summersigh

We stay at the Hampton Inn Mt Pleasant/Patriots Point just over the big bridge with a package that includes parking and shuttle.  Nice place - we stay there for whatever reason we visit Charleston even when not cruising.  Includes breakfast and Internet

Nothing says "Caribbean Sail Away" to DH and I like a tall, cold Rum Punch 🍹

During the cruise we drink Crown, Scotch and/or the random Dirty Martini ... but Sail Away is a Festive Occasion !!!  😀😎😉

I came across a cool little pair of black flip-flops.  What makes them cool are the bows with rhinestone buckles.

It changes the whole vibe from flip-flop to dinner "sandals"  without affecting the comfort ... and they take just a tiny bit of room in the suitcase.

example ... today I booked a cruise for Nov 2020.  Price and timing were great for us.  Not sure I'd have jumped on it this early if not for the $50 deposits.  (sale is over tomorrow July 13 on my CCL site).  Got our favorite cabin too 😉

30 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

 

Because there may be a myriad of reasons why I cannot go on the cruise, and hopefully I find out before final payment.  I may not want to rebook it, so since I'm going to lose $50 pp anyway, simply cancelling the cruise might be the logistically easier thing.

This is our thinking as well.  DH has health issues that could keep us from going so this is easier as you said and for the same $50

If it were me I'd request being seated with another family early in the week before your sailing.

Your request would involve another family's seating as well as your own ... not just a simple swapping of one table for your family with another of the same size.

You might also try contacting John Heald thru his FB page posting what you'd like 4 days before you sail.  (Post in the morning).  He'll need your ship and sailing date as well as your cabin number as well as your request.

22 hours ago, purplephenom said:

If you go into it hoping to have fun, you probably will.  People post similar things about the Sunshine all the time- it's been my favorite ship so far.  So you never know, til you try it for yourself. What matters to other people may not matter to you.  And you may not notice what others do. 

Ditto what purplephenom said 🙂  Sunshine has become our favorite ship too.  We went looking to have a good time and we did.  Crowds didn't seem to be the huge/bad issue folks make it out to be except for perhaps the comedy club where the lines were bad.  We don't do the comedy shows so we didn't really care about that 😉  Kids were having a great time on the ropes course and with the water park slides.  Print out deck plans (3 - 4 - 5 - 9 - 10 } for the public decks and use it to help you determine the routes around the ship with the least congestion.

20 hours ago, Garth2 said:

1. There's no possible way it could take 2 hours for lunch if you're flexible.  There are many food options and lunch is served over several hour

An example of how these "long wait for food stories" start is with Guys Burgers.  It opens at noon .... and there's are 2 long lines to get the burgers and the toppings .... BUT 45 minutes later the wait is maybe 5 minutes. 

On our last cruise I tried something different and was really happy with the outcome.  It made unpacking a breeze 😉

I used cheap metal hangers from our dry cleaning to hang all my tops and all of DH's button shirts. Then when I packed I folded the tops and his shirts still on the hangers (I slipped the hanger down a little so the hook was even with the collars.

When it was time to unpack all I had to do was whip the tops and shirts out of the suitcase and onto the closet rod.... done in less than a minute.  

I left the empty hangers behind since I use plastic hangers at home and will start collecting new metal hangers from the dry cleaning when I get home 👜

On 6/18/2019 at 9:31 PM, matt082600 said:

Any help with the email address?  I'm sailing with a group of 20 and I'm hoping to have adults and young adults at separate tables.

On one of our CCL cruises we were assigned the table next to two 10 tops assigned to a group of 20 - assorted ages. 

Nightly, they moved around at will in the seating as long as they used their 2 tables.  The teens claimed the end of one of the tables and seemed quite happy with that arrangement.

Sunshine out of Charleston - This coming December - 5 days  $79.95

It just seemed like there wasn't any effort to replace a really cool cruise with something cooler than Nassau. In 2020 Charleston October thru December there are NO cruises that don't go to Nassau. We're thrilled to have the Sunshine - our favorite - but variety in itineraries would be welcome.

We were surprised and disappointed last evening when we got an email from CCL telling us our Cuba/Key West Oct 12, 2020 from Charleston had an itinerary changed.

I understand the Cuba cancellation BUT they also took away Key West .. and gave us Princess Cay and NASSAU.

Come on ... Nassau STINKS .  Almost every other cruise out of Charleston goes to Nassau.   Princess Cay and Key West would have been fine

We were surprised and dissapointed last evening when we got an email from CCL telling us our Cuba/Key West Oct 12, 2020 from Charleston had an itinerary changed.

I understand the Cuba cancellation BUT they also took away Key West .. and gave us Princess Cay and NASSAU.

Come on ... Nassau STINKS .  Almost every other cruise out of Charleston goes to Nassau.   Princess Cay and Key West would have been fine

everything you want to know ... and more 🙂

https://www.mahoganybaycc.com/Port-Information.aspx

o

17 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

Steak house for sure. 
Eat on the ship before going ashore. Food is very expensive as is everything on Bermuda.

Do a tour. Beautiful UK island.

Definitely do a tour - the first day if possible. 

We chose one in a van so there wasn't a big crowd.  Being there as long as you will be it's nice to have some background on the history and where "stuff" is. 

Something we've been doing lately on cruises (and Bermuda would be perfect for it) is pre-booking private tours on the various islands.  Most charge by the hour - not by the person so it can actually come out to around the same price as a group tour. 
We choose by checking Trip Advisor and the islands tourism office to find reputable companies and then email them with what we'd desire to see if they can fufill it.  (for example my DH has health issues and can't leave on a tour before noon - so we request a tour for 3 or 4 hours starting around noon. ) even many of the companies that do group tours in cars or suv's will arrange a private tour. 

Last December I emailed the Maitre'd of the Breeze.  We already had late seating but I very politely asked to be at a large table as we eat in the MDR every night and enjoy chatting with a group at dinner.

He moved us to a table for 10 - with one other couple.  The other couple let us know they only ate in the MDR the first night and any "cruise elegant" nights.  The wait staff finally moved us to a 4-top on day 3 and added a single gentleman.  It was ok but it was not the experience we'd have preferred. On several evenings the Maitre'd would look over our way but studiously avoided coming anywhere near our table.

We've sailed a couple of times in a cabin without a couch.  It was awkward not having anywhere to sit except on the bed or on the stool from the desk -  which still left one of us sitting on the bed.

We enjoy room service breakfast and relaxing for awhile before going down to late seating in the MDR.  So ,,, for us ...  not having a couch (or even a love seat) isn't a good choice.

Do they still have live music in the Ocean Plaza at night?  We're pretty laid back and enjoy listening to the music sipping on a nightcap . 🍹

We did the Panama Canal on HAL with calls at Aruba, Curacao, The Canal, and Puerto Limon. We'd love to do it again.  Our day in the Canal was one of our best cruise days ever (well, maybe tying with Alaska😊 )

Normally the first time at a Caribbean port we take a tour of the island so we get all the history and see the tourist/historical highlights.  When we go back we have an idea of where we'd like to spend more time and grab a cab to go there. 

Recently, We're also finding, rather than book excursions, it's about the same price to book a car and driver for the day or half a day depending on the length of the stopover.  We research and book this a few months before the cruise.  We do our research and have them take us to the places we want to see and normally have them take us to an authentic local place for lunch and a local beer.

30 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

  I also don't like the lemonade because of the pulp in it.

Thinking back on our last 3 carnival cruises I don't remember any pulp in any of my lemonade and since I really hate pulp in my drinks I would remember if I had to pass on the lemonade because of pulp 😕

On 5/21/2019 at 11:03 PM, JCinATL said:

As a southerner who drinks freshly-brewed iced tea on a regular basis, I was pleasantly surprised that the machine-generated tea on Carnival was not terrible.

I agree.  I like lots of ice then fill with tea so it's super cold.  DH likes Arnold Palmers - mix ice tea and lemonade. 

We drink the tea every day with lunch and always grab a glass if we're sitting around out on deck at other times.

3 hours ago, tmg698 said:

 

Yes we have had him (Michael Gibson) 2 times on the Sunshine BEST cruise director ever. He is everywhere and full of energy.

Thanks for your reply ... great to know !!

We were on the Breeze in December.  We normally eat breakfast by room service or the Sea Day Brunch in the MDR. 

The second morning DH decided he wanted to try the Lido for breakfast one day just for a change and we were presently surprised.  The crowd was light and barely any lines at the omelet stations. The hot food was hot and the cold food was cold .... and the Bacon Police Lady would let you have all the bacon you desired if you just kept asking (served 2 or 3 slices at a time).

Mahogany Bay disembarks you onto a sidewalk pier.  We had a rental wheelchair so DH could get up there. There is a paved hill sidewalk  to get up to the shopping area.

If your little one won't do the Camp alone I believe the Camp facilities are open for some time each day for little ones and their parent to play with the toys.  Might be worth asking the first day when they have the organizational meeting at the camp facilities.

If you google "Amber Cove Map" it will come back with lots of pics, maps and layouts of the port area.  We were there in December on the Breeze and although we were the only ship there it seemed there was lots of room in the pools and plenty of loungers.  There's also a restaurant/bar (for pay) there at the edge of the pool if you get hungry

We had a leisurely breakfast on the ship then went ashore to enjoy the pool with it's swim-up bar.  We went back to the ship later for a leisurely late lunch of Guys Burgers on the pool deck which was almost empty.