rthling

Catalina Island easily one of my personal Top 5 places on the planet. When I went, I booked through a resort (I was in La Romana on a land vacation), but I know we weighed many options, including this one:

 

https://www.getyourguide.com/la-romana-l1198/paradise-snorkeling-day-trip-in-dominican-republic-t34675/

 

It includes transfers to/from the starting location, a snorkeling trip, a beachside lunch, drinks, and beach chairs. It's all-inclusive and a very European-styled island. I really enjoyed getting away from the primarily American crowd and meeting some people from other countries, while exploring the protected reserve. It is also my favorite reef in the Caribbean that I've snorkeled to date.

 

Enjoy your trip, this is a gorgeous area of a gorgeous country! :D

It doesn't look like this would work for a cruise port day. Has anyone done this during a cruise?

We are looking to do some ziplining in St Kitts, but Sky Safari is under contract with Carnival and can't book us directly.

The excursion is sold out.

Does anyone know if another zipline company books directly?

Thanks!

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Unfortunately, they can't be booked independently of the ship. And the excursion is sold out.

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At st. Thomas, we took a cab to Red Hook, ferry to St. John, then another cab to Trunk Bay. Didn't cost a ton, and is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Soft sand, aquamarine water, beautiful day.

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We booked through Captain Bob, after reading all the great reviews.

Since we booked so late, we didn't get on Bob's boat, but with Captain Mike, instead. Everything was exactly as advertised by Bob, and we all had a fabulous time. This was our last port day and the best adventure we had, the whole cruise. Do it.

What are you waiting for?

Oh, and we tipped $10 per person.

We stayed at the Wyngate. Rooms were decent, breakfast was great, and the shuttle ride to and from the port were just what we needed.

We stayed one night. It was cheaper than parking at the port.

We skipped the cabana. (chose to direct those funds elsewhere)

We went to Columbus Cove. There was a larger ship coming into port a little later than us, so we staked our claim early. No problems being crowded. It was gorgeous. This was my view:

Dangity dang. I would have totally bought a couple of the old style cups, too.

I wasn't impressed with the new ones, either, but they served their purpose.

But yay for the freestyle machines! We enjoyed vanilla rootbeer to our heart's content.

Would anyone mind letting me know what sodas are in the machine?

I specifically would like to know if Dr. Pepper and rootbeer are available.

Thanks.

Sailing next week for Christmas and New Years!

i'm looking into getting a hotel room with park and cruise in baltimore for our september cruise. does anyone know if you can reserve directly through the hotel or if you have to go through another site and if the price is cheaper either way. ty

I googled park and cruise hotels in Baltimore and found a few. Then I let my SIL, who has this uncanny ability to get discounts where no discounts exist, book us.

We got a rate cheaper than it costs to park at the port.

Peace of mind, since we are traveling from TN at Christmas, breakfast, and parking with shuttle service.

Can't remember where she's got us, but I think it's the Wingate, or something.

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thanks!

You mentioned that you read 83 pages of this thread...if you'll turn OFF signatures it will be 42 pages. Turning off signatures allows many more posts per page and to me is much easier to read. Also, it's not so overwhelming when you first begin.

How do you turn off signatures?

I will be staying at the Calibre Hilton San Juan before my cruise on dec 7. I'm wondering if anyone else had stayed there and I'f so can you give me some ideas what it's like or any tips? Thanks!!!!!

We stayed there for a few days pre-cruise with the extended family. Very nice place. We ate a bite at the bar in the middle of the night, as well as walked around the beach/pool area. Nobody bothered us. The hammock grove was very peaceful in the dark of night. Private, too. ;)

Mortons is there, but it's terribly expensive. Best steak I ever had, though.

We are staying 3 nights pre-cruise at the Caribe Hilton in SJ, a large group of us. Can anyone tell me the best and most economical transportation from the airport to the Caribe and then the Caribe to the cruise port (Celebrity)?

We had a pretty large group and grabbed a couple van cabs.

I totally agree with everything said above! Don't bother taking so many clothes...however if you get in a bind they have a place you can do your laundry on your deck.

 

If you get messages on a regular basis at home don’t get one on the ship…you will be disappointed and they are not cheap. Mine was $235.00 for what I get at home for $90.00 and I was annoyed by them taking 10 minutes of massage time to sell me products. SOOO not worth the money!

 

If you go off the ship use cash and try to pay with small bills. Someone at our table paid with a large bill and was given counterfeit bills as change.

 

 

Don't whiten your teeth on the ship! Your gums will be hurting the rest of the cruise.

RCI Adventure of the Seas didn't have one. Not sure about other ships. I did have some laundry done on a sale day, when they let you fill a bag for a set amount.

Took me a minute to figure out what you meant here, then I realized you were talking about a massage, not a message. Right, though. I did tell the lady not to try to sell me stuff, or I might buy it using the tip I was prepared to leave her. ;)

Dang. That stinks.

:D

Morton's was still there in 2011. Not sure now. CH was a lovely place to stay and I never had my room key checked when I went out by the pool. (nor when DH and I enjoyed the privacy of the hammock grove in the middle of the night... ;-) )

Congrats and thanks for the review. We will be sailing on Grandeur over Christmas and New Years. Can't wait!!

A baby.

JUST KIDDING!!!!

I like T-shirts. hehehe!

How do you find out what ships are in port on a given day? I'd like to know how many ships are in each of our ports. I'll be sailing on the 10 night Holiday cruise in December 2013.

I seriously appreciated the list. Actually, I just asked on another thread what GTY meant. And then I found this thread.

Ha!

Well, we ended up buying the kids the soda option, after all. It didn't take long to realize something, though. The coke is mixed super lean, and you can see right through it. We started asking for it out of a can.

We'll be on RCI Adventure of the Seas. Any input as to if they sell soda by the glass or have vending machines? I told him he could just have soda when we are ashore, but he's eleven and would like some assurance, lol.

One more thing, I've told my children that if they would like the soda option, they may purchase it for themselves. (Really makes them decide if it's worth it, when it's their own money!) My son isn't sure he needs $4 of soda each day, but possibly just one with dinner a couple times during the cruise. (he's my tightwad!) Can he even do that? I wasn't sure if you can just buy a glass, or if you have to pay for the whole soda option.

I've been reading this thread and was wondering something.

Many people mention bringing on bottled water, which sounds like a good way to save a little money, but RCI says it is prohibited. I don't want to buy it just to have it seized.

This is our first cruise and I've learned quite a bit from everyone. I was just wondering if I was missing something.