hannahsmomtoo

Hubby and I took our first cruise (and our first trip together ever, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary) a few weeks ago. We have not been able to stop thinking about our trip, talking about our trip and dreaming about doing it all again someday.

 

We can currently get the same itinerary for next fall at a very affordable price.

 

Are we crazy to book the same exact trip again? The trip was on the Carnival Valor. We stayed a couple days in San Juan, PR before and 1 day after the cruise, and the cruise stops in St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, St Maarten.

 

We've looked at other itineraries, but we really enjoyed San Juan and the 3 days we had before our cruise there. So cruising in/out of other ports doesn't excite us as much, at least not in the fall. We have enough airline miles (hubby used to travel a lot on business) for both our tickets free to Puerto Rico, so that isn't an issue at all.

 

The Valor is the only ship that leaves from San Juan.

 

Has anyone done the same itinerary twice and did you love it as much the 2nd time around or was it a let down since it wasn't new and exciting anymore?

 

Price is an issue as well, and currently the Valor is the lowest priced itinerary for Sept/Oct for a 7 night cruise, from any port.

 

We did snorkeling tours in St Thomas and Barbados and island tours for St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten. We could easily do completely different things in all of these ports than we did this year. We're also looking at a much smaller budget for this trip, so we're thinking we'd probably lean more towards just taking taxi's to the beaches instead of the booking big excursions for each port.

 

Since this cruise is so port intensive, we kind of are looking back and realizing how much we didn't do on the ship because we didn't have time or were too tired after being in port all day.

 

We are also looking at having to book an interior room instead of a balcony like we had before because of the price.

 

Any input on this idea is much appreciated!

I dont think its crazy at all..

Our first cruise was the Mexican Riviera and I feek like I didnt get to DO and SEE everything I wanted to. I will definitely go back !

We don't drink so the bars on the Lido deck are of no interest to us. We docked next to the Magic in Cozumel on our last cruise and thought the ropes course looked like a lot of fun. Since the Dream was repositioning to NOLA next year, I thought it would be a fun cruise and with her being in the same class as the Magic, I thought it would have the full-blown 2.0 upgrades. Bummer!

The Ropes course looks awesome.. but we were on the Magic 10/6-10/13 and it was almost ALWAYS closed due to wind...so keep that in mind when making your decision...we never got to try it

We will be in Ochos Rios at the end of the year, and are really having trouble deciding on which excursion to book, if any at all. Really looking for something more relaxing, but the beach excursions Im seeing are having a lot of bad reviews. Any suggestions??

We LOVED climbing Dunns River Falls.. but I would not call it relaxing... It was Gorgeous and a challenge. We went with a Carnival guide and had NO problems with merchants... weren't harassed at all... and we did shop. Was one of our favorite stops !

The biggest difference we noticed physically was the red frog pub is an actual bar on the magic w/ an outdoor area on the promenade. It's essentially just a pool bar on the dream. We LOVED it on the magic because of the live music and fun atmosphere.

 

I really loved the magic and sailing out of Galveston (fog delay and all....be aware of that in the winter months) and didn't generally like the dream (we like port canaveral too) the staff was not friendly on the dream, but that is subjective and could just be bad luck on out behalf but we found ourselves bored a lot, which has never happened to us on a cruise!!

I am in total agreement about the Red Frog Pub.... It is a great place on the Magic and the staff always knew our names !

The Dream doesn't have Guy's Burgers.

Neither does the Magic

( unless they built it after our trip 10/13 )

Great! Thank you! I HATE the hold they put on my account.

Last month when I noticed my gift. Card balance was running low towards the finally day.. I went and stuck 50$ in the kiosk just to keep then away from my card lol

and they always use the Gift card balances before they charge your credit/debit card....so I try and buy "enough" prior to cruising :D

When in Coz you can go downtown or a post office across the street from where we dock. Check the Coz board for more information.

Good luck

Thanks... In Cozumel you have to walk thru the giant shopping mall thing to get to the cabs.. ( we usually hop in a cab straight to Nachi )

Where is the post office?

Oh I know that. What i mean is buy a card to basically put the money away for Cheer's. Basically stop my bank account from teasing me with more money than I think I have.

I buy gift cards

Then go to guest services to apply then to my account when I board ( if the kiosks aren't up yet )

THEN go purchase Cheers.

Voila !!

Yes, you can do it exactly how you are proposing

Whenever I read about this, its always people getting caught coming back. I guess they have nowhere to go once on board after the last port. If they wanted to (or we're really that bent), they could probably skip out at an international port, but I have yet to read of that happening.

 

I'd really like to read some (accurate) stories of how these people are getting kicked-off/banned.

Most are warrants for things like child support, minor criminal offenses etc.. not exactly the type of thing one would flee the country for (and stay off at the last port )...

That said , serious or dangerous "wanted" folks...ARE picked up prior to sailing.

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead! I just had a couple of questions.

 

Has anyone used gift cards when purchasing Cheers? I want to avoid the large hold on my debit card and I am wondering if purchasing the gift card is the way to go. This is also a way that I could "pre" purchase gratuities and Cheers. Does anyone have experience with this?

When you book you are given the option to prepay gratuitues... but you cant buy the Cheer program until you board. :)

We cruised NCL Jewel 10/13-20/13. We were able to have our passports stamped in Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. They were little independent huts and usually asked for a donation to stamp your passports.

Can you tell me where in Cozumel and Belize? Thanks

Why do you want to fill up the pages with useless stamps. I have a bunch of stamps from flying in/out and sometimes the immigration people get irritated when they have to search for an empty page/space for the stamp.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

Why do you care if it is something my family enjoys? The original question was not "please tell me your opinion of passport stamps."

In Grand Cayman you can go to the office that is just on the other side of the gate as you leave tender area. Turn to right, go up a few steps and you'll see a door. Go in there and they will stamp it.

 

In Roatan there is a booth in the area on the way to where the cabs are. It's on the right, first booth.

 

Costa Maya had a little office set up in the village right at port.

You are precisely right about Grand Cayman...

Thank you for the extra info about Roatan - that helps alot...

and our 3rd port is Cozumel... is that the same as Costa Maya? We had no luck finding a stamp in Cozumel last month

The passport stamp in Grand Cayman is only at Hell, correct??

No the passport stamp is done right where the ship docks... there is a tiny "tourism" office right by where all the excursions gather.

Yep - a warrant would never cause a "do not sail" status...

They want ALL the people they can to that have warrants to get themselves on that manifest...

Serious warrants are picked up before sailing...so as to not endanger other pasengers....

Less serious may be picked up at disembarkation.

Roatan has a passport stamp station within the "village" area where the ship docks. Don't know about Belize.

Thank you

that is cool! I am so confused.... We (I) lol, had decided on the Dream in April, but then the chance for a 7 day on the Magic came open for us and hubby really likes the Magic ports (same as yours was) rather than the Dream ports (Cozumel, Maghonay Bay, & Costa maya). Plus, we have been twice out of NOLA and would love to go out of Galveston. So I am thinking we are going on the Magic...But I would love either.

This is just my personal opinion ( before I get slammed ) but I will not sail out of Galveston again. It had its good and its bad... We had a great dinner the night before at Fishermans Wharf... and the embarkatin process was smooth.

But the area was dirty... the water brown...

We came home sick ( as did MANY members of my roll call ) and my doctor said sailing out of Galveston is "like sticking your head in a cat box"...

JUST my opinion...

we had a great time....and heck, some people LOVE Galveston... it just wasnt the embarrkation port for us.

I know that the Dream does not have the ropes course like Magic does. We will miss that while cruising next summer on the Dream. Do they have the ping pong tables outside anywhere?

When we sailed he Magic in October, the ropes course was closed the whole trip due to winds. So, while it IS cool.. dont let it have any bearing on your decision... we never got to try it

Last month we could only get out Passport Stamped on Grand Cayman...

Does anyone know if you can get them stamped in Belize or Roatan?

Thanks !!!!

how was it?

The Magic was our second cruise..

We had sailed the Splendor last year.

We loved it...

Every port was awesome

Cozumel

Montego Bay

Grand Cayman

We have incredible dining staff... and a mediocre steward.

The Pasta place is incredible ( and free at lunch FYI )

Fried Conch at the Red Frog Pub was great... as were the giant fishbowl drinks!

Looking forward to trying the Dream next !!! :)

Could one of them have an outstanding warrant?

I vote no on this one..

Trust me, as a government worker - we would let them sail BECAUSE it would give us a chance to pick them up.

Hi

One of our port of call is Montego Bay.

What do you think of this port for shopping?

Our other ports is Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

We are trying to plan what we will do at which port.

Any suggestion for must do or see in Montego Bay.

D H says this is a port we might want to stay on the ship.

I appreciate your input. We will be sailing in December

We went to Monetgo bay on 10/06/13 Magic sailing and had a GREAT time. We took a Carnival excursion...swam with dolphins and then had lunch... after which we went to Dunns River Falls which is one of the most incredible places to see. Our Carnival guide was great and honestly not one merchant bothered us. I was worried because I had my teen with me. I would absolutely go again AND get off the ship.. but this IS a port I would take a Carnival excursion on. NONE of the nightmares I had read on CC about the vendors happened to us.

( and we did shop and come home with some trinkets! ) Have a great cruise !!!

I am also curious as we just got off the Magic and have the Dream booked for 10/2014!

You can also take the Streetcar, would involve a few blocks worth of walking and the ability to handle all your own luggage= packing light is the key. :) $1.25pp

Thanks :D No luggage on street cars for us.. but we did finally pick a hotel very close to a street car line....so that will be fun to see some sights !