rum & monkey

Even though we always use our passports when doing check-in when we cruise, no matter the itinerary, we have yet to be asked to show our passports on any island in the Caribbean including the Bahamas.

Neither have we, however we have a timeshare there and have been there when a couple who had actually gone to the Bahamian police after being mugged and did not have passports on them. They were detained and missed their ship, and had a real hassle trying to get back. The Bahamas has always been strict with passports (at least for the last 8 years that I know of)

You do not need a passport to enter the Bahamas from a cruise ship.

 

OP as long as you are US citizens you are fine with your certified birth certificate and state issued ID.

http://www.uspassporthelpguide.com/passport-requirements-for-bahamas-vacation/

You will need your passports. If it is a closed loop cruise (returning to same port and it is a US port) then you can get away with it if and only if the countries you are visiting do not require a passport for you to enter their country. So you really need to be looking at the passport requirements for your stops. If it is eastern most likely one of your stops is the Bahamas and you definitely will need to have it if so. Some countries are more lax on the passport laws if arriving by ship rather than air but Bahamas is not one. If you had an emergency or missed the ship in any one of your stops and had to fly back you would have a problem getting back to anywhere. When you get your passport they offer a passport card for an additional fee and it is wallet size, you cannot use it going through customs anywhere but it is great to stick in your wallet and keep your actual passport in the safe. We did not do it and wish we had later and definitely will when we renew.

The direct # for the hotel in the states is 1-281-443-2310 ( I think you dial 00 first from the UK). The hotel does have a shuttle van but they don't list if it is complimentary for anything other than the airport or if they will drop you off and pick you up at local places. I can't see the purpose of the shuttle for the airport though because the tram is more convenient and by the time you loop through the airport it is probably faster as well. The Walmart is just a little over 5 miles. You probably would be better off just pre-buying your wine on the ship though if you had to pay for a cab. When I was in Minneapolis we found as long as we were tipping the shuttle driver took us anywhere within reason we asked. He just would drop us and we would call when we were ready to be picked up. Good Luck! Hope it works out for you.

Ate lunch in the Windjammer.....there was not a soul there.....wonderful. We had a nice afternoon of relaxation.

HOWEVER!!!!!........In our new cabin....8568...we are just under the far end of the Solarium. They roll carts through there all day. Laundry carts, carts with towels, food carts, drink carts.....all kinds of carts!!! It sounded like a bowling alley above our heads!! We never had a moment's peace. It subsided in the evenings and over night a bit. But at least 3-4 times during the night I was awakened by this noise. More on this later.[/size][/font]

Hate to hear that it was so noisy, we are in cabin 8570 (the connecting cabin to 8568) in three weeks. The only other JS available is 8552 which is 8 cabins closer to the elevators. Do you think it would be better or worse? Was the noise bad enough that I'd be better off upgrading to a GS?

Sailed on the 2/23. Not a super-experienced cruiser (my 3rd in 23 years) but will add some comments based on some of the above questions.

 

1. We did self-departure and didn't even request it until after dinner on the last night. Our time slot was 8:00-8:30. We were concerned about getting an elevator with our luggage (a very valid concern but amazingly an empty one opened quickly for us) and got to our spot about 7:40. They shooed us on without even looking at our ticket (though I mentioned it was for 8:00). I was traveling with my sister and at the suggestion of the "shopping expert" on board, we did our customs declaration together. Declaring a watch I bought still put us over the exemption a bit but they processed us through without a duty tax.

 

2. We ended up with ice show tickets for 6:30 which conflicted with our early dining time. We were able to eat in the late sitting that evening with no problem. In fact, it was fun to meet some new people.

 

3. We didn't discover breakfast in the MDR until later in the week. It was fabulous and I'd suggest it every time it is open. Same with lunch.

 

4. We brought Brita filtered water containers to drink from and they worked just fine with the ship water.

 

5. My hubs and I are taking the same trip next month. I am going to try to find an excursion in Belize that picks up at the ship, just to streamline the process (if we snorkel). I heard that there are some.

 

6. My sister is a tea-aholic (remember, sis, admitting it is the first step!). Looking for iced tea in the morning caught servers off guard but it can be done. It just requires a little friendly persistence, especially in the Windjammer.

 

7. Our cabin was port-side which I think was the preferable side by just a smidge.

 

That's all I can think of right now. Obviously had a great time which is why I'm booked to go with my husband next month!

We took the BEB2 Barrier Reef Snorkel and Beach and it did pick up at the side of the ship for the AM excursion (the afternoon one picks up in port). It was great because the barrier reef is the opposite direction of port. It also took us back to the ship which gave us time to take a shower and get all the salt water washed off before tendering into port for a little shopping and drinks with our new excursion friends.

Question about Belize. Since RCI shore excursions have first priority on tenders, what time can others expect to get a tender? I've booked an excursion with a local company.

Depends on how full the ships excursions are and how many tenders they are operating that day. We have tendered into Belize three times now and the first time we were going to do it on our own. We missed our excursion and it was 2 1/2 hours after the first ship excursion. We got into the port so late that we did not have time to go and do a lot of excursions we wanted to and had to just go do something that got us back in time. Ever since we always book a ship excursion on tendered stops and look for the earliest departure we can find.

The Marriott is actually in the terminals and you will take the underground train (more like a mini tram) to the Marriott. You will never even leave the airport. Not sure if the marriott has a shuttle to local places or not. But to get wine will be difficult without a car. IAH is actually north of Houston and your closest place would be Humble (h is silent so pronounce "umble" if asking for directions) There are a couple of grocery stores, a sam's club, a liquor store, and a walmart all close to the airport in Humble on FM 1960 but you will need a vehicle (hopefully the marriott has a courtesy van), all are to far to walk to. Hope this helps.

We were on the Navigator on it's last sailing before dry dock and there were a lot of things that needed repair that they were waiting for dry dock for, including the stage. The mechanisms for the stage were not working so they did not do all the shows with the Royal Caribbean dancers and singers. This was a New Years cruise so there was no good deal, had there been and also some warning it may have been more palatable on the short comings. The other thing is the crew goes to dry dock with the ship and also have a job working on the ship the whole time. More experienced crew members will leave the ship to another and as a result you have many crew members that either are on their first contract or have taken the opportunity to move up into a new position. Our waiter and assistant waitress were in a new positions (she was a cook before and he was an assistant waiter) our cabin attendant was new as well. Bar service was extremely slow as we found several new bartenders as well, one didn't even know how to make one of the frozen drinks in the book they keep at the bar. All in all it was not the same service we have come to know from RC in the past. They also started dismantling and storing things on the ship on the last night which did not make it enjoyable to stay out and enjoy your last night on vacation.

It depends where you are flying from. I have two figure skaters and in the states we always carry on but for international flights we can carry on leaving the states but European countries do not allow skates as carry on so we have to check them coming back.

When we take the kids we get two rooms but book an adult in each room and just swap on board. We just always get the extra keys and only one kid winds up with an extra key. On the last cruise my youngest had the extra key and she was in good company in the kids club with kids that had to carry an extra key (a very common practice). You can have the keys punched and get a lanyard from the kids club and put both keys on it. Our cabins on the last one were only two cabins apart and they were in different muster stations. We were told once on board we could have that changed. We found out that once on board they didn't want the hassle of changing it but after much insistence they finally did. We have never tried to book it any other way but it works just to swap the rooms around.

Haven't been on either ship yet (scheduled for Vision) but have been on two Carnival and several Royal Caribbean. Last Carnival we went on was the Dream and at the time it was there biggest and newest ship (less than 4 months old) and my husband and I immediately realized it would be our last Carnival. With everything being new on the ship the best way I can describe it was it was like comparing a brand new motel 6 to a 5 star hotel. Although the hotel may not be new it is well taken care of and updated. Nothing wrong with a brand new motel 6 but which would you choose? My kids loved the slide on Carnival but even they prefer Royal Caribbean.

Depending on your stops (Belize is one) you should take malaria pills before going. Not all destinations will you need them but it is one pill the week before going and will protect you from contracting malaria. You cannot even give blood for over a year if you have been to certain ports and did not take a malaria pill before going.

I'm pretty sure that if you charge your cruise or airfare on your credit card, you don't need to call your cc company to let them know that you'll be travelling and not to put a stop on your card. They already know.

They do not get your itinerary and sail date just a charge from the cruise line. They do not know it's you! Your cruise could have a sail date of two weeks or two years and could be anywhere in the world. We've had ours declined for suspicious charges do to traveling when it was us and it was only after three charges.

Definitely not true.

 

The speed with which CC fraud is perpetrated has led to equally fast responses by CC companies.

 

They do not make any attempt to review your purchase history before they freeze your account if they suspect that some cc activity is fraudulent. They would rather inconvenience you than lose money.

 

The bigger issue is that some CC companies have set their sensitivity levels way too high and they are freezing activity for what you and I consider a regular recurring transaction.

We were driving across the country (yes the U.S.) pulling a trailer so we were stopping every two hours for gas, as we hit the third state of the day our CC was declined at the pumps, when we called they said any suspicious activity will shut your CC off which includes charges at different locations that are more than 100 miles apart in a short time span (less than two days) and that you should always call before traveling. They did extend our card until the end of our trip but they had already issued us a new card that was being sent to our house before we even talked to them, as they do not just decline but cancel your card. With that said we called before a Europe trip and we had not one but two CC companies (visa & MC) and our bank with our ATM card tell us that no charges in France would be authorized even with notice because the CC fraud is so high there with stolen numbers. Had we not known this in advance we would have not had any access to money while in France. Calling in advance is no big deal but the alternative could be. I must say though we only use cash in ports and everthing on the ship goes on one bill at the end. But to the person that said your CC company knows you booked a cruise: they don't get an itinerary or a sailing date! They have no clue its you!