rharvey999

Liberty...Liberty...Jan 2 & 9.

On 9/5/2020 at 2:13 PM, karena1 said:

If they go, we will book a 11/20 3 night cruise on Navigator.  Just have to wait and see what happens.  A crew member friend of ours will be back on the ship so want to cruise and also see him

And my eyes are crossed as well.

Nov 29 and Dec 6th on the Freedom.  For all that is going on these days the word Freedom means more to me than ever before.

15 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

The problem is only from not knowing if there is unique info in any of them. Some people add matters of substance to discussions, so it is nice when everybody is literally on the same page.

Rock Chalk

Well as it turned out Trujillo, last year at this time,   was not what we could have possibly wished for.  It was the first time Royal Caribbean had been there.  The use of tendering was required but was not the best way.  Two of the tender crafts ran aground at the port and a few others also had difficulties (the tenders were not from the ship).

We had scheduled a walking tour in the older part of the city.  We had to wait well over an hour at the bus stop.  The worst part was the lack of concrete roads.  The dust and dirt created a cloud that very few could tolerate for any extensive period of time.  As I have had lung problems in the past this ended up by me needing to go the hospital when we got home for 5 days.  Ugh.

Walking through the town was interesting because of its history.  But by the time we got to the downtown area (downtown was small) most of the folk wanted to get back on the bus to get back to the ship.  There was little time to do anything because of the lack of available transportation.

I recognize a new port with such as Trujillo could not have had the experience nor facilities for cruisers in its recent opening.  I wish them well but I can guarantee I will not return there until I am convinced they have gotten their stuff together.

If you are just coming in the day before we have often stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot Miramar.  It is but a 5 minute (at the most) ride to the pier.   Granted there is not a lot of historical things to see there but the hotel is nice, with two excellent places to eat and a pool.

I promise that after we return the second week of February I'll give you what we found.  We have only scheduled about an hour and a half historical walking tour.  I am confident we will find out more.

We are so looking forward to this new (for us) adventure.  We'll be there is mid-February.

You would think after all these years I would know the answer to this but....if we are offering our cabin for viewing on a cabin crawl is there anything we should do other then making sure the cabin is clean?  Treats?

We have never done this stop before and am having some difficulty finding much about it. Can anyone share their experiences. We are there in mid-February on the Vision of the Seas. Thanks.

Ok folks we are confused. My wife and her daughter will be in St. Lucia later this month and the Vigie Beach seems to be getting huge, positive reviews. We looked at Trip Advisor but they only had one option. Did you folk arrange a private tour to the beach or how did you schedule it and with whom?

Any thoughts are reeeeeeealy appreciated.

Thanks for the valuable information. We plan on going to Carambola tomorrow after our ship docks. We will rent chairs and umbrellas.

- Are credit cards accepted for rental?

- How long is the taxi ride from the dock?

Taxi about 20 minutes. Don’t go through the main structure when you get to the port. Just to the right you will find a group of taxis to take folks. We have always just tipped the guy who gets the chairs out. Food and drinks can be put on your card from the bar and restaurant.

This sounds great! How is the sand? Is it rocky in the water? I hear that seems to be an issue at some beaches on the island.

 

 

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Carambola is complete sand with no rocks in the little harbor they created.

We have always appreciated MTD. We do reserve a time in advance especially if we are traveling with family or friends. Our reason is simply because first seating is routinely too early for us and second seating too late.

Most often we are happy to meet new friends at our tables (we do ask for a large table) and if the first night is good we go the MTD reservation desk outside the dining room and reserve that table for the rest of the cruise.

Wow, this thread has been an interesting read. I remember years ago when Royal changed from cruises to the current point system. We got caught in the switch over and had to take another cruise to make Diamond. Was I ticked...yeah a bit. My sister and brother in law were Diamond Plus at the time and it would never have dawned on me (nor them) to think to try and get perks we had not earned.

Those days are long gone, although as someone else posted earlier, the whole CAS thing will probably change. If we lose some privileges we will be disappointed of course, even more so if others are invited in when not eligible.

Will it have an effect on our cruising with Royal. Nope, we don't cruise for the perks (but nice to get them).

Anyone have the drink menu for Carambola? Wondering how much a bucket of Carib runs? or per beer?

 

If we have our chairs paid for at Carambola, will they be saved if we want to walk down to Shipwreck for an hour or so?

 

Thank you!

I am surprised that you have not heard back from them. I called to reserve 4 spots in September and had our reservations for 4 made that day. I know I am breaking protocol but you can go to their Facebook and can register there as well.

If you are into beach times I would recommend Carambola Beach Club or Reggae Beach Bar. A beautiful island and clearly our favorite.

I suppose it has a lot to do with individual taste. When my daughter went to Texas A&M she used to love crawfish boils. You know the whole sucking the brains out? Not for me. I gag at the look of eating bugs (or what look like bugs.)

Being from Buffalo, NY I have to chime in here.

 

Beef on weck is a huge staple, kind of like chicken wings.

 

Kummelweck - Its a roll with caraway seeds and salt on top. The rolls they make on the ship are softer version - the roll itself should be slightly crunchy so when you dip it, it softens up. It should be served like a French Dip

sandwich with a cup of au jus.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_on_weck

I left the Buffalo area in 1980. (Grand Island). Buffalo, regardless of the snow, has some great comfort food. Wings at the Anchor Bar (where they started) and Beef on Weck have my taste buds watering.

That is correct. Tips are added to the drink price. You are under no obligation to add anything to it.

That being said we normally find a bar or lounge that we enjoy and will spend evenings there. The bar we enjoy is normally because of the bartender. We will give an additional tip to that person through out the cruise. It's amazing how they remember that. ;);)

We too left the compound area in Falmouth. We took a horse and buggy ride (Not sure if it was a ship's tour or not) that was very nice. They were located within the compound area and as we passed by we asked the prices. $20 for about an hour touring the city. There were some folks came on as well we suspected they were from a cruise excursion. They said their price was somewhere around $40 a person.

Love M'ville. The swim up pool is fun and the music is....well....Jimmy. Great time.

We may have a situation that may be more normal than we think. On our next cruise we are fortunate enough to have a Junior Suite (great military discount). We are 13 points from our next block. Now since have the time I figured out that with the cabin and the night points we will get 14 points for this cruise. The question is will Royal catch it? We had a similar situation with our last brick because it was during a time when the December Diamond Celebration happened. Again we had a Jr Suite, 10 day cruise plus the Diamond celebration points. That cruise sent us over our "brick" mark by 16 points. No brick. Our next cruise we asked about it and the Loyalty ambassador said, "you should have received it on the ship you were on when you went over".

Thankfully that next cruise we were on a different ship so the ambassador gave us one of his that he kept for emergencies.

China is where the new money is and plenty of it. You add a billion or so new potential cruisers to anyone's business and you will get noticed. I believe there are two Voyager Class ships also in China and the Quantum is just the next step. I do believe that the Anthem is supposed to be positioned in Jersey when she arrives.

Sailed from there a few times so will not repeat what others have already stated. There are many fine places to eat on the island.

Regarding places to stay....that is probably my biggest issue with this port. Depending on when you are sailing the prices of hotel rooms can become quite ridiculous. As the weather warms you could end up paying well into the $200s for a room. So my suggestion is to look as deep as you can to try and find a reasonable price for a room while at the same time making sure the hotel is not a dump. That happened to one couple we cruised with when they booked the Knights Inn on the Seawall. Even with a price of around $150 the place had yet to be repaired from the hurricane years earlier. They ended up scrambling to find something else the night before the cruise and paying a LOT of money for it.

We were at Orient Beach once. It gets crowded and the surf is rough for kids.

Jenn nice to see you again on the boards. We miss you and your family.

Regarding Orient Beach...it is our favorite. There are many areas to sit, relax and enjoy the sunshine. Our favorite is Kakao (they have the dark blue chairs). Each beach area is identified by their colors.

Special note...only the sound end of the beach (Club Orient) is totally nudity the norm. You may see a few up on the north end but it is nothing to be concerned about. Just folks enjoying the beach.