lilchief27

squierjosh you can definitely do that. It just may take longer than you expect to get on & off the ship. Also consider "holding your place" on the beach maybe difficult too. We ate a big breakfast, got off the ship early & carried a few snacks with us (protein bars, etc) We really like this port for an easy beach day!

On 9/15/2019 at 5:23 PM, AlohaLivin said:

Hi - I will send one to the address above. But there should also be an email from google at the lorisotheremail (gmail one) and under the google maps when you sign in the account it should show up as under maps "shared" with you.

I got it. thanks :)

Thanks HangryGirl. I really wondered if it was possible to just go under the pier. When we were in GT last October there was no activity going on in / around that industrial pier. We set up for the day right in front of Jack's Shack so the pier was close by but there was a big STOP sign on the beach. No stop signs in the water though :)

21 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

Hi! I tried to send it to the second email address, but it said that one isn't attached to a google account. But the first email address it did accept before when I mailed it. I resent it just now when I sent one to @fllighthouse  to make sure you receive it. If you still have problems let me know and I will try to help you figure out what the problem might be 

The 2nd email address is not attached to a google account. Try kcrldr at gmail dot com. Thank you. 

On 9/5/2019 at 2:25 PM, lilchief27 said:

Greetings! Could you send my a copy of your tour? 

lorisotheremail at gmail 

 

Thanks! 

Silly me entered the wrong @ email server. 

It should be lorisotheremail at netzero.com

Greetings! Could you send my a copy of your tour? 

lorisotheremail at gmail 

Thanks! 

As a part of the Carnival Breeze 10/5 sailing, we will be in Amber Cove on Mon, Oct 7 and Grand Turk on Thu, Oct 10.  There are 2 places at these ports that have really piqued my interest. 

1) Amber Cove:

If you are on Google Maps there is an overlook called Mirador Senator Puerto Plata. Google Maps says it is only a 10 min walk from the cruise port, which I believe is a bit underestimated. There seems to be a walking path that runs along the shoreline, as seen in several photos. Has anyone walked to this overlook? Google map Amber cove cruise terminal to Mirador Senator Puerto Plata I just want to be certain we can walk there safely, 

2) Grand Turk:

Can you walk down the beach from the cruise terminal area to the Mega One Triton shipwreck? I have read that it will be removed soon & we'd like to walk /swim around it. No, we will not get too close nor will we attempt to climb on it. It looks like a portion of the beach is blocked by an industrial pier/area. So if we cannot walk straight down the shore line, is the "detour" on the shore/road easy to do? 

Thank you!

Did you not like the Carnival pool area? We are thinking about doing this for our Oct 5 cruise. We have done the waterfalls and are not really interested in other excursions at this time. We will have a beach day at Grand Turk so we were looking forward to checking out the Zipline at the pool area. 

Was there a way to walk to this beach without a taxi?

We signed up for the 27 waterfalls in October 2018. On the day of our excursion, because of low rainfall, our 27 waterfalls was reduced to 12 and we received a refund of the difference within 24 of our tour date. The guides were great, the ride to the Waterfalls (which is a part of a National Park) was on a "Greyhound" type bus. There are lockers for rent at the start/end point and bathrooms were clean and basic. The lunch served was fine and filling. The hike was steep but so worth it. They do take rest breaks and provide water a long the way. The guides were good & entertaining on the ride there & back. If you chicken out of the highest jump, like I did, no biggie. They will show you how to climb down to get with the rest of the group. I did the next highest jump though. We didn't pay for a photographer. I do wish I had pictures of my hubby & son jumping or me being a chicken. Bring your own go-pro or waterproof camera. Just know you could lose it jumping off! Someone in our group lost their waterproof camera & it was tied to their life vest. Another group coming up behind us found it & returned it to them.

It was an exciting tour and we highly recommend it to others when they mention Amber Cove.

1 hour ago, maryann ns said:

The cruise pavilion in Halifax has lots of little shops and there are more along the waterfront. For locally made items check out Jennifers at the cruise pavilion but also a bigger shop on Spring Garden Road. 

Thank you! That store looks great!

@BAYA I like the boat from Saint John's NB! We cruised to Roatan one fall and purchased fish ornaments from The Rusty Fish. The store has a neat story & the fish were made from recycled metal. They do not look Christmas-y at all but the memories are there. 

And unique area-specific t-shirts are always fun!

@cruiserdru We think alike! I am really picky about my ornaments. I have done the key chain ornament several times! I even used a girls' hair clip of 4 little Muñeca quitapena (worry dolls) from Mexico because I wanted something authentic & memorable from our trip. 

Thanks @Jan_In_Maine I will check them out! 

@Mitch2016Magnets are neat - my MiL would buy us flag ones when she traveled. I think of her every time I look at them. My college daughter & teen son like stickers and stick them to their water bottles & laptops. Fun memories. 

Thanks for your ideas & replies!

Hubby & I will be on RC Adventure of the Seas July 6, ports Bar Harbor, ME, Halifax & Saint John, NB. I usually collect Christmas ornaments. I would love to know other items people have enjoyed as mementos of their cruise.

Also, if you are an Christmas ornament collector like me, share store or locations to shop!

Thank you!

8 hours ago, chefestelle said:

Halifax is entirely walkable. Your ship will dock right next to the Canadian Immigration Museum which is worth popping in to see.  Next to it is a public market.  From there, you can walk along the waterfront for shops and sights. The climb to the citadel is do-able for the mobile and modestly fit.  It has spectacular views of the city. There is also a maritime museum where you can see Titanic artifacts, which I'm told was pretty good. If you like fishing villages and lighthouses, Peggy's Cove is pretty spectacular.  Halifax is a really wonderful place. You'll enjoy doing this on foot. 

As for Bar Harbor, I was just looking at another thread about Acadia Park. There were some options for seeing the park discussed on that thread.   I have not been to St. John NB but I have been to Bay of Fundy and I can say that it is quite spectacular at low tide! High tide I'm thinking is much less impressive unless you have also seen low tide.

Peggy's Cove is not walkable from the Halifax port. It will require some sort of transportation to get there. 

Really interested in seeing the lighthouse. Are you able to go in it or get up close to it? Is it easy to get to?

Karib, Wet Money, MaxKart or Grand Turk Adventures are the vendors. Not sure if Nathan's is still in business or not.

Does anyone know a general cost to rent a golf cart?

The BBQ place is yummy! We were on the boat by noon & the wait was not bad at all for most lines. We love the deli & pizza place. Yes, Guys was probably the longest line, so we just waited until the next day to sample a delish burger.

We, too, were on the Liberty this week. We really liked the ship a lot. Our cabin was a good size, seemed a bit larger than Elation & Ecstasy cabins and nice decor. We really enjoyed the food offerings on the lido deck, the buffet was good, Guys burgers was FABULOUS!, Blue Iguana was DELISH and the BBQ was super tasty!

Entertainment was very enjoyable, all the staff we came in contact with was very polite, pleasant & professional. Overall we had a great cruise, even if the weather didn't cooperate! I'd sail on the Liberty again!

Well, that has me crying on my lunch break. So thrilled that you got a beautiful wedding and Carnival made it happen for you. Keep serving others the way you spent you wedding week and have a beautiful life together.

Hi! I wish I had pictures to liven up for this report. Unfortunately, we only have little videos that my daughter took. While they are interesting to us, they wouldn't be so to anyone else. You have motivated me to continue. I think I'll backtrack chronologically and write about Freeport now.

 

DIY Snorkeling excursion in Freeport - It is possible to save your family a good chunk of change by arranging your own snorkeling excursion in Freeport. It's pretty simple to do since all you're really doing is arranging transportation to a beach with a reputation for great snorkeling and that rents equipment if you need it.

 

Five years ago, my husband and I took the West End eco-tour with Chad4Nature. The full-day excursion included some historic and cultural sightseeing, a nature walk, great snorkeling (including equipment) and a delicious lunch at Deadman's Reef in Paradise Cove. We were picked up and dropped off at the port. Everything about the tour, our tour guide and Deadman's Reef was fabulous, and I would recommend this company to anyone. Our tour guide was professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. (I've read the same about other guides with this company.) The cost was 89.00 per person. (I just looked at the website and I see that the price is now 104.00 per person.) If this description appeals to you, you can stop reading right now and book with Chad4Nature. If you want to go economy style, keep reading.

 

On this trip, we had our kids were with us, and they just wanted to snorkel, so we decided to skip the package tour and just head to Paradise Cove on our own. If you've never arranged your own seat-of-the-pants, walk-off-the-ship-and-see-how-it goes excursion before, you should be prepared for how this plays out. I'm going to try to help you there.

 

Once you walk off the ship and enter the Lucayan Harbor Cruise Facility, there will be plenty of vendors enticing you to book a tour with them. If all you want is round-trip transportation to a beach - which we did- keep walking to toward the taxi stand. I say taxi, but there are mostly vans. There's huge sign with the prices to various popular destinations posted. NOTE: The prices are for the group rate (10 or more). It says so on the sign, but it's easy to miss. It's a couple dollars more per person for smaller parties. If your group is less than 10 people, and you're willing to share a van to get the group rate,the transportation brokers (I don't know what they're really called) at the taxi stand will try to assemble a large enough group if they can.

 

In no time, you will be on your way. If you are sharing your taxi van with others who are not in your personal party, you might have to make a stop along the way to your destination. Your van may also need to make a quick stop to switch drivers or vehicles along the way. There's nothing cagey about this. On various trips, we experienced any of these possibilities. In fact, on this trip, we experienced all three. We left the harbour with one driver but stopped to pick up a different driver. The party of 8 that shared the van with us was dropped off at a different beach on the way to our destination, which was Deadman's Reef. And, we took a different van (unfortunately with no AC) back to the ship.

 

In the event that you have arranged round-trip transporation, which you most likely will have, once you arrive at your destination, your driver will tell you what time he (or she) is coming back and will give you his card. You will pay him at end when he takes you back to the port. I can't speak for all the beaches, but if you're going to Paradise Cove, your driver will probably walk you up to the concession stand where you pay the entry fee. (I think it was 3.00 a person, maybe 5.00.) I'm not sure it's out of courtesy or if the drivers check in with someone there.

 

There, you found your way to the beautiful, clean, and suitably equipped for comfort and all kinds of fun Paradise Cove beach. If you are a family of 4 like us, with your own snorkeling gear, you've committed yourself to spending about 88.00 ( transportation +tip and beach entry fee). Unless you smuggled your food and drink off the ship or picked it up along the way, you can expect to spend another 10.00 per person for lunch. We spent about 40.00 on drinks, burgers and fries, but it was still a good deal less expensive than a group tour.

 

 

Wow! Great information here. We would definitlely do it the DIY way! Thanks!!

I'm glad I struck your funny bone. :) This report is just jinxed. Every time I sit down to update it, something happens. Yesterday, I wrote up what we did in Nassau and my computer hung up. I lost it all.

 

Nassau - Our day in Nassau. ..........

 

Nassau Afternoon

You didn't ask about this since it has nothing to do with having a good time on land, but I'm going to share it anyway. A lot of people say they stay on the ship while it's docked in Nassau. Well, I don't know where on the ship they hang out, but it's not on the Lido deck. After lunch at the buffet, my daughter and I went in search of a hot tub so she could unkink her aching back (sleep/sofa is awfully hard) . We found the hot (or not hot at all) tubs empty and most of the Lido deck pool area pretty much deserted. It stayed that way until about 3:00, when the deck, pool and bar began to slowly fill up.

 

Port Day Spa Special

The other noteworthy thing is that not only did the spa offer the usual discount specials because it was a port day, but later in the afternoon, they announced a further discount on the 75-minute massage package.. The catch was we had to book for that evening. Since the not-so-hot tub didn't do the trick for my daughter's knotty back muscles, I booked us both a massage. We had to miss dinner for our appointments but it was worth it. ;) Since she's only 16, she wasn't allowed to have the hot stone massage, but they let her substitute that part.

 

I'm trying to remember exactly how much the discounted price was in case anyone reading this wants to know. The total for two of us was about 324.00, including two massages, the 15% gratuity, and extra tip for each of our masseuses.

Thank you for the additional information! :)

Thanks Silent Penguin for your review. I truly laughed out loud at your "Fourgrown people sharing a room. One word. Poopourri." Oh my, that is funny & relate-able!

I would love to know what you all did at Nassau. Glad you enjoyed your trip!

Following along - we are on the Liberty Oct 1st.

Hi everyone :)

 

My husband and I just booked a 4 day cruise on the Liberty from 1/7-1/11. We our taking our 5 children varying in ages from 3-19. We usually do Disney but wanted to surprise them with something different. I have cruised on DIS as a teenager but my husband has never cruised. We are booking flights for 1/3 and spending the first 4 nights in FL. I am trying to find the best options for a large family. Should we stay in Orlando and then take the shuttle to PC the morning of the cruise or should we stay in Cocoa Beach taking a shuttle or uber from MCO on the first day? Really confused as to if we should rent a car or can make it by without one. We would like to find a resort that has family suites and free breakfast...with close access to restaurants and things for the kids to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Trying not to spend an arm and a leg prior to the cruise but since its only a 4 day and we live in New England, I am sure we will be craving the sun come January!

 

Meagan:)

My advise isn't about transportation to & from the ports but on the cruise - get those kiddos to the kids clubs (except the 19yo - they can go hang out at the pool) and enjoy some Mom & Dad time on the Serenity Deck! With 5 kids y'all deserve it! ;)

Thanks for the quick review!

A few questions:

Are there paddle boards or kayaks for rent on Princess Cay?

Also want to hear about the Serenity deck?

How was the food in MDR?

on the Liberty Oct 1st - 19 days!