Eastern Caribbean for Newbies

[steppingstonemomma]

Hubby and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary with our first cruise ever! (Actually first vacation ever as we never even had a honeymoon..) So we are total novices.

We are traveling Feb 3 from Baltimore to the Easter Caribbean for 10 days.

I am wondering what to wear. It will be cold when we leave port, but how many days into our cruise will we be wearing summer clothing? I'm just trying to figure how to pack. And what do you all like to wear? Ladies- dresses or shorts? Do people dress in formal wear for the main dining room?

 

We selected open table seating when registering for our cruise because only the 8pm seating was available and I wasn't sure how that works with being in a port for the day. Is this a good idea or are we going to be having long waits before getting dinner each night? And is it possible to even change it at this point? We figured that it'd be better to have flexibility to stay in the port all evening than to feel like we have to come back early just to get dinner... THoughts?

 

AAANNNNDDDD.... what excursions do you recommend? We prefer to see the sights and experience new things (Like snorkling, etc) as opposed to just lying on a beach, but do you have any beaches that we shouldn't miss? We're going to Labadee, San Juan, St Thomas, and St Maartan.

 

Ok that's the main questions I have right now... I guarantee we'll have more shortly! Thanks for any insight!

Tiffany

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Expect the first 2 days and last 2 days of your cruise to be chilly out on the open decks -- depending on the weather -- might even be cold since weather is unpredictable.

During the day time we wear bermudas. In the evening on smart casual nights I wear skirts and tops while DH wears slacks and golf shirts. On Formal or Gala nights -- since I now have to use a rollator, I wear 3/4 long skirts and fancy tops while DH wears either a suit and tie or slacks, jacket and a tie.

You didn't mention which cruise line you are sailing on -- their dress policy could be different than what we wear on HAL.

Check out the Ports of Call at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[steppingstonemomma]

oh sorry! We will be on the Grandeur of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. How do I see which nights will be formal nights? Is that listed somewhere?

[Grandma Dazzles]

You would probably get more responses on the RC board.

 

As a rule cruises usually sail from a port in the late afternoon - rarely do you spend an evening in port; might be different on a 10 day cruise, not sure.

 

RC has two seatings for dinner. Depending on the cruise and ship, early seating is around 6:00 p.m., late/second seating is around 8:00 p.m. There is also My Time Dining. In My Time You can book a different time each night, or show up and be seated. Not sure which you have booked; sounds like second seating.

 

Above applies to main dining room. There also the Windjammer buffet and specialty restaurants.

 

Labadee is RC private location. Pretty much just a beach day, with a buffet served on the beach.

 

Again, check ports of call board and RC board for more excursion information.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Grandma Dazzles

[_beachgirl_]

Check to see if your ship has an excursion available that goes to Trunk Bay Beach (you take a boat over to St. John's) while in St. Thomas. It's beautiful. We snorkelled there and the water is just crystal clear. It was actually one of the very first excursions we ever did and it's still one of my favourites.

[grandmarnnurse]

You would probably get more responses on the RC board.

 

As a rule cruises usually sail from a port in the late afternoon - rarely do you spend an evening in port; might be different on a 10 day cruise, not sure.

 

RC has two seatings for dinner. Depending on the cruise and ship, early seating is around 6:00 p.m., late/second seating is around 8:00 p.m. There is also My Time Dining. In My Time You can book a different time each night, or show up and be seated. Not sure which you have booked; sounds like second seating.

 

Above applies to main dining room. There also the Windjammer buffet and specialty restaurants.

 

Labadee is RC private location. Pretty much just a beach day, with a buffet served on the beach.

 

Again, check ports of call board and RC board for more excursion information.

 

I have to agree with this. Usually you have to be back on ship by a certain time, because the ship will be leaving the port. I suggest choosing the 8pm sitting. That gives you time to get back, get cleaned up, maybe have time to rest a bit, and before dinner cocktails. On our last cruise, people who chose My Time Dining were always lined up waiting for a table, so we never have chosen that option. On our last cruise, we cruised with family members and grandchildren and chose the early sitting, which I did not like at all! I prefer later. There is also specialty restaurants, at an additional cost, if you choose. We never have in all the years cruising! There is so much complimentary food venues that you paid for with your fare--why would anyone choose to pay more? But that is just my opinion. A lot of people prefer the specialty restaurants, saying the food quality is better. I have never had a bad meal in the dining room. You only need to dress formal on the 2 formal nights during your cruise. The rest is smart casual.

[cb at sea]

The 1st "Formal" night is always night 2...always. The last will be either night 5 or 6....formal nights are never on boarding day or the last evening.

 

With My Time Dining, you can go whenever you want....you don't need reservations...just go when you want...bearing in mind that the 7pm timeslot is the busiest!

Edited December 4, 2015 by cb at sea

[SuiteTraveler]

RCCL formal nights are not all that formal anymore. You can get away with a nice maxi dress or fancy top and pants or dress up in a cocktail dress or evening gown - there are still a few ladies who do that. The first formal night is the dressier of the two formal nights. You will see when it is formal night on the daily newsletter for the next day that they leave in your cabin each night before retiring. On formal nights my husband wears a dark suit with business shirt and tie.

 

I tend to wear sundresses or maxi dresses that have pockets with Yellow Box sandals on the ship during the day and if it is an informal night, I just wear the sundress or maxi dress all day as it limits what I pack and I put my cruise card in the pocket - you won't need a purse onboard - plan to put you wallet and other valuables in your room safe. If it is a cooler climate, I add a sweater to my sundress. BTW, I get most of my sundresses and maxi dresses that have pockets from http://www.soma.com . I also bring a swimsuit with a coverup. Even though it will be cool, I think you could wear the same sort of outfit through much of your cruise.

Edited December 4, 2015 by SuiteTraveler

[navybankerteacher]

Sailing from Baltimore will give you a chilly start and a chilly last day - you can figure on that for the the first and last 24 hours. By mid-afternoon of your first full day you are likely to be in the Gulf Stream, possibly enjoying temps in the low 70's.

[Bonnie J.]

It will be cold the 1st day until you get off Florida. Then it is shorts and bathing suits for the rest of the cruise until you head home. One pair of jeans is all you'll need and a sweatshirt.

Ships do not stay in port at night. Most leave by 5pm.

 

I don't know what you mean by 'open seating'. Is this at 8pm? If it is 8PM it is traditional and you eat every night at 8 at the same table with the same people. This is the only way we dine. We have the same waiter who will know my husband wants milk and after the 1st night will automatically bring it without being asked. We met our cruise buddies eating with each other every night in 2006. Since then we cruise together every year. They live in MI, we are at the NC coast and 3 times they've driven here then we drive together to a ship. If we'd only eaten with them one night we'd never gotten to know them. At 8 or 8:15 there's time for a nap before dinner or a cocktail. You don't have to rush to get ready for the earlier dinner when you get back from a tour.

 

The other is freestyle, any time or what ever the ship calls it.

With this you go to the dining room at any time between usually 5:30 & 9:30, not at a specific time.

You sit at a different table with different people and may have to wait a while to be seated.

check pout the ports you're going to here.

 

Check out the info on the ports here on cruisecritic. This will give you ideas. If you see something interesting you can Goggle that tour and see what come up.

There are tons of things in Laberdee but just exploring the port is interesting with all the MANY vendors. I know they have zip lining here.

In San Juan I recommend going to El Moro. This is the fort you pass coming into San Juan. It was built in the 1500's to protect the harbor. It is a long walk up to it but is well worth exploring it.

 

In St. Thomas most ships stop in Havensight which is just tons of shops and stores. If you can get into the actual town it is fun to explore.

 

In St. Maartin you can go to the nude beach, Orient beach on the other side of the island, Maginot, the French capitol (St. Maartin is 1/2 French, other side Dutch). You can also go to Maho Beach where planes actually fly RIGHT over your head. You have to hold on the fence so your not blown over when they fly over.

 

Join your Roll Call here and you will meet others going on your cruise. You can talk (email) each other about different tours. You can also join others going on a tour you learn here.

 

Watch out, you're going to get hooked on cruising!

[cruiseapril]

On a cruise, we always wear comfortable shoes- especially on deck and while walking around the ports. We have comfortable dress shoes too.

 

As to the ports: Old San Juan is a good place to walk and sight see

St. Thomas has many good resorts and lots of historic sites.

St. Maarten has the Dutch and French sides- nice to see both on

a tour.

[Jimnbigd]

We usually go with a larger group, so we do fixed (traditional) time dining. If it is just the 2 of you, My-Time dining should be fine. You can even go to the buffet for dinner, which is quite good. I know people who only eat at the buffet for dinner. No shorts allowed in the dining room for dinner (but OK for breakfast and lunch). Shorts are fine for the buffet anytime. The dining room is all-you-can-eat (as of course is the buffet), so order as much as you like.

 

Are you driving or flying? Either way, I suggest you get to Baltimore at least one day before cruise departure, especially in February. You don't need some big snow storm to delay you.

 

I would guess your ship will depart each port long before 8pm. The ship wants to open its shops and casino, which are closed while in port.

 

Here is your roll call for this cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2026690

Edited December 4, 2015 by Jimnbigd

[taglovestocruise]

First formal night is day 2, second formal night is day 9. You depart at 5:pm from all ports except for a 10:pm depart from San Juan.. You would still need to be aboard by 9:pm... Late night seating would work out fine.. You can always go to the head waiter on embarkation day and ask for late seating. One of the first things we do when we board is to find out where our table is and make changes if we don't like the location. happy cruising

[John Bull]

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

 

As others have posted, back-on-bard time is generally between 4.30-pm & 5.30pm.

After a busy day ashore traditional first sitting, around 6pm to 6.30pm, can be a rush. Also tends to have a higher proportion of kids & elderly folk.

Either second sitting (usually 8 or 8.30) or open seating would suit you.

 

With open seating if you want a two-top you will probably have a wait, some ships send you away with a buzzing pager, or perhaps you can pre-book each evening.

But we've found that if we're prepared to share there's normally no significant wait

 

The significant difference between traditional & open is your dining companions, as mentioned by Bonnie.

 

With trad dining you have the same table, same time, same wait staff and same tablemates each evening.

It's a bit of a lottery.

Great if you're thrown with like-minded cruisers, you can build lasting friendships. We've had some great dinner tables.

Not so great if your companions are too loud & dominating, or too reclusive & boring. And we've had both of those too.

And not so great if you never see someone allocated to your table, presumably because they prefer the buffet or speciality restaurants. Empty chairs aren't great company.

You can ask the Maitre D to switch you to another table if the first evening doesn't work out.

 

With open seating you're likely to get thrown with whoever is in line near you.

Another lottery.

But if you particularly don't like the look of those who arrive at the dining room at the same time as you, instead of joining the line step to one side and intently study the menu or thoroughly sanitise your hands for a minute or two & join the line further back ;)

Of course you'll meet a wider range of people, but it can get quite tiresome each evening going through the same routine of "where are you from?" etc. And trying to remember different names each evening.

One big advantage is that if you get on particularly well with folk at your table, or other open-dining folk that you meet aboard, you can arrange to meet up next evening and go to dinner as a foursome, sixsome, whatever. We've done that a number of times.

 

JB :)

[OCruisers]

Hi and Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

 

A good thing to do in St. Thomas is to take an excursion to St. John. :)

 

An active and fun thing to do in St. Maarten is the America's Cup Sailing Regatta! :D

[Poppy42]

Most people tend to over pack. We generally sail on Carnival and they have a DIY laundry. My wife takes two dress for the formal nights - nothing two fancy. I take one sport jacket, two pair of Dockers. I wear golf shirts every night. Most people don't get very dressed up on formal nights they people used to. Once you hit the warm weather, it's just shorts and tee's or a bathing suit - or less.

 

We've found that most excursions run by the cruise line to be very over priced but as newbies that might be your best bet. We've found that the snorkel trips are the best of what the cruise lines offer but, then again, you can book your own with a local dive shop. We general head to the beach. Megan's Bay in ST. Thomas. We've been to PR a few times for a week and had a rental car - now when our cruise stops there we stay on the ship. We liked the rain forest & the castle/fort.

Our favorite place is St. Martin. We go to Club Orient at Orient Beach for the day. For that and any other DIY excursions, just follow the crowd and you'll find yourself in an area with very nice vans. Just tell the dispatcher where you want to go and he'll direct you to the proper van. For Orient (in 2013) it was $8/pp each way. At the beach rent a chaise & an umbrella. If you're daring - and liberal - tell the driver you want Club Orient (google it) - our favorite. Last year we flew down & spent a week there. Great place for lovers. For $20 you get two chaise's and an umbrella and a couple of rum punches. The beach is very European. Orient Beach, as one responder said, is a nude beach. Yes & no. On Orient Beach there are generally women topless - for a nude beach it's generally Club Orient. Remember, there's nothing like strolling on the beach with the one you love the most wearing only sunscreen and a smile. BTW - we've been married 52 years and have been going to nude beaches for over 20 years.