springfire

Credit card handles all cruise expenditures except my casino where I use cash. My wife and I both have a couple of hundred dollars each that we use on the islands. I don't use my credit card outside of my cruise purchases.

85 days to go.....

We will be trying Chops on our next cruise!

I can remember thename of theship, but was on a couple of sailingsW in the early 90s on a small cruise ship that had it's home port in Palm Beach and went to the Bahamas overnight. Was it the Sun something?

I know one ship was called the Viking Princess and changed it's name to Palm Beach Princess.

This ship was scrapped back in 2011.

87 days and counting....

I have used Premier Parking. http://premierparkingusa.com and for 6 days it was $37.04 wich includes a complimentary shuttle for 4 round trip. Hope that helps!

 

Ken

Do not use premier parking, lots of issues have been reported.

This really is a wow sale. We were going to book another cruise and the price went up. This changes our plans for booking an additional cruise. Oh well we still have the Allure cruise in March.

As much as I loved my first cruise on the Starward, I have yet to go on a cruise and have a great time. They are all good.

89 days to go and counting......

Captain Bob Cass and his speedboat tour of St. Martin-- google him and read reviews on Tripadvisor.

It was great to snorkel, see the sights, watch the planes at Maho, all from the water and away from the often congested roads.

This is what we will do on our cruise with the Allure.

Park n Go is best place for the money and is safe!

I'd say it's cool. We leave the trays in the hall when we stay in hotels or cruise ships.

We do the same.

92 days to go...

I don't know why but I found it hilarious when someone complained about the rough seas on the ocean. Didn't they ever watch Gilligan's Island?

Anyway, here is my review.

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My husband and I decided to check off one of my 83 year old mother’s “bucket list” items and took her on a Royal Caribbean cruise. My brother-in-law also decided to join us. Because my Mom is starting to have some health issues we knew this was probably the only cruise she will ever be on so finding really good excursions was EXTREMELY important. Though we have not been on many cruises, we learned early on that it is best to book your excursions external to the cruise ship. The cruise line takes a huge amount off the top so that both you and the vendor lose out (you pay more and the vendor gets less money (they have to keep their prices down to stay competitive). When researching St. Maarten we noticed that not only was Soualiga Destinations rated as the Trip Advisor number 1 activity in St. Maarten, but it got 5 stars with over 600 reviews! We immediately gave Captain Bob and call and were very fortunate that we were able to snag a reservation for 4.

 

To say my expectations were high is an understatement. Upon meeting Captain Bob I informed him of this and told him it was pretty much going to be impossible to meet my standards. Well shiver me timbers, the old salty dog didn’t just meet my expectations, he blew them out of the unbelievably gorgeous water! We were assigned to Capt. Fab. I had not read anything about Capt. Fab on Trip Advisor so I was concerned at first that maybe he was a newbie and wouldn’t be as experienced on the details of the tour. If he didn’t know the island, he sure fooled us because he could practically name every rock formation (you will get a snicker out of some of them) and yacht that is on the island. As an aside, ladies, he isn’t hard on the eyes either!

 

Capt. Fab gave us an unbelievable trip which seemed to cover the entire island. We stopped in several locations to snorkel. The captain was very patient, especially with my Mom (we got her into the water once but she had a hip recently replaced so it took a lot of time to get her in and out of the boat). He showed us how to use the snorkeling equipment and more importantly, told us what we should be looking for. On one stop we saw some sea turtles! On another, he took out a chart and described the fish in that area. More importantly, he told us the exact spots to look in order to find the various critters. At each spot, he gave you ample time to explore.

 

Along the way, Capt. Fab took us to a wonderful ocean front restaurant for lunch (which is unbelievably included in the price of the excursion). This wasn’t some dump, but a really nice restaurant (they had some fabulous items on the menu, if we ever visit the island again, we would like to go back). I had the ribs, and the rest of the group got the fish (I don’t know how you can eat one after you just saw their brethren frolicking in the ocean, wouldn’t that be like having a hamburger standing next to a cow?). Anyway, both were fabulous!

 

Our final stop, and the one my hubby was most looking forward to was near the famous Princess Juliana airport. With those not familiar with it, the landing/takeoff strip is practically on the beach. Some morons … excuse me, tourists, actually hold onto a fence and practically get blown off the planet when the jets take off. Capt. Fab got us close enough that when a jet took off you could feel the heat and smell the gas. The biggest surprise was when we got sandblasted though (not really sandblasted, more like some big bully kicking some sand at you). Fortunately, Capt. Fab told us to close our eyes and duck. I certainly agreed with closing your eyes but wish I would have faced forward and gotten a free dermabrasion. The hubby was thrilled that Capt. Fab gave us enough time to see both a landing and a takeoff.

 

As you can tell, this is a very long winded review, probably the longest of my posting career. I could have just said this was terrific, mind-blowing and unbelievable (all of which are true) but I wanted to give you some details on why I felt all this. As your parents get older your roles reverse. More than anything else, I wanted my Mom to have the trip of her lifetime, one that she could tell her friends all about. She won’t have many more of these opportunities. Thanks to Capt. Bob and his fabulous crew, this truly was her once in a lifetime special trip!

Thanks for a Great Review!

Hope you all have a great day in Nassau today!

I did the All Access Tour on Allure. It starts at the MDR and you go through the galley. And not in any particular order you will visit the food storage area, engine control room, laundry room, crew canteen, crew bars, crew mess room, helipad, mooring/anchor area, RCTV server/control room, backstage of theatre and finally the Bridge. At the end of the tour, you do get a goody bag. It is a good 3-4hrs tour.

 

There is a separate tour for the Aqua Theatre.

Sounds like fun!

I love rccl but their sandwhich selection leaves much to be desired. Where is the grilled cheese, shrimp salad and tuna melt. The selections are yucky. After a night of fun we love to come back to... More food to eat while we plan the next day. Time to beef up that menu. Just my opinion.

I agree!

Great Photos! I signed up to do this on our cruise! Thanks for posting!

You can also get a corkscrew from your stateroom attendant.

This is the best way!

I honestly don't think elevator etiquette will be changing anytime soon.

We have cruised 3 times previously. We are planning a European cruise for next summer. Can anyone recommend a travel agent who has cruise expertise and can get us the very best deal available; preferably in NJ. Thanks!

No can do, against policy!

95 days to go.....

Living in Florida, when we sail from a Florida port we bring as much as we want. When flying we travel with much less stuff. It always works out great!

Many have used the hotel pass and it is a great deal. Good luck!:o

I just want to say the review and photos were amazing. Thank You!