Essiesmom

I have only been to St. Kitts once, and being a fan of trains I took the tour that includes the sugar train.  It is only sold through the cruise line.  It is in two parts: half in on small buses and circles half of the island.  The second part is on the train.  The bus part stops se era, places and I believe there was narration.  The train is double decker.  The lower level is enclosed and has tables and chairs that will accommodate everyone, and a restroom.  A spiral staircase takes you to the upper level which is open air and has benches all around.  They mixed a punch and passed it around, or you could have sodas.  
  I took the afternoon tour that did the bus part first.  There is a bus for each car of the train.  If you are in the first bus, you will be in the first car.  I was slow, so in the last bus and last car.  I loved it.  It’s narrow gauge and sways a lot, so goes really slow.  I loved watching the countryside and little villages.  The buses stopped in a large field with train tracks, we got out and waited.  The train came, the folks on the early tour got off and boarded the buses we had just left, and we boarded the train.  EM

Google the St. Kitts Scenic Railway.

When the ship is sailing you won’t be close enough to land to see anything but a dark silhouette.  Coming eastbound down the Pacific coast, you have the sun port side in the morning, starboard in evening.  After the canal it reverses, but may depend on your itinerary in the Caribbean.  EM

10 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

The food has been good other than the crime brûlée and escargots.  I just found that shocking as it’ one thing that HAL does well.  Last night was delicious - more later - in catch up mode.  CC wasn’t working for me.

I just love that typo…’crime brûlée…’. EM

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

My husband used to call it the law of diminishing appetite….The longer the cruise the less we seemed to eat daily. After our longest cruise on our flight home my husband and son were discussing what food they had missed/were looking forward to as they returned home…Home made veggie soup won!

The last few cruises with my sister, on the way home I would suggest…Sloppy Joe - in our family that was what we called hamburger barbecue.  Somehow, that’s what I had a taste for after cruising.  EM

5 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

We have a unique situation, coming up, next year -- it's a B2B on Summit. We have the same cabin booked for both cruises.The only wrinkle is that the first week of the B2B is a Jazz Cruise Charter -- followed by the first week of Summit's return to regular service (after at least a month of charter cruises). We may very well be the only B2B'ers onboard, and worry a little that we could get lost in the shuffle, so to speak. We are in a SkySuite for both cruises, so we'll talk to the Retreat Concierge, when we first board. Hoping for a seamless transition, on turnaround day!🤞

It’s been awhile since I did a B2B on Celebrity, but I remember when checking in online they want info on how you are arriving and leaving after the cruise.  With the first leg there is an option for ‘continuing cruiser’ or some such, which tells them you are staying on the ship for the next cruise.  EM

It is interesting that MSC does not have art auctions.  Could it be because their mostly European clientele are too art savvy to fall for such drivel?  I wonder if Costa, Mein Schiff, AIDA, Marella, Fred Olsen have Park West or similar?  
   If you want real art from the artist, visit an arts festival…many are held around the country during spring and summer.  EM

What experience and cabin type did you book?  Sometimes the first thing you get is an email telling you that you have been upgraded.  EM

Once I looked at the deck plans for deck 8 I realized that was a smaller cabin, should be labeled junior OV but not.  No seating but at the desk.  There are plenty pictures of other cabins in that class on that deck on cruisedeckplans.  EM

Remember that the canal transit is only one day of your cruise.  If it’s where you want to be the rest of the time, if the price is satisfactory, go for it.  If you are happy with a regular balcony the rest of the time, pass on it and move around the ship during the transit.  
Do you like to see where you are going, or where you have been?

If the ship you chose is using the original locks, try to get a balcony on the port side for a westbound transit.  For an eastbound transit, starboard side is best.  If your ship will be using the new locks, it makes no difference.  EM

Mahogany Bay is a Carnival created port on Roatan.  There is a nice shopping area, and a lovely beach.  No need to go anywhere else.  
Costa Maya is another port created for cruises.  Nice shopping area, pool and small beach area by the pool, but you have to buy something from the restaurant to use the loungers.   Is it the Ports of Call boards here for more options.

   Cozumel offers the most opportunities.  There are three pier areas, one used by the Carnival family and occasional others, one by Royal and her group of lines, and the downtown pier with NCL, MDC, Disney.  It seems you will be on a Carnival line so you will dock at the Puerto Maya pier.  Next door is the International pier.  Each have their own extensive shopping areas.  The third pier is Punta Langosta and is right downtown with more stores and restaurants.  Again, suggest you visit the Ports of Call boards for more options in Cozumel.  EM

My suggestion is to go to a place that sells binoculars, such as an army/navy store, or one that caters to hunters.  Try them out.  Find what is comfortable for you to hold,  or too heavy.   My first pair, purchased in Hong Kong in 1988 was Bausch & Lomb 7x35, for a bird watching trip.  The second I purchased much more recently in the PX, Nikon Aculon 8x42.5.  They.  Both accomplished what I needed and are not too heavy.  Try, and decide what will suffice, then look for it on Amazon for price.  EM

Looking at cruisedeckplans, there are a lot of pictures of those cabins, none showing a rollaway, a number showing an upper bunk.  My advice is to become a member of cruisedeckplans.com, a minor investment, and look at the pics of all the cabins with that symbol.  Write down the ones that you can document have the upper bunk, and try to book one of those.  EM

We are missing pics of the cats welcoming you home.  EM

I have the second ones and they are fine for all tags.  Use for MSC and Carnival, Celebrity are narrower but fit also.  EM

When I am doing a test booking it often offers me the choice of booking type first, and when I add voyager number it goes down a tiny amount.  Of course, when I then change from 2 guests to one guest, it says sold out.  EM

No, only on the newest?  On Seaside we ate in a section of one MDR.  On Seashore they have their own MDR.  EM

How old and fit is your friend?  Could she do an upper bunk 1A cabin?  Floor space in those cabins is amazing.  If you could move the beds into an L shape, one across the back of the cabin and the other along one side, it would work.  That works well on the Fantasy class, but I don’t know if anyone has ever tried on the newer ships.  EM

I believe there are clear pages for filing business cards, and I have seen them used for cruise cards (Sea pass).  Does sailing all of Royals ships include sailing on former ships now retired to other cruise lines?  I believe there are several floating around in Europe…. EM

They didn’t say it was noisy.  They were asking if the cabin across was noisy.  EM

The Diamond does have the IC, just not gelato.  EM

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  I think you will find your best answers if you ask on the Alaska board under Ports of Call, further down on the main boards page.  Lots of experts and locals there.  EM

10 hours ago, hmwende said:

Which night was formal gala night?

Post #15.  Top of menu says Gala Dinner.  EM

10 minutes ago, cheryl/jessica said:

Why can't I read my replies? 

I don’t see any replies yet.   Also, you embedded your question in an existing thread about a specific cruise, so many people won’t see it.  If your query isnt pertinent to the topic of the thread, it’s best to start a new thread.  EM

10 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

You should be able to go to your Points History and see why you got certain points.  The previous PUP opportunity in February was for 1 point so perhaps you just saw the February and March points.

 

Ive only had invites to two webinars, December for 5 and March for 4.  EM

Just went back to my points page and found the survey point.  Didn’t realize that was a point exercise.

I tried to sign in yesterday and couldn’t…today I followed advice and was able to change my password and get in.  I see that my points arrived…4 of them.  I was wondering why others were talking about 3…. EM