Miss Vickie

MyIsland tour by Javin, definitely!

Thanks miss Vickie! No concerns about not making it back on time if not on a cruise supported tour? Or is that the ships way of having a $$ monopoly with certain businesses?

 

 

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We've never had an issue. We plan carefully and plan to be back at the dock at least 30 to 60 minutes before all aboard. The good private operators know their reputations depend on getting people back to the ship on time. I actually know of one instance where folks on a ship-sponsored excursion were in a boat which ran out of fuel at the mouth of the harbor in Antigua. The crew had no means of communication with the shore. A private tour saw their predicament, called their office on a cell phone, loaded the stranded folks onto their boat and got them back to the dock. On time.

Part of our motivation is when we book privately 100% of our spend becomes part of the island economy, rather than part of a cruise ship cost center..

Appreciate your answer, thanks.

 

Is it possible to do a whale watching and volcano? Are there double packages or do we need to decide?

And yes, the kids are short, so zip linings out. We'll have to return!

 

 

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For St.

Lucia, I'd check with someone like Spencer Ambrose (check the ports of call boards, someone will have provided contact inf) to see if he can do both in one day. At the least, he'll be able to advise you on whether it's possible, or if you have to make a choice given the constraints of a cruise port day.

I googled the canopy tour - there's a zips only option, minimum age of 4, minimum height 48", but you should probably check their tours

http://antiguarainforest.com/tours/#nav

By the way, we always do private tours - never ship tours. Better value and we've made some great friends on the islands doing it that way.

I told our travel agent we want to do some excursions (family of 4 with an 8&9 year old), our preference was to:

 

*see the volcano on St. Lucia

*snorkel

*whale watch

 

The travel agent suggested an outline like this:

 

St Thomas--Coral World or Turtle Bay Sail and Snorkel or Magens Bay Beach

St Croix--not much here to do so I would just do a beach day.

St John Antigua--Kayak and Snorkel Eco Tour or Stingray Swim and Snorkel or the Canopy Tour

St Lucia--Dolphin and Whale Watch Safari or the Volcano-----better reviews on the Whale Watch

Grenada--River Tubing or Caribbean Cats and Sail and Snorkel

 

 

She recommended whale watch or volcano both for St. Lucia! Is there another island that has equally good whale watching opportunities?

 

Anybody do the excursions above and can weigh in? Pros? Cons?

 

Bit frustrated (and still overwhelmed)

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

 

 

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St. Lucia is your best bet for both the volcano and the whales. So. Lucia has a "drive-in volcano" you can see, and is on the standard tours. And February is still a little early for whale sightings at the other islands.

For Antigua I'd strongly suggest either Eli's Eco-tour or Classic a Yacht excursion, www,adventureantigua.com. Both are superb and your kids would enjoy them. If the Canopy a Tour is the zip-line, they may be too short. We visited the facility once, and some of the elements had a 5'1" minimum height (I'm too short).

Coral World is a good suggestion for St. Thomas, and the beach for St. Croix.

I'm not sure about the river tubing in Grenada - it may be a little rough. I don't know. I bet the kids would enjoy the catamaran, though.

Taxi. It's only a few minutes away.

Is Grenada on either of your itineraries? Mandoo is a friend of ours and we have taken school supplies to him in the past. We even got our roll call group involved last time.

:D Let your taxi driver know you are interested in photography. My husband is a professional photographer and sometimes when we get a good taxi driver he will stop along the way to show him something worthy of a photo. One time on the way to Brimstone, the driver noticed a bush with birds on it or something, and stopped so my hunny could shoot it.

Was it a tree full of egrets? If so, I've got a great picture of it.

We'll be sure to mention our interest in photography to the taxi driver.

We're booked on Jewel for the 1/24 and 1/31/15 cruises, booked the day bookings opened (about 18 months ago), and got our desired (and highly in-demand) cabins and the best prices we've seen on those cabins. That being said, RCI started a new promotion today, buy one get one half of a second person, which should give you a really good price. Don't delay, do it today.

We've done Radiance class ships, and the southern Caribbean itinerary annually for many years - you won't be disappointed.

We will be on the Royal Princess and will be in Barbados on 11/29, is anyone else interested in this tour? I sent an e mail to agapey and they said they needed 3 more people...

So, if you are in the port the same day and want to do the tour, that's how you go about getting in on it. :)

I hope someone else signs up! I really would like to go see how this is made, and especially TASTE some!

Have you asked on a our roll call? That's probably the best way to find others.

There are a number of nice shops featuring hand made local items of various sorts within easy walking distance of the pier.

I'm having such a hard time deciding, but want to do it now before all of the options are gone. It has to be so coveted for good reason, but i'm trying to figure out if its he best for me, who isnt much for direct sun. The openess and corner location should allow for more of a breeze. The view looks unbeatable, but I do think 9256 looks a little more crowded with the loungers and 2 chairs and often looks to be full sun in pictures, while usually the center afts seem to have a decent sized shady area.

 

 

The walk to the aft doesnt bother me. I want to be able to spend alot of time enjoying the balcony with my wife .:)

1104/1604 have huge rectangular balconies. There is plenty of room for 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, the small table, plus a lot more space to walk around. Or move the chairs around. The balcony on 9256 , while large, is not rectangular, the furniture is more crowded, and there isn't as much room to move it around. The wrap around part allows for nice views, but is really quite tight. There is significant breeze when the ship is moving, and virtually no shade during parts of the day.

We have never had an issue with people being able to look down at us; the only time they can see us is when we're standing at the balcony rail. Nor do we have an issue with noise from the Windjammer. We've had 1104 or 1604 on all but a 4 of our Radiance class cruises. One was in a hump, 1056, and one back to back was in 9256. Walking to the aft is not a big deal, and the hall back there is always quiet - no one comes back there who doesn't need to be there.

 

Thank you all so far. Is the center aft hot/muggy?

 

To me, that's the biggest drawback, yes, it does get hot (but not muggy). There is no breeze when the ship is moving unless you are right by the railing. It doesn't mean those aren't our favorite cabins, though. We're in 1104 for our 2015 B2B and 1604 for our 2016 B2B. We book the day the itineraries open to ensure we get those cabins.

 

Radiance class is, indeed our favorite. They'll have to drag us off of them kicking and screaming :).

A word to the wise - when you contact anyone to make arrangements, ask about the hurricane's effect on the reef - it may have been significant, and recovery can take some time.

WE had an aft balcony. I know we liked it but there were 2 issues. I don't remember the floor but we could hear noise above us. That wasn't so bothersome. The main issue was always walking to the Aft. There are no aft elevators on RC. After a couple days we really started to plan better so we didn't have to go back to the room.

We have never had an issue with people being able to look down at us; the only time they can see us is when we're standing at the balcony rail. Nor do we have an issue with noise from the Windjammer. We've had 1104 or 1604 on all but a 4 of our Radiance class cruises. One was in a hump, 1056, and one back to back was in 9256. Walking to the aft is not a big deal, and the hall back there is always quiet - no one comes back there who doesn't need to be there.

Thank you all so far. Is the center aft hot/muggy?

 

To me, that's the biggest drawback, yes, it does get hot (but not muggy). There is no breeze when the ship is moving unless you are right by the railing. It doesn't mean those aren't our favorite cabins, though. We're in 1104 for our 2015 B2B and 1604 for our 2016 B2B. We book the day the itineraries open to ensure we get those cabins.

We've done all three ships, as well. Jewel is our favorite, and Summit is our least favorite.

More sun, less shade. There's actually more usable balcony space on the center afts, due to the shape of the balcony, and while there is plenty of sun if you want, you can always pull your chair further back into shade. We've been in humb 1056, too, nearly all shade all the time. The downside to 1104/1604 is there is so little breeze, it can get pretty hot.

The classic yacht excursion from adventureantigua.com goes to Cade's Reef, as well as a second snorkeling site. It's a terrific day, our favorite.

I am currently booked in the much coveted D1 9256 for Brilliance, western carribean. It will be my 1st balcony.

 

The view looks wonderful, but I have a few concerns.

 

My wife and I would really enjoy the views, the light, and the privacy, but we dont like to sit or lay out in the direct sun. We much prefer shade/coverage.

 

 

We want to spend alot of time on our balcony enjoying the scenery and the sound of the wake, but not having enough shade would limit our use.

 

There are other great center aft (and hump) options that would likely provide more cover.

 

9660, 9260, 1104 and 1604 are available.

 

The two large 9th deck elevator humps are open too.

 

What would you do?

 

 

 

We prefer 1104/1604 over 9256. Less wind, more shade.

We've been back to both in recent years, with tours from adventureantigua.com. Bird Island is a good location for a new snorkeler to learn, but not much to see. Cades Reef is a better location for snorkeling. And I still haven't seen the elusive Antiguan racer, although their numbers are growing. We always see lots of birds at Bird Island, though.

Try Puerto Rican Arts and Crafts on Forteleza - great handmade artisan art, jewelry, Christmas items, etc. also, near the old city gates there are some good stores with hand made Puerto Rican crafts.

Anyone use these companies for sailing? Yacht Nightwind, High Pockets, or New Horizons....Good or bad experience?

We've sailed on High Pockets twice, excellent experience both times. We would not hesitate to book with Capt. Kathleen again.

Sure, they scan your seapass and pick up your c&a discount preloaded on the card, it shows as a credit on your seapass account

Thanks for the response. My husband just reminded me of our OBC. We prepay our grats, have all the drinks we need (not big drinkers) loaded on our sea pass cards, and book private excursions. Turns out I may as well just wait and use OBC.

Thanks for the replies. Since you prepay when you precook, how do the account for the C&A discount?

I usually get a pedicure, but have always waited until 've been aboard to book. I tell the manicurist up front that I don't need any products, and haven't had to deal with sales pitches. I was only caught by not realizing that 18% tip had been added once - that was one happy manicurist!

Has anyone prebooked and paid for their spa service and then had them apply their C&A benefit once on board?

Thanks!

All USCG medical evacuations are done by SAR personnel, using SAR equipment (like the Hercules aircraft that dropped the blood to the Carnival Miracle). It's the blanket term for what they do. While your hospital helipad may be smaller than the ones on the ship, they are designed without obstructions above the helipad for quite some distance, unlike ships, which have bulwarks, railings, sports nets, or superstructure close by. Also, most lifeflight helicopters have smaller rotor diameter than the long range SAR helicopters operated by the Coast Guard or military, so the obstruction free zone needs to be bigger on ships. I don't think I've ever heard of a USCG helicopter landing on any ship for a medical evacuation. Recently, I heard about a Canadian Forces helo landing on a cruise ship, but this was a smaller Huey type, if I remember right.

On our January 2004 sailing we had a helicopter medievac. We were doing a sail by of Montserrat when the captain interrupted our 360 half way through and headed back to Guadeloupe. The chopper, surprisingly, did land - we got a lesson in how they recess everything into the deck to prepare the helipad, and it took a long time for the landing. My recollection is the rotors never stopped turning once on board - they carefully loaded up and took the passenger and his wife back to Guadeloupe.