crewsweeper

WOW! Just now had time to catch up and read all of this. Great review. Thanks for all the pictures and running commentary.

Crown Bay. Would be an unusual event for them to dock in Havensight.

Sorry to hear that. So much has changed there.

Hate to see this unanswered, but it is hard to say. Depends on the weather and currents. Look for an online forum/community that covers Placencia , or ask the vendor you are looking to use to go to Laughing Bird Caye.

Yes. I'm in the queue for an implant and that's what the audiologist told me when we were looking at various devices. Plus my Oticon Opns work in airplane mode. What doesn't work or doesn't work well without wifi are the translator apps like Live Transcribe or Easy Talk Pro or DeafNotes.

If I recall correctly, there is a ferry leaving from Charlotte Amalie to Road Town, Tortola 3 times a day 9 AM, 2:30 or 3 PM and then 5PM. So you'd have to taxi from Crown Bay. Once on Tortola you'll need to get to the West End then catch one of the ferries leaving to JVD. Or there's a private water taxi you can hire with pre-scheduled reservations. But the issue would be returning. I think the last ferry from Tortola to St. Thomas leaves around 2:30PM . It would get you back to Charlotte Amalie just before 4PM. Any need to get back earlier, you would have to catch the 11:30 AM, which gives you less than an hour on Tortola and no way to get to JVD, From friends who are on JVD now, the Ferry is $60pp one way and the ferry to JVD is $20pp one way. Think taxi from Road Town to West End is around $20-$30.

Going on aging memory, but I don't recall seeing any carts in Phillipsburg back in January. DW would have loved to hop on one then.

I would suggest emailing Maya Chan from their website. Not sure of what type of renovations are going on there, but things do tend to take more time than anticipated. You can book Jaimie's after hearing back from MC if they aren't open or booked up. Another AI that has always have good food drink and service for staying guests but now offering limited day guests is Nacional Beach Club. It's a small hotel and is very close to Jaimie's, if Jaime is full.

I was thinking the same as @c-leg5. Back around that time, El Faro had the best masseuses' and they were located up stairs. Can't recall swings there. But thse days are gone and the ownership of El Faro and service isn't anywhere near what it used to be back then. However, beach massages are available at every beach club along the malecon now. my understanding is that since the masseuses move around from place to place, but maybe after the reopening they have settled a bit. Haven't heard of anywhere giving overpriced or poor massages. If you do not want to go all inclusive, I suggest looking into Krazy Lobster, Tropicante, Pez Quadro or YaYas for better service on food and drink.

Never had nor read of those issues. Firefox then. And on Edge the link to the map is on the upper right corner. It's a Google map and expands. Sorry you're having such a difficult time as there are plenty of Phillips burg boardwalk maps on the web.

I would think, booking via a TA you would have to pony up $ and information. Also if booking via RCCL, someone would be paying in advance before final payment date and unless there's a legit excuse, there'll be no refund for a no show.

Well, DuckDuckGo is your friend. And Google wants to be. Easy to look up.

IMO, depends on what you want to see in the condition of the ruins and whether or not you are willing to risk travel time. Altun Ha is just under an hour from the Belize tender pier. Very fully excavated with a small museum. You get a sense of how the temples looked when Mayas actually lived there. Xunatunich is a couple of hours bus ride from the pier. Best to use a ship excursion which would include lunch. Ruins are accessed via a hand cranked ferry and a short shuttle ride, but are situated on a steep hill. Fairly well excavated with high large temple from where you can see over into Guatemala. Lamanai is the one that you need to take the boat ride to reach. It is a longer trip but people have gotten there via private excursions. Still, if concerned about missing ship, take a ship sponsored excursion. In the past, this set of ruins required a hike through the jungle to an not quite excavated site. Not sure if this is still the case. But visitors like the "Indiana Jones" feel of the site. Other Maya ruins to the south are too far from Belize City but one or two might be accessible from Harvest Caye if on an NCL ship.

Beyond the gates at any of the 3 piers is where you meet up with pre-booked non-ship sponsored excursions. But unlike some other Caribbean ports, there aren't hawkers outside the gates pushing excursions. However, you can hire a taxi for various things, including heading over tot eh east side or doing an island tour. Prices are posted at the taxi stands.

Understood. But there are a couple of morning flights out of Tampa to Miami and depending of $ might be suitable. Although it would probably work out just as well to drive and spend the night even with parking at port. If they left Tampa at 7 AM they could be at the cruise terminal by 11:30 day of.

Read the reviews on shopping. Unless you're into tequila, you can skip that part. You can basically do this on your own. I recall that La Mission has mariachis and pretty decent food. Plus you are almost at the plaza and plenty of shopping there. Or just stroll over to Puerto Maya (about 2 ths of mile) and enjoy a good lunch at Pancho's Backyard and tons of shops, many which are outlets from downtown.

If you can't do Jimbo's suggested Wonder dates, then book the Symphony. Coco Cay much better than Nassau. We haven't sailed the Wonder (April 2023 and Jan 2024 coming up). But we liked the Symphony. And it seemed to us old folks that the younger children were having a grand time on the Symphony. Weigh the cost/flights of air and taxi to MIA and port ($30-$35 per cab) versus gas and parking and a hotel stay.

A rapid test 3 weeks after contracting Covid should show negative. Worked for me 2 weeks after, but not under 10days.

Take a rapid test. You're probably beyond the threshold where the anitbodies still show up on the nasal passages. These tests are quick and easy to both administer and receive. Never understood the hesitancy for taking tests, other than the fear one may have COVID.

Water taxi makes 3 stops. Just past the shopping area at the pier, the far end of the board walk and then again near Bobby's Marina . Here's a link to boardwalk information and map. There are several map image sites on the web as well. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMZZNV_Philipsburg_Boardwalk_Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten

speaking from experience, barefeet are not allowed. Entered the Solarium Bistro once from Solarium lounger 10 feet from bistro door to grab an refill on coffee, maitre d' said I had to turn around and get shoes on even though I was 1/32 way from pouring coffee into cup.

I can just imagine the negative review here once a cruiser gets locked up in a foreign port because he was flying a drone that he snuck on board and Carnival didn't come bail him out. While these are fun to fly, many operators often have little respect for privacy and legal limits.

In Costa Maya, book an AI at Maya Chan and if they are closed or full, try Jaimie's Blue Reef. I'm 72 and would gladly go to both of those. I'd also been on a ruins tour with native Choice. But, I still have mobility. Wouldn't necessarily recommend for your father.

T C Boyle wrote an ironic short story, "The Thirteen Day" in April 's Esquire that fits here. Can't post but available on line.

Or at least some comments on the shows/entertainments themselves as typically performance schedules and performers change over time.