pullen0

I'm going on my second cruise this Christmas. I realize it's peak time and will command a higher price. I'm paying $3000 for a 7 night Southern Caribbean people for 3 people in an inside state room. That's not even including gratuities which is a whole other can of worms. (Quit pretending you're giving me a cheaper price while guilt tripping me with all but mandatory gratuities for your poor and starving employees. Pay them a livable wage and lets quit with the charade.)

I'm paying over $425 a night for room and board in a tin can. I spent roughly $7-8000 on a 19 day road trip out west in 12 states and 6000 miles. That included some hotel rooms north of $200 a night, $900 Grand Canyon helicopter flight, $700 Lamborghini Aventador track experience, $600 Cirque Du Soleil Beatles Love show, etc.

About the only thing that makes cruising feasible for me is being able to visit multiple Caribbean islands that flying to each one makes cost prohibitive. My work schedule doesn't allow last minute cruise deals.

Add in ridiculous sports venue pricing for drinks on the boat ($6 beers, $4 cokes), it's not a "deal" to me. Unless I plan on being a full on drunk or inserting a catheter to handle all the cokes I must drink to make a drink package worth it, drink packages aren't for me.

All that said, I get that some people love cruising and think it's worth it. I've weighed my options for some of my travel plans and cruising is the best option but that will be a rarity. Hopefully I'll reach retirement age and be able to get some of these $200 cruises I keep hearing about.:)

I will be taking a cruise on Celebrity Summit the week of Christmas and we will have 1 sea day. I've only been on 1 cruise and it had no sea days so I'm not really sure what to expect. I know they typically increase the number of shows and activities for sea days. Does anyone have a copy of a sea day schedule they can post or link to one? I realize that these aren't set in stone but I'd kind of like to have an idea of what the schedule may look like. My 14 year old daughter will be with us so I'm curious if there may be any activities she may want to do on her own as well.

Our cruise port days will be spent with every minute possible off the boat so besides dinner, we're only going to be interested in seeing maybe 1 show or activity a night. Thanks in advance.

I think a lot of people's only purpose in life is to find a spot in the middle of somewhere and stand in it. Anyone who's ever lived in a northern state has seen the person to grabs a cart in Walmart and walks 1 step past the last set of doors and stops right in the middle to put their coat, purse and everything else in their cart instead of pulling off to the side and letting others around them.

Walking down a narrow sidewalk or hallway? Their group can't walk in a single file line to allow others room to get past them. You meet up with a group of friends or family? Right in the middle is the best place to have your reunion. Eating in a sit down restaurant with a line of waiting customers out the door? You mean 2+ hours occupying a table is too much? Getting ready to board an elevator or bus? Stand immediately in front of the door so that those already on can't get out.

Just got back this month from a 19 day, 6000 mile road trip. Love traveling, hate people.

We have a metal map board for all 50 states that we put the magnets on the states we've been too. We're taking a cruise out of San Juan this Christmas that goes to Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas. I've found a Puerto Rico magnet online but I've not been able to find any of these others. Anyone have an idea where to look online or if they've seen these style magnets in any gift shops on these islands? Thanks in advance.

I'm taking a Celebrity cruise and will be in St. Maarten on December 28th from 9:30am to 11:59pm. I'm not seeing much in the way of excursions on Celebrity's site and I've found one through Priceline called St. Maarten Sights, Shopping and Sand that sounds good. It's 4.5 hours and leaves at 10:30 so I should be back to the downtown or cruise terminal area by 3:00pm.

I'm wanting to go to Maho beach to watch a few planes land and take off. Do they come in all afternoon and into the evening or only early afternoon? I'm guessing it would be 3:30 to 4:00 before we can get there.

Celebrity lists and evening excursion called A Taste of Grand Case Nightlife. Is this something I can easily do on my own? Where would this area be if I wanted to take a cab there and back from the pier? They want $139 for this. "Enjoy four delicious hors d’oeuvres and three drinks at one of Grand Case’s high-end restaurants, followed by time to explore Grand Case’s unique nightlife on your own."

Is there much to do during the evening hours in Philipsburg? We had a midnight departure from Nassau and there was nothing to do other than go to bars after 6:00pm. I'll have my wife and 14 year old daughter with me so bar hopping isn't an option.

Thanks in advance.

I never did a Disney dining plan either. I don't want to spend time worrying if I'm getting my moneys worth or not. Even at $4 a Coke, I still wouldn't get my money's worth when only looking at 5 waking hours on the ship every day but the sea day.

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I will be on a Celebrity cruise with a posted port time of 8:00-5:30. I think I'm going to go with the Just BIM tour through Priceline which I believe uses Glory Tours. It has a leave time of 8:30 and 6.5 hours long. Are these times pretty accurate? I'm wanting to explore around Bridgetown or possibly go to a beach for an hour or so. Is it reasonable to expect to be back from the tour by 3:00? Would it be possible to have the tour guide drop us off at a beach on the way back? I'm thinking about the Boatyard beach.

Thanks in advance.

I will be on Celebrity Summit for the Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruise. I have the listed port times for each destination. My experience on my RC cruise is that we were at each port well before the listed start time and were able to leave the boat on time. We were at the gate early each time and basically walked right off the boat. Is that typical for Celebrity as well?

Also, on our RC cruise, we had to be back to the ship 30 minutes prior to the listed time. Is it the same for Celebrity?

Thanks in advance.

I've looked over the drink packages and have determined they just won't be feasible for our trip. My only other cruise experience was a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas on RC. I had the soda package and was stuck using their cup and had to go to the Windjammer cafe every time I wanted to fill it.

What drinks are included free in the main dining room and the Ocean View Cafe? I'm assuming water and iced tea. Would we be able to bring yeti mugs to fill with ice and drinks in the Ocean View Cafe?

Thanks in advance

Ok, if capris are ok for the dining room, how about shorts for men? Was planning on nice shorts and a polo type shirts.

I'm taking the Summit out of San Juan December 24th - 31st. This is my second cruise. First was Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas. I don't see point in dressing up on island cruises.