temple1

They're not dropping passengers in the open Caribbean, but one of the inlets. Not a lot of wave action or under tow from my experience at island stops. All bets are off if a storm is passing through. I will get more info because it looks like one of the better excursions I've seen lately. BTW, I know 50 y/o people a lot older than I am.

Thanks, didn't notice we might have to swim to shore. I have no trouble swimming in the Caribbean, the Atlantic where I grew up and live is much more of a challenge. I'll have to track down more info on this particular excursion.

Reading over possible excursions on our December Freedom cruise. I am over 65, my sister is even more over 65, but I don't understand this particular excursion marked as Strenuous. If this is strenuous, sleeping by the pool will be considered moderately strenuous. Overview Enjoy a three-hour and a half, fun-filled boat ride that packs in a coastal cruise of St. Kitts and Nevis, sun-drenched beach time, plus refreshing cocktails and a live steel drum player on board during the Caribbean Sea cruise. A professional captain and attentive crew are ready to welcome you aboard a 96-foot vessel bound for the clear-blue waters off St. Kitts and Nevis. Breathe in the salty island air while gliding along the island's mountainous coast. The boat will then be anchored right off the beach. With 75 minutes free time you can swim in warm, shallow waters or soak up the sun beachside. The return route not only includes more spectacular island scenery, but you'll also sing and dance along to a DJ with popular music, plus enjoy three drink tickets to use towards local beer, rum punch or soda. Highlights Nevis: Swim in turquoise waters, or sunbathe on soft sands, with the boat anchored offshore. St. Kitts: Sip beer and rum punch while swaying along to the soothing rhythms of a live steel pan player and popular Caribbean music. Activity Level Strenuous This tour is not recommended for guests with pre-existing medical conditions such as cardiac, respiratory, or orthopedic conditions, including joint injuries or disease, or any other serious medical condition. Guests must consider their physical fitness level and medical history when determining whether this tour is appropriate. Guests who have concerns must consult with their personal physician before engaging in any activity that may be strenuous for them, particularly those involving water-based activities. Guests should consider their swimming ability when selecting tours involving water-based activities.

Sorry I was not clear. Yes, DH is the same level as I am and my sister reached Diamond several years ago. They have never shown much interest in the diamond lounge.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, the cruises I've booked over the years never have good freebies!

We prefer a window seat in the Schooner bar on most ships.

Thanks to an error in accounting, I had an extra cruise added to my C&A account. When the dreaded change came, I had just enough points to be Diamond. Because I split cruises between my husband and sister, it took her a couple of years to reach diamond, she was not happy, With DH or after my sister reached Diamond, we rarely went into the Diamond lounge. On our last cruise, a b2b on Independence we had the notice about not being allowed to use the lounge during happy hour. One evening we were bored and stopped in anyway, it was empty. So we had some snacks and a drink before heading out. I really prefer the 4 drink vouchers to access to the lounge.

Instead of doing the origami folds suggested on the luggage tags, I use the paper cutter to trim it down and then use my handy dandy thermal document sealer to make water proof luggage tags I easily staple on and place inside my check through luggage. I prefer using the preprinted tags so there are no questions about how I might write a number or other info requested on the tags.

From how quickly they cleaned up and repaired the mess in Philadelphia recently, I think they will not be waiting around for the lowest bid to start clearing the channel once they have completed recovery efforts. They will be looking for the best expertise and speed.

They will probably have to take 695 around the west of Baltimore. Longer route but not tunnels.

If I recall the Norfolk port was used a few years back as a temporary port.

I've been on Indy and Freedom. Other than artwork, not much difference.

We had 12:30 check in time for our November Independence cruise. When we arrived at the port there were 3 lines for 3 different boarding times. Once we were inside the building the 3 lines merged and no one ever looked at our assigned time.

We used off site parking. The one we used was about a mile from the port and provided shuttle service to and from.

I didn't watch the TikTok but read some of the article at the link below. Seems some people don't know there are different types of cabins on ships. Wait until she finds out what other perks frequent Royal cruisers receive, perhaps she'll leave the cruise. 😉 https://www.dailydot.com/news/royal-caribbean-9-month-cruise-special-treatment/ ‘Clacissm? On MY elite world cruise?’: Passengers on 9-month Royal Caribbean cruise say they booked the same experience–but some people are getting special treatment 'You can't convince me that this isn't a social experiment.'

Vicariously enjoying the trip from home. I have seen several of the TikTok posts on my phone. It is amazing that someone who has never been on a cruise ship (or out of their home) is supposedly on a world cruise. They are putting out so much disinformation it is very sad that their articles are what potential cruisers see about the trip.

On Independence last month they had 3 lines and sent you to the appropriate line on arriving at the terminal. Sounds great, all 3 lines moved at the same pace and once at the door, everyone was clumped together.

The luggage was on 2 separate carousels and they were much longer than the ones in most airports.

The luggage was in zones based on your number.

It was always annoying wading through all the luggage, a suitcase here, duffle there then getting them all together. With the carousel my luggage comes to me. It also seems to be quicker and less chaotic.

We rarely cruised out of Miami and we're recently returned from our first cruise since 2018, sailing out of Miami. I don't know if this is something just in terminal G, or is being added all over, but ........ Why did it take so long for them to adopt luggage carousels like at airports? What a pleasant surprise, almost better than the new immigration and customs process. Do you have an "it's about time" item?

Our group lunch was in the main dining room and started at 11:30.

We took a B2B on Independence, our first cruise since 2018. Since memory is a little fuzzy on anything that long before Covid, it is difficult to compare. It is also difficult to compare a 4 night cruise to the 7 night cruises we used to take. Our biggest disappointment was the Windjammer. Very repetitious in their offerings. I do tend to over analyze things, so going through 2 musters close together and listening to the count down of the hundreds of cruisers who had not yet stopped at their muster station I have to wonder why the staffer welcoming us aboard does not specifically tell you to go to your muster station? Following up on that, we were in Schooner over hearing someone giving their first time cruiser friend completely incorrect info.

Fresh off a b2b on Independence out of Miami. We kept the same room but we were not aware we could reenter early. The letter with instructions arrived the day before docked back in Miami. We arrived at the meeting lounge on time and were give our new Sea Pass cards. Once all the cruisers had checked in we left the ship, using our old Sea Pass. The hiccup was once off the ship we had to wait in line about 20 - 30 minutes to go through immigration, several passengers had not left the ship and we were not allowed back on until the ship was cleared. Once cleared the process was incredibly quick, We walked up to the immigration officer, looked at a screen, it found us and we went back on the ship. By that time the bars were starting to open and we hug out in Schooner until our 11:30 lunch was ready in one of the dining rooms. One person in line said they had to wait almost an hour once while they forced a person off who thought she could stay. I asked a crew member why we couldn't stay in the lounge until the stragglers were found, she said it was not their option. They had to escort us off. My thoughts on how the cruise staff discussed the stragglers, once their time to depart the ship had passed and they were still on, they shouldn't be called guests, they were now trespassers and should be treated as such.

When I booked the short b2b I couldn't find a cruise that was affordable and went somewhere new. I did not think about how repetitive it would be, cruise 1 - Cozumel and cruise 2 - Labadee, each with a sea day out and a sea day back. Our last trip was in 2018 and my memories of which ship and ports we visited are a little fuzzy, but the ship itineraries did not seem overly enticing. As in the past, I drove to within a 100 miles of Miami, where we spend the night, get up early and drive to the port. In the past we would drive all the way home after the cruise, Too old now to make the drive all the way home, so we stopped in Jacksonville, I found a great location off 295E. I booked an Adventure of the Seas for 2025 out of Pt Canaveral. I wish I could find more offerings sailing from there.