RoupMom

More information: I just called my cell provider and she checked carefully about my particular phone. I don't have international roaming ability, so that's fine, but she says on a cruise ship is different, the cruise line can/will charge for phone usage even for data. However I can leave the phone off when on the ship, and then sync when I'm on shore, which wouldn't take long, so wouldn't hold up the rest of my fun! OR, I can just go ahead and get a small tablet and take my fitbit wifi widget! :) DH might not be entirely happy, but I will be.

Many thanks again, POA1!!! I just tried it and it worked perfectly. I will be gone from home 8 days, but the specs say it keeps a daily summary for 30 days, so I'll be set even if it doesn't work sometime.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I've tried turning on bluetooth and airplane mode on my phone, but my fitbit flex won't sync without wifi. Believe it or not, I do not have a lap top. :( My DH has been very tech-averse, but does use a few basic functions on our iPad, but since he's not going on this cruise (this is a sister trip!) I need to leave it home. Despite his not-too-strong objections, I think I'm going to have to get a tablet for the trip. Yeah! I'll also check to see how many days data the flex will store.

Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming!

I'm sure someone will know the answer to this. I'm not enough of a techie yet to know. I have been enjoying my fitbit and have really been encouraged to eat better and get my exercise since using it. I cruise in 3 weeks and would like to use it then if possible. I don't remember that the computers in the center on board as being "complete" with a USB port so I could use the widget to connect for my data. My phone will handle bluetooth, as will the fitbit, but I'm not very familiar with that technology. Will that work on the ship so I can sync the fitbit and phone to store data? Is there some other way?

Thanks in advance for your help.

It's been years since we were in Ponce, but we enjoyed it a lot. One hidden gem we happened upon is a music museum, featuring the specific music of Puerto Rico. As it happened, one of the women who was featured there at the time was touring the exhibit when we were there! It's not huge, but we found it interesting. That led us to bring back a specific kind of drum for our son, who is a percussionist.

Can we crash any of the talks/seminars? The role call on this cruise is very slow. I'm glad to see there are others aboard.

Any suggestions for where to Hop Off for a brief visit while on this? We are only in port for 4 hours, so thought this would be a good overview, but might like to spend a short time at something worthwhile.

All the suggestions above are good, and I wish your daughter (and you!) success and an enjoyable cruise. I am a confirmed HAL-ite, but one time we had reason to take a Celebrity Cruise, which was really delightful, too. One feature that Celebrity has that I've not seen on HAL is a "spa dining" place, a small area of one of the decks with a small eating area. They had very healthy food, and smaller portions, and things not available elsewhere. For example, they had poached salmon available every lunch, and wonderful plated salads. I don't know if they still have this, but it was a very peaceful place to get a healthy lunch. Wish HAL had something like that.

Please keep posting, Roy! My sister and I are doing this cruise in a couple of months and this is like a sneak peek! Thanks

We're also interested in the "behind the scenes" tour. I contacted the park people directly and they replied that the only way to get there is through the cruise ship excursions desk. Is that what everyone else has heard?

Earlier posters have said that nearly ALL the tours at this port are through the ship only. Someone even said that the park is only open on cruise ship days!

Also, what about the "Behind the Scenes" tour of Campo Del Mar Park? We're not much as "beach" people, so this sounded interesting.

Thanks

And I've requested cans (specifically) when using the soda card and received them every time. It must vary according to the ship and server, although HAL is within their rights to serve only fountain drinks.

We did this cruise over the Holidays, in the reverse of yours, a few years ago. It was summer there, of course, so nice and warm everywhere, except when windy, as said above. Wellington was nice when we were there. As stated above also, the ship's air conditioning is the same as anywhere -- usually pleasantly cool, but there seems to be variation in different areas. I'm not a shorts wearer, as I'm afraid I'd frighten everyone off, but my summer pants and tops were perfect, with the occasional sweater. This was one of our favorite cruises, and we left Seattle just hours before a huge snowstorm hit and folks were without power for several day. Our timing was perfect! I hope you have a wonderful time.

I've enjoyed the traditionally smaller portions on the cruises I've been on. There is always plenty of food --- I almost always start with HAL's fruit soups!-- by the time the meal is done, and I think that's one reason I have only rarely gained weight on a cruise. Of course, I don't drink, so that help's too. Plus I've found that the wait staff is always very accommodating to unconventional requests, such as an appetizer for a main course, etc. One advantage of fixed dining is that the waiters get to know one's preferences for all sorts of things.

Thanks, Mike. It didn't occur to me that "M Pier" meant Mallory Square. Oh, duh!

so, we're scheduled to dock at Pier M in March, which from the maps I can find seems to be not all that close to the HOHO center. Reportedly the bus or trolley or whatever comes to the ship there. If one hops off, are there special "ship" trolleys that go to Pier M, or is that a routine stop?

Thanks in advance

I had already upgraded once to a higher ocean view cabin, which added the Explore4, for about the same as the list price of the previous cabin. When I learned of the price drops I spent a fair amount of time yesterday with Matthew at the HAL office (we don't have a TA we particularly like, and HAL itself has been great for us), and ended up with a significant upgrade to a verandah suite (Rhyndam) for only $200 pp more. I'm a happy customer.

For those of you who have been, what's the money situation there and in Guatemala, which we will also visit. Do most of the vendors take US $ or do you need to change money from an ATM or something? What about tips?

Thanks for any info.

I always take a standard backpack for the flight, and often on excursions. Then I found a "SafePac" fanny pack that I use for excursions. It is pretty theft proof. Each pocket zipper hooks closed, the strap has metal wires in so it can't be cut , and the fabric is cut-proof as well. They now make them with a shield to prevent electronic theft of credit card information. I just bought one as a gift for my sister, and she uses it for craft fairs, etc., where there will be crowds of people. Hers is cross-body, though, and I think I'm going to buy one for myself as we'll. They're from REI.

Best wishes to you. My DH and I both have Type II diabetes, with his more difficult to control than mine; there is lots of variation from person to person. We have done several cruises and not had difficulty if we're aware of what we're doing. First of all, portions on a cruise are reasonable! That helps a lot. I never heard of the veggies instead of bread, but will do that next time, so thx for the hint. Menus are posted outside the DR before each meal, so with a chart of carbs, you should be able to plan ahead. As others said, veggies instead of most potatoes, rice, etc are good. There is no need to be concerned about enough exercise; there are many classes of a variety of types, and there is always walking around the deck. Many of the excursions offer plenty of walking as well. Beware, as others have said, of limiting carbs TOO much, especially with what, for me at least, is often more exercise than I get on a daily basis. We have found the fruit basket in the room very helpful for the evening snack, as most fruits are about 15 carbs, which is what we need then, though your plan may differ from that, and there is always room service!

A few years ago we did a 2-week cruise over both holidays to New Zealand and Australia. The ship was decorated beautifully, but not overdone (IMHO) for anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, especially. I really enjoyed each day the elaborate gingerbread houses in the Lido; they were fantastic. And little can compare to the New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney Harbour, complete with champagne on the deck! This itinerary may be different than others, but our particular cruise had a lot of folks like us who had suffered a personal loss of some sort and were trying to get away from the usual holiday traditions of their family. That was true for 5 of the 8 people at our dinner table. There were also a lot of Kiwis and Aussies on that ship, some of whom never got off and were just enjoying the pampering available on the ship. Those factors made the atmosphere a little different than other cruises we've been on, but it was among our best.

I'm looking forward to this cruise March 8. Several have mentioned the port shops at Santo Tomas. Do the merchants take US$ or do you have to do a currency exchange? I've noticed that each of the three countries have different currencies, which could be an issue if not doing ship excursions. Thanks in advance.

I'm sure someone here can help me. I've booked a cruise for the Western Caribbean for March. I'd like to watch the prices for the C category we have and/or check how full the verandah level is so I could contact HAL to see what they'll do for me if there's a price drop, since the final payment time hasn't yet arrived. Is there any way to find that online without going through an imaginary booking, which I find quite painstaking? Thanks so much for your help in advance.

There may well be one..........a year ago we took a shuttle service from FLL to Sarasota. I think the same one went on to TPA and then back to FLL. I don't remember the name of the company, but you could google Tampa to FLL shuttle and it will come up. I will tell you, though, that it was a little disappointing. The web site talks about comfortable buses with waiter service; what we got was a van. They did stop somewhere for rest room and getting some food. We also had a hard time finding the pick-up at the pier, as it was outside a fence area, but that wouldn't apply to the reverse itinerary. I don't remember the cost, either, but it didn't seem outrageous. Hope this is any help.

I'm part of a divided family on this issue. I love the occasion to dress up, as I never do otherwise, living in the PNW where basically everything is casual. However DH hates it. He calls neckties "nooses" and says he was glad to retire and never have to wear one again. On shorter (week) cruises he generally gives in to me, griping the entire time we're getting ready, but then settling in. On a longer cruise we've compromised, dressing for two nights, and staying in our cabin with room service and a movie the 3rd one. That way we were both happy. Not having formal nights wouldn't keep me from cruising, and I really enjoy it.