Christie

Went to Divers Direct in Orlando today. Walt was super nice and didn’t take advantage of my “need the best gear” personality. Excited for our cruise in a few weeks 

You all are the best. Thank you!

Yea, this is definitely a sold out situation.  We sail on October 23.  It was available, and then it wasn't.  I was heartbroken I didn't purchase it earlier.  Then it popped up one day (for $30 more pp) and I went ahead and booked it.  Someone must have cancelled their cruise.  I haven't seen it since.  Keep checking back though, particularly right before the sailing when people might fall off due to COVID exposure/testing.  

I know you mentioned it earlier in the thread- but wanting to verify before I go shopping this weekend.  What should I purchase ahead of time?  Just mask and fins?  What about a regulator?  Would a bag to carry the stuff in help too? 

(There's this tik tok about having ADD and hyperfixation and basically it's like "I have this new hobby, all I can think about is this new hobby, I've bought premium products for this hobby...."  This is me to a tee lol).  

15 hours ago, twangster said:

That was Carnival's approach.  Fewer ships but operating at 75-100% capacity.  

I prefer the reduced capacity approach.  I didn't feel safe on Carnival.  

I just think about the millions of dollars it costs to sail and think surely they aren't even breaking even with current capacities.  

Hey there, 

Been reading about all of the awesome Royal Up rooms people have been receiving, but was wondering if anyone has ever successfully Royal Up'ed with connecting staterooms.  How does that work? 

I wonder if it would have been better to restart half the fleet and grow as demand did… much like Disney did with their hotels. 

21 minutes ago, MuttMutt said:

@Christie It is well worth learning to dive hands down.  However it will take some time on board to do your skills and such, if that is not an issue you may as well go for it since your time is constrained at home.  You will be given a code or link to start doing the online learning and you have to have it all completed and all the testing done before you start doing in water stuff.  You should also try to watch some of the dive video's online as much as you can to expand your knowledge on things like doing mask clears and taking your BCD on and off in the water.  The more you have exposed yourself to the better off you will be when it comes to be skill time just remember that ever instructor is a little different in how they handle things so some steps may be a little different.  Also remember to watch the ones based on PADI techniques as other agencies do have some minor differences like how to hand off a regulator when you are out of air.  

And all along the way teach your husband and/or children the hand signals.  It will help you practice and will get them prepped if they ever decide to join later on.  I actually have the open water course video's that I have had my friend watch so she isn't as worried while I am on a dive on the ship.

Thank you. This is very helpful 

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

7 year old ?!  Where has the time gone ?!  I remember when she was a newborn.  Holy cow !!  She'll be graduating from college before you know it !

You'll be Star Class, right ?  So no need to worry about something to do.  The Genie can help you set up a clinic somewhere on the ship and you can see a few patients.  Might as well work if hubby is going to work, right ?  LOL

It's good to see you on the boards.  You've been gone waaaytooo long.

Hey there! 
 

Haha, I actually wouldn’t mind doing an onboard clinic and recoup some travel costs. One one cruise, my mom got acupuncture and the lady was also a chiropractor. They snuck me down to the spa to swap adjustments with her  

The kids sure don’t keep, do they? Poor thing is so excited to be back on a ship.  She’s most excited to be an explorer in adventure ocean.  
 

Yea, sorry I kinda disappeared for a while. Went through several hard years with Kenzie’s autism diagnosis and intensive therapy and I finally feel like I’m getting my feet back underneath me. In all transparency, it was hard to read about peoples’ amazing vacations while we were in the thick of it.
 

Sorry to derail the thread. If I decide to do it, I’ll post a review with a flipped itinerary (Coco Cay at the end) and Eastern Caribbean ports. 

14 minutes ago, RCVoyager said:

I've stated this in earlier posts here.  I don't think you should do it.  It will dominate your vacation.  Do it at home either before or after so you can enjoy your vacation.

I understand your point, but I also feel like this would take up *several* weekends at home- I'm a doctor with a busy schedule and it sounds exhausting to try to "fit in" at home.  I'm not a lounge by the pool type of person on vacation.  I enjoy the evening stuff on the ships but am often finding myself "what to do" during the morning/early afternoon.
 

Hi there!  This is something I've been eyeing up for many years.  We are going on a cruise at the end of the month with 3 sea days, St Thomas, St Maarten, and Perfect Day at the end.  We have no plans for St Thomas and St Maarten and my husband wouldn't mind working from the ship while the 7 year old is in adventure ocean (she can't get off in the other ports without an excursion anyway).  

But we do have the ultimate dining package.  

Think I should still do it?   The early mornings don't bother me.  We often cruise with extended family and I never wanted to tie up too much time... but I was just sitting here wondering what the heck I'm going to do all day and this crossed my mind.  

What happened next?? Don't leave me hanging!  Highly considering doing this for our upcoming Liberty cruise and was looking to see how much of our cruise it would take up.  

Agreed. Flight is my absolute favorite!! I wish I could buy a sound track 

I would think the only viable option would be a head strap.  You'll be wearing a chest pad and your hands will obviously be occupied.  Try it- they may ask you to take it off for safety reasons though. 

This was 6 years ago, but the food was terrible and the lines were long.  

We take a cab over to that place every time we visit Cozumel and stock up on chocolate.  

I thought it included reserved seats for shows?  Also when purchasing, it says specifically that you do not need to reserve the shows?

I use insuremytrip.com to compare different medical only trip insurance plans.  It compares the different plans for you.  I've found these plans to be very reasonable and offers me a peace of mind to not get some huge medical bill on board.  

But it was awesome! Hah

Do you have the morning or afternoon docking time in SJ?

Hi Steven,

Like Matt said, we went to St Bart's in July on a St Maarten stop day. We weren't confident with the reliability of the ferries (and it's a good thing because they didn't have one coming back in the afternoon on the day we were there) so we pre booked flights on WinAir out of SXM. Port time was 8-5 (all aboard at 4:30) and our flights were at 9:30 and 2:20 respectively. 15 min flight time. 

First things first, you have to be ok with missing the ship and getting yourself to the next port. Start off your day knowing that. Everything went perfect for us until the flight back. The plane didn't show up until 3:20, but at St Bart's there's no screens or anything telling you what is going on. We were sweating. 

The taxi to and from SXM is about 20-25 min and will cost you $8-$10 per person depending on how the drivers are feeling. 

SXM has all of the typical airport stuff. St Bart's airport is very tiny and just someone checking your passport. Customs coming back into SXM has a decent line. If your docked time is 8-5, I would not do any flight later than 2:30. 

I'm a private pilot so I'm used to small planes. I've even flown hot air balloons and gliders. I still thought I was going to die. St Bart's airport is just beyond a decent hill and we basically nose dove in. You can see into and out of the cockpit from the seats. 

Depending on the time of year, there may be a separate ship time and local time. If this is the case, you probably can't make it. Google "time in St Maarten". If it's the same time as US eastern time, everything is good to go. If it's different, you run the risk of the captain sticking with ship time and the island being an hour ahead. This really complicates things because you're not quite sure until you're onboard (and can ask- by the way our genie told us one thing and then we had him call up on the bridge and they said another thing)  

Also, the shops in St Bart's are only open 10-1 and then they take a siesta until 4. 

All of that being said, would I do it again? Yup.  It was a ton of fun. Bring your passport and be ok with flying to the next island to meet your ship ?

We were going to be doing this next week, but changed our plans.  We booked with Hertz which is also at the terminal.  

I think the babies are more resilient to this than we are for sure. My 2.5 year old will be going on her 5th cruise next week and has never shown signs of sea sickness. 

Nobody knows expensive bingo until they go on a Disney cruise 

Oh and the avocado margarita from Sabor is superb!!