wassup4565

Be careful to ensure your steward knows that you want the wash and fold special.  On a recent cruise we stuffed the bag for the wash and fold special announced in the Compass. (We also had a $10 discount as Diamond category).  There was a misunderstanding, and the laundry came back on hangers and in some cases seemed to be ironed, and with a price of over $70.  I straightened it out with Guest Services, but would rather no have had the issue at all.

We have often used wash and fold in the past, and as long as you don’t include delicate fabrics or saturated colours, the results are just as if you ran the load through the hot wash and dry cycles at home. Very handy for long cruises, and it helps to reduce the amount you need to pack.  We have a bachelor friend who always gets the wash and fold just to ensure he arrives home with mostly clean laundry!  

Thank you all so much for this information.  We won't be going for several months, but I have a much better idea of how we can can plan our time  in this wonderful place.

I’m relying on my visit to Santorini a few years ago, so take this for what it’s worth.  First, you have to tender the short distance to shore.  Then you must take the cable car/elevator up from sea level to the top rim of the volcanic crater.  Depending on lineups, that could all take you an hour or so.  At the top, you are immediately in the busy town of Thira.  I’m not sure where Vichada is in relation to Thira, but you will easily find the public bus terminus not far from the cable car depot.  Buses run from there on several routes. I took one to a beach bay on the other side, and it was about a half hour ride.  You would have to repeat all these steps in reverse on the way back in time to make the sailing time.  Surely the catamaran people can give you some advice?

I’D like to buy packages of ground Puerto Rican coffee to bring home, but not at souvenir prices or in fancy packages. We are docked in San Juan from 1 pm to 10 pm on a Tuesday.  Is there a grocery store within walking distance of the pier?  Or would they sell coffee in the CVS drugstore near the pier?

Ha ha, we have the same itinerary - Adventure, Feb 15!  Here are our plans.

i never get tired of those beautiful forts in San Juan, and you get into both for the same price.  We take a taxi up, because the free trolley is slow, and a real bone shaker.  After taking in the views from El Moro, we walk back downhill. If you keep an eye to the left, you can follow a curving road through an archway, and into an amazingly beautiful historic cemetery.  Then get back on the Main Street and continue down to the smaller Fort for a visit.  Keep going down, and get a drink and a snack before reboarding.  As an alternative, you can walk along the shore below the old city walls, and the re-enter at the gate that leads to the “cat” street.  Ask me if you want to know more about that!  Gotta like cats for this place.

Labadee, as has been mentioned, there are local craft vendors that are restricted to one area, and they are very pushy!  However, there are some unique Haitian crafts there.  Don’t touch unless you are serious - they assume you’ve bought the item. The beaches are indeed rocky except for the farthest one, which is mobbed.  The barbecue is tasty.  I think I’ll get off for lunch and then go back aboard to hot tub.  

St Thomas, Megan’s Bay beach is one of the ten best in the world.  It s a nature reserve, so if you like birds, look for seabirds close up.  My daughter saw a sting ray in the crystal clear water.  the farther you get from the beach store/resto, the less crowded the beach is.  There is apparently a hike and a historic mahogany forest, but all I want to do is paddle and wade in the gorgeous water - the bottom is smooth sand.  You take a cheap jitney ride to the beach and back, and there is a small admission fee for the park.  Food, drink and chair prices are reasonable, but the employees are veeeeery slow at business. This could be your bargain day.

St Maarten, Maho beach is a taxi ride away, and it’s small and steep.  Watching the huge planes scream in overhead just before they hit the runway is the big attraction.  Once was enough for me, but the kids will like it.  You could then go back to Phillipsburgh where there is a lively bar, resto, beach scene, and also crazy cheap shopping on Back Street, one street back from all the Cartier and Lancôme on the main drag.  Buyer beware, but there are knock off purses and cheap,electronics, and everything is tax free.

Hope this helps.  What ship and what date?

Mary, you posted the same queries on other threads.  Might be good to tell people you’ve asked the same questions elsewhere.

Have you been to St Maarten before?  The roads are narrow, two-lane, with twisty hills and corners.  Also, as others have said, the road back to Phillipsburgh can get very jammed up at afternoon rush hour.  However, I would not book an overpriced cruise excursion (which did once, and it was a huge bus that crawled along.  It stopped a couple of times, and it took forever to get everyone off and back on, not to mention the latecomers who held everyone up.)

We have arranged private small small group tours twice on St Maarten, with companies that provided a guide and seating for about a dozen.  These have been fine, and give you a good sense of the island.  You can find these companies listed on trip advisor or via google.  They will get you back on time - their reputation depends on it.  We have also taken a taxi to Orient beach, reasonable price, lovely place.

Have a great cruise!

In San Juan, If the two national park forts are open, those would offer a great history lesson to your kids.  You can walk, but it is uphill and a good distance, so take the free tourist train if it is running, or grab a taxi.  You can walk back downhill from El Moro (the big Fort) to the second smaller Fort halfway back.  Then grab a bite in a restaurant near the dock.  If you are leaving at 2:30, you won’t have much time on the shore to do much else.

St Kitts has very nice beaches not far from Basseterre (the town).  We asked a crew member, and he recommended the beach the crew goes to, so try that.  It was great.  There is also an excursion train ride that is not cheap, but our friend liked it. Look for a bar with free WIFI and get a drink near the ship.  

Maho beach on St Maarten requires a taxi ride, and other than the planes landing, it’s not much of a beach. But the planes are fun!  Ask the crew or your taxi driver if there is a regularly scheduled big aircraft that will be landing - that’s what you want to see. Make sure you head back toward the ship in good time, because the only road gets traffic jams at afternoon rush hour. There is a lively beach with lots of bars a short water taxi ride from the dock.

have a great cruise!

There was a devastating hurricane which hit the island a couple of years ago, and beaches were hard hit.  You can take a taxi to Orient Beach (probably about $25 or $10 pp if you share with others) a half hour or so drive from the dock, located on the French part of the island.  That beach was wiped out by the hurricane, but posts here and on Trip Advisor say that a few beach restaurants have re-opened.  They will rent you chairs and umbrellas, sell drinks and food, and offer washrooms.  The beach itself is fabulous, long, smooth, with a gradual slope into the water. Part of the beach allows nude bathing, but ask the driver, and you can choose. Arrange for the taxi to come back and pick you up later.

The other popular spot is Maho beach, a taxi ride from the airport.  This is a narrow, small beach with a couple of bars.  People go to watch the planes come in right over the beach just before they land on the runway.  There might still be a big KLM jet that zooms in right overhead around mid-afternoon.  The beach itself is not much of an attraction other than the planes.

There is a ton of duty-free shopping right in Phillisburgh, a brief cheap water taxi ride from the dock.  You can also buy every kind of knock-off purse, electronics, linens, etc.  Buyer beware, but great bargains.  Also where the water taxi lands is a lively, noisy bar/beach strip.  The island is not pretty.  It is naturally a “desert” island, with no rivers or water sources other than sparse rain.  You can get a taxi to take you on a tour - expect to see a lot of colourless succulents, iguanas, etc. No matter where you go, leave a generous amount of time to get back to the ship, because there are often traffic jams in the afternoon rush hour.

Hope this helps.

Yes, and the vehicles were parked very nearby outside also.  Make sure to ask how to return the keys when you get back.  I think there was a slot we had to throw the keys through or something.  The agent was long gone.

Please let me know if I can help further.  I am just planning a land vacation with a rented car in nearby Brittany, and then to Paris for a few days.  Not an expert, but I am learning a lot.

When we rented a car in Le Havre we ran into an unexpected farmers’s protest shortly after leaving the city.  Several dozen tractors and farms vehicles had arranged themselves bumper to bumper in all the freeway lanes, making a blockade.  They were travelling at tractor speed.

We exited at the next opportunity and fell back on Plan B, lunch in Caen and a drive back along the coast on secondary roads - one gorgeous old village after another all the way to le Havre ( pronounced Le Av).

Have a Plan B if you try your excursion.

Check with the rental company, but when we rented two years ago, two or three companies had a set-up a short walk away from the dock. No need for a taxi, we walked off the ship and into a huge hangar-like structure, and found the companies there.  Easy to find, easy walk.  The agent was not exactly on time, and showed up a few minutes late, but once he did, we and the others waiting were on the road pretty quickly.

Sorry, I do not have that info right at hand, but you can google Magen’s Bay and find the official website, which is very thorough.  I remember seeing price lists on that official site.  Don’t forget you also have to pay a modest admission cost to the park (I think it’s $5 US)

There is a certain category of cruiser who loves to complain and find fault with anything and everything.  My theory is they think it makes them feel like they are discerning. Ignore these people.  They think complaining makes them seem sophisticated, when it actually reveals they are cranks.  Unless you are determined to whine and nag, you will be delighted by any cruise on any mainstream line.  Just pick something and go, you will love it.

Ten years ago my daughter was working herself to the bone and I made the decision with three weeks notice to book the two of us on a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise on the RCCL ship Radiance of the Seas.  How did I choose this cruise?  I picked it because it was the exact number of days she had available, at exactly the right time.  I had no clue about anything else.  The short story was we loved every minutes of it and we have cruised again and again, in many places and on many ships.  And by the way, we'd have loved it if it was any other line travelling in any other place.  And we still love every trip, on every ship, to every place.

Book something that appeals to you and suits your timeframe.  Join your roll call and read the many, many wonderful threads on CC to learn everything you want to know.  Someone here will always help you. You will have a great time if you go with a good attitude and avoid the gripers you sometimes encounter.  And remember what someone in my very first roll call on our first cruise told me when I was stressing about what to pack.  "All you really need is your passport, your seapass, your credit card,  and your bathing suit.  Take it from there." 

We took the public bus #2 to Nelson's Dockyard.  The bus cost $2 US (bring a few singles as change will not be in US$).  See post #6 for description. Ask the locals and they will tell you how to find the bus station. The Dockyard is a UNESCO site, national park, and costs about $8 to enter.    Very historic and in great shape, it's still a working dockyard, and you can see sails being repaired, and look at the gorgeous yachts docked right there.  You can buy a reasonable lunch at the bakery.

I disagree with the suggestion above that you can't have a quality time without spending money on excursions and pricey transport.  I loved this bus trip in Antigua, and felt it was one of the most genuine and interesting  experiences I've had. It was really great riding along with the local people as they went to work or their homes, while the bus radio played a call-in show with people talking about their issues. Everybody was very kind and helpful when we were not sure where to get off and on.  Nelson's Dockyard is a beautiful site, and you don't need an expensive tour to look at this beautiful historic site.

Hoski, I love this suggestion!  Was it easy to arrange for the rental car near the pier?  Which company?  Do you remember where the grocery store was, or was it obvious?  Thanks for a great idea!  Any further details you can suggest will be appreciated.

Thank you for a great read.  Such an intinerary!  Our TA on Brilliance a few years ago stopped at Reykjavik for two days (one night) and we were so enthralled with that country we’ve since travelled back there twice.  Flew over Greenland on one return trip, and I was so happy to read your account of actually visiting there.  

Thanks for all the suggestions here so far. I am particularly interested in Belize. On our first stop here, we booked a small group open-boat trip to Caye Caulker. This was mainly for people snorkelling, but for non swimmers, we had the option of being dropped off on the Caye itself for a couple hours, then rejoining for the boat ride back. We chose this tour because the shuttle boat to Caye Caulker departed too early for our ship arrival including tendering time.

First, the tour operator was about 45 minutes late picking us up. On the way back, the boat broke down, and we had to wait for the guy’s buddy to come and get us in another boat. We barely made the last shuttle to the ship. Caye Caulker was nice enough but not very interesting. We rented a golf cart and drove around the very tiny community, which seems to be mostly made up of diving guys and gals and people seeking a laid back alternative lifestyle. The community is mostly small shacks and cottages. Both the boat and tender rides were very long and somewhat rough. This would be a bad day for someone prone to seasickness.

The excursion to the Mayan ruins sounds like a better choice for us. Caye Cailker - meh.

WE like the social experience of dining at a large table and meeting new people, and you can get that in the MDR. However, we’ve also ended up with some table-mates that were not interesting, and even more unpleasant, with people who have strident opinions they insist on imposing on others. If my dining companions are pleasant and interesting, I really enjoy the MDR experience.

The WJ is a great alternative if we’ve had a long shore day or if we have been assigned to a table where we have nothing in common with table mates. The food is not a repeat of that at noon, and usually some of the evening’s choices from the MDR evening menu are available in the WJ. I prefer the salad choices in the WJ, as I can choose the variety of vegetables and quantity of dressing. Finally, if If I am travelling with my daughter, the WJ is ideal, as she can choose exactly what is best for her limited diet required by a medical condition. In the MDR she often has to consult carefully about the ingredients of some dishes and ask for special orders to have her food cooked differently. She can always find what she needs in the WJ.

Sherri, thank you for this info. We will be in St Maarten in Dec, and really want to go to Orient Beach, one of our favourites. Glad to hear that we will be able to get a taxi and some food and chairs at the beach.

Correction: I see that what I wrote about the south coast drive is confusing. To clarify, the drive is about four hours each way, for a total of about eight hours.

Kiwi Cruiser, a lot depends on the dates you are visiting and how much time you have in port. Please let us know this info so we can help you better. I just came back from my third trip to Iceland. The first was a day and a half in port in Oct, and both other trips were multi-day trips on land. Unless you really don't want to drive, the best method is to rent a car as this allows you the flexibility to use your time best. Your second choice is to book an excursion through a local company. There is really very little public transportation in Iceland and taxis are horribly expensive - neither of those is an option.

The Golden Circle is a road trip in the shape of a loop, so you can drive it without wasting time re-tracing your steps. You start out and end up near Reykjavik, and the entire route can be driven comfortably in about five or six hours. The road is excellent, drivers are polite and you get a taste of many unique Iceland sights - waterfalls, a geyser, horse meadows, distant glaciers, volcanic shapes and landforms. If you only have a day this is your best bet, either by car or tour.

The south coast is amazingly beautiful, but it takes at least four hours driving and you will want to stop many times to sightsee. Part of that time is re-tracing your route, as this is not a circle and there is only one road there and back. If you are travelling in summer when the days are long, this is a lovely route.

The Blue Lagoon is famous and very, very expensive. It costs about $70 a person, so it is not worth the cost unless you love warm geothermal water and want to spend several hours there. It is very pretty with turquoise water, but although people call it a spa, it's not what I think of as a spa - there is only one huge pool of one temperature, and any treatments cost over and above the basic admission. It is also always crowded, and you must book well in advance of your trip - you cannot just walk up. If you want to experience geothermal waters like Icelanders do, go to a public pool for about $10 a person, and enjoy many different heated tubs as well as swimming lanes etc. There are nine public pools in Reykjavik, but there are also pools in most small towns and hamlets. Google maps shows them.

No matter what you choose, Iceland is gorgeous, so get out there and enjoy it! Wear warm clothes even in summer, and bring a good waterproof coat. The weather changes every few minutes, and you won't escape the cold rain!

Thank you for the update. We took the excursion with Spencer's company in 2016 and really enjoyed the experience. I have booked it again for four of us in December, and I'm glad to hear your experience was good.

Just for the record, I did not like the mud baths at all. Yes, it is very crowded. But my biggest problem was that I found the water far too hot for me to enjoy, even with trying to ease in. I gave up on submersing myself, and just put some mud on my face, arms and legs. There are a few open showers available to rinse off, but I found the mud wouldn’t come off and I ended up with a lot of it still on my skin. It seems very oily, so maybe you need strong soap to scrub with - there was no soap available that I could see.

I also ended smelling very strongly of sulphur, and my towel and bathing suit reeked of it all the way back in the van. I was very glad I didn’t get the mud in my hair, as I saw others doing. As it was, I couldn’t get the grit out from under my fingernails for two days, even scrubbing often with a nail brush.

That was my experience, and I didn’t care for it. Just thought people might want another view.

I've rented cars three times in Iceland, and also read extensively on the Trip Advisor site. Its hard to say whether Icelandic car rental outlets are gouging, devious tricksters, or whether renters are careless dimwits, or whether both sides misunderstand each other.

To avoid problems, you should inspect your rental car carefully before you take delivery of it and also photograph ANY damage on the car. This includes tiny chips in the paint anywhere on the car; pits or scratches in the windshield; bumps, dents, or rubs on the body; dirt, scratches, or gouges anywhere on the interior of the car. If this seems like a waste of time, a repair of a small dent and restored paintwork could easily cost you several hundred dollars, and if you can't prove you didn't do it, you will be charged for it.

It's a beautiful country, the people are lovely, and you should absolutely rent a car to see it - it's the best way. But inspect that car carefully before you take it under your contract.