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Tui discovery 2 caribbean cruise questions please


Gungho_ED
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Hi Folks

1st time cruiser here and seeing as we only usually go to Benidorm I'm wondering about a couple of things that I cant find in any reviews.

 

1) Is there premiership/sky sports on board ship?

2) is there any English channels on the telly in the room...if not what is there?

3) How many devices can you connect to the wifi?

4) Is there any karaoke?

5) Should you always go with the TUI trips or see whats going in the port?

6) Should I just take English money or do will I need some dollars?

7) My wife is a pianist. Do you think she will be aloud to play on the ships pianos as theres is no mention of them actually having a piano player?

8) If we have a row in the room, how thick are the walls between us and the neighbours?

9) We have a balcony room...is there a fridge in the room?

 

Any help with any of the above questions would be helpful

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Answers as best I can....................

 

1. Yes, the ship can receive Sky etc for premiership football, but it does depend very much on precise location for picking up a signal. It won't be on the TV in your cabin, if showing it will be in a bar - but then that's the best way to watch TV football. Also bear in mind the time difference - if it's 4 in the morning I can't imagine the bar being open or the bar TVs being switched on.

 

2. Live TV channels on your cabin TV are very very limited. I don't recall precisely, but something like BBC & CNN news and little else.

 

3. Dunno. On other ships it's as many as you like, but usually a fee for EACH device. And it ain't cheap. Or reliable.

 

4. I hope not :D. But I don't know.

 

5. No, in the main don't waste your money on ship's excursions. This applies to all cruise lines, and especially for sight-seeing or beach trips in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is the easiest place in the world to DIY. Can't be sure without knowing all your ports but in virtually all Caribbean ports there will be taxis and minibuses ("vans" in American-English) lined up at the port & they'll put minibus groups together. Be on the pier tolerably early (about 9.30?) - that'll give you the widest choice & that's when most folk go ashore so a minibus group can be put together quickly. Drivers are friendly and trustworthy, they know their island and they know the importance of back-on-board time. They can replicate ship's tours but much more fun, with much more flexibility and at less than a third of the cost, though that's for transportation only - no food/drink and no admission fees (there are few places with admission fees & they're just pennies). Agree itinerary, time-scale & cost per person before you board, pay when you get back - it's the norm. Tours are mainly half-day, & drivers can drop you back at the ship or at shops, beach etc - so take your beach gear with you.

 

Some excursions are only available thro the ship, eg the St Kitts sugar train is block-boked by ships.

And group activity tours such as snorkelling from a catamaran, river-tubing, zip-lining & such are difficult or impossible to fix up on-the-fly - they need to be booked in advance, either with the ship or independently over the internet. For a first visit to the Caribbean, probably best to book those things thro the ship.

 

Cruise lines play on the fact that if one of their excursions returns late the ship will wait, whereas if you're ashore independently it won't. True - and important in some places, such as sights that are hours from the port. But in the Caribbean you're never far from the ship . Just make sure that you know the back-on-board time (usually 30 mins before advertised sailing time), that you don't get confused between ship's time and local time (sometimes there's an hour's difference) and that you allow time for any delay returning to the ship. As I've mentioned, minibus tours from the pier are usually half-day, so that's not a problem - it's down to you to get back in good time from beach, shops, bar or wherever.

 

6. Take US Dollars. They're accepted almost everywhere in the Caribbean - in fact on some islands they're a tandem currency.

You don't want to be faffing around changing your money when you're there, and often at lousy exchange rates. And many ATMs only issue local currency.

Buy from the usual suspects (M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury, Post Office, etc) before you go. Decline any notes higher than $20 (often a problem with on-line bureaux). And try to get plenty of low-denomination, $1 and $5, they help with your bartering, and shops which deal mainly with locals will accept US dollars but their tills are geared to give change in local currency - so a $20 note will get you the couple of ice creams that you wanted plus a pocketful of local shrapnel.

 

7. See answer number 3 ;)

 

8. On pretty-well all cruise ships the walls are thin. Neighbours can probably even hear you scratching your backside :D

 

9. There are fridges in all cabins on Thomson/TUI ships. Tea and coffee makings too. Tap water is fine but nowhere near as cold as from the mains at home - so pop some in the fridge & keep it topped-up.

 

Note: things you buy on the ship - drinks, dining upgrades, ship's shops, ship's excursions, etc - are charged to your on-board account & you settle with a single card transaction at the end of your cruise. Currently if you settle by credit card they charge you the card commission (they're the only cruise line that does). I don't know whether that will still be the case when you go - take your debit card just in case. But for major (or minor) card transactions ashore use your credit card because of the card protection that it gives.

 

JB :)

Edited by John Bull
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I totally agree with JB on shore excursion. We have saved a lot since taking shore excursions, or even just cab rides, with tour operators in Caribbean ports, rather than the ship’s. As emphasized, what is important is before you hop on is to agree on the rate, places and time to spend. Just start early.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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JB...thank you very much for your helpful insight.

If I could ask just a couple more questions.

 

What time is the last hot food served at night? The reason I ask is if we've had a few theres obviously not going to be a kebab house or chip shop.

 

and finally...the wife says ask him if there's bingo?

 

All the best ED

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Hi ED,

 

I believe Bingo is obligatory ;p

 

Dave sounds fairly confident that there's food 'til 2am.

I'm not so sure about that. The AI drinks package is good til 2am, but I think the last snacks are way before that. And you're correct - there's no kebab van on your way home.

Best check that when you get aboard.

 

What are your ports?

 

JB :)

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2am is good if its correct.

We set off tomorrow morning for Jamacia. Then its Caymen, Cuba, Cozumel, Montego Bay then across to central America calling at Belize, Guatamala and the Honduras....

It'll certainly beat putting windows in on site fo a couple of weeks!

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Grand Caymen

It's a tender port - ship moors off-shore & you're ferried ashore by boat.

For most folk the best excursion by far is a snorkelling trip to "Stingray City".

See googleimages "Stingray City".

This is a shallow sandbar about a mile off-shore where wild stingrays congregate. Water there averages about waist-deep & the stingrays (dozens of them) weave around your legs. Best to take snorkel mask/tube but don't bother with flippers. If you don't have, they're worth renting from the provider though they're not essential. The operators will take photos of you with the stingrays but their photos are seriously over-priced so if you have a camera which is suitable for underwater take it with you.

Almost certainly available as a ship's excursion, but cheaper to fix with one of the operators on the pier. Whichever way you do it, it's a 10-minute included coach ride to the excursion boat pier.

 

Havana

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, Cuba is one place where you can't use US dollars.

The currency there for visitors is the "convertible peso". If you can't buy before you go, take sterling cash & use the currency exchange desks at the cruise terminal. The convertible peso isn't the same - or the same value - as the local peso. Every outlet that you're likely to use - including hop-on buses, taxis, bars, restaurants, admissions, local tours, etc - accepts the convertible peso, but shops which are there for the locals (small grocery shops etc) might not.

Do take a ride in a convertible 1950's American car - Cuba is known for them & there are dozens, a result of the Revolution (1960? 1961?). Best place to choose from a selection of them is in front of the Capitol, a smaller-scale replica of the US Capitol in Washington DC, but they're also available pretty-well anywhere in Havana.

There's a large indoor craft market about a 5 - 10 minute walk up the waterfront from the cruise terminal - a good place to finish your day & spend un-used convertible pesos.

A brilliant port-of-call, very different to other stops. It'll be a highlight of your cruise. :)

Decayed Spanish colonial decadence, vestiges of communism, & very happy & friendly people. And you'll be there ahead of fully-thawed Cuban-US relations - in due course there'll be big bland high-rise hotels and MacD, KFC, Wendy, Burger King etc on every street-corner. :rolleyes:

 

Mo'Bay

On the first & last days of your cruise you'll have little or no time to explore, but I'm guessing you're on what is effectively two back-to-back 7-day cruises so you also have a full-day mid-cruise port of call.

Mo'Bay itself is pretty uninteresting & lots of hassle with persistent vendors at the market.

If you're energetic & don't mind the long ride to Ocho Rios, consider a tour to climb the Dunn's River Falls.

Or closer & much more laid-back, rafting on the Martha Brae river.

Google them.

 

Cozumel.

If you choose to go to the mainland I suggest you do it as a ship's tour. If you go independently & heading back you miss the ferry or it fouls-up, it's a very long walk to your next port of call. :eek:

One of those few occasions when the get-you-back guarantees of ship's excursions is worth the higher cost.

 

Sorry, can't help with your Central America ports - they're not yet ticked off my list.

 

JB :)

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You will find your first 3 questions will not matter once you are cruising.

 

You will not give a monkeys about TV or Wifi when you see the beauty of the Caribbean. Maybe the odd bit of Wifi to make the folks back home a little jealous. :)

 

Wifi in port is key. My friend is on this cruise if it is the Christmas/NY one.

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