o-state girl

https://thecruisestoponline.com/  This place is across the street from the port, and their website says that they will store luggage for $5 per piece.   

The Bishop's Palace is a beautiful old home you can tour, but it would be a little bit far to walk.   https://www.galvestonhistory.org/sites/1892-bishops-palace

The Galveston Railroad Museum and the Ocean Star offshore drilling museum would both be within walking distance of the luggage storage place.

If you are in relatively decent shape and like to be in the water, I would recommend the Roseau Valley Treasures tour with Bumpiing Tours.  I've done it twice and loved it.  I think their website is down right now, but here is a link to their review page.  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147282-d1545060-Reviews-Bumpiing_Tours-Roseau_Saint_George_Parish_Dominica.html

I've been cave tubing three times through this company:  https://cavetubing.bz/cruise

They have a $50 special that includes transport, guide, equipment, and lunch after tubing.   We have always had a great time.  I will say if anyone in your party is mobility limited, it is a little bit of a walk from the entrance of the cave tubing park to the river entry.  

I get the wall stickers from Dollar Tree.  They have several different patterns, and easily peel back off of the door without leaving residue.  I have even saved the waxed paper that they came on and restuck the sticker on it to use on another cruise.  

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow.those sound incredible.  

 

I do have an interest in the Navajo nation.     My father was removed from the Navajo Reservation as a child and placed for adoption.   At the time our Government in their wisdom took about 1/3 of the children as a way of integrating them  into our White Man county.  His court order also granted him U.S. Citizenship as Indians were not considered a Citizen.                    

There were so many tragic things that many of the indigenous peoples experienced at the hands of the government.  As I have gotten older, I have become so much more aware of how unfairly the tribes were treated.  Being born and raised in Oklahoma, I have come to realize how many things I learned in school were really "white" washed.  I never even heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre until I was in my twenties, and I was raised less than 50 miles from where it occurred.  I live less than 30 miles from the tribal headquarters of the Cherokees, and I really didn't understand the heartbreak of the Trail of Tears until a few years ago.

I hope you really enjoy the books.  So glad I could recommend them. 

On 7/4/2021 at 4:48 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Wow.    Thanks for all the great recommendations on Mystery Series.   I copied all of them to an excel spreadsheet and will start looking for them.  

Have you tried the Prey (Lucas Davenport) series by John Sandford?  I think there are a little over 30 novels so far in the series.  

If you are interested in learning a little more about the Navajo tribe, the Leaphorn and Chee mysteries by Tony Hillerman are good.  I like them because they are well written mysteries, but they also teach you quite a bit about the cultures of the Navajo tribe and other tribes that surround the Navajo reservation such as the Hopi and Zuni.  

I always bring a 12 pack on the ship with me.  Don't want to be without my DP!

On 6/8/2021 at 3:31 PM, YankeesFan4Life said:

We used Rony's, paid them via Paypal a few years ago.  Had a fantastic driver, Brian, who showed us around in his private car.  Was a little sketchy though because he had us meet him outside the port and take us to his car on a side road.  Wife and daughter were a bit nervous, but all worked out fine!  Took us to the chocolate factory, rum tasting, one of the sloth/monkey places and to a church to give out some school supplies to the children.

Were you docked at Mahogany Bay?  If so, I think most of the independent tour operators have to meet their clients a little ways up the hill outside the port gates.  

Best wishes to Steve and his team.  Glad that the Tropicante will still be around in some form or fashion.  

I've stayed in the Super 8 in the Webster/NASA area.  It's only about 30 miles from the cruise terminal and only about 4 hours from Dallas/Fort Worth.  It would get you through Houston while the traffic is light on Christmas night, which is a big plus in my book (I hate Houston traffic).  It's nothing fancy, but in my experience it has been clean and really affordable.  

I have used this email address to reach him in the past.  I don't know if it will still work or not, but I'm happy to share it:    levibaron@bumpiingtours.com

You can also download the Google map for the island to your phone before you leave home.  If you download and save it on your phone, you can use it even with your phone in airplane mode.  

I stayed in an Airbnb in Loiza (not too far from the San Juan airport) and had no trouble.  We had a car to get around with, so if you plan on using Uber to get around, you may want something closer to the city center.  With Airbnb, you can generally get more space and sometimes a kitchen or laundry, and it is often less than the price for a hotel.  I usually scan the reviews for each property on Airbnb to make sure that the experiences of their past guests have been pleasant.  

Go visit the Cozumel Humane Society for an afternoon.  I know how much Sakari likes dogs.  They are always happy to have visitor volunteers to help socialize or walk the animals.  I've visited here twice during Cozumel port days, and the staff here are awesome.  

https://en.humanecozumel.org/voluntariado

Mitsugirly, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into your reviews and trip reports.  I find myself excited when the next day of a report gets posted.  I've had 6 trips cancelled since this pandemic began, but at least i get to travel vicariously through you and your family.  Maybe one day, we will actually get to cruise together in person.  Keep up the good work!

I believe Gaido's Seaside Inn and the Scottish Inn both allow you to park at their hotel for the duration of your cruise.  

I would skip the Bacardi tour.  Old San Juan, the forts, and the rainforest will be plenty to see in one day. 

The one time I had more OBC than I really needed, I went to the Cherry on Top candy store.  They had Carnival gift cards at the register and allowed me to purchase one for the exact amount of OBC that I still had on my account.  I used that gift card to pay for part of my next Carnival cruise.  

Rent a car from Charlie car rentals.  I believe they will shuttle you from the port to their Condado rental office and then let you drop it off near the airport and shuttle you to the airport.  Driving up to see the El Yunque rainforest would be a good option.  The scenery along the way is very pretty.  The radio telescope near Arecibo is interesting to see if you are into science.  You do have to park at the bottom of the hill, but I believe they can send a shuttle for those who are mobility limited.  There are some really awesome ziplines at Toro Verde.  It would not be an option for the mobility limited family member, but there is a lovely cafe and visitors center on site.  

If you are interested in seeing Mayan ruins, a colonial city (Merida), or doing flea market shopping, then the answer is yes.  If you are wanting the clear blue/green water of the Caribbean the answer is no.  The beach is nice and sandy, but the water is nothing like you will see in Cozumel.

If people in your group are willing to drive, there is a Hertz rental counter at the cruise port.  You could split into two cars and do Maho Beach as well as exploring the island.  At the beginning of March, I rented a car, and with 4 of us it was less than $20 per person for the rental and gas.  I downloaded offline maps from Google maps to my phone and used it as a GPS while on the island (I didn't have cell coverage, but it still worked with the offline maps). 

If you liked the Breeze, I would probably select that itinerary.  I would want 4 ports instead of 3.

My suggestions:

St. Maarten-Rent a car from Hertz.  If you are a AAA member and rent through AAA.com, they usually have decent prices.  Download offline Google maps to your phone and use it as a GPS.   I would recommend beach hopping and exploring the island.  You probably won't want to miss Maho beach where the planes take off and land near the beach.

St. Kitts-Shipwreck Beach (South Friar's Beach) is a pretty cool, laid-back place.  You could just catch a cab there.  If you want a little bit of sightseeing as well as a little beach time,   I would recommend this tour https://www.thenfordgreytours.com/the-grand-tour-of-st-kitts.

San Juan-Depending on your port times, if you want an adventure, I would visit Toro Verde (http://toroverdepr.com/).  They have one of the fastest, longest ziplines in the world.  It's a little over an hour outside of San Juan, so if you have a very short port day, it might not be feasible.  

Grand Turk-I would probably just get off the ship and use the beach facilities nearby.  Several people recommend Jack's Shack for eating/drinking, but I've never been there.  

Hope this helps!

FYI, Autoprogreso is the company that provides the complimentary shuttle transport from the pier into town.  If you don't want to commit to anything ahead of time, you may be able to book with them directly at the pier.

I personally would skip the bio-luminescent tour.  With only 12 hours in port, I would spend my time doing something else.  Do you plan on touring both forts?  Have you thought about renting a car and driving to see the rainforest at El Yunque?  If you are very adventurous the Toro Verde adventure park has some of the longest and fastest zip lines in the world.  

I think Shore Excursioneer uses Autoprogreso (https://www.autoprogreso.com/en/) for their tour provider for some of their tours from Progreso.  We booked a tour to Chichen Itza through Shore Excursioneer and had no issues at all (tour provided by Autoprogreso.  I have booked directly through Autoprogreso for the Dzibilchaltun/Merida combo tour and my father and I enjoyed the tour very much.  I believe Shore Excursioneer is basically a middle man between the tour providers and the customer.  Is it possible that some of the unfavorable comments we directed at an individual tour as opposed to the booking company?