1st timer w 2 MORE questions

[daveS007]

We are experienced snorkeler's and hope to do some on this upcoming cruise. I plan to just bring our mask/snorkel and leave the flips home. I'm assuming we will be able to rent just the fins? Bonaire/Aruba/Costa Rica.

 

Do you take your passports with you when going ashore? I guess I'm asking in the event you get left behind it may be hard to get on a plane and reenter etc.

 

We also have "flexible dining". Since we booked only two weeks out I'm thinking everyone gets "flexible" or did our TA work some magic? Thanks much once again.

 

Dave

[cruiser429]

We are experienced snorkeler's and hope to do some on this upcoming cruise. I plan to just bring our mask/snorkel and leave the flips home. I'm assuming we will be able to rent just the fins? Bonaire/Aruba/Costa Rica.

 

Not a snorkeler so I can't answer this one, but I would think so.

 

 

Do you take your passports with you when going ashore? I guess I'm asking in the event you get left behind it may be hard to get on a plane and reenter etc.

 

We like to make a copy of our passports and keep those with us. We leave the real things in the safe.

 

We also have "flexible dining". Since we booked only two weeks out I'm thinking everyone gets "flexible" or did our TA work some magic? Thanks much once again.

 

Not sure which line you're on. Flexible on RCI is called MTD. Not everyone gets that. Many people prefer the same table each night with the same group of people. It's a personal choice.

 

Dave

 

Hope this helps a little.

[firefly333]

We also have "flexible dining". Since we booked only two weeks out I'm thinking everyone gets "flexible" or did our TA work some magic? Thanks much once again.

 

Dave

 

Which cruiseline are you on? If Princess, then flexible any time dining is usually what's left, you need to book early to get Traditional, which is still the more popular. We got stuck with anytime dining ourselves the last time, and didnt want it. Even 3 or 4 months out its hard to get Traditional dining on Princess, you might have to go on a wait list. Luckily you didnt want it.

 

Maybe its more popular with new cruisers and the younger set? Cruiselines have started to try it out, but most of the cruising pulic still prefers traditional.

 

.... so it wasnt magic that your TA got it, probably all that was left 2 weeks before the cruise.

[BroncosFan2010]

I always bring my complete snorkeling set, but you can rent fins at almost all beaches and on almost all snorkel tours (most will have full equipment for a small fee).

 

I leave the passport in the safe, as you can get back to the cruise pier with just your seapass card. Sometimes you may need to show a photo ID, and a drivers license will suffice. The drivers license can be replaced faster and cheaper than a lost passport. I have never had any problems, neither has DH (who has several more cruises under his belt than do I!).

[daveS007]

Thanks for the great replies. We are on HAL 3/29 out of Ft Laud.

Our TA made is sound like flexible dinning was preferable but I can see that maybe traditional is better getting to know everyone at the table. I figure we will get alot wrong on our first cruise but expect to have a great time.

 

Thanks again.

[NCTribeFan]

And I'm in the camp that says to take your passport with you. If something unforeseen happens and you miss the ship, your passport copy will not get you on a flight to the next port or home.

 

Passports are for international travel. Why lock it in a safe and let it float away without you?

 

I've always kept my passport on me (I travelled internationally for years before I started cruising). It's the copy that I leave in the safe.

 

And now people will come back and say, "but what if you lose it or it's stolen?"

 

Personally, I think the odds of that happening are even less than the odds of being left behind because your excursion van is in an accident or gets stuck in traffic. Or mud. Or sand.

 

You do what you want to do. I keep my passport with me at all times (except when I'm actually ON the ship, when it's locked in the safe).