A Couple of Spirit questions

[akia29]

Hi!

I have a couple of questions that are still unclear after searching these boards.

 

1) When docked in a port, can we re-enter and exit the ship as we like? (Say we go on an excursion and want to go back to our room and get changed and then go back out on the Island? or if we want to go back to the boat to eat?)

 

2) What Beverages are included with meals? It seems that Breakfast you can have coffee, tea, milk or Juice. But I am unclear as to what is included with Lunch or Dinner. Are Sodas and Juice free during lunch & dinner? I've conflicting things, some say lemonade and iced tea is free all day, others say that outside of breakfast you have to pay for your drinks.

Can somone please clarify this?

 

3) Has anyone doubled up on excursions? Ie. taken two seperate excursions through the ship in the same day? Any experience on this?

 

4) Bringing things back on the ship. We are going to Greneda and wanted to bring back some spices, jellies, hot sauces etc. are these considered Agricultural Items? Will I have any problems bringing this onto the ship?

 

Thanks!

[patnjohn]

Yes, you can enter & leave the ship as many times as you like.

 

I remember ice tea at lunch. Soda you have to pay for.

 

Never taken more than 1 excursion a day, sorry.

 

As long as the items are prepackaged, no problem. You just can't bring live plants, etc. on board.

[pengu1n]

While you can always enter/leave the ship multiple times, this is much easier if you are docked than when you have to tender into the ports.

 

Juice was only available at breakfast. Iced tea, hot tea, coffee, hot chocolate and milk (I think) were available all day. Soda costs always, available mainly at the bars, although there was sometimes a portable stand in Raffles & the wine stewart would bring soda in the restaurants. We paid for the soda stickers & felt it was worth it, as we drink a lot of it, & I don't like being thirsty or want to walk to Raffles everytime I want something other than water. Ice tea was a mix and way too strong for me, but it was difficult to dilute it much when the cups barely hold 3 ice cubes!:eek:

 

I have not done 2 excursions in a day, would only attempt if you are there for a LONG day, and maybe ask advice here on specific excursions. I would leave a pretty big gap between the times for 2 excursions, because if you miss one, you will probably still have to pay for it as it would be considered your fault for not being there. Sometimes the excursions require meeting in one of the lounges, at other places, you may have to ferry to another spot to join the excursion & I don't know if you can find out these things before you go (except maybe here from someone else who has done it).

[mikeythemars]

3) Has anyone doubled up on excursions? Ie. taken two seperate excursions through the ship in the same day? Any experience on this?

 

IMHO, the best approach to most ports (Belize perhaps being one of the few exceptions) is to balance the shore schedule between some "tourism/activity" time and with some quieter, "walking around and smelling the roses."

 

Given that, two excursions in one day is not only -- as others have mentioned -- logistically challenging, it kind of throws out one of the nicest parts of any stop -- getting a sense and real appreciation of the local culture.

 

4) Bringing things back on the ship. We are going to Greneda and wanted to bring back some spices, jellies, hot sauces etc. are these considered Agricultural Items? Will I have any problems bringing this onto the ship?

 

The answer to this seems to vary by port and even cruise line. On Carnival last year, we had no real issues bringing the types of items you mentioned back on board. Reading these boards, that wouldn't have been as easy on RCI or Princess.

 

The real issue here is what happens when you return to the U.S. - Customs doesn't smile on those who try bring in banned agricultural goods (nasty fines), and they are experts at finding them. Before your cruise, I'd go to the Customs website and carefully check what is and isn't allowed. If I recall properly, most foods that have been processed and packaged are O.K., unprocessed raw agricultural items usually aren't.

[MsLisa]

Others have answered several of your questions better than I could, so I won't comment. However, interestingly enough, I do have to add something about excursions.

On my upcoming cruise, we are at one port for 2 days. In trying to pre-book 2 excursions (one for each day), the system bumped one out. I was sent confirmation for one, but not two even though I will be there for two individual days. So, since this may also happen to you, it might be best to speak to someone directly on the ship when booking your excursions and see if the 2 you had in mind would be feesible in one day.

I have taken 2 SE's in one day when they were scheduled apart appropriately (one was early morning and lasted only 2 hours, the other was in the afternoon).

Good luck....hope you have fun!

Lisa

[niki1785]

I brought some spices home from Grenada with no trouble at all. No one gave me a hard time. I think you will find the same. Have a wonderful cruise!

[jeanettep]

We've done two in one day -- one daytime and one evening. We, too, tried to book two excursions "back-to-back" and were told we couldn't do it. It only works if you have several hours between.