AFLCruiser

Quick question - will your room steward bring you wine glasses if you want to open and consume your wine in your stateroom?

How much cash do you bring? Are you bringing actual cash or traveler's checks? Can you set up a cash account, pay it off with a credit card if and when it reaches $500? I'm trying to figure out the benefit of using a cash account versus a credit card.

If you are using VOOM are you able to receive text messages/phone calls (via the internet connection) from people in the "outside" world on an iphone (most likely will be an iphone 7 by that point)? My husband needs to be available to clients, so I originally thought we would get VOOM for him to have online access. However, based on some of the messages on here, I'm not sure if it would do what he needs. Of course, he could always tell his clients ahead of time that he would only have email access. The more I think about it, prime calling hours will be during the day, so it might be a moot point as we would be in port most days.:D

Passport renewals/first time applications are being handled pretty quickly now. It took less than two weeks to get my sons' passports back, and they were all first time applicants. If you did it now, you should have it in plenty of time before your trip. However, since you are going to Canada, the only requirement is that it is valid at time of entry. Since your trip is in December, you should be fine using his current passport (and then renewing it when you get back home).

 

Okay, not sure why I thought you were going to Canada. Anyway, here is a link to look up requirements by country.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html

If you just have the cup, will they fill it without your sea pass. Thinking my son may not always have his pass on him.

Not sure why I thought bottled water came with the soda package, which really bums me out. I don't think we drink enough to get use of any of the packages. I'm tempted by the sale for the refreshment package (I would only use it for the bottled water and fresh squeezed orange juice), so I don't think it is cost effective.

Over the years, I have found most restaurant desserts whether on land or at sea have been lacking and not worth the calories. It has been a long time since I've had a memorable dessert (probably a good thing).

We took our sons in on September 16th to get their first time passports and received their new passports less than two weeks later. I was shocked how quickly they were received. I remember hearing in the past how backlogged it was, which is why we took care of it so far in advance. My husband renewed his earlier this year, and I think it came back pretty quickly (just can't remember how long it took).

I think it is going to be a two-story mini-golf course.

I was 17 (turned 18 on the cruise) on my first cruise. Not sure if my husband has ever been on a cruise. My sons will be 20, 18 and 14 on their first cruise this June.

 

Back when I was 9 we took a ferry from Spain to Morocco on New Year's Day. it was a rough passage. Thankfully, my mother had all of us take Dramamine prior to boarding, and she snagged us a booth. A lot of people did not have a good crossing that day. Perhaps that's why it took awhile for my parents to commit to the first cruise.

I'd be interested to find out. Part of me thinks it wouldn't be worth getting the soda package for my kids if they aren't there.

 

Have a great cruise - I look forward to hearing about your trip and about the ship after dry dock.

Do you think they will be added during dry dock?

[quote name='jlstwinmommy']I wanted to stay in Old San Juan so we could walk around town. Finding a place that sleeps 5 is always a challenge, but we settled on a nice family inn, Fortaleza Inn & Suites. The staff could not have been nicer and we had a huge room with a little balcony overlooking OSJ as well as a kitchen which we used to make at least one of our meals. :)[/QUOTE]

We are a family of 5 also and I found this same place and want to stay there. I deciding on whether I want a room with a balcony on the street or the apartment with an interior balcony that "looks?" over the courtyard. Was there much traffic noise in your room? I think the location will be perfect. We are thinking of staying for two nights (we don't sail until June, so I have time yet).

We are going to Curacao in October, being just 70 miles away, is it possible to take a tour or shuttle/ferry to Venezuela/South America?

 

Back in 1977, our cruise went to Venezuela (about the only thing I remember is that I thought it was cool I was in South America and we were in a big city - I was in high school). I was talking to a friend about my long ago cruise going to Venezuela, and she told me her cruise stopped there and people got stuck behind the gates of the American Embassy due to the unrest and didn't make it back to the ship. That was the last time the cruise went there.