Pre-Cruise Planning Review - Family of 5 (Breeze Eastern Carribean) - our plans

[JFL789]

PRE-CRUISE PLANNING FOR FAMILY OF 5 - BOOKINGS, THINGS TO CONSIDER, AND OTHER STUFF COMPLETED PRIOR TO CRUISE

 

This is pre-cruise review on our planning, bookings, and other stuff for our upcoming Eastern Caribbean Breeze cruise in December 2014. We are not avid cruisers but have done a couple in the past. Hopefully this will help some others with planning and considerations in the future especially for those family of 5s.

 

Trip Criteria:

 

• We are a family of 5 which is unfortunately very difficult to find rooms big enough for two adults and three young teens. We have done cruise and resort vacations before and found generally it is cheaper in the end to book two adjoining rooms; one room booked with one adult and one child and the other with one adult and two children. This gives us a lot more room than one large room which with 5 isn’t that large anyway as well with two rooms we get two bathrooms. Much better especially three teens.

 

• Our children like the cruises most specifically for the food as they love being able to try new and more glamourous foods than you get at resorts and for all of us the cruise gives an opportunity to see new places than staying at one place for entire trip.

 

• Biggest issue for us with the cruises specifically is the price. While you can get good deals on cruises per say, with us living in Canada the big expense is typically flights to the port. With resort packages you get pretty good deal with the flights included as a package. Granted the flights are usually cramped charter planes but still much cheaper. Trying to find flights for a cruise can be pretty expensive “extra” on top when flying from Canada especially for 5 people. Also finding a cruise with a room large enough for 5 is few and far between and again in the end room is not that large and usually more than two rooms.

 

• We also enjoy and want balcony room(s) as we have had them and really enjoy them. As our children are young teens we still want them “with us” so want rooms to be adjoining. Don’t want to be down or across hall from each other; just want to be able to open door between rooms.

 

Selecting Our Trip:

 

• I had saved up a lot of air miles which allowed us to consider a cruise again as this meant a big expense could be covered through points.

 

• Looked at all the cruise lines and wanted good deal, on a larger newer ship, with some good ports for us to go to. We had done a couple Cozumel cruises so wanted something different.

 

• Did some searching and came across the Breeze 6 day Eastern Caribbean (Dec. 14-20) itinerary and it was a pretty good deal. For us with busy kids and work; 6-7 day vacation is about all we can do without too much problems with schedules.

 

• When deciding this Breeze Eastern Caribbean looked like it would be a good fit for us, found there were no available adjoining rooms that could have two in one room and three in the other. Roadblock ….

 

• Called Carnival and they searched and after a couple days they found two adjoining rooms that would accommodate us and with the deal that was on we were able to get those rooms on Deck 9 for same price as lower decks. These were good location almost mid ship and only one deck below the Lido. Only minor issue is rooms are adjoining but the balconys cannot open to each other apparently. No big deal but would have been nice.

 

Booking Cruise:

 

• With no other adjoining balcony room options we were afraid to lose this possibility but weren’t 100% sure this was trip we wanted to do and hadn’t confirmed all of our kids sports and school plans yet. However there was a refundable option for up to 30 days (or something like that) so we booked it and would cancel if it didn’t work out.

 

• Looked at booking the flights but there was disclaimer that using my points I would have to pay $150 per ticket to change or cancel them so for 5 of us this would be $750 Ug! Decided to wait on booking flights till we finalized if going forward with the cruise.

 

• After looking at our schedules and looking at other cruises and resorts it seemed the best of what we wanted (larger, newer ship, good itinerary, adjoining balcony rooms, etc.) for good price. Shortly before refund deadline decided to pay in full and lock it in. Just before doing so checked and the price had dropped even more so call Carnival and they gave us that new lower price. Awesome.

 

Booking Flights:

 

• While I had been monitoring available flights for this cruise using my points it was then a bit of concern that perhaps availability would change on us or we would have to sit here and there, etc. Luckily we booked the flights and got all in one row, direct flights, both ways. Hurray!

 

• We booked our departure flights out 1 day earlier (Dec. 13) as weather in December in Canada (Ontario) can be a real gamble and perhaps flight delays, road closures, etc. Having extra day takes a way some risk if there is a delay as well as gives us some time in departure city a bit more (Miami) and get excited about the cruise without stress of flying same day.

 

Booking Port Hotel:

 

• I had also accumulated a fair amount of IHG rewards (Holiday Inn, InterContinental, etc.) so decided to book a hotel room in Miami using them too. Save a bit more. We did want to stay in the port area so would be close in the morning to go to cruise and in good location to walk around with some good choice of restaurants and shopping.

 

• I originally booked with points the InterContinental Miami as it looked pretty awesome and had great reviews. However after a few days and inquiring about getting a cot in the room as only two beds, found out could not get one / not allowed. We didn’t want to bring a blow up bed or sleeping bag as we have sometimes done for one night as that would be more to pack and deal with. We also thought we didn’t want to ruin the start of our trip having someone sleep on the floor Ha! Cancelled room and re-booked at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami which had two beds and a pull out couch which accommodated our family of 5. This hotel had good reviews and great location near the cruise ships. Couple days later got offered an upgrade for a very small amount to get a Port View room so decided to go for that so we could see the ships and watch ours come in the next morning!

 

Things to Do while in Miami (Port Area):

 

• Did some searching on some things to do in Miami (port area) and found the American Airlines centre was very close so decided to see if basketball game or something was going on that night and … Usher was going to be there that night. My kids enjoy his music so decided it would be early Christmas present for them and got tickets for the concert.

 

• Given we would now be going to concert that night looked at places to eat and thought my kids would really enjoy going to Bubby Gump’s restaurant that was in mall close by our hotel. However when I called to make a reservation they said they don’t do that and usually weekend nights are pretty busy so we would have to come pretty early to not have a problem. Given our flight in wasn’t till later in afternoon figured this might not be best plan. While this would have been fun wanted something we could count on to ensure we got to concert on time.

 

• We have enjoyed P.K. Chang’s restaurants while on some other trips and we don’t have hardly any in Canada so made reservation as there was one fairly close to our hotel so again could walk there and then walk to concert. Family loves those Lettuce Wraps ….

 

Shuttle from Airport:

 

• This may be one area we booked that was a bit more than needed but since we want to get to hotel pretty soon after arriving (later afternoon) to then have time for dinner before the concert, decided to book a dedicated shuttle for our family. We would usually just use local taxis but with 5 of us and lots of luggage we would require a van at least and sometimes you have to wait for those to be available. I decided to look into shuttle services and came across Super Shuttle. After looking at their services further, found there was only a slight difference in price to book a dedicated shuttle opposed to a shared one. This way we don’t have to wait for others to get their luggage, etc. Once were ready we can leave as they will be ready for us. We will just get a cab on return to airport as we have more time after disembarkation.

 

In Room Gifts - Alcohol:

 

• I know the prices of the in-room alcohol are pretty steep for sure but we have done this in the past and it is quite nice to have a bottle or two to have a drink on the balcony now and then. Yes we have snuck in booze before and that was kind of a rush and exciting but we weren’t with the kids. If just the two of us another time maybe we will try again but we don’t want to show them all the tricks too early. I am sure they will figure some of those things out soon enough if not already Ha! We purchased a bottle of rum with some cokes, two bottles of wine, and 6 beers. Yes it wasn’t cheap but we will enjoy it. How did we purchase so much? Well we have two rooms and you can order two bottles per room Ha! The 6 beers count as 1. Another advantage of the two rooms …

 

Booking Excursions:

 

• I have never been one to book excursions with the tour company on any trips we have been on. We typically more enjoy reading reviews on the various boards and finding a smaller local company that will be more focussed on us than a bus load of people. I know there are good parts to booking with Tour Company but again, we enjoy the “local” smaller tour guy who can stop when you want, suggest a local stop here and there along the way, and take you off course a bit, etc. This type of tour is also nice if anyone is not feeling well or had enough you can just head back. That said I did look at Carnival’s excursions for a bit and saw this Faster to the Fun excursion but it was sold out. Didn’t know much about it so searched a bit and thought it would be good if it was available but again it wasn’t.

 

• With our three port stops we decided on the following :

 

Jamaica - wanted to do the Dunns Falls (two of us did this on our honeymoon and thought it would be fun to do with our kids) and some local tour around. Chose Marvyn’s Paradise Tours for this.

 

Grand Turks - will not book a tour for this port as it appears to be pretty small island and not too much to do other than just walk around and beach so we will do that on our own. Looks like a pretty good beach right at the port.

 

Nassau - wanted to do some snorkeling at some point on our trip so this was the plan for this stop as well as a short tour to see the big mega yachts in the harbour, etc. Rest of day we just want to walk around on our own. Chose Blue Hole Watersports - 2 hr excursion which included a snorkel and short boat tour around.

 

• FTTF, reading more about it decided to keep checking back periodically as I had read by some others they sometimes free up some more spots depending on how many platinum cruisers, etc. are on ship. Kept checking every couple days and voila, 43 days before cruise; 15 spots became available. You have to book one per room so with us having two rooms booked two of them. Not sure but hopefully we will get use of them in one of the ways they appear to be beneficial most notably getting on ship faster, luggage in room right away, and faster line for customer service needs. These seem like a nice perks opposed to waiting on deck with carry ons for a while waiting for our room to be ready and then maybe our luggage showing up some time later than that. If all goes well we will get on ship early, unpack, change, etc. and enjoy the day on the ship right away.

 

Misc:

 

• I read water shoes can be rented for Dunn’s River Falls but in more reading found they are recommended at Grand Turks beach too as they it can be a bit rocky? So decided if we were going to pay some money to rent them might as well look at purchasing some for us that we could use at Grand Turk and at home. Found some decent ones on Amazon.ca I think they were about $10 each pair. Can likely get better price from US Amazon but sometimes we Canadians get burned with duties and brokerage fees after the fact so I tend to just order items online within Canada if possible.

 

• Next possible item to consider is a 12x12x12 cooler (regulation size permitted on Cruise). Will search around locally to find a soft cooler bag that we can use to put ice in, etc.

 

 

That’s pretty much all the planning done that I can think needs to be done at this point. We are considering the Cheers package once we arrive but still debating on whether we would get our money’s worth opposed to just paying as we go especially with having some bottles already for our room.

If anyone has anything else for us to consider or any questions on what we did / planned send along.

 

It likely appears we have done a lot of planning perhaps not needed up front, but we like to get as much out of the way as possible so we don’t spend or rather waste precious vacation time trying to figure out what to do and when or how.

 

Can’t wait for 39 more days. Will give another review post cruise.

[uprivermama]

Thanks for posting your planning process. It seems like a lot of details to take care of, but I enjoy the process! We are super experienced cruisers either (our 3rd cruise will be the Breeze this summer) but we are getting pretty comfortable with knowing what works for us and understanding our own personal priorities for an enjoyable trip.

 

Airfare is our biggest hangup, as well. Living in Washington state pretty much equals an expensive, long flight to Florida for the itineraries we want when we can cruise.

 

I hope you'll consider posting a review of your trip when you return! Have fun!

[AngAndBoys]

Sounds like y'all are going to have a great cruise!

[mississauga]

Wow, looks like you have worked very hard to plan a very nice cruise for your family. You will love the Breeze! Matt Mitcham is a great CD! You will love him, especially your teens.

 

May I give you just one suggestion? I know it's not much but $25 can pay for some extra treats or video games for one or more of your teens. Why not cancel one of your FTTF's? The only benefit to having two is that you would all board early together. That's not such a big deal, especially if you get to the port early. Cancel the FTTF for the cabin with the one adult and one child. Those 2 might board just minutes later. Or if that is not so important to the other 3, they can wait for the 2 without FTTF to all board together. You can use the FTTF luggage tags for all of your luggage for 5 and you can also leave all of your carryons in the cabin with FTTF. Hey, the cabin steward may have the other one ready early also as he will see that you are together.

 

Usually only one person would need to go to GS services if needed and there are no tender ports on your itinerary.

 

Hope you did not mind my suggesting this but with a family of 5 to pay for, every little bit helps, IMHO.

 

You may know this already. There is a Margitaville on Grand Turks with a huge pool and a flow rider which your teens may enjoy besides the free beach on GT.

 

Enjoy you cruise! You have planned well!

[JFL789]

Appreciate the suggestion(s) and any others. I will consider canceling one FTTF for reasons you gave. Reasons make sense to me and yes we will likely be at ship early anyway.

 

Any other suggestions or questions, send along.

[JFL789]

I will post a post review of cruise as well and attach a link to this pre-cruise review so others can get the full start to finish if they want it and perhaps can use some of it.

[LPYRCRUISER]

I was going to say, you're a woman after my own heart, but then I realized you could be the husband! You planned your cruise much like I plan mine. I want the most bang for my buck and I research until I drive DH crazy. He does appreciate all the hard work once we're sailing!

I would too, suggest hanging at the beach in Grand Turk. That was one of our all time favorite days on a cruise. It sounds like you've got everything covered. We cruise every leap year with a group of friends and I'm itching to get started planning, even though it's 16 month away. We've been doing it for 20 years and always have such a great time.

We now have 8 grandchildren and would love to do a cruise with the whole family. It's a matter of getting everyone's schedules lined up. The age range is 3-13, so maybe in a couple of years we can work it out.

Have a great time on your trip and enjoy your cruise!

[JFL789]

Yes I am the DH Ha! We both have our strong suits. I am good at or rather like to plan the family trips, vehicle repairs, etc. which is pretty easy compared to the daily / hourly planning DW does. That's why I like to ensure when she (we) have vacation she can just enjoy it without having to do more planning.

[mississauga]

Appreciate the suggestion(s) and any others. I will consider canceling one FTTF for reasons you gave. Reasons make sense to me and yes we will likely be at ship early anyway.

 

Any other suggestions or questions, send along.

 

....and I just noticed I made a typo.... :eek: It's saving $50, not $25...lol

[uprivermama]

Yes I am the DH Ha! We both have our strong suits. I am good at or rather like to plan the family trips, vehicle repairs, etc. which is pretty easy compared to the daily / hourly planning DW does. That's why I like to ensure when she (we) have vacation she can just enjoy it without having to do more planning.

 

This is a very sweet sentiment! I am the DW in our scenario, but I tend to do the "extreme planning". DH made a statement about wanting to surprise me someday, and doing all the planning for a cruise himself without any input from me. I told him not to. :D I love him, and his thoughtfulness, but the process of planning the cruise is actually part of the fun for me, plus it makes me feel more "secure" knowing I have all the details ironed out. Different strokes for different folks!

[twoinlove]

I loved your Pre-Cruise Planning Review :D. My family of 5 also from Ontario,Canada will be on the Breeze the same time you are. We are also cruising with our two Best Friends. This will be our first cruise and am counting down the days....:)

Ellen

[springs741]

We now have 8 grandchildren and would love to do a cruise with the whole family. It's a matter of getting everyone's schedules lined up. The age range is 3-13, so maybe in a couple of years we can work it out.

Have a great time on your trip and enjoy your cruise!

 

LPYRCRUISER, If I may, do it sooner rather than in a couple of years. Trust me it get more difficult as the our girls get older. This year we have a senior in high school, a junior in college and the first born is married with two children and in graduate school. Between Husband, 3 daughters, 2 grandchildren and 1 son in law we have to plan very very carefully to get all the stars to align. My dear Mom will also join us. She is the only one that we don't have to work around a schedule. But we have to book early to get her a handicap stateroom and ours next door or across from each other.

[fteofbeary]

This will be our first cruise and am counting down the days.

[Drazil65]

OP: Love the way you think and do!!! I am the avid researcher and doer in our family (DW). Research in the wee hours of early morning (very early riser), grab my cup of coffee and have a sweet hour to hour and a half to just peruse the web and make my notes.

 

I lay it all our on paper first then do my spreadsheet as plans come together. We are fortunate enough to live within driving distance to Florida so makes it much easier for us but school schedules, band practice and concerts and work for both of us can be crazy so I feel your pain there.

 

I also keep all our of travels in separate folders filed away (print everything out at end so have a great recap with dates, numbers, plans, amounts etc) as I love to have a hardcopy on hand to grab if I need to take with me or show someone something on the fly. Of course I keep same file on computer to refer back to as well.

 

The planning for me is at least 50% of the fun of a vacation, love to watch for deals and be ready to pounce once I find the "right" one, sort of a game I guess. Yes, it all also feeds into my control issues :rolleyes: but better to control what you can so you can relax and enjoy stress free the rest of it right?

 

You did an awesome job planning out every step of precruise and your kids will love the concert (you are brave making plans for something that big the night before) and they will love your excursions as well.

 

Have a blast on your cruise and I hope all goes well with the schedule, cannot wait to read the review after the fact.....:)

Edited November 6, 2014 by Drazil65

[afergvip]

I must say I loved your pre-planning cruise as well. We will be on the Breeze in January and I too spend lots of hours pre-planning everything. I can't wait to see your post review/photos and how the tours went. Our itinerary is almost the same. We go to Ocho Rios, Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

[Sauer-kraut]

As for Grand Turk, I don't think water shoes are necessary. Its a very sandy beach and if you keep walking past Margartiaville and follow the shore a bit and get away from the crowds there are no rocks whatsoever. That was my favorite stop on the cruise a couple of years ago.

[Kim_KS]

Great post - thanks for sharing! Have a great trip!

[dltvermont]

Loved the detailed planning. I am the same way, I want everything and every detail all set well in advance. My wife and I took our first ever cruise last May and this April will be taking our 3 kids and grandson on their first ever cruise. It will be on the Breeze as well. We are all extremely excited!

[Engineerstar]

We are scheduled to be on the Breeze July 2015. Several people on our Roll Call are "investigating" the best place to stay in Miami. The Holiday Inn is a possibility. We would love to have a window view of harbor. It has some good reviews and some not so good reviews. We would be MOST GRATEFUL if you could give us the "skinny" after you stay there!

[JFL789]

Sure will provide some details about Holiday Inn when trip is completed. As I mentioned originally we booked InterContinental as it seemed to look really nice however it didn't suit out party size. What is the criteria you are looking for? Price, Rating, Features, location, ?

[kimmimom]

PRE-CRUISE PLANNING FOR FAMILY OF 5 - BOOKINGS, THINGS TO CONSIDER, AND OTHER STUFF COMPLETED PRIOR TO CRUISE

 

This is pre-cruise review on our planning, bookings, and other stuff for our upcoming Eastern Caribbean Breeze cruise in December 2014. We are not avid cruisers but have done a couple in the past. Hopefully this will help some others with planning and considerations in the future especially for those family of 5s.

 

Trip Criteria:

 

• We are a family of 5 which is unfortunately very difficult to find rooms big enough for two adults and three young teens. We have done cruise and resort vacations before and found generally it is cheaper in the end to book two adjoining rooms; one room booked with one adult and one child and the other with one adult and two children. This gives us a lot more room than one large room which with 5 isn’t that large anyway as well with two rooms we get two bathrooms. Much better especially three teens.

 

• Our children like the cruises most specifically for the food as they love being able to try new and more glamourous foods than you get at resorts and for all of us the cruise gives an opportunity to see new places than staying at one place for entire trip.

 

• Biggest issue for us with the cruises specifically is the price. While you can get good deals on cruises per say, with us living in Canada the big expense is typically flights to the port. With resort packages you get pretty good deal with the flights included as a package. Granted the flights are usually cramped charter planes but still much cheaper. Trying to find flights for a cruise can be pretty expensive “extra” on top when flying from Canada especially for 5 people. Also finding a cruise with a room large enough for 5 is few and far between and again in the end room is not that large and usually more than two rooms.

 

• We also enjoy and want balcony room(s) as we have had them and really enjoy them. As our children are young teens we still want them “with us” so want rooms to be adjoining. Don’t want to be down or across hall from each other; just want to be able to open door between rooms.

 

Selecting Our Trip:

 

• I had saved up a lot of air miles which allowed us to consider a cruise again as this meant a big expense could be covered through points.

 

• Looked at all the cruise lines and wanted good deal, on a larger newer ship, with some good ports for us to go to. We had done a couple Cozumel cruises so wanted something different.

 

• Did some searching and came across the Breeze 6 day Eastern Caribbean (Dec. 14-20) itinerary and it was a pretty good deal. For us with busy kids and work; 6-7 day vacation is about all we can do without too much problems with schedules.

 

• When deciding this Breeze Eastern Caribbean looked like it would be a good fit for us, found there were no available adjoining rooms that could have two in one room and three in the other. Roadblock ….

 

• Called Carnival and they searched and after a couple days they found two adjoining rooms that would accommodate us and with the deal that was on we were able to get those rooms on Deck 9 for same price as lower decks. These were good location almost mid ship and only one deck below the Lido. Only minor issue is rooms are adjoining but the balconys cannot open to each other apparently. No big deal but would have been nice.

 

Booking Cruise:

 

• With no other adjoining balcony room options we were afraid to lose this possibility but weren’t 100% sure this was trip we wanted to do and hadn’t confirmed all of our kids sports and school plans yet. However there was a refundable option for up to 30 days (or something like that) so we booked it and would cancel if it didn’t work out.

 

• Looked at booking the flights but there was disclaimer that using my points I would have to pay $150 per ticket to change or cancel them so for 5 of us this would be $750 Ug! Decided to wait on booking flights till we finalized if going forward with the cruise.

 

• After looking at our schedules and looking at other cruises and resorts it seemed the best of what we wanted (larger, newer ship, good itinerary, adjoining balcony rooms, etc.) for good price. Shortly before refund deadline decided to pay in full and lock it in. Just before doing so checked and the price had dropped even more so call Carnival and they gave us that new lower price. Awesome.

 

Booking Flights:

 

• While I had been monitoring available flights for this cruise using my points it was then a bit of concern that perhaps availability would change on us or we would have to sit here and there, etc. Luckily we booked the flights and got all in one row, direct flights, both ways. Hurray!

 

• We booked our departure flights out 1 day earlier (Dec. 13) as weather in December in Canada (Ontario) can be a real gamble and perhaps flight delays, road closures, etc. Having extra day takes a way some risk if there is a delay as well as gives us some time in departure city a bit more (Miami) and get excited about the cruise without stress of flying same day.

 

Booking Port Hotel:

 

• I had also accumulated a fair amount of IHG rewards (Holiday Inn, InterContinental, etc.) so decided to book a hotel room in Miami using them too. Save a bit more. We did want to stay in the port area so would be close in the morning to go to cruise and in good location to walk around with some good choice of restaurants and shopping.

 

• I originally booked with points the InterContinental Miami as it looked pretty awesome and had great reviews. However after a few days and inquiring about getting a cot in the room as only two beds, found out could not get one / not allowed. We didn’t want to bring a blow up bed or sleeping bag as we have sometimes done for one night as that would be more to pack and deal with. We also thought we didn’t want to ruin the start of our trip having someone sleep on the floor Ha! Cancelled room and re-booked at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami which had two beds and a pull out couch which accommodated our family of 5. This hotel had good reviews and great location near the cruise ships. Couple days later got offered an upgrade for a very small amount to get a Port View room so decided to go for that so we could see the ships and watch ours come in the next morning!

 

Things to Do while in Miami (Port Area):

 

• Did some searching on some things to do in Miami (port area) and found the American Airlines centre was very close so decided to see if basketball game or something was going on that night and … Usher was going to be there that night. My kids enjoy his music so decided it would be early Christmas present for them and got tickets for the concert.

 

• Given we would now be going to concert that night looked at places to eat and thought my kids would really enjoy going to Bubby Gump’s restaurant that was in mall close by our hotel. However when I called to make a reservation they said they don’t do that and usually weekend nights are pretty busy so we would have to come pretty early to not have a problem. Given our flight in wasn’t till later in afternoon figured this might not be best plan. While this would have been fun wanted something we could count on to ensure we got to concert on time.

 

• We have enjoyed P.K. Chang’s restaurants while on some other trips and we don’t have hardly any in Canada so made reservation as there was one fairly close to our hotel so again could walk there and then walk to concert. Family loves those Lettuce Wraps ….

 

Shuttle from Airport:

 

• This may be one area we booked that was a bit more than needed but since we want to get to hotel pretty soon after arriving (later afternoon) to then have time for dinner before the concert, decided to book a dedicated shuttle for our family. We would usually just use local taxis but with 5 of us and lots of luggage we would require a van at least and sometimes you have to wait for those to be available. I decided to look into shuttle services and came across Super Shuttle. After looking at their services further, found there was only a slight difference in price to book a dedicated shuttle opposed to a shared one. This way we don’t have to wait for others to get their luggage, etc. Once were ready we can leave as they will be ready for us. We will just get a cab on return to airport as we have more time after disembarkation.

 

In Room Gifts - Alcohol:

 

• I know the prices of the in-room alcohol are pretty steep for sure but we have done this in the past and it is quite nice to have a bottle or two to have a drink on the balcony now and then. Yes we have snuck in booze before and that was kind of a rush and exciting but we weren’t with the kids. If just the two of us another time maybe we will try again but we don’t want to show them all the tricks too early. I am sure they will figure some of those things out soon enough if not already Ha! We purchased a bottle of rum with some cokes, two bottles of wine, and 6 beers. Yes it wasn’t cheap but we will enjoy it. How did we purchase so much? Well we have two rooms and you can order two bottles per room Ha! The 6 beers count as 1. Another advantage of the two rooms …

 

Booking Excursions:

 

• I have never been one to book excursions with the tour company on any trips we have been on. We typically more enjoy reading reviews on the various boards and finding a smaller local company that will be more focussed on us than a bus load of people. I know there are good parts to booking with Tour Company but again, we enjoy the “local” smaller tour guy who can stop when you want, suggest a local stop here and there along the way, and take you off course a bit, etc. This type of tour is also nice if anyone is not feeling well or had enough you can just head back. That said I did look at Carnival’s excursions for a bit and saw this Faster to the Fun excursion but it was sold out. Didn’t know much about it so searched a bit and thought it would be good if it was available but again it wasn’t.

 

• With our three port stops we decided on the following :

 

Jamaica - wanted to do the Dunns Falls (two of us did this on our honeymoon and thought it would be fun to do with our kids) and some local tour around. Chose Marvyn’s Paradise Tours for this.

 

Grand Turks - will not book a tour for this port as it appears to be pretty small island and not too much to do other than just walk around and beach so we will do that on our own. Looks like a pretty good beach right at the port.

 

Nassau - wanted to do some snorkeling at some point on our trip so this was the plan for this stop as well as a short tour to see the big mega yachts in the harbour, etc. Rest of day we just want to walk around on our own. Chose Blue Hole Watersports - 2 hr excursion which included a snorkel and short boat tour around.

 

• FTTF, reading more about it decided to keep checking back periodically as I had read by some others they sometimes free up some more spots depending on how many platinum cruisers, etc. are on ship. Kept checking every couple days and voila, 43 days before cruise; 15 spots became available. You have to book one per room so with us having two rooms booked two of them. Not sure but hopefully we will get use of them in one of the ways they appear to be beneficial most notably getting on ship faster, luggage in room right away, and faster line for customer service needs. These seem like a nice perks opposed to waiting on deck with carry ons for a while waiting for our room to be ready and then maybe our luggage showing up some time later than that. If all goes well we will get on ship early, unpack, change, etc. and enjoy the day on the ship right away.

 

Misc:

 

• I read water shoes can be rented for Dunn’s River Falls but in more reading found they are recommended at Grand Turks beach too as they it can be a bit rocky? So decided if we were going to pay some money to rent them might as well look at purchasing some for us that we could use at Grand Turk and at home. Found some decent ones on Amazon.ca I think they were about $10 each pair. Can likely get better price from US Amazon but sometimes we Canadians get burned with duties and brokerage fees after the fact so I tend to just order items online within Canada if possible.

 

• Next possible item to consider is a 12x12x12 cooler (regulation size permitted on Cruise). Will search around locally to find a soft cooler bag that we can use to put ice in, etc.

 

 

That’s pretty much all the planning done that I can think needs to be done at this point. We are considering the Cheers package once we arrive but still debating on whether we would get our money’s worth opposed to just paying as we go especially with having some bottles already for our room.

If anyone has anything else for us to consider or any questions on what we did / planned send along.

 

It likely appears we have done a lot of planning perhaps not needed up front, but we like to get as much out of the way as possible so we don’t spend or rather waste precious vacation time trying to figure out what to do and when or how.

 

Can’t wait for 39 more days. Will give another review post cruise.

 

ordered alcohol cost, but you might be able to do cheers for one of you (since only 1 adult in each cabin) and share those 15 drinks a day. Might be similar in cost (depending on how much your wine bottles were) or allow more variety of drinks.

[trixiegal]

Great stuff! I'm also a meticulous travel planner and I love researching before a land or cruise vacation. Sometimes a cruise feels like several vacations in one because of all the different ports, including pre-cruise and post-cruise days, to plan activities. On a side note, I've seen Usher in concert many moons ago and he was amazing but kind of sexually explicit. I know he's changed his image a lot because of The Voice but just be prepared for it to possibly be a tiny bit awkward with your teens. Miami is a racy town and I'm sure he will be pandering to the ladies. Lol

 

Have an awesome cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Engineerstar]

Hello, Just curious about the price, cleanliness, food choices nearby and transportation to Port. Would love to know as much as possible about transportation to and from port.

 

Thank you!!!

[JFL789]

Engineerstar,

 

We used Super Shuttle going from airport to hotel. It was I believe around $75 for 7 of us and we got our own large van. So roughly $10/pp however the benefit in my mind is same price to take shuttle with cruise line I think but you have to wait for many to get their luggage and bus to fill up, etc. This way when we were ready we left.

 

Check out my Breeze review after our trip as we found a good Shuttle Service (K&N) and this lady was great. I think it was about $5/pp from hotel to cruise ship but she was so nice and played great music, etc.

 

We ended up calling her on our return back and she shuttled 7 of us to South Beach for a while, kept our luggage, came back and got us, and then took us to airport.

 

Hope that helps.

 

As for prices for restaurants thats pretty hard to do as everyone has their own taste and budget of what they are looking for.

 

Search "google" Restaurants in Port Of Miami and you will find lots.

 

We went to PF Changs but a lot seem to go to Bubba Gumps for that experience.

[cruisecraze96]

Given we would now be going to concert that night looked at places to eat and thought my kids would really enjoy going to Bubby Gump’s restaurant that was in mall close by our hotel. However when I called to make a reservation they said they don’t do that and usually weekend nights are pretty busy so we would have to come pretty early to not have a problem. Given our flight in wasn’t till later in afternoon figured this might not be best plan. While this would have been fun wanted something we could count on to ensure we got to concert on time.

 

For others that think about Bubba Gump's if you are a Landry's member you get priority seating. I always forget about that but we have gone to the one in Orlando before and had a hour wait and was seated within 5 minutes because of our card.