GoofyCrew

Just off our first cruise (Caribbean) earlier this week. We overpacked on clothes and underpacked on swimsuits. Pack twice as many suits/coverups and half as many clothes. I was surprised how many people wear their suits all day, anywhere on the ship. Obviously you need a coverup for inside, but I just assumed people would only wear suits by the pool. Oops!

I was glad that I brought a thin hoodie for hanging out in the room/on our balcony at night. I was also glad that I brought a thin sweater to throw on over my sundress at dinner. The A/C in the dining room was chilly, especially after a day in the sun!

No. It will be hot and humid. Pack twice as much deodorant and no perfume. Plus, by May, there will be a lot more bugs out and they might be more attracted to you on shore, especially if your perfume is floral or fruity.

What we brought that we did NOT need: Clothes. :D

OK, to be more specific, we packed too many clothes and not enough bathing suits. I didn't realize how much time we would spend in the bathing suits.

I didn't notice any bars open that early on the Sun last week, even NOT on debarkation day. Most didn't open until 9am.

You are trying to jam a multi day experience into a short day. If you go, make it worthwhile.

 

- understand the park layout in advance.

 

- avoid going into shops and spending time just looking at stuff. You can do that at home.

 

- get past Main St as quick as you can. Even if you never went on a ride, the park is so big and so much to see....

Agreed!

Magic Kingdom is huge and there is SO much more to Disney than just the Magic Kingdom. I would not do it in one day. It isn't worth the stress and expense. Disney is best done right, or not done at all.

We got off the Sun this week and ours didn't have the ability to even be opened. However, in Cozumel, we were docked along side the Epic and we saw several that were open. They only appeared to open about 1/3 of the way, so maybe that is 'allowable'?

Can't imagine why there would be a safety issue, especially if the steward is the one who opens/closes them, upon request.

We were just in both ports last week. I was tentative about each one, but because we stuck with cruise line sponsored excursions, I never felt unsafe.

In Roatan it is very run down just outside the port gates. Or maybe a better way to describe it would be to say that it is just an extremely poor area with a lot of signs about no drugs and no weapons on quite a few buildings. We took a van to the West End and did a Dolphin Encounter at a resort and it was safe and beautiful. I would not recommend walking around on your own outside of the port but going on an excursion you should be fine.

We never tendered to the mainland of Belize but rather tendered directly to Starfish Island, a private island for excursions. We never felt unsafe there at all as it was strictly cruise passengers and a handful of employees. I heard that the mainland wasn't much unless you took an excursion further inland.

That being said, I really have no need to go back to either port. We did the one excursion that appealed to us at each location. There is definitely no need for a revisit, but I don't regret going once.

The other option is to go to a place on our bucket list since time is running out before we plan on having kids but it's Italy and California, which I do t think would be fun if a group of us did end up going. Or maybe not as fun as a resort or cruise.

I would say to hit your bucket list first! Children are wonderful, and they ARE portable and can travel, but some trips are more ideal for children than others.

Just off of our first cruise earlier this week. We cruised with our children - ages 7 and 11 - and it was great. Something for everyone, including a good balance of activities and downtime. There is plenty of time for cruising in your future!

We did several land 'bucket list' trips in the many years prior to this cruise, both with and without children. As a parent, I can say that a trip to Italy will be much easier (and yes, I'll go ahead and say it, more enjoyable) without small children. We have zero regrets for taking couples vacations when we could so that now we can vacation as a family.

We didn't use the children's club on our cruise but, keep in mind, if you want to sail in the future with children, that is always an option if you want couple's time. That is not so much an option when traveling in Europe, unless you travel with family or a nanny.

Not at all trying to discourage you from cruising now, but I am glad we did trips in the order that we did. :)

Since the food and cabins are quite similar on all NCL ships, the 'outdoor' experience and the port itineraries are most important to us.

We just got off of our first cruise this week (NCL Sun). We are outdoor people and, because we were getting away from cold, snowy Michigan, we wanted to soak up every single moment of warmth, sunshine and tropical breeze that we possibly could! That means we spent A LOT of time on our balcony. That meant that we also ate outdoors whenever possible. We weren't going to miss a single second of being outdoors. I did not care for viewing the ocean and the ports through the salt-stained windows. I want to see it unobstructed, I want to feel the breeze, smell the salt air. Hearing how horrible the Epic is laid out, I now know we made the right choice by not sailing on her! The Epic shared a similar itinerary and we docked side-by-side with her in Cozumel.

We would really like to sail the Eastern Caribbean for our next cruise. Hoping to avoid a mega-ship but that is definitely going to become more difficult with the release of new ships.

Just off the Sun earlier this week. It was our first cruise and we had a balcony. As suspected, it was worth every penny and we will never sail without a balcony in the future.

-The breeze was great on the hot days, cooled us off. On the one chilly day that we had, as long as we sat back in the chairs (versus standing at the railing) we were out of the wind.

-We aren't big entertainment people so we spent a lot of time just relaxing on our balcony. If you plan on going to shows/events all day long, you need to weight out the cost versus the benefit for your situation.

-Dolphins, flying fish

-I absolutely LOVED sitting out there first thing in the morning before my family woke up. I wasn't disturbing them, and I didn't need to get out of my PJs to go elsewhere on the ship. The quiet, the sunrise, ahhh...beautiful! And most mornings we were just pulling into port so I got a private viewing spot for that too!

-Fresh air! That cabin air gets stale after a day or two, especially with wet, sea water bathing suits hanging around trying to dry.

-I will admit, it was a bit unnerving to go out on our balcony in the dark on our one rougher sea day. Those waves swirling around...augh!

-And our balcony neighbor made a valid observation: At the muster drill we quickly realize that there was no way we would ever get from floor 10 all the way down to floor 6 to the lifeboats before they would probably launch. In fact, some people at our muster station grumbled that it took 'some people' (us) too long. We left our cabin at the start of the alarm and headed right there. We didn't dilly-dally. It just takes a long time to get down four flights of stairs and then down the deck to the correct muster station with everyone else. Our neighbor said we'd stand a better change putting on our life vests and jumping overboard. Definitely NOT protocol but, depending on the urgency of the issue, I have to agree with him. I like having an 'out'. ;)

Thanks for your review! We were on the Sun at the same time. As I read this, (and before I stumbled upon your selfie pic) I had figured out that you were probably that guy with the laptop on the aft deck. The guy who liked popcorn. :)

We were that family of four who ended up sitting out near you quite a bit in the Great Outdoors. Mom and Dad's lunch usually involved a blue bucket. ;) The Great Outdoors was our favorite place for breakfast and lunch. Hopefully we weren't too disruptive to your writing when we were out there!!!

We were also on the same Ruin excursion. I couldn't help but smile when I read your review of Diana. You described her perfectly!

I also agree that walking through Dazzles wasn't always the easiest due to the congestion. And the intoxicated woman who grabbed our daughter by the arm and roughly tried to jerk her out onto the dance floor while we walked past...sigh. We learned after that incident that our best option was to just go up to our cabin's hallway and then back up/down if we wanted to be in the atrium or observatory.

This was our first cruise. Can't wait to sail again someday! Until then, we are back in Michigan dealing with the cold and snow. Brrr.

Just off the Sun this Am. We had a balcony, complete with robes. We did not use them. They looked like they had been hanging there a while... (Crumpled...)

Just off the Sun today. We were very pleasantly surprised by the water on board. We hadn't planned on drinking it (we brought bottled water...), but accidentally drank it the first night in the MDR and lived! Lol

In all seriousness, we are PICKY about our water and we drank it no problem. It was odor and flavor free, and left no ill effects. ;)

Can't speak to the Breakaway specifically, but just off the Sun this AM. We are big craft beer fans. We survived. They had Sam Adams Boston Lager and Winter Lager. Sorry, but that is as good as it got. Mostly Corona, Miller Lite, Bud Light, Henie and Stella Artois.

Making up for a week of poor beer selection as we speak. ;)

Forget days - Less than 24 HOURS!

Sailing on the Sun tomorrow!!!:p

At the appointed reservation time (say 6:00 PM) it looked like they would alternate between taking maybe two parties from the reservation line, and then one from the freestyle line, as tables became available. So the reservation people did get seated a bit sooner, but I can't imagine that anyone was truly happy with this procedure.

 

So is this the way they are doing it now???

Better than nothing, I suppose! Kind of defeats the point of making a reservation...but then again making a reservation sort of defeats the point of freestyle cruising! lol

I haven't been on the BUS from the airport but I've been on the TECO Streetcar along Channelside in Tampa. I didn't even realize they had a bus from the airport. LOL But it is just that a BUS (not a streetcar) from the airport. The bus is just like the rest of the other HART LINE buses, no special set up (like a luggage rack) just because it goes to the airport.

 

I can't vouch for safety either due to the areas that it picks up from along the way. Though, personally, I've never really heard of any issues on the buses here. I wouldn't recommend getting on that bus at night though (just to be on the safe side as you would be carrying luggage and then transferring to the streetcar).

 

You can see the bus schedule on http://www.gohart.org According to the web site it says it takes 30 minutes but that can all depend on traffic (can vary by day/hour).

 

Not sure exactly where you are planning on "getting around" via the streetcar. It pretty much just goes from the Tampa Convention Center to Ybor and back. There is only Channelside in between, which has hotels and the Florida Aquarium but only a few restaurants (in Channelside and Ybor). None that I ever go to, to be honest. The only thing I go to in Ybor is the movie theater and considering how few people I ever see in there I must be just one of the few! Of course Channelside is the cruise port and it does stop by there!!

 

Oh, there is now (finally) a 7-11 in Ybor now. No Walgreens or other pharmacy type place, just 7-11.

 

Is there any place in particular that you expect to get around to via streetcar??

 

Mikki

Thanks - we might just cab it from the airport to downtown since I am realizing that it will be dark by the time we arrive (6:15ish).

As for the streetcar, we mostly wanted to be able to get from our hotel over to the waterfront (likely the Aquarium) and then out to Ybor City to go to Tampa Bay Brewing Company. There is also a CVS Pharmacy along the route (on Madison, if I am remembering correctly...don't have the map open at the moment) that we are hoping to pick up pre-cruise supplies at. And I don't know if we would take it to the actual ship because we'd have our luggage that morning, which might not work out so well on a streetcar. Our hotel has a free shuttle to the dock, so we will likely use that.

The Route 30 is very convenient. It operates every 30 minutes and until midnight during the week. Trip shouldn't take more than 40-45 minutes or so (which for the savings is pretty substantial). No luggage racks though.

 

Streetcar is a great tool to get around between Downtown, Channelside (Port) and Ybor. $5 all-day and on the 1st Saturday of each month, there is a band on board. Streetcar operates late night on the weekends. Tampa Bay Brewing Company is phenomenal (for real... the beer is great and the food is even BETTER). Also, check out Cigar City Cider and Mead if you're a big craft beer/cider/mead person.

 

Hope that helps.

Thanks - we will be there on the 1st Saturday of the month so the band should be interesting.

We aren't opposed to cider and mead, but we will have the kids so we were trying to stick to more family-friendly settings. Tampa Bay Brewing had good reviews and several people mentioned they had brought children. Let's just say our children (ages 11 and 7) have been to more breweries than most adults ever will. ;) As long we go mid-day to avoid the weekend crowd, and they offer food, it usually works well.

We navigated through Boston just fine with an umbrella stroller. We weren't cruising, so I can't speak to the actual terminal, but we did take the T and trolleys with no problem.

It was a beautiful city and we can't wait to go back!

We haven't cruised yet but I would say that I am most dreading the self-absorbed kids...typically brought on by their self-absorbed parents.

Nothing gets on my nerves quicker than a kid who thinks they can do whatever they want, whenever they want with a parent just smiling at them and not TEACHING them right from wrong. Children are a product of their environment and, sadly, so many just aren't being taught the basics of manner and just general awareness of their surroundings. Things like appropriate voice level, staying seated in your chair during your meal and waiting your turn in line are things that the parents should be enforcing, both for the benefit of their child and for the benefit of others. I don't know if it is laziness or what, but it seems like so many parents prefer to take the 'easy' route and not stay on their kids about stuff. They are missing one of their most important responsibilities as a parent, in my opinion. You only get one chance to bring 'em up...bring 'em up right!!! :p

Yeah, I would love to do one myself.

 

There probably are none at the moment. Nobody wants to take a great lakes cruise this time of year.

That would be fun...in July! :D

Badger is DEF not a "cruise", but a GREAT WAY to avoid Chicago, and a great way to "introduce" wee ones to ship travel.

 

The history of WHY there were (this is the last one) RR car ferries alone is worth the price of the cruise.

 

I love it, can't wait to "cruise " again....... WAY better than the ferry in Muskegon

I have been riding the Badger since I was a kid, back when there were still RR cars on it. So glad it is still around and that we have been able to take our children on it several times. Great 'shortcut' between Michigan and Wisconsin! Not always the most cost effective mode of transportation, but a great experience anyway!

As for Muskegon, we have never had the heart to spent a dime to try the Lake Express. The Badger is too special to us!

We are going to bring some but, I promise, we will not be THOSE people! lol We aren't that way with our cell phone so we won't be that way with the walkies. They have a silent/vibrate mode and you can easily excuse yourself away from others to respond (or not...sometimes just the silent/vibrate alert would be enough to signal me back to the cabin). Post-Its are great for letting a family member know where you have gone/when you will be back, but they aren't always going to cut it. If one of our family gets up to go for a walk before the others wake up it is nice to know when we can go back and be in the cabin without disturbing them.

They have their place, but please use them discreetly, just as you would use your phone on the mainland. :D

How did you make pre reservations before boarding?

Maybe I am misunderstanding the names of the restaurants.

I reserved for the Seven Seas and the Four Seasons. I thought those were the main dining rooms??? If not, sorry for the confusion! If they are, I booked them just the same way I did the specialty restaurants, just without having to pay the (specialty) fee.

And I apologize - I should have posted that in the Florida Departure area of the forum. I tried to delete it so I could move it but it doesn't give me an option to do so. :eek:

I've spent so much time in the NCL area that I went here out of habit. Sorry!