kicker

Costa Maya, Mexico: Police armed with machine guns at the port.

Jamaica: Went into the town area, armed guards at every Bodega.

Cape Liberty: quiet area, too far away from the population to have any worries about vandalism, and, as a previous poster mentioned, enough security presence at the port to deter any possible trouble.

Wherever you travel, use basic precautions, and you're safe 99.99999% of the time.

Thanks for the responses so far. As the first responder mentioned, Bermuda cruisers would be better served if the ships had more time in port to visit beaches, see the sights, etc..

As for food prices, NYC isn't cheap as noted, plus I'm more of a "McDonald's Dollar Menu" type of guy:rolleyes:.

We'll only be in Bermuda for a short visit, but I'm hoping to be able to hit a beach this time.

Thanks again for the responses.

... BECAUSE I DIDN'T!!:rolleyes:

We docked at King's Wharf on Explorer OTS in May 2013. Day and a half in port. Part of our not having a good time was definitely the weather (not Bermuda's fault!). It rained off and on, temps in the 50's & 60's.

The good: we did a long tour of Bermuda which included dinner at the oldest continuing operating restaurant (even though it had closed once for several yrs) in Bermuda. The tour was informative and enjoyable (the tour leader was great). That was nice, but only works for people who are there for more than a few hours.

The bad: We felt the shops were way overpriced (Yes, its a tourist place, but still seemed excessive). We also took the ferry, went to the one main jewelry store where the sales clerks basically ignored us (unlike most Caribbean ports where they cater to you). Restaurants were overpriced compared to most ports. Our dinner was included in the excursion fare; met a couple who had a burger, fries, one beer each at a famous local pub and said they paid $80.

We'll be docking at King's Wharf in June, only there for half a day. Our plan right now is to probably hit Horseshoe Beach, but I'm open to suggestions:

So tell me why I should love Bermuda, and what I should do on my half day there....

Excited to see all of the good reviews. I just booked with them for April. This will be my first sailing experience. Diane has been super prompt answering my email questions. They must email from the water! lol

 

Anyone have pics and reviews in their trip reports? Most of the You Tube videos just show the swing. I'd like to read and see more about the rest. :D

Their website has plenty of pics. We're hitting St Maarten in June and Random Wind is working on putting something together for our cruise group (we're there 1PM to 8PM, not their usual times).

For anyone interested in them, communication back and forth has been great, and they work to make the excursion everything you want it to be.

(Trying not to be overly dramatic) On another thread CaptDave mentioned that you should not drive anywhere in Newark after dark.... Our hotel (booked due to this thread) is in Newark. I am now questioning this hotel. It freaked me out a little. Is this area safe for tourist? Totally out of my element here...last time I went to NY, I was totally naive and stupid. This time I have kids and like I tell my daughter, the moment I found out I was pregnant, I worried about everything! What do I need to worry/plan here?

Stayed in Newark a few times (Fairfield Inn), and if you're in that area there was a shopping/outlet mall about a mile away, also restaurants nearby. Safe enough (I doubt you'll be out at 1 or 2 AM!). People overall might not seem as friendly as Tenn folks :D, but I wouldn't worry.

Hopefully you'll some others on here more familiar with the area to answer your q.

We stopped in Key West after Nassau. It could be that Royal experiments with different procedures for Customs -maybe other recent cruisers can chime in.

I know someone who did the Majesty OTS cruise just before us; they received an E-Mail telling them boarding was to be done by decks (last deck told to board at 3 PM). It didn't apply to Suite guests or Platinum or above. No one on our cruise received an E-Mail like that, so maybe they're just trying out some new things.

I'm not sure if other cruise companies follow this policy, but Royal Caribbean (assuming Key West isn't your first port) allows cruisers off the ship after going through customs, but to make it somewhat organized, they have you approach customs by your Muster Station number. Here's what that means:

If you're Muster Station One, you're first in line to go through customs. If, for example, you're Muster Station Twelve, you might not be able to get off the ship for several hours. We were Muster Station Six and were told our Customs time would be 11:30AM (disembarking began at 10AM). However, by booking an excursion through Royal we were able to get off the ship immediately. We did the Taste of Key West - it was a leisurely walk through downtown with a few food stops, worth the low excursion price.

By booking the excursion, we had time to get off the ship, look around town, then do our excursion which also left ample time afterwards for exploring Key West. Just something to think about (especially if you have a high Muster Station #).

Just had to go back a bit through the Key West posts:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1926360&highlight=taste

Sounds reasonable for the price.

Royal Caribbean offers this excursion, haven't noticed any recent comments on here. Anyone done this? Any thoughts?

Visiting Nassau again next month, and after reading the threads on here I had to throw my two cents in. I read someone who described Nassau as a ghetto. My advice: do a Nature or Bird Watching Excursion (or bikes if available), and you'll see beautiful parts of Nassau that most people never see. I'm seriously considering using this company again - can't say enough good things about it.

...and feel free to throw it back if it doesn't apply here :rolleyes:...

We're doing a Royal cruise that stops in Nassau, then Key West. I've read that you have to clear customs in Key West if you've been to a foreign port. If Key West is your first port it doesn''t matter, but if its not, you may get tied up in customs and miss your excursion.

From reading this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1973952

it seems Royal will give you priority IF you book an excursion through them; otherwise you're taking a chance of getting off the ship late and missing your excursion. If you're sailing Carnival, you might want to check on their policy for clearing customs.

If you have time before or after your Port Canaveral cruise, I would highly recommend what my son (26) and I did this past week. We did a Biplane ride through Florida Biplanes of Merritt Island. Depending on the package you choose you can fly over Cocoa Beach, other areas, and also the port, where you'll be just a couple hundred feet above your cruise ship. I'm sure I was the only cruiser with a pic of my ship from above!

The pilot (Steve) was very knowledgeable and friendly. A lot of PC cruises are short ones (3 or 4 days). Adding a pre or post cruise excursion adds an extra dimension to your vacation experience. Next time we're adding the air acrobatics to our flight!

Okay, I never cared for Nassau before, but this bike tour gave me an entirely different perspective. Nassau is beautiful when you get to see the parts others never glimpse.

The bike tour was just my son (26) & I led by Carolyn, who runs Bahamas Outdoors. Carolyn was fantastic. She picked us up near the port, brought us to her home to start the bike tour, where we played with her dog Yager for a while and saw several variety of birds using her bird feeders. The biking was at our own pace through regular streets where we encountered several homeowners and workers, all of whom were friendly (except for some guys cutting palm branches for no apparent good reason; Carolyn questioned them and they wouldn't answer - she is a great defender and protector of the land). We biked to a beach, through some off road sites, saw things you can't possibly see from a tour bus, and overall had a great time - well worth the cost.

I guess if you enjoy paying to see homes of famous people, or spending the day near port at the shops, you might not like the biking idea. For me personally, it gave me a new appreciation of Nassau and its people.

I can assure you I get no "kickbacks" ???!! I thought we were not allowed to post tour guides info on the boards that is why I give my email if people want his contact info!!' That is so ridiculous if we are allowed to post the contact directly then someone ease correct me and I will be glad to post it directly on the boards ! I just had a great tour with him and are more then happy to talk him up on these boards. Maybe you all that are protesting so much may be "trolls"??? Hmmm

If Mario is so great then why do I need to contact you? Sounds like a "kick back" situation here..... Because of those emails I won't be using Mario, he might be a great guy but don't understand why he needs someone else to do his work for him.....

...who I've never met: Is this post serious? Obviously she's trying to help someone, and you flame her for it?

CC has regulations about posting websites on here - they often get blanked out. Certain words too - my favorite is the Royal Caribbean menu "****ake mushroom":rolleyes:

And: I wasn't sure if I should say "who I've never met" or "whom", so flame me if my Grammar is incorrect.

First two Royal cruises ten years ago: 2 formal out of 7, rest had themes like Caribbean, Western, etc..

There was no advance notice, but after two cruises I figured they did the same thing on all ships, so I went to a Western store and bought the gaudiest, loudest, most obnoxious Cowboy shirt I could find just to be in the spirit of things on my next cruise.

So, of course, next cruise has no theme nights; packing lightly I have one shirt for each night, and I wear the cowboy shirt to dinner. The waiters didn't say anything, some cruisers probably figured it was an old Theme night shirt, new cruisers probably thought I was strange:rolleyes:.

.....when considering excursions: how many other ships are in port that day? The more ships, the more competition for excursions.

Coco Cay will usually have only one ship at a time, occasionally two. My next cruise goes to Nassau, and we'll be one of four ships in port, so I booked early for my Nassau non-ship sponsored excursion.

There's a website that shows what ships are in what port for every day of the year. I don't think CC would allow me to post it here, but with a little Google effort you could find it.

What ship? Not that it makes much difference I suppose....

We booked a Promenade room on Liberty OTS last January (Deck 6); always wanted to try one. It seemed it had a bit less storage space than similar cabins (for some reason the cabinets on the sides of the mirror were only about 2 inches deep - strange). The light factor didn't bother us, but we've cruised in everything from insides to balconies and never had a problem.

The one problem you might encounter is noise. Its quiet, except when there's an event being held in the Promenade (like Disco night) - then you'll hear "thump, thump, thump..." However, the tradeoff for that is being able to look out your window and watch the events, and people walking through. I liked it and would book one again; the noise, for me, was the only drawback. That being said, if you go to the parties, it won't be a problem anyways!:D

Kicker: I was on their website last week and liked what I read. Did Carolyn give you more detail about the biking tour and whether there were more people that signed up for that day, etc? Also, did she by any chance give you info about the kayaking adventure?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I only asked about times and availability for the biking, but her e-mail responses were quick and informative. The bike tour says up to six people at a time (I think the smallest group I've done an excursion with was 8), and right now it's just my son & I as far as I know.

We'll be in Nassau on May 21 - we're one of four ships in port that day, so maybe we'll end up with four more riders - that would still be a nice small group.

Another thing I like about this excursion: pickup is right near the port, rather than needing a long walk or taxi. I'm sure I'll post about our excursion on here when we get back, but that won't be until the 23rd or 24th.

I booked a half day biking tour of Nassau with this company yesterday. They seem to have excellent reviews & comments everywhere I've looked. It'll be myself and my DS (26).

We'll be in Nassau an entire day (8AM until midnight). That means we can do the bike tour in the AM, still hit a beach, or find another activity.

Having been to Nassau several times (and its not my favorite port, although I did enjoy a Booze Cruise once, and Senor Frogs once); I thought the biking tour and seeing a different aspect of Nassau would be good.

If, like me and many others on here, you're not thrilled with Nassau as a port, maybe you should consider the biking excursions, or something else off the usual beaten path.

I'm going to post a thread about biking in Nassau shortly (haven't done it yet, but have booked it for May). Our ship will be in Nassau from 8AM until midnight, so we figure we can bike for four hours, then still have time for a beach. Your schedule is tighter, but you might be able to fit two things in.

Oh come on.....People digging into the buffet trays with bare hands....I'm sorry and I don't care cause I don't believe this. If it would have been one person that you saw..ok, but you saw a lot of people doing it......I don't buy it and adults at that! I have seen kids do it a couple of times and I told the Windjammer staff and they removed the trays immediately. And if you did see it did you bring it to anybodies attention or did you just look disgusted and let other people get food from there???? You make it seem like you were on a cruise with a ship full of cavmen! So what else happened good on the cruise??

I see you're from NC. The nicest people I ever cruised with were on a cruise out of Norfolk - real Southern hospitality and friendliness. Worst: a cruise out of NYC with people whose main interests seemed to be getting drunk and using four letter words, even at Karaoke. I've seen bare hands at buffets, and no respect for lines. As someone mentioned earlier, the time of year and fellow cruisers can have a lot to do (either positive or negative) with your cruise experience.

The OP has no axe to grind here and I find the comments totally believable.

...but you can often find cheaper rates at the ports. Some ports will have Wi-Fi locations near the ship that will sell for around $10 for the day, and supposedly they'll reach to the ship. We've never tried that (DW was worried about security issues), but I talked to others who used it with no problems.

There's a very popular Disney Discussion Board on the web (think you can figure it out from that info) that has forums for all things related to Disney - parks, on-site & off-site hotels, etc.. DID YOU KNOW that the only cruise line besides Disney featured on that site is Royal Caribbean?

Apparently lots of Disney fans also like Royal, and you can find comments comparing the 2 lines. I've been on both and personally prefer Royal (I'm 60 - maybe if I was 4 I'd feel differently:D). That being said, Cruise Critic is still far and away the BEST place for cruise info.

Personally I have never had any problems with the website. However I primarily use the "My Cruises" and C&A members sections. I only use the booking section for research. When I am ready to book I email the specifics to my TA. If there are any problems or delays from that point forward she takes care of it. I know a lot of people like to personally manage their reservations, but it sure is easier to let your TA do it. If I find a lower price or anything that requires modifying my reservation I email her and she takes care of it. You do not save any money dealing with the frustrating IT end of the business, so why do it yourself?

We'll spoken. Gee, I tried to do a search on CC for website problems but Search

is disabled! Things happen, no website can be perfectly suited for everyone's wants and needs. I've used Royal, Carnival, Disney, Celeb, Princess sites with some regularity, and all have different advantages & disadvantages. Personally (maybe because I use it more than the others), I find Royal's site to be the easiest to navigate. As this poster states: if its that difficult for you, let a TA help.

Looking at Deck Plans on Enchantment, it seems the Deck Plans change somewhat beginning in May? I looked at several decks and couldn't see any changes (but then again, I'm thick as a brick sometimes:rolleyes:), and I don't see any breaks in the cruise schedule to allow for drydock time.

Am I missing something? Could someone more intelligent (which means 99% of CC'ers) enlighten me??