Katrine822

Sailing on 12/17 and just rec'd an email telling us the excursion is cancelled.  Seems to be a trend.

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

geez, maybe, that's all his parents could afford.

Nope.   Know his parents and not the case at all.  When a kid goes out of his way to target others (mine specifically), and in this case purposefully try to ruin Santa for a bus full of mixed grades, I think his parents overspent. 

We took Princess over to the UK - 53,48 and 13 yo son.  Saw the Military Tattoo, private tour of Normandy beaches.... and were so tired at night from all the running during the day, it was nice not to have a flowrider/rock wall and just a movie under the stars or wine/backgammon.  Plus we tacked on 3 days in London.  It was awesome and I'd do it again in a NY minute!

First, most of his gifts were for the cruise.  Flip flops, goggles, you get the drift - might as well have been underwear. He was 10'ish at the time and we spent lots of time at the pool in the summer so he thought the stuff was 'nothing surprising'.  Then we did a scavenger hunt through the house with clues winding up to a HUGE, gaudily wrapped box.  In the box was a big blow up cruise ship and some Helium balloons. When opened, the balloons lifted up a letter from Santa outlining the itinerary and stuff to do in port.  And telling him we were leaving the next day so he better get busy packing.

We thought this was his cusp year of thinking Santa/No Santa and we went over the top to make it special .  Some kid in school was telling him to join the No Santa team.  We told him that kiddos that believe, usually get better gifts.  The John Travolta strut  he had coming off the bus the first day back was epic as Will (Captain of Team No Santa) got legos.  And we got another year of captaining Team Santa 🙂

Didn't see this info on the board but just received an email from Silver Moon.  We've been on the waiting list for the SM2 for months so naturally I thought it was regarding that.  Turns out they have added another sail cat - Silver Moon 3.  It's similar to SM2 and just between SM and SM2 at 53'.  There are no pictures or descriptions on the website but the bookings are up and ready.  Just thought I'd share for all the cat fans out there.

Thanks JB,

We can use points to stay either near Heathrow or SH - so the cost isn't an issue. I am bringing my son (13) on his first trip across the pond and he can be cantankerous if sleep deprived. Coupled with the potential for delays, lost luggage etc... made me think Heathrow might be the most sensible option. We're also staying in London 3 days post cruise, so the night prior is potential damage mitigation in order to start (what I hope to be) a fantastic vacation. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some glaring moving piece. Thanks again :)

We are going to be sailing out of Southampton this summer but flying into Heathrow the day before, arriving around 11:30 am. I would like opinions whether it is best to transfer down to SH when we arrive and stay overnight or stay overnight near Heathrow and transfer down the day of the cruise? Thank you:)

The ship sails from Queensferry at 7pm, on the 9th, too early for a visit to the tattoo.

 

At Greenock, (which is approximately 45 minutes from Glasgow), sailing is delayed until 2 am to cater for those wishing to see the tattoo. It might be possible by train, but a bit nail-biting for my taste. I would suggest getting up a group on the roll call thread and booking a minibus (van).

 

http://www.momentumcoachhire.com/8-16-seater-coaches?gclid=CPCM5Iu2oNACFUo6GwodOTUK4A

Actually our ship docks in Greenock 8/11 and has the delayed 2 am sailing. I'll check the posts referenced - thank you everyone

Hello all,

We are in the process of booking the Princess 8/5 British Isle cruise. After speaking to Princess, it appears the Glasgow excursion to the Tattoo is wait listed already. Has anyone used a private tour to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back to the ship (on time) to go see the Tattoo while in port? Any details you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you:)

We are booked (1st time) on NCL - specifically the Star out of Tampa in Dec. When we booked, we rec'd UBP. Now we get an email indicating that people booking balconies can get not just one, but two benefits. If we could get the Free Specialty Dining on top of the UBP, well... Merry Christmas.

Does NCL retrofit promotions to existing bookings? If so, how? I have an email into the travel agent to check into this but I figured I'd get better info from 'those who have gone before' so to speak. Thanks:)

Ditto on the Biergarten menu - again, seeing mixed reviews as to what they have 'up there'. ;)

Ditto on the service questions - approximate wait times for service, attitude of staff and did NCL run out of things - beer, food etc...

Enjoy your trip - we're going in Dec so interested in your feedback:)

While not a 'disaster' we did feel that our recent NYE cruise on the Carnival Freedom was a bit of a bait and switch. We booked it specifically for the late stay (11:30 pm) in Aruba on NYE. At 11 am that day, an announcement was made that the port was closing at 10pm, we had to be back on board by 8:30 and so sorry, but this was the first the Carnival crew was hearing of it.

So many people were really ticked as many of their evening plans (sunset cruises, dinner etc...) had to be changed or rearranged. Unless you bought the ship's WiFi, you had no way to contact anyone, make changes or look up options until you got off the boat. IMO they should have given free WiFi from the announcement until we got into port in order for guests to mke alternative arrangements.

We went to Coral World NYE 2013. My dh and son did the Sea Trek and I swam with the sea lions. Holy Bejesus what a fantastic time! I swam with Marco - the biggest one there. I recommend going to the presentation prior to your time where they bring out one of the sea lions and the handlers for info and Q&A. I did this and chatted up the handlers - we found out we were all from the midwest and crazy dog freak people. I'm not saying it was due to that but when I asked if I could swim with Franco and try some training movements - not only were my requests honored - I got at least an extra 20 minutes in the water. Utterly fabulous. I'm looking to do it again on our next stop in STT it was that awesome.

These are large animals - no doubt. If you think these are little guys, they aren't. The handler asks at one point if you want a kiss - which of course I did - it was like having the biggest English Bulldog you have ever met plant one on you. Each of the sea lions are rescue - which is what sold me on the excursion - and when you look in their eyes, you just melt.

On the other hand - I've never zip lined so I can't compare. All I know is that my friends who have are completely jealous of my NYE date Marco:)

I was wondering whether or not the Freedom gets any NFL games? Please don't respond with opinions of 'why are you going on a cruise to watch a football game' as I've seen in some of the threads I've searched. I consider it a personal victory to sit down and be able to watch my team play without having to get up and help with homework, clean up spills, move laundry from the washer to the dryer.... you get the drift;)

Hi Abec,

I looked hi and lo with no luck to find anything similar - even private - to fit our time constraints. So we booked a snorkel trip to the stingrays and then plan to go to Jolly to rent some jetskis. Best I could come up with for rays, speed and beach:)

Best of luck - there are other options involving 360 tours, just nothing that included the rays (Creole, Wadadli). The excursion Carnivals uses I believe involved The Excellence Catamaran, but having not gone, I can only go by pictures.

I have called the number for Melia Nassau a handful of times, only to get routed to reservations who cannot answer my questions. I have also emailed, to no avail. We are going to be in Nassau on 1/04/14 and would like to know if the Melia is going to have day passes similar to what the Sheraton offered. If anyone has details (or a working phone number:mad:) I sure would appreciate it if you would share.

We'll be in Antigua on Jan 1 - when, unfortunately, Adventure Antigua isn't running any tours. Does anyone know of another company that does something similar? We're looking to go to Stingray City and didn't want to book via the ship as then we have to figure out logistics for the rest of the day. This tour seemed to cover all the bases and now we need to find a replacement. Any ideas? There are 3 of us - 2 adults and a 9 year old.

Thanks much:)

We are going on the Carnival Freedom which hits Nassau on Jan 4th - along with 3 other ships. They are in from 8-2, 10-7, 12-12 and ours is 1-7. Should we even entertain Atlantis as an option? My 9 year old son would love it but if he gets 3 rides... not so much fun. Is the whole area going to be swarmed with that number of ships? Thanks so much for any advice.