GregD
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Posts posted by GregD
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Itinerary
This is a long and convoluted story on how we ended up on this cruise. We were originally going on at trip to Costa Rica with some cousins who had to back out, so we decided to back out of that trip as well. Heather not wanting to miss out on a vacation during the fall put her “bad influencer” hat on, took me to lunch at my favorite watering hole, and after a few beverages, says to me, since we aren’t going to Costa Rica, what about a cruise this fall, and BOOM, out came my phone and I was in full planning mode. She often tells me I should become a travel agent!
So, we quickly settled on a 4-night Navigator Cruise to Nassau and Coco Cay. We chose this one because we wanted to try out a relatively recently amped ship and wanted to check out the Coco Cay improvements. We also were at Coco Cay in 2018 with the kids, who LOVED it there. When our son saw @matt video about Perfect Day at Coco Cay, he was amazed and said we HAVE TO GO BACK!! Someday Johnny, someday…….
Nassau will be Atlantis, because well, we love it there
Coco Cay we have a Chill Island cabana. Here is a perfect example of where early booking is beneficial. When on Coco Cay in 2018, we had a Chill Island Cabana and really liked it. It was great having our own little section of the beach where it was easier to keep an eye on the kids, so we knew this was needed again. So back to alcohol lubricated cruise planning. As soon as the cruise was booked, and available to be found in our cruise planner we purchased the cabana for $325. A few days later they were $900. We had considered a Thrill Water park cabana, but we have slides on the ship, slides at Atlantis, and our son isn’t tall enough for all the slides. Our kids will be perfectly content with the free area slides and activities.
Ten minutes later, internet and deluxe beverage packages were booked, Up Up And Away was reserved and we were set.
This was a very productive day drinking lunch.
We did not book specialty dining because frankly we are perfectly satisfied with the food in the MDR.
This cruise vacation will also be extended both pre and post cruise. We are flying down a few days early and will be staying a few days after as well. More on that to come.
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We are now just about one week out from the cruise, so it is about time to get this party started. This will be my first attempt at a live blog so we shall see how this goes. I think we can title this
blog Navigating around the hurricanes. 4 night Navigator Cruise 9/23-9/27
Who’s Going?
For this trip, it will be the whole family. I’m Greg, the primary planner, my wife Heather who is the “bad influence” on the planner, and our daughter Lydia (9) and son Johnny (6). This whole trip is a surprise to the kids. They have no idea that we are going.
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Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:
Thinking we might all need a FB group or something to stay in contact? What do you all think?
That’s a great idea!
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3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
Throwing my name in...November 5th, Odyssey Inaugural! Unofficial GC! Cannot wait for this one!
We will be there too! I can't wait. I make a motion for super live blog collaboration with @Matt @Lovetocruise2002 and @twangster. All in favor
- Lovetocruise2002, JohnK6404, Mike P and 1 other
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2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
@SpeedNoodles this was our conversation last night:
Me: So...You know Royal is coming out with a brand new ship called Odyssey. We haven't sailed it yet.
Hubby: Ok, did you already do something?
Me: Well, it's a 4 night and a ton of people are going. I may have put something on hold.
Hubby: Do I really have options here?
Me: Not really. Love you.
Mine was just as easy
- ptod, rjac, The Cruise Junkie and 6 others
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Just booked this one too!!
- SpeedNoodles and Mike P
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13 minutes ago, TJ! said:
Ideally do you know what would be perfect regarding storage if I use my phone for day to day routine and on top for work.
E.I scanning documents and emailing.
With thousands of pictures and small video snippets of miscellaneous on my current iphone 6s
And I have a lot of apps haha.
In your settings>Greneral>about... you can see what the current capacity of your phone is and decide from there what you need. If you are nerely at capacity, I would go with the next memory size up. If you are not near capacity, go with the same size you have now. I currently have a 256gb phone and its about 1/2 used up with pictures apps etc. I used to have the minimum size, but always came close to filling it up, so now I always go with 256gb at a minimum.
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7 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
One of my life sayings:
Buy now, think later.”
Annnnnnd this is how two of our family cruises got booked for when the kids aren’t on a break.
Sorry I’m sure your teacher hat is flipping right now!
- Lovetocruise2002 and Hoski
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We have done both early and later seating. Our last cruise and the next two coming up will be early seating because we have two younger kids who would revolt if we had to wait for the later seating. We have stuck with traditional dining as well since we like the idea of the same servers for the duration too. With both I have never felt rushed to get back to the ship because we knew that even if we missed the MDR service, there was always the windjammer, and there is always room for dessert regardless of what time dinner was.
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We are using www.boddentours.com for our day in Roatan. They have fully customizable excursions, great communication, and great prices.
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These boards will help you tremendously. There are so many people here that can give you great information. My family is doing that cruise (only 1 coco cay stop) in two weeks. I plan on live blogging so you can follow along. Navigator seems to be a great ship for teens with all of the slides and activities. I would suggest reading cruise compasses to see what kind of activities there are. Watch videos @Matt made on the mane page. Most of all enjoy your cruise and make sure to relax and not try to do everything!
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I agree with others, start with sailing each class with an itinerary that interests you, then star filling in the ships within those classes.
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It was mentioned that those plans were extended free of charge. I believe people were asked to pay additional days of the normal daily gratuities though.
- Miller Lite, ChessE4 and ChrisK2793
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I agree, I think it will depend on what venue you are trying to visit.
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2 minutes ago, 12thman said:
Thank you @emsff02 interesting read and didn't know there's a live webcam?
Your welcome, I found this too https://www.eturbonews.com/263938/st-kitts-undamaged-by-tropical-storm-dorian/ looks like assuming there isnt another storm next week you should be good for the original itinerary
Use the drop down and look at Port Canaveral, its getting a little windy there
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Found this article I read this morning too https://cruisefever.net/nassau-bahamas-cruise-port-reopens-following-the-hurricane/
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Here is a live cam page from Nassau. Looks okay https://www.portnassauwebcam.com/
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Nassau is fine, Im not sure about your other locations.
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24 days til we go on a cruise!
24 days til we go!
The sun goes down and comes back around,
23 days till we go on a cruise!
(Navigator, assuming the hurricanes cooperate)
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On 8/25/2019 at 1:20 PM, mom2mybugs said:
Anyone done the research already and made a spread sheet of restaurants, amped etc? I can take notes ship by ship but if this is already done it saves me the effort lol!
Here is an easy reference that I think that will help you.
I say keep the upcoming cruise. Like you said, changing will cost way more, then that way you can YOLO and just book another cruise on an amped ship after your Disney stuff. This way you can book super early and get a great deal on that one. If its any help, I will be on Navigator in three weeks and can do some extensive research on Playmakers and Lime and Coconut for you!
Navigating around the hurricanes. 4 night Navigator Cruise 9/23-9/27
in Live Blogs
Posted
Cabin
Another story here….
After our Anthem of the Seas cruise in 2018, my wife, now unashamedly, is a suite snob. Frankly, I whole heartedly support this as well. So, when we booked this cruise, we booked a grand suite. The price was decent, done. The Owners suites were more than what we wanted to spend, and the 1 Royal Suite was WAY more. After the cruise was booked, I kept an eye on prices, made some adjustments here or there and the waiting game began. We thought, who knows, maybe we can try to see what could happen with a Royal Up bid
A few months ago, while doing a routine price check, I see a 2br grand suite is now available. A quick phone call to Royal, and we are now sailing in a 2br grand suite for about the same price as what we booked the cruise for originally.
A few weeks ago, we did get the Royal Up email. We had the option for an Owners Suite or the Royal Suite. We bid on the Royal Suite, but I’m not going to hold my breath since looking now, all the suites are sold out.
Pre-Cruise
Like I said, we are flying in a few days early. Friday 9/20 we are flying into FLL. Southwest flights were much cheaper and had more convenient times than flying to MIA. So, the plan is we will rent a car to use for the couple days prior to be able to explore around etc without a ton of Uber/Lyft charges. Embarkation day I will drop the family off at the port around 10, bring the car back to MIA and take the enterprise shuttle back to the port. I looked at dropping off at other locations near the port, but this was the most cost effective.
We are staying at the Gates Hotel South Beach. We picked this hotel due to its proximity to south beach and Heather wanted direct beach access without having to pay a super-premium price. She is a Hilton member through her job, so that also narrows the choices. This hotel also includes its own area for chairs and other activities too on the beach.
Post Cruise
This is where it also gets fun. After disembarkation, we will be taking the shuttle to MIA for another rental car which we will drive to Orlando with. Friday evening, we have tickets to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s No So Spooky Halloween Party. Heather is a huge Disney fan and is really looking forward to this. Much to my dismay, she has us all wearing Hocus Pocus themed shirts for that night….yay…
Saturday, we have tickets to Universal Studios. Gotta check out the new Hagrid Ride…. And again, we have matching themed shirts. At least this time, they are Hogwarts/Harry Potter ones.
Sunday, we head home.
The Surprise
Like I said earlier, this whole trip will be a surprise for the kids. The plan to make this work is that we will be packing in secret. We will drop the kids off at school on Friday, then load up the car. We will pick the kids up at dismissal at school and go straight to the airport. At this point, We will let them in on a little bit of the surprise, which will be we are just going to Florida and will be on the beach. On cruise day, we will pack up the car and say we are headed to another hotel, but not tell them that the hotel is the cruise ship.
This is going to be so much fun. I plan on writing about our experiences at Disney and Universal as well so grab the popcorn and wine, its going to be a wild ride and thanks for following along!