dotshub

Oh man!!!! Where do i apply for that job? 🙂

Thanks

Do you know what those beautiful two story buildings are on the private island?

TIA,

Once you get over 4? The rate drops a little pp. We had 8 in our last cab to Maho. If you have a group they call up a van from the back of the line.

 

 

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Can you tell us how much the fare was for f8 people? We will have that many and also going to Maho. And how long it takes to get there and back?

Thanks

Larry

does anyone know if you can buy the zip lining tour but only do the zip lining and skip the other part of the excursion. We want to drive there in the golf cart. I know we have to buy the carnival excursion. Hope someone can help. Dot

Has anyone done the zip lining? If so can you tell me about it? Can you go without buying the Carnival excursion? Dot

we will be there on aug 17th. Can you tell me how cold it was. can't decide if we should take a heavy coat or just layer a couple lighter weight outer wear. will appreciate any suggestion. we are from tampa fla where the temp is almost 100 degrees so it's hard to pack a heavy coat. we are scheduled for an excursion on a smaller boat that goes closer to the glaciers than the legend. thanks for any guidance you can give me. dot

Thanks for the great review-we sail on Aug 16th. Still trying to decide on warm clothes. we are from fla and the weather here is close to 100 everyday. never been to Alaska. we love the Legend-sailed her around the British Isles 2 years ago and it was great. Those pictures make waiting to sail really hard. They are beautiful. again thanks for sharing your trip with us. Dot

Wait... You can buy carnival gift cards at Lowes?

I have yet to find them at our Lowes in Tampa.

We were there recently on the Paradise and yes there is an area for the VIP cruisers. Not really big and when we got there just before boarding it was really full. Dont know what was there.

Does anyone know if the new Carnival terminal (old Royal) has a priority lounge for Diamond, Platinum and Suites? I remember from a previous cruise that it is a very nice terminal. Thanks.

My wife and I are spending our last night in Switzerland after completing the Uniworld SS Antoinette's Castles on the Rhine July 13-20. JP did such a wonderful job in his thread with pictures and commentary that I will not go over the day to day as he has done. Instead I would like to discuss our trip from a perspective that may help some. When researching my trip I was looking for a luxury experience with as big a room as I could find and a ship that had amenities that were first class. I understand that most are not looking for this so I ask for your patience as I describe my experience from this perspective for those who may be looking for the same.

 

Uniworld Pre Cruise to Amsterdam:

 

Being my wife and I's first European experience I chose to utilize Uniworld's pre cruise stay in Amsterdam. It is true that it can be booked cheaper on your own. However, we found it to be a wonderful experience for several reasons. First we were met as soon as we came through customs by our driver who collected all of our luggage and got us to the car in less the 5 minutes. Took us directly to our Motel in City Center. We were immediately introduced to a local guide who would be our host for the 3 days. She gave us her cell phone and a quick orientation as to what to expect. She told us of the included city tour the next day and an orientation meeting we could attend that evening with the other Uniworld guests who had booked the precruise. This turned out to be worth the precruise. There were about 10 couples at this original meeting. By the time we reached the ship on Sunday we had already become friends with at least half those couples and added to the cruise experience with people to eat with and share excursions with. It made for a wonderful experience. The local guide also offered two optional excursion. We took both of them and they were wonderful

 

The Suite: The antoinette has I believe 7 or 8 suites that are approx. 300 sq ft which is about 100 sq ft larger then the next level and nearly double the size of the basic room. It has a french window infront of the bed and a true balcony with 2 chairs a table and a television with a window that goes down with a touch of a button give you an open air balcony. I used this area extensively early morning and as my wife got ready for dinner. We were only blocked by another ship in one port for a few hours. The bathroom has double sinks. As others have said on CC you are out of your room a lot and if the extra space doesn't matter to you then you can save money. We were able to look at our new friends cabins below the suite and they are very nice but we personally enjoyed the extra room. Finally the suite comes with Butler Service that I will explain below.

 

Butler Service: We are not butler type people and I would never choose to pay for butler service. However it is included with the suite and it really was wonderful. There are two butlers assigned to the 8 suites. Some of the features they provide are daily fruit trays with 5 or more pieces of fruit provided each day. Cookies are placed in your room at least once each day. Different snacks from popcorn to nuts to banana trips are provided daily. A fully stocked mini bar with beer, wine, soft drinks, etc... is refreshed at least daily. Uniworld provided washers and dryers free of charge with laundry detergent for all guests. We found the need to do two loads of wash after about 5 days. Our butler saw us coming out of the room with our laundry bags and he grabbed them out of our hands and said that he would take care of it. After insisting for over 5 minutes that he didn't need to do that we finally gave up and the next day it came back washed, folded, and pressed as needed. They also provide breakfast in your room. It isn't a set menu but you can ask for what ever you want and they will have it there at the time desired. We only did this once but it was great since we had an early excursion. In short they were always there to greet us with a smile and always asking what they could do to make our trip more enjoyable. The last night of our cruise they brought us a bottle of wine to take home with us.

 

The ship:

 

The ship was just beautiful. I understand that some have found it over the top compared to the scandinavian look of many of their competitors. But we found it beautifully decorated with art, tile mosaics and other small touches. It also includes a pool that has jets that allows you to swim against the current for exercise. It also has a small gym with treadmill, eliptical, bike, weights, etc.. We found this helpful in working off some of the wonderful food. They also have bikes available at all ports.

 

All inclusive: Uniworld truly is all inclusive with the exception of three optional exursions. Alcohol, softdrinks, coffee, water, etc.. is available all day and not just at meal times. All tips for crew, guides, drivers, transfers, etc.. are included.

 

Excursions: The excursion were wonderful except for one where the local guide was a little slow and difficult to understand for our taste so we just let him know we were breaking away and went out on our own for the rest of the time. The three optional exursions ranged from 39 Euros to 69 Euros. We took 2 of the three and were pleased we did althought the included ones at the same time were difficult to turn down.

 

Food: The food was outstanding. There were plenty of choices at each meal and they always served Salmon, Steak, or Chicken if you didn't like any of the featured dishes. In the whole week we only chose the standard alternatives once. We also found that any request was granted in regards to food. Adding or subtracting something from the featured dishes was never a problem.

 

Service: Every staff member we encountered seemed to truly enjoy their work and were alway accomodating and welcoming.

 

In closing, this was our first river cruise and definitely won't be our last. Uniworld promises a first class experience and they delivered on that promise. If you are looking for a luxury experience on a river cruise then I would highly recommend Uniworlds SS Antoinette and the Castles on the Rhine cruise. I'm sure we will be booking one of their two newer ships Catherine and Teresa in the near future.

 

I hope some find this helpful

Thanks for the great review. We leave Monday arriving in Amsterdam for a 5 day visit prior to our cruise. All this review has done is make the next 13 days really hard. This is our first River cruise and from the reviews we have read looks like we made the right choice. Again, thanks Dot

1. Breeze

2. Spirit class ships (Legend, Miracle)

3. Liberty

Fla Mike,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Is it the same even in Nassau Bahamas

Hi, Dot here-we got our Nassau stamp at the Immigration Office which is right by the cruise ship port. Just go left after you exit the building and there is a guard shack. Tell them you want to get your passport stamped and they will direct you thru the gate and to the office. Mom-Fri

It does for St Marteen. Not sure about Tortola, but I would surmise there as well. all ships are required to clear the customs/immigration regs for each country and they usually do this via having one or two reps come on board and see the Captain and Head Hotelier/Purser. They are usually willing to stamp passports. Just ask at the guest services desk of the ship.

Thanks for that info. We are missing stamps in a couple of the island and would love to add them to our passports. Dot

We have been to St. John's island many times but never seen anything past Trunk Bay. Can anyone suggest a tour that will take us all around the island so we can se what's on the other side? Maybe a nice place for lunch. We will be there in May on the Carnival Sunshine. Thanks for any suggestions you might have. Dot;)

I have posted 36 pictures of the Baths I took there this week. Here is the site:

 

https://thebathsvirgingorda.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

 

You will find the water to be very sparkling clean!

Michael those pictures are amazing. Can't wait to see it in person.

Do you by chance know how we can contact Dion? Dot

If you mean do they all happen on the same night of the cruise, the answer is not necessarily. Elegant night is usually on the first sea day of the cruise. If youre referring to the dinner menus, then yes, the menus are fleetwide. (except for the test trials recently started with the American table and American Feast).

Not on the Magic. It's no where near the pool.

The Magic doesnt have the red frog rum bar, it has only the red frog PUB, which is on one of the indoor promenade decks. The red frog rum bars are part of the 2.0 upgrades and are on the lido deck by the pool.

One difference my wife noticed on her one HAL cruise:

On Carnival, folks get an early start to get deck chairs by the pool;

On HAL they got an early start to get the best window seats in the Library. lol

We stayed at Hotel Schweizerhof. It was very nice and very close to the train station and the trams. You will have a free pass for the trams if you are staying in any hotel and there is also a free bus to the airport. We used it to get from the airport to the train station and then walked across the street to the hotel. It was so easy and nice. If you have time, we took a train one day to Lucerne and went up to Mt. Pilateus. The views were wonderful and it was very easy to do on our own. We took the gondolas up the mountain and the cog train down....the view of the lake and mountains coming down was breathtaking.

Thanks so much. We are still trying to decide whether to stay one night in Basel or leave immediately for Paris by train. We have been to switzerland so just still trying to decide. Thanks again, Dot

We are going on the River cruise which ends in Basel. Anyone stayed there

overnight and can recommend a hotel? Dot

Okay...gotta ask, what is the "Funville Forum"?

Is it something on the carnival site itself and you can e-mail or just post general updating "we are having fun, see you in a week" kinda updates to family? Just wondering.

Its like a forum message board, similar to this, but on the carnival website. whatever you post can be seen by anyone, but it is a convenient way to keep in touch with family back home.

600. cantw82cruise , John & Sherri - Battle Creek, MI

601. Elationismyship, Maria & Doug - Cinci OH

602. luvmysox1, Michelle & Jeff - Lake Station, IN

603. MacKenzie Girl plus 1 - Jackson AL

604. CDNseeking heat - Toronto Ontario

605. msolberg, Mark and Diane - Michigan

606. Near the Beach, Charlie,Rhonda & Phillip - Florida

607. Beave8920 - Dave and Barbee - Minden, NV

608. BenjiRodney (Roger)- WV

609. PegNRay Peg and Ray - Illinois

610. Judyzoo , Judy - Miami FL

611. Cruisingcouple2008 - Amy and Austin - Albany, NY

612 lcantwait - Knoxville, TN

613. roxy13 - TXS

614. Breadman54 - John and Christi - Austria, Europe

615. Mandnjim (1 of them ) - Florida

616. Kakraz - Austria, Europe

617. Dutch Diver,JP & Yolanda - Netherlands

618. supercrew1962 stacey and paul - Indianapolis, IN

619. Jeanarch - Oak Grove LA

620. clearwatergirl- Clearwater FL

621. MongoliaBlossom - Louisiana

622. DebJ14 - Bill and Debbie - Texas

623. Hawaii697, Waldorf, MD

624. Oldrailfan, Hiddenite, NC

625. Rusty-Girl, Hiddenite, NC

626. Angie1818, Panama City, FL

627. Tigereye, Montgomery, Al.

628. Riedela, Fayetteville, AR

629. Centurycruiser, Port Orange, FL

630. James in SA, TX

631. Regestd & Dwayne in Olympia, WA

632. Beauty1492 frozen tundra Ohio

633. Cruisingbandmom, Canton, GA

634. Elliair - California

635. Jim & Mieke -Columbus, OH

636 and 637. SteelerCruisers- Myrtle Beach, SC

638 and 639. Smiling Cruiser and Joe

640 and 641 Ocean Dancer & DH, Delaware

642 and 643 ocs1985, Bobby & Dianne- Southside,Al.

644 Lady N Red Paulla Laurinburg,N

645. & 646. Cruise2062 & DH - West Virginia

647. ourfamilylovescruising Deanna and Mike Palmetto, FL

648 Deb Brown - Winter Haven, F

649 &650. dotshub- Larry & Dot, Tampa, FL

Some people buy booze from the onboard shop the last night of the first leg; they let most PAX take it with them unless your account has been flagged as B2B.

They know who is b2b, and on our b2b on the Liberty in September, they did NOT deliver the booze at the end of the first week. Not until the last day of the second cruise.

Any Diamond passengers who have already experienced the "Special invitation from the Captain"? What were you invited to?

Is that Nassau?

Yep thats Nassau, and the building in the background is Atlantis.