Capt_BJ

Nor Escape is usually at CT-10 which is in the north side of the port meaning you must cross the draw bridge. It does not open all that often but if it does don't panic - the delay is not long. as you cross the bridge you'll easily see the ship so pretty hard to get lost ..... just follow the big signs. I've never had an issue doing a drop at T-10

our next cruise . . only one 'deep fjord' in two weeks .... darn

which port in JA? I'm gonna guess that Discovery Beach is the one in Discovery Bay which is on the north coast and about midway between Ocho Rios and Falmouth ... which are 36 miles apart straight line ... so DB is ~18 miles from either but factor in JA roads for travel times. Discovery Bay beach is locally known as Puerto Seco and you can find reviews on Trip Advisor - never been myself. Bamboo Beach Club is about 5 miles west of Discovery .... https://bamboobeachclub.com/ If port is Falmouth there isn't much at the port beyond the 'compound' built with the cruise port which houses a bunch of shops and Marg'ville. Not much else to do in the near area .... no beaches to speak of etc. Ocho Port has a decent beach just outside the port area AND there's Dunn's River Falls and Mystic Mountain ......

if you do the 'typical cruise excursion' you will be in a long line holding hands while a guide leads you up a 'safe' path. No worries! You see a hand holding group in my second picture.... <btw, this hand holding is done to give you a sense of security but there is a RISK .... if the person holding your hand falls they MAY take you down as well 😮> BUT this is not the only way to go .... DRF is a national park and you don't pay to climb the falls; you pay for a full day's admission to the park. The typical cruise excursion takes you in has you led by a guide for a one time climb then back on the bus ...... I taxi over, pay the admission and climb as many times as the group wants. Guides are not required but for a first time visit a guide ain't a bad idea and they are easy to find ... work for tips. After the first led trip it is time to explore and go up the middle!!!! hand holders visible on the left side food and drink is available and the base of the falls area is a beach . . .

locker at the airport?????? been a while since you've flown?

as long as you get on 528 at MCO and go direct to Cocoa YES there are still toll plazas with both manned and exact change lanes ... you will encounter TWO ..one just east of the 417 junction and one at DALLAS Road. (if you were to go WEST from MCO there ARE electronic only plazas ..... soon all the manned places will be history) be careful as the CASH lanes can look like an exit to those not familiar ... they are off to the right with electronic payment going straight thru I they are $1.50 or less paying cash (I use SUNPASS and pay the discounted rate) A roll of quarters should cover the round trip. BTW you may want to consider 'Visitor Toll Pass' which is essentially a free loaner transponder . . it's free and you pay the discounted rate https://visitortollpass.com/

Is there any area along the Falls that's over 4 feet deep? I don't recall any area beyond waist deep - been there probably a dozen times and have climbed up down and sideways sans guide . . .

sailed ODSY' Thanks' week. IFLY and NORTHSTAR pretty much require reservations altho in theory a walk up is possible ..... and there are free times and pay times ..... IME only the show in 270 theater required a reservation (and it wasn't all that good of a show . . .) 'Regular shows' in main theater did not require reservation. UBER/LYFT and taxi are available in Canav - but remember this IS a small town so there are fewer of each than you might be used to . . looking at PC' schedule appears your port call is 28th and you are the only ship that day and scheduled for CT-1 which is next to Grills . . . (a NORTHSTAR ride during the port stay will give a Birdseye view to Kennedy Space Center!)

but read original post ... subject also has no valid birth cert . . . One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate.

a little geography answers your question: Seven Sisters , or Dei sju systrene , is less then 4 nautical miles sailing from the floating pier at Geiranger or in other words probably no more than 20 - 30 minutes sailing time either before you get there or on departure .... The transit from sea to Geir' is 60 nautical miles in round numbers. If the ship were to steam at 15 knots that would be a 4 hour transit . . . side bar ... on our last visit - in mid summer - 'runoff' was very diminished and of the 7 sisters only THREE had visible flow . . .

well typically there IS not an issue ... but just recently on a 6 ship day there was a problem with another ship that caused a late arrival and that REALLY screwed things up .... Port Authority is concerned enuf to put the warning in the local paper ...... I'm not stating an opinion just sharing information available to folks locally. They also made the comparison that the extra bodies at the port would exceed the population of Titusville ... third largest city in the county. Also concerns about having enuf parking and planning for overflow lots . .

van type taxi are mixed in with the sedan type ... dispatcher can help you get one. BUT depending on the luggage load this might still be tight. Worst case split up and use two taxi.

Canaveral Port Authority is warning of VERY HEAVY pass' counts on several days in the next couple of weeks . . . "Port Canaveral is expected to break one-day cruise passenger records on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. But with the increased passenger counts comes increased concerns about traffic congestion and parking issues in and around the port. Five cruise ships are scheduled to be in port on Dec. 24, dropping off passengers ending their cruises and boarding passengers beginning their cruises. The port expects a record 52,000 passengers to get on or off the cruise ships that day. There will be six cruise ships in port on Dec. 31, with 57,000 cruise passenger movements. "We know those are going to be problem days," because of congestion at the port, .."

UPDATE Port Authority is warning of VERY LARGE crowds expected some days in next two weeks ..... From Florida Today: Port Canaveral is expected to break one-day cruise passenger records on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. But with the increased passenger counts comes increased concerns about traffic congestion and parking issues in and around the port. Five cruise ships are scheduled to be in port on Dec. 24, dropping off passengers ending their cruises and boarding passengers beginning their cruises. The port expects a record 52,000 passengers to get on or off the cruise ships that day. There will be six cruise ships in port on Dec. 31, with 57,000 cruise passenger movements. "We know those are going to be problem days," because of congestion at the port, >>>>>>>>>> you can check the schedule at https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US (this list previously showed capacity of each ship - I think folks found that a bit worrisome! 😮)

Kitti' is a 'special attraction' and boats pay a special fee to go there - it is not reachable as a shore dive <approx 1/2 mile off the beach> - IOW you need a boat trip and it will cost more than average. BTW this is primarily a SCUBA attraction altho they DO take snorkelers. The wreck is sits in about 65' of water and the top of the wreck is still about 20' below the surface .... IOW the closest a typical snork' is gonna get is 20 feet. This is deep open water snorkeling. https://www.thingstodocayman.net/kittiwake/

I'm sure the holiday added to the cornfusion but the fact that several terminals in PE have no immediately adjacent parking (or just small surface lots) is poor design and set up for trouble. For peace of mind you might want to consider https://www.bookparkngo.com/ftlauderdale.php It is just outside of the port and generally gets good reviews. It might save you a few dollars (and might not as their price is 'dynamic') and they TAKE RESERVATIONS .... actually they virtually require reservations. I would have used them but waited too long to try to book (over 6 weeks out) and there was no room at the Inn

according to the port schedule PRIMA will use T-5 which is where she was today as well. T-5 is on the NORTH side of the port aka the A side So the good news is you will be at a terminal they've used a few times and should have the bugs worked out. In PC each terminal has an associated garage so parking is not an issue 99% of the time (and there are several good off site alternatives just a few minutes away from the terminal which offer some $ savings). Only 'bad' thing about 5 is its being very close to 6 so there's a double dose of traffic heading for the same place. Also note that on the 23rd SIX ships flipping ..... so the port is gonna be super busy / crowded and EVERYONE wants to get on board ASAP. There are BIG signs directing you to th terminal, bag drop and parking . . . Lastly note that there is a draw bridge to cross to get from the highway (SR-528 / A1A) to the A side .... if this bridge OPENS you can find yourself in a bit of a traffic situation but not to worry as the openings are usually just for sail boats so don't take very long . . 4 of the 6 terminals active that day are on the north side and everyone for those four must cross this bridge . . . . https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US

We sailed Thanksgiving week on Royal from PE and parking was a mess .... I've posted about the experience in another thread which I'm sure you can find. I'll just say that I've never seen such a parking mess as this sailing from Miami, Canav' .. even Tampa. Every time I sailed from PE previously I did not park at the port. I won't try again in the future. By noon many parking lots were full and closed and the ground staff was particularly UN helpful in helping you find a lot still open .....

.... like I said in #7 . . . snork' at Eden or Sunset should be considered 'big boy/girl' snorkeling ..... this is NOT 4 feet of water and put your feet down anytime ya want. Water will be too deep for standing ......

the BIG factor is the port load for the day: how many ships will be turning over. Some days it is one and then odds are no biggie at the rental places. Other days you might have FIVE .... then stand back!!!! here's the schedule thru March https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US

EDEN seldom has any significant current. Certain times in winter and spring when the wind and waves are out of the west there can be surge into the area - which is also the ship anchorage off Georgetown. If the swell is too much they can't tender safely and the port is cancelled. SOME times a ship or two can use the alternate anchorage on the south side of the island but the surge would make the water entry at EDEN (seawall with ladder) dangerous and typically the staff at the dive shop will close the entry point. Similar situation down the road at Sunset House. this picture was taken from Sunset looking north to the main anchorage, the small boat you see is a dive boat at Eden Rock. This picture was taken about 1 hour later .... 'the weather started getting rough' ... ships were scrambling to get their pax back via tenders . . . p.s. it was March . .

I know folks that lived their entire life within a few miles from their birth place because they know it is the best place to live in the entire world and have no desire to even VISIT anyplace else. I know folks who only eat out at ONE restaurant every week with no desire to try anyplace else or anything new because they know it is the best place Check my full sig and you'll see a lot of cruise lines listed. We started cruising in the 80's and several things have changed: our tastes, our budget, sailing with and without kids, kids ages changing (in 30's now) and desire to see new places. We've sailed some lines repeatedly but never as many as 10 times. Some lines we sailed are no longer in business! Having some 'industry experience/knowledge' there are lines I will not sail . . . Currently we're fans of VIKING - both the river and ocean versions ...... no kids, no casino, good food, no 'nickel and dime' our next cruise (a few months from now) we'll revisit some parts of Norway we've enjoyed before and add Iceland - new territory for us. We're just off of a Royal with stops in Carib that we'd mostly been to before. Repeat customers on this line . . . in part because we find places they home port very convenient ....

for what it's worth PAT was not being enforced by Royal at T-18 ...... when we arrived anyway. Boarding had begun and we moved thru checkin very quickly having completed everything on line. Basically someone with a tablet scanned our passports and asked if we were vac'd and POOF done.

for most cruise lines a formal 'requirement' is long gone Cruise CUNARD and they ENFORCE dress codes A few days ago I finished a Royal 8 night and long pants and a polo shirt was as fncy as I got altho there were two 'formal optional' nites