FloridaCruiseGirl1210

Hello Everyone, I am going to attempt a not-so-live blog. I am Anti-Internet Package so once we embark this will probably run dormant for the 8 days. I booked this 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise 500+ days ago. Yes you read that right, 500+ days ago. I booked this cruise before my BF even knew if he liked cruising...brave move I know. I got this for a killer steal since I booked it SO early (less than $500pp). More about our trip Day 1- Port Everglades Day 2- At Sea Day 3- Labadee (7am-4pm) Day 4- San Juan (1pm-10pm) Day 5- St. Thomas (8am-6pm) Day 6- St. Maarten ? (7am-4pm) Day 7- At Sea Day 8- At Sea Day 9- Disembarkation ? This cruise we have three excursions booked, two through the cruise line and one separately. We have the Zipline booked in Labadee for early that morning so we can enjoy our Labadoozies on the beach the rest of the day. In St. Maarten, we are taking a tour with Bernards Tours to see both the Dutch and French side, we are not doing the one with the beach stop. And after we disembark we are planning on doing the Airboat Tour plus drop-off at FLL, which I'm hoping doesn't get cancelled. In San Juan, I think we are going to walk around go to the forts and then Barrachina's (for pina coladas) and then finding Mofungo. In St. Thomas, I have no idea what we are doing, neither of us are big beach people, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated! This cruise seems to be pretty packed as when I checked the last time the only room available was the 1-bedroom Owner's Suite. Even though we are Orlando, we are making a brave move and flying to FLL on cruise morning... I know, don't yell at me, however I just started a new job as did the BF and neither of us could get an EXTRA day off on top of the cruise... Matter of fact, I work until 3:30am on cruise day... and we need to be in our Uber to the airport (or at the airport) by 4:50am. We live very very close. This is doable. Also on this cruise we will be Team DX! So excited, on our last sailing on Mariner of the Seas, I had a total of 1 drink on board because I was afraid, I would hate it and then be out that money. This will be our trip to experiment with new alcohols and drinks. I am also VERY excited about having the specialty coffee items as I don't do Hot Coffee, and the last trip was struggle bus. This will be my longest sailing/vacation EVER and will be new ports for all of the locations. As for packing, we did a practice pack for the cruise, knowing my schedule would be bonkers leading up to, about two months ago and from there we made a thorough spreadsheet with every single item we packed, in what bag and if we needed anything else (i.e., luggage scale, waterproof pouches, etc.). We also photographed all the items in each bag so we could remember how we packed them... Yes a bit nuts, but so far it has been really handy. We have also rented a DJI Osmo Action for use on the trip. It was about $90 for a full month rental, and we got it so we could both have an action camera on the zipline, we are planning on using head mounts, per suggestions here so we can do hands free. Leave any questions, comments or suggestions for what to do in St. Thomas! Very excited to try out this whole, not-so-live blog. You may even get some vlogs from this trip being posted if I can convince the BF to let me post them here ? 7 days to go!

You could also put the scissors in your toiletry bag since a lot of kits come with them in there already...

Ahh that makes a lot of sense as so why people with wrist straps have said they haven't been allowed to take them down. I will definitely get an extra head strap since that seems most confirmable. Thanks! Also, how ready/excited are you for your trip?

Hello all, We are looking at taking a action camera each on the zipline. I know that it is up for the people who run it to decide but has anyone ever used a head strap on it? Do you think it would be an issue? We also are looking at possibly getting a wrist strap (a velcro one that connects around multiple areas not a flimsy one from a normal camera), which one do you think would work best? TIA

@JLMoran I am so excited your trip is nearly here because that means mine is LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AWAY! I haven't decided if I'm going to not-so-blog it, but I may vlog it so we will see. Definitely a recap post-cruise!

Yes cross pack, I also recommend bringing a change of clothes (at least socks and undies) in your carry on. If you are looking for a solution for in room washing, there is a product called Sink Suds that I have seen on a vlog channel so you can do a bit of laundry in the sink in your room.

How about Embassy Suites? Free breakfast and free happy hour

I'm laughing way to hard about that. But it also makes me think of...

Thanks for the input. I'm from FL (born and raised) just haven't been air boating before. This is mostly just a way to kill time before our 5pm flight.

Thank you! I am from FL so I have had Gator before... pretty common, tastes like chicken. I appreciate the update!

We contemplated just getting a rental car but for us the rental car was nearly the same price as our flight back so we went with an excursion where we didn't have to drive (big goal for us this trip). If it gets canceled we will just grab an uber from the terminal to the airport and to some location.

Paging @twangster

Thank you for the insight. We definitely have a backup plan and were planning on doing something like this to begin with but when we saw that we could do it with an included transfer it seemed worth it to book it none the less.

Did you like Bernard's Tours? We have them booked for the $40 tour in October.

Hello, My BF and I booked the Everglades Airboat Ride post-cruise excursion to kill sometime before our 5:30pm flight out after the cruise. Has anyone done this excursion (or a post-cruise excursion through RC)? If so, tips/advice? TIA!

I want to iterate that it would depend on the sailing if you were doing an Japan sailing, tipping can seem as rude and it is extremely frowned upon there. In the US or the Caribbean you can tip extra but if you prepaid your gratuities then you SHOULD be set. Make sure you plan on tipping the porters who take your luggage to the ship (you really don't want to lug around your stuff until the rooms are open) and if you are going on any tours plan to tip the guides/drivers as well. I know a lot of people like to find one bartender who they like and stick with them throughout the cruise and give them a big tip either at the beginning or the end of the sailing. Same with if your room steward goes above and beyond some people will give extra to the already taken out gratuities. For the porters, I plan on tipping $1-2 a bag depending on how heavy it is. For tours (guides/drivers), depending on how thorough the tour and how much they did, I plan on tipping between 10-20%

WOO congrats!

Sounds like you are on the same sailing that I am on! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Just so you know @twangster live blogged that cruise last year if you are looking for some additional insight.

Yikes... That wouldn't be good. I hope they refund the money for the people who couldn't go down bc of the weight restriction. I have a head strap, wrist strap and chest strap so it would be essentially hands free for me... I'll definitely ask when I get there. Are the people operators RC employees or other?

Interesting. I would be looking to wear one on a head mount, chest mount or wrist mount. I will reach out to my TA/royal

We will be doing this excursion in about a month... Action Camera question... Can I bring one on it?

I haven't been to st. thomas yet but my BF and I are considering doing Horseback Riding at the Golden Age Ranch

I've been there... We are now like what the heck how are we almost a month out... I remember when we were 600 days out...

We are contemplating either doing that for the way back since we aren't getting the internet package and it should get it checked in without having to do it.