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Caribbean Princess August 21 - 28 REVIEW (VERY long!!)

njdevil08

By njdevil08,
in Princess Cruises

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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I promise you, part 4 detailing our day in Bar Harbor is on its way...it will be up tonight.

 

In the meantime, I just found that shipwide savings coupon book while sorting through my stuff and realized I haven't used any of them. They expire Dec. 31, 2010.

 

The first ones to respond requesting a specific coupon with their email address will get them in the mail! Thanks everyone for staying tuned to my LONG review.

 

Highlights:

- Buy one, get one free coffee card

- 10% discount on fine jewelry, designer watches, or fine gifts

- $10 off a purchase of $100 or more in the boutiques onboard

 

There are others but all involve large purchases like massages, champagnes, etc. If you're familiar with the book, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you want them, feel free to inquire.

 

Let the games begin...

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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I promise you, part 4 detailing our day in Bar Harbor is on its way...it will be up tonight.

 

In the meantime, I just found that shipwide savings coupon book while sorting through my stuff and realized I haven't used any of them. They expire Dec. 31, 2010.

 

The first ones to respond requesting a specific coupon with their email address will get them in the mail! Thanks everyone for staying tuned to my LONG review.

 

Highlights:

- Buy one, get one free coffee card

- 10% discount on fine jewelry, designer watches, or fine gifts

- $10 off a purchase of $100 or more in the boutiques onboard

 

There are others but all involve large purchases like massages, champagnes, etc. If you're familiar with the book, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you want them, feel free to inquire.

 

Let the games begin...

That is very kind of you!:)

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

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How was the ride for you? We are taking the Crown from Quebec to Lauderdale this October and wondering if it is going to be rough again. From this review it appears it maybe but it must reach a certain point going south where it isn't so rocky but it didn't bother us but it did make it hard if you were getting food in the Horizon Court.

 

 

It was pretty rough. :eek:

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deniuh

deniuh

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I promise you, part 4 detailing our day in Bar Harbor is on its way...it will be up tonight.

 

In the meantime, I just found that shipwide savings coupon book while sorting through my stuff and realized I haven't used any of them. They expire Dec. 31, 2010.

 

The first ones to respond requesting a specific coupon with their email address will get them in the mail! Thanks everyone for staying tuned to my LONG review.

 

Highlights:

- Buy one, get one free coffee card

- 10% discount on fine jewelry, designer watches, or fine gifts

- $10 off a purchase of $100 or more in the boutiques onboard

 

There are others but all involve large purchases like massages, champagnes, etc. If you're familiar with the book, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you want them, feel free to inquire.

 

Let the games begin...

 

thanks for your kind offer! My email is deniuhathotmaildotcom. We will have our very active 3yr old and I might have to steal away to the spa. I am enjoying your very positive outlook despite the weather issues. Thanks again.

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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Day 4 – Bar Harbor, ME, August 24, 2010: Well, the night was quite a rough adventure. We were told we had swells up to 12 -16 feet, though some onboard said they heard it was even higher. Well, the numbers don’t really matter because all I can really be judge on is the rocking. We were rocking and rolling the whole night, to a point that it was pretty uncomfortable. While thankfully none of the seven of us got sick, we had heard stories of at least a few who did. It was certainly an adventure to remember nonetheless, and myself and my parents had a little trouble sleeping, though everyone else slept like babies. When I say we rocked all night, I’m not exaggerated. It was essentially constant ups and downs and side to sides from the time we left Boston until about an hour before we dropped anchor in Bar Harbor.

We dropped our anchor a little after 7 AM and that’s about when we headed for breakfast, once again in the HC. We were plenty early enough to easily secure a table, and it was then that the captain announced we were clear to proceed ashore. Looking out the window, we finally saw what appeared to be our first really beautiful day of the cruise (thankfully!) Sunny, cloudless skies, and the temperature reached the mid-70s. After a good breakfast we went back to our rooms to get completely ready and washed up and went down to the Island Dining Room to wait for tenders.

Upon arriving at the Island dining room, we were told by crew standing in front that there was no need for tickets or a wait. We were directed straight down the stairs to the gala deck to board a tender, where we had to wait about 10 minutes for it to fill up. This was such a joy compared to some awful tender experiences we had with RCL into/out of Grand Cayman. The ride was much shorter than the tender ride in Newport, and we were ashore before 9 AM. The area right by the tender landing is this one tourist information type building with plenty of tours departing from it and a few shops.

We had prebooked the 2.5 hour Oli’s Trolley tour of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. We prepaid and were told to pick up our tickets at least 30 min. before the tour. We picked them up at about 9 AM. The Oli’s shop was pretty easy to fine in that lone building when you enter from the back/street side. We picked up the tickets and received numbers 0001-0007. Guess we’re the only ones crazy enough to arrive that early! J The folks at Oli’s were very friendly and they told us to board the trolley about 1 block from the building to the right by a blue stand that said Oli’s 15 min. before departure. We could see the stand from outside the building, so we figured since we had time to kill we could explore the town of Bar Harbor.

We walked through a touristy-shopping area close to the harbor and saw a lot of the town in an hour walk. There’s a small hill leading up to shops, but the streets are pretty small and not too crowded, so the walk wasn’t hard. It was really good to be able to do some window shopping so we could know where we wanted to go later. Well, it was about 10 AM, so we headed back down towards the tender docks and walked to the station to board the trolley. They had us all get into lines based on what tours we were taking and then we boarded the trolley.

Our trolley driver was Mike and he was very friendly and very informative. We also really like the trolley concept as opposed to the busses because we were lower to the ground, the windows were more transparent and it had a very open feel, which was great with the beautiful weather. We did a quick drive past some of the Bar Harbor “cottages” aka mansions before proceeding to Acadia National Park. Some of the sights in Acadia were absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous and I may just have to post of the pictures I took.

The trolley stopped made three 15 minute stops in Acadia at Cadillac Mountain (had scenic views of the Ocean, Bay, and landscape over 100 miles), Sieur de Mount Spring (a garden area, thought it was a little boring, we could’ve done without it) and Thunder Hole (an area where the tide rushes in from the ocean creating a loud thunder sound, very cool and scenic!) We also learned a lot about the history/founding of Acadia during the tour. We got back to the dropoff point right on schedule at 12:30, at which point we were hungry for lunch. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend Oli’s for anyone who wants a great tour of Acadia at a fraction of what the ship charges. Here’s the website: http://www.acadiaislandtours.com/index.html

Oli’s offers a 10% coupon at a local restaurant who’s name escapes me (maybe someone else can fill in my blank) but we were given recommendations from some friends to visit Stewmans for authentic Maine lobster. Stewmans is located right on the water and is about 1 block away from the tender landing, right across the street from where Oli’s drops you off. The food was very delicious, albeit pricey, but we all thought it was worth every penny. Here’s the website if you’d like to check out the menu: http://www.stewmanslobsterpound.com/

After lunch, we wanted to do some walking around town and do some shopping. We walked up the hill, across the street from a grassy area where we took beautiful of the ship from. The shops had all sort of items, and we made a few touristy purchases, nothing was too exciting. We loved the small-town feel of Bar Harbor, lunch, the trolley tour, and Acadia, making Bar Harbor our favorite port of the cruise (we had unanimous consent, and my family doesn’t agree on anything!)

We lined back up for the tenders at about 3 PM and had virtually no wait. There was a short line and we were back onboard the ship by 3:30. We went back to the room before heading outside to relax poolside for the first time of the vacation, then it was off to MUTS for the Fox Premier of Raising Hope. We didn’t see anything there that had been advertised like the free tote bag or the raffle, but to be fair, we didn’t look and could’ve missed it. The show was somewhat funny, not a must-see in my book but it was still cool to see an “advanced screening” and as a result I may check it out in September.

Afterwards, we spent a little more time in the pool before heading back to the room to get ready for dinner. We went to the 7:15 Comedy Hypnotist Kellie Karl in the Princess Theater. She was alright, but quite frankly I’ve seen better hypnotist shows in our local high school auditorium. Nonetheless, it was still an entertaining way to pass an hour before dinner. After the show, we went down to the Coral Dining Room where we had an 8:15 reservation. Our waiter was Marco and he was much better than the experience we had the previous night. He was very helpful with my wife’s dietary needs and we became good acquaintances with the head waiter, Carlos, who was great!

After dinner we went to the Explorer’s Lounge, where Martin Kaye was finally given a bigger venue, albeit for one night only! He did an Elton John tribute show and it was excellent as he always was. Still even in Explorers, there was standing room only and many had to stand in the corridor in the back it was so packed. They need to give this guy the Princess theater at least for one night, he’d easily fill it up. Here’s an even better idea: instead of Exotique, he should be the featured entertainment! Well that about wraps up the day. After the show, we stopped by Skywalkers since we felt obligated to do so. It wasn’t really our kind of music and we only stayed for about 30 minutes or so before heading out and going off to bed.

Happy to report – smooth sailing that night! The rough seas were behind us….

FYI, as of this moment I still have tons of coupons…I may have to post them in a separate thread so people can find them, but I wanted to give all you review readers first crack!

Deniuh I’ve emailed you about the spa.

Part 5 coming up…!

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RI_Lady

RI_Lady

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Well written.Better you than me driving around NYC.We are on I believe the 5th cruise of this class of ship and frankly have not really been that impressed with them,however walking does take longer and can get your feet very wet(lol)We have been on 6 RCCL and have found the food was good.Well thankyou for your story and I guess by this time next week I will be finding out for myself. Tom

 

Dear Tom,

 

I agree this review is great. My husband and I were also on this sailing as first time Princess cruisers and we totally enjoyed this ship.

 

We found the embarkation smooth and enjoyed lunch in the dinning room, we found this a lovely change from other cruises where the only availability for lunch is the buffet.

 

I would like to add some info on the welcome aboard dinner buffet. I am a New Englander and love my "Lobsta", and all seafood. The CB offers a seafood buffet that features steamed lobster claws, cold shrimp and other seafood. I was very impressed by the food throughout the cruise but the abundance of lobster was impressive. On previous threads I had read complaints that the Lobster was difficult to eat, but I guess CB took care of the problem. Although the Cb did not provide any of the usual utensils (Lobster forks and "Crackers"), each lobster claw had a slice in the shell that made the removal of the sweet claw meat easy. I just used my hands to beak open the shell at the man made slice in the shell. The melted butter and cocktail sauce were a great touch. I mention how to access the meat because I saw people trying various methods in an attempt to be "Emily Postesque", but lobster is the ultimate hands on meal!

I do recommend not attempting to visit the buffet before 730 pm though, as there was a line and tables were filled up early. My husband and I arrived at the buffet after 830 and had an easy time finding a seat. The Buffet is open from 530 pm to after 10 pm( unsure exactly how late). I met some passengers who visited the buffet twice on that first evening. I was tempted but I was totally full after our dinner.

 

Have fun on your cruise, and Like you I am enjoying this post.

 

Karen (RI_Lady)

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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Part 5 – Saint John, New Brunswick, August 25, 2010: After a night of smooth sailing, we woke up at around 7:30 AM to find that we were already docked in Saint John. FYI to anyone taking this cruise, we received a note in our cabin the night before (Tuesday evening) that the clocks would move one hour forward over night to adjust to Atlantic time as Saint John and Halifax are both in the Atlantic time zone. So, we woke up with an hour lost of sleep and we were pretty tired as a result. We learned that the reason why the ship has to arrive in Saint John so early is that the tide swings are so great that ships must wait to dock until tides are at a safe level. In fact, the ship had arrived at about 5:30 AM and was waiting for the signal when it would be safe to dock.

While the rest of my family had a nice leisurely breakfast, my youngest son and I ate quickly and gathered our belongings to get ready for the Reversing Falls Jet Boat Thrill Ride, which we had booked at 9:30 AM. Getting off the ship at 8:30 was a breeze and we were greeted by very friendly folks who gave us Canadian flags and pins. (Ladies received flowers) We found a taxi sitting, waiting to pick up passengers right by the cruise terminal and we took the taxi to where the boat rides begin in Fallsview Park. NOTE: Fallsview Park is not the same place where the Reversing Falls Tourist area is (it’s about a 10 minute walk away), we almost made that mistake. The website for the jet boat rides is here: http://www.jetboatrides.com/thrill.html.

The folks at Jet Boat Rides were VERY friendly and since it was a little chilly in the early morning (high 60’s), we were the only two that showed up for the ride. We had a blast with our guide. The ride is definitely not for the faint of heart, though it wasn’t as intense as I had imagined, and I definitely would not recommend it for anyone with back problems. You are provided with a poncho and you don’t need to wear your shoes but you still get soak and I’d recommend bringing a towel and a change of clothes. The woman who worked behind the desk watched all of our stuff while we were on the ride.

Afterwards, we did the 10 minute walk to the Reversing Falls tourist area where we met up with the rest of the group. They had gotten their via the Big Pink Bus Hop On/Hop Off which we had all booked via the Princess website. At the cruise terminal, you are provided with a sticker in exchange for the excursion ticket you’re given onboard, and the sticker acts as your admission ticket to get on the bus throughout the day. You can find the station for the Big Pink Bus by making a left as you leave the ship. There’s an information stand set up inside the cruise terminal.

There are three loops, All About Town, Reversing Falls, and Top of the Market. I can scan the map in if anyone’s interested. Overall, we felt it was a HUGE waste of money. I can’t remember what we paid, but it was way too much. Most of the places the bus stopped, with the exception of reversing falls, were in walking distance and the tour guides didn’t really engage us like they did on the trolleys in Boston. I had read about it here on CC and I should’ve followed the trusted advice. The Big Pink Bus should be a definite miss!

As a family, we went to the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. It’s free to tour and it’s basically just a small synagogue with a little display in the front. We bought some little gifts in the display case to help support the synagogue and the local Jewish community that’s dying out. From there, we walked to the Saint John City Market and had lunch, we each bought food from different vendors. The food was pretty good. Note: the only tables are in a glass enclosed area off to the left hands side as you enter the market from the Charlotte Street entrance.

After a quick lunch, we walked about 5 – 10 minutes to Market Square, where we did some shopping, walking around, and also visited the New Brunswick Museum. The New Brunswick Museum was our favorite part of Saint John. We felt it provided us with a good grasp of the culture and way of life in New Brunswick and it was far larger than we expected. The museum is located inside the Market Square building, which is also much larger once your inside than it appears from the outside. Here’s the website for the museum: http://www.nbm-mnb.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=316.

After, we once again walked back to the cruise terminal area at about 2 PM. There was a little tent setup right outside the terminal where we bought some New Brunswick/Saint John souvenirs. We were back onboard by 2:30 PM and left Saint John feeling a little disappointed. The city itself is very industrial-looking, kind of like the way the NJ Turnpike looks near the Lincoln Tunnel, for those who know the area, you’ll get what I’m talking about! We felt like we overpaid for the Pink Busses which we really only used to get to Reversing Falls, so in retrospect we could’ve just taken a cab. In the future, if our ship stops in Saint John, we’d probably do a Fundy Coastal Tour or a drive to St. Martin’s where you can walk the caves as we heard rave reviews from people who did both.

We really are the kind of people who like to make lemonade out of lemons, however, and we genuinely still had a fun day, it just didn’t meet and exceed our expectations like everything else did up to that point. We went to the pool deck for a little while just to relax and catch some sun as the weather turned how to be quite nice for the second straight day. We then headed down to play bingo at 5:15. We really enjoyed the caller, who’s name was James, we thought he was funny and quick witted and we learned it was his last cruise before vacation. Our cruise director, Neil Roberts was not as omnipresent as our CD on RCL. Not sure if that’s standard Princess procedure or not, but it was an obvious observation. We happened not to care either way as we know most of what a CD does is behind the scenes, organizing all the activities as has been explained to me numerous times on these boards. And for that, we had no complaints!

After bingo we went back to our room to get ready for dinner and headed down to the Coral DR, where we had a minimal wait. Our waiter was Jeffrey and he was absolutely wonderful! He made my kids laugh by tying napkins up into all sorts of figures and we got some great pictures. The food was very good as always.

After dinner, we went to the 10:15 comedy show with Gary DeLena. We found him to be very funny, but we thought Phil Tag (the comedian earlier in the week) was just a bit better, though some folks thought the opposite, so you get the idea, they were both very good! Little note on comedians: each had five shows in total spread out over 5 days in the Explorer’s Lounge (a relatively small venue). We went to shows on the first day for each comedian and seats filled up VERY QUICKLY so get there early. We stopped by for the second day for Gary DeLena and seats were still available, so either get there early or wait until day two.

After dinner, we went to Crooner’s for some piano music with Martin Kaye before heading to the room to sleep. Another day done. Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, had a crazy day getting back to work! L

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Hazley

Hazley

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When we were in Saint John on the same cruise, we had prebooked a car from Enterprise. We called when we got in and they did indeed pick us up and took us to their office a few minutes away. We then proceeded to St. Martins and had a great day, visiting the lighthouse in West Quaco, walking the beach, and eating lobster rolls. Normally we would have also had ample time to explore the Fundy Trail past St. Martin's. This is run by the a cooperative, and promises to be worthwhile. There is a low speed road, plus a mulituse biking and walking trail. The weather was perfect, and the cost, in my view, was reasonable at $58 plus gas. Saint John is an industrial city, but it doesn't take long to get to some very scenic places. It also is one the friendliest towns around.

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travelnana58

travelnana58

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njdevil08:

 

 

First, let me say thank you for your detailed postings. I am going Oct 9 and your postings are helping tremendously. I noticed you went in August and mentioned some cooler temps. I can only wonder how chilly it may be in October.

 

Question: You mentioned a couple of times about making dinner reservations at particular restaurants. Are those the specialty restaurants? I have Anytime Dining but was considering going to the specialty restaurants on formal nights since we don't plan to dress up & it sounds as if you can go casual in these restaurants even on formal nights. I may be wrong on this. If I am, someone please correct me.

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Hazley

Hazley

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We attended the specialty restaurants on the formal nights during last week's cruise. I did not wear (or bring) a suit or jacket and there were no problems. There was quite a variation of dress, so as long as you are "smart casual" that should be enough.

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smitty3000

smitty3000

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Njdevil08 I have a question. When you were in Newport did they

let the people who had early Princess Tours off first? We have a tour at 8:15 and I had read in a earlier review the ship that went out the week before yours there was alot of problems. Maybe because that was the first cruise to New England for the Carribean Princess this year.

Don't want to miss this tour since it starts early. Thanks for your

helpful info.:)

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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njdevil08:

Question: You mentioned a couple of times about making dinner reservations at particular restaurants. Are those the specialty restaurants? I have Anytime Dining but was considering going to the specialty restaurants on formal nights since we don't plan to dress up & it sounds as if you can go casual in these restaurants even on formal nights. I may be wrong on this. If I am, someone please correct me.

We actually never ate in the specialty restaurants, we were going to one night but decided against it because we had been having great food in the DR and especially with kids who don't eat their money's worth, the value isn't great for seven people. You can, actually, make reservations for the dining room with ATD by pushing dining on your stateroom phone. They block out peak hours and reservations can fill up fast. We would usually look at the patter for the following day, decide what we would probably want to do, and reserve a dinner time based upon that.

Njdevil08 I have a question. When you were in Newport did they

let the people who had early Princess Tours off first? We have a tour at 8:15 and I had read in a earlier review the ship that went out the week before yours there was alot of problems. Maybe because that was the first cruise to New England for the Carribean Princess this year.

Don't want to miss this tour since it starts early. Thanks for your

helpful info.:)

Although the patter states we anchor at 7 AM, the announcement from the captain to proceed ashore was closer to 7:30, probably about 7:20. The tender is also about a full 20 minute ride, so even if you were to get on the first tender, I'd be a little wary, is it a private tour? And we had no problem with folks on Princess tours, as we said, our wait to get off the ship in Newport was less than 2 minutes. However, we also didn't go to line up until about an hour after tenders started. We didn't hear any complaints, though I do know that Princess early tours are given tender priority. The problems/horror stories with tenders from past weeks definitely did not exist on our cruise. I never heard of someone waiting more than 20 minutes.

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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Hello NJ Devils fan! I love your review! My husband and I leave on the NE cruoise this Sat. I would love some coupons! Particularly, coffee and spa and restaurant (if they exist) coupons. We line in NJ also. Thanks so much!!!

I actually just sent out the coffee coupon to a previous poster...if you'd like boutique coupons, spa coupons, or 15 min. of free internet let me know and post your email address.

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love cruzing

love cruzing

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I actually just sent out the coffee coupon to a previous poster...if you'd like boutique coupons, spa coupons, or 15 min. of free internet let me know and post your email address.

 

Hi, by the way thank you very much for your thorough review! it was awesome and very helpful. i cut and pasted much of your review into a word document; it will be very useful while on the cruise!

 

I would like spa and boutique coupons if possible. My email address is: degen_karen@yahoo.com. Thanks:o:o

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njdevil08

njdevil08

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I would like the 15 minutes free internet spatsmcd@aol.com. Are there duty free shops at any of the ports on this cruise, we are on the 9/18 sailing. Thank you.

We didn't see any duty free shops ashore, sorry. I emailed you about the internet package! :D

 

What was the fee to leave your car at the terminal for the week? We are unsure if we want to drive or take the train and subway to the terminal.

 

TIA

Vicki

We paid about $140 for the week. It worked out to be cheaper than paying for a taxi service to the cruise terminal, and it also meant we could have our own car and packup the night before, which saved lots of time and stress in the morning. As long as you have good directions and have an idea where you're going, the drive is very easy.

 

Hi, by the way thank you very much for your thorough review! it was awesome and very helpful. i cut and pasted much of your review into a word document; it will be very useful while on the cruise!

 

I would like spa and boutique coupons if possible. My email address is: degen_karen@yahoo.com. Thanks:o:o

Thanks for the kind words. It's great to know I can be of service to others. I just emailed you.

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