jstewie23

For using the Tube with 4 of us (2 kids don't have apple pay on their phones), will it allow me to tap multiple times using my phone/apple pay? Should we get the kids cards to use? Appreciate any advice.

I believe check in is midnight based on embarkation port. I'm in NJ and I'm planning to check in at 7pm (eastern) for our Norway/Southampton cruise. Sounds like it would be 4pm on May 5th for you in CA.

That's how it worked when we went out of Barcelona last summer.

Is there a craps table in the non-smoking casino, or is it just slots/tables (Oasis class ships, Symphony specifically)? 

4 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

 

Was that Diveseekers by any chance?

Yeah. I did my OW cert with them. They're scubadelphia now which isn't exactly down the street from me. 

16 hours ago, mac66 said:

I did my discovery dive on Grand Cayman at Eden Rock. Easy, peasy shore dive and some coral to swim through. It was a lot of fun.  I got hooked and later got certified.

 

Later I took my adult kids on a cruise and they did a discovery dive on Curacao with Scubaco and on another cruise did one in Roatan with Sun Divers.

 

Last Feb, my brother and their wives did a cruise with us and I talked my brothers into a discovery dive in Roatan. Went with West End Divers this time but only because Sun Divers were booked.

 

In every case, they did the discovery dive while I dived and then we dived together on our second dive.  All were good experiences.

Thanks. Good info. I was wondering if I would be able to dive with him while he did the discovery dive. I'm guessing I would, but only if I signed up for a discovery dive as well.

2 minutes ago, omeinv said:

@jstewie23

 

If going to an island is the alternative, I just got this from Aldora Divers in Cozumel.  They could defintely do a Discover Dive first, and to get the full Open Water Diver course including dives, AND Nitrox for $586 is an AMAZING deal.  And I can tell you Aldora is probably the best operator in Cozumel. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

Thanks. I was unsure about Coz for discover since it seems like a lot of drift diving. Wasn't sure if that's a good option for a first timer.

On 9/1/2023 at 12:40 PM, omeinv said:

St. Thomas currently has no dive operators close to the port, and you're dealing with a very expensive cab ride.  Otherwise, the sites there would be OK for a Discover Dive, but you can find better many other places. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

What are your thoughts on Jamaica? 

6 hours ago, gmerick said:

Why are you set on a "Discover" package as a teenager's introduction to diving?  That program delivers minimal training, just enough to somewhat mitigate the risk of a fatal accident.  Almost nothing to address pressure equalization in ears and sinuses.  

A much more rewarding experience would be to visit a local dive shop.  If your son remains interested, he could still complete the full Open Water Diver course before any likely sail date, then could go on a two-tank boat dive with you.

Fortunately, there is a NJ that can help with recommending a local dive shop.  https://njscuba.net/

Thanks for the link. He would want to try diving before committing to full blown certification. Unfortunately there are really no dive shops near me...probably an hour away. The one I used closed up. 

If we ended up doing a cruise (instead of just going to an island), I would look to see if they had a cruise ship excursion for discover scuba and likely sign him up for that. 

Thanks Harris. This info is awesome!

What's the reasoning behind not including St Thomas? 

Looking for recommendations regarding a destination for my teen son to try discover scuba. Is there an island/destination that's "better" for discover scuba? I'm OW certified and did my discover scuba in Aruba through RC excursion. We don't have any cruises booked, so not limited to certain destinations.

Thanks! 

Just off Symphony a few weeks ago. Don't remember seeing an elevator. 

21 hours ago, JHLH821 said:

We disembarked in Barcelona in September- the process was very quick. We exited the ship, picked up our luggage and off we went. The longest wait was at the taxi stand. No customs check- was surprised how seamless it was.

Thanks. Definitely good to know. Trying to determine if 11:30 flight out of BCN is ok timing wise.

Anyone know if it's just MDR, or did they change/modify Coastal Kitchen menu along the same lines as well? If I remember, CK, also had the classics as an option.

Thanks!

Cruising in July 2023. Can we make an 11:30am flight out of BCN to US (through Lisbon)? Ship docks at 5am and we'll walk off with our luggage. 

And how does customs work when getting off the ship in Barcelona? How long does that take? Only done cruises out of US to this point.

Thanks!

One of the caveats to price drops is that your room category still has to be available for booking otherwise there's nothing to price match against. We're in one of the suites on Symphony and we can't price match b/c they're all booked already, so we're stuck. 

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

I have the menu from Portofino and puts Chops, Giovanni and Jamie to shame, IMHO. 

The seafood skewer was the best.

Will be on Symphony this summer and be curious as to how many times the new version of the menu changes between now and then...

33 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

I think people in the Northeast might welcome a change from Anthem but would they charge more because its a newer ship?

Yeah this is my concern (being in NJ). If they end up putting Odyssey and Utopia here, cost will be insanely high. 

23 minutes ago, Scoobydobe7 said:

Curious about Summer 2024, not fall after repo, but thanks 

Yeah I'm looking for the same info about summer 2024. Just basically saying Odyssey is showing up in Nov so won't be there for the summer. Will probably find out as we get closer to Caribbean itinerary release in mid Dec.

Odyssey scheduled to get there in Nov 2024 (end point of transatlantic)

Just loaded correctly for me. The stuff I had in my cart this morning was still there with the sale price. It processed fine when I checked out. Miracle...

I got the maintenance page again...unreal

So is the only thing we know about Cape Liberty so far is that Odyssey is showing up in Nov 2024?

As someone that works in IT, this is rage inducing.

I have not dove in St Thomas, but will be there for a few days in July, so I have been researching dive shops. Aqua Marine seems to be a good dive operation. https://www.diveaquamarine.com/

Might be worth posting in the Scuba/Snorkeling forum...I always get great info from there. 

I haven't... I grew up in Hoonah and hung out with a lot of Skaflestads growing up. So I'd be pretty confident in going with Teckk.

Looks like their website is no longer active?