sallybrown2012

Has anyone done the Costa Maya clear bottom kayak and beach break tour?  We're on the Enchanted Princess at the end of April and are interested in this - it says it is "strenuous"... I haven't found kayaking to be strenuous, unless in a windy or very rough location.  I'd love to hear from anyone who has done kayaking near the port in Costa Maya (I'm assuming it is near the port since the tour implies it won't take long to get there), and to hear what the beach break portion of the excursion is like (is it a nice beach?  rocky or sandy?  amenities?). Thanks!

Thank you so much for this information - it is greatly appreciated!!

Has anyone done the "Hike the Lizard Peninsula" excursion out of Falmouth?  We are signed up for this on our June cruise, figuring it would be a nice break from buildings and museums.  The trip is advertised as 5 hours long, and it looks like we have 3-4 hours of it at the location - seems like a very long time even for a quite scenic area.  I'd love to hear about the experience if anyone has take it.  Thanks.

Hi - if anyone has had this cabin (or similar on the sister ships) I'd appreciate hearing from you.  Is the rest of the cabin the same as other cabins?  Do you have a window looking out the side of the ship?  Thanks.

Is there a better side of the ship for your cabin, when doing a British Isles cruise leaving from Southhampton?  Are you able to see the coastline better on one side than the other?

If anyone has come down with COVID and been quarantined while on the ship, I'm curious as to what the experience was like.  First off, how did you find out you had it - is there testing during the cruise?  Second, were you allowed to stay in your own cabin?  What about quarantining from your cabin-mates?  I wouldn't want to have to leave my balcony cabin, but on the other hand, I don't want my family to catch it - not sure what the answer is there.  Finally, if they moved you to a different cabin, what was it like?  I'm having nightmares of being stuck in an interior closet for a week and going nuts...

Thanks for your thoughts.

We have had balcony cabins many times, but never an aft balcony.  What are the pros and cons compared to a regular (side of the ship) balcony?  Do you get less wind when the ship is moving?  More odor from the exhaust?  Different feeling of movement?  The ship we'll be on is the Breakaway, if that makes a difference.

Thanks to you both!

@MNcruisingcouple Thanks for your suggestions, and yes I'd love suggestions for NOLA. I have been there once but this time would really like to stay in the French Quarter, so my mom (who is 80) can get a taste for it being right there- but she's not a late night partier either (haha).  Similarly if you have tour suggestions for her/us I'd love that as well.  Tacking in a few days to see the city sounds like a wonderful idea.

Thanks to everyone for comments about the Breakaway.  I'm so excited about the chance to cruise again.  Hopefully by November things will be much closer to normal.

Hi!  If anyone can comment on the Norwegian Breakaway I'd appreciate it.

We are considering a cruise out of New Orleans in the fall and there aren't a lot of ships to choose from (one other is the Carnival Glory, if that helps).  We've done a ton of cruising but usually from Fort Lauderdale/Princess, but are hesitant to plan on leaving from FL given current conditions.  Plus my mom has never been to New Orleans and I think she'd really like it!

Hi!  If anyone can comment on the Carnival Glory I'd appreciate it.  I've had varied experiences with Carnival - my most recent was in 2017 on the Triumph (now renovated and re-named) and at the time it was really showing its age.  Even the colors of the interior felt super-dated - I have a memory of a lot of bright orange...

We are considering a cruise out of New Orleans in the fall and there aren't a lot of ships to choose from (one other is the Norwegian Breakaway, if that helps).  We've done a ton of cruising but usually from Fort Lauderdale/Princess, but are hesitant to plan on leaving from FL given current conditions.  Plus my mom has never been to New Orleans and I think she'd really like it!

We're doing a 7 day southern Caribbean cruise in late March - Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  Anyone have any ideas when the formal nights will be?  The sea days are the first and last days with the four ports in the middle.  Thanks!

If we buy a 4-device package, can my husband and I both use it (two devices each) or do they have some way of making sure all 4 devices belong to the same person?  (We'll be on the Sky Princess, Medallion, if that makes any difference).  If anyone has experienced this please let me know - thank you!

We depart from NJ at the end of December, with two at sea days before reaching Florida - it will clearly be cold for those two sea days, and probably not sweltering even when we get to Florida and beyond.  Do people tend to wear winter formal clothes/dinner outfits when it is still cold out, or do they just go right to cruise/Caribbean/resort wear?  I'm having trouble packing!

We depart from NJ at the end of December, with two at sea days before reaching Florida - it will clearly be cold for those two sea days, and probably not sweltering even when we get to Florida and beyond.  Do people tend to wear winter formal clothes/dinner outfits when it is still cold out, or do they just go right to cruise/Caribbean/resort wear?  I'm having trouble packing!

Has anyone done the Coco Cay excursion where you swim with the pigs?  Is this actually enjoyable, or is it kind of scary (I'm not sure that the pigs would be interested in swimming with us - are they friendly?) 

What has your experience been with Coco Cay in the winter?  We'll be there at the end of December.  Has anyone had the ship have to skip Coco Cay because of winter weather?  Or is it just cool there?  Do people still swim?  Many thanks for your thoughts.

Also curious - trying to decide if there will be enough to occupy us, especially if it isn't particularly warm out.  Anyone know if the kayaks, etc. are included?

We had a great time there.  We didn't rent anything extra, there were tons and tons of loungers.  If you want a quieter area, go to the right when you get to the beach.  There is another food service area there, and some food trucks (included), and at least one more bar.  It's lovely, a perfect beach day.

Our cruise is Christmas week - so likely very popular for specialty dining...

Oh, that's very clever - book and prepay the one you must have, and then buy the plan, then revise it all when you get there!  Thanks for this tip!

There are a number of resorts on Nassau that offer day passes - has anyone been to Breezes?  Do you know if the use of boats/paddleboards, etc. is included?  It's hard to tell from the website.  How was the food?  If you've been to any of the resorts on Nassau please let me know how you liked it.  Thanks!

It's tempting - if it was just me and my husband I'd probably go for it, but with our (adult) kids along too, one of which has specific wishes for her birthday, we will probably just reserve a few nights of specialty dining, to avoid the uncertainty of having to wait until we're on board to make reservations (although honestly they could have sucked me in if when I started to buy it, there was a better explanation of how it worked, and the ability to select a first night dining time that would work for us - since we're waking up at 4 am to travel to the ship that day, we really would rather not wait until 8 for dinner).  Thanks!

I don't have an answer, but would love to hear what people have to say - we'll be on the Anthem over Hanukkah.  I think a battery powered menorah is our best bet.  Definitely no candles.

Hi!  We haven't been on Royal Caribbean in more than 20 years, so we're out of practice.  I saw the promotion for a deal on unlimited dining, but the package confuses me.

1.  On the first night, it says they will hold a "courtesy" reservation for you, but when I tried to secure this, it gave me only two times (something like 8 and 8:30 pm) and didn't tell me what restaurant we'd be at.  Do we get a choice?

2.  Is it the case that you can't book your other nights of dining until you get on the ship?  How, then, can you plan your show times and other plans, if you don't know what time you'll be dining?

3.  Is it possible to make sure you have a certain restaurant on a certain day?  How likely are you to be able to do this?  My daughter's birthday is during the cruise and she wants to go to Wonderland on her birthday.

What has your experience been with this - any luck getting what you want?  Are we better off just picking a few and doing the reservations in advance?

Many thanks for your input (and we're on Anthem, if that matters).