grandebarca

1 hour ago, oceantriumph said:

Come whenever you like (I believe ~11:30-12:00 is the earliest they let on the ship though, at least this is what I remember from when we were on the Seaside in April. 

Good to hear. That's what I assumed, but the stern wording on the boarding ticket made it sound like we'd be waiting dockside for a few hours if we show up at 11 or 12!  

I just checked in for our MSC Seaside sailing this Saturday and I noticed the ticket says to board starting at 1:30 pm but no later than 3 pm. Is this some kind of staggered boarding where we have the 1:30 slot?  "Your check-in opens* 13:30 Miami, Florida / Your check-in closes 15:00" The asterisk footnote says: "*Please do not arrive for check-in before the time indicated in the field: "Your check-in opens""

For the first time out of about 10 cruises, we've finally booked the hotel, parking etc to allow us to get to the port by 10:30 or 11 am and we were hoping to board soon thereafter. Assuming the ship is cleared for boarding, that is.  

Anyone with recent experience boarding Seaside at PortMiami know if we should follow what the ticket says and show up at 1:30pm?  Kind of a bummer as we were hoping to get on board a little earlier, enjoy lunch, meet up with a friend, etc. What happens if we get in the cattle chute at 11 am with the rest of the herd? Will they really make us stand there for 2.5 hrs till our slot opens? 

Thanks.

Thanks for the responses. I'll head down to the front desk and ask for a refund near the end! 

Bump.

I have $1,000 pre-purchased on board credit on my account. This is the kind you have to buy or someone can buy for you.  It says it's fully refundable.  Not talking about on board credit given out at the time of booking or as a promo/incentive by a travel agent.  Edit: I'm sailing on the MSC Seaside in a couple of weeks, so it's a US-based sailing in USD in case that matters. 

I know I'll use several hundred for tips, some activities, a few drinks (a few 😉 ) etc. But what if I have $500 left over? Anyone ever have this situation arise? 

Do they refund to the credit card used to purchase the on board credit? Do they hand you $500 in cash on the last day of the cruise when you go to settle up? Or if you do nothing, can you request a refund of the remaining balance in the form of a check after the cruise is over? 

U might want to post this on the TripAdvisor board, there are several locals that should be able to help

I did that first and didn't get any helpful responses :) Basically ask a bus driver or our landlord. And buses are sketchy. And it's $1.25 and they go all over.

I saw your name there and it looked familiar (guess I've seen it here before!).

I was hoping someone can link to a bus route or map (even if it's just a written description). I found somewhere that said they have 9 routes in Freeport but can't find any info on them. I know they're semi-fixed routes in nature if it's like most other jitney/bus routes around the Caribbean.

Not exactly a cruise question (though we've certainly cruised to Freeport many times!!) but I figure I would post at Cruise Critic since I've reached a dead end in my googling and posting at another travel forum (and cross-posting this copy/paste style from the other forum :) ). Hope the mods are okay with this.

I'm spending a month in Freeport at the Tyne Beach Terrace Condos which is right on East Palm Beach and about 3/4 mile south of the Polaris Rd Stop N Shop. I have found zero info online regarding bus routes in this part of Freeport.

Does anyone know if there are bus routes that run from downtown or from Lucaya to my general area or close to the Stop N Shop? The aerial imagery from google maps looks like a bus stop is situated in front of Stop N Shop but it's hard to tell as there's no streetview.

My main goal is to be able to get to a bigger grocery store like Solomons or Sawyers/SaveALot for better/cheaper/more variety without dropping $30 round trip on a taxi every time (and troubling with tracking down a taxi for the return home) or renting a car just for a grocery run. We might rent a car some but really just want to hang out at the beach most of the time.

We're a family of five and plan on cooking at the condo for the most part other than some conch fritters/salad and ordering the occasional pizza or fried chicken. Family of 5 = lots of groceries. And I don't mind mingling with the locals on the bus and spending a couple hours on my town trip (I'll be on Island Time :) ).

Much thanks to anyone who can point me to more info on Freeport bus routes or even suggestions as to how I might investigate further.

We've been a few times. First time or two we stayed in the port. Not much to do in the port proper if you aren't a big shopper. The last 2 times we visited we found a great nature walk right next to the port. You'll have to check out google maps to get oriented (and can bookmark the route in rough terms and then download the google maps to your phone and use offline).

It's a little tricky to describe, but head out of the port on foot. Turn right after passing the fenced in rental car area (or maybe you can cut through there). Head down the road (can't locate a name) toward the ocean and the "Pier 1 Bahamas Restaurant". At the restaurant you can get onto the rocky beach that heads generally southwest from there for about 1/2 mile. BEAUTIFUL scenery along that beach walk. Crystal clear blue water, lots of snails on the rocks, maybe some fish in the sea. Some areas where the water rushes in and out and you can climb down to it. And it'll be mostly your beach, as we didn't see more than a few other people during our walk (including 2 locals playing dominoes on a card table they set up!). You can walk down the beach and back to the ship, or once you get to the end of the beach, there is a short cut along "Pinder's Point Rd". Scenery along that road isn't great - just a local neighborhood that's a little run down. I measured the route we took and it's about 1.9 miles if you take the shortcut back along the neighborhood street or closer to 2.25 miles if you walk down and back along the beach.

We have an 11 and 12 year old and they were probably 1-2 years younger last time we went on this walk and they really enjoyed the scenery. Probably a good 2 hrs, more if you bring beach towel and find somewhere to relax. Not really any great beach there to swim or play in the water since there's a several foot drop off from the rocks down to the water, but it's pretty :)

Our 3 kids were in a balcony room with grandma (cabin 8008, very first balcony room in the front of the ship). We left the sleeper sofa bed down every day. All 3 kids slept in the sleeper sofa bed leaving grandma all to herself in the king size bed! At first the kids complained about the sleeper sofa mattress but I didn't hear much about it after a few days (and they slept like rocks lol).

I thought the room was plenty spacious for 4 even with the bed down all day. Still easy access to the balcony (which we heard might be a problem). Plenty of closet space and table/counter areas for kid stuff (tablets, knick knacks).

We were on the same cruise as Yellowdog (OP) and enjoyed it a lot, too. Entertainment was probably the strongest offering, and the food was great too. The shows were incredible, and in the evenings there were always 3-4 venues playing a variety of music. The only thing lacking in the entertainment arena was day time entertainment. I would have appreciated some more live music, performances, or lectures/classes mid-day to mix it up with the eating, swimming, and lounging (especially on sea days). We attended an Italian language class on one day (by accident!) and found it worthwhile. They also offered Chinese language classes but we didn't visit those.

We ended up going to the buffet most nights since much of what was offered in the dining room was offered in the buffet (with occasional slight variations like duck a l'orange being chicke a l'orange in the buffet - I like chicken better than duck anyway so WIN!!). The "no free lobster" was a disappointment but something we're used to coming from Carnival.

Lines in the buffet area were rarely a problem though we usually ate outside of peak times. The layout seems to help the flow and keep lines to a minimum, though it can take a while to get around to all the choices.

We have 3 kids (4, 10, and 11). Tried the kids club one day but it didn't stick. The 4 year old wanted his bigger sisters to go, but they didn't want to. I think they are too old for the 7-11 age group (which shared many activities with the 3-6 age group it seemed). Most of the kids looked excited about it and ours did enjoy it the one day they went.

Hot tubs and pools were surprisingly busy given how many options there were, but we had no problems hopping in the tubs occasionally. 4-5 pm and days we were in port proved particularly light traffic in the hot tubs.

Embarkation was rather slow but disembarkation was very fast.

I hit the casino for some slot play a few mornings when they offered $3 free play. I used my card, my wife's and my mom's so I scored $9 in free play each time. The first time I ended up with $0.15 and gave it to a stranger as I walked out of the casino. The second time I ended with $2.91 and cashed it out. Guess lady luck didn't find me this time around. The rest of the ship made up for this shortcoming. :)

It's an old thread but I'll post anyway. I just bought this on the MSC Divina (sailing out of Miami to Caribbean) for USD$11.90. After seeing these sell on ebay for $40-80 each I wish I bought every single one in the store (and they had plenty - probably 2 dozen on the shelf).

Now I'm conflicted - do my kids unwrap this "toy" tomorrow for Christmas and probably lose half the pieces or do I make a quick $50 profit on ebay? :)

Just also be prepared that then you maybe have to deal with screaming when it's time for you to pick them up because they don't want to leave!! (lol)

I've had that experience before with the older girls!

To be honest I have never used Safe Cruise Parking, now I am curious. Do you "self park" or is it valet parking? How long of a wait did you have to wait for the shuttle? The reason I ask is that I had a bad experience with an offsite parking lot a few years, sorry I don't remember the name of the parking.

It's self park. We pulled in the lot, they told us where to park based on our ship (Carnival Glory over in that corner). We carried our luggage to the central area where they had a tent, some free bottled water, and waited in line for the shuttle. Probably 15 minutes. Maybe 20. We arrived right around noon so they were probably getting slammed with everyone showing up at the same time but it was an efficient operation.

Then a quick ride ~1 mile to the port then off to the boarding lines in the Port. Return trip was quicker.

The shuttle wasn't the nicest (I remember the A/C not being too awesome) but it wasn't a long ride so no biggie for the $80-90 savings versus port parking.

And make sure you have theft/comprehensive insurance. Park at the port, just ask anyone local.

I don't know, we had a couple locals on our shuttle bus from Safe Cruise Parking, and they didn't seem concerned at all. And they pulled up in a late model luxury BMW/Mercedes type car (next to my 15 year old POS Honda Civic lol). They didn't seem concerned in the least. They said they park there every time they go and cruise 6-8x/yr.

Save $100 versus port parking for a remote chance someone will mess with your car? That's a bet I'm willing to take!

YMMV of course, though I'm not sure parking in the port indemnifies you against theft/vandalism/loss (good luck fighting to get them to reimburse you!).

Just pulled this data from my September 2014 cruise planning spreadsheet. Price is for 7 night cruise.

premierparkingusa.com/ $50.57 free shuttle

http://premiercruiseparking.com/ $61 code: CHEAPPOM

http://www.portofmiamicruiseparking.com $49 if I drop off family at port then do $7 shuttle

unitedairportparking.com $49.50

airportparkinginc.com $49.50 same as one above

http://www.safecruiseparking.com/ $56 <------ I chose this one!

Check out reviews for each and take your pick.

Definitely higher this year versus the last 7-8 years. We used to routinely get cruises for $30 per night or so. Best I'm seeing now is $42+/nt unless you're talking transatlantic repositioning (which are still mostly $42/nt!).

It's nothing more than strong demand for cruises leading to higher prices. The cruise lines charge what the market will bear. I guess folks have recovered from the 2007-2009 recession and are now comfortable enough to spend discretionary income on cruises.

What's crazy is that with these very low oil prices, the cost of operations is down quite a bit for the cruise lines, yet they are able to charge premium prices across the board. I've been watching Carnival and RCL stock so I could buy 100 shares to get the shareholder benefit OBC, but it keeps going up and up! Should have bought CCL back when it was under $40 - over $50 now. :(

There is your reason. Does he have may opportunities to socialize away from you?

 

He's around other kids all the time (2 older sisters and their friends). And he stays with one grandma or the other at least 1x per week.

But yeah, he's rarely with strangers and not with one of five or six different family caretakers.

He's starting pre-school in the fall so the separation anxiety won't be an issue on our cruises late next year. Just have to deal with it on this one. :D

I've been talking it up to him already to get him excited. So far so good.

You're probably right A&J. Maybe I'll go up by myself (without my wife!), drop the little guy off and walk around for 5-10 minutes before checking in on him to see how he's doing.

Is there any camp type activities or sports or lessons he can do now where he would have to be away from the parents for a period of time?

We're probably tapped out on options this late in December but maybe there is something in January we could squeeze in at the local parks and rec community center. But he won't start regular pre-school till the fall. Although we might have the separation anxiety issues whenever we do start our first activity. I'm sure he'll grow out of this phase eventually, I just wish it could be in January and not later for our sanity!

Nothing substitutes for experience. I'd suggest that you leave him with the grandparents once a week or so until the cruise. It sounds like you don't have the need any longer, but if you have the possibility this would probably help him greatly. If not the grandparents, maybe a drop in daycare place.

 

If not that: bribery. :D

The grandma that's going with us keeps him overnight 1x per week (so 2 days per week). That's a recent change compared to last year so maybe it will help.

Thanks for the tips so far.

I'm planning to bring him in and let him take it all in nice and slow. Hopefully we won't have many kids on this cruise since it's in late January when older kids are in school. Last time on Carnival it was a madhouse with 10+ toddlers/babies and many were screaming. Just a few counselors and they seemed overwhelmed so our kiddo got zero individualized attention since he wasn't screaming (until I tried to leave lol).

We're traveling with our little guy again. His 2 older sisters (9 and 10) have loved the kids clubs on board every time we've been on a cruise (I think 5-6 with the kids).

The last cruise we went on was the first one for our youngest (he was almost 3 at the time). He did NOT want to stay in the kid's club at all. We tried to slowly introduce him to the kids club and play with the toys but once he saw we were trying to leave, he ran to us and clung to us. No luck.

My wife and I both stay home with him all day so he's used to one or more parents being around all the time. I'm sure that doesn't help with the separation anxiety (the older 2 kids grew up staying at grandma's house while we worked which is why they were cool with getting dropped off at kid's club).

This year the little guy will be almost 4 in January when we're cruising (Carnival Fantasy out of Charleston Jan 27 2016). So maybe 1 more year will help but I'm not too confident. He's of a generally shy demeanor all the time.

Any advice?

If you go to the main dining room, here's a tip on ordering food. You can request that multiple courses be brought at once so you don't have to wait on subsequent courses. For example, if you order an appetizer, soup, and main course, ask to have all 3 brought out at once so you can eat at your own pace instead of waiting.

I'd suggest leaving the dessert to come out separately at the end of the meal so your kid isn't salivating over the brownies or whatever when you're trying to get them to eat something moderately healthy.

We just use a simple backpack like you might see students wearing in HS or college. With 2 straps and a decent sized main compartment and smaller pouches on the front.

We carry ID's and some cash in the small compartments and then bottled water, maybe snacks, umbrellas, and whatever else we need for the day in the large compartment.

I'd check out a few backpacks at the store and buy whatever is comfortable. I find it convenient to carry the weight in a backpack instead of a hand bag of some sort. We tend to explore ports on foot and might walk 3-4 miles so I don't want to be carrying around stuff the whole day.

Sounds tough. My wife and 2 kids went on a cruise with my mom and grandma and it was a little frustrating trying to meet up with mom and grandma all the time and hand off kids. Sometimes we would spend 30 minutes searching for them which is a huge waste of vacation as far as I'm concerned.

If we do that type of trip again, we would kindly set some ground rules. Maybe have dinner together most nights and catch up then, plus whatever else we arrange on an ad hoc basis.

I think you can swing it with your cousins, just let them know that you aren't their travel agent and might want to read up on the ports to see what they want to do. Your rental cars aren't going to hold them. I would share what I'm looking at doing but make it clear you're a free agent on this cruise in port and on board.