GS92

Is snorkeling possible at either Lucayan National Park or Gold Rock Beach? My wife and I would definitely like to get IN the water, but the only other option seems to be Deadman's Reef / Paradise Cove and it's getting luke warm reviews at best... We have our own gear, just need a spot.

Gold Rock is part of the national park. I would assume there would be no problem snorkeling. There is no one there to tell you what you can and can't do anyway. We were there for about 2 hours and probably only saw 5 other people the entire time. I would suggest trying to be there at low tide.

FWIW, after we picked up our armbands, we never had anyone ask to see them. And at no point did anyone ask to check our bags. After we got the armbands in the beach tower, we walked along the beach to the water park area but then walked into the Royal Tower area and back carrying our bags and no one ever said anything. It's certainly possible that someone was watching for armbands and we didn't notice but there was no "check point" that we saw. I guess if you were carrying a yeti cooler or something they might have said something but it seems if you just have typical beach bags they would not.

On another note, I actually didn't find the food at the pools particularly expensive. I think most things were $10 or less (hamburgers, wraps, etc.) which is about what I would expect at similar places.

Sorry for the delay in responding to recent questions. Things have been a little crazy getting back to the real world.

Elegant night is night 2. Freeport night for us. No lobster unless you pay extra.

One actual outlet which had either 2 or 3 plugs. 2 I think. But then there were two USB outlets with 2 plugs each for each bed. There was a hair dryer hard wired into a drawer in the desk.

Disembark was uneventful. Again FTTF was worth it. We checked our bags so we waited in the Mikado lounge right by the front elevators which were used only for taking you down to the disembark area and were the first ones called after people carrying off their own bags.

One tip that I discovered. If you use a porter, they apparently have their own line for customs. I am pretty sure we got through a good bit quicker than people who were well ahead of us carrying their own bags. And they will take your bags all the way to your car. Well worth the $15 tip.

All in all a great trip.

For anyone with any concerns from that last post, we did this yesterday with no problems whatsoever. We checked in and checked out at the same time like the original poster. Their only comment was to ask us to stay with them if we came back. The total cost for us was about $430 for 4 of us (2 adults, 15 and 11 yo kids).

One additional comment...our driver did not wait for us and it is a looong walk from the comfort suites to the beach tower where you check in and then to the water park so be prepared. Other than that, we had a great time. One of the main rides went down just after lunch but we were leaving not long after that anyway so it was no big deal. It was crowded but the lines were not bad.

the last time I was on the elation, there were life jacket boxes in the corner of the cabin, which really took up a lot of space, have they done away with them and put the life jackets in the closets like other on ships?

In our cabins, they are on top of the closets in their own little area.

Thank you for this! It is interesting that your check in was 11. It seems like I have been reading where the earliest check in has been 12:30 or 1pm.

 

It sounds like there were maybe three different PG shows, that is certainly better than two! I hope they stick with 7:45. Often they are 7:30 and those are hard to make from early dinner.

 

Thanks again!

Sorry for the delay in responding. The onboard wifi was pretty spotty yesterday for some reason. The PG shows were 7:30 Friday and Saturday nights and tonight's is at 7:45.

Would appreciate info on this (where you rented the car, pricing, etc.) if you would care to share. Plus how you enjoyed it. We're on the Elation at the end of October and thought about this same thing for Freeport if cost effective. Hubby is pretty adventurous with driving, and none of the set excursions appeal to us... Many thanks!

And I forgot to add that driving was no problem. There was very little traffic. You do need to be comfortable with traffic circles as there are a good number of them. Otherwise, just keep reminding yourself to stay on the left and it's easy.

Would appreciate info on this (where you rented the car, pricing, etc.) if you would care to share. Plus how you enjoyed it. We're on the Elation at the end of October and thought about this same thing for Freeport if cost effective. Hubby is pretty adventurous with driving, and none of the set excursions appeal to us... Many thanks!

Just back on the boat. Everything went well. We rented from Island Jeep and Car Rental. I chose them because they were the only one at the port. The only drawback to that is they close at 5:00 so we had to return the car a little earlier than we preferred. We got the SUV which was a Jeep Liberty. Total rental was $105. Make sure you ask them for the online rate when you book. Otherwise they will charge you about $40 more. Also, they did not tell me in advance that they charge another $400 to your card as a damage deposit and then void the charge when you return. I wasn't happy but we were kind of stuck. Other than that, it worked great. We went to Gold Rock Beach and Banana Bay restaurant. Beach was beautiful and the food was really good.

Just off Elation yesterday. Kevin is the best CD we've ever experienced.

 

Would disagree with purchasing FTTF. We didn't have it, and never saw where it would have been beneficial. Maybe it was because we had an earlier embarkation, but it only took about 30 minutes from the time we unloaded our luggage until we were on the ship. The only other time it could have been useful would have been to get an earlier tender to Princess Cays, but I woke up early to go get us tender tickets.

 

We also had a recently updated room and found it much nicer than I had anticipated. Definitely a plus.

 

Really my only negative, was the food. Wasn't bad by any means. Just wasn't as good as I've had with other cruise lines.

 

Hope you have a great time!

I have an aversion to standing in lines and anything I can do to limit that I will. You may be right if you get there early but I can guarantee that it saved us at least 30 minutes if not more and we didn't have to stand in line outside.

Fire away with any questions and I'll do my best to answer. Me, wife and 16 and 11 yo daughters. Here's my thoughts so far...

Jaxport access was very easy. Only short waits to enter the port, drop off luggage and get into the lot. Boarding started at 12:30 but we didn't arrive until about 1:00.

Check in went really well. I would highly recommend FTTF. When we walked up the main security line was out the door and snaked out into the sun. We walked right inside. It was worth the $$ just for that. And after security, we were ushered in front of everyone else to a check in agent. Again, well worth the $$. I also had a small issue that needed guest services attention and was able to jump right to the front of that line as well.

We are in cabins M98 and M102 which I was pleasantly surprised to find were the last two renovated cabins on the main deck. Flat screen tv, plenty of outlets, etc. Very nice.

Lunch and dinner were uneventful. Food was fine. Went to the opening show after dinner. Cruise director (Kevin) is very good. Show was pretty cheesy for my taste but enjoyable.

Freeport today and Nassau tomorrow. Have a car rented for Freeport to go to Gold Rock beach and then just do our own thing for a while. Atlantis through Comfort Suites tomorrow.

I think you may have just made it! I remember seeing 90 something with a new door. I wish I had paid more attention for you!

 

 

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You don't know how right you were! We are in the last two renovated cabins on the main deck! Very happy to see the new doors on both cabins when we walked up!

Would love to hear your experience on Wednesday. There isn't really a way to know the earliest time, I just know I booked this cruise over a year ago and originally picked an 11am time and was changed to 1pm. I assume that is the earliest time. Our departure has also changed to 5pm and I noticed several other sailings were also changed to 5pm. You say you can check in "any time" with FTTF, but I am not sure what that "any time" is...it may be noon in your case. Please let us know if you are able to get in earlier.

Received an email today that boarding this Thursday starts at 12:30 (I accidentally said Wednesday in my post yesterday).

OP, can you please report back here and let us know your experience? We sail after you and I am curious. There is more going on at Jaxport than just staggered check-in. The earliest check-in allowed is 1pm, whereas it used to be 11am. I would like to know if they are really adhering to not letting anyone in the terminal before 1pm.

We are sailing this Wednesday, have FTTF and have a check in assigned time of 12:00 (I know we can check in anytime). Where do you find what the earliest check in time is? I see people referring to it but don't know where to find it?

I believe Island Jeep and Car Rental is the only one at the port. The others are at the airport and you have to be picked up and taken there. Island Jeep appears to have pretty good reviews but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone that has used them recently.

Thank you! We'll just keep our fingers crossed!

Thanks for your review. We are on the same cruise in about 3 weeks. You answered one of my questions about which night was formal night.

Do you recall what part of the main deck has been renovated? We are in M98 and M102 and from other reviews I've seen I think we may be close to the cutoff where the renovations have been completed.

In Freeport in early August. We dock at 12 and leave at 7 so somewhat odd hours. Trying to decide between day passes at Grand Lucayan or renting a car and doing our own thing including Gold Rock Beach. Me, wife,16 and 11 YO daughters.

Since we don't dock until 12 is there a concern all day passes at the resort would be sold out? Is it worth the cost given that we probably could get there by 1:00 at the earliest?

Low tide at Gold Rock looks like not long after we dock so it looks like we could hit it just right. And we are doing Atlantis the next day so this would be something different. I guess I'm just a little wary of being completely on our own in a rental car.

Opinions are greatly appreciated. However, don't say stay on the boat. While I certainly understand those thoughts, we are using the cruise as a means of transportation to visit the islands.

Thanks in advance!