The Great Escape - From Way Before the Beginning Until The End

[Cruise-mom]

I'm so sorry your son dropped out. My kids are that age too where it's a gamble (bingo - lol) if they will actually come a trip with us, that they've committed to. 

 

Collecting your mom's scooter at the terminal sounds better than waiting to have it delivered onboard.

 

If your mom is allowed pack in a month, I'm starting in 5 weeks as I'm the sailing after you. I'd love to start now but OH would think I've lost the plot. I'm trying to make excuses that work is so busy in December and with trying to organise Christmas I won't have time!

 

Thanks for the update 🙂

[cruiseny4life]

I'll be your new kid if you need a replacement! I won't even insist on the Haven if it's a free cruise...now send that child an invoice for what he owes you!

 

I do appreciate that you're trying to see the plus side with having your mom onboard. You're going to have a great cruise - just forget you have a kid for a week and all will be well. 

[CruzinMel]

12 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'll be your new kid if you need a replacement! I won't even insist on the Haven if it's a free cruise...now send that child an invoice for what he owes you!

 

I do appreciate that you're trying to see the plus side with having your mom onboard. You're going to have a great cruise - just forget you have a kid for a week and all will be well. 

Shoot- I wish I'd thought of that - we'd have had a blast, especially if I'd won the Spa Club balcony bid!  

 

DH took me out for dinner tonight and was trying to game plan Mom...he offered to Mom-sit and send me off with the kids, because " she doesn't like me as much, so she'll sleep all day and I will drink on the balcony."

[CruzinMel]

18 hours ago, Cruise-mom said:

I'm so sorry your son dropped out. My kids are that age too where it's a gamble (bingo - lol) if they will actually come a trip with us, that they've committed to. 

 

Collecting your mom's scooter at the terminal sounds better than waiting to have it delivered onboard.

 

If your mom is allowed pack in a month, I'm starting in 5 weeks as I'm the sailing after you. I'd love to start now but OH would think I've lost the plot. I'm trying to make excuses that work is so busy in December and with trying to organise Christmas I won't have time!

 

Thanks for the update 🙂

ACTUALLY, I think you get an extra week for packing - your family will possibly want the whole Christmas shebang, which means you will lose at least a week, possibly 2!! 

 

I was planning on no tree this year, but Indy rioted (she loves the decorating).  So we will do the tree, but less of everything else, because it has to come down before we leave.  In a normal year, it's a week to set up and 2 weeks to cram it all back in the closets!

[DebQ5]

I'm on this cruise in February, I'll be following closely!  I've been on the Escape before, in the Haven, and loved it.  I'm in "gen pop" this cruise as I'm traveling with others who didn't want to spring for Haven.  Me too actually, the prices seem crazy high, but I know it will be worth it for your crew!

 

I feel like it's been ages since I've cruised, and things have changed.  I'm not even sure how the embarkation works at Port Canaveral anymore.  There is something about choosing times for check-in?  These are the things that make me long for the Haven :).  

 

I also can't figure out what shows are going to be playing, so will look forward to finding those dailies from the early sailings.  

[CruzinMel]

3 hours ago, DebQ5 said:

I'm on this cruise in February, I'll be following closely!  I've been on the Escape before, in the Haven, and loved it.  I'm in "gen pop" this cruise as I'm traveling with others who didn't want to spring for Haven.  Me too actually, the prices seem crazy high, but I know it will be worth it for your crew!

 

I feel like it's been ages since I've cruised, and things have changed.  I'm not even sure how the embarkation works at Port Canaveral anymore.  There is something about choosing times for check-in?  These are the things that make me long for the Haven :).  

 

I also can't figure out what shows are going to be playing, so will look forward to finding those dailies from the early sailings.  

GEN POP!  I love that!  If we weren't cruising with Mom, I wouldn't have booked the Haven - it's one of those things that are VERY nice to have, but not essential for me - all I need is a balcony room and a good bar.  (Well, the Haven *does* have the best bar . . . )  The last time I was there, it was on an upgrade bid from a cruise that someone else paid for (DH got a cruise as a work reward).  Any room on a cruise is a good room!

I usually stink at sharing Dailies, but I will do my best.  Not knowing when the shows are likely to occur is really messing up my planning, and since Escape won't hit the Caribbean for a couple more weeks, I have to just wait.

[DebQ5]

3 hours ago, CruzinMel said:

GEN POP!  I love that!  If we weren't cruising with Mom, I wouldn't have booked the Haven - it's one of those things that are VERY nice to have, but not essential for me - all I need is a balcony room and a good bar.  (Well, the Haven *does* have the best bar . . . )  The last time I was there, it was on an upgrade bid from a cruise that someone else paid for (DH got a cruise as a work reward).  Any room on a cruise is a good room!

I usually stink at sharing Dailies, but I will do my best.  Not knowing when the shows are likely to occur is really messing up my planning, and since Escape won't hit the Caribbean for a couple more weeks, I have to just wait.

Maybe someone else will share them from an earlier sailing and save us both :).  I agree, it's really hard to plan specialty dinners, etc. not knowing what's going on... We just guessed really.  Hopefully things can be changed if need be.

 

I'm going to miss the Haven bar... sigh... but it will be fun to be with this group of people so I'm sure it will make up for it.  I agree with you, any room on a cruise is a good room :).  

 

I also can't figure out what is going on with the pour house.  It's on the deck plan, but not on the list of "activities" or bars... It used to be 5 o'clock somewhere or something like that and my kids (adults) did Karaoke there. Seems like the shows are lacking, I hope they have something good in this venue.  Anyone have any updates?

[Sugar Magnolia]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:22 PM, CruzinMel said:

I am DONE worrying about excursions!  Basically, because it's too frustrating, and I have mostly arrived at a solution, 78 days out.

 

Here's a funny for you:  DD needs to do 2 Independent Study classes so she can graduate from college in the spring, and she thinks she's going to do one over winter break.  My jaw dropped and she said yes, she expects to work on it while she's on the cruise.  When I scraped my jaw back up, I threw my head back and lauuuuuughed.  Yeah.  That's going to work.  Anybody want to guess how much actual studying she does?

 

GSC:  By now I have practically memorized the layout of GSC, and have rented an ocean-view villa in Silver Cove (did it this morning.)  There is what looks to be a hike to get from the tender area to the place in the shopping area where the golf cart thing will pick you up, drive you halfway to Silver Cove, where you get out and get back on another shuttle to go the rest of the way (??), but a beach wheelchair will save us.  Once there, the villa will have a bedroom of its own, a private bath, living room with movies, air conditioning, its own patio with table and loungers, dedicated loungers on the beach, food/beverages, and walking access to everything else on the island.  I told Mom she was going to get hauled off the ship with the first tender, and she could go right back to sleep once we got settled, then wake up and have herself lunch and a massage.  Based on the videos I saw, the ocean villas are actually closer to the water than the lagoon villas and it looked doable with a cane for Mom's balance.  Many thanks to folks who posted excellent GSC videos, especially the Well Aged Cruisers, who did a fabulous walking tour of GSC, starting with getting to the villas and then showing how to access the rest of the island on foot.

Puerta Plata:  I already got DD and DS the Damajagua excursion, and booked DH and myself for a Puerta Plata tour and beach time.  I think I'm going to cancel ours, though, if I can nail down which dock Escape will use for Puerta Plata.  It's well documented that Taino Bay is where Escape went aground back in March, and up until December she's scheduled to go back to good old Amber Cove.  The fine folks in the DR, however, have yet to update the January port schedules for either site.  If it's Amber Cove, I'm going to cancel the excursion for me and DH; that is a long, long pier, but we're going to throw Mom in a wheelchair or find a bike taxi and spend the afternoon hanging out at their pool/bar/shopping area.  Gosh, we'll just have to go back to the DR another day!

 

St Thomas:  Still up in the air, but trying to figure out a Mom-amenable excursion was making me nuts, so I backed it up a day.  Finding out that 7000 other people will dock there an hour after we arrive quickly put the kibosh on any thoughts I had about renting a car (I cannot handle DH when he stresses about time, and it would ruin the day for him.)  So it's either a ship's tour, or hopping off and hanging around the dock area.  If DD is determined to study (:D), we'll take her up the tram to Paradise Point, and then she gets to spend the day with Mom on the ship.  Sunset is going to be between 5 and 5:30 that day, which means that although that port time sounds deliciously long (11 - 7, oh my!), we'd really have about 4 good hours if DIY.  (But is a perfect evening to book an early dinner at La Cucina and watch the sun set over a glass of wine.)  Sadly, Senor Frog's is no more, but I'm fairly sure there are plenty of other options.  If nothing else we'll cab it to Magen's Bay or perhaps Secret Harbor.

 

Tortola:  Every single tour leaves between 7 and 8:30.  Do I REALLY want to get up that early?  Depends on how much I want to see the Soggy Dollar Bar.

And that, happily, gets me settled enough that I can quit obsessing.  All the passports are processing, and I'm still working on that concierge letter, and the Braves and Phillies are tied 1-all, which means I need to quit thinking cruises and focus on BASEBALL!

 

The kids will love the Damajagua waterfall and zipline excursion. Some people brought along their own GoPros, but there will also be someone following the group taking photos and videos to sell.

 

The Tortola excursions unfortunately are all very early but we enjoyed the Escape to Jost Van Dyke excursion. It was a fun catamaran ride and then a relaxing few hours on a beautiful quiet beach with plenty of shady areas to sit. There are clean restrooms and food and drinks for purchase.

 

The Virgin Gorda & The Baths was also a fun excursion walking around rocks and caves, but need to exercise caution due to slippery rocks.

 

[CruzinMel]

20 hours ago, DebQ5 said:

I also can't figure out what is going on with the pour house. 

It took me a minute, but basically it sounds like it's a cool music/cocktails venue.  I've been reading on other cruises about the bands that play there and the general irritation that you have to line up way early to get in, much less get a seat.  

[CruzinMel]

18 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

The kids will love the Damajagua waterfall and zipline excursion. Some people brought along their own GoPros, but there will also be someone following the group taking photos and videos to sell.

 

The Tortola excursions unfortunately are all very early but we enjoyed the Escape to Jost Van Dyke excursion. It was a fun catamaran ride and then a relaxing few hours on a beautiful quiet beach with plenty of shady areas to sit. There are clean restrooms and food and drinks for purchase.

 

The Virgin Gorda & The Baths was also a fun excursion walking around rocks and caves, but need to exercise caution due to slippery rocks.

 

We did Jost Van Dyke several years ago on our last cruise on Escape, and it was amazing. . . but I can't think of a single thing that I want to get up at 6 am for when I'm on vacation, and the Jost excursion (which is sold out already on our cruise anyway) leaves at 7 am.  Nuh-uh.  The only way you'll find me on a beach that early is if I fell asleep on it the night before, or The Rock is having a yoga class.  We *might* manage to walk around a bit after breakfast, but that's probably about it.  Short port days stink.

I thought about Virgin Gorda and the Baths, but then I watched a couple of YouTube videos of the excursion and said, "no."  From the land side, at least, it looks like bad signage and large crowds = congestion and frustration.  I started to get a charter and do it from the sea side, but the one I wanted was booked that day.

But any day is a good day if you're on a cruise!  I mean, I'm the person who got to Harvest Caye,  never left the ship, and had a fantabulous time.  It is all good!

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, CruzinMel said:

We did Jost Van Dyke several years ago on our last cruise on Escape, and it was amazing. . . but I can't think of a single thing that I want to get up at 6 am for when I'm on vacation, and the Jost excursion (which is sold out already on our cruise anyway) leaves at 7 am.  Nuh-uh.  The only way you'll find me on a beach that early is if I fell asleep on it the night before, or The Rock is having a yoga class.  We *might* manage to walk around a bit after breakfast, but that's probably about it.  Short port days stink.

I thought about Virgin Gorda and the Baths, but then I watched a couple of YouTube videos of the excursion and said, "no."  From the land side, at least, it looks like bad signage and large crowds = congestion and frustration.  I started to get a charter and do it from the sea side, but the one I wanted was booked that day.

But any day is a good day if you're on a cruise!  I mean, I'm the person who got to Harvest Caye,  never left the ship, and had a fantabulous time.  It is all good!

I completely understand. After the hike up to the waterfalls in the heat and the wake up calls at 0 dark 30, we were ready for a relaxing day at GSC as a great way to end the cruise.
 

[CruzinMel]

She's on her way!!!  Escape has left Portugal and is headed to the Caribbean on her TA!

 

I'm seeing an uptick in folks asking for Escape Dailies on this and other sites, but yours truly is just waiting. . . I will start grubbing for dailies once she gets through with her first or second Caribbean itinerary later this month.
 

Meanwhile, I have managed to not write something every day here, because how boring is that?  But we are moving along, getting closer every day, and some pieces are falling into place. 

 

The passports arrived, so now everybody has one and no, I probably didn't need to pay extra for expedited processing and priority mail return, but I'm glad I did.  I have carefully hidden them with my pre-packing bag, and am adding vaccination cards because DH thinks he must have his and why not?  We got those jabs - might as well show it off.  

 

I finally called the Concierge Desk, mainly because I noticed that when my PCC rearranged the placement of our cruisers (I wanted Mom moved from #2 and DH moved into that spot, because he is more likely to use the specialty meals than she), it rearranged a bunch of other things, including the Percussionist.  For some reason, both his and DH's booked excursions disappeared, and I got refunded for them - I didn't notice for a while, and I figured since I had to call the Concierge Desk anyway, I'd ask.  The Magic Concierge adjusted everybody's names, fixed a couple of messy things, and arranged for mattress pads, snacks, juices, loung chairs and anything else I could think of, plus rearranging some dining and recommending a more cost-effective purchase of dining packages compared to my plan to pay a la carte.  I luff her, too.

When the 50% promo came on, I requested FCC and have yet to hear back - my suspicion is that since the Haven 2 BR family villas were already sold out on my cruise, there's nothing to price the drop against, but I need to hear that from a person before I will believe it.  So SOMEBODY is going to be getting a call from moi.

I did get very excited and booked DH and myself our Alaska bucket list trip - we have been trying to get to Alaska since 2020, and dangit, we are going in 2023!!!  I got a fantabulous price and itinerary (only one short port day and no wasted trip to Victoria!), but I'm finding out that getting from Atlanta to Alaska with DH is going to be almost as expensive as the cruise itself.  NO matter - it is a bucket list trip and I have a year to pay for everything.

I was sweating bullets about the Percussionist's tour in Puerta Plata being canceled, because it was the Damajagua Waterfalls trip and it is currently sold out - I was going to have to book it privately as a guarantee, and just keep checking back on the site to see if there was availability from someone else canceling.  Then, when the Percussionist came down for Mom's birthday dinner last night, I actually discussed it with him. . . and he's not interested in it at all.  He'd rather go to Ocean World, or a beach, or a Puerta Plata tour.  So I have to break it to Indiana Jones that we're changing tours (I don't think she'd mind) and then I gotta call the Shore Excursions desk AGAIN and cancel her - the website won't let you book 2 tours for one person on a port, which I guess is good because it prevents people from holding spots that they aren't going to use, but it's a little inconvenient when your plans change on the fly.

And speaking of changing plans, I gotta call back the Concierge Desk and see if they can rearrange some of our dining - I had La Cucina booked for the first sea day, and thanks to another GF traveler, have found that they need 48 hours to make a GF Osso Bucco.  I love me some Osso Bucco - like, it's the same thing I get every time I eat at La Cucina, Osso Bucco and panna cotta for dessert.

 

Have also realized that my 2 favorite football bowl games (the Peach Bowl and the Sugar Bowl) are on NYE, and it is possible that my beloved Georgia Bulldogs (Go Dawgs Class of '93!) will be playing.  That means DH and I will spend NYE not dressed up, but wearing our custom 15th Anniversary UGA jerseys, with a "15" on the front and "Husband" or "Wife" on the back.  (This year was our 15th anniversary and we went to a game, but the jerseys got stuck in Customs so we didn't get to wear them then.)  Anyway, we shall be easy to spot on the ship!!!

 

[Erekosse]

7 hours ago, CruzinMel said:

I'm seeing an uptick in folks asking for Escape Dailies on this and other sites, but yours truly is just waiting. . . I will start grubbing for dailies once she gets through with her first or second Caribbean itinerary later this month.

I'll be keeping an eye out later this month as well as we are on this itinerary in early December...

[CruzinMel]

First of all. . . they're here!  They're here!!  They're here!!!

 

In other words, the luggage tags arrived!!!  Woo hoo!!!  Now, luggage tags aren't that big of a deal; on  non-Haven cruises, I have printed them out myself and one time I forgot to put them on, but my friendly porter whipped out a stapler, folded them properly, and stapled them together on my luggage.  So, not necessary.  But it's a perk, and it's a nice perk, and it makes it more Real, as it were.  They arrived with the welcome letter from the Haven, with instructions on Online Check-In and eDocs and the phone numbers/email for the pre-cruise Concierge Desk (855-625-4283, NorwegianConciergeDesk@ncl.com). 

 

One confusing thing:  I thought I'd read there were no vaccination requirements; either that is untrue, or someone at the Haven desk needs to look at the back of this letter, because it details vaccination requirements and the necessity to present proof of vaccination at the pier at embarkation.  Not a big deal for my people, since everybody except the Percussionist is fully vaxxed and boosted (and he will be before Christmas, even if he keeps trying to dodge it - which makes no sense at all, because he works in public schools, but whatever.)  The blurb on the back references SailSAFE protocols and says to visit the website for details, but. . . it's confusing, but not a dealbreaker.

On That Site That Shall Not Be Named, I found dailies for the first Caribbean sailing - it was enough for me to figure out that Malevo is twice in the week, starting on the first sea day, and then Choir of Man picks up I think on Puerta Plata night and then. . . well, I gave up.  I learned my lesson with this crew (detailed planning ahead is useless), and while I have a couple of must-do's that involve the Pour House (aka, karaoke and Rumours night, because it's Indiana Jones' favorite album of all time), and we must see Malevo because we have a percussionist. . . otherwise, I'm going with the flow and not planning too much.

 

Plus, since NCL makes it harder to get reservations by not letting you book shows until you get on board. . . what's the point?  I'm going to hope that between my own efforts and help from the Concierge, it will all work out.

On the mobility front, I got Mom's transport chair rented.  We had considered a power chair, but frankly, she ain't that coordinated.  I had nightmares of her running into other pax (she had nightmares of running off the side of the ship), and so, transport chair.  Plus, it's smaller.  I'm already sweating 5 people in a regular set of rooms (which sounds ridiculous, but it's true), so space is important.  The bummer is that I couldn't reserve online - I had to call and talk to a person at Scootaround.  Not a big deal, exactly, but I am on the phone 75% of the day at work, and I despise phone calls. 

 

Scootaround will deliver the chair to the room, and I got damage insurance and cancellation insurance (the rental is non-refundable), because with Mom, you just never know.  I'm planning to bubble wrap her between now and the 30th.  With luck, it will all work out, and if not . . . that's why they make insurance.

 

The Shareholder OBC landed in our accounts - $50 split between my account and DH's because NCL awards that credit to the stateroom, not the stock owner, and I guess 50 bucks each is easier for them?  Works for me - I will have no problems spending $50 of nonrefundable credit.  I had initially downloaded the page from our prospectus that showed the stock ownership details, and emailed that and the request form; I got an email back saying they couldn't see the stock details (???!!!), so I replied to the email with a screen grab with the relevant details highlighted, and got a new amenities invoice within 10 minutes of sending the second email.  Boom.  It would have been faster, but I searched my emails for the wrong sender (I get a lot of emails, which I also hate, so I rarely check email) and missed it for a couple of days.  Regardless of stock appreciation, I just got a $100 return on my investment.

 

I have a list of other things to accomplish - things like,

• canceling Indiana's Damajagua Falls excursion so some other person can get it (which will entail another dang phone call to the Shore Ex desk - the pre-cruise Concierge can't cancel excursions, although they can do just about anything else); 
• fixing our dining packages (it will be more economical to go ahead and buy a 2 or 4 meal package for Mom/Indy/Percussionist, espc since Moderno is one of our places to go and that on its own is a $58 charge);  
• fixing excursions in general - the Mom Factor is really messing up the excursions for me.  I am paralyzed by indecision and have booked. . . none.  Given the way NCL excursions sell out, that could strand us on a port day, so I gotta bite the bullet and make some plans;  
• My Butler Letter (hat tip to SthrnGary, generous genius) is nearly complete;
• retrieve my luggage from the Percussionist - he went to Europe this summer for a competition, and took ALL my good luggage because he was carrying equipment;
• get the Percussionist's passport details, for online checkin (I have everybody else's passports here).

 

There are reports that the eMuster has gone back to being the PITA Muster (Hate Them!)  I am hoping it is not true.

 

So much to do, but getting soooo much closer!

Edited November 30, 2022 by CruzinMel

[wil e coyote]

Thank you for your posts! We are on the same itinerary at the end of January, and reading all your trip prep is helping me get excited for our cruise!

While it is only DW and me on this trip, we are having a lot of the same debates about things like shore excursions. We have been to all of the ports on this voyage except GSC (we keep getting winded out), so we are seriously having the debate about just staying on board for every port except that one. That would be a first for us as we typically do at least a couple of active excursions and then a couple of more relaxed ones.

We just upgraded to the Haven yesterday (have been watching prices for weeks, and they finally dropped enough that it was less $$ to upgrade than we had put in for our upgrade bid). So maybe we will just stay in our cabin all week and have the butler feed us peeled grapes. JK!!!

By the way, the Rumours show in Syd's is fantastic! We saw it on the Breakaway in June and it was a highlight of hte cruise.

[CruzinMel]

13 hours ago, wil e coyote said:

Thank you for your posts! We are on the same itinerary at the end of January, and reading all your trip prep is helping me get excited for our cruise!

While it is only DW and me on this trip, we are having a lot of the same debates about things like shore excursions. We have been to all of the ports on this voyage except GSC (we keep getting winded out), so we are seriously having the debate about just staying on board for every port except that one. That would be a first for us as we typically do at least a couple of active excursions and then a couple of more relaxed ones.

We just upgraded to the Haven yesterday (have been watching prices for weeks, and they finally dropped enough that it was less $$ to upgrade than we had put in for our upgrade bid). So maybe we will just stay in our cabin all week and have the butler feed us peeled grapes. JK!!!

By the way, the Rumours show in Syd's is fantastic! We saw it on the Breakaway in June and it was a highlight of hte cruise.

Thanks so much for the Rumours info - we will make that one if we have to camp out.  Indy is in mourning over Christine McVie's passing today.  

 

I'm like you - I like to mix up my excursions and I like to do one in every port - I haven't quite gotten to the "been there done that staying onboard" stage yet, although it's coming (and will definitely happen should I ever be unlucky enough to go to Nassau again.)  It's just the uncertainty about Mom that has me stuck, and I despise uncertainty. I feel comfortable enough in St Thomas to go to Magens Bay on our own, but I don't know Puerta Plata enough to DIY.  Such problems...  😀

 

We are 30 days out....time is FLYING!  You will be heading out before you know it.  Congrats on the upgrade- you did well!

[wil e coyote]

8 hours ago, CruzinMel said:

(and will definitely happen should I ever be unlucky enough to go to Nassau again.)

LOL - this is exactly what happened to us last year. We were supposed to go to GSC but due to high winds we went to Nassau instead. DW and I were both like, "been there, done that, don't want to do it again" and so we had a wonderful day on the ship. 

Regarding Rumours - the Haven concierge should offer to escort you to Syd's about 45-60 minutes prior to the show so you don't have to stand in the line. Check with him/her once you are on board.

[SeaShark]

On 10/9/2022 at 2:10 PM, CruzinMel said:

So, this topic is mostly for me - although I will be careful to save it someplace else because (who knew!) after a couple of years, Cruise Critic purges old posts.  (Which is really kind of a "duh" moment, but it didn't occur to me until I went looking for my cruise review from 2018 and it was poof - gone - like it never existed.  And yes, that's 4 years ago . . . but I've gotten used to thinking of the Internet as "forever."  So fair warning, posters - CC is not a travel blog.  😜)

 

For @CruzinMel I wanted to address this part.

 

Yes...CC has taken to archiving old discussion forum posts, making them difficult to impossible to find. If you'd like to be able to review your reviews, you really should submit them in the Member Review section of CC...NOT here on the discussion boards. The Member Reviews aren't memory-holed like the forum posts are.

[DebQ5]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:07 PM, CruzinMel said:

On That Site That Shall Not Be Named, I found dailies for the first Caribbean sailing - it was enough for me to figure out that Malevo is twice in the week, starting on the first sea day, and then Choir of Man picks up I think on Puerta Plata night and then. . . well, I gave up.  I learned my lesson with this crew (detailed planning ahead is useless), and while I have a couple of must-do's that involve the Pour House (aka, karaoke and Rumours night, because it's Indiana Jones' favorite album of all time), and we must see Malevo because we have a percussionist. . . otherwise, I'm going with the flow and not planning too much.

 

Any hint on where I might find these?  I'd really like to start micro planning my trip 🙂 

[BeachBecky]

On 11/30/2022 at 9:54 AM, wil e coyote said:

Thank you for your posts! We are on the same itinerary at the end of January, and reading all your trip prep is helping me get excited for our cruise!

While it is only DW and me on this trip, we are having a lot of the same debates about things like shore excursions. We have been to all of the ports on this voyage except GSC (we keep getting winded out), so we are seriously having the debate about just staying on board for every port except that one. That would be a first for us as we typically do at least a couple of active excursions and then a couple of more relaxed ones.

We just upgraded to the Haven yesterday (have been watching prices for weeks, and they finally dropped enough that it was less $$ to upgrade than we had put in for our upgrade bid). So maybe we will just stay in our cabin all week and have the butler feed us peeled grapes. JK!!!

By the way, the Rumours show in Syd's is fantastic! We saw it on the Breakaway in June and it was a highlight of hte cruise.

Can you make reservations in Syd’s?

 

 

 

[wil e coyote]

15 hours ago, BeachBecky said:

Can you make reservations in Syd’s?

 

Hi @BeachBecky - no, you cannot make reservations in Syd's. It is first-come, first served.

[CruzinMel]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:08 PM, DebQ5 said:

Any hint on where I might find these?  I'd really like to start micro planning my trip 🙂 

I will have to think of a clever way to direct you, once I remember which group it is (I'm following 4.)  This particular one is named for the ship, and a kind lady named Cathy just posted the ones from the Nov 26 sailing. 

 

Actually, I ust looked and she has replied directly to your post, so yay!!

[CruzinMel]

On 12/1/2022 at 7:44 AM, wil e coyote said:

LOL - this is exactly what happened to us last year. We were supposed to go to GSC but due to high winds we went to Nassau instead. DW and I were both like, "been there, done that, don't want to do it again" and so we had a wonderful day on the ship. 

Regarding Rumours - the Haven concierge should offer to escort you to Syd's about 45-60 minutes prior to the show so you don't have to stand in the line. Check with him/her once you are on board.

Thanks for the tip!  I had read similar, but it seems like folks get Very Upset about it.  Since I'd throw elbows to get Indy into that particular show, I'm on it!!

 

Am also reading lots of trouble with the GSC tenders lately, so it just means I have to get Mom to a beach in St Thomas FOR SURE.

Edited December 5, 2022 by CruzinMel

[DebQ5]

On 12/4/2022 at 11:42 PM, CruzinMel said:

I will have to think of a clever way to direct you, once I remember which group it is (I'm following 4.)  This particular one is named for the ship, and a kind lady named Cathy just posted the ones from the Nov 26 sailing. 

 

Actually, I ust looked and she has replied directly to your post, so yay!!

Yes, I did get them :).  Thank you though I appreciate it.  It helps calm me, reviewing those lol!

 

[CruzinMel]

11 hours ago, DebQ5 said:

Yes, I did get them :).  Thank you though I appreciate it.  It helps calm me, reviewing those lol!

 

I totally agree...I caved and made a spreadsheet.  :😀