WannaCruise

For the highlighted, what a great saying...or way to think of it...

Very true. That certainly is another factor....and worse for those flights that are further and driving isn't feasible.

Yeah, it's possible, and some do the drive on normal occasions. Same location for us. It would be hard on my physically and I think our kids would go nuts.

I hear you. I wish the cruises out of Quebec ran all year round and not just Sept-Oct

I hear you...it adds to your total trip...especially if you are talking 2 days on each end. Luckily for our 2 upcoming cruises leaving from NJ , one is end of summer. My son would need to miss the last day of camp (which hopefully isn't to much of an issue as he'll be a counsellor, but I know it has been done by others) and on the return side, its only a 5 night cruise so there are still a few days before the start of school. For our second one, it's over xmas holidays so also works. DH and I would just plan our vacation days accordingly. Of course in Dec, we would have to account for

3 hours is great...and I don't blame you for considering leaving the same day to avoid the hotel stay. We would do this if it was an option.

This question depends on where you live, but with the pandemic, once cruises start up again, will you drive to your departure port instead of flying? We are in Ontario. I have a bad back, which means that I can't sit for long, so would not be able to handle a drive to a Florida departure port. And before, I wouldn't consider driving to New Jersey (8-10 hr drive...vs a 1.5 hr flight). But with the pandemic, I am thinking thinking we do the drive to New Jersey to avoid airports. We would still need a hotel for a night though to split up the drive and would need to do many stops. Both our A

You mean you didn't have 18% added on? If so, that must be a glitch. We bought it for Freedom cruise the other day and it was definitely added.

Really tempted to change our 5 night Freedom (Bermuda) to 8 night Southern Caribbean on Independence. Similar ships (and Sky Pad for my younger one who loved it on Mariner). Great itinerary and we could add 3 nights for almost the same price. Think we're going to keep Freedom though with covid being so unknown as we can drive to Freedom's departure port whereas we wouldn't drive to Indy's (i.e New Jersey vs Miami). Plus, we do really want to see Bermuda (and doesn't hurt that we got the "cheap" drink package too).

coneyraven, thank you so much for the great photos. Great to hear that love it so much. The caves do look really neat, and tons to see all around. How did you get that aerial shot of the ships in port?

Lol..I took a look and think I'm already joined to the group. Thanks! Definitely sounds like we should go with a local your if we are able to by the summer. We did book the Royal one for now but will cancel if it's an option.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Crowds are still ok, but definitely a good idea to go first thing.

Thank you. I will definitely update my spreadsheet with your suggestions. The first link looks like a good option. I like how they have a couple options for island tours. Yes exactly. It's a 5 night Freedom cruise that has an overnight stay in Bermuda. That is a great advantage that we don't have to be stressed of getting back so we don't miss the ship. The funny thing with us is that we cruise for more for the ship than the ports...but of course we still love to see places.. Our kids love the MDR experience and I love the evening activities so we definitely would want to

That's so nice to hear. Thanks for sharing. Maybe we book the tour now as the price is $40 per person lower than it was. But if things get better and we can take a non-ship excursion, then we book something local. I've heard blue taxi (think that's what it's called) and also a few other names.

Thanks. The cave doesn't sound very covid friendly as it works today. Didn't think about how the ventilation wouldn't be very good. On the flip side, it does seem beautiful and a very unique experience. Sometime we wouldn't see everyday. I did show DH the excursions and he's actually more interested in the bus tour so we get a taste/overview of Bermuda. So may book that. Then if things are better closer to our trip, I can always look at local tours as well.