lab_love123

We're going to DR, Bahamas, and Grand Turk in January. How are the air and water temps there?

I’ve cruised in January before. Air temps were good.. I’d say around 80F in the Bahamas, but the water in the Atlantic was a little cool for me. Not un-swimmable, but cool. The same cruise also went to Grand cayman and Cozumel, air and water temps were a little warmer in those locales.

I’ve used clear contact paper in the past, and stapled them on on my way to port. I have a tiny dollar store stapler I throw in my bag for this purpose. But the clear packing tape is a good idea - I’ll use that for my next cruise. Probably easier than contact paper!

I agree with you.... going solo or just 2 people, sometimes it is cheaper to use the Carnival shuttle.

 

As far as timeframe, you are probably fine booking that flight and shuttle. It is about a 45+ minute drive from port to FLL and the shuttle bus works. Yes, Uber might be a bit cheaper. Once again, with just 1 person, or even 2 people, sometimes the shuttle for the cruiseline is easier and less overall.

 

We are doing the Glory in 3 weeks and using the Carnival shuttle to/from FLL. Hotels in FLL area are much cheaper than in Miami, so the price works out even trade for us.

Thank you!!

Hi everyone!

 

I feel in love with cruising back in 2004 but since I have only been able to do 4 cruises. Mostly because I am a single girl (30) in Miami (NEAR THE PORT) and can't find people to commit. I am so sad to see people constantly posting about their upcoming trips. So I am wanting to know if there is anyone, or anyone who has advice on cruising solo? I am a social person but I do not like to intrude if I see a group of people. Am I going to feel left out or alone?

I'm in the same boat as you - around the same age, I really enjoy cruising, but my friends are either not interested, don't have the time to take off work, or don't want to spend the money. So many friends in weddings haha. SO I just bit the bullet and booked myself my first solo cruise on the Carnival Victory in October. Since it's my first time travelling solo, I like that it's going to ports I've already been to. Just adds a level of comfort because of the familiarity.

I chose the Carnival cruise over other lines like NCL for a few reasons. I looked at cruises on the newer NCL ships with the studio cabins, but the price just wasn't worth it - we're talking about double what I'm paying for an oceanview cabin, and the perks/promotions just weren't worth it to me. And, the dates and itinerary of the cruise I chose just work better for me.

I am also a little nervous about joining in, I'm not very outgoing, but I can have a conversation with anyone. I also read elsewhere on these boards that Carnival seems to do a fair job of seating you with other travelers in similar situations when you choose a fixed dining time, so that's what I did. I'm a firm believer that you should try anything once (within reason of course!). If I don't enjoy myself, then I'll know, and I won't do it again.

It will be in March. We already put the down payment on the Breeze Cruise, and while searching around today I saw the Sunshine Cruise.

Well then I definitely vote for the Breeze! As far as the cabin choice, I take back my original cove balcony vote. I mean I always like a balcony room, BUT I've never stayed in one of the 4J cabins and I find them very intriguing. I've read reviews that they're very private because so many people don't realize the walkways are public. And for that much in savings, I would have a hard time not giving it a try.

I would ask when you are going. If during hurricane season, I would go with option #1 for sure. Aruba and Curaçao are outside the hurricane belt so you’d be more likely to avoid any bad hurricanes.

Otherwise, I might go with the balcony on the Breeze. It’s a good itinerary and has a nice balance of sea vs. port days.

I assume your Uber price is for 2. We took Uber both ways MIA-FLL and back. The Uber was $75 for the vehicle, not per person as shuttles are priced

Was it $75 each way?! Last time I took an uber/lyft from the port of Miami to FLL, it was around $35. Like I said above, though, this time I'm traveling to/from the port on my own so whether it's $35 for an Uber or $32pp for a transfer or $15pp for a shuttle, it's all coming from the same wallet.

To all - mostly I'm looking for info on whether I'm okay with an 11:56 am flight when Carnival tells me not to book a flight before noon. It's only a 4 minute difference, so logically it wouldn't matter. Right?

Duh! I wasn't even thinking of other shuttle companies. Haha! That's a good idea, and thanks for the recommendation!

Hi all!

I just booked myself a 4 night cruise on the Carnival Victory in October - very excited! It's been awhile since I've sailed with Carnival and needed airport transfers and have a question hopefully someone here has experience with.

I am flying into FLL, but sailing from Miami. I'm researching airport transportation, and right now, Carnival's transfers actually look the cheapest - $32 vs. ~$38 typically for uber/lyft. I'm traveling to/from the pier alone so I wouldn't be splitting the uber/lyft cost with anyone.

1. I am flying in the day before my cruise; can I still book Carnival transfer if I'm willing to head back to the airport? I'm thinking of staying in a FLL airport area hotel so getting back to the airport on the morning of the cruise isn't really an issue.

and

2. My flight home at the end of the cruise departs FLL at 11:56am. Carnival's website says no flights before noon - does the 4 minutes actually matter?

Thanks everyone!

I take it back. shoreexcursioneer.com does NOT have it. I just went to resortforaday.com, and did not encounter any security issues. It may be your browser.

Another option is to call Hilton. You probably would want to call the hotel directly.

I've been emailing The Hilton to find out how to make a reservation but no one has responded. What would be the best way that anyone has used previously to book this. The resortforaday.com website is being flagged as not secure by my browser so I'm concerned with regards to using that although previous posts seem to suggest posters have used them, is this the case?

You're probably okay with resortforaday. Sometimes, a website's security certificates are expired or revoked when a web browser (IE, Chrome, etc.) is updated. HOWEVER, I don't know this is the case for sure, so proceed at your own risk. You could try shoreexcursioneer. I think they used to have the BCH. Also, when are you going? You may be able to just walk up without a reservation if it's not a busy time.

Like others have said, just start typing "Port of Miami" in the search...it'll come up. It's helpful to know which terminal you need to be at, so the driver can be in the right lane. There are also signs as you're driving in to direct you. Our Uber driver didn't go down far enough to be in the drop off lane, but we just had him pull over and we walked across, NBD.

There is a key word in some of the posts above "WE." As in we book privately, or we use this site to book. When I sail with another person or group, I am much more adventurous than on my own. I guess I think if I get stranded with other people, I will be fine, but it is terrifying to me to be stranded alone.

So true! I completely agree with this statement!!

So if there aren't any umbrellas could we bring our own? I have 2 small beach umbrellas that clamp onto beach chairs and a larger beach umbrella. In a recent review I saw a picture that had one lonely blue umbrella so I'm thing someone brought their own?:cool:

There are clamshells which have two loungers each under them. There are not any umbrellas that I remember. The other shade is natural shade provided by the trees and buildings, and IMO there is plenty of it. The clip-on umbrellas would be fine I think... not sure how well the larger one would work. The loungers are really packed in, so there really just might not be a good spot to set it up. It's a bit of a logistical issue. If you were able to get a cluster of loungers and kind of separate them from the rest, it might work. Otherwise, you might have this umbrella up encroaching on another party's space and that might not be the best thing to do. Plus, it's kind of a big item to have to lug around with you. If you have to fly to your embarkation port, how would you pack it? It wouldn't fit in a carry-on and if you checked it, it could get really banged up.

The mass market cruise lines are more similar than they are different.

This ^^, 100%. I recently went on my first NCL cruise. I've been on Carnival and Celebrity, as well. Celebrity definitely had a more mature demographic (less families), but I found Carnival and NCL to be similar. The only real difference IMO, is the freestyle dining and the lack of a formal night. I was on the Sky, which as I understand is more casual than the rest of NCL's fleet (read: plenty of people in denim shorts and tshirts at dinner).

I think it depends on the type of traveler you are, and what your ship's itinerary is. If it were me, I would not wing it. Even if I don't formally plan something, I like to have an idea of what I'm going to do each day. Especially as a solo traveler. I would probably advise that you have some excursions or itinerary planned for your port days. Hopefully, you'll connect with some people on your roll call ahead of time.

I'm not of the mind that as a first time cruiser you need to book through the ship. This site is a great resource. There are boards dedicated to solo cruisers and first time cruisers. Do your research and you'll be fine. There are plenty of reputable third-party sites out there that offer excursions (Shore Excursioneer, Shore Excursions Group, etc.) . However, if you wait until you set sail, you may be stuck with the ship offered excursions. Again, it really just depends on what type of traveler you are - sometimes, it might be worth the extra money to take a ship excursion if it offers you peace of mind.

If you want to be GUARANTEED shade, rent a clamshell. Otherwise, if you get over on one of the earlier tenders, you should be able to find some decent shade not too far from the beach. We were on the first assigned tender group, and we had plenty of shady options to choose from. There are some shady spots right near the snorkel center and near the bar that's to the left (if facing the ocean) of the snorkel center. Bertram's Bar, I think. I grabbed my lounger right near the bar and had a pretty decent ocean view.

To the OP, we got a guide/map to GSC with our Freestyle Daily the night before so we could scope stuff out ahead of time. Also, on NCL's website there's a little interactive map. https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/great-stirrup-cay - the best spot for snorkeling is apparently the area I've described in the paragraph above. There's a "snorkel trail."

Can anyone tell me how to move this over to the Norwegian SKY board?

I think it automatically posts to the Norwegian Sky board. That's how I came across your post. If you're looking to do a review, you need to click on "Write a Review." This will only show up on the message boards, not under reviews.

I was also on that sailing, and I had a really good time as well. Sure, there were some little things that I might have liked better if they were different, but I'm a pretty low-maintenance traveler. It doesn't take a lot to please me, and it would have needed to be really, really, REALLY bad for it to be a bad vacation. Overall, I had a nice vacation. My sister and I met and talked to some really interesting people from all over and had some pretty good meals and drinks. We really just very much enjoyed ourselves, and it was pretty hard to come back to work the week after!

I found your opinion on the pool funny - I actually thought this was one of the nicer cruise ship pools LOL. Usually by the end of the day, you can start to see that sunblock film floating on the surface, but I didn't notice that here. However, I usually left the pool deck around 5-5:30, so who knows what happened once everyone was back on-board ;)

I went to Margaritaville when I was in Ocho Rios, but not the falls. The day we were there, it was rainy and miserable so we were glad we hadn't pre-booked an excursion. Margaritaville was a great time. There's a beach with loungers and a pool with a slide, which you can use basically for the cost of a drink or two. The food is typical bar food, but it was good. The staff was a lot of fun. We just stopped in for a drink after browsing the shops in the AM, and wound up staying all afternoon.

You'll be fine. I was there a few weeks ago, and it was fine. Just be aware of your surroundings and don't bring any unnecessary valuables with you. It's really the same for traveling in any big city. A bag that zippers shut is better than one that doesn't (provided you zip it up ;)). Don't flash your money around. Don't engage with people trying to sell you things, just say "no thanks" and keep moving. However, I've found that once you're out of the immediate port area, everything calms down considerably.

All of the advice posted so far is pretty much spot on. I think it seems that the Jewel Dunns River Resort is probably a safe bet. From my travels elsewhere, you probably would be ok with the Riu as well, but I don't have any experience with the one in Ocho Rios.

I went to Margaritaville for the day, and it was great. When I was in Ocho Rios, my group was really undecided about what to do - none of the excursions offered really grabbed us, and we were doing an all-inclusive day pass at a different port so we weren't sure we wanted to do that here. It wound up being a rainy, miserable day - so NOT typical Jamaica weather, and we were glad we hadn't pre-booked anything. We decided to stop in Margaritaville and we wound up staying there all day. There's a little beach with loungers and a pool with a slide, that you can use for basically the cost of a drink or two. The staff there was great - bartenders, servers, entertainment crew.

I've stayed at the Hampton Inn Miami/Brickell a few times pre-cruise, and would highly recommend. It's a lot more upscale than what you would typically expect from a Hampton Inn. Location downtown is nice, and there are several restaurants within walking distance. Uber/Lyft from the airport was about $15, and to the port was around $10 or less. I think you can also schedule a shuttle pickup through the hotel concierge, but I'm not sure how much it costs. It's a shared ride, and I'm thinking it's about $10pp.

May I ask: What was terrible about the memory? Here in the UK, police at ports are usually armed, we're quite used to it. Are you from a country where none of the police carry firearms?

I think the OP meant they don't have a good memory (meaning can't remember things LOL).

Also, I would say it's a little disconcerting the first time you see it. They are heavily armed with (what I assume are) assault rifles strung across their fronts. At the U.S. ports and major cities I've been to, police weapons are not as prominently displayed. Ports have security similar to airport security - yes, they are armed, but the guns are typically side pieces. Also, in the U.S. we don't typically have military at the port. So like I said, it's just a little disconcerting, especially considering that elsewhere in the Bahamas, namely Freeport, don't have the same security.

I have a terrible memory and as result I cannot remember which port it was, while on the Sky, where we had to walk through a large gated area with armed military/police. I think it was Nassau but not sure. You walk through a large gated area to access shuttles and buses.

Any guesses ?

 

 

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Yes, it was definitely Nassau.

There will be at least one US and one European. You can bring a power strip (no surge protector) if you want/need to plug in multiple devices.