some walking (prefer to limit it to about five miles in a day, though we've done more... if it's hilly, we'll stick with the five), but will also use Uber/Lyft. Unfortunately, my husband "doesn't do heights," so I know that knocks out a bunch of really cool local attractions, both natural and man-made. Suggestions regarding historical stuff, beautiful churches/cathedrals, cultural stuff, botanical stuff, architectural wonders, quirky museums and sites/sights and obviously excellent/interesting places to eat and drink are all appreciated. We don't go shopping for jewelry or clothes on vacation. We haven't selected a place to stay yet (wow, Vancouver is pretty expensive when it comes to lodging!). As to my #2 above, I can give you an example based on the fact that we live in Florida. If someone asks where to go while visiting here, most people would say Disney World, Universal Studios, Daytona Beach, etc. If you told me that you wanted to see something really nice that others might not know about, I'd send you to Bok Tower Gardens, with its 157 acres of gardens and its Gothic Revival carillon tower in Lake Wales, and nearby Spook Hill, and to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates down in Fort Myers, and to the eclectic little town of Dunedin over on the west coast with its microbreweries, interesting little cafes/restaurants, and Celtic flair that may find you sharing a toast with someone wearing a kilt. With our time limited, we need to stick fairly close to Vancouver on this visit, but we're hoping to make some interesting memories.

Agree on this. My husband and I feel like the cruise lines have pretty much ruined many of the port cities (at least the portions of those cities nearest to the port), taking away what made each of them unique, and in the Caribbean they've stripped most of the true local culture and turned it into a generic caricature of Caribbean culture. We find it rather sad when we take a local tour and the guide tells us that their primary industry is tourism. Some of the islands that used to have big sugar cane (and other agricultural product) plantations, rum factories, and other industries, have let them go by the wayside in favor of tourism. The sad thing is, once you turn all the islands into nothing but rubber stamped, built-up tourist destinations, they're much less interesting to visit. It gets to the point of, "If you've seen one, you've seen them all," and people who cruise a lot are less likely to get off the ship. But I digress. Back to the "horrors" and joys of Alaskan cruisetours... 😁

Oh, what a shame! ☹️ Skagway is our favorite port stop. It has an adorable historic downtown, it's where you board the White Pass & Yukon Pass Route Railway, and we love Skagway Brewing Company for their beer, their food, and their friendly and fun employees. Maybe you can get an inexpensive R/T cruise out of Seattle sometime so you can experience this fun little town.

Ahh, too bad you did not enjoy your experience, but if that was the worst experience of your life, then you've led a very charmed life. Glad you finally recovered enough to post your experience all these months later. We have a 13-day cruisetour booked for June-July on another cruise line and are very much looking forward to it. It's 6 days on land, starting in Fairbanks and ending in Seward, followed by a 7-day cruise. We've cruised Alaska r/t out of Seattle twice and absolutely loved it. One's satisfaction of a trip very much depends upon the person's goals and what THEY consider to be fun. On our previous cruises, we spent almost every waking hour on our aft balcony with only quick trips inside for food and drink... no shows, no trivia, no dance lessons, no comedy club... and found the experience to be amazing. For us, it's all about the views, and to be able to combine that with time on a train makes it even better. For our upcoming cruisetour, we selected the itinerary with the most railway time because we love train travel. We don't have expectations of luxury accommodations when on land because we've done our research, but the lodges are not why we're heading back to Alaska... it's the spectacular views and wonder of nature in an environment that's so different from where we live. Honestly, our biggest concern with the land tour is the bus in Denali since we're tall and are worried about the legroom during the a multi-hour tour, but we'll just have to figure our the best way to deal with it. It's definitely a case of "different strokes for different folks." On our second Alaskan cruise we had friends along who took a four-hour or so excursion on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad and felt that it was more than enough time on a train for them. My husband and I took the extended trip that was something like eight hours and loved every minute of it. I priced out doing the land portion on our own for the trip this summer and found that I wouldn't really save anything anyhow since we'd want to max our our train time regardless, so we figured we'd let someone else worry about the schedule and the arrangements. Hope your next cruise experience is better suited to your expectations.

We do not participate in the duck thing and neither hide them, nor seek them out. Of course, some are "hidden" in obvious places. We've been on cruise lines in the past year and I don't recall which ship we were on at the time, but my husband found one sitting in an elevator that had a card attached from a couple looking for others with whom to swing/swap. Gross! One aspect of the duck thing that I don't like is those tiny ducks that people are now scattering around the ship. They may be cute, but unfortunately they can also be a choking hazard for younger kids.

We just got back today from the Mar 2-11 cruise on the Constellation. This was our first time on a Millennium class ship and will probably be the last. We love the Silhouette class ships and found the smaller ship just too small for us, and the dining options and gathering spaces too limited. They squished the silent disco in the martini bar area one evening, which had us shaking our heads. We've also never gone out of Tampa before, and it seems that the crowd that used to sail on Holland America moved over to Celebrity when Holland America pulled out of Tampa. We've done a number of Celebrity cruises and have never seen the demographic skewed that elderly and that mobility challenged. We have never seen that many scooters and walkers on any ship before. This did not work well with the small, odd shaped elevators in the mid-ship area. The hallway heading into the MDR was fully lined with walkers at the 6PM seating. We live in a 55+ community and have never seen anywhere close to this per capita use of personal mobility equipment. The service by the staff, like every other Celebrity cruise we've been on, was wonderful for the most part, with two exceptions. We had a group of eight from three states who were all scheduled for 6PM dining, but somehow they scheduled two at a table by themselves, two at a table with six other unknown people, and four somehow got switched to the anytime dining. We went through the dining folks and they basically said they couldn't do anything because "Everyone of this ship wants to eat at 6PM." Umm... we were all scheduled for 6PM before we got onboard, so that really shouldn't play into it. We then went to Guest Services, who told us to go back to the dining folks. Then we went to the Captain's Club folks, who said they'd look into it and call us, but never did. Finally, we showed up together at the 6PM dining that first night and someone was finally able to get us together. We spent the week with eight people at a table made for six, so it was a bit squishy, but we were just happy to be together. It's a shame that it took five hours of stress on our first day to make it happen. Our second issue was that we asked for a small room in which we could stream a Catholic Mass on Sunday (we did it the previous week in someone's stateroom and it was kind of awkward). They gave us a room, said they wouldn't "advertise it" (which we thought was odd since they advertise other non-Celebrity-hosted gatherings), and then took back the room Sunday morning saying they had double booked it. No apology, but rather just told our friend who booked it that she couldn't use it because the crew was using it for debarkation planning. So, back to their stateroom we went. The food on the ship was pretty good, but overall not quite as good as our last Norwegian cruise. However, no one else offers escargot every single night as an appetizer, so that makes up for a lot. The service staff in the MDR is amazing and makes everyone feel so special. We've done QSine before and for us it's a one-and-done and we didn't want to do it again. We were going to go to Tuscan, but they were having some ceiling leaks and a "special" seafood lunch we were supposed to attend in there was moved to QSine, and then I guess we were too lazy to find out when they re-opened after the issue was resolved so we never did a specialty dinner. We went to Sushi on 5 for lunch one afternoon, which was delicious, as always. One advantage to the premium drink plan is that we were able to put together our own sake tasting to complement the sushi. We got somewhat aggravated during the week in the MDR and up at the buffet at lunchtime because we were getting sales pitches for QSine while eating dinner and while eating lunch, which we thought was pretty tacky. It's one thing to have sales tables in the hallways, but please don't interrupt my meal with a sales pitch! That special seafood lunch? It was $45pp + gratuity and was terrible... a very greasy "fish and chips" with too much batter and limp greasy fries as the appetizer, and the main entrée items were very overcooked and tasteless. The calamari rings were like trying to eat rubber bands. The lobster tail was a the least overcooked, thank goodness, and the chocolate almond cookie for dessert was delicious, but the rest was not even close to the $108 per couple that we paid. In retrospect, I guess we should have asked for a refund, though I don't know that they'd have given it to us. We were wondering if it was perhaps a "practice lunch" for new cooks? No idea. We attended the 9PM shows most nights and most of them were very good, and then we'd relax in Cafe Al Bacio for a while afterwards each night. The goodies in the pastry display were not as good as we remember from previous cruises, but many of the other lines charge for cakes and other baked goods in their coffee shops, so advantage to Celebrity on that point. One very obvious shortcoming from the viewpoint of my husband and myself is the limited top shelf options regarding whiskeys and bourbons. We had the premium drink package and we're more "fewer drinks but high quality" drinkers. We shake our heads at the Carnival cruisers who cry about being limited to "only 15 drinks a day," but we want the good stuff. Bourbons that were included in Norwegian's premium package were upcharged (REALLY upcharged!) on the Constellation. We were able to drink EH Taylor, many of the Old Foresters, Blanton's, etc. as part of our package on the Norwegian Escape. On the Constellation, a Blanton's (with the premium drink package) is a $8-$10 upcharge depending upon which bar you asked, and the EH Taylor was a $21 upcharge! There were a number of very good musicians onboard, and we appreciated both the quality of the talent and the diversity of musical genres throughout the ship. Even the recorded music when no one was playing live, was high quality and surprisingly diverse, with a good amount of very much appreciated classic rock. Regarding the ports, our first stop was New Orleans and we ended up there on a VERY rainy day. We still managed to have a marvelous time... starting out at the original Café Du Monde on Decatur Street for chicory coffee and beignets, moving on to the French Market and then the French Quarter, stopping in for a few drinks and some great piano music at the "Tipsy Trumpet," and then an absolutely magnificent late lunch at the Acme Oyster House (raw oysters, grilled oysters, etoufee, gumbo, red beans & rice). As we headed back towards the ship the skies let loose and we ducked into the Riverwalk for the rest of the walk back. Our original plans included some streecar touring and a visit to the St. Roch cemetery, but the weather just didn't cooperate, so we called it a (wonderful!) day and vowed to go back for a longer visit. This was the first visit to NOLA for some in our group and they would have loved to have also gone to the WWII museum, but you just can't do that place justice in a couple of hours. We took a private tour in Roatan, which we kind of turned into a foodie tour. First, we went to the butterfly/monkey/sloth place, but decided not to tour it because we were only interested in the butterflies and it was $20pp and so we piled back into the van and moved on. We then stopped in at a very nice supermarket to buy local Honduran coffee beans, then went to the Roatan Island Brewery. The owner/brewer is Canadian and has been down there for a number of years. They have a beautiful place and delicious brews! My husband and I are home brewers and my husband is a certified beer judge, and there were no off-flavors in any of the beers (and we tried all the beers they currently have on tap). All were delicious! We also indulged in some yucca fries while there. Next we went to Mayek Chocolate and sampled many flavors of Honduran artisan chocolates (and admittedly, we bought a bunch!). Then, to the Roatan Rum Company for tastes of rum and rum cakes (it was pretty hot out by this point, so I didn't indulge in the rums, just the cakes, and bought a six-pack of interesting flavors of rum cake). Finally, we were ready for a full Roatan meal and our guide took us to the Paradise Restaurant, which was tucked down a dirt road alley and, although just five minutes from the ship, we would have never found on our own. I chowed down on fried conch, red beans & rice, fried plantains and salad, my husband had the oxtail and others had fried shrimp, whole fried snapper, or iguana (yes, really!) with the same sides, along with some local beer and/or sodas that we don't get here in the U.S. One of the local ziplines went right overhead, so that provided some unexpected entertainment in this open air restaurant. BTW, Roatan's primary language is English, though they all learn Spanish in school, so communication was quite easy. Belize and Cozumel were not favorites of ours. It may have been mostly our choice (or non-choice) of activities. We took a bus tour through Belize City, which was awful. The city, with the exception of a few nice buildings and residences is very run-down and appears to be very non-tourist-friendly based upon the armed guards, razor wire on the walls around just about every commercial building, and bars on the windows of both commercial and residential buildings. There may be other areas in the country that are lovely, but we didn't see them. We finished our visit at an outdoor restaurant at the port area to try the local beer (that's something this group enjoys checking out at each location, obviously). The local beer there was NOT good, but hey, we gave it a try. In Cozumel, our group had different plans and my husband and I just decided to have a lazy day and just check out the shops. We were very put off by the very pushy shopping environment and disliked the constant harassment by salespeople. The one thing I wanted to look at was some silver jewelry, but the salespeople just wouldn't leave me alone and I just gave up. Instead we headed back to the ship and just relaxed out on the back deck. One more item I'd like to mention is the valet parking at the Tampa Port. Wow, what a smooth operation and well worth the $30 extra. It was quick and efficient on both the (prepaid) drop-off and the pickup when we returned. If we ever sail out of Tampa again, we'll definitely use this service again.

I think "best of" results are only helpful if the evaluation was done by neutral parties who tried all the options within a relatively close period of time. Getting votes of "The Best" from someone who only has sailed a specific favorite cruise line is not helpful. Comparing a pre-Covid experience on one line and a post-Covid experience on another is not helpful.

It sure would be nice if the cruise lines would send out a schedule of major events a few weeks before the cruise, to include items like which nights you should plan to dress up, and what themed parties will be taking place (and when). Many groups plan meet-ups, others want to reserve specialty dining, and it would be nice to know what those plans might be overlapping. It can also be disappointing to guests when they board a cruise unaware of and unprepared for events like a 70s party, when they would have really enjoyed bringing an appropriate outfit along had they only known.

4pm

The app, just like the apps for all the other cruise lines, isn't very useful until you get onboard and connect to the ship's wi-fi, and then it starts populating all the info.

The scheduled departure time from the port on Day 8 is 7pm.

Thanks, folks! 🛳️

I used to have a better feel for this, but we've been bopping around multiple cruise lines over the past year and I think I'm getting them confused. Looking to book some specialty dining for our upcoming cruise, but can't remember the rules of thumb for which nights Celebrity plans the fancy dress / fancy food nights. Itinerary is as follows: 1 Depart 2 At Sea 3 Port Day 4 At Sea 5 At Sea 6 Port Day 7 Port Day 8 Port Day 9 At Sea 10 Arrive Back Home Thanks in advance!

Well, our neighbor just returned from an Apex cruise in an "infinite veranda" cabin and said never again. Said they did not like the "fake balcony" at all.

Yes, thank you for your help!

I believe the ship has sailed regarding CFAR. I think for most insurances, you have a very short window to purchase insurance and have that included. Isn't it something like within a week of making your deposit? But although you can't cancel just because you don't feel like going and have insurance reimburse you, a number of other more unexpected situations would be covered. There's also usually a lookback of something like 60 days regarding any pre-existing conditions. I'd call the knowledgeable folks at Trip Insurance Store and ask them for advice.

So, now that I sent ONCE AGAIN sent them the medical summary with the diagnosis and the detailed treatment and medication list, and the receipt from the infirmary showing it was paid, and the onboard account showing it was paid, and the credit card statement showing that the onboard account was paid, they email me today saying they're continuing assessment of my claim but they now want the full medical report. Maybe they thought that would trip me up, but I did already have all twelve pages scanned and ready to go in case they got that ridiculous. I actually think this goes above and beyond what I should have to submit and is an invasion of my privacy, but I'll play their little game for now. We're buying insurance today for three more cruises, and you can be assured that we are NOT buying it through IMG.

Excellent! I haven't been so fortunate. Last week IMG asked me to send the proof of medical treatment, diagnosis, charges and payment, which I'd already sent them when I placed the claim a month ago. I submitted those documents AGAIN and also wrote another note asking how they'd managed to lose the documents that I'd already sent. Crickets chirping....