bucky0926

Long overdue but it seemed like fun. Let me explain. We were there right after a hurricane (don't remember which one) but it was big enough so that all the craft was pulled out of the water. My son's scuba was canceled because they had to get their boat back in the water and the visability was pretty awful. We came upon the UFO's (right where they said it would be) and Nancy (think that is her name but don't bet on it) had to get the UFO's back in the water (it took a while). She normally wouldn't be alone but one of the owners went to check on his mom as her island was hit very hard by the hurricane and he took an emergency flight out that morning to check on her.

By then my son found us and found out his scuba was cancelled (dive shop was right in same parking lot as the UFO'S) so we all decided to do the UFO's. One condition was that you had to be able to start the boat yourself (like a lawnmower or engine off a small boat) by pulling the cord. I could not do it as I was weak (recovering from the shingles-get the shot). My hubbie and son loved it. They were going like made men and loving it. Nancy gave me a ride in one so I could experience it. Seemed bumpy to me and too active as I had been pretty sedate for months. When they got off they had some rum punch and we left feeling satisfied. If you get the opportunity to do it I wouldn't pass it up.

Oooooh! Novel concept...putting something in a pocket. Great answer to OP's question as well. :rolleyes:

Except some of my shorts don't have pockets so I always rely on the lanyards.

They are available for the kids in Adventure Ocean. Adults bring your own or they had some that you could purchase in the gift shop.

 

Edit. If you are travelling on Harmony or Quantum class they won't punch a hole in the Seapass card because of the RFID chip. You need a lanyard with the plastic sleeve attached. Guest services will punch the hole on other ships.

Thanks for the heads up especially since we will be on Anthem. Now I know I need to bring something.

You missed your chance to fully experience Anthem's dining with the elimination of Dynamic Dining.

 

The ship IS the destination though.

When I first booked (labor day weekend) they still had the Dynamic Dining and a friend of ours keep saying to go on line and book our dinners. When I did this after the Oct change over I didn't understand what he was talking about until I found out the DD was over. I don't mind but I think DH is a little disappointed. I'm sure he will make up for it on the first formal night with his usual 7 or 8 lobsters. LOL

I want to surprise him with a massage (he would never book it himself) but the special pricing is for sail away 1st day or dinner time 1st day. Will they run specials on board or should I just bite the bullet and do it now?

Already booked our shows but no comedy? Or are those in smaller venues and its first come first served?

Here is a very small little detail that I need to know. I cruise mostly Carnival and in the casino you can get your card punched and they give you an spiral elastic cord so you can wear your sea pass card around your neck. Do they have anything like that on Royal or do I need to bring something else?

I suggest the op try Holland America. It might be a better fit for them.

I'm not a foodie but my husband is and we sailed with Holland this summer in Alaska. He felt the food was no better than Carnival (the line we usually sail). I don't know if this was because we were in Alaska but he was expecting better. We are sailing Anthem in April because he wants to try a ship as opposed to an itinerary. Looking forward to it despite OP opinion. Maybe I'm just used to the butt cracks....

I will be sailing on Anthem in April and some of the pools say freshwater while others don't make mention. Do all the pools on Anthem have fresh water or only some? If just some can you tell me the names of those that have fresh water? Also which are the most serene? Would like to spend time at the adults only pool which I believe is in the back on deck 13 but not sure if it is quiet and what type of water is in the pool.

Thanks

We will be on Coco Cay in April. My husband would like to fish with his own equipment. Is there a place on the island where you can fish that is allowed even if it is a little bit of a walk!

I am going to the Bahamas with Royal Caribbean in April. They have clamshells to rent but I was wondering if that was necessary. I want shade with a lounger (actually two one for me and one for DH). Is there an abundance of shade or would I be better off just renting an umbrella? Is it hard to find a lounger? Which is the best beach for snorkeling? Does it get very crowed or will it be peaceful? Any hep for this first timer on RC would be appreciated.

I am going to the Bahamas with Royal Caribbean in April. They have clamshells to rent but I was wondering if that was necessary. I want shade with a lounger (actually two one for me and one for DH). Is there an abundance of shade or would I be better off just renting an umbrella? Is it hard to find a lounger? Which is the best beach for snorkeling? Does it get very crowed or will it be peaceful? Any hep for this first timer on RC would be appreciated.

I know it is past when they will be there but I was just there (8/24) and I chose the Steve Kroschel wildlife center. The tour only had about 16 of us so it wasn't overly crowded and we got to see and learn about many native Alaskan animals. Plus got to interact with many species. Fun, good photo ops and learned alot.

This is not it but one that you may want to consider also:

 

https://www.alaskaexcursions.com/glacier-safari-2/

 

Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway.

Yes I was interested in this but I wound up going with the Kroschel animal refuge in Haines. What scared me off of the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari was that many people noted the boots they provided were thin and they could feel the rocks through them. That was a turn off.

Possibly this one?

http://skagwayfloat.com/tours/chilkoot-trail-hike-and-float/

Yeah I bet that's it. My cruise stops in Haines and not Skagway so I didn't do any extra scouting of Skagway (just what was offered from the cruise ship). I knew someone would know about it. Thanks

A friend of my husband was telling him about an excursion he went on in Alaska and said it was very good. But he didn't remember the name or even the port (or land portion) where he did it. You numerous Alaska cruisers (especially for 10 years plus) might remember it and at least know if it still exists.

He said he did some serious hiking up through a rain forest (climbing over rocks and logs-no smooth trail) for approx. 2 hours and then they got into rafts and came down. That's it. Anyone know where this would be and if it still exists. I am heading to Alaska on Monday (8/15) and am so excited. Not sure I would be able to book it now even if I knew the name and location but curious just the same. Thanks everyone

As a side note just wanted to say that I couldn't have made the plans I did for my 2 weeks through AK without all of your help. The ideas, dates, pros and cons of certain situations have been super helpful. Even little things like the princess train has you sitting facing both front and back and the Holland one does not have been helpful. I have been trolling the boards for a few months and really everyone has added to so many conversations in such a positive way. Thanks again

OMG!!!

 

Just back from the most amazing vacation. Truth be known... Alaska was not even on my top 10 destinations to visit, and I already want to go back!!!

 

I will try and write a review in the next few days, but would be happy to answer questions as everyone was such a help to me in planning.

 

Our excursions were a MICA 3 hour glacier trek, Denali for 3 days, Glacier Bay, Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Haines, whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, and Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast in Ketchikan.

 

Blessed with beautiful weather, and memories for a lifetime.

Would be very interested in hearing about your glacier point wilderness safari in haines as will be boarding the same ship on the 21 of aug and still don't have an idea of what to do in Haines. Thanks

We have a land/cruise tour with Holland America. Just printed up the itinerary and it turns out we are staying at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge instead of the Mckinley Chalet. How far is one property from the other? Does the river run close to the Princess property as my hubbie wanted to fish and it was right out in back of the Mckinley. Any big differences I need to know about? If you had the opportunity to stay in one vs the other which would you choose? I heard the Mckinley Chalet were just finishing up a renovation so I wanted to stay there and am disappointed. Thanks Leaving 8/15 and can't wait....

I contacted the Water UFO company last week. They sent the following information to me as far as pricing:

 

We like to keep it all simple and charge just one price per UFO, whether it carries one or two happy faces.

 

To run the UFO's cost effective the package price is a standard $75. So basically the second person gets the discount.

 

time duration from the water ufo safari tour is 90 minutes

I think if you get more than 4 boats its 70 per boat.

My DH and I are booked for August. First tour of the day and then on to great bay (despite all the warnings about pollution) to relax and shop. I think by then I will be exhausted as its the last port on our cruise (out of 5).

How much should it be for 3 of us to cockleshell one way? Does it go by per person rates or per taxi rates? Thanks

Haven't been to South Friars but I absolutely loved cockleshell!!! Would definite recommend going there.

How much would the cab be to Reggae Beach and do we have to arrange a pick up time or will there be plenty of cabs at this beach?

I have been to St. Kitts several times, we always did the island tours.

 

This time we want to try some thing different. We will be in St Kitts on December 16th a Wednesday from 10:00 to 6:00. The only excursions Princess is offering that we are interested in is an excursion to swim with dolphins @ 149.95 per person. For 2 people $299.90 seems a little high.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this excursion, is it worth the money? Or is there some thing else you would recommend that is lower in cost?

 

Thank you, in advance for any suggestions.

Laura

If you are adventurous then you might want to try flyboarding. It is offered on Reggae Beach and it looks like a lot of fun. My son is booked to do this in August. It is definately something different and new. Little pricey at 200 per hour but the company offers a pass for the day and you get flyboarding (half hour as opposed to whole hour) jetsking, kayaking, snorkeling for 150.00. Let me know if you are interested I can give you the nameof the company.

Yes...you can actually walk to nearby Brandons Beach from the Mount Gay factory.

But can you walk from the port to the mount gay factory? The reason I'm asking is that we are doing a fishing charter for 4 hours in the morning and don't know what to do for the afternoon. I'm sure they would drop us anywhere we wanted and don't know if we would just go to brandons beach or to the boatyard. Would they still have chairs and umbrellas that late in the day at the Boatyard? We will be the only ship in port that day.

In one post I read there were no amenities at Sapphire beach and in another I read there was. We want chairs, umbrellas if no shade, real bathrooms, runners for food and drink, great snorkeling. Coki or Sapphire look good and do both offer chairs and umbrellas (I can't do towel on the sand).

If it makes a difference we will be the only ship in port and we will be there the end of August. If the winds are high would we be better off at Coki? Thanks

Thanks everyone for your input. I love Segways and this looks like it would be so fun. There would be two of us and I'm quite sure that we would each do a separate boat. The double thing looks really awkward.

I have to agree, it does look awkward. My husband and I will probably get different boats as he likes to go much faster than I usually do. This way he won't have me screaming in his ear to slow down. LOL

There's a picture of him on www dot travelbuddy dot com / Roatan-Island-Travel-Guide / photos (spelled this out as sometimes CC **** sites, but google "eddie murphy" Guide in Roatan). He's wearing a polo with a logo and has a badge hanging from his neck. With a good photoshop skills you might be able to sharpen these ad find some details.

 

Don't confuse with Murphy's Tours Roatan. Not the same person.

My photoshop skills are non existent but I did put a message out to the woman who posted the picture. Maybe she knows how to get in touch with him. If we ever go back we would only want Eddie with us-he's like family. LOL How did you ever find that photo?

This is the worst port I have ever been to. It has a certain visual appeal in the port area. Obviously a lot of money was sunk into this. So, the shop prices are ridiculous, the food prices are a joke. $6 and $8 beer, $18 nachos, and a funny thing :roll eyes: they have signs all over saying telephone, but no one knows where any telephone is. The signs actually send you in a circle. They point to the pool! So I hate to be totally negative, they had nice restrooms. We decided to go into town. They have this open trolley service, it's $3 pp to ride it into town, that's each way. We saw people getting out of a cab, so I thought I would just ask about a taxi. They were not friendly at all and told me I had to go outside the gate, so they can drop off inside, but then not pick up. I am pretty tenacious, I just took a quick run out there and asked. The rude jerk running the taxi stand was yelling at people "Gringo you wanna taxi?" I was not impressed with their disparaging comments. I was standing right in front of them and they ignored me. I said hello, I want a taxi. I won't bother going into their attitude further. It just sucked. Anyway I ran back and said, "Well we know the cruise lines get at least 33%!" I was clearly kidding, the cruise lines are making way more than that! My Mom has a hard time walking far and it was Africa hot so we took the trolley-like transport into town. They told us they would take us to the restaurant that we wanted to go to, Nochos Kay, and said it was the fourth stop. Then at the third stop he said he was not going to go further. That bastard. I told him that my Mom could not walk far, and he just blew us off. I'm telling you, this port and some of the people were the worst. Now I will say that the restaurant was not bad. Cold beers for a fraction of the port cost, delicious tacos, and he called a taxi for us when we were ready to go. That was it. I have to say I am not sure if it is worth the hassle to get out there. My niece and sister went into the water and said it was gross. A resort we went to in Jamaica was like that. Beautiful place and beach, and in the water was trash and a million cups. It looks pretty from the other side of the boardwalk. It's shallow and seems like a great place to splash around. They said no. If I happen to be on another ship going to Costa Maya, I won't even bother getting off. Obviously if you are taking an excursion of some kind, this does not apply to you. Strictly for people who, like me, just thought they would walk around and check it out. Oh, they have another trolley-like vehicle that goes from ship to port entrance, but it only goes to one of the ships. It went literally to the door of the Carnival ship, and Norwegians had to walk a good way. So apparently Carnival is the largest share holder here. LOL! I said protesto, and the kid working it said no, it's protesta. That was funny. That verb is female. My spanish! ;)

When we were there in August 2012 it was nothing to brag about. The port was expensive and since the stop was from only like 8am to 2pm (so on board at 1:30) I didn't even want to venture into town. This stop was a waste of time. If we ever go back (which is probable since it's usually with Belize and Roatan and we love those stops) I hope it does become more like Cozumel since we always enjoy the beach clubs there. Sorry to hear nothing has changed yet. Rome wasn't built in a day.