spelican

I got $15.99 one device for an upcoming Voyager of the Seas trip.  It will drop from time to time, but you have to check frequently. (Or get lucky). 

All things considered, I have a feeling NCL wishes the ship captain had waited an hour to get them back on board.  The national media ran hard with this story, and there is just no good way to spin it for NCL.  This seemed a bit different to me than drunken pier runners in Cozumel who can't tell time.  I'm all for policies until they create a damn fool result.

Thanks for the review.  I enjoyed reading it.  

We tip $5 on morning room service. (Coffee and muffins/fruit). 

Sorry, correction: August 2023

I was unable to stream via Starlink in my deck 9 cabin on Voyager of the Seas in August 2003. 

We were on Voyager at the end of August 2023 and our Junior Suite had a coffee maker.  It was an espresso machine that used small pods that were provided. 

39 minutes ago, Cigar King said:

It's not a great card IMO.  I have it and only use it for RCI purchases (2% reward) and then only use the points for "free" cruises.  (they're effectively worth twice the value of the other options)  I am likely to cancel it after I get the points for one more free cruise.  There are better options, and having a card I only use for cruises is just not useful.

 

I agree.  The Royal Caribbean Visa card has the least benefits of any card in our current points arsenal.  

There really is no difference.  Just order the one guest and 4 devices and save the money.  All four people will be able to logon at the same time using the passcode. I’ve never understood why Royal Caribbean sells the plans that way.  

The ship looked great to us in October 2019. Both our balcony cabin on Deck 8 and the public areas were in great shape. 

White Russians.  The Dude abides...

Liberty of the Seas had one on our April 2019 sailing.

I thought I'd share the actual details of this Royal Caribbean excursion that unfortunately I couldn't find online before taking it.

Just for fun, here is the Royal Caribbean description of this excursion:

Depart the cruise ship pier in Falmouth in your air-conditioned coach and enjoy the scenic drive to Montego Bay, passing Great Houses, hotels and golf courses.  Upon arrival at the famous Hip Strip in Montego Bay, browse along the row of shops; shopping for souvenir items. Stop in at Margaritaville to enjoy one of their notable concoctions on your own.  Next, visit Doctor’s Cave Bathing Beach and stroll  the world`s most famous white sand beach; the warm Caribbean waters beckons for a relaxing 3 hours. Let the sand trickle through your toes at the water`s edge, relax, take a swim or have an optional lunch at one of the 3 restaurants located on the beach.
 

We were able to find the loading zone for the bus without any major problems.  Just follow the signs in the cruise village.  It was a long walk to the excursion area, and a bit of a mad house once we arrived to the departure area, but nothing we couldn't handle.  The bus left on schedule at 8:35 AM, but had the strong smell of cigarette smoke throughout it.  After an unremarkable drive of about 35 minutes we were dropped at an awful strip center for a "shopping opportunity".  We stepped over trash exiting the bus, and were directed through a dirty parking lot to a strip mall containing some sort of tourist shop located between a grocery store and an off track/sports betting parlor.  This was not near the Hip Strip or Doctor's Cave Beach as advertised by Royal Caribbean.  The local police car with emergency lights on that pulled into the parking lot while we there was a nice touch that kind of completed the whole crime scene feel of the location.  I don't know what caused the police to come, and I really didn't want to know.  It was a TERRIBLE stop.  Why on earth they would make us burn 45 minutes of valuable beach time on this hell hole of a place is beyond me.  I'm assuming the tour operator gets paid by the store owner to stop there, but it is just an educated guess.

After the 45 minute strip mall from hell stop it was another 10 minutes or so to the drop off point at Doctor's Cave.  We arrived a little after 10:00 AM to the beach club.  The $6 per person admission fee was covered.  It costs $6 per chair and $6 for an umbrella.  The beach club was very clean and pretty.  Chairs and umbrellas were in very good condition.  Food and beverage service wasn't too outrageous. ($5 Red Stripe, $2 bottled water, mixed drinks $7-$9).  The only negative to be aware of is that when arriving with a large group on a bus, there will be a long line waiting to rent umbrellas and chairs.  We were fortunate to helped quickly, but many others waited in a fairly slow moving and lengthy line.  The bus loads up outside the beach club entrance at 1:00 PM sharp for the return trip.

Conclusion:  We'd have been much better arranging our own transportation to Doctor's Cave.  Had I known about the shopping stop far from the Hip Strip and Doctor's Cave I'd have never done this excursion.  We had been led to believe any shopping stop would be within walking distance of the beach club so we could skip it.  This was an absolute waste of time.  We would definitely do Doctor's Cave Beach again, but I would caution to check out the number of ships on the island before committing.  The beach is much smaller than I expected.  On Thursday, April 11, 2019 there was only one cruise ship on the entire island of Jamaica.  I'm not sure this would be a good spot if several ships were around.

Hopefully this review will help others not make the mistake we made.

I can second Cafe Manolin and El Jibarito for outstanding local food.  My wife and I never miss a visit to both on every trip to Old San Juan.

The public bus station (more like a large van) was a short walk from the cruise terminal.  It was very inexpensive, and dropped us off at Darkwood Beach.  I think the most enjoyable part of the ride was singing along with the local passengers to a classic country music CD during the drive.  I'm not sure why that was the musical selection, but the locals on the van seemed to know every word to every song.  Very fun memory of Antigua.

For what it is worth, I've consistently found cruisetimetables.com to be much more accurate.  I'm with Rewind, I like the CruiseTT format better due to it being much more user friendly.  I wish it was more up to date.

We will be in San Juan from 8a-4p on our cruise. I work in management for a major coffee chain, but have never been to a coffee farm/plantation and I know that Puerto Rico has some fantastic local coffees.

 

Has anyone done a coffee tour? Is this something that is doable time-wise for this length of port stay? Do you have any recommendations for a certain farm over another?

Cuatro Sombras in Old San Juan (www.cuatrosombras.com) offers several tastings of locally grown coffees. They do a tasting tour ($12), coffee cupping workshop ($89), and a home brewing class ($75). The Don Ruiz Coffee Shop in Old San Juan (www.donruizstore.com) has a coffee roastery and museum.

Harbor House and Tremont House are the only two hotels close to the cruise terminal. The Tremont House is beautiful. Both hotels are a short stroll to the Strand shops, bars, restaurants, and cruise terminal.

Some of my favorite Strand area bars and restaurants (near cruise terminal):

Bubba's on the Strand and Sharkey's Tavern located a few blocks from the Strand on 25th Street both offer good drinks and live music. Stuttgarden offers German food and a great craft beer selection. Fisherman's Wharf on Harborside Drive has a great Happy Hour food/drink menu served only at the bar Mon-Fri 11 AM-7 PM. ($5-$6 apps, $3 domestics/$4 imports, $4 well drinks). Hubcap Grill on the Strand serves great burgers. Tsunami is a great little tequila bar on the Strand with a lot of drink specials. Brews Brothers on the Strand has good food and craft beer. Huli Huli Hut on 19th Street is a fun place to eat and drink. Murphy's Pub serves good bar food and has a huge selection of beer. Gumbo Bar on Post Office Street has good Louisiana food. Nearby on Post Office Street is the Saltwater Grill. Can get pricey, but also has a very good Sun-Fri Happy Hour on drinks/food from 5 PM - 7 PM at the bar only.

Jimmy's on the Pier (9001 Seawall Blvd) can be fun if you are in the mood to eat out over the water. Average food, but a great view.

Requiring a drive from the Strand area: Farley Girls Cafe (801 Post Office) and Mosquito Cafe (628 14th Street) are both great with delicious menus.

I am pretty familiar with every hole in the wall restaurant and bar on the island. Feel free to ask a question if you need more information. Galveston has a great vibe if you know where to go.