luckychef

On 3/18/2019 at 2:07 PM, MichLeBlanc said:

We are also planning to do the same as your Option #2....Head to Magens Bay early, have lunch and then do Paradise Point and back to the ship (Celebrity) at Crown Bay.

 

My main concern right now is the taxi issue is St. Thomas (see other threads on this)....hoping to be able to stick with our plan!!  I really wasn't interested in doing an excursion either because most offered included long times for shopping, which we weren't interest in.  Lets see how this goes...we sail out on April 6

We're heading there next week and I was curious how your trip went & if you had any issues with the taxis? Thanks in advance!

Wow, what an awesome review! We are cruising on FOS in October for our honeymoon & I'm even more excited now after reading this! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an informative & entertaining review with great pictures!

Thanks so much for the awesome detailed review! We leave on the Fantasy in 4 days!!! This is making me even more excited!

Thanks for the info all! I knew I couldn't bring them home, just wanted to eat some while there. Thanks for the recommendations on new things to try though! I LOVE trying new foods I've never had! :D

Stopping in Nassau & Freeport next wk on a cruise. Fell in love with this fruit while in Jamaica last year. Been craving it ever since! Can ANYBODY tell me where i can find a good produce market at either port to get some dilly and maybe some soursap too!

Well, we finally decided a few weeks back and after receiving an offer through American Express that we couldn't pass up, we went with RCI. We'll be sailing on the Freedom in late Oct. Were able to get a great rate on a balcony, some extras thrown in for our honeymoon and by booking with Amex, some OBC for drinks & fun! Celebrity is still on our list of lines to try though! Perhaps for our 1st anniversary next year. :)

Thanks for all the input & great responses all! Celebrity really does seem perfect for us in almost all aspects. If only they would adopt their sister line's policy on the 24hr pool/hot tub, we would be set! We are currently going back & forth between Celebrity Silhouette & Allure of the Seas. They both have a Caribbean itinerary in November we like. Oh...decisions, decisions :p

My fiance & I just returned from our first cruise ever aboard the Carnival Victory & absolutely loved cruising! We are ready to book another for next Oct/Nov for our honeymoon! Although we had agreat time, we feel that Carnival may not be the line for us though. We are a young"ish" couple (35/37) and enjoy having fun, but found Carnival to be a bit "much". We aren't into blasting dance music by the pool, belly flop contests or flashing shot glasses. Also, we do not have children and don't find yours' splashing us in the hot tub the least bit relaxing. We aren't stuffy or snobbish in the least, but we do tend to enjoy educational/ cultural enrichment experiences more when we travel than we do bar top dancing & jello shots. I work as an executive chef & my fiance is a professional engineer in the music industry & blues musician. We know how to have fun, but perhaps are a bit more subtle about it than some of our fellow pax on Carnival. I have received several recommendations on this board & from friends to try Celebrity. We were looking specifically at the Silhouette & Reflection. One small concern I have is that we are night owls and hope there will be some things for us to enjoy late night. Another is that I am a very heavily tattooed female & am wondering if I will be accepted by my fellow pax on Celebrity or will I spend me week hearing rude comments about my artwork & dodging disapproving glances? Everything I have heard & read about Celebrity make it sound like the PERFECT line for us, with the exception of the opinion that the fellow pax can sometimes be unfriendly & snobbish. Please fellow CC folks, clear up this misconception for me!

Hey all! We just got back from our first cruise ever on the Carnival Victory & had a great time! We loved cruising and would like to book another for next fall for our honeymoon. We know we want a Caribbean cruise & have begun looking at Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, & Carnival. I know there are several boards and many opinions out there and just wanted a little input. We are a younger"ish" couple (35/37) and although we enjoyed Carnival think that another line might be nice to try. I know specifics help when making suggestions so here are some of the things we liked/disliked to help give an idea of what we're looking for.

1. Very important that there is an "Adults Only" area! Preferably with a pool & hot tubs. One that is not packed to capacity every moment of the day either. Nothing Serene about not being able to find any space to relax or contending with rowdy 21 yr olds partying it up in the "quiet" area.

2. We would really like a ship that has a hot tub/pool that is open late or available 24 hrs. We are night owls and hated the fact the hot tubs closed at 11pm.

3. We enjoy having fun and enjoy our adult beverages but not much of the dance club types. A blues bar or jazz club is much more our kind of scene. Would really enjoy that type of entertainment.

4. Enjoy flexible dining options. We're not always hungry at a specific pre-determined time.

5. Spoiled ourselves with a balcony- Balconies will be a must from here on out :p

6. Enjoy a nice spa (more for me than him)

7. Comedians, casino, and trying to find a quiet spot on the upper decks to watch the water pass by while enjoying a beverage was how we liked spending our evenings.

8. Would like not to feel too "cramped" or "crowded" when in public spaces.

9. We would like the dress code to be casual but enjoy getting dressed up one or two nights. Our idea of "dressed up" is more shirt & tie, less tux. ;)

10. Food quality is somewhat important. I'm honestly thrilled to just have a week off from cooking as it is my livelihood. We like options and enjoy trying new things.

11. We aren't much for participating in contests nor do we need someone else to provide us with activities all day. That's great if you enjoy that, but if we did want to participate it would more than likely be in something educational/enrichment related (i.e. wine knowledge class, languages, art class).

 

Hopefully that gives you enough to go on to make a solid recommendation. This will be our honeymoon cruise, so we're hoping to make it special! Thank you for any advice you may have!

We're doing the Cheers program on our cruise but will be taking our alloted two bottles of wine (of course). Thought if we didn't get into one, A bottle of NC Muscadine might be a nice gift for our room Steward in addition to the tips. Does anybody know if that's allowed?

I love the Hatteras Red & the Scuppernog. Also a big fan of the Naughty & Nice they put out for the holidays!

Feeling thrilled:D Just got off the scale & I am officially down 20lbs. I still have 20-30 to go to my healthy goal weight, but knew that wouldn't be possible before my cruise. It's in 3 wks and my goal was to lose 20 by cruise time! With 3 more wks to go, I may be sailing 25 lbs lighter :) In my mid 30's and after gaining 40lbs over the last year or so, I thought I had tried everything! Until I went low carb, it was an uphill battle. Now in the last 7 wks, I have not only lost weight but feel so much better. No processed sugar, no bread, pasta, or rice. I get the carbs I do consume from dairy, fruits, & veg. I eat healthy lean protein & healthy fats. That combined with 30-60 mins of exercise 5x a wk, which isn't always easy to fit in with my 60 hr work wks.

Ok, just made it to the end. Almost sorry the review is over, lol. What a great review of your trip! Several times I was cracking up, to the point my BF came in from the other room and asked what was so funny. He joined in & we both lost it when you were talking about contemplating biting an 80yr old woman to get your woman free of her death grip, lmao. Our first cruise is on the Victory in 3 wks and we are even more excited now! NC folks doing it right!

NC girl here & I LOVE Duplin. Taking a bottle with us for sure...next month!