Waterloomarc

I have heard and truly believe that Bermuda is a beautiful island and I would love to visit someday, but I can't bring myself to take a cruise to Bermuda. It just wouldn't feel the same being 'parked' at the same place for days. Isn't it like just staying at a hotel? I like knowing that I can walk the decks after dinner feeling the ocean breeze and hearing the waves while planning my next destination. Am I alone ?

I used to feel the same way. "Why bother to go on a cruise if it's not even going anywhere?" How silly I said to myself. Then I booked one and it has been, by far, our most enjoyable cruise and I can't wait to go back.

Having the ship docked wasn't that much of a negative, perhaps because our balcony was still facing out to sea and not facing the pier so that when we were out the it still felt more "normal". But it was really nice not have to worry about when to come back to the ship. Also since it was come and go as you please there were never any lines as are do common with other port stops.

I guess my point is as with do many other things in life don't knock it til you try it. As I said I thought 3 days in one spot was a terrific waste of a cruise until I finally went. You might still hate it but at least you tried. And is there really any such thing as a bad cruise ;)

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I know you meant increase the odds... but still, awesome idea! I am totally stealing that idea! :)

Lol. Yes increase the odds of finding one another...lessens the odds of your paths NOT crossing ;) been a long week.

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I believe the International Pier is the one right next to Peurta Maya and the Punta Lungosta (I don't know how to spell it either) is the one downtown. Everytime I've been to Cozumel on Carnival we've docked at P. Maya. This last time I was on NCL and we used P. Langosta. It was about 2 -3 minute can ride to get up to P. Maya. I enjoyed the other port but probably just because it was seething different.

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I'm in a lido balcony for a sept cruise on the Dream and have yet to see a price drop. I check about once a week. I joked with my PVP when I booked that I didn't anticipate many drops since the price was already so low and that if it fell much more I'd worry about them canceling the cruise ;)

Don't worry about it it just means you booked at a good price. I've never understood all the fascination with big price drops and OBC because all it means is that you gave Carnival too much money to begin with. Kind of like folks getting big tax refunds.

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It's easier to stay in touch/find each other on the ship than you'd think it will be. IMO just agreeing on times and wearing a watch will be sufficient. The only thing I would suggest (depending on the location of your cabin) would be to agree to always travel the same way to get somewhere that way you lessen the odds of crossing paths. For instance always traveling down the right side of the lido, or always going down to the promenade deck and then heading aft rather than heading aft down the hallway on your deck then going down the elevator etc. My wife and I will leave notes in the cabin if we're not together of where we'll be so we'll either wait for the other to return or go find each other (refer to previous discussion of taking the same route)

But like I said it just seems to work out that you can find who you're looking for. And if not you can always resort to having them paged to guest services!

God bless you for not being the walker talkie people!

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Dawn. Hands down. Do not pass go do not collect $200. All day every day.

 

 

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Wow, was not expecting that. What's the reason?

 

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For me the smaller ship wins. There's just not enough outdoor space on the Breakaway (IMO only of course) for me to cruise her. Much less pay a premium for the honor. I sailed on the Star to Bermuda in 2013 and I found the ship a decent size with plenty to do. I can't imagine the Dawn would be that much different.

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Dawn. Hands down. Do not pass go do not collect $200. All day every day.

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We were on the Jewel last month with our 10 month old. They provided a pack and play. We were in a mini suite (I wanted a tub to make baby bath time easier) and we were able to put the pnp in the closet. It came right up to the bed that way but it was much better than having it take up all that space in front of the couch! We folded it up everyday to get it out of the way, I can't stand clutter!

They have a program for the under 3 set with one or two group activities per day. Look for the "Guppies" events in the Daily. As mentioned above you can't leave them but instead stay and play with your kids in a group. Sophie was a little too young for most but we went to a few and enjoyed it. They also have a toy room where you can take your little one to play. This was completely unsupervised so obviously you need to stay with your child ;)

The Dawn is an older ship but we were in her sister ship the Star 2 years ago and found she met our needs nicely.

We took a blow up pool (bathtub actually) for Sophie and just set it up on deck for her to splash in. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, her or the other passengers watching her. I was really worried about it beforehand that we'd be flogged for doing it but everybody was really tickled by it... Or at least those who weren't kept their distance!

Edit to add, on the Jewel anyway I was surprised to see that they actually sold wipes and diaper cream in the gift shop. I don't recall any diapers though. Of course the price was what you would expect it to be for baby supplies in the middle of the ocean but at least they had them! We took her on Carnival in January when she was 7 months and they had nothing at all. Fwiw we way overpacked on diapers and wipes and literally used just half of what we brought... The perks of driving to port.

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I guess you could but I wouldn't bother with it. But I hate standing in lines. You'd have to clear security and such again if you boarded and left.

Why not just board later in the day if you want to see the city? Any decent hotel with a bell staff will hold your luggage for you of you've spent the night. Just pop back to the hotel for your bags after sightseeing.

Alternatively, if you don't have a hotel, just go to the port to drop of your luggage with the porters and then go sightseeing. That way you're still free of bags but only have to clear security once.

Clearing it twice will only sap more of your already limited time. For me, once I'm on board there's no leaving!

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I doubt you'll see it again. I left a pair of running shoes under the bed on a NCL cruise. I realized it in customs and called from the cab and still never got them back. They were brand new, only wore them in the gym on ship... Yeah I'm still irritated about it ;)

I get that they deal with a TON of people on a ship but whenever I've left stuff in a hotel room I've never had a problem getting things sent to me. 50-50 on them covering shipping too.

Of course at the end of the day it's our fault for leaving our stuff behind. Can't really blame a company for not bailing our forgetful butts out!

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I usually tip $2. A little more if it's a big order. Or only a buck if I just order 1 sandwich or something. From what I've read here $2 seems to be pretty average although there are some that like to tip $50 per item ;)

Fwiw NCL charges for room service after midnight. A flat $3.95 IIRC.

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Look on the top right of your invoice. There should be some type of code. It won't say pick your perks but there'll be something there showing you have something.

I just returned from the Jewel and we had free Italian and cagneys and had $90 OBC posted to our account on the second day. I wish I had checked sooner because I would've rather had the OBC and skipped the restaurants! Although the Mac and cheese side in cagneys was fantastic!!

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We were on the same cruise on deck 11. I just wanted to say that I noticed the same thing in the buffet. I'm not handicapped but remember thinking EVERY time I went there that none of the people sitting at those tables were either! Sad.

We had a great cruise and very much enjoyed the ship. We never received a notice in our cabin that we were skipping Roatan, so that was an unpleasant surprise when we got our Daily the previous night :( No biggie though, I enjoy sea days and didn't have anything planned. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little put off by it.

We got caught in the storm in Cozumel. My 10 month old thought it was hilarious in her stroller! As the one pushing the stroller... Not so much.

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Interesting. We were just on the Jewel last week. Off yesterday :( and they gave us a port-a-crib. It was fine but I would've preferred the crib pictured above as they take up less space.

We asked the steward for a few extra bed sheets to out over the mattress and it was fine. We put it in the closet and beside the bed at night and just folded it up everyday. We had a mini-suite and they originally set it up in front of the couch and I'm too OCD about clutter to have it there!

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What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

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"Guaranteed Shops" means stay far away. Take up with someone at NCL. Go as far up the ladder as you can. They are the ones responsible for not stopping in Nassau.

If the shopping consultant is steering you toward a store, think very hard about buying anything at that store. Everything is done for a reason.

Good luck in your endeavours. If you got a favourable appraisal on them you might think about selling/trading them at home and cutting bait with DI. Might be a quicker solution. Don't forget your time is worth something too.

It amazes me the droves of people that flock to these stores in port. Makes me wish I'd brought those bridges I needed to sell ;)

The Cruiselines will tout any outfit they get a better kickback from. If rabbit turds paid a good kickback we'd all be hearing about how scarce it is and how we're running out of rabbit turd supplies in the next 10 years rather than Tanzanite!

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This is disappointing to me. The Fantasy class are among my favorite ships. I sail bigger ones, obviously, because I'm forced to in order to get decent itineraries. This will further reduce my choices.

I have zero interest in sailing on a 5000 passenger ship. Or 4000 for that matter. I also find it quite alarming they're trying to cram as many passengers as on the Oasis onto a ship 30% smaller.

But Carnivals makes no bones about seeking the first time cruiser and bigger ships are what gets them I guess. I just wish (badly wish) the other lines had as many dates/ports that work for me.

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Yep happened to me on my last NCL cruise. It was also my first NCL cruise so I thought "well maybe it doesn't show online" Nope! I went to guest services and they were polite about it and contacted the TA for me. No dice. Of course that was the ONE form I didn't take a hard copy of either. Luckily it was only $100 so not a terribly big deal.

I wound up contacting the agency after a got home and they mailed me a check.

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You flying into MIA or FLL? It's nowhere near 40 minutes from MIA to the port. But on the other hand 40 minutes from Fort Lauderdale would be a pretty good clip too.

Nothing wrong with the carnival transfers. They're a little pricey but at least you don't have to worry about catching a cab.

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Some people do, they supposedly fit in the closet.

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I'm also wondering what you're supposed to eat the salsa with if there are no chips?

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We took our DD in January when she was 7 months. We leaving again in 2 weeks and she'll be 10 months then. So my answer is early ;)

We had a blast. The staff fell all over themselves for her, crew we had never seen would come up to us and talk to her by name. I had heard that the staff enjoy seeng babies but had my doubts. But, on our sailing at least, it was really true. We're lucky in that so far she's a really easy going baby. Will eat anything and sleep anywhere anytime.

Re bottles we just washed them in the sink and laid them out to dry on a towel. We also only brought 3 and just rotated more. I also strongly suggest premixed formula rather than the powder tubs. This was our biggest concern when we left since we (well my wife!) had just finished weaning a week or so before the cruise.

I would definitely do it again at that age. I'm a little more nervous about this one at 10 months now that she's mobile and has discovered her "outdoor" voice ;)

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I usually hit the gym (don't laugh) after going for breakfast which for us usually means about 10:30. There's usually very few people there at that time. Going to the gym helps to offset some of the 'icky-ness' that cones from eating so much on a cruise

Don't forgot to take advantage of the steam room and sauna too.

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I don't consider myself to get excited about the lobster, however I do order it every elegant night. Around here it's pretty easy to come by, and Publix always had a tank of live ones and 'usually' has frozen tails available for $5-7. I'll by the tails to grill myself at home every few months or so.

The reason why I order it on this ship is because I don't like the rest of the lobster meat. I find the rest too sweet and therefore won't eat a whole lobster. So on the ship I can have it prepared for me and I can order 2 or 3 servings (don't judge!) and get full. In a land based restaurant if I just order the tails it's not enough for me so I never order it at home.

Fwiw I come from a maritime family KNOW what good seafood is. But most times something is better than nothing!

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I bring home the fun times. I've never once looked at any of them again. But I keep them in the manilla envelope I start the vacation with to carry tickets & passports etc.

Look for my episode of Hoarders to air in early 2016 :/

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I'm amazed at how civil this thread has remained. A rarity for cc.

Although I too spend way too much money at Whole Paycheck I throw caution to the wind while on vacation. Everything in moderation. Especially moderation! ;)

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