SimplySuzy

Great photos - you're right - you can hardly tell that yours were taken the same stormy day. :) I'm jealous that you zip-lined. We were going to, but decided against it when we saw the weather. They kept it running for quite some time!!

Suzy

We just came off the Dawn and stopped in HC on Tuesday. We were off the ship quickly and were so excited (!!!) to find 9 chairs in a row between the beach and pool to accommodate all of us.

Then, the rain came. We were thankful for the sturdy umbrellas, as we all stayed dry as we waited for it to pass. Which it did after 20 minutes. For about an hour.

That hour or so gave us time to explore HC from end-to-end. Oh, how we wish we had more time!!!! We loved the Wildlife encounter, the bathrooms were IMMACULATE!!!!! the pool was beautiful, we loved watching the zip-liners, the sand was rough, but pretty. PLENTY PLENTY PLENTY of chairs. Friendly staff. We did not purchase food or beverages.

Then, the storms came and never relented. We stuck it out for a long time, giggling while huddled under our umbrellas. We tried going in the pool, but we were all too cold at that point. Bit by bit, our group made a run for it back to the Dawn. I stuck it out (alone) as long as I could, hoping for brighter skies. I ended up heading back and curled up with a book and an orange in the Thermal Spa instead.

Here are some photos:

We are on the Dawn 12/23 and while we're on board, our credit card turns over to the next month.... Are all of the ship charges posted on the last day of the cruise (all at once) or are they posted each day as we make purchases, etc???

I'm trying to decide whether to pre-purchase the spa pass ($20pp savings) or to book it on the ship if it doesn't charge until the next credit card statement.

Finances on the High Seas!!

We just returned from our trip and we used the rented GoPro on two excursions - one was snorkeling and another was a beach day. They came out pretty good!! Thank you for all the advice, everyone. :)

I went ahead and rented the GoPro Hero3+ and the 3-way 3-in-1 mount, and then bought an extra battery (which I can re-sell) and SD card (which I can use in my camera or computer). We should be in good shape to have fun and capture some memories. At least we'll know better if we want to buy an underwater camera at some point later in the future.

I appreciate all the feedback and I'll make it a point to come back and post an update after our trip.

We have been reading countless reviews and have pretty much decided that we are going to rent a GoPro for our cruise. We will be surface snorkeling so we won't be going very deep.

With shipping and insurance, it looks like a GoPro Hero3+ will cost us about $100 for our time frame. I am not familiar with GoPro cameras at all. Here's my stupid question of the day - does it only do video, or does it take stills as well? I know I will need a memory card, but I cannot tell if there is anything else I will need. This is the list of what comes with the rental:

• • (1) HD HERO3+ Camera
  
• • (1) 131' Waterproof Housing
  
• • (1) WiFi Remote
  
• • (1) WiFi Remote Key (No ring)
  
• • (1) Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
  
• • (1) Quick Release Buckle
  
• • (1) Curved Adhesive Mount
  
• • (1) Flat Adhesive Mount
  
• • (1) USB Charging Cable
  
• • (1) Remote Charging Cable
  

I've been reading this thread for a while.. We do a bunch to lessen the money crunch...

We use our Disney card to buy everything, and then use our Disney reward dollars to pay for airfare.

Once we have something booked, we give up Dunkin Donuts, and dinners out for the time leading up to our cruise.

We look around the house for things to sell online. For this cruise, we have made almost $700 selling stuff. I've come to realize that experiences with my family are often more valuable than what we sell.

We use Groupon for hotels, tours, etc....

We save all of our spare change between vacations.

We sometimes book excursions outside the cruise line offerings to save a little.

I think that's it. We do have a decent bill from our on board charges, but we know ahead of time how much we have "saved up" and budget accordingly.

~Suzy

Cape Cod