BethGR

We have 15 in our party (3 families) and were hoping to dine near each other. I have written to the rcldining email twice concerning this request and have gotten no response. The 3  reservations are linked, I included all reservation #s and put the ship & dates in the subject line. Nada.

ALSO complicating things: Initially all 3 families were set for the 5:30 dining time but one family had an issue (long story) that must have bumped them off of that 5:30 time. At this point, they are looking at reserved MTD of 8:15pm most nights. Unfortunately, my friend is a diabetic, which is another reason we hoped to eat early, so she can equally space meals. (Tho I know she can always snack as needed.)

My plan is to go to the MDR once we board (Monday) and ask if any accommodations can be made. For this other family to dine at 5:30 and near us, if possible.

Any other wisdom or recommendations?

Also, hearty THANK YOU to all on these boards. You've been SO helpful in providing so much information in the last few months of our planning!

Beth

July 17 on Independence!

We are doing a private charter excursion in Nassau for our 3-family group of 15. We meet them near Senor Frogs at 9am for a half day excursion that ends at 1pm.

We have a bunch of teens in our group and 1 adult diabetic so wondering the best option for snagging some snacks for the boat. I believe we aren't supposed to take food off of the ship? I looked at a map and didn't see any stores near Senor Frogs, at least any that are open by 8:30 or so. Maybe the new Nassau cruise port area has some options?

Any recommendations? Or should we just bring granola bars, etc from home? 

Thanks!

Responding to an older thread but wondering....
So we have 2 adults & 2 kids (18 & 16) in our room.

Does that mean we adults can bring 1 bottle of wine each and the kids can bring 1 12-pack of pop each? 

On 6/12/2023 at 11:29 AM, Atlantix2000 said:

There's not nearly as much undeveloped land on Cococay as there used to be.  There's a road that runs East/West down the middle of the island and there was a nature trail that went through the forest between that road and the southern shore.  If you pull up the current satellite view on Google maps, you can see the trail snaking through the trees.  (That's the far end of South Beach on the right.)  You could take that trail all the way to a small deck with a couple chairs on the tip of the island over the rocks.  It had a nice view back to the ship.  The trail used to be advertised and the start had a sign but I don't think it's kept up anymore.  You can also walk the beach all the way down but it's possible you'd hit a construction area now (on the beach or the trail.)  For reference there was virtually nothing north of the road or at the tip of the island when I last walked this.

 

Fascinating, thank you!

We are getting SO excited for our cruise next month!

A couple of questions on Coco Cay:

- Is the floating bar still off of South Beach?

- Thoughts on "Cove Beach"? I've not seen a lot of info on that, but looks pretty secluded. (Perhaps too far from a bar for our group!)

- For snorkeling, sounds like off of Chill Island beach is a good spot. Any other places recommended?

- One of our teens (just graduated high school) is an Eagle Scout and loves nature. Wondering how far he can hike around the island. I think there is employee housing in other areas and/or other undeveloped areas where they don't want folks wandering around. But just wanted to ask to see if there are any paths that are approved for exploration.

OK more than a couple questions...but thank you for your input! This board and Matt's info have been indespensable in planning this trip!

Tangential question: How (and when) do we know which night is "dress your best"? We're on a 4 night cruise in mid-July to Nassau / Coco Cay (Independence of the Seas.)

Thanks!

I will be (hopefully) doing the online check-in for our group, in order to get the earliest boarding time. 3 families (5 rooms). The reservations are all linked and I can see them on my app.

Thanks to you folks, I believe it is best to check in on the APP vs. website, is that correct? And do I need to have any other information on hand from the other families, in order to snag that boarding time? I believe the families can complete the rest of the information later (pictures, etc.)

Thanks for your input! 

13 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think that is if you want to link dining. Otherwise, they can be linked in the app or on CP. 

Another person in our party linked our 3 families for dining. Is it a different process for "general" linking of reservations? I would love to ensure we all get checked in so we can snag an early boarding time. I'm a night owl, so will volunteer to get us all checked in if possible!

Thanks.

6 hours ago, ultimate_ed said:

Right?  This is the thing I don't understand with folks, supposedly adults, "forgetting" stuff like this.  I've got two cruises booked and I have appointments in my Google Calendar for each of them a week ahead of the final payment date to pay the bill.  And both of those are booked with an agent that has my card on file to make the payment.  Heck, my driver's license expires in 2028 and I've got a reminder in my calendar 3 months ahead of that to tell me to renew it. 

We don't actually have to remember anything anymore.  But, we do have to take the initiative to use the organization tools we have available to us living in the future.

Definitely an expensive lesson for the OP's friend.

WOW. NO THANKS on the complete lack of compassion here. "Forgetting" (in quotes?) What is that supposed to mean? 
My friend has 3 kids, one of which is graduating from high school in 2 weeks, so there are many activities with the soon to be grad. All 3 kids are in sports, and music/theater, so she has been to 9 arts performances and 5 games in the past week. Oh, and she WORKS. And is a youth group leader at her church. She also has health issues, including Type 1 diabetes. She is one of the most organized and giving people I know. A reminder arrived and she just missed it. She's amazing, but human. 
I asked for ADVICE, not judgement. Screw you.

The net-net this afternoon....

She called and strangely (but fortunately), only 1 of the 2 rooms was canceled. BUT the second room (the kids room, an inside GTY) was no longer available so she had to upgrade, at $1,000 more, to ocean view. (Which is a lot on her family's budget.)

Plus the Voom+drink package and the Coco Cay waterpark reservations were cancelled. The waterpark was able to be re-booked (at a higher rater) but now she's not seeing the Voom + drink package combo, so buying those separately will be more as well. (Wondering why they stopped offering the combo package.)

And I can't imagine someone yelling & screaming at a service rep, since it was her fault (as she fully recognizes.) Indeed, tho, a costly mistake.

Just an FYI, the Jet Ski excursion is a "follow the leader" type of tour. Can't really do your own thing and zip around, unfortunately.

My Aquaventure excursion (bought at the $65 "oops" rate) is still in my cruise planner. Our cruise is in mid-July.

Maybe it takes a while for them to cancel/refund all of these? They said up to 14 days for refund. So not sure if we'll get a second email that says the refund has gone through and then THAT'S when we'll see it disappear from the cruise planner and the OBC appear?

18 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It will usually show up in the top banner.

Thanks. I'm not seeing anything yet. My banner looks like this, sans the Onboard credit listing. Hope they get that posted soon, since they sent the emails about the cancellations. Grrrrrr.

Yeah, super bummed about the Atlantis thing. AGREED, this has been over a week and just now they are not honoring it? Where does our OBC show up? I'm looking through my cruise planner.

Innnnnteeresting!

NOT showing up for my July Independence cruise. When I try the URL workaround, a page comes up that does say "Packages / Unwrap Big Savings / Amazing Experiences Coming Soon." So I'm wondering if it WILL eventually pop up? Am keeping my eye out!

We booked the Atlantis excursion through RC and we're so excited!

Our ship is in port from 8am-5pm, and currently our cruise planner says that the excursion starts at 8:45. I know there is a shuttle over and it takes time to get in, etc. But then we have to shuttle back by 2pm? We'd to take in the waterpark, the aquarium, and maybe hit the beach for a bit, but doesn't sound like we may have time for all of that.

I've seen some folks talk about taking a taxi or water ferry there / back? Is that an option if we want to stay a bit longer? We don't want to cut it too close, but I'm also seeing a speedboat excursion from RC that starts at 3pm. I'm sure we'd beat them back!

Thanks for any guidance that you can offer.

21 hours ago, GregD said:

@BethGR The Atlantis Aquaventure is adjacent to the beach, so yes you can get to the beach if you want. Last time I was there, they basically drop you at the door to the resort, you are given a wristband, and you essentially have access to wander the property. 

Thanks Greg, that's super helpful! And I've gotten conflicting info on whether we can bring in snacks and drinks. Do you happen to know? Do they search bags or anything?

Like a lot of others, I'm seeing the crazy pricing of $64.99/adult for the AquaAdventure Daypass via RC.

Wondering what else is included in the AA Daypass via RC. It says that it includes a lounge chair, pool towel and the marine habitat. Could I access the beaches, etc too?

The full Atlantis DayPass ($250), from their website says this:

The Atlantis Day Pass is required for non-Atlantis guests to access and enjoy Aquaventure, a one-of-a kind water park with thrill slides, refreshing pools, miles of white sandy beaches, marine habitats and more! 

So what's the difference?

26 minutes ago, ScottD said:

What port? Just remember all of the ways into Port of Miami are under construction, took us an hour for what should have been a 15 minute shuttle ride because the tunnel closes in one direction for a few minutes at a time. So add that into your timing if that's where you are boarding.

Sorry, great question and info I should have included. Port Canaveral!

Gotcha, so your chosen "arrival time" is when you should be pulling into the terminal and dropping your bags, etc. (I understand you do that, or can do that, before even entering the parking garage.) But HeWhoWaits, it seems like if you are there early, you just queue up and wait for your time to be called to enter the actual terminal building?

Thanks all!

How far in advance of our boarding time should arrive at the terminal? It's been a few years since we cruised and the last few times, we flew. This time we are driving in.

So from arrival at the terminal, dropping bags, parking, how much time should we allow, prior to our actual boarding time? 

Side question - do folks recommend terminal parking, I believe $17 / day vs. alternative offsite parking? Doesn't seem worth it to save $50 or something for the inconvenience.

Thanks!

No more ice skating show?! Darn, we're going in July and some in our party were really looking forward to it!

The RC Nassau "Sail & Reef Snorkeling" excursion available in the cruise planner says 18+ (likely due to the 1 hour open bar.) But we have 2 teen sons (15 & 17). I see NO OTHER snorkeling option through the RC excursions that would allow for teens.

So if not through the official RC excursions, does anyone have recommendations for:

* Snorkel excursions that are offered through local companies

* Private charter company (we will have a group of 15, between 3 families traveling together)

* A beach that we could go to that might have snorkeling opportunities - we can bring our own gear

Thank you!

I'd like to know too! I'd feel a lot better booking a non RC excursion if someone else could personally vet this or any other snorkling option in Nassau.