rollnoles2

For those who have taken this tour, did you have any time before or after the tour to do anything else? Or did it take up most of the day?

Thank you, @Bossladyn; we will be in St. Lucia in January and I was considering Cosol, but I think I will go with another tour.  Have you been on any other excursions in St. Lucia that you would recommend?

Thank you for taking the time to write your trip report.  We will be in several of these ports next year, and your review of the ports is really helpful.

Thank you! Sounds like deck 5 is the way to go!  Really appreciate your responses.

We are looking to book a Havana inside cabin and are trying to decide between an inside on deck 5 or one on deck 7.  We were originally thinking about going with deck 7 because we are concerned about the noise from the Havana Club on deck 5.  But deck 5 looks like it is very convenient to not only the Havana amenities, but also other areas of the ship. What would you recommend?  TIA!

We are sailing on the Apex in March and are trying to decide between the two of these.  If anyone has done both, which one do you prefer?  We are leaning towards Dinner on the Edge because it is unique to the Edge class ships, but I have read some mixed reviews about it. What are your thoughts?  

Like BermudaBound2, I just checked the app for my March Apex cruise and there is a $9.95 service charge plus 18% gratuity fee for room service (except Continental breakfast).

Thanks for the review; it helps to narrow down things to do (or not do) in Nassau.

We got back from our cruise last week and I just wanted to report back that we had a positive experience renting a car with Avis for the day.  My first choice was Advance Car Rental, but Celestino didn't have anything available.  From reading the reviews, I was really hesitant to book with Avis, but everything worked out fine.  The Avis office is in one of the buildings right on the pier.  Drop off was super-easy: we returned the car right at the pier, left the key under the mat, locked the doors and walked onto the ship.

While we didn't get the personalized service that one gets from Advance, we were satisfied with Avis and would rent from them again (if no cars from Advance).  So if you can't get a car from Celestino, Avis is not a bad second choice.

On 2/17/2019 at 3:36 AM, twangster said:

 

Excessive alcohol consumption well beyond 3 drinks.  The volume of booze consumed in the DL is going to lead to changes being made.  Even cheap booze costs money.  

 

The drink coupons were an attempt to deal with overcrowding but they are not accomplishing that goal.  While crowding issues are not abuse the shear volume of guests trying to use the limited DL space during happy hour is an issue that will require something to be done.  

 

For some reason the DL is mostly empty all day long yet as happy hour approaches it fills up and overflows into public use spaces impacting all guests.  

 

Increasing numbers in the top elite tiers are compounding the issue.  High Pinnacle numbers are (at times) impacting suite guests.  

 

Put it all together and change is inevitable.  

 

Converting DL into a Pinnacle Lounge solves a lot of issues.  Suite guests are better served, Pinnacles have a space so any objections are diluted and with D/D+ left with only drink coupons the bill for happy hours is cut dramatically.  

 

D/D+ tiers can expand in size with no issues and Pinnacle counts can continue to grow with no impact to the Suite experience.  

 

Public venues such as the Music Hall or Viking Crown Lounge are no longer lost as overflow during happy hour.  

 

At present suite counts are mostly fixed yet over the next 5-10 years growing Pinnacle numbers will force the issue in the SL.  If left unchecked the day is coming that suite guests won’t stand a chance in the SL.  At some point Pinnacles will need to be booted from the SL and the easiest way to do that is to give them their own dedicated space.  Where do you get space from?   Give up a revenue generating space or convert DL into PL.  

 

Change is coming.  

Empty staterooms on slower time of years also cost money. It seams to me there are more diamond's and above as percentage of passengers on these low season cruises.  I don't think it so much as the cost of the drinks as the loss of revenue of people not buying drinks. They are making it more difficult so more people will buy the drink package.  I think they should add an additional discount to the pre- cruise discount based on level. Perhaps  5% additional pre-cruise discount to the already discounted prices for Diamond, 10% for Diamond plus , and 15% for  Pinnacle. I like having diamond lounges as oasis to relax away from the crowds during the day sometimes.  These quiet places on ships are getting more rare as most places in public areas are now all about generating on board revenue. 

I would also add that people who drink in moderation live longer than those who don't in the United States and Europe. 

I did email them and there weren't any cars available.  I guess I waited too long.. 

Thank you for your response though.

We wanted to rent a car for our day in Curacao.  Advanced Car Rentals sounded perfect, but unfortunately there aren't any cars available the day we are in port.  Does anyone have any good alternatives?  Thank you!

Thanks for posting the video!

We tried to use the app to board the Allure a couple of weeks ago. Security at Port Everglades had no clue what to do and was looking up everyone's names before allowing them to proceed. My suggestion is to print out your set sail pass-makes it much easier during the check in the process.

Another app that wasn't worthwhile for us was the Mobile Passport. The regular line was actually shorter than the mobile app line. :confused:

Just got off that cruise last week and formal nights were day 2 at sea and day 5, San Juan, which was lobster night also.

Thank you!

Thank you! We booked the chef's table for the 6th night and I was going to reschedule it if that night was the same as formal night.

How about the "comfort dinosaur"?:D

Has anyone been on the current Eastern Caribbean itinerary and know if night 5 (San Juan) or 6 (Labadee) is the second formal night?

Thank you!

Sometimes the cruise lines ask for documentation, sometimes they do not. What you need is a letter from the other parent (I attached the one I have used in the past) and your son's passport-no need for a birth certificate.

minor_travel_consent_form.pdf

A couple of summers ago, my family (including our two teenage sons-who were tired of looking at ruins and museums) took the Ancient Appian Way, Catacombs and Aqueduck tour offered by Top Bike (http://www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/rome-bike-tours.php) and really enjoyed the tour. You bike up the old Roman cobblestone roads, take a tour through the catacombs, and then stopped at a farm for their wine and cheese. We really had a lot of fun on the tour and I highly recommend it!

BaseballMom,

Thank you so much-you're information helps a lot!

I guess my only concern was the number of people trying to do the exact same thing and getting stuck waiting because the hydrofoils are full.

 

I guess it is a trade off, although we will only be coming from Messina so it may be a safe bet that we will arrive on time. Guess I will just think it over some more.

 

Thanks so much!

How did it go to pre-purchase your ferry tickets? We will be on the Vista in a couple of weeks and are thinking about buying the return tickets online.

Thank you!

Check out Top Bike Rental. http://www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/index.php

We took their Ancient Appian Way tour and really enjoyed it!

On our cruise (June 21, 2016), there are no shore excursions listed for any of the ports on the Carnival website. It's been that way for a couple of days. Wonder what that means... website issues or itinerary issues?

We spent 11 days in this cabin in June. We are a family of four (with two 6-foot plus teenage sons :eek:) and were very comfortable in the room. We had plenty of room to store our clothes (once we discovered the drawers at the end of the bed) and while cramped, it worked well.

The AC was fine-but we did close the drapes during the day to keep out the sun when we were in port (and not in the room anyway). In fact, my family members complained that I kept it too cold at night!

Like Coco24, we really enjoyed the location. Since there were four of us in the cabin, we took advantage of the Crow's Nest. It was a great place to read or watch the sea go by and gave us some needed space.

The balcony is much smaller than a normal balcony. There is room for only two chairs and those are at an angle-you can't sit facing the sea. It was cramped if all four of us were on the balcony at the same time, but it was okay. It would be fine for just two people.

There was more noise than I expected. We weren't that close to the elevators, but we did hear the chimes. There was also more foot traffic than I expected (since the cabin is somewhat out-of-the-way), but not bad. If you are a light sleeper it might bother you, but it wasn't a problem/annoyance for us at all.

Overall, I would book this cabin again. It worked well for our family. This is the first time since the boys were small that the four of us stayed in the same cabin and I was afraid that it would just be too much togetherness (did I mention that they are over 6 feet tall? and teenage boys?:D) but I was very pleasantly surprised. The only real negative to this cabin was the size of the balcony, but it's not a deal breaker.