zoyabean

Cyncyn's idea of the beach is great.  I'd keeping following the coast Eastward (away from the ship) turn left at the Mile 0 sign which will bring you to Beacon Hill Park.  On a hot day there's a fun spray park at this side of the park, a couple of great playgrounds farther into the park, a petting zoo and pretty good gardens for those who enjoy such things.  From here it's easy to walk into Victoria to check out the museum, the Bug Zoo or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Butchart Gardens is beautiful but my boys (now 13 & 16) have never really enjoyed it.  They would rather go somewhere they can run and horse around to burn off some energy

I booked us a 3rd and 4th passenger for $1 last March for a November Caribbean cruise.

The pricing came up on the Princess website but there was nothing specific identifying the promotion. I only found it because I got an email from Princess announcing the promotion and listing the sailings it applied to.

I will say that it was an incredible deal since we got the 3rd and 4th for $1 AND we all got pre-paid gratuities AND a small ship board credit.

I had one thing stolen from my suitcase a few years ago--a blue Princess luggage strap (these used to be given out as prizes at Trivia). I've learned to use a generic luggage strap-- At least while on a Princess ship

Me too!!

I won the luggage strap on the cruise, put it on my luggage for the trip home and it was gone by the time we claimed our bag. Never had anything else go missing...

Vancouver had a Nexus lane when we were boarding our cruise about 18 months ago.

Thanks for the detailed information!

We are thinking about going with our kids when were in Cozumel later this year. I read somewhere that Playa Mia was requiring everyone to wear lifejackets. Was that the case for you?

I ask because my 13 & 15 year olds are competitive swimmers with lots of open water swimming experience and I know they will be super frustrated if they are forced to wear lifejackets.

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We were on the Sapphire just before her refit in 2011 and there was some extra activity but nothing like what happened on that NCL ship. We were also on a regular sailing of the Regal where they were stripping and varnishing all the balcony railings. I found the "maintenance" on the Regal more of an inconvenience than the dry dock prep on the Sapphire.

Neither was a big enough deal for us to complain at all.

We are in Belize City for one day from 7am to 6pm. For those of you have been there do you think its possible to go cave tubing and snorkeling the same day?

I was thinking of going tubing with Butts Up in the morning, hopefully getting back to the port area by 1pm. Then, booking a snorkeling tour from 2pm-5pm-ish with a local company.

Is this realistic?

Does anyone know if Canadians can buy these offers or do you need to be in the US?

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Princess is fabulous with food allergies and in tolerances! DH has a wide assortment of allergies and every time we cruise the head waiter in our assigned dining room helps DH plan his meals in advance. I really can not say enough about how easy it is and how accommodating they are.

We sail in a week and haven't had a single email from Princess so I will join you in being surprised.

That was cute. I will make an effort to catch the rest of the episodes.

Thanks for the great review! We are on the Royal in 3 weeks doing the same itinerary. I'm going to add your restaurant suggestion for St. Maarten to my list.

Thanks for the quick reply. I will certainly give it a try and will aim for early morning! ...or early-ish. I've been toying with keeping my sleep pattern on west coast time while on a Caribbean cruise but normally I'm a morning person who gets up with the sun.

Thanks for the great review! It was fun to read.

Which pool did you swim your laps in? The Fountain pool? How long do you think it is?

We are on the Regal in a few weeks and I am wondering if I'll be able to get in a decent swim. I'm not a hardcore swimmer but I do try to get in 1000-1500m a couple times a week.

You may be thinking of St Thomas - lots of lace and linens in stores right near the port.

Any particular linen stores that you would recommend?

Thanks for the information!

I just prepaid our gratuities and bought our drinks packages at 10% for our cruise next week! When I picked up some US cash from the bank today I paid 22%!!

....I wonder if I'll be able to purchase a FCC at the same rate?