nzdisneymom

@DandDM thank you for posting the results. I'm sorry for your loss and hope that when you do sail, you will reflect on the happy memories you have of traveling with your wife while making new friends and memories.  And like you, there's so much I would not know and miss out on without the experiened CC members!

I'm glad to see such positive responses about gluten-free options for us Celiacs.  We will be on the Mariner in September.  I'd love to hear about any "must try" GF items that you had that were made special / off menu.  Also, did you have to ask your server about pre-ordering for the next night?  And if you skipped dinner one night, how did you go about ordering for the next-next night?

9 hours ago, BND said:

That's what we have.  I also have plastic sleeves for just the card if we don't need our passports for something else.

 

These are what we have.  DH has blue and I have pink.  Makes it easier to know which is which.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098PKCRND/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Also, bought these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YWNDS2D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thanks for sharing the links.  The blue is $2 less and the pink is $1 less than the other colors. I like the idea of having a different color for each person as I'm always the one in charge of passing out the passports to family members.  And now that everyone is grown and can keep up with their own documents, it will be nice to each have their own color.  

Since the OP switched to Early Dining and doesn't need the My Time Dining reservations any more, will the reservations automatically drop off, or does the OP need to specifically cancel them so they'll be available for someone else to reserve?  Just wondering how that works.

So does everyone get a free bit of Voom?  Is it just available on the first day?

We just booked a similar itinerary for September on the Mariner, so we have been following this thread with interest.  Thanks for sharing the pictures and experiences.  

I'm glad you asked this question because I was trying to find out the times for MTD.  I can see reservations for our sailing starting at 6:45 but I didn't know if they had seating prior to that (we will be sailing on the Mariner) that you just showed up for.  Now I know.  We don't want late, and the early time was too early as we like to enjoy sail-away (or in our case, port arrival in Bermuda on day) on deck rather than from the dining room. 

If we make a reservation for a MTD time but decide to not go to the dining room for dinner, I'm guessing we should be sure to cancel it so someone else can have that time slot, right?

I was just reading about the testing at the ports on RCCL's FAQ.  Maybe this will help you out:
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-if-i-dont-find-a-pre-cruise-test-or-get-test-results-in-time

Select the port you are leaving from and see if they have any appointments for when you are sailing.  It says pricing starts at $99.  If you are arriving at your departure point the day before sailing, you can always check online to see where tests are offered locally at Walgreens / CVS, etc., to see if you can get an appointment for the rapid test.  Good luck! 

It's showing up again for us - looking forward to seeing a bit of the island.  six more weeks!

We just started looking at this as a possibility for my post-retirement cruise! I'm happy to see a recent review.  

I heard back from Carnival today and they said they have this excursion lined up again, but I still don't see it on the excursion list.  Guess we'll just keep an eye out for it.

Thanks for the info and explanation.  I have emailed shoe excursions about it and had no reply, so thanks for this info.

Secret deck on the bow??? More info, please!

5 hours ago, WorkerBee74 said:

Tuesday, May 7th - St Thomas

I mean.... really.  And it gets better later, this was just pulling into the port (which is the Havensight port, by the way).  I'm not sure about that hotel on the right of the first pic, if it's just being built or was damaged by Irma but it had/is going to have a great view...

 

 

We were in St. Thomas the day after you all were.  Regarding the hotel on the right, it was damaged by the hurricane - basically blew out the whole thing from what the tour guide told us on our boat ride over to St. John. 

Thanks for all the info - I"m enjoying your trip report.

7 hours ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

Haha!  That is so great!  You'll have to post the pic, maybe you'll see me on the balcony taking the pic of the Fantasy!

Thanks for the info regarding FFTF. I am excited about being able to get on the ship and go to the cabin to drop off our stuff before exploring.  

Here's a picture of the Breeze in Port Canaveral on the afternoon of May 4th, taken from the Disney Fantasy.

On 5/21/2019 at 5:46 PM, WorkerBee74 said:

Saturday, May 4th - Departure Day

We got FTTF again like we had on our first cruise (we are lowly Red VIFPs so wouldn't get the perks otherwise) - it's just great to us to be able to relax and have our cabin ready as soon as we board, especially with a busy week we had prior - and we also had a date with the water park at Universal the day we debarked, so wanted to get off the ship early too without having to do self-carry.  To us it is worth it, and when you look at the cost for a similar thing on Royal, it's a steal at the $70 we paid for the priority embark/debark and cabin being ready. 

 

 

And, speak of the devil, there's that expensive Disney Cruise right beside us at the port 😛

 

 

We were on the Disney Fantasy at the same time you were on the Carnival Breeze.  I took a picture of the Breeze like this one 😉  We are sailing on the Breeze in September.

We got FFTF for our September cruise, but I haven't figured out what it really means we get to do because of it.  Can you tell me about what happens at the cruise terminal and boarding with FFTF?  And once you're on board, you can really go directly to your cabin and it's ready?  What about other things onboard during the week?  And also about disembarking at the end?  We usually self-carry but if my bags will be waiting in the terminal for me AND we can disembark earlier in the morning, I will leave my bags out the night before.

Looking forward to reading your report.  We will stop in Grand Turk in Sept and have just booked an early 2021 on another cruiseline that goes to San Juan.

30 minutes ago, shof515 said:

i did some searches on google, the tour operator is called Island Trams Limited, website is https://islandtrams.com/ . They have similar tours that carnival offered with cheaper pricing. Looking at the website, they said they no longer work with the cruise line and that their trams is near the ship

 

I have 14 days from my cruise. If i do not hear anything from carnival between now and then, i will cancel with carnival and book directly with them.

Thank you.

3 hours ago, shof515 said:

I also booked the Rainbow Calypso Island  tour for my visit to Grand Turk on the Sunrise in June. I can not find that tour on the carnival website. My cruise manager and e-docs have the h_ in front of it too.

 

I booked this tour when they had the shore excursions discounts sales. IF the tour is indeed cancel, i wonder if carnival can do something to give me a discount off a new tour

@shof515, when you get back, if you think about it, will you let me know how it turns out (or if you find out before you go)?

Hi.  We are sailing in September and will have a stop in Grand Turk.  We have pre-purchased the Rainbow Calypso Island Tram excursion through the cruiseline, but when I went to look at the excursion description, etc., today, it doesn't show up in Carnival's excursion lists.  I see it under Manage My  Cruise but it now has h_ in front of the excursion name, and shows "no image available" for the picture.  We have another excursion booked for a different day / port and it shows up as expected.  Should we be concerned about this excursion being cancelled?  I couldn't find anything to indicate what the h_ might indicate.

OP, we just booked the Harmony for January 2021 and our TA said "early dining" is at 5:15 and late dining is at 8.  She said that it seems to change on RCCL seasonally and based on itinerary.  I had thought perhaps we had reserved MTD but this was traditional.   We have switched to MTD though because 5:15 is too early and 8 is too late.  

Thanks for the recommendations.  I'll check out the private guide recommendation. The other couple decided they'd like to just go shopping that day, so DH and I will be able to move about a bit faster and can customize our "wish list" to our interests.

We are traveling with another couple and have an overnight in Bermuda in September.  We are considering a "build your own" itinerary for the day we're there (ship leaves at 4 PM) and I've been put in charge of making a short list.  We've looked at a few "suggestions" from tour companies, but I'd rather hear from you all.

We want to see the beaches, but not have a beach day.  We're not interested in swimming, snorkeling, golfing, horseback riding, etc.  We are interested in seeing and learning about Bermuda from a history and development perspective, and some picture taking.  The other couple wants some time for shopping while DH and I only need a little time for our usual souvenirs (magnet, postcard, etc.).  I also like to bring home some local sweets/candies, etc., for my office-mates, so if there's something like that that I should look for, please let me know.

For those who have been and/or have done their homework, what places would you put on your short list for a 6-hour day?  

We have a day in Dublin as part of a cruise with this schedule:

Monday, June 13, 2016, DUBLIN, Ashore 8:15 AM, Onboard 5:15 PM

We have tickets for Book of Kells at 10 AM and then thought we would do one of the HOHO bus tours afterwards and were trying to decide between the Green and the Red bus. We just need a one-day ticket and don't have anywhere else particularly selected to hop off to visit - we like to do HOHO for an overview of the city and thought we might also do one of the walking tours.

If you've done the Green or the Red bus (or both), is there a preference for one over the other? It looks like they both pick up near Trinity College where we'll be starting our day.

Disney is giving the British Isles a go in June 2016. It's steeply priced, though, but should be a good adventure.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/europe/itineraries/12-night-british-isles-cruise/

OP, thanks for posting and sharing the pictures! This looks like a great way to get a different perspective of the city!