nimbex1970

We are just looking for something new for our beachy selves. It's been 15 years since I strayed from orient or the beach off the taxi. Help a beach gal with a new location that has a restroom with chairs, food and drinks. Thanks all!

try this site https://www.st-maarten.com/index.php/island/public-transport

There is taxi service at the end of the shopping area in port. Follow the signs, the fees are posted. When looking at pricing make sure you understand if it is one way or round trip so there are no financial suprises, figure $100 bucks, bring cash for it.

If you are a foodie, the french side has some lovely places. Start with trip advisors and obviously scratch any brand names. The bakeries are wonderful as well.

IMHO, the problem with buying jewlery is the haggling time when I'm on vacation. The stores (like any) are marked up, then you haggle down. For example, I know I want tanzenite, the color and say it's 1k back in the states just for the stone. Even with a gold band and setting fees, I wouldn't pay 3k... So why do I have to spend 2hours to get it to a fair price of say $1500? I just don't have the patience and I haven't found great deals. That's me. The best deals I have gotten are rings under $200 bucks go figure. I'm still wearing one everyday that's 10 years old and didn't cost more than that $200, perfect condition. And don't believe that gold plated jewlery on the ship, you get less than what you pay for, again IMHO.

https://tropicaltreasurehunt.com/st-thomas/treasure-hunts/ There were several types of hunts to choose from, I'm looking at the rum one. Anyone chime in with a recent experience with these guys? Thanks!

There are several shacks to get food and drinks, price varied by 3 bucks or so for a frozen drink we paid 12-15 for a red solo cup sized. Made with several choices of fresh fruit, I choose how much rum I wanted in it. We choose the guy to the left of the stage who had samples to order from. From memory there was red snapper, a club a cheeseburger, chicken fingers, fries and a ceviche.. You can walk up or get a server that will bring to you, think island time. Because we paid cash, I don't know which shack takes credit or not. Bathrooms were clean. Sorry wouldn't let me edit

You WILL get chairs, I doubt they will be first row. Chairs were $10 each, I think the umbrella was $15. It was $15 pp EACH way. Same taxi that dropped us, picked us up at a pre-arranged time. We went in May, found it very safe. There will always be that guy out there selling pot it seems. I brought cash as it had been awhile since I had been. I do not believe the taxi take credit card. You will will need several hundred bucks on ya. Cab driver did make change, for our group it was $90 each way, yikes but there were 7 of us, 2 were kiddos There are several shacks to get food and drinks, price varied by 3 bucks or so for a frozen drink. You can walk up or get a server that will bring to you, think island time. We love this beach, but it is not a sterliized US beach, it has local island flare.

I'm not sure if both sides are the same, we were on the left with our backs facing the water. There is a good 10 feet into the water where it's about hip height, then it drops off more. I didn't walk much in the water, just in for a dip.

There are so many errors in judgement on these poor folks that missed their cruise and it could happen to any of us in our early cruising days. As almost everyone has stated, no insurance??? That's not the place to save a dime. It took one bad experience, for me to learn the hard way that even the ship provided insurance isn't enough for our needs. Blindly though we had insurance, we were covered. Now I have chosen to pay for better 3rd party, Allengenz to meet our needs. However, that did require learning the hard, cha ching way, but not to the tune of $60k, ouch!!!! Although the story is still murky on details, I hope this alerts some new folks, not to fly in same day and review their insurance policy through the cruise lines. This experience of theirs was terrible.

I'm not opposed to having Buffett etiquette/hygiene lessons broadcast on the TV! Having just come from Vegas, it doesn't matter how much one spends, folks are not "in the know".

We did a cost analysis with the RCL UDP and drink package and found great options with Virgin and NCL. Previously I would have never considered them. Add new ships to explore, itinerary and it's a win win. Instead of working on it RCCL doubled down with the inconsistent only one meal at a time (which really irritated me last cruise), the upcharge after only one lobster and ya'll get where I'm going. Virgin has amazing dining venues and I'm beyond excited to sail with them. Should RCCL have just maintained the quality of MDR food, I never would have gone looking. Mind you I still have some cruise dates to fill in.. but price wise RCCL isn't winning. I ended up with 3 NCL booked, when I started with RCCL searches. I hope this turns around quickly as I love the RCCL ships and experiences, other than the food.

While I can't promise it to be available for you, I can say that the staff will happily change a TV channel to provide it for you if it's available. Internet/ship location/and random dead spots affect any sailing. As ATG stated, there will certainly be folks watching on their phones as well, join them. We have so much fun there. Order the buffalo wings!

We love the Allure. Note though we have never sailed her with kids, so have no idea of the activities or amenities for them. 6500 folks seems immense! Aside from the usual waiting for elevators at peak dinner and show times, we never found her overly crowded. We are a go-with-the-flow couple and don't require the best show seating, the best pool seat, so it's easy for us to relax and enjoy almost anywhere. Don't cancel, give it a try.

Oasis hands down, sailed her twice, loved her! I have recently been on the WOS and loved it, but that price tag? Nah, I only did it because we took the grandkids. The itinerary for the Oasis is better, you save money and less hassle with the airport drive.

It seems you are correct, it's a new booking done through RCCL, not the casino. Because it is a casino reward, I would go back through them and head to a supervisor. The hold times can be long. It seems they are going to make you fight for this reward, so that's why a supervisor is your best bet. Let us know how it plays out!

We were on the WOS in May and it was the worst experience in food quality I have had in 20 cruises. Now the service was excellent and they tried hard. I just ate at playmakers and booked specialty dining for the remaining three nights. (Oh pizza and room service as well). The MDR had various empty tables, while specialty dining was tightly booked. The mediocre cafeteria food is indeed sending folks to pay more. I have virgin and NCL cruises up next to try some new avenues. I'm not anti RCCL, but I won't eat at the MDR again and the costs of specialty dining are considered when I price compare my cruises.

1. The internet does have a max amount of minutes depending upon what you were given in your package, mine is 150 minutes. Thats enough to check in, not run a social media site, just post a few pics and read a few emails. Some ships are upgrading to star link, many do not have that, so call your rep or research further as you didn't mention your ship name so I can address it specifically. The drink package is unlimited to $15 or $16 bucks per drink and you can order 2 at a time. If you have a taste for higher premium liquors and such, when you go to order the premium package, it gives you a list of the liquors. Because you can access this from various spots on NCL website, have a sip and just keep clicking on My reservation and your booking and you will find it. This site is not as easy as RCCL or Celebrity. I'm still working through the specialty restaurants, that are covered with this promotion, as I book one that is ala carte, I can book one, but the "free at sea" one seems to be a circus. Most of the time we prefer, early, are definitely booked on sea days.. I can't say for sure about the comped specialty dinning, as I tried to book it 100 days before sail and it won't happen. Someone here will soon correct me and give you/and me the details and we will both learn.. TY all in advance!

Thanks in advance, our first of 3 NCL booked, I have used the search option, but it uses each key work and gets wonky and off-topic from there. So going forward: 1. I have the free at-sea dining package for 2, one meal. We are 100 days from sailing on a nine-night on the sky we were able to book additional specialty restaurants for ala carte, but cannot book our comped dining. This has to be done on arrival? We already have 3 booked, can we work this in somehow for a basic credit? I do NOT wish to purchase the grouped dining as we looked at the menu and really prefer multiple apps and freedom to do such, ty in advance. 2. Bottled water is not included in the free at-sea basic drink package. Do we just bring a tumbler? Thoughts on this? 3. The dreaded clothing question, we are coming from Alaska in the Bush, to Miami (4 to 5 legs of trips with multiple variable fees for luggage), and then spending another 25 days in the lower 48 states before and after this cruise. So luggage IS very tight. With specialty restaurants, I've researched I can wear an appropriate sun dress in heels, and my husband needs a pair of khakis with a collared shirt. (small ship, we booked all three restaurants, the steak house, the Italian, and the French one). Are long pants mandated, if so, good with us, just need to know... not opinions, please. Oh if a moderate sun dress is not ok for dinner, I mean knee length, not showing off the gals, let me know too. 3b. If the clothing guidelines I have read are accurate for me and the husband, NOT starting a war with dress code folks, been there/done that... what shoes for men are acceptable in these three food specialties venues, and closet space on this ship is tight, is there laundry that isn't boiled and burn on board? 4. I read through so many sources I can bring wine, but no bottled water. Please confirm or deny this. Ty you all in advance, It's very difficult to switch to a new line, where previously here I was so easily frustrated with the very same questions that were posed on other boards. I sincerely thank you in advance and let us NOT get into a dress code war! We are traveling 5200 miles and need to pack smart.

Right? I was trying to figure out how this was going to be three pages, but here we are. Just address the issue and let us know.

I've had no issues on my 20 previous cruises. Why not just call for the room steward, get this corrected and post the result? Why the internet first? Of course, the situation was unsatisfactory to walk into. Just clarify the issue and allow a fix to happen.

Yes, you can walk right in. I had my invite card with me and no-one asked to see it. Brought my daughter who was a lower tier level.

The RCCL website and app can get funky. It happens

Not south beach, as there is seaweed , some small minnow type fish, but not much. As can happen anywhere, grandson was stung by a jellyfish. Those stinkers are so hard to see in the water.

We did the WOS with a 2 year old. There is a GREAT splash pad and a few activities areas for them. A play area deck 15/16 one of the boardwalk and one next to the Adventure Ocean club thats indoors. The adventure ocean club only gives you "x" amount of hours, and it seems to vary per ship. We were given 8 hours for the cruise. You can always call each day to see if there are additional openings as folks cancel. It's like $8/hr. On our cruise, they pool attendants allowed the younger ones with swim diapers in the pool, an area I don't want to get into a debate with, But I would NOT expect this to be the case as it's against the rules. So find one with a good splash pad!