travelmatron

Thanks for the info. Also I think one purpose of this forum is to be able to ask and give such information and I appreciate that and am happy to help when I can.

JM2C. Larry

Exactly...and we all can buy a guide book or go to the library, but I also think this should be a place to get quick answers.

If you tell your butler you like to take afternoon naps he/she probably won't even call. They really do try to work themselves into your schedule rather than trying to get you to learn their routine.

I haven't seen rentals onboard. That, of course doesn't mean they don't exist, but we'll be bringing our own mask and snorkel when we travel to Bermuda. I've seen several places on the island mention that they rent equipment, so the fins should be easy to come by.

What I know is VERY old information, but since you aren't getting anything better, I'll share it. We took this tour through NCL over 10 years ago. At that time we went on a smallish speed boat to the reef area. My guess is that there were maybe 15-20 other people on our boat. When we got to the snorkel spot there were a lot of other similar sized boats clustered rather close together. It seemed that no matter who you booked the snorkel trip with, you ended up in the same place. Some people from some boats threw food in the water to attract the sharks. It doesn't matter, they were certainly there. So were the rays.

The area where we snorkeled was shallow, sandy, and had a little sea grass. Not a coral reef. Because it is quite a long way from shore there is a bit of a current, but it was calm the day we were there. It was not like Grand Cayman in that "shallow" was maybe 10 feet deep, not knee deep, and there weren't a lot of kids standing around in the water squealing and shrieking. The water was very warm and we snorkeled for about an hour. I don't remember seeing other fish, although they might have been there. The attraction was swimming with the sharks and rays. We were certainly close enough to touch them, but I doubt that it's good for the fish to be handled by people and we were certainly content to just watch them appear and disappear. Because it was a sandy bottom there wasn't the same clarity as you have with coral and/or rock. We've snorkeled a lot in Hawaii and the Caribbean and taken trips to both the Galapagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef, for after about 20 years, this was one of my favorite snorkels. I'm sure a lot has changed, but it's still an amazing thing to snorkel with the bigger fish.

The address for Bayport is actually Seabrook. It is 42 miles from IAH. From the Southern Houston city limits it's only a few miles.

Kemah is by far the best place to stay in my opinion if you come in a day ahead. Problem is getting from IAH to Kemah.

That's the problem exactly. The hotel airports have shuttles. To get to Kemah you have to rent a car. For our December 6th cruise I tried to rent a car at the airport and return it at the port. Enterprise, the only agency near the port, had no cars available. I have been able to pick one up after we get off the ship and return it to the airport.

I've booked a suite at the Homewood Suites - Westchase. Getting a hotel room is not the unbelievable part. Tracey, the manager there, says that she'll be sure all the items we need are in our room when we check in the night before the cruise. Everything...she made up a shopping list...We've had some great service in our travels, but this really tops everything. I know hotels often do this type of thing for their returning and regular customers, and it's not uncommon at very expensive hotels, but we've never stayed there before and are only paying around $100/night. WOW, just WOW!

Thanks for your help. We may have to "rough it" and drink coke. Sounds like a 1st world problem to me. Off to trip advisor to check out the hotels. We've had good experiences with both Marriott and Sheraton

Thank you for your response

We haven't chosen a hotel yet. Suggestions?

I had to do something! LOL. I'm traveling solo and the tour guides I contacted told me I had to get a group together and with such a quiet roll call, I knew that wasn't going to happen. So, I checked to see what other ships are in port the same day and the RCCL ship had an active roll call with several tours planned, including the exact tour I wanted to take in that port. They get there an hour before we do, but they're a nice group and seemed happy to delay the tour by an hour so I could join. Another party from my roll call is also joining us, so we filled up their tour, resutling in a very reasonabls per person price so it was a win-win. :D

Great idea, looks like Carnival Glory is in every port we visit in December. When we're in Belize both RRCL and Celebrity will also be in port. I had checked the other lines to see if their roll calls were more active, since we're going at a slow travel time, but never thought of just joining in. DUH

Travelmatron: Bayport. Shopping. Kind of an oxymoron. Not much in the immediate area.

 

What do you need to find? I grew up in the area and maybe can help.

Thanks for the help offer! We hope to travel with just carry on luggage so we'll need liquids we can't fly with; sun screen' date=' conditioner, caffeine free Cokes, tonic water...that sort of stuff. BTW, NCL question: We can bring soda on board can't we? [/color']

When are you cruising? What time are you arriving at IAH? What do you need?

 

If they are using a van just for you and maybe a few others' date=' the driver might just stop on the way for a fee. I can give you suggestions of places for what you may need in the area close to the port.[/size']

We arrive in Houston Friday Dec. 5 around 7pm. The cruise is Saturday, December 6. I'm beginning to think it will be easier to find a hotel near the air port that is also close to a store and get that all done before we come over to the port. Right now we're planning on going back to the airport Saturday morning and pick up NCL's bus to the pier, but I have 2 months to change my mind on that! That Kroger could be the place I end up.

Can you tell that I had no idea there were 2 airports, 2 ports, and some pretty big distances to take into consideration before I booked this cruise and flights?

Can anyone recommend a hotel near IAH that is also near a grocery store where we'd be able to stock up on things we can't carry aboard the airplane? Things like sun screen and coke.

There is nothing near the port.

Darn, that's disappointing

Well, it seems petty but I'm trusting you all and posting my Bayport shopping question on this board.

Is there anywhere within walking distance to buy things like soda and sun screen? We will be taking using NCL to get from IAH to Bayport, and hope to avoid checking any baggage. I know we can buy some things on board like the toiletries we can't carry, but we also prefer coke and would like to bring that with us.

I miss having a "safe place" to ask my really stupid questions, and since we haven't cruised in several years, and never on the Jewel I have a bunch of stupid questions.

When we cruised on HAL and there was a quiet roll call people would say (with their tongue firmly in their cheek) either that HAL cruisers were so old they didn't know how to use a computer or that they were so sophisticated they didn't need/want to talk to others on their cruise. Our upcoming cruise on the Jewel has a really quiet roll call and I'm wondering; Is there a running joke or explanation for that on this board?

Thanks so much. We will be sailing on the Jewel for the first time this December and it's always more fun seeing fellow passenger photos than the cruise company's.

Thanks for bringing us all along again this year. We enjoy your posts so much.

We always call our Visa card company and let them know. We haven't been told that. In fact several years ago my husband was in Tokyo for business and he tried to charge his hotel room and they wouldn't allow it to go through. I got a call here at home from the fraud department at Visa and I had to authorize it They told me to always let them know ahead of time. They verify you by the phone number you called in on. If it's not one on record you have to go through a verification process. Must be individual to each bank?

 

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We had a similar experience with our Visa card in the Caribbean. I forgot to call ahead and our booking fee with an independent snorkel excursion was blocked. Fortunately the company still picked us up for our private trip and my husband was able to go through the security process of unblocking us. This was with a card that gives us airline miles, so we have used it many times for much more 'exotic' travel than the Caribbean, and our credit limit was considerably more than the excursion. I've never forgotten to call after that experience.

As I remember, on Celebrity you can order from the MDR menu, on Carnival you cannot, on Princess you can only if you are in a suite, and I can't recall about Holland America (I feel like I remember the first time I was on HAL you could, and the second time, you could not, but I am not positive that my memory serves correctly here.) Do any of you know about HAL and about which other cruiselines allow or don't allow you to order room service from the MDR menu?

On HAL all the items available in the Main Dining Room are available through room service. There is no charge for using room service, but I believe most passengers give a nominal tip (from $2.00 for breakfast to more for full meals depending upon the number served) Check on board to see what the time frame is for ordering. If you are in a suite you can order at any time through the staff of the Neptune lounge. Suite passengers can also make arrangements to have a private waiter serve room service course by course (expect to leave a BIG tip for the service)

This is by no means a silly question! It is important to check with your airline about their policy for carry on luggage. There are carriers, Sprint comes immediately to mind, that charge for some carry ons. International flights have different rules than domestic flights. Please view their web site so you don't have to hastily repack at check in! There are also still some carriers that don't charge for checked baggage. Southwest simply doesn't charge, and Delta doesn't charge if you have their credit card, although therae is a imit to the number of free bags.

There are several differents types of medications for sea sickness. For us Bonine works well without the side effect of feeling drugged. Every medication, even a common over the counter drug, is capable of causing some side effect for someone, you'll want to know BEFORE you go how you will react.

I would also appreciate your list Emdee. Thanks

cosgood@comcast.net