KatPem

I think pretzels and chips available in the deli and late night food area would be great. More fruit would be great as well.

We usually bring some Pringles, twizzlers, skittles and pretzels. Sometimes I just want something salty or sweet. We aren't adventurous eaters and very budget conscious so we tend to eat breakfast in the morning and take a couple snacks for on shore and then eat dinner once back on board

My husband fell on the lido deck, inside while walking thru the buffet area to get pizza about 2:30am. I wasn't there, he says it was like Charlie Brown. This was day 2/3. They were mopping so floors were wet and no signs were posted where he fell. as soon as it happened, the staff immediately called medical and they came with a wheelchair and took him down to medical to treat him. He was miserable he rest of the trip and once we got back home. They diagnosed him with a muscle bruised but additional X-rays at home showed a broken rib. They did call several times to check on him, gave him pain meds, etc, saw him twice more due to the pain. Thankfully he is all healed now but he was miserable for a pipe of weeks to the point we were sure he would be able to do his job. We communicated with carnival via email in case that happened but he pushed thru the pain.

I don't have a huge problem with really low music from time to time but your idea of low and mine may be different. I can say our neighbors on the last cruise, our first with a balcony, would put their music on not horribly loud but loud enough that it felt like I was the one playing it......and then they would proceed to go in and out of their cabin and leave it playing. I like to listen to the breeze and the water. I also spend a lot of my time reading on my balcony. With four kids, I can tune out a low noise but I was glad our family had another balcony (2cabins..other on the other side of ship) cause they were very annoying. As long as you are polite and either turn it down low, low or say something to your neighbors if they do come out...ask if it's too loud, then go for it...just turn it off if you aren't on the balcony, even if just for a few minutes.

Party of two on conquest in 11/13, we never waited longer than 5 minutes but we felt like it took longer for the meal than when we had set time dining. We also didn't feel it was as personalized since we didn't always get the same servers.

On St. Kitts there is actually decent snorkeling very close to shore in the vicinity of the Shipwreck Bar on South Friars beach, pretty easy to reach by cab. There are some other spots a little farther from town, as well.

I agree with this if you are looking for something you can get to from the shore. We got chairs at Carambola Beach Club and were pleasantly surprised at the snorkeling that ran parallel to the shore between Carambola and Shipwreck....there are wild monkey's at the end behind Shipwreck too that your kids will love. It was $4pp cab to get to Carambola (we chose that over Shipwreck)and $30 for two padded, nice beach loungers and an umbrella for the day. They also have a really nice bathroom and changing area at Carambola.

Haha Bases5, unless my hubby who works 7 days a week and coaches year round has a side job in his nonexistent spare time, that's all he took....I handle all the money and we budget tightly. :)

I know my husband took $300 to gamble on for the week. I require more sleep so I went to bed, he went to play, blackjack mainly. He is very social and by day two, they knew him by name. He was up $50 at that point, getting $10-25 a hand depending on if he was up or not, etc. by day three he was given a drink card. Day four they sent a dessert tray to the room. Day five, still lingering around what dh had brought, they comped us the steakhouse. Last day he ended up losing the $300 and they offered a free inside cruise on a paper under his door. He played a lot of time and hog to know everyone but didn't spend a large amount of money.

If you have FTTF and go straight there you shouldn't have bad lines

They started boarding around noon in April

My husband owns 200 shares and even when we have two cabins (one for us and one for the kids), he is only ever been able to get one credit on the room he is in.

We were allowed to board and then leave again in San Juan. If you have faster to the fun your room should be ready, otherwise they aren't usually ready until 1:30.

What do you like to do? If beaches are your thing, dominica is not the place to go. It is, however, our favorite island. Hiking, rain forests, waterfalls, hot springs?.tons to do. Barbados is great too, if you are into snorkeling or beach time.

Elegant nights the week of April 5th were Tuesday and Friday.

We were on it April 5 and they started boarding about noon

They seem to run it fairly often...

Hi Katpem,

 

Would you mind telling us what you did in Dominica and how much it cost?

 

Thanks.

This time, we did the Hot Springs Excursion booked through Carnival. I am not sure how much it was, my husband booked it but I think it was $60-75 per person. Our plan, once we found out we were going, was to go to the Hot SPrings. I had spent St Lucia ziplining for my kids that included a tarzan swing and a free fall....I kept telling them that I would much rather be at a hot spring and that they had better know how much I love them cause I was doing the free fall and tarzan swing just for them. LOL, so when we heard Dominica, I knew that was where I wanted to go and the kids agreed since I had ziplined. We originally were going to take a taxi to Screw spa but the excursion included the Titou Gorge and we knew the kids would love it so we did the excursion as that needs to be done with a guide.

We were there in Nov 2013 and Screw Spa was closed (on a Monday) so we took a cab to the Emerald Pool and then went to Tia's spa. It was amazing yet very different from Screw Spa. Both are nice, Screw spa is huge, tia's is more intimate.

We were first there in June 2004 and fell in love with the island. We took a cab to Trafalgar falls with another couple we had met on the boat. The cab driver hooked us up with a guide that took us to the pool at the bottom of the falls, we had it to ourselves for about 30 minutes. We then hd the cab driver take us to Champagne Beach where we got snorkel gear and were hooked up with another guide that took us via the ROCKY beach to the snorkeling area. It was amazing! We then had a wacky roller tour through Titou Gorge and they stopped to show us the hot springs that were just natural puddles vs the pools they have now.

Dominica is our favorite island, it is so beautiful. If you go, you must try the fresh fruit, best we have ever had. I think my 11 year old turned into a monkey he ate so many bananas lol Anyway, there are many options of things to do. They have black sand beaches so it isn't the best option for a beach day but the rain forest there is a true rainforest unlike any we have seen elsewhere...so super lush and beautiful!

While Dominica has changed a lot in the last 11 years since our first trip there, it is still not very built up and commercialized...I love that about it!

$150 isnt bad for three people. Old San Juan is beautiful to explore. I am not a history buff but the forts are beautiful with stunning views!

I just checked and the price has increased on the one I purchased the other day to 59.95,glad I got it when I did

I booked FTTF a few days ago on our Aug 30th 7 day cruise and paid $49.95, it automatically gave it to both of us in the cabin so I removed myself before checking out.

I thought it was for the table and wasn't going to order due to that until my husband ordered it. Apple was the first night...it is my all-time favorite Carnival dessert!!!! Peach was the second or third night, my husband liked this even better than the apple. The last night was cherry. They had rhubarb, and blueberry and I think that was it but can't remember their order. Pretty sure they didn't have it on elegant nights.

As for a cab, from what I have read, they have to have a special pass to get into the rainforest, most do not have that and you are still looking at least at 2 hours travel time barring any issues

I would do a ship excursion. It us about 60 minutes each way from old San Juan. There are no car rental places right there, the closest you would gave to call a shuttle both ways...with that short of a stop, I would simply explore old San Juan and the forts, it is very beautiful there!

Were you able to book shore excursions through carnival. Or did you do it yourself

We booked through Carnival...they opened up the shore excursion desk when they announced the change