beachdiamonds

6 hours ago, beachdiamonds said:

Police just confirmed the deaths

A police officer spoke to our taxi driver while we were in the vehicle and indicated as such.  I hope it was wrong information for sure in this case. It was crazy today and gridlock doesn’t begin to describe it. 

Police just confirmed the deaths

Taxi guy is saying it’s on Norwegian epic.  He’s getting phone calls with updates.  Everyone be safe. 

The Carnival port doesn’t appear to be affected as they are a different one. 

Ive sailed numerous times out of both RCL and Carnivals terminals and never seen anything like this.  Hoping the deaths aren’t true but something is happening 

Freedom of seas is in port with Norwegian epic 

We are currently in horrific horrific standstill traffic trying to get into the port.  Many people have walked off the ships dragging bags. Our taxi guy is saying heard there were deaths on one of the ships,,, 5 people he heard. Now we are seeing news cameras and ambulances.   Still stuck and not sure what’s happening.  Has anyone heard anything?  We are still stuck In gridlock and returning cruisers cant get taxis and are dragging luggage down the long road.  Praying for  any impacted people if they have in fact died. 

Thanks for the quick response! .... will have to rebook my departing flight!

Does anyone know the absolute earliest time to self debark off Indy? I can’t remember and Unfortunately booked an early flight out of FLL. Trying to determine if it’s doable

I just booked a cruise on the Grandeur and had the same sort of apprehension as we have not done anything smaller than Voyager class... (other than Majesty for 3 short days). I decided to get over myself and book a 9 dayer out of Baltimore which means NO flying and just a 1 hour drive down I-95! Can not wait to see all of your scopes once again!!!!!!

Also looking forward to seeing how you like the room. I dont normally do anything other than a balcony but this time we will be in two connected insides..... The cheap cost made me do it but I am still quite nervous.

Took this excursion when on Allure OTS in early April. Best excursion of our cruise. We took the early trip, as I find weather conditions to be more pleasant in the mornings. The crew was friendly and professional. Drinks were cheap and tasty, especially the rum punch (had several of those). The beach was perfect and the water (at least on our day) was clear and warm. I'd rebook this excursion in a heartbeat. I attached some pics.

Mattykarma,

Those pics are amazing!!! You guys are killing me with the pics!!! Man the secret is out! The water in the pics is absolutely 1000% clearer than what is on Labadee. Wish that I could go there now!!

I originally had the AM excursion booked but changed it to PM to accommodate the Coastal cruise excursion in the morning. From what I read that excursion gets awesome reviews as well. It does go around Amiga Island as well as some of the villages and the Citadel so I guess I will get to SEE Amiga in the AM with a 2.5 hour break around lunch before going back out in the PM to actually experience Amiga. I have been to Labadee so many times that I wanted to mix it up some since by beloved cabanas now cost almost as much as the fare for 1-person on the cruise:rolleyes:. Again can not wait to go there and will take pictures from both excursions in the AM and PM.

Hi Bugsy!!!

I am following you here and on periscope. Thanks to you and other cruisers I am now a bonafide periscope addict...... It is real :rolleyes:

Hi Nikki,

You are very welcome for the reviews. When I planned our trip, there was very little information regarding Amiga Island and I combed the internet for anything I could find!

Our excursion was supposed to be from 10-1. We were notified on day 1 of our cruise that the time had been changed to 8:30-11:30; we were told that the times can vary based on other excursions. So be aware that the time may change. I had been concerned about missing lunch with the later time, so the change worked well for us. Although I agree with what you said, the lunch on Labadee is nothing special and we would skip next time to eat on the ship.

We were on the island for two hours (roughly 9-11). Yes, it was strange to be drinking our complimentary rum punch that early (but in a good way:cool:). We were lucky to have a nice sunny day with fluffy clouds, so it was warm and sunny while we where there. There is ample shade on the island. All the hammocks and adirondak chairs were set up in the shade along the beach. The island consists of a beautiful narrow beach that is boardered by palm trees and other vegetation. There were also woven beach mats that you could relocate where you wanted. Only downside to the excursion was those two hours flew by!

Look carefully at my posted pic with the folks getting off the boat. It was a bit tricky getting on and off as you exit into the water while the boat is moving with the waves. We had no trouble, but are active folks. Just giving a heads up to anyone who may have mobility issues.

Disneynan,

Your answers have been invaluable as you are right there was very little information out there about Amiga Island. However, it looks like the word is out because my sailing (which is about 2 weeks out) has the excursion listed as sold out / unavailable for booking now for both AM and PM. I have been to Labadee several times and was one of those who booked cabanas all the time ( at least on my last three (3) visits). However the crazy cabana price increase completely took us out of that market ( ..No thanks I will keep $495 in my pocket !!)

Thanks again for the feedback and pics as I would've certainly missed out on this newer excursion. I too will post pics upon my return of our time on the island.

Thanks Disneynan for providing your thoughts on Amiga Island. Looks like you had a beautiful day. Would you say the beach there was better than the beaches on Labadee? I love Labadee but have always found that the sand was not the best nor the water visibility as clear as I have seen at other islands such as Grand Cayman.

We were there on Wed and it was fabulous! Will post pics when I get home. There was a family on the island that was not with our group, but IDK how they got there. Our excursion was fully booked with 30-35 folks.

Thanks disneynan!! Can't wait to see your pics! Let me know how you liked the AM excursion and whether you made it back for the bbq.

I booked the PM excursion for my cruise in May!! Can't wait!

If anyone is interested there is a live scope on allure this week

Follow at @sgtjd2

@silvermcs did a couple of scopes boarding the Freedom today. (probably no more coming from him though this week).

 

Although not on a ship, Matt ( @theRCLblog ) does a daily scope to discuss all things RCI.

Thanks Yorkvillian! I've loved your scopes!

Now that I have a new addiction, I wanted to know if anyone is scoping this week? I barely got any work done the last two weeks with all of the cruisers scoping. Please post if you are!!

There are two times available for the excursion...either 9:45am or 1pm on my sailing. Which one would you recommend? The pics I have seen are breathtaking and my mind is made up!

So glad that you made it!!! Enjoy your cruise and a half!!! And thanks for checking in and letting us know that you got to Jamaica safe and sound!

I just read online this weekend that the Old malibu beach club/ cockspur beach club is being renovated and will be opening in February. We visited that beach back in 2004 when it was Malibu and then in 2009 when it was cockspur. I thoroughly enjoyed the beach as it was like a bathtub....very minimal wave action, white sand and clear blue waters. I believe the new name is [b]Blueberry's[/b]. This was reported by someone who stopped through a couple weeks ago. He indicated that the renovations look to be pretty awesome and I cant wait to see what has been done when I visit later in the year.

So Sorry that you were not able to make it out. I was sending good vibes your way.. Wish that Stewart was an option considering that the flight made it out. Cant wait to hear that you successfully made it to Jamaica..

.......SNOW go away already.

We have gone to Labadee the past three years and cruises and have always looked forward to our OTW cabana. I could always justify the price of $250 and even 295 earlier this year. At that price point it was always a rush to obtain a cabana as they were in high demand. For the previous price I felt that it was more than worth it. For double that I don't think so especially with the loss of benefits. I for one different care about extra lunch offerings at Barefoot Beach club but what I did like is that there was virtually no line and We could grab food with little wait and get back to the cabana. I do think that we will start to see empty cabanas OR six or more people piled up in one to minimize expenses. I loved the cabanas but what they offer does not warrant my wallet being 500 lighter on an already usually expensive cruise. Guess I will now do what others do and find a palm tree and make a day of it.

i just found your thread! Please continue posting as I am living vicariously through your posts!

To the OP I am so sorry your day was ruined. It's a terrible thing when you have great expectations and the outcome falls flat. I too started to use RCL to have a vow renewal while cruising. I contacted the Wedding service and the customer service along with costs and offerings gave me pause. After reading more on Cruise critic we decided to forget it.... Just too many bad experiences. We ended up reaching out to a wedding coordinator and photographer on ST. Maarten and renewing on a beautiful beach while in port. We had the canopy and sheers on the beach, wedding flowers, champagne, etc. Also received both video and over 350 professional pictures that we viewed ( and received on a flash drive) before leaving the port. The photographer also provided a signed release so that we wouldn't have any problems getting prints produced when we got home. The quality was too notch!! All of this was way less than the ship costs with so much more. We still keep in touch with our st Maarten wedding coordinator and consider her a life long friend.