jelomu

Umbrellas? Can we rent those and how much?

not interested in a clam shell, as my friend is a sun worshipper!

I need shade, I’m supposed to stay out of the sun if I can

thank you!!

Hi all, 

I'll be sailing next year on the Breakaway and our Tortola stop is 6am(yuk!!!) to 2pm.....this is terrible timing IMO

We will be lucky to start at 9am, which doesn't leave a lot of time for excursions.   Would you recommend just hitting the beach? Or is there a sightseeing tour that starts later than 6/7am that will get us back on time?

What did you do if you had so little time?

Well I booked it last night!

the itinerary is so good, very little time will be on the ship anyways😁

My choice was between this Caribbean cruise and a Med cruise. The Med cruises are priced pretty good, but the flights, excursions and extra costs make that trip double....someday...

Well as much as my friend and I wanted to book a med cruise...it's priced out of our budget!

I like the idea of sailing from San Juan for the Southern cruise. We would even go a few days early to explore. Only thing that I'm hesitating on, it is the same ship as our Eastern cruise 10 years ago. We loved it...but I wanted to see a different ship!

Any chance they'll do a ship change for next year?

The reason I wanted to leave from a port in France, because I will never see Paris any other way! I can only afford a vacation once every five years, and Paris is higher on my list then Barcelona😃

 I’ve read on some posts, that some people actually disembarked and hired a guy to drive them to Paris and then back to the ship, But I would rather get there a day or two earlier, and have a nice train ride to the park.

I am just not an adventurous eater, I do not tend to like things that are prepared by a chef. I would never sit down and eat oysters or frogs legs… I’m good with a pizza or a cheeseburger! And I love Italian!

I had mistakenly typed in July 2020, instead of 2021. I was seeing med cruises for $800 a person. For 2021 they are running around 1400… Six months is too late to book a flight from Toronto to France and get a good deal?

I guess I need to do some more research!

Hello!

We are seriously considering a Med Cruise for July 2021. Our original plan was Southern Caribbean, but I see the prices within a 6m window for Med cruises are 1/2 the price :)

I am thinking of choosing one that departs from Marceille, France, so we could fly into Paris for a couple days of sightseeing before heading to the port.

I have cruised with Disney and Carnival and loved both. I do see some neg reviews about the food, and that concerns me as I'm a pretty picky eater! How would you say the MSC food compared to Carnival?

Normally, I book vacations a year in advance. But because there is quite a savings booking closer, I am considering this. Anyone have any tips or recommendations on doing this? Any problems, other than maybe not getting the cabin you want?

I've never travelled so far away, so I have a lot of planning and reading to do!  Is it fairly easy to do a Med cruise if you only speak English? I am worried we will miss a bus or get lost because we don't know the language.

Thank you everyone!

Really enjoying your review!!

Hoping to book the Escape for Spring 2017, and I wondered when the CDN promotion was advertised?

I am in Ontario, and with the exchange this will be an expensive trip! So if Ivan grab a similar deal Id love it!!

Ok, so I didn't add on the tax when I calculated the cheers cost for the week.

So that really brings up the cost...

It looks like Norweigan is still the better plan, at $765.00 pp including the 18% tax for the free beverage package...

Carnival would be an extra$365. coming in at $1130......and I don't drink:eek:

Looks like we'll be trying NCL for the first time!!

Thanks everyone!

Carnival Victory or NCL Escape....

We've done the Carnival Freedom and loved it !

Trying to decide which way to go.

My friend and I have cruise with carnival, and loved it. However she's a moderate drinker and I don't drink it all. So her bar bill on our cruise was a little over $700.

So this time we thought we would try Norwegian, because of the free drinks package. But I really like the itinerary of the carnival cruise… So I looked into their cheers program.

It would cost us each an extra $225 to get the cheers program not sure if it's worth it or staying with Norwegian and get the package free.

I like Carnivals itinerary better, but I just really need a vacation right now...so I'm not being too picky!

Has anyone tried both carnival and Norwegian and can compare them? Unfortunately with Carnaval we both have to buy the cheers program, however I won't use it😕

That's what I thought...too bad cause I like the ports on this one😞

I really like the seven day southern cruise on the Gem,it embarks in San Juan stopping in Granada, St. Lucia,Dominican,Antigua and British virgin islands…

We are cruising May 2017, but our dates do not have that particular cruise available.

Does the Gem switch to the Mediterranean cruise after April? Or will cruise itineraries be put out later that I could grab one instead of doing the Eastern Caribbean?

Not sure if they a reset in stone or they add on to the current schedule...

Thank you!

We are seriously thinking of booking a NCL trip in May 2017. There are the free beverage package and free friends and family that we'd like to use!

I have only cruised with Carnival before,

And if the price drops then we can apply for the credit. Does NCL do this as well?

Myself and two girlfriends are planning our 50th birthday vacation, going to book after the new year...hoping the free beverage package stays!!

I did a Disney cruise with the family and loved it. Then I did a Carnival cruise with my friend and loved it! I don't drink, she had some and her bar bill was $$ at the end. So she said the next vacation would be an AI...

Which would be fine, but then I'm paying for alcohol I won't drink. Plus with Zika all over the news, not sure I want to be in one spot 24/7. Somehow I think with the cruise itinerary, mosquitos won't be a problem! I just find he'd chemo and radiation, so I don't want to risk getting sick from zika, since no one seems to know much about it!

So I am hoping that Norweigan keeps these awesome deals going and we can cruise!! I really want to try Norweigan now!!

Sorry,

I was just wondering if anyone who is familiar with sailing with Carnival and Norweigan whether they liked Norweigan after Carnival.

Not sure if we should switch to Norweigan for the drinks package, or stay with Carnival because it's the cruise line we went on before...

Hello!

I have cruised 2x, once on Disney Dream and once on Carnival Freedom :D

Loved both cruises!!

We were all set to just go with Carnival again, however the Norweigan Escape has the beverage package deal, which would same my friend $700 (that's what her bar tab was on the Freedom) I don't drink alcohol at all.

I am reading so many mixed reviews, and not sure. Carnivals itinerary has more excitement with more ports. But in trying to talk my friend into a cruise instead of an all inclusive trip is difficult when you buy all your drinks...:rolleyes:

There would be 3 of us in the cabin, so I'm looking at a balcony cabin for a little more room.

If I book thru Carnival and see another deal for the same cruise thru someone else, will they price match?

If Carnival doesn't offer the free drinks package, we may look at another cruise line....even though we loved our Carnival cruise...:(

My friend and I are looking into a May 2017 Southern Caribbean cruise!!:D

We cruised a couple of years ago on the Freedom and loved it!:)

I would like to know though, should we take advantage of the Early Saver or wait? I have been seeing some deals on websites for choice of free excursions or drink packages etc... for cruised happening Apr/May this year.

It would be great if we could get a free drink package, I don't drink, so she can't buy the package unless I do...On our last cruise her bar bill was $700.:(

Any advice for me, anyone??:confused:

I looked at San Juan departures, and I really like those!!

So if I book ES and just watch the prices I can get a lower rate. But it's not worth doing unless I am saving more than $150 (3 ppl) right?

Now what if I'm booked with ES and I see a rate on another site like ************ or some other that have added free beverage or shore excursions...can I switch my booking to the other agent? Or would Carnival match the deal?

I don't drink, but the other two like wine with dinner and the drink of the day....my friend's bar tab was pretty expensive last time....I just drank the lemonade!!

I think the idea of a Med cruise would be wonderful, but not long enough in each port and the flight/excursion costs put it out of what we could afford!

So now we are thinking of S. Caribbean, a 7nt. not till May 2017 to celebrate our 50th birthdays!!

When would be the best time to book? I see some good prices now for Spring 2016, and if the price drops.....will I be able to get it after we've booked? I seem to remember something about that changing after we took a Carnival cruise 2 yrs ago..

Hoping to start planning, I love planning vacations!!

Thanks Sharon!!!

Okay, so I've read every single page, my brain is mush and I'm so confused now!!:o

Going on a girls cruise July 7th from FL, flying in on the 6th early am. So we need only 1 nt hotel, but we want the area to have alot to offer!:D

At first I thought I wanted to stay in the 17th street area for all the shops and restaurants, free shuttles and free breakfast. But you can only shop so long...

So then I started looking at the beach hotels thinking we could go poolside or oceanview on a lounger to eat up some hours and relax.:)

Then there is the Gallery one on the marina that sounds really nice, see it just gets worse!:eek:

I think I just need someone to just tell me what to book, I can't decide!

I'm thinking $ around 160./nt. we don't need the free breakfast/shuttle...but early access to a quick breakfast would be good.

We will have all day on Saturday and all evening to fill. Help!!!!

I'm on 7/7 too!! Never been to Ocho Rios, but went to Montego Bay over 10 years ago and always said I'd never go again.

I'm hoping OR changes my mind!!

Really enjoying your review! We are headed on the Freedom for the July 6th cruise, so I can't wait for the rest!!:D

I also chose the Hampton for our night before the cruise, now I'm a bit worried! I wonder if I paid for the room on my CC, then cancelled it for a new # before I go down...:confused: