SMN73

What airport you flying from and on what day?

I'll be flying out of Nashville. I can sail either the 6th or 13th of November. So with what I'm seeing, I will need to fly in on the 5th or 12th.

I think the hotels and airlines are in cahoots. lol No early arriving flights.

I guess I will look for a cheap hotel somewhere. The flight I would take the day before doesn't get in until midnight so I'm not trying to spend a ton of money.

UGHHHHHH. I think the airlines and the hotels are in cahoots. lol I can't find a single flight that comes in before noon that is reasonable.

So I guess I will start looking at cheap hotels. The flight I would take the day before gets in at midnight so I sure don't want to pay much for just a few hours.

Hi all,

I asked this on the the Flordia departures board but since it's just me, I want a ton of opinions.

I have decided to go ahead and book my first solo cruise in November out of Miami on Majesty. Since it's just me I want to fly in the same day. If I get a flight that lands at 12:30 in Ft Lauderdale the day of departure, will that work getting me to the ship on time? I've never been to this area.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I am taking my first solo cruise in November out of Miami on Majesty. Since it's just me I want to fly in the same day. If I get a flight that lands at 12:30 in Ft Lauderdale the day of departure, will that work getting me to the ship on time? I've never been to this area.

Thanks!

I'm thinking about taking my first solo cruise either the first or second weekend of November on majesty. If I booked now I'd have to pay $200 now and the balance in just a couple weeks.

I know not everything is an exact science, but in your experience, would it be best to wait until after final payment date and see if prices fall? What has been your experience and what would you do?

Thanks for the input.

sovance is cheaper usd$75 pp out of season and Charles is $120usdAnd private for maximum 6 guests Charles Cliff Sharker Boat is not good for sightseeing as it is a Perog and high in the bow and basically you are on a pew facing foreword yes I see he has a lot of reviews on trip adviser but I heard that is his wife in Canada and all their family and friend On the other hand Skipper Bance little Boston whaler is low clean and great for viewing seats with visions and a big top for shade Vance was Captain on the famous Bahamas queen when Charles was a jet ski boy he also has great reviews on TA ck him out he is much cheaper and better than cliff sharker Charles http://www.barbadosskippervanvetours.com. I been on both Vance is much better and nicer gentleman

Seeing at I wrote one of Cliff Shakers 5 start reviews, I can assure you they aren't all friends and family. You know an awful lot about both parties to be just a casual tourist. Sounds to me like you are a competitor that feels the need to run another company down just to get business for yourself.

I was pretty much invisible on our roll call. Haha I bit the bullet and splurged for the private tour with Charles. It's basically between $350-375 split between however many are in your group. Sounds like a lot but people pay $200+ to swim with dolphins all the time and this is a much longer and interesting day. I do think the other boats see a couple turtles. I don't believe they get 5+ on a regular basis. Nor do I believe they have the super close interaction we had with Charles feeding them. When I hear people talk about the catamaran cruises, it's mostly about the food and drink. I would pay $$ again in a heartbeat for the experience we had.

I'm jealous! Unfortunately, despite my second, direct email, they still have not responded. Is the number that you gave considered a US number or is it international?

It's a US number. You can call it from the US

Those pictures are amazing! (And I got some good info from your review about some of the other ports that we're going to as well!) Unfortunately he never responded to my request for information.... :(

Oh good! Glad you got some things you could use!

That's very unusual for him to not respond. I communicated with him for a couple months and he was always prompt. Did you use cliffsharker@hotmail.com? If so I would just try again. Or call him at 315-636-4560. Hope you get in touch!

Thank you everyone for posting your experience with Cliff Sharker. I had discounted his because it wasn't a lunch cruise, but I'm thinking that the whole "lunch" portion is probably over-rated anyway. I'm there for the turtles after all. I can eat for free on the ship! Anyway, I've contacted Cliff to see if there's availability for the day we're in port!

I posted some of the pictures from my trip on my review in case you'd like to see them. I hope you were able to book him!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2211606&goto=newpost

OMG what great pics! thank you so much for sharing! We are doing this cruise next March. You have made me more excited about going. Thank you again.

Glad you like them! I know I'm gushing but it really was a day I'll never forget. To be that close to that many turtles was amazing. If I ever go back I really think I'll put all my eggs in one basket and spend most of my excursion budget on Cliff Sharker. As you can see by the last photo the boat is not huge. But it was not uncomfortable.

For those that might have mobility issues, just make sure you can manage the ladder. It's one that you hang over the side and goes straight up. Again, I'm not a small woman at all. You enter the water by sliding off the front. That was easy. Getting back in took effort but I hauled my hefty cookies up that ladder twice!! Lol

Nice pics! I am currently erase aching underwater cameras - what did you use?

Those were taken by our guide. I don't know what camera he used. I know it had a fish eye lens.

Cruise Day 6 – Barbados - IT’S TURTLE DAY! This is the day I’ve most looked forward to. Now that it was here it’s a little bittersweet. This is the day I really discussed with my daughter and she planned for us. I was a little sad she couldn’t be here, but I was so looking forward to this day. I really would like to take her back, even if it’s a land vacation, to experience the turtles.

We had booked a private tour with Charles from Cliff Sharker. I had really researched the turtle excursions and several of the catamarans came very highly recommended. I think, for anyone, it comes down to what kind of experience they are looking for. Cliff Sharker does not include lunch and does not have a large boat. But he promises an amazing experience with the turtles and that was the sole purpose, for me, of the trip, so we took the plunge and booked with him. I am so glad we did!

It was stressed to us that it was important to be the 1st people off the ship. So at 6:30 we were downstairs waiting. We got so many crazy looks from the crew! But at 7:00 on the dot we got a “congratulations” from the crew and off we went! As we were walking through the port a member of customs asked us if we needed a cab. We said yes, and right there at the curb one was waiting. So out the main gate we went. We were at the boardwalk where we were to meet Charles by 7:20!

We got loaded up and were the first ones at the turtle site, which is what Cliff Sharker prides himself on. Charles was an excellent guide. I had never snorkeled and he took his time explaining exactly what to do, so that my experience would be enjoyable. He even made me “practice” by the boat so that I could feel comfortable. So when it came time for him to feed the turtles, I was ready to enjoy. We spent over an hour, just the 3 of us, in the water with 9 sea turtles! It was surreal. They were all around us. They would swim so close their legs would graze our cheeks! Part of the package included photos with the turtles. They came out amazing and I look at them often. After about an hour, several catamarans showed up. I found it funny that one of the guides of the catamaran got in the water, swam to where we were and announced “I found where the turtles are!”. As soon as the people started flapping around, the turtles dispersed and it was time for us to go.

We took a very fast and thrilling ride up the coast. (Charles said his boat is the same kind they use to run drugs from the other islands to Barbados at night. HA!) We stopped for a while and watched several surfers, including female champion surfer Chelsea Tuach. We came back and snorkeled for a while at the shipwrecks. The visibility wasn’t that great so we didn’t get to free dive. Charles did and we lost complete sight of him! I really felt bad for some of the other boats. This one huge pirate ship filled to the brim with people showed up. They were basically hoarded off the boat with no direction or history of the wrecks and left to just flounder around on their own.

We ended our tour with an hour on a private section of the beach, sitting and drinking rum punch. It could not have been more of a perfect day. By far the highlight of the trip. About 3pm Charles walked us to the boardwalk, got us a cab and we were back at port. We were exhausted!!! So shopping was quick…we just had to get last minute things and then head back to the ship to get ready for the 2nd formal night.

There is lobster on the 2nd formal night and no one had issues getting 2 or more. After dinner we watched the Love and Marriage show. What fun!! The “longest married” couple ended up winning but all the couples were fun to watch…especially when the guys got an answer wrong! After a few more pulls of the slot machine, it was time for our nightly drinks from the Promenade bar, and our to go turkey sandwich for the balcony before we called it a night.

I will post all the pictures at once. It's just some of the awesome shots that are included with the turtle tour and one of our super cool guide as we were sitting on the beach drinking rum punch. If you notice in his hand is our refill!

How do you touch the top of the Pitons without breaking a sweat?

It really is a beautiful island

Hi all! Sorry for the long delay in the review. We actually have taken 2 impromptu trips since we got back from the cruise. We enjoyed a few days in New Orleans and a few in Pensacola Beach. It has been nice traveling around!

I will pick up the review on Cruise day 5....

Cruise Day 5 – St Lucia – We did a private tour with Island Man tours. I had mixed feelings about this day overall. Kurt was a fine enough guide. He had a lot of knowledge about politics and the economic culture of the area. But he wasn’t a very lively guide. I like to joke and have a good time. Maybe it was just a personality conflict, who knows. I just know that on a few of the stops, in talking with the other guides, I remember thinking I wish I was on their tour. In Kurt’s defense, my SIL was part of the reason for the gloomy conversation. This port was her bucket list port and she had built up this idea in her head that this island was very lush and rich, like an episode of The Bachelor. So when she asked Kurt questions about these things, she got the truth, and she found the truth sometimes just isn’t that pretty. I think really understanding the poverty, the lack of minimum wage, social security, adequate schools, etc. really burst her bubble and it sure put a damper on my day! Those things combined, I think I may just stick to a beach day if we come back to this island!

Some things I really enjoyed…We stopped at this roadside place. There I picked up banana ketchup (So good with fries), hot sauce and homemade rum. You know the rum is homemade when the label is plain white with “homemade rum” written on it. LOL It’s full of herbs and spices, so it really gives the rum a nice flavor. Plus you can refill it with your own rum after you drink the first bottle and the spices and things will infuse the store bought rum! You can do that for up to a year. Not bad for $20. Juliette, who ran the shop, was a hoot. I could have stayed there and visited with her for a long time. We got to drink real coconut water. How these people handle machetes are amazing. I wouldn’t have a finger left! We also had another stop were I got to try cane sugar for the first time. That was yummy!!

Juliette was getting ready to have me try the rum. As you can see by the crazy look on my face...I wasn't quite sold yet!

Here's about the time I would have lost a pinky finger...

I really enjoyed the sulphur mud baths, just to say I’ve done it. If you haven’t been, you should know you aren’t really in a true mud bath. The mud is brought from the volcano in buckets and you slop the mud from the bucket and rub it on you. Then you sit in a natural hot spring. If you have limited mobility I am not sure this is for you. There are steep steps to get to the baths. And to get into the hot springs is 3 very narrow but very deep steps. It was a challenge getting in and out.

You stink...but your skin feels AMAZING!

You then drive a short ways to this very cold waterfall and rinse off the remaining mud. I wish I had worn water shoes for this as there were very sharp rocks in the pool and it was very uncomfortable to stand on. I did not enjoy that at all. Wear an old swimsuit that you do not mind ruining. We ended up throwing ours away once back in the room. It just wasn’t worth it trying to clean the mud out of them.

Pretty. Very cold and very hard to walk in. Wear water shoes.

We had a great lunch at Fedo’s. The food was really good and I enjoyed trying vegetables that were unique to the island. It was very reasonably priced.

Lunch was delicious and all local

After our tour we came back, washed the rest of the stinky mud off and enjoyed a nice dinner. After dinner we played a little in the casino and called it a night. We had to be up very very early the next day for what turned out to be the highlight of the trip!

Can someone from the May 9th sailing of Adventure post the compasses? This is the first cruise this year with the same ports as our cruise in June, St.Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St.Lucia and Barbados. Thanks!

I have all but days 4 and 5. I posted what I have in my review. They aren't in pretty color but they should give you what you need. If you have issues, let me know!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2211606

COMPASSES!!! - I am going to take a moment to post the compasses I have. I have them all but days 4 and 5...sorry about that and maybe someone has the missing ones. You need an advanced degree in Robotics Engineering to understand our copier at work, so once I had them all scanned and emailed to me I realized I didn't do it in color! Drats!! So they aren't pretty, but hopefully they can get you what you need!

Cruise Day 4 – Antigua – OOPS!! I said yesterday that day 4 was St Lucia. How could I forget Antigua?? Ahhh what a relaxing day! This day will be short. We did a beach day at Darkwood Beach. We woke up and again had room service on the balcony.

We got dressed and headed out to the port. The group of cab drivers bombarding you was a bit overwhelming. I didn’t like that at all. We picked a guy and as he walked us to the gate he handed us off to his son to drive us. I almost turned around and probably should have, but we went with Barney Jr and told him we wanted to go to Darkwood Beach. Barney Jr was nice enough but a little shy so we didn’t learn much about the island on our 20 min trip there.

We, again, were the first ones at the beach. For $25 dollars we got two chairs and a bucket of drinks that they will mix and match. I got 3 beers and two sodas and that lasted us the afternoon. The changing facilities were rustic to say the least and the running water to wash your hands in the bathroom is hit or miss (mostly miss), so take wet wipes and hand sanitizer! The beach, however, was gorgeous. Crystal clear water and a wonderful temperature. We had the beach to ourselves for almost an hour. Even when it “filled up”, it was never crowded…maybe 40 people there total. We had awesome people around us also. The beach does have a drop off to get to the calm waters. The trick works though…sink down into the drop off on your way down and let the waves carry you back up! Works like a charm!

Super white and clear sand. Felt like powder. Gorgeous water. Perfect relaxing day.

Who we shared the beach with for almost an hour.

There is a lady that walks around selling her jewelry. She was super nice to talk to and we ended up getting several really pretty pieces from her.

Lunch was reasonably priced. I was dying for a good ole American cheeseburger and fries! It was very good. They do accept credit cards. You can even arrange to pay for your cab fare back or for the jewelry with your credit card there. They will charge your card at the restaurant and then pay whomever in cash.

We got our things together and headed back about 2:00. I could have easily stayed another couple of hours. It was nice to have time to get ready for dinner though.

We had some rough seas this night. Nothing that made the crew have to put out the “special bags”, but enough to make you feel like you were falling down drunk…without the 18% gratuity! I spent a good hour at the champagne bar laughing at people trying to walk a straight line and failing miserably. People are funny. Almost everyone would try to play it off, then see me and start laughing. People watching at its best.

After the fun, we went to the ice show, “Hot Ice, Cool Art”. The skaters were talented. I especially enjoyed the man that skated in this steel ring thing. The concept of the show? Well…”interesting” would be a good word. I think I would have enjoyed a more coherent storyline, or no story line at all. The one we watched had me puzzled at best. We learned that the seas were so rough that one of the skaters in the early show fell and pulled a muscle and was in the infirmary. They had to reblock the show and do our show without her. So I give them props for that. Hope she has healed up well!

After the Ice Show it was the nightly ritual of shopping, drinks, turkey sandwich, then time on the balcony before bed. I could get used to this routine!

Cruise Day 3 – St Kitts - St Kitts was to be a beach only day, so there was no need to rush out of bed. We had a nice easy breakfast on the balcony about 7:30am. “YES!” to fully cooked egg beaters and crispy bacon! Leaving little notes all over the door card must have worked!

We had originally planned to go the St Kitts Marriott. For $35 you can do a beach day there. I knew it was on the Atlantic side and the seas would be rougher, but I thought we would be ok. Especially considering how pretty the grounds looked on trip advisor. However, we started doubting those plans when we realized how WINDY it was that day! It was almost difficult to walk against.

We got a cab and told him we wanted to go to Timothy Hill to see the viewpoint of both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and asked his opinion the Marriott. He said he would drive us close and we could make a decision. Once we saw the waves, we knew there was no way we would be getting into the water at all. Our cab driver told us that there had been some people go missing in the last few months due to the rough seas. In fact, I had read that back in March a Canadian Olympian had been swept out to sea and died. So we told him to take us to a beach he recommended.

On the way there we saw several monkeys in the road. As we were squealing “OH loooookkk…the monkeyyyy. AWWWW!!” our cab driver was steadily rolling his eyes. Apparently monkeys are a big problem in St Kitts. He told us there were around 48,000 people on the island and over 100,000 monkeys! Ok…point taken...but...

They are still cute...

We ended up at the Reggae Beach Bar at Cockleshell Bay. We were the first people there at about 10:00am. 2 chairs and an umbrella cost around $15. We did have to change locations though. The 2nd people there decided to sit right next to us and immediately lit up a cigarette. Since smoking is allowed, that was not something I was prepared to deal with all day, so we scooted down several chairs and got lucky with the people that ended up sitting around us. Overall the beach was nice. It could have been made better if they would have raked the beach around the chairs before anyone got there. There were cigarette butts and other things laying around. We were immediately offered drinks. Nothing for the SIL but I settled for a Carib beer. (Actually I settled for them several times throughout the day!) We were approached but not bothered by the ladies giving massages. They chit chatted a bit and then left. The only person that was somewhat pesky was the man trying to sell his Reggae CD. I’m glad though that the people behind us bought one. He was a hoot with them dancing and singing his music. Thanks folks for the entertainment!

A little maintenance goes a long way in making a "good" beach a "great" beach

A few of these though, and it didn't quite matter so much..

The water was clear but a bit on the chilly side. There is a drop off for those that may need to know that. Although I had no issues with it. The trick is to sink into it going down and to let the waves carry you up on the way back!

I did think it was cool to be swimming and look up and see these goats up on the mountainside!

Our neighbor for the day. He behaved and was no bother. His home was a hole under my SIL's chair. Then the bar's cat came over and filled in the hole...with the crab in it!! His afternoon sucked I'm sure, having to dig out of there!

We ate lunch, which was very good, and spent a little more time on the beach. We decided to head back about 2:00pm, did a little shopping in the port, and came back to the ship to get ready for dinner, which was uneventful but very good.

The show that night was an a Capella group called Mo5aic. I enjoy A Capella music and have seen groups like Home Free and Pentatonix so I enjoyed Mo5aic very much.

After the show we walked around the shops a bit, spent some time with our guys down at the Café Promenade Bar, got our nightly turkey sandwich and headed up to the balcony. I actually fell asleep out there for about 2 hours. I woke up freezing about 2:00am and stumbled to bed to get some rest before our long day in St Lucia.

Thank you for all the kind words.

It will probably be Tuesday before I can continue. I do some freelance hair and makeup work and I have an event in Virginia this weekend. Everyone enjoy your weekend (especially if it's a long one!)

Cruise day 2 – St Maarten – We woke up Monday morning in St Maarten. We had room service out on the balcony. Room service was prompt every morning. We used them as our alarm clock. I do not like the room service "regular" eggs. The egg beaters taste much more like real eggs than the regular offered eggs. Just make sure you write a note on the room service card to cook them well done if you don’t want them runny. Learned that lesson on this morning. A note about crispy bacon wouldn't hurt either!

Good Morning St Maarten!

We had no real plans for the day other than to go to Maho Beach and watch some of the planes come in. The afternoon was to be spent shopping. The ship had talked endlessly about how St Maarten was THE shopping port of this cruise.

We got off the ship about 10:00 or so and had to get our photo with the sign. I wanted to do that at every port along with get a stamp in my passport. Forgot the passport stamp at every port and the picture at every port but this one. *sigh*. Oh well, next time, right?

Our one and only sign photo!

The port is very clean and easy to navigate. We went to the taxi station and told them there were 2 of us to Maho Beach. They shuttled us into a taxi van with several other people. I completely forgot how much the Taxi was. I’m going to say about $7 or $9pp. Maho Beach really isn’t much of a beach. It looks like it’s really eroded. We were the only ship in port so it wasn’t uncomfortably crowded, but it is definitely not someplace I wanted to spend a whole afternoon. There were a few topless sun bathers, so keep that in mind if plan on 13 year old Jr along for the trip! Luckily, we got there right as a spurt of planes came in...about 10:45am. And double luckily, our cab mates didn’t want to stay after seeing the planes either. So even though we got there about early and told the cab driver we’d stay until 2, by 11:45 we were ready to leave. We found our cab mates and off we went to do some shopping.

Maho Beach

Plane coming in

Here is the plane schedule that is written on the beach bar there

Shopping in St Maarten really disappointed me. I’m the type of person that will refuse to eat at a chain restaurant if I’m on vacation. I want local food, local flavor, etc. So I like shopping done by local artisans only. The “strip” in St Maarten is mostly overpriced jewelry and nick knacks made in china. Not for me. I did find some very pretty things in the linen shop for myself, my sister and mom. Other than that, shopping in St Maarten was a bit of a bust for both my SIL and myself. So we decided to call it a day and head back to the ship.

The water taxi is very easy. $7 one way or $5 for the day, unlimited trips. It was an easy ride back to port for $7.

Here is the beach that is right off from where you get off the water taxi. Seemed nice enough if you want an easy beach day.

Once back on board, we went to the windjammer for lunch. There were always tables in the windjammer. I also liked that you didn’t have to make multiple trips to find a table, put your food down, and someone stand guard while you got drinks. There is wait staff that will get you drinks and keep them filled. Key to success...head to the LEFT as you enter the windjammer. It always seemed less crowded on the left side and in the back.

Dinner that night was the 1st formal night. I can’t comment on the menus each night. That isn’t important to me so I never paid it any mind. I walk in the dining room, look at the menu and can always find something for dinner.

We went to the 9pm production show that night. It was Invitation to Dance. It was the Royal singers and dancers and featured dancers that were some sort of Latin dance champs. I don’t have my compass in front of me or I could tell you for sure their names. The “pro” dancers were pretty good. The staff dancers? Well, you could tell they weren’t pro dancers but did they best they could. It was entertaining enough, but not my favorite show of the week. My SIL found it amusing that one of the male singers was the same person that led our muster drill. HA. After a few drinks with the guys at the Café Promenade, it was time to grab a to go drink, a turkey sandwich (those little suckers were tasty!), and head back to the room to enjoy our balcony some more.

Will you give Pedro's phone number to me?

Sure. Email me at shaninance at hotmail dot com. I'm sure if you text him and let him know what time your flight arrives he will meet you there. Tell him I sent you! :-)