marys350

Thanks for the replies:)

 

Do any of you know if the ship has a "Chef's Table" type of dinner offered?

 

Oh, I see Ollie's Trollies has their own website....looks good and

reasonably priced too.:)

And in Portland I was looking at a company called Portland Land And

Sea Discovery Tours. They offer a trolley as well.

 

I didn't realize I never thanked the last 2 posters.....

Thank you both:)

We did the Portland Land and Sea Discovery Tour and enjoyed it. We did the trolley tour in the morning, ate lunch and shopped in the Old Port area, and then did the boat tour after lunch. We had plenty of time to get back to the ship afterwards.

My family of 9 went on StingRay Sailings and it was the highlight of our cruise! When we got to Stingray City, there were much larger boats and groups and we were happy to have such a small group (15 I believe). You won't be disappointed if you take Stingray Sailings on their catamaran!

We also did a Stingray Sailings trip in April and were very happy with the experience. The catamaran was comfortable and the crew was great. They were very respectful of the stingrays and passenger safety and comfort was also a priority.

I just read on Jet Blue's website (under "Let's Make a Date" section at bottom of their homepage) that "Starting Sunday, June 5 at 12:00 noon, you can book travel through Wednesday, February 15, 2017." Currently the flight schedule is only available to January 3, 2017.

I am patiently waiting and watching for Southwest and Jet Blue to release their flight schedules and prices for a mid-late February, 2017 cruise.

:) Mary

I just checked and it only goes to November 4, 2016.

 

Roz

Roz,

If you check this link to Southwest's Travel Tools page, you will see that on May 19, 2016, Southwest will be opening up their schedule through January 4, 2017.

https://www.southwest.com/html/travel-tools/

:) Mary

On May 19, 2016, Southwest will be extending their flight schedule to January 4, 2017. I just read this on Southwest's Travel Tools section of their website.

For anyone who needs a pre cruise hotel in January...we just booked this thru Best Western for the end of January for $99....could not find anything that came close to that price anywhere else...I think it is on sale.....was over $160 when I first looked at it...plus we can cancel....non refundable was even cheaper.

We also booked the Best Western Airport Cruise Port in Fort Lauderdale yesterday for our cruise in February, 2017. Paid $84.15 AAA rate and it includes free breakfast, parking, and airport shuttle. The day before I booked the price was around $144.00. It's beside a shopping plaza with a grocery store and some restaurants.

We drank Jameson whiskey on Jewel of the Seas in September, 2015, and on Freedom of the Seas in April, 2016.

We have sailed in inside cabins on Deck 8 several times on Radiance class ships. We prefer deck 8 because it is between two decks of cabins. Deck 7 has common areas (theater, etc.) below it. We also prefer a midship location when possible.

Was the ship time and island time at Grand Cayman the same?[/quote

 

No, Grand Cayman does not observe daylight savings time. When we were there in April local time was 1 hour earlier than ship time. Freedom stayed on Florida time for the entire cruise, so there was also a 1 hour difference in Cozumel.

Next week and we're on the Divina-thanks for your help

We were just in Grand Cayman on April 14th aboard Freedom of the Seas. Grand Cayman does not observe daylight savings time and our ship stayed on Florida time and did not change to local time, so our port time (8:00-4:00 ship time) was 7:00-3:00 local time and the last tender back to our ship was at 3:15 ship time or 2:15 local time. We were able to book a morning stingray and snorkel tour with Stingray Sailing that fit with our port time and the tour operator was able to answer my questions about daylight savings time, and whether Freedom stayed on Florida time or changed to local time.

Do you know if the Divina changes ship time to match local time? If they don't change to local time, then you definitely won't have enough time to get back to the ship in time. Even if the ship does change to local time, I think that you might be cutting it too close for comfort (for me anyway), if there are any traffic delays getting from the marina back to the cruise terminal.

Have you already booked your tour with Native Way tours? They can probably answer your question about getting back to the ship in time. Enjoy your cruise.

For our recent Freedom of the Seas cruise, boarding began during the 10:30-11:00 range.

Hi there is a tour 11:15-2:45 and our time in port is 9 am to 4 pm.

does anyone have experience with this tour company and do you think we have enough time to be back onboard? Thanks in advance

When is your cruise and what ship are you on?

What ship will you be tendering from?

There are lots of Starbucks close by however if you want something different then a walk down to Scoozis is a good bet. For diner one of my faves is Joe Fortes which has been a touchstone dining venue in Vancouver for more than 25 years.

 

http://www.scoozis.ca

 

http://www.joefortes.ca

We enjoyed the "Happy Hour menu" at Joe Fortes Restaurant.

We recently had a center hump cabin (7638) on Freedom of the Seas. It was a great location convenient to stairs and elevators and we had no problems at all with noise from elevators or foot traffic in hallway. I'll always try to book a hump cabin when available, which is one of the reasons why I like to book early.

Thanks for all your helpful replies. It is Grand Cayman and I am sure there will not be a problem as we have a later excursion, not earlier like all of ours in the past.

We were on Freedom of the Seas in Grand Cayman last week and tendering was a breeze. There were no tender tickets and they disembarked passengers onto tender boats using two loading areas, one near the front of the ship and one near the aft. I imagine that Liberty of the Seas will probably use a similar procedure. The tenders, which are operated by the Port of Grand Cayman, are large and hold a lot of people. There were 4 ships in port for our cruise and it looks like only 2 ships are in port for your cruise. You should be off the ship very quickly. Enjoy your cruise.

We just returned from our Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean sailing (April 10-17, 2016) and really enjoyed our cruise. I am unable to scan the Compasses, but here are a few highlights:

Cruise Director: John Perry

Day 1 (Port Canaveral)

Menu: Mojo

10:00 p.m. Welcome Aboard Show starring comedian Mark Cordes

Day 2 (Day at Sea)

Formal Night, Menu: Saffron

1:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m. Ice Spectacular: "FREEDOM-ICE.com"

6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. "MARQUEE- A Tribute To The Shows That Light Up Broadway"

10:30 p.m. Late Night Adult Comedy of Mark Cordes

Day 3 (Labadee, Haiti)

Menu: Pimiento

6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Headliner Show: Drew Thomas...Master Illusionist (Star of America's Got Talent)

Day 4 (Falmouth, Jamaica)

Menu: Basil

7:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m. Ice Spectacular: "FREEDOM-ICE.com"

Day 5 (George Town, Grand Cayman)

Formal Night, Menu: Jasmine

6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Headliner Show: The Comedy and Music of John Joseph

10:30 p.m. The Love & Marriage Game

Day 6 (Cozumel, Mexico)

Menu: Pomodoro

6:45 p.m. & 8:45 p.m. Comedy Showtime: Max Dolcelli

Day 7 (Day at Sea)

Menu: Shiitake

6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Show: Once Upon A Time- A Comedy Musical of Classic Fairy Tales

10:30 p.m. Late Night Adult Comedy of Max Dolcelli

There was also a variety of other entertainment: Quest, White Night Pool Party, 70's Disco Party in the Promenade,etc. and live music around the ship.

We are traveling with our cruise buddies, 8 to be proper, on the Freedom in May. Cannot wait to see this vessel. How is Port Canaveral? :cool:

Just returned from April 10-17, 2016 Freedom of the Seas sailing. The new Port Canaveral cruise terminal was excellent. We traveled in a group of 8 people and embarkation and debarkation were the most organized and speedy of any of the many cruises that we've taken. We also chose to purchase the luggage valet service, which made debarkation and our flights home much easier.

1. How long was the snorkeling stop? (more than 30 minutes?)

Snorkeling was at least 30-45 minutes. Mask and snorkel, fins, left vests, life jackets, and noodles were available.

2. Did they let a rope out during the snorkeling that you could use to work your way back to the boat?

Water was calm the day we went and the boat was anchored. They did not let out a rope for people to use to work their way back to the boat, but nobody had any difficulty swimming back to the boat on their own. Michelle was great about answering any of my questions when I emailed her, so you could check with her.

3. What was the order of the stops? (Snorkeling 1st or last)

Stingrays first, then snorkeling.

4. Was riding on the Far Tortuga bumpy/choppy/lots of motion either motoring out or sailing back? (i.e. any sea sickness concerns)

We had perfect weather conditions and a very smooth ride on the catamaran on the day that we went.

5. Finally, was there plenty of water to drink?

There was a cooler filled with complimentary bottles of water. Beer was $5.00 each and soda was $2.00 each. They also served complimentary sliced apples and oranges.

That cabin is a JS.

Cabin 7638 is an E2 balcony, not a JS.

Just returned from Freedom of the Seas, April 10th sailing. Our bed in hump balcony cabin 7638 had an egg crate pad on the mattress (which we did not request in advance) and was fine. We had great service from all staff and enjoyed the food.

We have booked Stingray Sailing for April 14th, so I'll report back when we get home from our cruise. Michelle has been great to deal with so far through e-mail and the process of making the deposit was very easy.

We just returned from our Freedom of the Seas cruise yesterday. We're so happy that we booked with StingraySailing and highly recommend them. The ship arrived at 8:00 Florida time, which was 7:00 local time, since Grand Cayman does not observe daylight savings time. Tendering was a breeze and we were off the ship by 8:10 ship time. Tendering was very efficient because they disembarked passengers onto tenders from two gangways, one toward the front of the ship and one from the aft and the tenders ran frequently.

We easily found Captain Chip at the predetermined meeting spot an hour before the scheduled meeting time of 8:15 local time. The catamaran was comfortable and Captain Chip and his mate were great. We arrived at Stingray City before many of the other boats arrived and he stopped at a spot away from others. We were impressed with how the crew respected the stingrays and did not mishandle them. We saw a variety of fish at the snorkeling spot at the barrier reef, which was close to stingray city. We were so glad that we booked with StingraySailing and were not on one of the overcrowded boats that we saw. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have about this private excursion.

Another vote for Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan. There are several different itineraries and the Southern Caribbean islands are my favorites. San Juan is a great place to visit for a day or to before or after the cruise.

You're welcome. The people from our cruise that used them had nothing but positive things to say about their day. Glad you can do all that you wanted to do.:)

Hi Reallyitsmema,

I was on your roll call for the Jewel of the Seas repositioning cruise last September and enjoyed meeting you onboard the ship. My husband and I were part of the group that did Dylan's Famous Tour including Muir Woods, Sausalito, and San Francisco and we highly recommend Dylan's Tour company.

Panda24, I'm sure that you will also have a great day doing the tour that you picked, which includes Alcatraz. I'm glad that you were able to find a tour that includes all the sites that you want to see during your stop in San Francisco.

:) Mary

If every Diamond and every friend of a Diamond tried to get "priority tendering", there would be no priority tendering.

I did not expect priority tendering and was simply looking for clarification or feedback from others, regarding the earlier post that I quoted where emen822 mentioned using the concierge to bring her group down to tender at Grand Cayman.