live2learn

Sorry about the radio silence, life had one of those unexpected up-ticks in busyness. I am taking all the advice under advisement, and plan to pursue it further with him. Your opinions and experiences will give us something to discuss as opposed to just my own suppositions and personal experience (which I knew wasn't helpful).

Hey all, I am trying to determine if certain cruises would be good or bad for a nephew that has major allergy issues. I know that the Caribbean (or anywhere with a major expectation of pollen) would be bad. I am wondering about Alaskan or possibly a late fall New England cruise might be ok. He can't even really go to the beach, because of the grass pollen. I am even partially concerned about the potential for mold on board ship (yes, I know they do their best to keep up maintenance and cleanliness, but constant water environment...)

So, I am tired of watching him have to forgo yearly relaxation and I would like advice from others, ...if it is available.

Hi Shellygal,

I ran through the responses fairly quickly, so if someone has already mentioned this, I apologize. We have used the website mentioned in this cruise critic article https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5303(I hesitate to use their name, in case it falls in the category of advertising, even though they are not a travel agent). I have run across other cruise critic members who have also used them with good results, ...you might want to look them up. I even found my permanent travel agent using them.

I just found Deco Divers, who offer snorkel trips, and they are located just over the causeway. The one frustrating thing about trying to research this area is that, in looking for snorkel/dive operators, I kept bringing up results for Key Largo and further down. This operator takes you out to off shore reef and some shallow water wrecks in Biscayne. If for some reason that doesn't work out, I think we might rent a car so we can go to Key Biscayne, but I would rather snorkel living coral than fossil coral and rocky outcrops. My husband is finally getting the hang of it, and it will be his first opportunity to go to some decent coral for snorkeling.

I am not overly worried about the ocean temperature, as I have snorkeled the Bahamas in late February and early March. ...Not ideal, but when you cruise to get away from the frigid north, you take what you can get.

...of course, freak cold can hit, as well (but I am not reinforcing that thought).

Thanks for the suggestions. I am mulling it over with my husband. ...It's not as if we don't have quite a while to decide.

Not as a cruise stop. have started and ending many cruises in Miami and spent time in the city. No issues finding things to do. A google search will give you a full day of things in Miami.

Thanks for your reply! I understand that there are many city related activities (shopping/dining/museums/etc.). What I am really trying to do is get out in or on the water with a focus on nature, not the millionaires row along the intercoastal. It just boggles my mind that with a national park (Biscayne) covering 270 square miles sitting right at the end of the dock, there are no excursions offered there. I hate the cold and the dark of late fall-winter months so much that soaking in the sun and blue water acts as a medicine of sorts to get me through to the next spring. ...I take as much as I can pack in on a cruise.

Has anyone ever had Miami as a port of call? We are booked on the east coast & Bahamas cruise out of Baltimore on the Grandeur this Thanksgiving day. We chose the cruise for a number of reasons that are mostly related to the fact that we have 2 house reno projects going on at the moment and this was economical in both monetary and vacation/PTO usage.

But... I am having difficulty figuring out what to do with the Miami day. We prefer to snorkel whenever we have a chance, and we bring our gear along. Due to lack of excursions available and logistical issues for going off on our own, I am leaning towards just staying on ship. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

...To make matters worse, the roll call for the cruise is like a ghost town! When I booked, it seemed that the inside and oceanview cabins were mostly accounted for, so I don't think that there is a lack of travelers (??). So anyway, there isn't the usual (in my experience) group of people to join forces in making something happen that isn't a prepackaged tour.

Sorry about the overuse of emojis. I am used to them popping in when I click them (I don't use them very often), and couldn't figure out why they weren't showing up in the text or the preview ...I gave up, but here they are.

I noticed that your possible dive shops were a bit north of here, but if you get to the Harrisburg area, you could try Harrisburg's West Shore Scuba. They are located very close to the intersection of I-81 and Rt 15. https://westshorescuba.com/

Also, if you want to save some money on the snorkel and still get a fairly good one this amazon item https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OO2BFOK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 has done well for my husband. I was outfitted with good gear from a local dive shop for the purpose of a tropical ecology college course (that took place in the Bahamas) and this snorkel appears to be a duplicate of that one at less than half the price.

I second the need for fins. You can probably get away with the short fins (especially if you only plan to use them on cruises, and size for packing is an issue), but I do prefer the longer ones. Even within the restricted swimming/snorkeling areas at most ports, an indifferent swimmer can find themselves suddenly overly tired and a seemingly large distance from the beach.

I expect, since you said you aren't getting in the water at Freeport, that you have other plans. I have heard it said that Freeport is not a favorite cruise port, and therefore, you may not find yourself wanting to return on a future cruise. However, I prefer it, since I found the best snorkeling (short of the tropical ecology trip to San Salvador, Bahamas) at Paradise Cove (Dead Man's Reef). http://deadmansreef.com/freeport-bahamas-things-to-do/ If you go back (or change your mind about your Freeport plans), I highly recommend it. It isn't something that shows up on the cruise line sponsored excursions, and you end up having a relaxing and not overcrowded day.