fendere

Our family of 4 with two teens are visiting in June and want to do a walking tour with a guide and then classic cars later on. A friend visited last summer, a guy approached her party of four for a tour, they accepted, and had the most wonderful time with a walking tour first, and then a classic car tour. I would like to use the same person. Here's my worry- I have read and read on the FAQs with what we can and cannot do in Cuba now with the new US regulations that started in Nov. We did not book any component of our cruise before the date in June that it was announced. It says that a tour must be purchased through the cruise line or with a "US sponsoring organization". Clearly this guy is not. I've also seen on the cruise FAQ that if you do one of these sponsored tours, you can then freely walk around on your own.:

• 
  
• "you can enjoy Havana before or after your tour, as long as you are engaged in a full-day schedule of educational exchange activities as setforth by OFAC regulations"
   
  

If the non-licensed guide is planning to do an organized walking tour, and then later through him we do a classic car tour with drivers he has pre-arranged while he accompanies, does anyone know if we need to do another "US sponsored organization" led-tour first?

I have spent several hours over several days reading through what I could find, including the treasure.gov site trying to decipher what is allowed, so I figured I'd just see if anyone here feels clear on the rules.

Great to hear. I was just searching to see if there were any recent posts about Blue Kay. We are a group including 4 teens. Do you think it would be a good spot for them? How far is the taxi ride from port? Would you say the prices for food/drinks are reasonable? I didn't see a menu on their website.

Thanks!

I'm laughing because we just got off the Breeze today and we were in 2317.

It was awesome! No noise whatsoever. Ports- Jamaica- we faced the port and watched the stragglers running to catch the ship. So much fun because we were close enough that we could converse with them. Made for a fun afternoon! Cozumel we also faced pier. Loved this stateroom. You won't be sorry! Now the reason This thread came up in my search is because I was looking for a good location on the Vista for a cove balcony and our 2317 is not available. 😡 I think one of the choices is 2301 but was having trouble figuring out what is above it. I think vista is supposed to be very similar to breeze.

Side note- we had great weather- we would leave stuff out to dry and usually it was fine. A few times the floor was wet.

We will definitely book a cove again.

stay right where you are

Because of location or because of cove balcony?

It's also spring break/Easter week. Thinking there will be lots of high schoolers (we will have one ourselves), and I know that they often like to congregate late hours in the Marketplace.

I just got the email offer today to switch from our Cove balcony on deck 2 on the Breeze to a regular Balcony on deck 9 for $40. It looks like the majority of the balcony rooms available are directly under the Lido Marketplace. There is one cabin that is right above the edge of Guy's burgers and Lido Marketplace. I'm wondering if this is per person though. It doesn't say that it just says upgrade for $40. I don't want to hit "accept" instead of "decline" before A- I know if it's per person and B- if I think this is a good deal. I just looked up online prices if we were to get the same room directly on their website and it would cost an additional $160 for us. Also, we've never been in a Cove room so thought it might be interesting, then again deck 9 is closer to Lido and food. What would you guys do?

I appreciate all the advice given thus far. It is truly helpful as I start to get back to planning again (We just returned home from a trip to New Orleans). The trip we just took helped reconfirm what I already knew...the kids are happiest and most entertained when they are kept active. We did a Segway tour on our last day and my 15 year old said, "This is the highlight of my trip". Very important I know to strike a balance between the "dreaded sight-seeing" and thrill/action. I know the dog sled/ helicopter IF we can do it, will be the highlight for them. I'm not so sure about the boat tour in Seward now. Riding bikes has now been added to my list, but just not sure where. Also, thinking if we are really cold this might not be the best option. We've ziplined several times before, but DH is not big on heights and dangling from a cable line. :) Though, I think I will start researching where we might be able to do this the post- land few days. Maybe only stay one night in Seward and two in Anchorage? I definitely want to see if we can view the Northern lights, and please don't flame me, but I haven't yet had time to properly research where we must go for this to happen.

I know the salmon won't be running yet, and boy, would it be great if we could see some bears!

Please, please keep any feedback, recommendations coming. I am very grateful for them all!!

I'm pretty sure what I'm doing is what people refer to as highjacking a thread! :eek: After this, I will post all questions, except specific to AryMay's photojournal on the thread "Alaska with teens"

Maple leaves,

I thought the tours out of Whittier looked good, especially since our ship disembarks there! However, without a car, we'd have all our luggage if we were to do a boat tour before heading to Seward. I priced out transportation- with a stop at the conservation center, drive to Seward and quick tour it would cost about the same thing as renting a car for the day. I'm thinking more and more it makes sense to rent for the day, especially if we do a boat tour in Whittier. We really like the idea of taking the train to anchorage from Seward. The price of the train plus hiring a driving service to seward costs about $100 less than renting a full size car for the duration of the three nights, not including gas. SUVs and minvans are all rented out, also. I'm not even sure all our luggage will fit in a full sized car with 4 people.

The other thing with taking a boat tour in PWS, we will have just had two back to back sea cruising days, days 6 and 7, and then getting off and doing another boat tour might be overkill not only for the kids, but for the hubby, too. Do you know if we would see lots of otters in PWS? That is probably the biggest draw for us to do another boat tour (also the salmon/prime rib dinner!), all those cute photos of the otters that AryMay posted bobbing around. I was trying to do a search yesterday to see if you could see lots of otters in Resurrection Bay without heading into the Fjords, and it looks like you can.

AryMay and Laurel,

Thank you so much for posting both the description of your activities (Laurel), and the accompanying pictures (AryMay). Laurel, I'm sorry that you had such bad weather on your helicopter excursion. That really stinks, but I must say those photos are pretty unbelievable, especially the last one AryMay posted of the ice!!!

I definitely want to do the Ididaride tour in Seward. Even if we get to do the helicopter/dogsled in Juneau and it isn't cancelled, I think we'd still really enjoy the Seavey experience as well. My kids are suckers for dogs. :)

AryMay, I think that is what I must do-wait until we get to Seward to see if it makes sense to book a Kenai Fjords tour. That way I can also see how the weather looks as far as extra boat movement. Unfortunately Kenai Fjords was a big reason I had decided on Seward as our post-cruise stay. :( However I don't believe we have enough time to make the trek up to Denali for it not to be extremely rushed. We have debarkation day, one full day, then another day until 6 when the train would take us to Anchorage.

I've spoken with someone on transportation that would take us briefly through the Wildlife Conservation Center, to Seward and possibly a tour of Exit Glacier before drop off. If we end up doing Harv and Marv AM and the helicopter/dogsled PM in Juneau, we probably won't have any time to see Mendenhall, so that might be good to plan to visit Exit. Just not quite sure what else we should do in Seward besides the dog sled adventure. Did you hear of any other great excursions/ tours/activites there? I'm assuming we will probably go to the Sealife Center.

I really can't thank you enough for the feedback you've given me. My daughter sat down with me and we went through ALL your photos again two nights ago! :)

AryMay, I finished reading/viewing your amazing photojournal last night. Fantastic! I have to tell you I even got choked up a few times thinking about how wonderful this trip will be if it all can happen!

I have so many questions and comments for you! Because of your comment about being port side and the narration through glacier bay, I switched our cabin from Starboard to port. We were already on baja deck forward so I switched over to the other side. While researching I found out even though the agent assured me it was, that our cabin was not covered so I managed to switch to a cabin a few more toward midship to a covered one. I'm really hoping that front viewing deck won't be taped off for us!

I'm currently trying to put together our post cruise 3 days. I think we will be going to Seward also. Someone already asked you if you felt the Kenai fjords cruise was redundant after sailing glacier bay, College Fjords, and doing a whale watch in Juneau. We also will be sailing Our additional possible challenge is we will have our two teenagers- son turning 16 on day 7 of cruise and 13 yr old daughter. I don't want to overdo it to make it underwhelming for them. Being a former teacher, what is your general thought on this? I also have considered both major marine and Kenai fjords tours. If we do major marines 4.5 hr tour which includes lunch, I don't believe we leave resurrection bay. Same goes for the other company's half day tour. Do you remember if you saw Puffins and whales in that area or was it only once going out further? If we can have a chance to see them in Resurrection Bay, then I will feel better about doing the shorter tour.

Both serve a prime rib/salmon dinner- major marines is onboard while as you know KFT is at Fox Island so I guess that's not a factor.

My daughter also has been known to get motion sickness. A couple years ago on a ferry ride over to Capri from Naples, she felt horrible because the waters were really rough. Coming back, she was fine.

I am looking into the Ididaride excursion that your friends did. Did they enjoy it? Do you know which one they chose to do? I know they offer a couple of options. It is a huge #1 priority for my kids and I (DH can take it or leave it). I plan to book the glacier: heli ride in Juneau along with a whale watch, but if it gets cancelled, I want to make sure we get another chance. I'm just afraid if we book all of these excursions in Seward up front, then if our ship excursions get cancelled, we won't have space to fit in a redo. Did you book your Seward activities way in advance?

I have other questions, but I'll start with those!

Wow, I second the thank you for the tip on the checked bags at the train depot!

I am very excited to come across this report right now when I'm at the beginning of the planning phase. We, too are on the Coral at the end of May going Northbound, also planning to add on a few days at the end (probably Seward) and then fly out of Anchorage. Also, debating flying into Seattle vs Vancouver.

Grabbing a cup of coffee on this dreary day and plan to kick back and read/view on! Thank you!

Wow, thanks for everything that's been posted thus far!

I'm definitely canceling the Princess land tour, at least I know that much, and I think I already knew that, but you all helped confirm.

The whole idea of Seward is appealing to me, and I had looked into booking Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, 7 night Northbound Vancouver to Seward, however two things kept me from it- one, there are no more starboard side balcony rooms available and I thought this would make a big difference if we were on the port side, and two, it did not sail Glacier Bay, only, Hubbard Glacier, and a cruising day of the inside passage. From what I've read, it looks like in May the ship might not be able to get close enough in to Hubbard, so that had helped me narrow my choices to the Carnival and Princess Itineraries. However the Radiance does have an extra port, Icy Strait Point so it would give us an additional day to get onto land.

Even if the Princess ship docks in Whittier, do you think it would be worth it to go over to Seward? Budget Queen and Cheryl, I like the idea of doing Seward, it sounds like there is so much to do. Cheryl, I can't believe you did all that in one day! Do you remember who you used for the private guide?

As far as renting a car, I am all for it, but my husband doesn't like this idea at all. We rented a car in Germany for ten days a few years back and even though we were driving through the countryside, he didn't find it relaxing at all, not to mention he is worried about me being a backseat driver :rolleyes:. I haven't seen any shuttle buses from Whittier to Seward yet, but I'm going to keep looking. It does seem to make sense just cruising into Seward, but I don't want to compromise Glacier Bay for Hubbard if it is a risk of even getting good viewings at that time. If renting a car is the best/only way, then I'll twist his arm.

Sherry, I would LOVE to hear what the highlights were for your teens regarding Alaskan activities! My daughter is 13, my son will be turning 16. They both are pretty big thrill seekers, and so am I.

I can't thank you all enough for the time spent in responding.

After spending countless hours reading through cruise critics and trying to find information that was specific to our situation, I've decided to get brave and start a new thread. I would LOVE to get suggestions based on our specific situation.

My husband and I, along with our two children, ages at the time 13 and turning 16 during the trip, are planning on an Alaskan cruise late May 2015. Our kids have cruised with us every time so are experienced cruisers and love it as much as us.

At first my plan was to book Carnival Legend roundtrip out of Seattle, May 26th. I figured airfare would be cheaper, we've never been to Seattle, we're familiar with Carnival, it travels Glacier Bay, and Carnival would have a better chance of having the most teens aboard (which is a huge plus for us and our kids that love to make new friends and hang out with their buddies). My thought was to fly into Seattle the day prior, and then stay two nights post-cruise to see Seattle.

After researching and realizing that Princess had more options with itineraries, and reading that it might make since to tack on some land days at the end, I called Princess to talk it out. An hour and a half later, I had booked the Coral Princess 7 day Northbound Vancouver to Anchorage with a 3 night add-on land tour (BA3- 10 night Denali Explorer). I went into the call having researched the cruise, but not the cruise tour, but the SA did a great job of convincing me of doing this, also confirming that I would be able to call and cancel the land portion prior to final payment with no penalty. I spent the next few days reading on CC about cruise tours and with three nights it looks like we would be doing more transporting than actually seeing. We will only have one afternoon/evening in Denali and from what all of you say, I don't want to do the Natural History Tour). It has one night each at McKinnley, Denali, and Fairbanks Princess Lodges. The price of the add on 3 nights/4 days was an additional $3400.

Also, after checking into flights (I'd priced out Anchorage prior to booking that cruise tour that flies out of Fairbanks), I realize that it's going to be a lot more expensive, not to mention tricky with the whacko times the flights are.

Then I started researching what we could do on our own post cruise. We only have 3 nights as we must be back by Sunday June 7. I know we don't want to rent a car. We definitely want to fly out of Anchorage. It looks like there are some great things to do without going as far as Denali. I'm just not sure what would be our best options. Any suggestions? On the cruise portion, I plan to book heli/dog sled in Juneau (maybe whale watch in the afternoon if we stay with Princess), and yukon/white pass rail experience in Skagway. The 26 glacier cruise through Prince Williams sounds great and I know we could do that out of Whittier. What about Aleyska?

I'm just wondering if it makes sense to even tack on just 3 days. If not, does it make sense to stay with Carnival?

I did call Princess back the next day to reconfirm I could drop the cruise tour portion, since my confirmation listed the cruise as a package, not showing the separate cruise and land tour fees. SA assured me I could again. Also, I found out with 75% of the ship booked, there are only 12 teenagers including ours.

The price of the two cruises are very similar with the rates I was given.

After talking it over with me, myself, and I a thousand times, I think I'm going crazy (husband is not interested at all in the planning phase ). You all seem to have such wonderful suggestions and I'd love to see what you all would do if you were in our situation. Carnival and Seattle? Princess and 3 day tour? Princess and 3 days on own, but not Denali, and if so where?

Getting ready to buy two of them- one to pay off our balance for our April cruise and another for a tentative cruise I plan to book for May. Anyone have experience with using a gift card to pay for a cruise deposit and then cancel it? If so, any problem with the money going back on the gift card?

Maritime, funny thing is I AM booked on the Allure for a Thanksgiving cruise, and there is not one mention of any Thanksgiving events/activities whatsoever. Maybe that's supposed to be my description. :D

Keys- AMAZING cabin! We loved it beyond belief!! :) :) Our kids still talk about it. The views pulling into ports are unparalleled.

I agree with the others here, save your money and wait on the suites until you are in a better position.

 

We have been cruising for a while now and have only stayed in a JS once because of the great deal we got. We used to sail in insides/oceanviews with the 4 of us all in one cabin. When the kids got a bit older we moved up to a balcony for us and an inside for the kids. Now my oldest is engaged and the youngest in college so starting to think about whether we move up in cabin type or not.

 

We do have a JS on our next cruise because there will be 3 of us and it was tight in the balcony last year when we did the 3. I am assuming this will be one of the last with my youngest along in our cabin but who knows ;), the older still wants to go along!!

 

Be happy you have been able to sail in balconies at the stage of your life that in your in. Save your pennies and pay off your debt. If you are looking at having kids in the future, you will need those extra $$. And, you also have something to look forward to as you get older. Save the suite for later on. Of course, this is all my opinion.

akcruz- I laughed when I read your post. Both of our kids (now 7th and 9th grade) are already worried that once they are in college we will start cruising without them. We said they will ALWAYS be welcome to join us; they will just have to pay their own way. ;)

To the OP: Yes, consider yourself so lucky to be able to have gone on a few cruises already and in a balcony! My first was when I was a young teen, then for our 2nd wedding anniversary (in an interior), and then the next several were interiors, and an occasional OV, but once we already had children and in our early 30s. We had paid off all of our student loans prior to those. :) I do, however, get the allure of those special cabins!

My husband, 2 children, and I have cruised a lot. For us we'd rather take more cruises then have the more expensive rooms. We are all pretty active, and are very rarely in the cabin. We've done our share of interior rooms, mostly OV rooms, maybe 4 balconies, and one grand suite. The grand suite was on a 12 day Europe cruise in which we had originally booked the cheapest balcony cabin we could. One night we saw that a couple of grand suites had opened up and for kicks we clicked on it to see what the cost would be. For our family of 4, the TOTAL additional cost was only approx $350!!! That was a no-brainer. I called ASAP and we must have celebrated after that call for an hour! LOL

I will say this, since our family of 4 always stay in one cabin, having the grand suite and the extra space has completely ruined us. :) Unlike the earlier poster that said it wasn't a perk for them to have lounge chairs reserved, this was one of our FAVORITE perks! We are always hanging out by the pool on sea days and it was only maybe 10 stairs up from the pool deck to the top row of the reserved chairs. :) Having the concierge lounge for all drinks every night prior to dinner, not to mention coffees in the morning, was AWESOME! One night we took advantage of having our dinner in our room. That was also super cool.

So, although we've yet to come across an upgrade like this, if we ever do for such a slight difference in cost, we will gladly take it. Otherwise, we can be content in our interior rooms and get to cruise 2-4 times a year. :)

Yes, thank you, Kimmy! We just got off Freedom's sister ship, Liberty yesterday, and had a ball! Hope you did as well! :)

Hello! I'm hoping someone who has recently been on the Freedom's Eastern Caribbean 7 day itinerary might be able to share what the showtimes were (that is if someone still has their Compasses). I've found the ice show times, but I'm trying to plan our My Time Dining reservations and I've not been successful in finding this information. Thanks in advance!

Thank you!

Anyone remember the show times? Trying to coordinate our my time dining...

Just had #9200 2 weeks ago. BEST room EVER. Only those two cabins have this angled space. The 4-5 cabins between these two have floor to ceiling windows, just not all that space and not two windows. FABULOUS room. Each morning when we woke up in port, we thought we were looking at a mural. I don't have time now to post, but tonight I will try to put some on (with being in port. Honestly, the photos do NOT do it justice.)

We're booked in 9200 for our spring break cruise. There are 4 of us (two are kids 12 and 10) and I'm just wondering how they convert that couch into beds since i see no upper bunks. Also, I'm still agonizing over this room vs a regular balcony room for $100 less. We love having extra space as we did once with a family OV on the Freedom, but the one time we had a balcony it was really nice to be able to go out and sit in the breeze and salt air. The new rooms look beautiful!

HAHA- I just said this to hubby- #1 thing I would change on Carnival- how extremely cold they keep the ship's interior public spaces! I hate having to wear sweaters and jackets on our tropical vacations! :D That being said, that is my biggest gripe, so obviously not going to be a deal breaker for this Carnival family! :)