dianedebuda

I know where Punahou is on the map. 😁

Name the Cuban foods?  They look delish.

I've been lurking on many, many of your blogs, so have seen the Lain issue. 😁

Maybe the title change should be Not Lain instead of with an Eye ... unless you're traveling with a Cyclops now too. 🤣

Ultimate social distancing technique.

There are free yellow golf carts now.  Saw other posts saying they had problems finding them, but we used them all of the time the first week of Feb.  Usual wait time was less than 15 min; longest was 45 min 1 time at Morrow.  Hubby has mobility issues and can't walk distances, so they were great for us.

Also just back from a Summit Cruise, probably the same as davekathy.  Our select dining was always on the lower level (4).

IIRC, scooter on pier shouldn't be a problem.  But one on Thenford's tour I would think would be a problem.  They're real good about responding to emails, so ask them.

I paid Spencer $10 + $1 service fee each using PayPal then cash for the balance before getting on their boat.  I think the web site says you can prepay the entire amt via PayPal if you choose.  If you're new to PayPal, it's been so many years since I set mine up that I can't remember much other than it was easy.  Mine is linked to a credit card, not a bank account.

Based on reviews here and at TripAdvisor, we took this tour last week.  Want to add my recommendation to the others.  From the moment of pick up to the return to the ship, don't think we could have been in better hands.  The ticket taker turned out to be Spencer's daughter and she took us under her wing to make sure that my hubby's limited mobility (difficulty with long walks/uneven sufaces) was not a barrier to our enjoyment.  We are most grateful.  Our speedboat crew, Ryan and Lucky, were great and also were always there to provide assistance.  We wanted to see a little more than just the beach, so we had opted for the volcano tour.  The tour at the volcano is not long and is not by Spencer's, but is more than sufficient.  We knew before booking that hubby would not be able to climb the stairs to the end of the short path, so the guide told all of the details from the closest point that he could get to.  The waterfall was lovely and it was nice to drive through Soufriere for a quick peek.  Then back to a speedboat to the beach between the Pitons for a great chicken lunch. This boat was captained by Spencer himself who just about picked up hubby like a leaf.  After lunch, hubby decided to go into the water and then later had difficulty standing up at the water's edge. Several guests on the beach immediately came to his assistance and got him to his feet.  Between their help and the staff of Spencer's, this was probably the best of all of our excusions for this cruise.

We did the Spenser's tour with the volcano option.  Speed boats to the Pitons and a beach stop between them.  Staff was most supportive of my hubby's mobilty issues, so would imagine they would also be good with young children.  I wouldn't worry at all about getting back to ship on time.  This is their business and they know it's highly important for guests to return to their ship leisurely.  We had a great time.

Based on reviews here, did this tour last week and want to add another recommendation.  Thenford was our guide and we found him to be knowledgeable, articulate and most helpful in dealing with my hubby's mobility issues.  His nephew was our skillful driver.  We left the tour feeling that we had seen the best parts from folks who were proud to show their island.

We did the Grey Grand Tour last week and enjoyed it immensely.  Hubby has mobility issues too - cannot walk long distances and uneven sufaces are a problem.  Thenford was an articulate guide, proud of his island, and most helpful thoughout our tour.  Don't know if this tour would be doable if a wheelchair is needed though.  Suggest you contact them and ask.  Seems like a small, family run business and am confident that if they say they can do it for your folks, they will provide an excellent tour.  Am also confident that if they can't work with a wheelchair, they will be honest about it and perhaps suggest an alternative. 

We had great mofongos at Punto de Vista also.  Not a mojito fan, but they had super, large pina coladas for $5 in the afternoon.  No waiting for us the 2 afternoon times we visited last week.  They do not take reservations.

Walked the trail from the gate to El Morro last week.  There's an access path from the end of the trail up to the ocean side lawn in the front of the fort - 109 steps total that I counted.  There are several kitty habitats along the trail and I saw a couple dozen cats.  Beautiful walk.  Free yellow golf carts stop regularly.  Took them 3 times and the longest wait was 45 min, others were less than 15 min.

Could you pay for taxi with credit card?  I'm trying to figure out how much cash I'll have to take on my trip in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Confused on what to expect.  Having only taken 1 trip so far and from what I'd researched then, $5-$10 seemed to be the range.  However, at my departure airport, porter was offended that I didn't offer at least $20. 🤔 At airports, assists to change planes (American and Alaska Airlines) were pleasant, efficient and they left quickly after I thanked them but before I could offer them anything. 😮 Same was true with embarking the Princess ship.  Those personnel just seemed to treat the assistance as an included part of their service and seemed to be focused on getting to the next person that needed their help.

So now I'll be making another trip using Southwest (Austin-Houston-San Juan) for a Celebrity Cruise.  Should I be tipping and how much?

There's a thread on Princess discussing the same thing if you're interested... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2632361-celebrity-versus-princess/#comments

Interesting thread for me since my whole cruising history consists of a single Alaska cuisetour last month on the Coral.  I'm still trying to thaw out from that.🤭  Have now booked a Celebrity Summit Caribbean cruise just because of the itinerary.

My Coral cruise was nice, but not spectacular for a few reasons:

1-the weather, cold, overcast and rainy with the wildfire smoke making some of land portion difficult.  Truly just bad luck and nothing anyone could do anything about.

2-Ate in the MDR (early seating) where I found most of the food was just "ok".  Hot dishes served luke warm; beef dishes were low quality - gristly and had little taste; Alfredo noodles hard with little sauce; etc.  Nothing really good or bad to say about the service.  Will be doing Anytime-type on the Summit and hoping for better.

3-The shows - one of the reasons I'd booked Princess originally.  The 2 that I saw, Bijou something and Encore were basically just back-to-back songs.  So how is that different from Celebrity's shows?  I'd expected Silk or Magic, but the only other show was a rock-review from a singer and that's not my genre.

The Coral was nice & seemed to be the right size for us which prompted us to look for a similarly sized ship for the next cruise.  We had a balcony cabin on the Coral which was fine size-wise for us; we'll have an inside on the Summit.

Just a couple of points from my current readings on the Celebrity board related to earlier thread posts here:

-The free in cabin movies are being brought back because of public uproar; don't know when or any other details. 

-The footstools are also supposed to be back in a couple of months again because of public uproar.

Thoughts from a lowly, non-perked perspective.

I received the email for the updated map.  When I got the original email, the invitation was for editing.  I looked quickly at what you had done, but was too spooked that not being a proficient Google maps user that I would accidently change something.  So sorry you had a problem, but sad that my caution was valid.

Thanks again.  Now I see the reason for the cable comments - Fox, in particular, broadcasts, but is low powered on the west side of the island so no hope for OTA.

Thanks.  Couldn't do it on Princess last month.

BnB just confirmed no access to cable and suggested a bar.  Going to be tough for a 1 beer/night max geezer? 🤭 We'll be in OSJ near St. Germain Bistro - any suggestions?  Meanwhile, I'll try to look for online viewing options...

On 9/15/2019 at 11:15 AM, Jim_Iain said:

On the revolutionized TV's - very different than the older tv system.   Firs of all.   The Samsung and Universal Remote did not work at all.   I believe they are now using RF instead of Infrared.  

 

The most important step is that you have to first attach your HDMI device WITH THE DEVICE POWERED UP. ... 

Know this is OT, but could you use the same technique to attach a computer hdmi output to the TV?  We copy our camera recordings to a HDD backup on a laptop & would like to view those copies nightly.