Travelin_Teacher0710

I am doing a Royal Caribbean cruise that stops at Falmouth. What are some of the best things to do while in this port? I generally like to use independent excursion companies rather than cruise ship excursions. Are there any good independent companies that work out of Falmouth? Any information or insight that you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

I stopped here on the NCL Jade and I pre-booked roundtrip transportation to Montego Bay. My driver was EXCELLENT and I spent the day at Doctor's Cove Beach and had a relaxing, beautiful day. My driver stopped us at a souvenir shop where we had a chance to get gifts and things, and then I was back to Falmouth well before departure time. With enough pre-planning, you can create quite a fun day for yourself.

We r not big drinkers..wondering how dining option works...cruise line port excursions seem pricey with only $50 per port discount...

On my last sailing with NCL I chose the Free At Sea Dining option and LOVED it! I always eat at Cagney's so it was nice to have that taken care of and then be able to try out 2 new restaurants I'd never been to (Teppanyaki and La Cucina).

Soooo I'm clearly super late to the party, seeing as the last post on here was almost A YEAR AGO! lol But here's my 2 cents on this: Every lifestyle cruise company says which ship they've chartered. So, if you do a ROLL CALL for that sailing, that's all you'd need....for example: a popular lifestyle resort in Cancun is doing their first cruise in Feb 2020 on the RCCL Brilliance.... sooooo just make a roll call for that sailing and whoever posts is obvious "in-the-know" about the sailing ;) Best of luck and happy sailing y'all.....

I am looking for a reasonably priced hotel close to the port of Miami-suggestions please?

For younger cruisers(under 40), younger couples and solo cruisers:

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Rock Hostel in South Beach. I just did a solo cruise and stayed there for 1 night pre-cruise. My travel was delayed and I didn't arrive until 2am but it was fine because the hostel has 24/7 front desk attendants! :cool: I think I paid ~$23 USD for my stay. They have private rooms and dorm rooms, so you can pay more or less than I did. I was in a 6-bed female dorm room; there were only 2 others in the room and then me, which was awesome! The dorm room has an en suite bathroom and changing room and linens and towels are provided!

When I got up the next day to head to the port, it was quick and easy to get an Uber and he got me there quickly with a price of $11.64 USD.

Hope this helps someone!! Happy planning & smooth sailing! :)

Unfortunately, MOST lines do this. But today I booked a 10 day southern caribbean on NCL for $599. NO SOLO SUPPLEMENT!!!! You've just gotta be patient and learn when/where to look. Best of luck to you!

Happy Planning and Smooth Sailing!

cle-guy, i like where your head's at ;) And thanks for the advice, I'll pass it on to him(and use it for myself on Tinder) and we'll both "do our homework" hahaha

lol...good idea. Just let him know, grindr does not work at sea. :p

LMAO!! bahahaha sooo true! lol geez, how will he survive!?? :p

I second that. I've met allot of good people on cruises.

I totally agree!!! I've made some real, true life-ong friends on each cruise I've been on and they're a total mix of GLBT and straight.... and i think he knows that, but was just interested/excited about the prospect of just having a pre-set way to meet people ya know. But absolutely, the hot tub is still my #1 all-time favorite and best way to make friends with EVERYONE ;)

Thanks for the info! And yeah, he was already kinda planning to just go to the gym and do it the old fashioned way lol

Hi all,

I'm a 29yo single, straight girl who lives with my 29yo single, gay roomie.

He and I are going on a cruise 7/26 and it's my 4th and his 1st(well he went on one with family when he was younger but has never done it as an out, grown adult).

He's a little nervous about social activities that are LGBT centered. And by nervous I mean, he's thinking there won't be anything to do.

I told him that I think I kinda remember seeing or hearing about LGBT cocktail hours on other cruises I've done but couldn't remember.

Could you give me some insight into what events will probably be going on and/or how to get info about them once we're on the ship?

We'll be on the RCCL Vision of the Seas going to Key West and Grand Cayman.

Thanks in advance for all your help, lovies!!

Happy Planning and Smooth Sailing!

To answer your 1st question:

I choose is this order:

1. Price-- it's gotta be in my budget

2. Itinerary-- Look at ports, number of days in ports and number of days at sea

3. Departure Port-- Living in FL makes this pretty easy for me, but when I lived in OH it was important that the port be somewhere I could get to in an affordable manner

To answer your 2nd question:

I've done NCL and RCCL. I booked a Carnival one for this fall but unfortunately had to cancel it so I can only speak to 2 of the 3. And I've only been on 1 RCL cruise so far(my 2nd is in 3 weeks). As a 29 year old single professional, here's my 2 cents:

**DISCLAIMER: EVERYTHING IS MY OWN, HUMBLE OPINION. I'M NOT STATING THIS AS FACT OR GOSPEL SO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TROLLING ME IF YOU DISAGREE!** Thanks! :o

NCL

Pros: affordable, young, diverse, nice ships, love doing what i want when i want, lots of partying, pretty good daily activities

Cons: the food is not that great(unless you go to one of the specialty restaraunts!), drinks are really expensive, overall service is mediocre

Royal

Pros: outstanding service, wonderful food, well kept ships, diverse, lots of great activities throughout the day for whole family(i love trivia!)

Cons: older crowd, cost of cruise is not-so-affordable(but i'm a teacher so lots of thing aren't affordable for me! lol), nightlife is disappointing

Bottom Line: If I could, I'd choose Royal over NCL every time because the service and food far surpass NCL on a consistant, daily basis both in the regular dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Even though the nightlife is underwhelming, I'd still go with Royal.

Happy Planning & Smooth Sailing,

Monica

Hi All!

I just booked my 1st solo cruise(4th overall cruise) on the Carnival Victory in October 2014. It is my 30th birthday present to myself! I'm usually pretty good at getting/finding deals but this trip has got me thinking about what makes a "good deal" in this mysterious world of Solo Cruising... :confused:

I once saw a solo cruiser on here say that he always tries to sail for an overall cost of around $100/day or like $110/day and anything more than that is ridiculous. I'm paying like $134/day for my solo cruise... should I feel like I've been sold a lemon, or feel like I got a good deal? (For the record, my deposit was discounted by $300 and I got a free room upgrade from the bottom of the boat to deck 8 so that's why I felt like I got a 'good deal')

Happy Planning & Smooth Sailing

Carnival has discounted deposits and automatic upgrades for people who've never sailed with them so I checked online and spoke with the sales guy and booked it.

ORIGINALLY, the interior room on Carnival Victory for a 5 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on deck 9(i think?) would've been a $400 deposit and a TOTAL cost of $750(paying extra each day to be on a higher deck).

AFTER THE DISCOUNT, an interior room on the Victory, deck 8, in the Forward of the boat had a deposit of $100 and a TOTAL cost of $673. It isn't too, too outrageous of a deal, but I still feel happy about the discounted deposit and not having to pay a daily supplement to be on a high deck! Happy Birthday to ME! lol

**sort of a sidenote: I once saw a Solo cruiser on here say that he always tries to sail for an overall cost of around $100/day and anything more than that is ridiculous. I'm paying like $134/day for this... should I feel like I've been sold a lemon, or feel frugal? (For people who hate sidenotes in threads, I will also post this as a new thread in the appropriate place.) ;)

Happy Planning & Smooth Sailing!

1. Bring FEWER clothes/shoes and MORE money!!!!!!!!

2. It's windy. You're on a boat. Hair ties, headbands, a light sweater is nice to have.

3. Find ONE server at the pool/private beach and stick with him/her the whole time.

4. Set up your onboard account with CASH, not cc!! That way there's no hold on your card and you get cash back in your hand when you walk off the boat.

5. Please see #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Pack less clothes and fewer shoes

2. BRING MORE MONEY!!3. Bring my own blow dryer

4. Bring my own wine

5. Get an oceanview or balcony room

I am black and wanted advice about different hair styles to wear on a 7 day carrib cruise. I will be getting in the water almost everyday so I know wearing my hair out natural wouldnt work.

 

Any other advice and hairstyles plz?

I have relaxed hair that brushes the tops of my shoulders. I realize this may not help you, but I read this post and really wanted to try and help a sister out! And I've been an avid swimmer/water sport lover my whole life so when I went on my 1st cruise earlier this year this is what I did:

First and foremost, I was constantly spraying "Fantasia ic Hair Polisher Mist" on my hair all day, everyday because it has Aloe and Vitamin E in it AND IS ALCOHOL FREE so it helped to keep my hair from being ravaged by the strong sun down there. I went through a whole bottle in 3 days haha!

After each dip in the pool, hot tub or ocean I washed and conditioned my hair and blotted it dry. Then I sprayed it lightly but evenly with "S Curl 'No Drip' Activator and Moisturizer" and scrunched it with my fingers, put a headband on and was out the door. That allowed my hair to dry WITHOUT heat and it had a kind of curly, wild, laid-back look.

One day I really didn't want to walk around with a wet head so I used my my diffuser attachment and just used the diffuser briefly to get it to dry and curl a bit quicker. Again, I put on a headband and was out the door.

On the last night we decided to dress up, so I washed and conditioned it and then did my normal blow drying regiment(meaning I had packed my products that I normally use) and flat ironed it.

I packed a bunch of hair ties but never used them because I just didn't care about putting it up and looking neat. And guess what--nobody else cares either! :) Gotta love the cruising mentality....

Happy Planning and bon voyage!!!

I've cruised only once but will be going again in December and I already know I'll be doing these things again:

1) Talk to at least 1 new person each day

2)Watch the sunset every night

3) R E L A X ! ! ! :)