KristiZ

Day 2 Shore Excursion - Scarborough, Tobago We chose “Windward Coast & Little Tobago” as our excursion this day. It was 5 hours, departed at 10:30am, and was listed as moderate activity level. It was a standard driving tour for the first bit (about an hour and 15 minutes) in a 25 passenger bus. Lots of nice coastal views, passing through lots of small villages. Next was a glass bottom boat ride over to a wildlife sanctuary and nesting site for seabirds. We got the boat at a resort located at the closest point to Little Tobago from regular Tobago. The short ride (15 minutes) was fairly smooth and we could see clearly down to the reefs below. There was a hike on the sanctuary island, with clearly marked trails and a naturalist to answer questions (about 45 minutes). Then back in the glass bottom boat and returning to our bus. On the drive back we stopped at Fort King George for a quick photo. This was not listed on the tour, but was added because we were a bit ahead of schedule (no traffic). Honestly the fort was underwhelming. I will say, DO NOT choose this trip if you are prone to motion sickness! The road is very, very twisty! This was a rather rigorous “moderate activity” tour. The hike on the little island was steep and pretty hot, and getting in and out of the boat was a little tense. Also, there was no food or snack (even though it was over lunchtime) so plan accordingly. All in all, I was happy with the tour, though. A few photos: House supposedly built by Ian Fleming: Scruffy Banana Finch: Red-Footed Boobie, white tail morph: Red-Billed Tropic Bird, tail feathers missing due to harassment by Frigate Birds: Caribbean Mockingbird:

Yes, there’s a cooler. No TVs, although you can see the TV in the living room from the main bed.

Cabin 8000, Ocean View Suite (OV) We picked this particular sail date based on the fact it was the only one that this cabin was still available. There’s only one on the ship — the Royal Suite occupies the same spot on the other side of deck 8 forward. It sits under the Windjammer (because Vision class has the WJ forward rather than back). We heard some noise from above, but never after about 10pm so it was not a problem at all. It’s a two bedroom, TWO BATH cabin. I emphasize this because nowhere did it say there were two baths, and it was a very lovely surprise. The odd bit is that neither bedroom is a master, meaning both baths are off hallway into the living room. Also, the main bedroom has only a curtain. The second room (two twins and two pullmans) has a door. The reason we wanted to try this room is the fact it has full suite benefits at a much reduced price, mostly because there is no balcony. Just a window with a seating area in it. We got this room for about $250 more, total, than a JS was selling for at the time of our booking, and six months later the JS was actually more expensive than what we paid. Turns out we are not missing the balcony at all, because the room is such a great size. 10/10 would book this room again! Odd entry at the end of the hall: Foyer with door to smaller bathroom: Smaller bathroom, shower only: Hall, showing door to larger bath: Larger bath, with tub: Weird nook with extra closet space: Living room, showing window seating: Looking back from the window, showing curtain of main bedroom and door to second bedroom: Main bedroom: Odd triangular closet in main bedroom: Second bedroom:

I reeeeallly wasn’t going to blog this cruise. Port days every day make it hard to keep up, plus a lot of folks don’t seem interested in the smaller ships. Also, the week before the cruise I was in Rome for work, so my “getting to port” routing went Rome, Boston, DC, literally 12 hours on the ground just to scoop up new clothes (and MisterZ), Newark, Barbados. Sheesh! The things we do for vacation! But I kept thinking stuff like: 1) this is a really unique cabin, so I should give it a review 2) this is one of the first few weeks of the new MDR menus, so I should give them a review 3) lots of less-visited ports on this itinerary, so I should give them a review So it turns out I’m blogging. At least a little. Ha! Itinerary: depart Barbados Scarborough, Tobago Port of Spain, Trinidad St. George’s, Grenada Kingstown, St. Vincent Roseau, Dominica Castries, St. Lucia return to Barbados This won’t be super live, especially because we’re already on Day 3, but I’ll see what I can do!

Welcome to the boards! They are coolers.

Welcome to the boards! There are bus and train options (use the rome2rio website) that run between 2 and 3 hours transit time and cost $45-$60 per person. You can get a towncar, which only takes an hour, but costs $300-$350 for up to 4 people. You should be able to make a 1p flight, but if you're taking the bus you will need to get right off the ship first thing.

Welcome to the boards! We departed Jewel in Amsterdam last summer. Our flight was at 1255p and we were in business class, so priority line to immigration and screening. We barely made it. Hopefully Schipol will be better staffed by next summer...

Welcome to the boards! I checked cruisedeckplans but there are no photos of that room. However, I suspect it will be a sofa -- there aren't very many balcony rooms with pullmans in the fleet.

Welcome to the boards! It completely depends on the excursion, the location, and the contracted tour company. If you have a specific excursion or two you could ask and maybe someone here has been on it.

You get two devices. Package + internet for each person in the room

Welcome to the boards! Give Royal a call and they can apply the gift cards to your half of the fare. They are used to the split billing thing so you won't have any issues. The gift cards themselves can be a bit tricky to use which I why I recommend calling. Enjoy your cruise!

I may have some for you after next week!

Welcome to the boards! eDocs are issued at 30 days prior.

You will have access to Silver Dining all day since you are in a JS. You will not have access to Gold Dining. The Diamond benefit is only for Silver Dining as well. I don't know if they are allowing Pinnacles into Gold Dining or not, but probably.

Easiest would be to go to a cafe ashore, order something, and use their wifi.

It's because there are not nearly as many people sailing in that region that are at the higher C&A levels, so they can offer that perk. Once that changes I suspect this benefit will go away.

Yes, Spectrum has Gold Dining for the full suites, which is similar to Coastal Kitchen. Silver dining is for JS and above, or Diamond and above.

Welcome to the boards! Unfortunately you will not have time to get to Pink Beach from Nassau. It’s about a three hour ferry ride each way. There are a lot of tour options in Nassau, both through Royal and through third party vendors, so you should be able to find something to your liking. When we were last in Nassau we did our own walking tour and had a great time. Similarly, Seven Mile beach is a long way from Falmouth. You could get there and back but you would be spending most of the day in a car, bus, or boat. I’m sure others will have advice for you. Enjoy your cruise!

No.

It will fit.

Depends on the port. But mostly any bag that would fit on an airplane without an oversize fee will fit at port.

Do it sooner. Like 60 days. I know that's not what it says, but that will give you time if there are any hiccups.

We enjoy it! It is best when you get good table mates, but if you enjoy the kind of "the meal is the destination" experiences you will like it.

Yes, that's a last-night thing.

When I sailed Spectrum, the solarium was limited to Suite guests and Diamond or above.