mumtopugs

Is there really anything to do in GT other than packing in like sardines? Doesn't seem to be much to that port as far as beaches go unless you like the bar/party scene or chair to chair crowds. I'll be there with DH a 16yr old and a 17 yr old and everything I read about the port is how over crowded it is. I checked for a pool side cabana as soon as we rented the cruise for next march thinking that would at least give us a bit of a reprieve from the crowds but of course they were already sold out. Even the private beach reviews say they are over booked and crowded. We haven't been there before so don't want to stay on the ship.

GT is one of my very favorite ports. It's a small island. We rented a golf cart for like $75 and toured the entire island. There's a lighthouse at the far end with a cool cliff overlook. There are little beaches here and there down roads that you can barely see. We saw schools and locals and wild donkeys. It's a different, simpler life there. Might be good for the teens to see some

new things.

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Can someone share a Fantasy Fun times for the KW and Cozumel

 

I do but the pics I took from my phone turned out awful. Is it because I'm using the an app?

Our minivan rental was $20/day

I was born on the Navy base in Rota, Spain. My birth certificate reads "Certification of Birth Abroad of United States Citizen" and it's issued by the State Department. The hospital ones are pretty useless whether born stateside or abroad.

You have plenty of time obtain a BC from vital records and travel with just that and a driver's

license.

Order a second copy and send that for your passport and maybe it'll come in before you go. They're only a few weeks out.

You gave yourself plenty of time to get it sorted out.

2 weeks ago on the Fantasy they were scanning sail n sign cards to verify attendance. First time I'd seen that.

Do not park off site in Miami.

Glad you didn't have to listen to some of compassionate chuckleheads on here who would have told you to drop him off at the bus stop with a few bucks and as you were pulling away to go back to the port, shout out "get home safe kid"

It certainly crossed my mind but with the reason for cruise being his 21st birthday, I may have stayed behind to participate in the consolation party!

To stay in budget we ALWAYS prepay everything we can and then pay cash. To avoid carrying large piles of cash, we will purchase Carnival gift cards and set up our sign and sail with that.

We did a 5 day on the Fantasy to Freeport and Nassau from Charleston.

 

It was a fun cruise and I'd do it again. The only negatives about it were:

 

1. That the Fantasy is currently Carnivals oldest ships and it showed in a few places.

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Not sure when you sailed, but the Fantasy got some 2.0 upgrades in March. I don't think they did a major overhaul or anything drastic, but she looks pretty good for an old gal in my opinion.

We did a 4 day on the Freedom through Key West and Cozumel last month. It was a good, but my favorite cruise so far was the 5 day with stops in Grand Turk, HMC and Nassau. The ship was the Destiny right before she was revamped as the Sunshine. She was old and terribly worn out and still my favorite cruise due to the itinerary.

We did the last cruise of the season on the Legend through Glacier Bay last year. It was amazing. We spent about $250 pp on excursions and saw incredible sites. If you book early it's reasonably priced. I can't imagine no matter what line or what ship that you could be disappointed with Alaska.

The night before our cruise we didn't have my son's (21) birth certificate. Long story, we got it the morning of but I knew there was a REAL possibility I was going to be out cruise fare. I was the one that took the risk. I could have gotten insurance or a passport. It never crossed my mind that I would be entitled to a refund. It was our responsibility to comply with DHS regulations that require a passport or birth cert and ID, not Carnival's.

They were installing one in the Fantasy when we were on last month.

If it's important to you, budget another $20 per person.

If there aren't any unforeseen circumstances, you should be fine. Long Beach is an easy drive and easy to get through the airport.

Rainforest Sanctuary. It was a great excursion.

Mitsu,

I don't mind not being on the first row. Just want a place to relax. Thanks for the info and great pics!

Ashley

Half Moon Cay is the CCL island

Congrats on your first grand baby! How exciting!!! Wise choice by your daughter. Taking every precaution to protect your child is what good parenting is about.

"Packaged in cans or cartons"... Cans or juice boxes basically

We went there May of last year. My sweetie really likes history and it was important to him. No issues with the ferry. Getting there was long but we liked seeing the scenery and our guide on the bus was a good guide as we drove along.

Once there it was hot and beautiful. Glad we went.

We went through Carnival. I'm not sure what the VIP portion is?

Thanks for the info! Going AI. It's my son's 21st birthday so we wanted a place he could get loose but I could also enjoy (aka, keep an eye out).

That's a fun little getaway itinerary. I did the same one a couple of years ago.

Check out the new cruisers board. That's going to have lots of info. You can also use the search function on the top of this board to search new cruisers under Carnival specifically.

There's a ports of call section where you can look specifically for each stop. We did a dolphin adventure (read: saw dolphins from the comfort of the dry boat) in Catalina and had quite a bit of time left over to walk the downtown area. In Ensenada we went to La Bufadora. It's a weird natural wonder of sorts. We liked it and the shopping area you go through to get to and from. Some people don't like the long drive to get there or the aggressive shop attendants but that didn't bother us. We liked seeing the countryside and it was easy to repeat, "no thanks."

The excursions on the website have reviews that are usually pretty thorough. They also will have a rating that tell you how easy or hard it is. We are plus size people, too and we love to relax on vacation- not the scuba diving or zip lining types! Read the reviews and the difficulty ratings and I'm sure you'll find the right ones for you.

Congrats and have a fantastic time on your trip!

Our ship will be in port 12-10. I'm okay with limited time at Mr. Sanchos. Though, I'm wondering if we get there well after other guests will it be too crowded to get a place to sit and relax? 3 ships in port that day.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the recommendations!

We paid $145 for a large SUV (that seated up to 6 passengers) from Hobby to the port one way. This was through Galveston limousine.