RestingBird

Not trying to be nosey/cross a line, so you don't have to answer...but I'm just curious how many people showed up to the big party by Jim & Jim, lol.

In Portland we did a lighthouse tour and loved it! Also tried a whoopie pie, and a lobster roll.

 

Bar Harbor we did another lighthouse tour (on a boat), lunch at Stewman's (a haddock sandwich which my wife, who doesn't eat fish, loved), then a bus tour into Acadia. The boat tour was fun, but I probably wouldn't do it again due to the length (loved it though!).

 

St. John we did a bus tour of some kind which was fun and informative, and took us to the reversing rapids. It dropped us off in town (optional I think) which gave us a nice walk through town back to the ship.

 

Halifax we did a bus tour to Peggy's Cove (probably my favorite stop of the cruise. Loved the cliche fishing village look, but most of all I couldn't stop staring at the lighthouse, knowing that if I headed out from that point I could head straight to Antarctica via the ocean. Mind blown for me.), then to the graveyard where a majority of the Titanic victims are buried.

 

Also tried a semi-local beer in 3 out of the 4 cities.

Overall a great cruise. It's on my "cruise-it-again" list.

I'm assuming (yes, I know what it makes you and me) you'll be on Serenade. We were on her this past October, and overall we couldn't complain about the food. Had 2 servings of scallops one night...1st was awesome, 2nd awful...who knows why.

We ate at Rita's Cantina 1 night and enjoyed it (though not as good as Sabor, which Serenade does not have).

Windjammer is pretty bland for breakfast (though we go there every morning...), but for lunch it's pretty darn good, for a buffet. Never had a Windjammer dinner yet.

Depends on the port, I think. If I recall correctly, the ship's staff will tell you if it's needed. I know sometimes we took them on our excursions thinking we'd need them to get back onboard, but we didn't. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer.

The double points are a bonus if your only gold like poor old me :(

Agreed.

I need some odd # to reach Platinum, so I booked a JS for our 5 night next year (plus the extra space will be really nice. Had a regular balcony room last cruise and it was a little tight), which will put us over what we need, yays.

Mobile view is how this website comes up on my Android phone. At the bottom I click "Full Version" to see the full site.

Chocolate factory tour was fun in Nassau.

3 teenagers...maybe they'll enjoy the rock wall.

Off this topic, how do you list your prior cruises on your profile?  I would like to list mine, but I am not sure how to do it.  Thanks!!

Make sure you're not in mobile view. Go to the drop down menu by your name in the upper right corner. My Settings, then Signature.

Congrats!

JS and above receive double points.

We had one on Freedom and loved it.

I was wondering if Reyno was an actual genie or just a model, lol.

Cocktails are the "pool drinks" i.e. frozen drinks. Mixed drinks are spirits with coke or juice. I might add that although the counts are often high, it is not a case of drinking to fulfill the package but drinking because of the situation and I just wanted one.

Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking.

Doesn't seem high, I'm just not sure if I'd drink enough of anything to justify it, especially port days. But again, I like seeing your breakdown, as well as the Vision/ports review.

I love how you're posting your drink count, it's making me wonder if maybe next time I should get some sort of pkg. Question: what are you considering a cocktail, vs. a mixed drink?

We went to a park west auction on Serenade in October.

No telling what the entertainment could be. There was an Olympian gymnast one night, he was awesome! We skipped most of the shows. The comedian that week was pretty bad, kind of felt bad for him, the crowd rarely laughed during the show we went to.

I've only sailed on two ships: the Enchantment and Brilliance.

The Enchantment will always be a sentimental favorite as it was our first cruise on any ship of any line. Everything seemed to go right on that cruise and Marc was an excellent primer into what a great cruise director should be.

I dig the Brilliance for two reasons: ocean views seemingly everywhere on the ship and the aft patio behind the Windjammer.

I'm not in a hurry to sail on the new big ships. They look like great ships with a lot to do. But I want to feel like I'm at sea. We will eventually sail on one.

The Freedom-class looks like a good in-between sized ship.

Enchantment was also our first, loved her. Serenade (same class as Brilliance) was definitely a beautiful ship, but Freedom was our favorite.

We did Shaw Gardens (I think that's the name) in Falmouth (actually Ocho Rios if I'm correct), but it was connected with a trip to Dunn's Falls. Not worth the drive if done on it's own, but after the falls it was fun. I love palm trees and various tropical plants, so I loved the garden. It even has it's own waterfall on property, and a great view of Ocho Rios and any ships in port.

You don't have to climb Dunn's Falls if you just want see them, there is a boardwalk/path that runs parallel to the falls.

It was too windy and rainy for one of ours in Nassau, so they gave us a refund in the form of OBC (kind of worked out, my sister used her refund for steak & lobster that night, lol), since we booked on board paying with our sea pass card. Good question about a pre-cruise booking.

"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze" -- Isn't that the old slogan?

lol!!! Yes! I've never heard anyone else use that, my grandma used to say it. "Pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze". My wife rolls her eyes whenever I say it 😋

If we leave out of a Florida port we'll dress up more, easy enough to pack the fancy clothes for us. When we had to fly to Boston for NE&CAN we opted to leave the fancier clothes due to suitcase weight restrictions. We did 1 formal night dressed up with what we had in the MDR, then one formal night dressed down at Rita's Cantina.

Gotta have an ocean view, minimum, for my wife (helps keep the sea sickness down, along with the patch). Tried a balcony on our last cruise, liked it enough. We have a JS booked for our March 2018, and I'm thinking with a baby that might be a good size for us.

Thanks for sharing.

I really wanna try to make it on Oasis before this rumored transfer to wherever. Patiently waiting for the rest of the 2018 schedule. No 2017 cruising due to a brand new baby boy.

Yeah, I would see Jade on the deck plans, looked all over for it (even though I don't eat sushi), turns out I walk by it like 5 times. It has a sign, but somehow I missed it. It is in fact just another line or 2 in windjammer

I have some Teva's, similar to JLMoran's Merrill's. Both brands are solid, can't go wrong with either.

Also, was the TA you worked with the first time a dedicated cruise agent, or a general TA? Cruise agents have a LOT more training in and experience around the nuances of cruising vs. "regular" travel, especially the ones with a CLIA certification. They've also typically gone on several cruises across several lines so they can recommend particular ones over others based on your circumstances and preferences.

 

That's a good question, I honestly have no idea, and something to keep in mind. Our friend who just became a TA is a big Disney cruiser (one reason she became an agent herself), but has never pushed it on us whenever we all start talk cruising, so it should go better with her (she's also a no bs kinda gal, which could possibly help at some point). MEI will definitely be my future go-to if she doesn't work out.