Ralphinsc

On 10/19/2023 at 8:27 AM, DaOceanIsMyHome said:

If you want cheap stuff to give as souvenirs, go inside the straw market and remember to barter. A simple magnet some will ask for 10 or 15 but I let them know I'm not willing to pay more than 5 and get it at that price. 

 

If you're wanting something truly unique, go to the ally where you can watch people carving. The work they do is beautiful and worth the price, you can find people also painting over there. 

Our friends got a beautifully carved elephant from over there just last week. Those artisans are definitely worth visiting. 

For the most part, it is the same recycled made in China junk you can find in most of the gift shops; just without the regulation of a set price or knowledge of exactly where you got the item from. There ARE a few great artisans, but you have to wade through everything to find them. And the stall owners are definitely pushing on the high side for prices for bartering. We saw a cup there that they were asking for $20 at the start and went down to $18 as we walked away. It was in a brick and mortar gift shop next door for $12. We always get small little Nassau trinkets, but tend to avoid the straw market for the hassle as it's not my preferred method of shopping at all.   

I was able to do a couple of video chats using just the social plan (second tier). Was not expecting that. It is miles above what it used to be. This was on the Sunshine last week.

This is our tour of Villa D from 2018. We liked the location. Not right on top of the bar or other Villas, but a great central location. 

I've seen people post videos online before, so I am assuming they will allow fully secured cameras. We can't verify ourselves, but it's a nice little zipline and honestly a great value for what you pay for it. 

The cabana rental rates for Coco Cay are priced by what demand will bear, which means they can be absolutely insane. Have rarely seen them below $1000. Just something to consider when deciding if five or six hours of your time there is worth it. We decided against it ourselves, but they have absolutely no problem selling them out months and months in advance. 

Margaritaville is an easy walk and I'm sure they include access to their beach area with a waterpark pass. Baha Mar is a ride out of town and I'm not sure of the beach access there. We have had a wonderful time at Junkanoo before, but it is the opposite of a relaxing beach and some people consider it sketchy or dirty (not us). 

For Coco Cay, just walk up to any beach and grab and lounger and enjoy. I recommend South Beach on the island if you want a quieter place. Take the tram or a fifteen minute walk. Enjoy the floating bar out there as it is great to swim up and grab a drink. As a bonus, the drink package for Royal works on Coco Cay if you have it; so enjoy those Coco Locos!

Both are great. We prefer Coco Cay as it stands right now. South Beach is wonderful. There's a great swim up bar there that we love. And most importantly all the drinks are INCLUDED if you have the drink package. We love the sand and water at Half Moon Cay, but paying over $50 for six cans of corona kind of irks me. It's still my second favorite private island currently.

On 3/2/2023 at 11:01 AM, Bushido said:

I know they have them in the Cloud 9 but does the Sunshine offer Sauna and Steam in the regular locker room and if so does anyone have pictures. Thank you

To answer your question, no steam room in the regular lockers, just in the Cloud 9 spa. 

On 2/25/2023 at 3:30 PM, wolft927 said:

Book NCL 2 drinks per card every 5 minutes! No limits lol

Or just book RCCL and watch a guy walk up to the bar next to you and throw down three double shots in thirty seconds with no time limit in between. The bartender didn't even put the bottle down for him, just waited until he put the glass down to refill. LOL! I guess by day four there, it was a pattern. 😂

Use can use your OBC before the cruise to book things such as Cheers, excursions, etc. Basically, anything you can buy in advance, you can apply your OBC towards. 

We had a Spa balcony back in October. Agree about the slippers, they are comically small if you have any foot size above an 8. The location was excellent. We were a two minute walk from the pool and lido and a ten second walk from the Spa desk. Didn't really encounter the loud noises in the hallway, ours was pretty quiet. We did enjoy the different heated rooms and the loungers were heavenly. Definitely missed having the pool though. The pricing was right for this one as we took a really well priced upgrade. We would book again, but much more for the location as for the amenities.

Room tour video included. 

On 10/30/2022 at 11:38 AM, mslhb said:

Thanks for the video! Really helps understand the noise level. Was the music that loud with someone shouting/hosting the whole day? We currently have a pool cabana booked but now debating whether my group can handle that level of liveliness!

It was like that pretty much the whole day with the DJ and contests, etc. Definitely not a "quiet" place. Quite the lively atmosphere. We enjoyed it, but it is certainly not for everyone.

You have to give Carnival credit. they have really made the Hub app an indispensable and great tool for cruising. For someone like me, who has to stay connected anyways; it's great to have my Fun Times, instant dining reservations, menus, account summary, phone, e-mail, and camera all right there in one spot. Much easier than carrying around different rolled up papers, going to check various menu boards, going to guest services for my account balance, having to call for room service from my actual room where I'm told it will be ready in another hour, etc.

I know some folks just want to or need to die on the hill of keeping their phones locked away. That's perfectly fine. But I definitely forsee the days really soon when they will not have any printed menus, fun times, or guides.

I bet you they'll still hand you a printed out port shopping guide without fail though.... 🤪

5 hours ago, Thenagers said:

I was able to use VeriFLY to easily breeze through the line in Charleston? I think you are right that you  might have just got unlucky with a new/poorly trained associate? Definitely sounds like they were clueless! I had a 10 am appointment and was onboard just after 11? I am not platinum or diamond. The longest waits I had were sitting in the waiting area for our boarding zone(:30 minutes?) it got crowded and there weren’t enough chairs after a while? It was also a long line at the security lines once we were dropped off near the ship. I actually thought it went pretty well for a makeshift terminal. As far as parking, I thought $21 per day reasonable? The local hotels downtown charge up to $50 per night and the parking lot in city market is $30 per day. It is kinda ridiculous for a Southern town but obviously they get away with it. 

The thing that is so tough for Charleston is that the terminal is right in the middle of one of the priciest historic districts in the country. That is part of the reason why that terminal space is going away. The real estate is just so valuable that the city would rather sell it. It's almost impossible to find a hotel down there within any kind of distance from the terminal for a good price. 

Loving this review! We are on this same itinerary in three weeks. Might have to swap our Cucina dinner reservations around for JiJi's or just hit that up as well from your review of it. 

On 6/7/2022 at 4:24 AM, perfect match said:

@Ralphinsc, are you still planning to go to Water Island? I’m thinking it would be a great option for us when we’re in St Thomas in mid September. If the port schedule I looked at is correct, we may be the only ship in town on our scheduled day, so it shouldn’t be too crowded. I know, of course, that the port schedule could change at any time so I’ll keep checking, but I’d love to hear about your experience there.

We went to water Island on June 8 of this year and had a wonderful time. There were two or three ships in that day, but the beach never felt crowded. The water taxi is cash only, $15 per person for a round trip. It goes on the hour from the Crown Bay marina beside Tickles restaurant and on the quarter after the hour from the ferry dock at Water Island. Dinghy's bar is located on Honeymoon Beach and they have a full menu as well as rentals available (chairs, umbrellas, snorkeling equipment). you can sit at the restaurant tables located on the beach for free as long as you are ordering and eating/drinking. The water is very clear and there are no real rocks or obstructions in the water, except for along the edge of the bay. What you want to go there for is the Sea Turtles. About 50-100 yards out in 8-10 feet of water, they can be found munching on grass and swimming around. We saw and swam with three in our 45 minutes of snorkeling and it made our whole trip worthwhile. Take a floatation vest unless you are extremely buoyant, because it is a decent swim out and you will not want to leave once you spot a turtle or a large ray.

Our total day ran for about $150 when you account for the $30 in water taxi fare, and the $120 in the restaurant/bar/snorkel rental tab (we rented on set of snorkeling gear, I brought my own). The food is not the greatest and kind of overpriced, but all things on the island are priced higher. We loved the Bushwackers and Paddlewackers to drink and we also got a bucket of local beer that was very good. 

All in all, our day on water Island was a 9.5/10 and we absolutely want to go back again and again. Those turtles were just as advertised as well as an uncrowded beach and tasty drinks. 

On 4/24/2022 at 5:51 PM, Andy1850 said:

Where you able to pick your cabana? If so, when?

We didn't pick our exact cabana number. We got the closest of the four poolside cabanas due to being off the boat before the others who had booked. All four cabanas were fairly close together, so I don't believe any one was a better location. 

On 5/12/2022 at 2:19 PM, helensobol said:

 

Curious when you will be heading to water island?   Would love to know your feedback after going. 

 

We should be there either the second or third week of June. We are going to St. Thomas on back to back weeks and will go for one of those weeks.

I just try to be courteous to my neighbors by letting them know when I come and go via door slam so they can return their TV back up to volume level 68. For some courtesy is a lost art. But not here. Definitely not here..... 😜🤣

25 minutes ago, ocdb8r said:

Can anyone confirm if it REALLY only covers lunch on sea days?  If we stayed on board and Izumi were open, or we popped over to Johnny Rockets/Playmakers, would we not be covered with the UDP?  I'm almost sure I remember doing this once on a Caribbean cruise, but can't quite remember.  I know when we've had the UDP we've always just assumed we're covered at any of those restaurants, any time they are open (but we do almost always get off when in port).

The basic rule of thumb as far as lunch with UDP goes........ if it is open, it is available to use UDP for lunch. This includes port days where a venue like Playmakers, Johnny Rockets, or Sabor may open at 2 or 3 pm instead of at 5. If it is open, and it is a specialty restaurant, you can eat there and it is included. This includes the "upcharge" breakfast items at Johnny Rockets too.

6 hours ago, villager70 said:

JUst a little note. You are backt o back. When you get to entry machine to put your card in may or may not be and attendant there. either way just swipe the card  or he will assist and do it and enter to get your spot. Come back in two weeks.will only be charged for 1 week.If you insist on paying for another week they may be able to charge you twice. Have done 11 back to backs there since we started back. Oct. 28 day. one charge. Enjoy.  see you  in June .  Leaving at 800 to go this morning to Harmony.

Enjoy your cruise today! Thanks for the tip!

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We often said we would not cruise on the thing.too ugly. We did and it is. At the right price we would probably do so again, but it sure is ugly.

Cruising Epic is a lot like riding a moped. It's fun, until your friends see you doing it...... 🤪

10 minutes ago, villager70 said:

HI fellowq cruiser: Agree with the other  posters but in June the parking at terminal one will be a little more relaxed.Parked there five times in the last 2 months  and usually  garage fills up pretty fast with Harmony,Independence and Mariner sharing the week. Starting this week and through the summer Mariner will shift to Terminal 5 because of her 8,5,8 cruise s  so only two ships using garage for the week. In case full surface lot s south and east used.  We go out of 1 tommorow on Harmony ,23rd on Mariner , and Harmony on June 12th.  When you arive at terminal go in right side using the left of the three lanes and you will u turn on ground floor and drop luggage and then go forward u turn agaiin up ramp to pay attendant.

 

Just a little note we often get servere rain and HAIL storms in central Florida  this time of year. Like parking in garage and pay more than a dirt surface lot.

Thanks! We'll be on the 6/12 cruise as well. It is the second leg of our B2B. Definitely hoping to get covered parking since the car will be there for twice as long. thinking with the 10:30 check in time, we should hopefully be able to get down there early enough to have one of those spots available. 

The only "free" upgrades we have gotten from Royal was getting moved from an inside to a balcony for each leg of our upcoming back to back since they took over our rooms for Covid reasons. Wouldn't expect it or even think about it any other way. It was a total left field surprise as it was.