another question or 2

[NIKKINAKKINOO]

hi,

 

as in my previous post my hubby and i are new to cruising and have a couple of more questions to ask.

 

we are going on the destiny to the caribbean on 14th feb and i was wondering about the excursions. Now i know that you can book these independantly and are prob a bit cheaper but what i want to know is has anyone been on these trips:

 

monkey encounter in barbados

trafalger falls and emerald pool or the indian river rowboat in dominica

cruise and sightsea in tortola

 

the above are the trips that we fancy, also on the other days which include dominican republic,martinque and st kitts is it easy to go ashore and just wander around/sunbathe or do u have to get a taxi/bus to get to a beach/shops?

 

my 2nd question is, if you decide to eat in the seven seas and have picked an early sitting do u have to be at the restaurant at a certain time eg. 6.30 or can u turn up at 7.30 and are u told where to sit?

 

again any advice is appreciated

[steelerannie]

hi,

 

as in my previous post my hubby and i are new to cruising and have a couple of more questions to ask.

 

we are going on the destiny to the caribbean on 14th feb and i was wondering about the excursions. Now i know that you can book these independantly and are prob a bit cheaper but what i want to know is has anyone been on these trips:

 

monkey encounter in barbados

trafalger falls and emerald pool or the indian river rowboat in dominica

cruise and sightsea in tortola

 

Do the Thomson trip to Virgin Gorda which is absolutely stunning. In Dominica, we just walked (10 mins)to the nearest beach which was lovely although it wasn't commercialised at all there wasn't even any sunbeds. In Barbados we went by taxi round the island.

 

the above are the trips that we fancy, also on the other days which include dominican republic,martinque and st kitts is it easy to go ashore and just wander around/sunbathe or do u have to get a taxi/bus to get to a beach/shops?

 

St Kitts is lovely and the shopping area is only 2 mins away!! Dominican Republic, we were told to only do an organised trip as there isn't much around the port area. There's not much to do in Martinique either where the ship docks, just a couple of duty free shops. St Maarten - you will need to get on the water taxi which takes around 10 minutes, then you will get to the great shops and a lovely beach, where it cost us $10 for 2 sunbeds, a parasol and 2 beers!

 

my 2nd question is, if you decide to eat in the seven seas and have picked an early sitting do u have to be at the restaurant at a certain time eg. 6.30 or can u turn up at 7.30 and are u told where to sit?

 

When you check in, the Maitre'd will be on the quayside with a table plan, and you will be asked what time you want to eat, they will then allocate you a table number. Try and get in the main dining room, not the back bit that used to be the speciality restaurant, as there is a lot going off in the restaurant and you will miss it if you are in the back bit. You do have to go in at either 6.30 or 8.30 you will have to choose first or second sitting, you won't be able to go in at 7.30.

 

again any advice is appreciated

 

Anything else I can help with???

Ann xx

[smiffy1951]

Hi NIKKINAKKINOO:)

 

You have certainly picked a cracker of a cruise for your first one. We did the 14 days Caribbean in March last year and have already booked it again on Destiny for March 2011.

 

May I suggest you do the Altos de Chavron excursion on Dominican Republic. It is great. You get a trip on a paddle steamer up the river where they filmed Apocolypse Now - plenty of rum and soft drinks included and then you visit the village and get a chance to wonder around, have a coffee etc. There is also the church where Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presely got married. This was recommended to me by Kruzseeka and did not disappoint.

 

If you want to swim with the dolphins on Tortola you can book this online before you go and it's a lot cheaper than the Thomson trip. There are also less people in your group so you get more time with the dolphin.

 

I can also recommend the Hike to Seven Sisters on Grenada, Sage Mountain and Cane Garden Bay on Tortola (did this one on our second week). Also Brimstone Fort on St Kitts is good if you like history.

 

Whatever you choose to do you will have a great time. I'm so jealous:cool:

 

Janet

[capasamari]

You are allocated to a sitting and a table and use the same one each night for dinner, with the same fellow passengers, waiters and wine waiter. You will have a five-course (soup, starter, salad, main, pudding) dinner with several choices for each course. On our first cruise we had a table for six and the other four, who were all together, were extremely welcoming and helpful to us as new cruisers, full of useful tips. It was interesting to swap stories about where we'd all been during the day.

 

The waiters are a great crowd and if anyone is celebrating a birthday or special occasion they all gather round and sing, with the neighbouring tables joining in as well. They also do a mini-cabaret sometimes, singing or performing magic tricks, or give napkin-folding demonstrations.

 

We found early sitting at 6:30 to be a bit of a rush to get ready for after a busy day ashore and prefer the late sitting at 8:30. Your booking details may tell you which sitting you are allocated to, as there is a box to tick when you book your cruise.

 

If you use the Seven Seas for breakfast or lunch, it is open-seating and you are shown to the next available table, so will eat with different passengers.

 

You can also eat at the Lido, which is an open-sided self-service buffet, for any meal and it is common practice to sit with others if there are no free tables, just ask "May we join you?". We have not had dinner there, but may do occasionally next December as I fancy eating in the warm Caribbean evening air, though we really like the ambience of the Seven Seas!

 

Carol x

[cegi]

hi,

 

as in my previous post my hubby and i are new to cruising and have a couple of more questions to ask.

 

we are going on the destiny to the caribbean on 14th feb and i was wondering about the excursions. Now i know that you can book these independantly and are prob a bit cheaper but what i want to know is has anyone been on these trips:

 

monkey encounter in barbados

trafalger falls and emerald pool or the indian river rowboat in dominica

cruise and sightsea in tortola

 

the above are the trips that we fancy, also on the other days which include dominican republic,martinque and st kitts is it easy to go ashore and just wander around/sunbathe or do u have to get a taxi/bus to get to a beach/shops?

 

my 2nd question is, if you decide to eat in the seven seas and have picked an early sitting do u have to be at the restaurant at a certain time eg. 6.30 or can u turn up at 7.30 and are u told where to sit?

 

again any advice is appreciated

 

Hi, we did the cruise and sightsee trip last year and really enjoyed it. The sightsee part you could do on your own, but Thomsons charter the boat so that part cannot be a D.I.Y. option

The Emerald pool and waterfall trip we did on our own, I think at a cost of $20 each It is really easy to do The local taxis/open sided small buses wait just outside the dock gates and depending on the trip you want organize small groups, agree a price and off you go. They know the trips the ship do so you follow the same itinerary. You will find many fellow cruises doing the same. ENJOY .

[its,only,me]

When we were in the caribbean last year I took some pencils and rubbers and things like that for the local children and the local guide gave them to a school , are there any children near where we are going in the red sea that would welcome these kind of things ,,,,,or did you come into contact with kids when out on your excursions :confused:

 

mrs.c