1gail1

This is a lot of firsts for me.

first time overseas (coming from California)

first time on a river cruise

first time on Avalon

first time on a "girls" river cruise

If anyone has any helpful suggestions please let me know, I leave in 1 week "The Blue Danube Discovery with 2 Nights in Budapest & 2 Nights in Prague". I am so extremely excited. 

What are the cabin keys like? 

Went to Alaska Sept 17-26, 2019, (a few years ago). Although every year can be different and September can always be unpredictable.  The weather was great for us, one port day had rain (Juneau) but we brought rain gear and were fine. (bring a good light weight "water proof" rain jacket and maybe pants), We did the hike up at Mendenhall Glacier and had a great experience. All the other days were long sleeves and sweat shirt weather. Most of the port days were cloudy but not cold. They say to layer your clothes but I mostly just wore a long sleeve shirt and a sweat shirt, we were outdoors a lot hiking or just walking the streets and never got cold. September is a wonderful month to go to Alaska, (no bugs 🤗)  and a bonus if you go this late is that everything in the shops are on sale because their season is ending. I got a great Alaska sweat shirt for only $10 and most of the souvenirs were all 50% or more off.

Update: I found Mitsugirly's web page that has everything: http://mitsubishigirl19.wixsite.com/mitsugirlys-cruise 

Thanks Everyone, 

grantbob : Playa Uvas looks like it may work for us as well thanks for the info.

JohninDC : I looked everywhere for the review of Mitsugirly but could not find it anywhere can you give me a link to it or maybe tell me exactly how to get to it, I thought I looked in her signature area but I could not find anything.

1 hour ago, Wordell1 said:

 Maybe make a stop at Money Bar for an hour and let the snorkelers do their thing and then move on to PB so that everyone can eat and relax.

This actually sounds like a wonderful idea or those that want to snorkel can stop here and meet the others at Paradise beach a few hours later. Thanks so much I don't think I would have thought about it that way. 🤗

thanks

Party of 8 adults, some drink some don't, some snorkel some don't. I am looking for a beach that is NOT an AI, but has a nice beach area with good snorkeling and a place to eat and drink with lounge chairs/umbrellas/restrooms. I have searched the Cozumel forms but can not come across just what I am looking for, (if it exists). The closest thing I have found is the Money Pit but the beach entrance for the non-snorkelers isn't very desirable. Any suggestions?

I am looking at two charter tours, one is through "Adventure Charters BVI" and the other through "Kuralu Catamaran charters". Both going to Norman Island cave and Indians, both are the same cost $125 for adults and both got great review at TripAdvisor . 

Can anyone give me some feed back on either of these two tour companies and their experience with them. Not sure which one to pick

So I found a site that states the taxi rates are a fixed rate per taxi not per person, yet I keep seeing that the rates to the beaches is about $8 per person.

Can anyone help me out and explain the cost?

Here is the site I found, it is also useful for maps and other things so check it out:  http://www.antiguanice.com/v2/client.php?id=675&cat=48

thanks

We will be on NCL in Dec. in Acapulco. Was wondering if anyone has done the snorkeling through the ships tour and how it was? Seems like the water temp is pretty warm at an avg. of 88 degrees F. I am a little concerned about even getting off the ship in Acapulco.

Hoping someone can help me out here, got the UDP so we get 4 specialty dinners. Do any of the specialty dinning restaurants charge an extra fee or can we pick from any of them? I have read that Teppanyak, Cagney's & Le Bistro are all good, but have not heard very much on Moderno and nothing on La Cucina can anyone chime in on these. And if there are any other secrets to tell like the lobster tails and sitting near the back in Le Bistro please share

thanks Gail

and nothing on La Cucina

We've been to these ports a number of times and the tours never vary. Does anyone have a favorite "off the touristy track" tour? Our favorite last time was a walking tour of the taco stands, one-on-one with our guide. Would like to see more than the shopping strip and local church at each port, and no boats or snorkeling.

Thanks all!:)

we have taken the bus to Bucerias, a small town up the coast about 30-40 mins. Very easy to catch the bus in front of Walmart and wave a bus down on the street to come back. Bucerias is a cute beach town which is away from the cruise crowds, with many restaurants on the beach and as long as you purchase something you get a lounge chair and umbrella free. Makes for a very relaxing beach day.

If anyone is still answering questions on this thread can you please tell me how much it is to take the ferry over and back from stone island and how often do they run and what time is the last ferry back to port

thanks for any information

Gail

where is Tony's on the beach?

The Blue Mutt is great, they donate a big chunk of their profits to the animal shelter, you'll love it.

The restaurant next door is called Luncheria, they make a great margarita. Your comment about margaritas made me laugh for quite a while.

Laws here are a bit different than the states, the passenger AND DRIVER are allowed to drink while driving, you just can't be drunk and drive.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

Well then. Margaritas it is then. Thanks again for all your info and help.

I have one more question if you wouldn't mind answering..... Can we get a taxi for all day to take us to these places? and what would be the cost? (just in case we decide we all want to drink a little).

Wow! Busy day! Ok, let me try to address everything here:

With all the stops you want to make I can see the appeal of having your own car rather than just using taxis or taking a tour, that being said please make sure you are up to it. It can be a bit of a shock driving on the left for the first time if you've never done it, and trying to learn it in 9 hours might be a challenge.

I would hit Cruzan on your way (presuming you don't hit the tasting bar too hard) because it gets very busy in the afternoons on ship days.

Apothecary Hall is interesting if you have a big love for medical history, otherwise I would skip it. Check out the fort while you're in Christiansted, that place is awesome! Estate Whim is actually back in Frederiksted (slightly East of town), I would hit it on the way back if you can. The great house and grounds are really cool at Whim.

There's no place called Angry Birds, I presume you meant Angry Nates? Great spot for a bite on the boardwalk, if you time it right you can watch the seaplane take off and land.

While you're in C'sted you should stop by the Blue Mutt and Luncheria. Blue Mutt is my favorite shop, especially for people with dogs, they also have jewelry, decor, and gifts. Luncheria is in the courtyard next door. Get a margarita for the drive back west and say hi to Lenny.

Domino Club is beautiful and the pigs are always entertaining, but it is a bit out of the way. That being said the drive up into the rainforest is stunning.

Make sure to leave some time in there somewhere for relaxing on a beach!!!

Thanks so much for your input. Driving should not be a problem we have done the driving on the left side before.

Yes I did mean Angry Nates and Blue Mutt sounds interesting since I work at a veterinary clinic and we have 3 dogs. Margarita's sound wonderful, can you have them in the car while driving as long as the driver is not drinking?

I think we will try to see the fort and Whim estate if time, and see the pigs for sure.

It will be a busy wonderful day, looking forward to seeing your island again last time we just went to Sandcastle beach, want to see more this time.

Thank you Gail

I saw a post on renting a car and touring your wonderful island, can you please tell me if this itinerary would work with our time. We are in port from 8-5. What I am thinking of doing is renting a car from Budget driving to Christiansed and looking around. May stop at the Rum tour on our way out there or on our way back, not sure which would be best. I noticed there are 2 museums in Christiansed that are open on Mondays (the day we are there). Apothecary Hall Museum and Estate Whim Museum. thought we may do both of these, are they worth seeing?. We would maybe have lunch at Angry Birds, that you have highly recommended in your comments. On the way back we want to hit Domino Club for the beer drinking pigs and then back to drop off the car.

Is there anything in Christiansed that is a great thing to do or see?

Is there anything else you would recommend that we do not miss?

And would it be better to take a tour with Prince, rather then try to do this on our own?

Thank you for all your wonderful advise that I have read so far, you are so helpful.

Gail

Walking to Sandcastle is very do-able, I did it last year with a girlfriend and we had no problems, Drake is right there are no sidewalks but if you have any sense at all you would not walk down the center of the road. We stayed on the side off the road and even though cars past us we were not in danger, similar to any country road, but I guess if you are a city person this may be an issue. It was a lovely walk.

Does anyone know how long it would take to get from the dock to the ferry stand to get to Pinel Island? it is at the end of the road at the French Cul de sac. I went there once on a boat shore excursion around St Marten, and would love to go back for a whole day. Thanks!

went there in Feb. 2016 and used Teresa with joyce's taxi. she was a kick in the pants, so funny. She was right on time picking us up and taking us over there and picking us up for our return trip. took about 40-45 mins each way, lots of road work. Cost was $25/person but we had 8 people so she dropped it to $20 ea. Very reliable you can contact her at theresahilligar at yahoo dot com

theresahelligar@yahoo.com

I have used My Sister tours in the past and was very pleased with them, they get good reviews on tripadviser and I am using them again in Dec. Helen is great and gets back to your emails very quickly. She has some great ideas on what and where to go or will costume your trip to where ever or what ever you want to do check out the web site mysistertours.com or you can email her at mysistertours@hotmail.com. I love this island it is one of my favorites, so beautiful.

I have always created my own and then take the picture to a shirt printing place. I usually get ideas of the internet. you may also try customcruisewear.com

rainbow butterfly 2015.PDF

girl 2015.PDF

Is there a way to refresh them when they lose their smell?

this may help, was posted by Island Star: do the following and they should be like new. Just did mine to make sure I didn't ruin yours.

1 - boil up kettle

2 - whilst it is boiling pour yourself a rum & coke

3 - pour hot water into a bowl and dip the necklaces into it x3 times. DO NOT let them soak! I just mean dip in until submerged and then take out right away. No idea why x3 times is the key but it's what they tell me.

4 - hang them in open window or doorway so they air dry and they should be good as new.

5. Get out photo album and reminisse whilst sipping rum and coke

Good Day Drake,

I just want to thank you very much for all the time you put in to answer these questions and all the great information you have to give. It helps so very much for a first timer.

I do have a few questions for you, I am not sure if I just missed this in all the posts but if one would like to walk to Sandcastle beach about how long would it take the average person to do so from the pier? or How much would a taxi cost to go there? Which beach do you like best for snorkeling, Sandcastle or Freedom City? Also someone mentioned frederiksted pool can you tell me a little bit about this?

thank you Gail

Hi! I've been researching this also. I think the taxi is about a 25-30 minute ride from the cruise port and that it would be about $30 each way. I used the chart here: http://taxistmaarten.com/zones-rates/

The rates are 2014.

Xenia

I just contacted the taxi service that Caribbean Padding recommended and cost was $25 round trip from port to caribbean padding. theresahelligar@yahoo.com If you have 8 or more going it is $20/person R.T.