dolfan1980

Took us four months to find the right deal for this winter. Finally booked Jewel out of San Juan leaving tomorrow, 5 of us in a balcony for $2,200 Canadian, so about $1,700 US by a rough calc.

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Thanks!

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My kids have passports we'll be using to board the ship this weekend, but wondering what ID they need at ports. Last cruise we did with them everyone only needed ship cards and no ID. On my last cruise (or two), adults needed a drivers licence and ship card. What do we need this trip for the kids each day? Ports are St. Croix, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and Grenada.

Thanks!

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A 1L cheap rum (Captain Morgan) is +\- $45 in most of Canada. At $15 in Caribbean that's a big savings for me. And plastic.

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I usually take more than I think I need, then settle some or all of my ship account with what I have left so I'm not left stuck with American money.

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If 6pm is the earliest that may be when the dining room opens. MTD starts normally at 5:30 or 6:00. If it's 6:00 on your cruise then you can't request earlier.

Yeah I've been afraid of that. Where I'm from 5pm is supper-time, 5:30 is late. Have a feeling I'll have a hard time convincing folks to eat in the dining room.

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My wife and friends want to do an excursion in Exuma to swim with pigs. Does anyone know if they can do this during a port day from Nassau? Any others who have done this from Nassau or other ports?

Thanks.

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hello I will be on jewel of the seas in april. I selected my time dining. do you choose when you will be dining for the next night, before you leave the dining room each evening? also, we are thinking about anywhere from 5:45 pm to 6:30 pm. not sure yet. are these times hard to get. its only 2 of us and want to sit alone. thanks

Earliest I saw for Jewel on our cruise next week is 6pm. I'm going to request earlier once on board. Concur with the advice above to check your cruise planner online.

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Yes - but you could cross the border and pay even less than "duty free."

 

 

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Not sure I follow. Even if someone did live close to the border, we need to be out of the country a minimum of 48 hours to be allowed to bring in any alcohol, so it wouldn't make any sense to go cross the border any time.

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If I lived in the US I would never bother. Being from Canada, the duty free price is about 1/3 what we pay at home so it works great for me.

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In the distant past, I would buy alcohol in St. Thomas, etc and it would be delivered to the ship before it sailed. You would get those telltale boxes the final night. At that time you could carryon the plane those boxes or check(?) the box with luggage. How do you take it home now? I don’t want to pay for an extra bag.

Thanks

 

 

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I pack in my suitcase and hope for the best when in your situation. Can you get a ziplock bag big enough just in case? What I usually do is wait until I'm in the US then buy before my last flight home to Canada since liquor is like it's free in the US for us Canadians!

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Monday April 23rd is St. George's Day but is not widely celebrated, just a government workers holiday in Newfoundland, not sure about other places. Otherwise for the dates you mentioned you should be free and clear.

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I'm from St. John's, what interests you? The Rooms museum, Johnson Geo Centre, Signal Hill (to visit or a great walking trail), Cape Spear is the most easterly point in North America, the Fluvarium, walking tour downtown, traditional fish and chips, etc. hopefully you get in and the weather is ok, June is a very hit or miss time in St. John's. I'm assuming you are going to St. John's, Newfoundland and not Saint John, New Brunswick.

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Sounds like you have a lot of medical knowledge, but lack cruising knowledge.

 

 

 

Ship's infirmary cannot handle infants, including newborns. They do not have the equipment, or training. That's the reason for the 24-week rule and also 6-month-old rule for many sailings. Air transfer, such as by helicopter, is not always possible. Ships often divert to ports with a hospital for seriously ill passengers/crew, or because of accidents. This can take several hours - you can't compare to rural births. Many ports do not have fully operational NICU's and transfer to the US. These hospitals are not like US hospitals and trauma centers.

 

 

 

RC instituted this rule a while back. Maybe someone can correct me, or give more information, but a premature infant was delivered on one of the ships. Everyone worked very hard to keep the child alive, using all kinds of unusual equipment/measures. I believe the ship returned to Florida, and the baby survived, but it was an incredibly difficult situation for all concerned.

While I agree with your logic, I note that they don't apply this to the many other health risks that walk onto cruises, notably many older folks with various conditions or the elderly in general. I would argue that a normal pregnancy up to 30ish weeks is unlikely to result in a medical emergency. You can board a 15 hour flight at that point and the airlines allow it.

In terms of being on topic, they should price the package as stateroom, with supplemental charges for more than two people. They won't do that because they'd have to advertise it at $80+ a day. All a bit of a shell game.

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[*]8:15am you need to be at airport for 2 hours pre-flight check-in a registration for a domestic flight

 

I'm not sure where you found this information, but I fly to YVR monthly and I never arrive at the airport two hours ahead for a domestic flight. If I have a bag to check I arrive 60-75 mins ahead, if not then 45-60 mins and never have a problem.

It looks like the OP is flying to the US, so I'd say 90 mins minimum. On a Sunday morning, this would mean needing to be off the ship minimum two hours before the flight. Tight but certainly doable without too much stress.

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I can understand people buying the package if they will drink enough to break-even or even more, or even for the convenience factor that some write about. Or perhaps they plan to share?

 

 

 

What intrigues me is the 'I don't want to have a bill at the end even if i don't even break even' philosophy. Why does paying out the money up front make it better than at the end? It's the same money?

 

 

 

People will write that now the package is too expensive or you have to buy for both, I'll show RC and drink a lot less?? So they are happy to drink a lot more, but only up to some tipping point of cost?

 

 

 

If your average gas bill for you car was $50 per week & your local gas station offered a deal for all for fuel for a year (no sharing) for $2600 would people jump in and pay $2600 for gas a year in advance so they don't have to pay each time? Would they drive around for no apparent reason to "get their money's worth"?

I wouldn't enjoy drinks if I was deciding before each one if I wanted to pay $16 or not (I operate in Canadian $). By pre-paying, I remove that stress from the equation and order what I like. I suspect I'll come out even or ahead with the package financially, but mentally I'll be stress free.

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Am sailing next week on Jewel and got all three of my kids under 10 free.

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Not exactly what you're looking for, but I believe you can buy the water package.

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I always just use my credit card. It automatically makes the exchange and it guarantees I get the best exchange rate, and I have no foreign transaction fees.

I concur with this. The shops will both take a ~10% exchange charge (e.g. Offer ~1.20 per USD) and give you Canadian change. Credit cards are pretty much accepted anywhere.

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Let me know if any of the links don't work- first time using tapatalk. Again, I didn't go check the menu on the 1st night- sorry about that.

Thanks for these! Can't wait to see the cruise compasses if you plan to post.

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2018 will be the end of alcohol packages unless the company wake up really fast.

 

 

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I've been cruising for awhile and they seem more popular than ever, what is the basis for thinking this? My sense is they're doing it the way they do because they can.

My sense is the end of unlimited drink packages will come eventually, however only likely after a number of drinking related incidents hit the media, K2g6s9 no of similar to how McD's had to stop super-sizing after it was causing image problems in the media.

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I have all the cruise compasses and the page in discussion. I wish I could post pics of all this!!

 

 

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Hopefully you can figure it out, can't wait to see them and thanks for all the info. I'm on the same trip in three weeks from today.

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You could do My Time and reserve a table for all nights at 5 PM prior to the cruise. Or you could meet with the Dining room staff on the first day -- time and location will be in your Cruise Compass.

Depends on the ship it seems. We're sailing Jewel in three weeks and I don't think they open before 5:30 from what I can tell. We will certainly try!

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830 for great for me and they switched to 8pm and now 730? That’s extremely early wow

 

 

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I guess everyone is different. Where I am from, dinner is on the table 4:45-5:00, if you come 5:15 you're getting leftovers! We struggle with the 5:30-6 settings to not bail on the MDR for the buffet. With the kids this cruise will be worse!

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That's exactly the kind of thing that I like to try to avoid on vacation, relying on luck rather than assurance.

 

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

Fair enough, but when the consequence is saving $40 vs solidifying an extra $40 for certainty does it really matter? In this case, certainty is accepting they may need two taxis, not a deal breaker IMO.

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