JoeyNJ Posted March 6, 2006 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Hi - my wife and I are taking our first cruise onboard Voyager of the Seas (April 8th, leaving from Miami) to celebrate our 1yr anniversary. We're booked in a Balcony room on Deck 8. Thanks to the great posts on this website, I think we have a fantastic week planned. Here's how we plan on keeping ourselves occupied: Labadee - Beach day, just relax Ochos Rios - Tour with Peat Taylor Grand Cayman - Moby Dick Tours - Stingray City Cozumel - Paradise Beach Does anyone have any suggestions for a couple of first-timers and would you do anything in addition/differently? Also, in my confirmation from Peat Taylor - he mentioned that we should ask to see his ID when we meet him (which I thought was a little odd). Has anyone used him before and had another tour operator try to impersonate Peat? Thanks so much for your help - we can't wait for the next 5 weeks to go by :D !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2cruiseseattle Posted March 6, 2006 #2 Share Posted March 6, 2006 We started cruising for our anniversary 5 years ago and we have been on one a year, wish we could do more. You will have a blast, we always meet such nice people and the ports you are going to are nice. We have done the following in each port. Labadee - Beach day, just relax - they have a nice little market, but DON'T PAY FULL PRICE, Bargin with them Ochos Rios - Dunn River Falls - we just watched everyone else, seems like a lot of bumps and bruised legs, the scenery at the falls were beautiful. Grand Cayman - Stingray and island tour - then walk around the shops Cozumel - Shopping and a glass bottom boat Bring sun protect or you will get burnt:eek: , I know from experience. You will have a great time and anniversary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleygr Posted March 6, 2006 #3 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Hey, congrats on your first anniversary. We cruised for our honeymoon and have celebrated our anniversary on a cruise every year save one. I think your plan sounds terrific. May I suggest, though, purchasing the basic romance package RC sells on their website. I surprised my dh on our anniversary cruise last November and we both really enjoyed it. I thought it was well worth the money and a really nice way to say "I think we're very special so I did this for us." The champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries were waiting for us when we got to our cabin and just such a great way to start the cruise, sipping champagne on our balcony. The other nibbles were tasty and the picture frame is very pretty. Have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 6, 2006 Author #4 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Thanks for the comments - I always have that fear that things won't turn out the way you're hoping they will, so it's nice to hear from people who have done them before. A cruise is something we've always wanted to do - so our expectations are sky high! Thanks Shirley - I'll have to swing by the RC website and check out that package, I think my wife would definitely appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleygr Posted March 6, 2006 #5 Share Posted March 6, 2006 You're welcome. The basic package is around $100. I think your wife will be thrilled-especially if you keep it a surprise. Have a really wonderful time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickiw0318 Posted March 6, 2006 #6 Share Posted March 6, 2006 We used Peat Taylor last fall. Had a great time with him and his son, O'Neal. I don't remember him showing any i.d. We just followed the signs when we got off the ship. Hope he hasn't had any sort of problem since we toured with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 7, 2006 Author #7 Share Posted March 7, 2006 After reading all of the positive reviews about Peat and his tour, we're still going to go with him - just thought the ID comment was a little weird. I'm sure he's just being cautious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvMyVette Posted March 7, 2006 #8 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Hi JoeyNJ: First congrats on your upcoming anniversary. Voyager is a beautiful ship. DH/I celebrated our 10th anniversary on the ship last year and renewed our vows on the ship. It was the best cruise we've ever been on and we loved it. You could surprise your wife with a romantic dinner at Portofino. It's $20 extra per person but the food/service is fantastic. You'll have to book it ASAP since the restaurant will get busy, especially on formal evenings. DH/I never thought we would pay the extra money but it was well worth it. The ship also has a florist and you could always have flowers delivered to your stateroom or get her a red rose and place it on her chair at the restaurant or give it to her during a sunset with a special bottle of wine/champagne. There are many options and I know everything will work out. Have a fantastic cruise and enjoy yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleciajoyful1 Posted March 7, 2006 #9 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Hi Joey. Ironically we just did the same itinerary on Mariner. You will enjoy yourselves. I agree that the Romance Package at $99 is a great deal and a nice surprise. Also the cabin decorations are fun! I think that the reason Peat Taylor tells you to check for ID is because there are several tour companies all trying to get you on their bus. He probably just wants to make sure that you get on his bus. His son O'Neal was our guide and he was very pleasant. They will certainly make sure everyone on the bus gets to do what they want. My best advice for you in Grand Cayman is to get off of the ship as early as possible. We also used Moby Dick Tours and it took us 1 hour from the time we got in line for the tender until we were actually on the pier. They have 3 boats that go out for Stingray City, but they leave at 9am, 10am and 11am. We were on the last boat, and it was so crowded and the rays were full from the early boats so we did not get a great experience. Happy cruising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 7, 2006 Author #10 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Alecia - thanks for the heads up on tendering in Grand Cayman....I've heard similar comments from friends who have been there. We're going to try to be up nice and early and get on an early tender so that we can be on the first Moby Dick boat to head out to the stingrays. My wife and I are early-risers, so it shouldn't be difficult! It's very reassuring to hear that you had the same itinerary and enjoyed yourselves Can't wait to get going now!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramidon1 Posted March 7, 2006 #11 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I agree that you should plan a special dinner in Portofinos. We had such a wonderful, romantic dinner in there. I would not miss the formal nights in the dining room tho-so I would plan it on a different night when maybe the dining room is not so special. How about that couples massage--rasul...something like that...sounds nice. I've never tried it...yet. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nliedel Posted March 7, 2006 #12 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Peat Taylor gets great reviews. I am not surprised someone is trying to steal his businss. Special dinners at Portofinos are wonderful and the formal nights are fun. Most of all just enjoy this time together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMBB Posted March 7, 2006 #13 Share Posted March 7, 2006 JOEYNJ---We did the same interiny 2years ago and also last June. In Labadee, we went jet sking(had never done that before) Bring along some dollar bills they will come in handy to purchase stuff from the locals(in the market these people are very aggrestive) ON the jet ski, locals boys will come up to you and ask you to purchase something from them( pottery, ankle brackets, really not much but we did not have any money with us and would have like to purchase something from them--they are VERY poor and a few dollars to these kids is really BIG money to them) Peat Taylor--Have been on this tour twice and both times were great. He just wants to make sure you get to his van(there are alot of other tour going on around the pier, so don't worry about the ID thing) You can let Peat know what you would like to do, this last time we did the falls again and then tour a kindergarten school(really interesting and my boys-twins 17 years old have never seen any school like the one they saw-think one room school and no bathrooms. The kids were really cute and we have many pictures-loved this stop. Grand Caymen- We did Capt. Marvin's tour but your tour will probally be about the same. We LOVED this tour, really loved to swim with the stringrays, make sure you take a water proof camera lots of great pictures. Kiss a stringray--will bring you 7 years of good luck- we took pictures of this-can't believe we did it!!! Cozumel- Paradice Beach=just a lazy day for us. One son went jet sking and the other took a nap. The food was really good. Have a great vacation any questions-just ask. KMBB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 7, 2006 Author #14 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Great stuff.....thanks very much. My wife, being a second grade teacher, is really looking forward to the school stop on Peat's tour (can't say that I'm not looking forward to it either!). Looks like Portofino's is a must, so we'll definitely be adding that to our agenda. I'll also be going with the Romance package (a few brownie points never hurt) Thanks for the reminder on the waterproof cameras - likely would have forgot to pick a few of those up. Much appreciated - Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerick Posted March 7, 2006 #15 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Thanks for the comments - I always have that fear that things won't turn out the way you're hoping they will, so it's nice to hear from people who have done them before. A cruise is something we've always wanted to do - so our expectations are sky high! Rest assured that you will have a great time! However, decide ahead of time to be flexible and not sweat the small stuff. After all, your on vacation and a cruise is an adventure, and how much fun is an adventure when everything is completely predictable? Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted March 7, 2006 #16 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Check your Cruise Compass also. There will be a "Honeymooners and Anniversary" couples party sometime during your sailing. It's nothing spectacular, but you'll get a "free" cocktail or glass of champagne, I think and get to meet other anniversary couples as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailingawaysoon Posted March 7, 2006 #17 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Hey Joey, I'm so excited for you and your wife w/your first cruise...keep your expectations high! My husband and I went on our first cruise ever last year and our expectations were sky high and needless to say, we were not disappointed at all....many of the things I read about on the review section of this site had us worried....I guess when you are new at cruising, you overlook many things that veterans won't tolerate. You will be in awe when you take those first few steps onto the ship....let us know how you make out and how you liked everything. If I could give one suggestion, order room service the night before your excursions and get a couple sandwiches and refrigerate them and take them w/you the next day. Even though our plans were to eat while touring, our guide got delayed and we were famished....just a thought! Have a ton of fun, I know you will LOVE it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted March 7, 2006 #18 Share Posted March 7, 2006 .... If I could give one suggestion, order room service the night before your excursions and get a couple sandwiches and refrigerate them and take them w/you the next day. Even though our plans were to eat while touring, our guide got delayed and we were famished....just a thought! Have a ton of fun, I know you will LOVE it! Be careful with this suggestion. It's illegal to bring food off the ship in a lot of ports... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 8, 2006 Author #19 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Great heads up.....definitely a headache I don't need!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nliedel Posted March 8, 2006 #20 Share Posted March 8, 2006 You may bring prepackaged foods off the ship, like cereal but a romantic bowl of Rice Krispies is not reall the same as a wine and cheese feast is it? :) It's like any other form of travel, when you get lemons make lemonaide. Make a plan but don't be afraid to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vermontcruiser Posted March 8, 2006 #21 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Hi. Just got back from the Explorer of the Seas (RCCL) which was our first cruise. Although we didn't get sick, a lot of people on our cruise got a stomache/intestinal virus. So I would advise you to wash your hands all the time and use the anti-bacterial wash available just as you go into all the restaurants. Do it before and after you go in the restaurant. No kidding. There were people on our ship that were so sick they never left the boat. They were quarantined. Would be an awful way to spend your first anniversary. We went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Great choice! Would advise you to get there early (10-11) as it fills up very quickly and you may have a difficult time finding beach chairs. They have a nice, affordable restaurant and good facilities. Other reason to go early to Paradise Beach is so you can spend more time shopping at the port and in Cozumel. The jewelry is priced amazingly low (ex. sterling silver earrings for $5), and we only had time to shop at the port. Wish we had more time to go into town as I heard it was awesome. Heard Sting Ray City was great. Didn't go as our 13 and 15 year old daughters were scared of the Sting Rays. Wish we could have convinced them to go. We went to Cemetary Reef near the end of 7 Mile Beach. Snorkling there used to be great before the hurricane, but the coral is all covered with sand now, so we were disappointed. The fish were OK though. The beach was fantastic, but I wonder what snorkling would be like somewhere else in the Caymans. Have fun!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellygirl719 Posted March 8, 2006 #22 Share Posted March 8, 2006 I was on the VOS with DH in January... whatever you do, don't miss the Ice show, it was amazing!! Have an awesome time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyNJ Posted March 8, 2006 Author #23 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Better response than I ever anticipated - thanks for all of the tips.....this is great! Doubt we'll have any problems keeping ourselves busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleygr Posted March 8, 2006 #24 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Better response than I ever anticipated - thanks for all of the tips.....this is great! Doubt we'll have any problems keeping ourselves busy. Yeah, and you might actually leave your cabin at some point. ;) Have a really wonderful time. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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