mjkacmom

We did a day pass at RIU, but it was the same beach as the public one. We actually just walked to the front of the resort and got in a taxi (and we are a family of 7), but I’m guessing anyone could walk up and ask about a shared ride.

I think it’s hit or miss. We’ve sailed out of nyc 4 times, there was never a porter on the parking deck level, we usually arrived close to 9 - 9:30. I think just depends if a porter happened to be there dropping off luggage. This was before reservations.

I regretted not bringing our snorkeling gear to RIU on cabbage beach, the water was so clear (there is a public walkway to the beach).

No laundry rooms on ncl.

When I debated driving vs. Amtrak, I realized that my daughter would be coming home for the summer in a couple of weeks, no car, and she sublets her room over the summer so we needed to take back a lot of her stuff. The overnight in Boston was a stop before we headed to Gloucester for a wedding, so we would’ve also had to rent a car. I will book early for her graduation next May. Her Ubers from back bay have always been under $20 (I pay for transportation to and from school, she pays for the day to day in Boston).

I got $52 from Newark Penn round trip leaving that date and time frame. My daughter is a student at BU, so has done the trip frequently, train, plane and car. The only time she has done the drive in just under 4 hours each way was when she was flying from our home in NJ to Mexico and realized 12 hours before her flight that she left her passport in Boston, so drove almost 8 hours overnight. Her best friend’s family has a home on cape cod, she’s been there dozens of time, the traffic is always bad. We the most bizarre detour this time adding an extra hour.

I drove to Boston on Thursday, gps said 3:45, took 5 1/2, filled up the tank there and back, our hotel charged $75 for valet parking. I’ve driven, flown, and taken the train, I’m sticking with the train from now on (booking well in advance for the lowest fares). We are 20 minutes from the train station.

The vast majority of hard liquor is gf, even whisky. The distillation process removes the gluten.

We loved our day pass at RIU, we’ve also done Atlantis a couple of times. The pig thing is weird to me, trying to mimic exuma by bringing farm pigs to a beach.

It’s so easy to do DYI excursions at that port, goodman’s bay is just a local public beach, just take a cab. I’ve sailed on NCL, never saw it listed as an excursion. It would be like booking a private tour to Junkanoo.

Lots of college family weekends in October (my daughter is at BU, family weekend is the same as Head of the Charles, so we don’t go). Just stayed at the Hotel Newbury, very nice, great location but $$$$$.

Are you new to cruising? They can drop each port for no reason whatsoever and offer nothing. Changing itineraries is pretty common in cruising.

Maybe choose another excursion? They will be legal adults and can legally order alcohol, I don’t think you saying they are only 27 will prevent anything, I’m guessing they will all be ID’d. My two oldest were 19 and 20 on our last cruise, they loved the AI we went to, and would go to bars in port.

There are very few allowed areas besides the casino and marina village. We’ve done Atlantis through CS and through a cruise excursion, prefer to do it on our own. It’s a 15 minute drive, when we did it through the ship we just took a cab back anyway. The excursion (through the ship, CS, or bought directly from Atlantis) includes the water park, beach and Digs access. I think it’s around $200 pp through Atlantis or resort for a day. I don’t think it’s worth it with small children.

As someone who tips for every drink, I’m fine with the situation.