missholly24

On 1/2/2024 at 1:53 PM, MistyRo76 said:

I just did a five day cruise to Nassau and Half Moon Cay after having not been to the Bahamas in probably 8-10 years. Nassau has never been my favorite port and the last time we were there years ago we just stayed on the ship. But we had our 9 year-old with us this time, so we knew we'd be getting off the ship. 

 

The Bahamas have some nice beaches and I'm sure there are fun things to do there. But my biggest gripe with Nassau is how ridiculously expensive it has gotten. We did the "free" beach (Junkanoo Beach) as none of the excursions in Nassau held much appeal and were very pricey and the cost of doing a day pass at a decent resort would have set us back $500 or more for our family of three. Even at the "free" beach we still managed to spend over $100. The beach itself is free and we could have probably plopped our towels down on the sand, but it was mega hot when we were there so we wanted some shade and I'm not that young anymore and my back would have hated me for sitting on the sand for very long. The cost of two lounge chairs and an umbrella was $30. Plus the chairs were squished together so tight that your neighbor next to you was practically on top of you. We then paid $70 for a very basic lunch - cheeseburger and fries for the kiddo, an appetizer for the hubby and a shrimp and rice meal for me plus two sodas. It took almost 90 minutes just to get our food. There were no other amenities here other than the restrooms which were filthy. I get that you get what you pay for...but it's hard to justify $500 for a beach day (that doesn't even include all drinks and food) at a resort here. Especially after having been to Cozumel and Costa Maya on my previous cruise. In Cozumel, we paid $65 per person for an all-inclusive day at a beautiful resort. Included all food, drinks (alcohol included), had a pool, gorgeous beach, and the service was amazing! In Costa Maya, we paid $52 for the same type of package. And both places limit their capacity so it's not overcrowded. It was peaceful, relaxing and fun! 

 

Now, Half Moon Cay on the other hand is amazing and one of my favorite cruise stops! The water is beautiful, the activites on the island are reasonably priced (the three of us did a stingray encounter for $150 total), the food is included, and there is a ton to do! We even splurged and got a cabana (shared the cost with the family we were traveling with). And this was the way to go! It was absolutely worth it to have our own private space. 

 

All that being said - YMMV and you may end up loving the Bahamas as a whole. You won't know until you try it. If we do book a cruise that has Nassau as a stop in the future, I will most likely stay on the ship. And I doubt that I would ever book a cruise that ONLY stops in the Bahamas again. 

May I ask what all-inclusive you loved in Cozumel and Costa Maya for $65pp? I am headed there and Costa Maya in Feb and researching what to do. Thank you so much! I'm scared to not just be going to HMC and Grand Turk (my favs). LOL....

On 1/6/2024 at 4:58 PM, stobe1 said:

People watch the Oscars ?

What I came here to say. LOL.....I thought they were cancelled a few years ago. 

On 1/6/2024 at 7:26 PM, defo said:

Long time cruiser and lurker on these boards, first time posting to make sure people are aware that you need to book the behind the scenes tour as an excursion rather than the old way of running to the front desk!

 

I'm going on the Firenze inaugural sailing in April and I would've been so upset if I didn't see the behind the scenes excursion!

Awesome thank you!

On 1/5/2024 at 6:27 PM, dlphn501 said:

I've been looking at trying to book a Havana inside for 2025 on a Vista class ship for 3 people, and it seems they only have 1 cabin!  It's like a race to see who gets it first lol.

Yes! There are a lot of cabin restrictions on ppl. 😐 (but also they don't always show you every cabin.)

I think I found my answer. Those cabins have a 2 guest limit so they weren't showing up in my 3 and 4 guest searches. 😭😭😭

Are their Havana Balcony cabins that have a normal balcony? (Vista Class or Excel) I read somewhere there

are (see below) but can't find them under bookings (even in 2026). I understand the patio is desirable to most but I think I would prefer a regular balcony 

with Havana access. Below is an excerpt from an article I found re: Havana cabins on Vista class ships. (not interested in OV or Inside)

 "A handful of Havana cabins are located on decks 6 and 7 and have enlarged balconies rather than patios; these cabins also include access to the pool. All Havana passengers must be 12 years old or older. (Limited inside-category Havana Cabanas on Deck 5 and some suites also have access to the pool.)"

Curious if they may just be the Havana aft premium balconies?

Thank you for your expertise...!!

Some physicians will just let you take them out yourself. They will give you the suture removal kit. Its easy! 

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

wat???

 

It's magical. I am serious. We don't even snorkel...

 

 

 

It's more dangerous here in the US on a regular day.

Haha totally agree! I know its irrational. Is that Bonaire or Curacao?

15 hours ago, mz-s said:

Some travel agent sites allow you to search by specific date. And of course by calling a TA or PVP you can find cruises that fit your dates exactly.

Yes, good idea on the sites but still it's not a calendar view that I've found. I do like crui**.com. PVP or TA won't work because I do it every day for fun. LOL....Always comparing ports to ships to departure port to cabins to length of cruise to cost to deposit amounts, etc. Then I research the islands a little if I haven't been there then back to the bookings. Royal, NCL and Celebrity all allow for date range search. 

12 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

what was the girls name?

Don't do it. LOL....I love researching cruise stuff. Was addicted to George Smith case back in the day as well. Happy Cruising!

2 hours ago, matt082600 said:

I saw the same documentary.  It blows my mind that on such a small island, no one can find the American girl that works in brothels?!?!  How hard could this be??

Well the corrupt private investigator really screwed up the investigation. The cab driver part too? I assume they moved her right away to another island. (While the bad PI was not following leads). ABC islands seem very safe overall. I would choose that itinerary! 

6 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

What lady that went missing in Curacao? Do you mean Natalie Holloway in Aruba?

No. Amy Lynn Bradley. It was a long long time ago but the YouTube documentary has stuck with me for some reason. Like I said it’s irrational. She was most likely trafficked after hanging out with a band member during a cruise with her parents. Millions of people have safely traveled there since. 

I have such a weird vibe about Curaco. I hate that I watched that documentary about the lady that went missing. I know its 1 in a million but its ruined it for me! So irrational. I need to do more research on Bonaire and Curaco in general because I to am deciding between these two itineraries. Both a win!

On 12/27/2023 at 8:43 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Alternate title - "It's So Close I Can Almost See It:  The Pseudo-Panama Canal Cruise"

 

I decided to do a live report for my upcoming cruise on the Dream.  I'll have Internet access and with Starlink it will probably good enough to post most of the time.

 

Since there's a couple of weeks to go until the cruise, here's the backstory... I booked this one a very long time ago - August 2021, back in the early days of the restart.  I needed a cruise to put my FCC from the cruise I was canceling that had protocols that I didn't want to deal with.  That FCC came from a cruise that was canceled due to the ship shutdown.  I liked this one best of my options, so I booked this one and put my FCC and OBC here.  I also have $250 in OBC as a CCL shareholder.

 

I've done 6 Journeys cruises before on Carnival, and this will be #7.  I always enjoy the Journeys experience.

 

My last cruise was on the Carnival Magic in November.  I did a thread about it; I'm too modest to call it a trip report or review.  I'm too lazy to link to it, sorry.

 

I'm looking forward to checking in for this cruise tomorrow.  Have I mentioned that I'm Platinum yet?  (flashes Platinum card)

 

Most of the details for this cruise are taken care of.  I'm still undecided about the excursions.

 

This cruise has had a couple of minor itinerary modifications since I booked.  We were supposed to dock in Ocho Rios, but we're going to Falmouth instead.  Falmouth is normally Royal territory, but I have been there once on a Carnival ship.  I'm looking forward to going back.  The second change was a slight change to the hours we'll be in Panama.

 

About that Panama stop.  Despite this being listed as a "Panama Canal cruise", it really isn't.  We're docking in Colon, Panama and not going through the Canal at all.  Two respected posters here who post on other forums I frequent have warned me about the awfulness of this stop.  I'm intrigued enough to see for myself - from a safe distance.

 

I'm not sure what format these posts will take.  There will probably be multiple short posts each day as things happen and I find time to post, but I could go with a single longer post per day.  We'll see.

 

That's enough of an intro.  More posts as conditions warrant.

I'm hoping this means its awesome because a Disney cruise seems dreadful. thousand kids. one pool. BLECHHHHHHH. 

Hello!

I used to use the hack of clicking on "Cruise Deals" to search for specific date using calendar view. That no longer works! Does anyone know

how to look up available sailings in calendar view now? (I can't believe there isn't an easy option for that. My vacation time is set 

in stone once I submit it.  I'm not retired YET. lol. It gets exhausting opening up the specific dates for the month each time). 

Thank you!! I know ya'll will have a way. 

On 9/22/2023 at 6:41 PM, fla33023 said:

Looks really fun! Is it anchored or does one of your friends have to jump in and push you back to shore?! Lol

Haha hopefully its anchored! Im already overthinking and wondering if we will have to push off random people/kids from the beach. 🤣🤣🤣

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Came in to say this. The things people buy because they are on vacation, never ceases to amaze me. I guess it could be fun in some cases if you have a large group, and want the privacy. Not for me though. 

The Villa and Cabana are great. Renting the Villa has been some of the best single days of our life. You definitely dont want a large group. That would ruin the experience. However, they priced me out. Im a nurse not CEO. Lmao. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

29 minutes ago, pohlerbear said:

That seems awfully expensive for an oversized float. Hope it comes with alcohol or something 

They charge $700 for a 6ft x7ft 3 sided hut with a table inside and $1000 for the open air villa with a bathroom. They passed up overpriced a while ago. Lmao. I’ll be grateful if we can chill on it with a little shade. HMC is paradise. 

47 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

This might help:

 

https://aquabanas.com/products/inflatable-floating-cabanas/party-bana/

Oh that would be cool if its that! Thank you. 

Hi all!! 
 

Since Im still traumatized I won’t have a Villa for my next HMC visit I rented this….without knowing really what it is. Lol. Does anyone know or has been on it? No photos available. Little description included. Lol we will find out! I had an on board credit so it was only a couple hundred dollars. 
 

6 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Is this a common thing where guests sleep with cruise workers? 

 

One night at the buffet, I was sitting near four (maybe?) officers while I was eating and one of the younger guys was talking about some guest hitting in him and that he could have slept with her had he wanted to. The thing I found funny about it is we were on the Pride in Europe and there weren't too many people on that boat who would have been age appropriate for this young man...

Haha I hope not! I read Cruise Confidential and they all sleep with each other according to the author but they actual don’t like us passengers. Lol. They refer to “us” Americans as cows. Lmao…..I mean some cruisers are pretty rude and glutinous. The book is amazing by the way. Both good and bad. 

6 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Carnival said "they are sure he didn't go overboard"??? 

 

I mean...how can they be sure?  It was the next day before anyone realized that the guy from Louisiana who went overboard (and was rescued) was missing. Clearly, Carnival didn't notice he went in the water.

 

The one thing I do think is interesting is that he would have gone overboard when they were relatively close to being in port according to the time line...

Well they have CCTV down both sides and on the aft and forward. I think even if the censors didn’t go off you would still see something going overboard during a review of the footage. There was very little time (if the key entrance for the cabin was actually him) where he was unaccounted for (3 am ish till 7 am ish isn’t very much time to review. And they were probably actually docked around 5 or 6. 
 

Its definitely an odd one. Doesn’t line up with the traditional disappearance. The fact that Miami Dade issued a Missing Person alert that reads he may be in need of assistance is weird. Read between the lines type. I hope the family gets answers either way. Must be agonizing not knowing. 

18 hours ago, zackarykeef said:

There are too many holes in this story.

 

Has anyone considered foul play?

Could his brother have done something in the room and wheeled him off in a suitcase?

Do we know if all of his stuff was still in the room?

The entire family (especially his brother) just disembarks and doesn't say anything until they're off?

If I was in a room with my brother, I don't think I'd get off without him...

 

I don't see how he could've gotten off without scanning his card, but I can see the customs part. One of my most recent cruises disembarking at PoM, they just had a customs agent on board randomly pulling people from the self-assist line and checking their passports. I wasn't pulled, and I walked off the ship with my luggage and was outside of the port in less than 2 minutes without any customs or immigration check. The weird thing would be that they never spotted him on any PoM CCTV.

 

I don't think he's still on the ship. He would've been noticed by now, and I'm sure security is on high alert. True, someone could sleep on the deck normally without anyone batting an eye, but with a missing person, I'm sure they would be noticing anything out of the ordinary.

 

I say the family (or one/some of them) are involved...🤷‍♂️

I completely agree with this theory. Carnival said “there are sure he didnt go overboard” and Miami Dade issued a missing person for him. (Saying he may be in need of services”). Sounds like we arent being told the whole story. Which is obviously fine but reading between the lines he snuck off and doesnt want to be found. He lives in Florida too. 

On 9/11/2023 at 6:42 PM, RD64 said:

George Smith too in 2005 who it is assumed went overboard.

Yeah he definitely went overboard. His new wife slept with a Russian worker at the casino and they murdered him probably after robbing him. There was a ton of blood on a lifeboat beneath his balcony and his neighbor was an ex FBI agent and heard a large fight with Russian speaking. The wife was on camera drunk on absinthe asleep in a hallway. That story couldn’t be any wilder if it were made up. 

1 hour ago, Etta1213 said:

I wonder if, when searching for him, they search crew cabins also?

Great question. I would hope so.