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Kathyds

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    Cell/GPS

    in Aruba

    Posted

    Verizon charges $10.00/day for calls, texts and data in most of the Caribbean and $5.00 in Mexico.

     

     

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    Favorite Princess Ship 2017

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    We are thinking about booking our 1st cruise on Princess (#1 and #2 cruises were on Carnival). It would be on the Caribbean Princess to the ABC islands. Does anyone have any thoughts...good or bad...about this ship? Thanks!!

     

     

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    What is your favorite book/author to read?

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Very good advice. Unknowingly, I did make the mistake of starting in the middle, and fell in love anyway. Wish I could have undone that mistake and started at the beginning. With some mystery novels, it doesn't matter so much, but the character development over time (as well as the sequence of events) is important for Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache.

     

     

     

    Louise Penny is coming to Denver for a book signing next month and I'm hoping to go! She is one of my favorites!

     

     

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    Purified water - 12 pack

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    It's amazing to me that people will spend at the least $1000 on a cruise for 2 and bitch about having to pay $4.50 for a 12-pack of water! Yes it's cheaper on shore but guess what? You're not on shore, you're on a ship! And the convenience of having the water waiting for you when you get to your room should be well worth the $4.50....IMHO.

     

     

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    Just off the Dream (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel)

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    The Food\Cheers

    Guy’s Burgers: First thing you do when you get on the shipis head straight here for the best burger you’ll ever have. Get it with thedonkey sauce (I think it’s a mayo based sauce with a little kick). Comes withfries and there is a condiment stand with some toppings. Mine? Just cheese anddonkey sauce. The line might be long but it moves very quickly. Hot tip: Thereare 2 lines. The most common one is obvious as it builds towards the right to the doorway to the elevators. There is asecond serving area on the opposite side of the venue, left side as you’relooking at the place from the pool area. Go ahead and get 2. You’ll eat both.

     

    Blue Iguana Cantina: Your first stop for breakfast. Burritoswith eggs, Mexican eggs, ham, sausage, hash browns and an assortment of otherfillers. Made your way. Wheat or jalapeno tortilla. Big enough for 2 people.Very nice. A great place for lunch also. Regular Mexican type food. Reallygood. Next to the Cantina is a drink station. Water, ice, tea, coffee, lemonade.Sweeteners and such.

     

    The Gathering: Has a buffet line for breakfast. Typical foodfare. Plus there is an omelet station. Cooked to order with about 6 differentfillers. Line moves quickly. Didn’t eat anything in here but several omelets.

     

    At least 2 locations for 24 hour self-serve ice cream. Mightbe 4.

     

    Pizza place at rear of ship: Ok pizza. Only 5 choices withonly one with any meat (pepperoni). Open 24 hours but line can get long if lateat night. Bar right next door. Cool pool back there and 2 hot tubs.

     

    The Carving: Buffet type food with some of the sameofferings as the MDR. Not a bad option.

     

    We had “Your Time Dining” but only ate in the Scarlett (Ithink) Room only 3 times; Monday, Tuesday (Elegant night) and Saturday.Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we did shore excursions and when we got back onship, we grabbed a bite to eat and ended up not being hungry when the realdining times came around. Plus we didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. Foodwas decent in the Scarlett Room. Not much on the menu for smaller kids althoughboth of mine liked the flat iron steak. Chocolate Melting Cake is fantastic.Service was good but time to get our food was a bit lengthy. The dining timeopened at 5:45 and pushing it to get to a show around 7-7:15. The dance routineperformed by the waiters was cute.

     

    We got to the dining room around 545-630 each night and wereseated immediately. No waiting. No way I would have the early dining time,especially if booking excursions. I want to relax on vacation, not try to hurryand eat at a certain time. Sometimes you just want to grab a ‘whatever’ andrelax on one of the decks. Having the late dining time may be suitable forsome, but not sure why.

     

    Attire for the casual nights was just that, casual. Anythingfrom button down shirts and pants\jeans to a suit to a pair of shorts, flipflops and a tee shirt. Believe me, on casual night, do not worry about what you’rewearing. No one else will either except those who feed off that kind of worry.

     

    Elegant nights….slightly better dress. Mostly. Suits, ties,sport coats, linen shirts\pants, polo shirts with jeans. Only saw one teeshirt. Didn’t notice any shorts, but there may have been some. For girls, anice sundress is fine. Guys, linen shirts\pants are fine as well as khakis and adecent shirt. Don’t sweat it. There will be someone dressed better – and worse –than you are.

     

    Cheers package: We didn’t buy it since my wife doesn’t drinkand the numbers wouldn’t work out for us. But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day. Or evenone day. I know there are other drinks you can get via the Cheers package, but I’mcommenting strictly on the alcohol drinks. On the days you’re off ship,reaching the 15 drink limit would have to be done in a shorten time frame. Youmight be able to do it one day but if you had to get up and off the ship earlythe next day for another excursion, I bet you’d re-think your purchase. Forsome folks, maybe more than will admit it, the Cheers package isn’t a good dealin hindsight. You are able to share your Cheers drinks with others. Happened allcruise long. Buy a drink at the bar via Cheers. Take it to someone. Wait the 5minutes, go get another one. The bartenders don’t care. Not condoning thepractice, but it happens. Best I can remember, American beers are $7.47including ‘gratuity’ for a 16oz beer. I think that’s right. I drank MichelobUltra and they were twist tops. Came to me un-opened every time. Saw some Budproducts that had to be opened with a bottle opener. So when people debate ifbeers come opened or not, both can be right. Buy a bucket of beers to splitwith someone if outside. Ice melts very quickly and trying to drink 4 beers byyourself before they get warm is difficult. Every beer I bought was ice cold tostart with. Funny…my son had a larger arcade tab than I did a bar tab. I’ll tryharder next time!!

     

    Dr. Seuss breakfast is well worth the extra $5 per person.Sign up as soon as you get there. Lido deck just as you get off the elevators.Bring some Dr. Seuss shirts for the family!!! A few of the characters show upand, believe it or not, they take pictures that you can purchase. You can bringyour own camera too.

     

    Room Service: Limited free menu but open 24 hours. Hadcoffee\muffins delivered to room each morning along with cereal for the kids. Ontime every morning.

     

     

    Bottom Line: Several good places to eat. Iguana and Guy’s byfar the best I tried. Smaller product offerings but the quality and taste werebetter than mass produced food in the MDR. Was not a problem at all. We havekids so our dining choices includes their likes and dislikes. There’s plenty ofplaces to eat and you’ll find decent food. Cheers package? Not for me even if Icould get it. Think about how much you really think you’ll drink before you getit. Believe me…you’ll not want to start your day off with a hangover…to muchfun to be had.

     

     

     

    But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day.

     

    Just as an FYI....you don't have to reach 15 drinks to make the Cheers package worth the price. That's just the cap of how many drinks are covered. I figured 5 drinks, several bottles of water and a couple of Cokes would cover the $50/a day price which is why we bought Cheers on our last cruise (which happened to be our first cruise :). It was fun trying new drinks every day and not having to worry about the bill.

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Forums

    Just off the Dream (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel)

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    The Food\Cheers

    Guy’s Burgers: First thing you do when you get on the shipis head straight here for the best burger you’ll ever have. Get it with thedonkey sauce (I think it’s a mayo based sauce with a little kick). Comes withfries and there is a condiment stand with some toppings. Mine? Just cheese anddonkey sauce. The line might be long but it moves very quickly. Hot tip: Thereare 2 lines. The most common one is obvious as it builds towards the right to the doorway to the elevators. There is asecond serving area on the opposite side of the venue, left side as you’relooking at the place from the pool area. Go ahead and get 2. You’ll eat both.

     

    Blue Iguana Cantina: Your first stop for breakfast. Burritoswith eggs, Mexican eggs, ham, sausage, hash browns and an assortment of otherfillers. Made your way. Wheat or jalapeno tortilla. Big enough for 2 people.Very nice. A great place for lunch also. Regular Mexican type food. Reallygood. Next to the Cantina is a drink station. Water, ice, tea, coffee, lemonade.Sweeteners and such.

     

    The Gathering: Has a buffet line for breakfast. Typical foodfare. Plus there is an omelet station. Cooked to order with about 6 differentfillers. Line moves quickly. Didn’t eat anything in here but several omelets.

     

    At least 2 locations for 24 hour self-serve ice cream. Mightbe 4.

     

    Pizza place at rear of ship: Ok pizza. Only 5 choices withonly one with any meat (pepperoni). Open 24 hours but line can get long if lateat night. Bar right next door. Cool pool back there and 2 hot tubs.

     

    The Carving: Buffet type food with some of the sameofferings as the MDR. Not a bad option.

     

    We had “Your Time Dining” but only ate in the Scarlett (Ithink) Room only 3 times; Monday, Tuesday (Elegant night) and Saturday.Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we did shore excursions and when we got back onship, we grabbed a bite to eat and ended up not being hungry when the realdining times came around. Plus we didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. Foodwas decent in the Scarlett Room. Not much on the menu for smaller kids althoughboth of mine liked the flat iron steak. Chocolate Melting Cake is fantastic.Service was good but time to get our food was a bit lengthy. The dining timeopened at 5:45 and pushing it to get to a show around 7-7:15. The dance routineperformed by the waiters was cute.

     

    We got to the dining room around 545-630 each night and wereseated immediately. No waiting. No way I would have the early dining time,especially if booking excursions. I want to relax on vacation, not try to hurryand eat at a certain time. Sometimes you just want to grab a ‘whatever’ andrelax on one of the decks. Having the late dining time may be suitable forsome, but not sure why.

     

    Attire for the casual nights was just that, casual. Anythingfrom button down shirts and pants\jeans to a suit to a pair of shorts, flipflops and a tee shirt. Believe me, on casual night, do not worry about what you’rewearing. No one else will either except those who feed off that kind of worry.

     

    Elegant nights….slightly better dress. Mostly. Suits, ties,sport coats, linen shirts\pants, polo shirts with jeans. Only saw one teeshirt. Didn’t notice any shorts, but there may have been some. For girls, anice sundress is fine. Guys, linen shirts\pants are fine as well as khakis and adecent shirt. Don’t sweat it. There will be someone dressed better – and worse –than you are.

     

    Cheers package: We didn’t buy it since my wife doesn’t drinkand the numbers wouldn’t work out for us. But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day. Or evenone day. I know there are other drinks you can get via the Cheers package, but I’mcommenting strictly on the alcohol drinks. On the days you’re off ship,reaching the 15 drink limit would have to be done in a shorten time frame. Youmight be able to do it one day but if you had to get up and off the ship earlythe next day for another excursion, I bet you’d re-think your purchase. Forsome folks, maybe more than will admit it, the Cheers package isn’t a good dealin hindsight. You are able to share your Cheers drinks with others. Happened allcruise long. Buy a drink at the bar via Cheers. Take it to someone. Wait the 5minutes, go get another one. The bartenders don’t care. Not condoning thepractice, but it happens. Best I can remember, American beers are $7.47including ‘gratuity’ for a 16oz beer. I think that’s right. I drank MichelobUltra and they were twist tops. Came to me un-opened every time. Saw some Budproducts that had to be opened with a bottle opener. So when people debate ifbeers come opened or not, both can be right. Buy a bucket of beers to splitwith someone if outside. Ice melts very quickly and trying to drink 4 beers byyourself before they get warm is difficult. Every beer I bought was ice cold tostart with. Funny…my son had a larger arcade tab than I did a bar tab. I’ll tryharder next time!!

     

    Dr. Seuss breakfast is well worth the extra $5 per person.Sign up as soon as you get there. Lido deck just as you get off the elevators.Bring some Dr. Seuss shirts for the family!!! A few of the characters show upand, believe it or not, they take pictures that you can purchase. You can bringyour own camera too.

     

    Room Service: Limited free menu but open 24 hours. Hadcoffee\muffins delivered to room each morning along with cereal for the kids. Ontime every morning.

     

     

    Bottom Line: Several good places to eat. Iguana and Guy’s byfar the best I tried. Smaller product offerings but the quality and taste werebetter than mass produced food in the MDR. Was not a problem at all. We havekids so our dining choices includes their likes and dislikes. There’s plenty ofplaces to eat and you’ll find decent food. Cheers package? Not for me even if Icould get it. Think about how much you really think you’ll drink before you getit. Believe me…you’ll not want to start your day off with a hangover…to muchfun to be had.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Forums

    Belize in November

    in Belize

    Posted

    My husband and I are so confused as to what to do in Belize. Excursion with Carnival because of the tendering or through an independent like Coral Breeze or Ecotours? Caye Caulker, Rendezvous, or Goff? Or maybe Starfish Island? We would like to go snorkeling but also touch our feet in Belize and do a little shopping. We keep thinking one thing then we read something and we start all over again! This is our 2nd cruise and would be the first excursion away from Carnival so that makes me a tad nervous. Any advice, thoughts or recommendations? Thank you!!

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Football on the Dream

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    I haven't been on the Dream yet but I've been doing some research for future cruises. It seems that the Dream doesn't have a sports bar but the casino bar has a bunch of TVs and doubles as the sports bar. That's where I'd expect to watch the Sunday and Monday night games. As for the Sunday noon and 3pm games, you'll likely get whatever is being shown in the Miami market.

     

     

     

    Bookmark this website and check it the week before the games.

     

     

     

    http://506sports.com/

     

     

     

    Thanks for the heads up about the casino bar!!! I don't think we would have thought of that.

     

     

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