Poppy42

Yes, would love to cruise naked,as I too am a lifelong naturist and cruise regularly with my wife, who doesn't share my naturist passion unfortunately.She is happy for me to practise naturism and I will sunbath naked whenever possible on our balcony when cruising. We will also visit clothing optional beaches when we visit different parts of the world, but she stays covered. What a pity you and I couldn't book a naked cruise together to share our dream. We have just come back from the Med cruising on the Independence of the Seas, so know Southampton well.

My wife too will not bare it all. We go to Blind Creek Beach (a C/O beach) on Florida's Treasure Coast a few times a week - sometimes I go without her. We are in our 70's. She has body issues - three C sections. We used to go skinny dipping with her sister and friends when we were in our 20's. We always take a cruise that stops in Saint Martin so we can go to Club Orient for the day.

Any seaweed issues Orient Beach? We are going in about 2 weeks

 

I LOVE Kontiki Beach Club. Comfy chairs, clean bathrooms, amazing food! Hot French guys wait on you too. Not too shabby :)

It can change day to day - none when we were there in January.

The only change you'll see on your 8-night cruise is that lobster will be offered in the MDR on the first elegant evening. Otherwise, those are the things Carnival has changed and will be sticking with, until further notice.

We were on an 8 day in January - guess that's why we got lobster.

We got a large bottle of water (free) in our cabin. Overall I'm happy with what Carnival gives us for the price. Can they improve? YES!

We've cruised on Carnival, Norwegian, Princess and Costa. We want to try the MSC Divinia (good prices) but we've heard mixed reviews from some people in our community. We would like to hear from people on this board. Also, my wife wants to know if they have a topless deck as we are naturists.

We were there in January - we go there every year. When you get off of the ship, just follow the crowds. You will find an area with all the vans - nice ones, clean and new. Tell the dispatcher where you want to go and he/she will direct you to the appropriate van. It cost use $7pp each way. If you're a group, you might get it for a buck or two cheaper. Orient Beach has a number of places where you can rent a chaise and an umbrella and eat. Beware that there are a lot of annoying vendors on the beach. We ask to be dropped of at Club Orient. If they just drop you at Orient Beach, Club Orient is all the way to your right when facing the water. Club Orient is a private club - no vendors. $20 for 2 chaises and an umbrella. Topless is allowed on Orient Beach. Club Orient permits complete nudity if you want - totally up to you - we are naturists. There are a couple of restaurants on the property.

We were there in January - we go there every year. When you get off of the ship, just follow the crowds. You will find an area with all the vans - nice ones, clean and new. Tell the dispatcher where you want to go and he/she will direct you to the appropriate van. It cost use $7pp each way. If you're a group, you might get it for a buck or two cheaper. Orient Beach has a number of places where you can rent a chaise and an umbrella and eat. Beware that there are a lot of annoying vendors on the beach. We ask to be dropped of at Club Orient. If they just drop you at Orient Beach, Club Orient is all the way to your right when facing the water. Club Orient is a private club - no vendors. $20 for 2 chaises and an umbrella. Topless is allowed on Orient Beach. Club Orient permits complete nudity if you want - totally up to you - we are naturists. There are a couple of restaurants on the property.

You do realize that Orient Beach permits topless women and Club Orient permits complete nudity - no problem for my family as were are lifelong nudists as are our kids & grandkids.

Orient Beach - $7pp each way if the van is full.

Was there in January - some damage but not much.

We were there in January - we go there every year. When you get off of the ship, just follow the crowds. You will find an area with all the vans - nice ones, clean and new. Tell the dispatcher where you want to go and he/she will direct you to the appropriate van. It cost use $7pp each way. If you're a group, you might get it for a buck or two cheaper. Orient Beach has a number of places where you can rent a chaise and an umbrella and eat. Beware that there are a lot of annoying vendors on the beach. We ask to be dropped of at Club Orient. If they just drop you at Orient Beach, Club Orient is all the way to your right when facing the water. Club Orient is a private club - no vendors. $20 for 2 chaises and an umbrella. Topless is allowed on Orient Beach. Club Orient permits complete nudity if you want - totally up to you - we are naturists. There are a couple of restaurants on the property.

We were there in January - we go there every year. When you get off of the ship, just follow the crowds. You will find an area with all the vans - nice ones, clean and new. Tell the dispatcher where you want to go and he/she will direct you to the appropriate van. It cost use $7pp each way. If you're a group, you might get it for a buck or two cheaper. Orient Beach has a number of places where you can rent a chaise and an umbrella and eat. Beware that there are a lot of annoying vendors on the beach. We ask to be dropped of at Club Orient. If they just drop you at Orient Beach, Club Orient is all the way to your right when facing the water. Club Orient is a private club - no vendors. $20 for 2 chaises and an umbrella. Topless is allowed on Orient Beach. Club Orient permits complete nudity if you want - totally up to you - we are naturists. There are a couple of restaurants on the property.

We were on the Conquest in January. Most food was okay - not great but much better than our last Carnival cruise on the Dream. It was so bad that we didn't cruise Carnival for over a year. Decided to give them a second chance and it was much better. Lobster on the formal night - we each had two. Thought the buffet was same as usual. Guy's burgers are very good. The mints? Really cheaping out - how much could it cost them? A couple of pennies. What really bugs me, and it's common on all cruise lines, is selling you bottled water as you leave the ship for the day. Really? I can buy the water for less than 20 cents each and they pay a lot less. We bring empty bottles and fill them in the buffet.

No topless sunbathing on the ships. Orient Beach in St. Marten is topless optional, but not full nude.

Club Orient @ Orient Beach is full nude. Private beach - no vendors. Was there 1/2016. $20 for 2 chaises & umbrella.

On any cruise - make sure that there are cabins above and below you. You don't want public areas, with their associated noise, below and especially above you. We had a cove balcony on the Dream and there was a lot of moving of items (dragged along the floor) on deck 3. Also - some balcony cabins on the top deck may not have a covered balcony.

My wife and I are no prudes - we frequent the our local clothing optional beach and go to c/o resorts. BUT, on one cruise about 6 or 7 years ago, this mother was changing her daughter - taking off her swimsuit - the girls looked to be about 11 or 12 years old. No hiding her behind a towel - just right there in the middle of the Lido deck.

For a cruise - one roll-on suitcase each, one small bag that will fit on top of the roll-on + back-pack for meds, valuables and credentials. Easy self-disembarkation. We laugh at those that struggle with a lot of baggage. We did one trip to Italy for two weeks and one to Spain for two weeks with carry-ons (BTW one week was in a clothing optional resort). For a cruise I have a silk sport jacket that doesn't crease for "formal" nights. Other nights - Dockers & a golf shirt. For my wife - pants & a blouse (dressy one for formal nights). Did one week at Club Orient (clothing optional) with one carry-on for the two of us + a back-packs.

I have been reading about the staggered boarding times for Galveston, New Orleans, and Miami. Does anyone know if this is in place at Ft. Lauderdale as well? Our cruise documents say "Embarkation. 1:30PM - 3:30 PM". My husband booked the cruise and said that he was not given an opportunity to select our boarding time. We are flying in the evening before and I was hoping to be able to check out of our hotel and head right over to the port. I hope that we won't need to hang out at the hotel for a couple of hours after we check out!

We just got back from an 8 day on the Conquest out of Fort Lauderdale. We had the staggered boarding. We arrived at about 1:45 for our boarding (staggered time was between 1:30 & 2:30). The whole boarding process took less than 20 minutes. Worked very well.:)

Where did you stay when you went to PR? we are looking into a week long trip there. thanks!

We stayed in a time share - Hyatt Doraddo Beach. It was a bit of a drive from San Juan. The hotel had closed and just the adjoining time share was open. It was about 2006 or 2007 No wait to play golf. We liked it because of the secluded beaches - there is nothing like walking on the beach wearing only sunscreen and a smile. BTW I'm 73 & my bride of almost 52 years is 70. We've been naturists for about 53 years.

We went to the rain forest, the fort & old town, Bacardi's and did a lot of snorkeling. Spent a day just driving around the island.

We have been on so many cruises, and to many different islands ... while there are some differences, they mainly are all the same. To me, anyway.

Totally agree. If you want to learn about the island, you can't do it in an afternoon. We've spent a week on PR, a week on St. Martin (stayed at Club Orient), 2 weeks week in Jamaica (1 week at Hedo III). Really got to know the islands.

Anyone looking for excursions in Alaska should check the Alaska Port of Call Board (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55) for private excursion recommendations. Our first cruise to Alaska we did ships excursions. We enjoyed them but they were overpriced and crowded. Five years later we did all private excursions - they were much better and much cheaper. The recommendations on the Alaska Board for Harv and Marv's whale watching in Juneau and Chilkoot for the White Pass Railroad in Skagway were spot on!

Wish I would have known about this before we went on our cruise.

After visiting a good many islands, there is very little difference. We're 73 & 70 - we head for the beach. On St. Martin we go to Club Orient. All you need is sunscreen and a smile - we've been going to clothing optional beaches/resorts for about 30 years and Club Orient (not just Orient Beach) is one of the best.

Barcelona - without a doubt. What a beautiful city. The architecture is amazing. Clean. Great beaches. We loved it so much that we spent a week there the following year.

We did Princess (July 2014) and were very satisfied. Did south to north. By all means take a balcony cabin. When going through the glaciers, I would go out, take a few pictures and come back in to warm up. We then did a land package to Denali for about 5 days. Liked the train ride.

That being said - if we had it to do over, we'd fly in to Anchorage, rent a car and drive to Denali and the to Fairbanks. The ports are nothing more than cold weather versions of the Caribbean ports - complete with Diamonds International and all the other crap stores. And the tours were overpriced. Did a Jeep tour - we drove for well over an hour to a lame trail and spent less than a half an hour on it. As an avid off-roader I wasn't expecting anything difficult but I could have do it in 2 wheel drive.

We print them out. We then cover them with clear packing tap so that won't tear.