KimDee

Love it. I was on the Parkway many a time watching that Parade until I had my kids. Used to go up to Boston to see that Carnival and DC. Also went to Caribana a few times and even played mas there.

My cousins are playing with Yuma so I want to find them to "take a lil wine". Again, I urge those of you who are unfamiliar with Carnival, to have a look at the carnival videos on YouTube so you see what you're getting into

Royal Caribbean is still advertising excursions to the beach and other nature based trips. Can't speak for the bird sanctuary or anything like that but if the beach excursion is still available, that might be a good backup plan. But, most people who don't go to participate or watch the parade of bands do go to the beach so I'm not sure how crowded that might be. My mom also told me that within recent years, hopping on a flight or a ferry to head over to Tobago for a beach day on Ash Wednesday has become a thing. Again, this is just feedback from family based in Trinidad. My own personal experiences are 20-ish years ago when I was a "yut".

Adding these screenshots here. The first is the Carnival Parade route. The second shows the location of the cruise terminal. Using the Hyatt Regency as a point of reference for both pics, you can see that the route isn't really that far from the terminal. I've been given feedback by family members that the areas closer to the port might be less crowded because some bands choose not to go all the way down to those specific judging stations. I was also told that some bands choose to take the streets later in the afternoon so depending on all aboard, we may miss a good bit of the crowds. There should be no regular traffic allowed within the parade route itself and many of the surrounding streets would be closed as well. I don't know if all excursions were canceled or just specific ones that needed to drive through Port of Spain.

Ugh. I was afraid of that but didnt want to cause a false alarm. Sean and I were just talking about this today and I told him based on my past recollections about Carnival (granted that's like 20 odd years ago but the celebration has only gotten bigger) that there was a chance that any excursions needing to access main roads might be canceled. Carnival causes traffic shutdowns throughout most of the main port of spain streets because those become the band routes. While port of Spain is the biggest parade of the bands, there are others in the smaller towns and Villages which could also affect traffic. Which excursion did you book? Guess we're gonna have our own little "mas band chipping down the streets of Port of Spain". Which is just a Trinidadian way of saying there's going to be a group of us dancing our way down the streets. On the other hand, there may be taxis looking to make a huge profit by taking tourists to local areas. I'll check with my family members to see how much of port of Spain road traffic is closed due to the carnival and what alternative transport might be available and let you know what I find out

https://youtu.be/szDMDZ6Dx6g?si=REV6K2U6FJSYblOj

The excursions should go off as planned, especially the ones to the beach and any nature centers. It's just the main shopping areas downtown Port of Spain should be closed along the carnival parade route. The ones in the cruise terminal should be open. For Tuesday, if anyone plans to just walk around downtown Port of Spain, just keep in mind it will be crowded, there will be loud music and costumed revelers. If you're not familiar with it, I'd suggest looking at a few youtube videos on Trinidad Carnival to see what it's all about. Tuesday, we're meeting up with my mother and sister as well as a few cousins who all live in Trinidad. My cousins are "playing mas" which is what being part of a carnival band is called. The costumes can be a bit skimpy, the dancing is a bit suggestive and the cousins are looking forward to introducing Sean to his first Carnival. It is a huge street party. If you want a more relaxing experience, I'd stick with the excursion that you planned especially if it was to Maracas Beach. But, if you watch the Carnival videos on YouTube and you want to experience the whole thing, you're welcome to join us. There may be a good bit of walking involved because we'll be trying to the cousins and their band. There's usually at least 10 huge bands some with hundreds of costumed revelers and they are moving through the streets to get to one main stage. I will try to get a good realistic video to show you what it's going to be like.

Here we are!

I th There should be little souvenir shops and eating places downtown and you'd definitely get a feel for the island. I'm not familiar with what's close to the cruise port but I know that there are shopping areas nearby. The only other thing that I'm not sure about is that Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and some stores might be closed. We actually stop in Trinidad on Carnival Tuesday which was why we didn't book any excursions and we will be downtown Port of Spain watching the festivities. Growing up, Ash Wednesday was always an unofficial public holiday because Carnival Monday and Tuesday are always right before Ash Wednesday. People celebrate Carnival Monday and Tuesday and then take Ash Wednesday off to rest.

This trip is a special one for me. I grew up in Trinidad but migrated to the US when I was 20. I'm getting to bring my better half, meeting up with family and getting to celebrate carnival. It's a multifaceted bucket list. Perhaps we meet up at sail away?

We're Camille and Sean from Maryland. We did all our travel arrangements to and from the ship independently. We're flying into Puerto Rico Friday morning so we can spend the day doing some sightseeing and we're flying out of Puerto Rico the Saturday night that we return. This is my third cruise, his 5th. Our first from Puerto Rico.

We are!