BigRed93

Where was your XL cabin located?  I just upgraded my January cruise from regular sea terr to XL.  now another thing to worry about.  

being able to change up to 2 weeks prior is a good thing.  I am supposed to go mid-May.  I don't intend to cancel at this time.  There's still time for this to get better or worse.  I'm glad I don't have to decide immediately

Here is the update as of today:

Our cancellation policy for guest with bookings departing up to 31 May, 2020. 

For any guest departing up to 31 May, 2020 Scenic will waive all of our cancellation fees with the value of the bookings applied as a future travel credit. We are allowing guests to change or transfer their booking up to 14 days prior to departure for river and ocean cruise bookings, and up to 30 days prior to travel for land tours. The future travel credit is valid for travel up to 31 December 2020 for May departures, March and April departures for travel up to 30 April, 2021.  An administration fee of $200pp will be applicable, with any third party fees at the guests own expense.

I don't look at it in terms of 5-6 alcohol drinks a day.  If you were going to get the refreshment package anyway, what is that difference if you were then going to purchase drinks on top? My deluxe package is only $24 more than the refreshment.  That's 2 drinks.  I can easily drink an average of 2-3 drinks a day and have it be worth my piece of mind and budget to know I don't have to track or worry about the bill at the end. 

we have $20 for refreshment and $44 for deluxe, which is the same price that shows today. Refreshment had gone back up to $26 for awhile.

Thanks for the recommendations. :)

We have been here several times with Carnival, and they use Iyanola.  Each time we have done Superman's Flight, plus one of the other sites either in front of Anse Chastanet, or on the other side of the pitons.  The boat is usually never more than 6-8 divers.   That's why I was looking to see who the operator was.  I booked with the ship, because I got a great price with the black Friday sale last year.   But it's easy enough to change.

I'm going to check out these other ops.

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 4:26 PM, omeinv said:

I would recommend booking yourself for all three islands.  I wouldn't characterize any of the three as "best" as they're all different.  That being said Bonaire certainly has the reputation as a "diver's paradise".  This is well deserved as the entire west side of the island is, in essence, one giant dive site. 

 

For Bonaire, I recommend VIP Diving.  The price is actually about what the RCL ship's excursion you've quoted is.  However, their level of service justifies the cost.  They provide port pick up and return, personalized selection of dive sites, and no more than 4 divers in a group.  The price also includes a nice lunch, beverages and an overall great experience.  The first step is they sit down with you, and discuss all the site options, and come up with two site that meet your desires, and your level of experience.  Nitrox is included in the price, but only if you also have your nitrox certification.  Nitrox is usually easily bundled in with your open water course, so you may want to look at that now.  Also, while they normally use standard 80 cubic foot tanks, they have 100 cf tanks available for the asking, so ask; and you'll get more bottom time for the same price, especially since newer divers tend to use more air.  One thing with VIP is they require full payment in advance, and do not offer refunds for no-shows, even if the reason is the ship didn't make port (they will switch days for you if itinerary changes).  So make sure you have travel insurance (you should anyway).  Sine you can literally select any dive site on the island, and there is never any rush, plan for your day there to take the entire time you're in port.   (https://www.vipdiving.com/)

 

 

I'm glad to see your great review of VIP Diving.  This is who we have booked our dives with next month.  I was a little nervous about their cancellation policy -  but I completely understand why they do this.  I'm just so excited that its finally getting close. Our first time in Bonaire and Curacao. We are also diving St Lucia. Can't get here soon enough to get out of this cold :)

Hi, does anyone know which dive op Royal uses in St Lucia? I can usually find this info out easy enough, but have not yet been able to determine this one.

TIA!

If I've flown in and don't have a car, I go straight to the ship upon checkout from the hotel.  There's not much to do with luggage and no car.  If I'm going to sit around, I'd rather do it on ship where I know if I fall asleep in the sun I won't miss the ship.

If I'm driving to port, I will time it just a bit later.  I don't like waiting too long.  I can  be responsible for my own timetable, but not for those other drivers and construction workers etc that delay my trip 🙂

I was just planning on grabbing the menu and working my way through everything on it, plus whatever signature drinks that particular bartender might have.  That lavender daiquiri sounds interesting.  Don't think I've ever had one of those.

We stay in the Rocky Point area - Hampton Inn usually. Free airport shuttle, $10 to port, Bahama Breeze right across the parking lot.

I know this is older, but for future searchers-

We did the Turneffe Atoll excursion off Carnival Magic in Nov. 2017

The dive op used is Aqua Scuba based in San Pedro. They picked up us at the ship and it was about an hour boat ride to the dive site. Of course this varies for each cruise, but we had 13 divers and 3 DMs, a captain and a deck hand.

There were 2 groups of 6 and the one guy who had arranged for his own DM.

We brought our own gear, but the rental gear looked like it was in good shape, the boat was keep tidy and there was plenty of room. We had fruit and water during the SI, and a Belizean lunch of chicken, rice and beans and pasta salad after.

The diving was okay. We didn't see anything spectacular, but they were nice dives. Best dives we've ever done in Belize ( because they are the only ones LOL)

We dove through Carnival in Belize at the end of November 2017 and the operator used was Aqua Scuba, out of San Pedro. We did the Turneffe Atoll dive excursion.

I have noticed that Royal Caribbean doesn't have dive excursions in places where Carnival does and vice versa, I guess it depends whoever gets the contract where there are limited ops willing to do it.

A western Caribbean cruise is on the table for us but that willhave to wait a while since our next planed cruise is on summer 2018 with our three combined kids. But by the time I reach the western Caribbean trip I plan to be SCUBA certified. I'm loving snorkeling so much, I'm planing to take it a step further.

Funny you say that - it was snorkeling at the base of the Pitons there on a cruise almost 8-9 years ago with Spencer that caused us to come home and get SCUBA certified. We've since gone back to dive it, and will be doing so again next month.

Also, just wanted to say that it is was the first week for the American Table being rolled out, I feel for you. We were on Glory the very first time that American Table was rolled out on any ship and dinner was a miserable experience. The way it is structured it adds another column to the food order (for sides I believe) and the kitchen and the wait staff couldn't seem to get it together. They have tweaked the menu a bunch since that first week roll out, putting back some favorites, but between the time it took and the complaints from people who had set menu items they couldn't live without, it was a nightmare. I thought the food was nice for a change. The hours for dinner service, not so much.

And you mentioned the digital photos, which is now on Vista and is awesome. You can pull up on your phone or tablet with the app and see it all, delete and you want and purchase either an actual print, or just the digital file. So much nicer that searching the walls for photos.

You've posted great pictures! Thanks for doing the review!

The southern route is amazing!

St. Kitts has great island tours to take you to the fort (UNESCO world heritage site), the batik factory, and other sights around the island. You could hike Mount Liamuiga volcano, you could even sail across to Nevis for the day.

St. Lucia has island tours to take you around to see all the highlights, you can hike the piton, take cooking classes...

St Maarten is very walkable around Front Street, or you can take a cab or tour to see more of the island. Even go stand on the beach where the jets come in on the runway and get sandblasted. (I never understood the thrill of this...LOL)

San Juan itself has great history with 2 forts and the narrow streets of the old city. Since the cruise doesn't leave until 10 pm, you can drop your bags off and go back out into town.

The Fascination has limited balconies and suites, no steakhouse or really any other specialty dining, but honestly this cruise is for the itinerary, not the ship. I've done the itinerary on larger ships, and am doing it on Fascination for the first time next month, so I guess I will know then for sure :)

BTW, our airfare to SJU was cheaper with non-stop than it was to MIA. That's what helped seal the deal for us.

I absolutely agree with St.Kitts and St Lucia.

We dove with Dive St Kitts, and I just sent off an email to them to see if we can dive with them again next month. I was not expecting the diving to be as good as it was there, since it is not really known to be a dive destination. I hope the secret doesn't get out! LOL

In St. Lucia we dove with the ship excursion. Carnival uses Iyanola, not sure about other cruise lines. We have never had more than 6-7 on our boat and no extra to go to Pitons. If dives are called due to weather, full refund.

We tend to drag all our gear with us. We have a rolling dive bag that we put both BCs, fins and booties in plus whatever other assortment of rash guards etc will go in before we hit 50 lbs. Masks, camera and regs go in a carry on. That means we only take one checked bag and one carry on between the 2 of us for actual clothes. Priorities, you know?! Usually we put the gear out on the balcony until we are underway, then we just set it up on a beach towel out of the way. It does tend to get that smell towards the end of the week, but we are used to it. LOL

Its nice when the dive op has a rinse tank and a place to hang out for awhile to let the stuff dry. It's the trips with the ship where they pick you up at the dock and then drop you back off there directly from the last dive that makes it more difficult. Then we try to go up on deck and rinse in the showers and then just hang out on deck while it dries a bit.

I always say that I am just going to bring my mask and reg, but I am so used to my equipment I end up just stuffing it in the bag. One day I will be brave enough to use the rental gear.

I got two one way tickets from DCA to BCN for $11.20 total with points on AA. It will cost me more to fly home from NY after the TA. I knew there was a reason I was hoarding those points. [emoji41]

In Grand Turk they do use Oasis. You would have to check the excursion description online to see if gear is included. Sometimes they have 2 options to sign up for one with gear and one without fear. I can't recall because I haul my own.

We have done both Carnivals excursion and private ops. With the independent op we went with on GT we had to take a cab to their shop. We had to walk into chest deep water to get on the little boat and the group was small because there was no room for more. We had 3 plus a DM and DMC. We all went into the water, and on the 2nd dive the DMC lost the boat. We weren't lost, so that was kind of entertaining.

With the ship op you still enter from the beach, but right at port and they have a nice big boat they pull right up into the sand.

As far as being a new diver. I would let the DM know, but honestly, you are certified and you have a buddy. Some ops with provide you with your own DM for a fee. But I don't think the ship will. It might be something you can ask in advance.

We are cruising with our 9 yr old son which will be at the kid camps at times...is there a bar in the spa?

No bar, you would have to go up on serenity for that.

Does the relaxation room have drinks or anything?

Herbal teas, and water with oranges, lemons.

The end of May we were called to guest services to pick up one of our bags. It only contained dive gear, so I couldn't figure out why we were being called. My husband even boarded with his leather man tool in his pocket-put it in the tray with his keys to go through the security-no issue. Apparently it was either the small tool kit, or the 1lb lead weight that he still had in his BCD from being in the pool the day before. Glad we didn't fly... The guy who was in the naughty room didn't know why they tagged it, just had to inspect when we opened it. So he didn't know what he was looking for. I say act dumb until you're caught. Haha.

I wouldn't buy cheers if you aren't really drinkers, nor would I touch anything in the fridge unless you drink hard liquor and soda.

I would just buy my drinks at any bar depending on the specials. And if Miracle has the Alchemy bar, those martinis are the best.

Plus you can still bring on a bottle of wine or champagne per adult, 750 ml, and canned sodas, 12 per person.

Yes, I've booked it through shore excursioneer.

I think I'm at 425 now. :(