Itchy&Scratchy

I do believe that the pushy vendors are located in the shopping village (the market)

you should give it a chance. There is more to it than the beach. I added some photos to my previous post. Also, you can gawk at the zipliners. 🙂 My DH did the zipline way back when, when it was still $99 and we did fun things other than vegging out on the beach. I think he was just about your age then, lol. Carpe diem, right?

Falmouth is different (and far) from Ocho Rios, imho.

we went there in 2009 before the upgrade and enjoyed it, and we enjoyed it again twice after the pandemic and upgrade. I didn't discover the beautiful "secret" path until the second time.

Definitely very suitable for a very nice long walk around. Several areas literally off the main path are lovely and walkable, and exercise worthy (a bit of climbing around). The whole area is a nice, safe tourist zone, and you won't be leaving it. this building is right next to the beach (Nellie's). We usually go to Nellie's beach, chill and swim, and then walk around in that green area that you see between the ship and barefoot beach. You can access it from the pedestrian path that runs between the ship and the beaches.

imho, Falmouth is rather boring and nothing to write home about (it's literally a fishing village outside of a pretty port area)*, but we enjoy both Labadee and CocoCay as they are - a wonderful beach destination. Both are beautiful. *We walked around the first time we were at Falmouth. Nice, but didn't want to do it again.

they don't have funnel cake onboard, do they? That was one of the best parts of our Cococay experience. I hope you enjoy it as well. Oh, and do explore the path between the Chill island and South beach. Gorgeous!

not always. I booked 2 X cruises during spring break and Thanksgiving 2025 because a balcony cabin for 3 on Ascent and Beyond was cheaper than an inside cabin for 3 in a similarly or slightly more aged Princess ship. If not for the price, I would have probably stayed with Princess because we love it. Or would have found something cheaper (hopefully) as we are not all that loyal. Both lines are running a 3rd and 4th person free promotion, but on Princess it applies only to select few cruises which are impossible to find and definitely not to the holidays sailings, while X applied the promotion to both of them. Without the promotion applied, Princess would have been cheaper, but still not nicely priced. Over $3K for an inside cabin for 3 people 7 nights is not reasonable to me personally. It has also become very difficult to find newer Princess ships sailing in the Caribbean in April and November for a week or so when we have school breaks. I would definitely choose a newer ship. So, Majestic it is.

you can add Princess Plus to the lowest fare, but you cannot get NCL's Free at Sea added to the guarantee rate. And, as mentioned, Free at Sea don't cover gratuities, and the internet is not exactly unlimited/streaming.

today's date + 330 days puts it at Jan 9, 2025. Which doesn't explain why December 2024 rooms are ALL blanked out.

no, the 15 count limit every 24 hours only applies to alcoholic drinks.

well, we also have a child who we do not homeschool. Last time on Enchanted we bought the wifi plan (one device) for my DH's work because his manager told him he had to, but he wasn't able to actually work. Two factor authentication, something-something. He was able to communicate with co-workers and subordinates, but not more than that. And I don't want to work on vacation, period. Like ever.

I think you should call them. There is something wrong with their website - not a single night in Dec 2024-March 2025 is available.

who wants to work on vacation?????

the linens on the bed aren't going to transmit covid to your 78 year old companion. But infected people in a theater or other crowded venues will. If you are worried about infections, I'd worry about being in a very enclosed space with several thousand coughing and sneezing peeps. We cruise with my 75 yo diabetic father and 73 yo mom. It would not occur to us to make them bring linens on a cruise with them because of my father's diabetes. They've already had covid at home 3 times. They never caught it on a cruise. We do not need a cleaning service every day, so we put a DND sign on once in a while. But not for the duration of the cruise, and not for the same reasons as yours. In the past if we kept that DND sign on for longer than a day, we would get a call from the housekeeping supervisor. So, we don't keep it on every day or for longer than a day. We do want our trash removed and wet towels replaced at least sometimes. Some of the cabins are humid, and towels do not dry out. Cabin attendants do not usually touch our stuff, although it happens once in a while. You may want to ask them not to touch your belongings, but there is nothing personal about them removing trash or cleaning your toilet.

you can click on my MSC review in my signature to see more about the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon.

they could literally put a recycle bin right next to every disembarkation station. Scan and throw it in. I would.

well, let's see. I can pay $7.99 for 12 beforehand or $3.50+ per 1 can of soda onboard. We drink free water onboard. This will be the first time we'll bring soda onboard - only because we are staying in a hotel right across from Publix this time.

I also find Ports of Call boards very useful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

if you bought insurance, that may be an insurance premium adjustment.

I didn't realize at the time that it was your first cruise, but now that I know, I want to offer an additional comment on this: changes in itinerary happen all the time, across all the cruise lines. Sometimes in advance, sometimes very shortly before the cruise, and sometimes during the cruise. Most of the time you don't get any compensation at all, especially when a change happens 5 months in advance. Sometimes you may get $50 onboard credit for the inconvenience. You may also get the port taxes back. If the change happens when you are already onboard, you may also get a small onboard credit. But this is usually it, and you don't get it every time. It's in your sailing contract. The cruise company doesn't owe you anything for changes in the itinerary. P.S. Make sure to put your phones in airplane mode, if you don't want to be unpleasantly surprised by the roaming charges (data and phone).

just an FYI - you don't HAVE to buy shore excursions through the ship - they are usually more expensive and limited on time, but it is a good way to ensure that you get back on the ship in a port of call. Since you mentioned it's your first cruise. Also, on Enchanted included food at the buffet and in the main dining room is usually great, so we personally don't ever get specialty dining. The main reason is that I am frugal, but on Princess specifically specialty restaurants, imho, are not needed unless you simply want to spend money on a more elevated food (it's not an elevated experience every time, apparently). NCL is where we were sorely in need of specialty restaurants, because their included food was bad (in 2018).

£5k ($6.3K) for 3 people for a 14 night cruise in a balcony cabin is a good price. Free coffee on new Princess ships is pretty good, so what are you complaining about? We are paying $3K for 7 night cruises in a balcony for 3 people, so a 14 night cruise for $6.3 isn't that far off. We also pay for flights and hotel... We are also going to be on Enchanted this summer, and we can't wait. We are not complaining about Princess (X, Carnival, RCI) not including free specialty coffee in that rate. If you can get NCL AI rate for 3 people in a balcony for $6.3K on a 14 night cruise - why don't you? NCL didn't provide free at sea for us at all when their ship broke down on day 3 of our 10 day cruise and we had to go home. They refunded us and also allowed us to use the same amount towards the next sailing, but they didn't throw in free at sea to "recompense us" for the inconvenience. Believe me, that ordeal was a lot more inconvenient than replacing a port with a sea day. And we were not even as badly inconvenienced as the passengers from Europe and Australia.

we don't get any packages, and we always have a wonderful carefree pretty much AI experience for the entire family. You don't NEED to buy any packages. You don't need wifi or alcohol on a cruise. You may want them, but you don't need them. that's in the UK. In the US Princess has fully refundable deposits most of the time. Now, other lines like X and RCI do not usually have refundable deposits, unless you pay a lot more for it. NCL's Free at Sea isn't free at all. First, you have to pay a higher rate in order to tuck it on, and then it costs money on top of that. You are lying to yourself if you think it's free. total and utter nonsense. It appears that you have come here to stir some x up...

Are you saying that unlimited meals at Alfredo's costs Princess only $1.25 pp per cruise? P.S. I do wish medallions were reusable, since disposing of so many of them after every cruise pollutes the Earth.