arkstfan

Years ago did an independent whale watching tour in Alaska and it was order of magnitude better than the cruise offered.

Looking for a good small boat tour in one (or both) of the ports.

Last thing you want to start your vacation with is sweating whether you will make it to the ship before departure because the crew of your airplane is out of hours or there is a mechanical problem or a storm causing delays. I'd rather be disappointed I missed my pre-cruise sightseeing in the departure port than stressing over what to do if I miss departure.

Much better to purchase from one of the many online Used Rolex sites.

 

We're not talking Knock offs here, but genuine used Rolex watches.

 

https://www.crownandcaliber.com/collections/rolex-watches

Endorse this. There are a number of very reputable sites for used watches (I'm an Omega fan) and it is very easy for a person with only a little knowledge to end up over-paying for a less desired model or worse buying a high grade fake.

I've stayed in 2245 (think that's right it was 224 something) and really liked the Cove balcony. Tough to beat on shore excursion days, especially at a tender port.

I've only been on two cruises but I've seen dress uniforms as recent as August of 2017.

You won't be out of place dressing for a formal ball or dressing for a casual business dinner on formal night, you will not be out of place.

Article from last year talks about the benefits of booking while on board but it is about a year old.

I am cruising with Carnival in a few weeks and already know what my next planned cruise will be and I'll be flexible within a few weeks of when to take it.

Is the best bet to just wait and take advantage of booking while on the ship? Not a cruise that is going to sell out any time soon.

Correct but the super cheap fares are attracting certain types of people.

 

 

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Not every person of limited means taking their dream vacation spends their time getting drunk and brawling.

I've seen people in premium seating areas at sports events where the tickets are $500 each act that way.

Yes you can fight the difference. I won a computer and monitor back in the 80's that was advertised at the time for $10k. By the time they awarded the prize it was valued at $8500 and got a 1099 for it but for some reason when it arrived I happened to get my hands on a price sheet showing it was available for $300 less and held on to it. Accountant used that value and retained a copy of the price sheet in the even IRS questioned it.

Later when I was doing tax law and there were valuation differences always had clients document their basis. Ran into that a bit during the farm crisis. Some banks would write off a debt and send a 1099 valued at what they would have collected had all payments been resumed and paid on time, we always reduced it remaining balance and never had an issue, but then again I was dealing with people who had been wiped out and now got hit with a tax bill for forgiven debt.

I had a coffee pot on Norwegian back in 2004 going to Alaska and it was nice to not worry about waking up early sitting around waiting for coffee to be delivered or going and getting my own or worrying about over-sleeping and having a steward wake me up.

But I am fine with just ordering coffee when I want it because I'd just as soon have a muffin or croissant to keep my stomach from growling while I wait for my later arising wife to wake up and go to breakfast.

Unless you have something that could get soggy, you will be MUCH happier keeping drinks in a small cooler because the fridges are pretty weak. They keep cold things cold but have a real battle taking something from room temp to cold.

We did the self-disembark as well. We arrived on the third deck around 7:15 and were looking for a spot to wait until 7:45 am. There were not a lot of people going off at that point and a Carnival employee grabbed us and sent us off the ship.

Cleared customs and we were on the shuttle to Hampton Inn to get our car by 8am.

The only disappointments we had.

1. Son's idea of putting on sunscreen didn't match ours so he missed Belize and Cozumel.

2. Brunch one morning we informed the hostess we would need three seats because our daughter would be down shortly. Brought us to a table with two open seats at the end and one in the middle of others. They asked the people to shift over which had a husband offset from a wife, we insisted on being seated elsewhere and that wasn't well received by the young lady.

3. The valet at the Hampton made no effort to assist us in putting our bags in the car, I normally tip $5 for bringing the car and $5 per bag which would have been $30 but planned to tip $40 because loading my car with that many bags is a bit like playing Tetris. He looked at the bags and walked off so we fought the bags and I kept the tip. They did the same with the other family with us.

Few things to add that aren't negative.

1. Room service French fries are tasty.

2. Give one good cash tip to a bartender and he or she will pretty much know your order even if you don't see them again for another 2 or 3 days.

3. Laundry wash and fold service was surprisingly fast and fair priced.

4. One of the waiters noticed our adult son was missing from a meal and inquired about him and offered to put together a meal for him that we could take down.

5. The alcohol prices at the store on board were incredibly competitive even though I didn't buy any, I did buy a seven year old Havana Club rum in Mexico that wasn't offered on the ship but I knew I liked because friends had brought me a bottle from Cuba.

If sea sickness is an issue, consider a lower deck

We dressed rather nicely for the first elegant night. The second elegant night Iwent wearing a polo style shirt and shorts with nothing said loud enough for me to hear.

Would last night be considered rough seas? Maybe I'm more "Seaworthy" than I thought.

 

 

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Not really just noticeable.

I have premium wife and kids social. You can get YouTube on premium but it's annoyingly slow.

We all have iOS devices so we just use iMessage to text and you can text anyone with iMessage anywhere in the world.

I'll add this to Cozumel when I get home or get my laptop to behave.

Discover Mexico is a great independent excursion. You make your own chocolate bar, do a tequila tasting and have lunch. It was great stop.

Downside daughter does much like tequila so I ended up hammered. May or may not own a bridge in Cozumel now :))

I am on deck 2 also. For some reason I forgot to do that yesterday after doing it a few other times.

 

I enjoyed the flick show last night. Great special effects. Then made it an early night.

 

Last night was the roughest seas of this trip. Not really that bad though. I have yet to experience a cruise where the barf bags come out.

 

Woke up to a arrival in cozumel.

 

 

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Yes last night was a bit rough but rocked me to sleep after a late night room service. Had a craving for French fries (go figure). Wife had cheesecake and loved it.

We were set for cave tubing but our eldest son scorched himself at Little French Key and stayed in bed all day while our adult daughter wasn't as badly sunburned she didn't feel great so we got a late start and didn't really have the time the tour suggests so we took a van trip to Altun Ha and have no regrets about the change in plans.

A dining side note. We've eaten in the Crimson dining room each night. Since we are on deck two it is easy to walk up to third. Some of the desserts have been misses but have enjoyed the food.

Enjoying your trip review. We will be in a cove balcony on the Dream Jan 21, 2018. Do you get any direct sun out on the balcony? TIA

In the morning or evening depending on which side you are on.

Thanks to everyone who suggested Little French Key. Fun stop, good value in my book.

The delay leaving NOLA was medical as well. Ambulance was on the dock at the terminal. Our cove balcony was just down from the ambulance. So we have had a medical Sunday and then Monday night.

So they are apparently coming back early.

I'm also on Sunday.

Figure that means unless the engine problem is a big one, only difference Sunday cruisers will see is a cleaner boarding process because they will start prepping the staterooms earlier.

Worst case for me, spend a few days in NOLA and go home with credit to take my cruise later and a discount on a future cruise.

In theory the social plan would be adequate for onboard communications via Facebook Messenger or direct messages via Twitter. (I don't know what a WhatsApp is but its included)

Thanks. I didn't figure the speed would be much since most satellite internet is slow then x 3000 passengers.

Better speed in the morning plays right into my hands. :evilsmile:

I'm an early riser and no one I'm traveling with sees a sunrise unless they stayed up all night, so best time for me to do a bit of work.

Fine print says one device at a time allowed, so if I need to use my laptop do I need to turn the wifi off on my iPad and my iPhone?

If I forget does one get "knocked off" the wifi while the other is accessing? Phones and tablets are bad about polling the server frequently.

Also the mid-tier, that's all the internet except video and calling apps just slower than the top tier which also excludes those services?

Finally Carnival page mentions blocking Netflix, Hulu but not YouTube, is YouTube available?