Bahamas?? Alaska??? BAHAMAS! Dream coming true June 21-26, 2011

[bangzoom6877]

Happy Valentine's Day!

We're having pizza tonight, and this year we decided to get a family gift instead of one individual thing for each person. We have a tower from Godiva! It has a big box of assorted chocolates, an 18-piece box of truffles, a 36-piece box of assorted chocolate biscuits, and 3 small canisters of hot cocoa (2 milk chocolate, 1 dark chocolate)!! The best part is...it was on sale because it is from their Xmas collections! But it is the same chocolate, and it was wrapped with a red ribbon. Perfect! We got it for 60% off the original price! So, Godiva will be for dessert!!

We had to change our cruise plans for July because DH and DSis are taking classes to become school administrators, and they have to do hours for their internships the whole month of July. So, we decided to go on Norwegian Cruise Line, out of NYC, to Nassau, Bahamas and their private island in the Bahamas (Great Stirrup Cay). The cruise also stops in Port Canaveral, Florida! And no, we're not going to Disney! I know you are surprised to hear that! We're going to take the kids to see Cape Canaveral and all the cool NASA things there. We wanted to possibly do that on our 2012 Disney trip, but we will do that this summer instead, and it will give us an extra day at Disney in 2012! The cruise is 7 nights, and we still have 2 connecting cabins for the 4 of us. But, now we have oceanview instead of inside cabins, and it costs $1000 less than the original cruise was! So, it worked out very nicely. The ship also gets great reviews. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to it. And this was a great time to book it, because next week we are off from work and I will spend the entire week doing research about the ship!

I know one thing about our ship...they have some Nickelodeon activities, like a music party with Dora and a character breakfast with SpongeBob & Dora (extra charge, but we will do this for sure!)!!! My kids will be very happy!

 

[Leshaface]

We bought alcohol prior to the cruise (but after we landed) to avoid packing it. The alcohol has to be carried on the cruise (can't be in checked luggage). There's a corkage fee if you bring the bottle to dinner. There's no corkage if you bring a glass of wine with you to dinner.

The boxed wines are wines which are packed in vacuum sealed bags and placed in cubes. There is a really really really tasty mixed zin that they sell at costplus world market (I see you're from California) called "Wine 4 Grilling," which is a mix of various reds. I was skeptical when the wine guy at costplus sold it to me, but man it's really good (esp for boxed wine).

Here is a random website with a picture of the wine: http://www.uncork29.com/blog/2008/05/27/terlatos-wine-4-chilling-and-wine-4-grilling/

I was suuuuuper stoked when I read that!!! I think that's such a great idea for cruisers!! I checked out some of the wines they serve (Beringer white zin ) and I'm like, okay, we need to bring our own!!

Thanks for link! I'll check it out!! And I like boxed wine!! No it may not look 'classy' to be pouring a glass from the spigot, but whatever works!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2601906

Aaagghh sorry Alison!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We're having pizza tonight, and this year we decided to get a family gift instead of one individual thing for each person. We have a tower from Godiva! It has a big box of assorted chocolates, an 18-piece box of truffles, a 36-piece box of assorted chocolate biscuits, and 3 small canisters of hot cocoa (2 milk chocolate, 1 dark chocolate)!! The best part is...it was on sale because it is from their Xmas collections! But it is the same chocolate, and it was wrapped with a red ribbon. Perfect! We got it for 60% off the original price! So, Godiva will be for dessert!!

We had to change our cruise plans for July because DH and DSis are taking classes to become school administrators, and they have to do hours for their internships the whole month of July. So, we decided to go on Norwegian Cruise Line, out of NYC, to Nassau, Bahamas and their private island in the Bahamas (Great Stirrup Cay). The cruise also stops in Port Canaveral, Florida! And no, we're not going to Disney! I know you are surprised to hear that! We're going to take the kids to see Cape Canaveral and all the cool NASA things there. We wanted to possibly do that on our 2012 Disney trip, but we will do that this summer instead, and it will give us an extra day at Disney in 2012! The cruise is 7 nights, and we still have 2 connecting cabins for the 4 of us. But, now we have oceanview instead of inside cabins, and it costs $1000 less than the original cruise was! So, it worked out very nicely. The ship also gets great reviews. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to it. And this was a great time to book it, because next week we are off from work and I will spend the entire week doing research about the ship!

I know one thing about our ship...they have some Nickelodeon activities, like a music party with Dora and a character breakfast with SpongeBob & Dora (extra charge, but we will do this for sure!)!!! My kids will be very happy!

Ooh that Godiva box sounds scrumptious!!!!! I don't think I've ever tried Dark Hot Chocolate before!! That sounds so yummy!!! You got a great deal!

Wow, so will your cruise not be in July anymore?? At least it worked out for the best AND you saved some dinero, which is ALWAYS a good thing!!! You're kids will definitely enjoy it especially if they like Spongebob! Heck, DH and I love Spongebob!!!

 

[franandaj]

The actual airlines...from what I gathered on the wine thread, they said it needs to be in one of those wine armour(sp?) sleeves in your checked baggage

OK, so you had me slightly FREAKING out but I think I'm cool for now. It definitely depends on what airline you are flying. Evidently United does require a "wine sleeve". I checked out the link that the gal on the wine thread posted.

This is what it says for Delta (which I am taking for my trip in three months)

Alcohol or Liquor Products
If the alcohol or liquor was purchased after going through the security checkpoint, some amounts and proofs are allowed onboard as checked or carry-on baggage, as long as it adheres to these guidelines:

• Alcohol content may not exceed 140 proof
• Up to 5 liters of alcohol per person between 48 and 140 proof is permitted
• Alcohol under 48 proof is not considered hazardous and is permitted
• Any alcohol must be in its original retail packaging to be permitted onboard the plane
• If the alcohol is purchased before going through the security checkpoint, our security rules apply for carry-on or checked baggage.

However, I'm going to double check before I go. Sheesh! I've been sticking a few bottles of wine in my suitcase for YEARS! Our last trip to WDW though, we shipped a case of wine, there were four of us and it was 10 days. We only brought back one, and we brought bottles of wine to Fulton's, CA Grill and the Turf Club. Maybe I might go back to shipping the wine to me at the hotel!

Nowhere does it saw that alcohol is a prohibited item on the TSA website....I just checked and edited my post.

 

[heathsf]

I'm sooo hoping one day we can get my mom to WDW!! She had said, not too long ago, that when one of us (either me or my bro...gonna be my bro at this point ) has kids, she would go with us to experience it with her grandchildren...but i'm not gonna get pregnant anytime soon just so she can go to WDW!! I'll do anything for my mom, but ehhh, i'll wait on this one!

Now this sounds exactly like my dad! He says he has no interest in going back to WDW until he has grandchildren. So yeah, that'll be awhile!

Tonight, for dinner, i'll be making a shrimp linguine that DH LOVES (haven't made it in forever) with some crab crakes, cheesy bread and a salad...for dessert, I haven't decided yet..I was thinking maybe chocolate covered strawberries or perhaps a peach cobbler (he looooves peach cobbler) so I might do that...we'll see!!

Sounds like a great dinner! Yum!

Okay so a bit of an update...remember when I was whining about my late dinner seating?!? Well i'm not complaining anymore! I've found some pretty darn good reasons to be happy about eating later!

Yay!

 

[Leshaface]

OK, so you had me slightly FREAKING out but I think I'm cool for now. It definitely depends on what airline you are flying. Evidently United does require a "wine sleeve". I checked out the link that the gal on the wine thread posted.

This is what it says for Delta (which I am taking for my trip in three months)

Alcohol or Liquor Products
If the alcohol or liquor was purchased after going through the security checkpoint, some amounts and proofs are allowed onboard as checked or carry-on baggage, as long as it adheres to these guidelines:

• Alcohol content may not exceed 140 proof
• Up to 5 liters of alcohol per person between 48 and 140 proof is permitted
• Alcohol under 48 proof is not considered hazardous and is permitted
• Any alcohol must be in its original retail packaging to be permitted onboard the plane
• If the alcohol is purchased before going through the security checkpoint, our security rules apply for carry-on or checked baggage.

However, I'm going to double check before I go. Sheesh! I've been sticking a few bottles of wine in my suitcase for YEARS! Our last trip to WDW though, we shipped a case of wine, there were four of us and it was 10 days. We only brought back one, and we brought bottles of wine to Fulton's, CA Grill and the Turf Club. Maybe I might go back to shipping the wine to me at the hotel!

Nowhere does it saw that alcohol is a prohibited item on the TSA website....I just checked and edited my post.

Eeeek didn't mean to freak you out!!!

Unfortunately, I don't even know which airline we're flying with yet so I can't look into this... I thought I heard the TA say Delta one way then United the other way, just don't know which order?! I should find out soon!

That's a great idea to ship the wine!! Maybe I'll see what the hubbers wants to do!!!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE going wine tasting in Paso, and we always end up bringing about 7-8 bottles home with us after a weekend. Now our wine cabinet is depleting, so looks like we'll have to load up soon!!

OOh, we went wine tasting this weekend in Madera eek and it was complete OPPOSITE of Paso tasting....first it was all flat farming land; no lush, green, rolling hills that you experience in Paso Robles, and second it was majority ports sick...i can't do ports...they're ridiculous sweet and can get you messed up in the blink of an eye!!! We did find ONE bottle of wine that we ended up buying...turns out it wasn't a 'Madera' wine, it was a Paso wine!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Ooh that Godiva box sounds scrumptious!!!!! I don't think I've ever tried Dark Hot Chocolate before!! That sounds so yummy!!! You got a great deal!

Wow, so will your cruise not be in July anymore?? At least it worked out for the best AND you saved some dinero, which is ALWAYS a good thing!!! You're kids will definitely enjoy it especially if they like Spongebob! Heck, DH and I love Spongebob!!!

The Godiva has been delicious all week! I'm afraid to get on the scale tomorrow morning though. I'm sure I will show a gain this week, but last week I went for my monthly Weight Watchers weigh-in, and I had shown a nice loss (weight was at the low end of the range I like to stay in). So it's all good.

Our cruise is at the very end of July. We leave on Saturday, the 30th. That was the day we were scheduled to return home from our original cruise, so we're only leaving 9 days later than we originally were. And yes, the savings was awesome. It's even more of a savings because this is a 7-night cruise, whereas the original one was 9 nights. So that means 2 days less of tipping, buying drinks and spending money. And it's still a week! We get home on August 6th and shortly after that we will be able to book next year's Disney trip!

I have been checking out the ship online and it looks great. It feels weird to just be starting my vacation research with the trip only 5 months away! Usually by now I have researched for several months and just keep looking at the same exciting things over and over again! So this is a whole new concept for me!

 

[franandaj]

You have to find this show on the Travel Channel, Best Places I've ever Been: Disney. We TIVO'd it the other night and are watching it right now. They are showing the Cruise as one of the memories, totally bringing me back to our Cruise! They'll probably show it a few more times.

 

[Leshaface]

The Godiva has been delicious all week! I'm afraid to get on the scale tomorrow morning though. I'm sure I will show a gain this week, but last week I went for my monthly Weight Watchers weigh-in, and I had shown a nice loss (weight was at the low end of the range I like to stay in). So it's all good.

Our cruise is at the very end of July. We leave on Saturday, the 30th. That was the day we were scheduled to return home from our original cruise, so we're only leaving 9 days later than we originally were. And yes, the savings was awesome. It's even more of a savings because this is a 7-night cruise, whereas the original one was 9 nights. So that means 2 days less of tipping, buying drinks and spending money. And it's still a week! We get home on August 6th and shortly after that we will be able to book next year's Disney trip!

I have been checking out the ship online and it looks great. It feels weird to just be starting my vacation research with the trip only 5 months away! Usually by now I have researched for several months and just keep looking at the same exciting things over and over again! So this is a whole new concept for me!

So I went on Godiva . com, maybe a day or two after you mentioned it being on sale from Christmas, and it was all gone! Oh well, I'll catch it next time! And I haven't been good at ALL this week with my diet/working out...whenever it's that time of the month, I don't want to do anything and I want to eat everything! So i'm going full force on Monday!

Oooh yay! I'm so glad you're happy about this cruise now!! Sometimes it can be very disappointing to have to change your itinerary around after it's all been figured out..

My trip is 4 months and 3 days away and I'm getting even more excited! I can't wait to see my ticker get into the 3 month mark!! I'm still exploring the ship and weighing out my options for excursions and what not!

You have to find this show on the Travel Channel, Best Places I've ever Been: Disney. We TIVO'd it the other night and are watching it right now. They are showing the Cruise as one of the memories, totally bringing me back to our Cruise! They'll probably show it a few more times.

OH MY GOSH! I literally just got done watching it an hour ago! I was doing a smart search on Directv looking for anything Disney, and I had seen all the shows that were available except this one and I really liked it! Probably because it was different!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Godiva might have the Valentine's Day chocolate collections on sale now. Check it out just in case!

Yes, I am very excited about the new cruise. I found some of the activity schedules both for kids and adults on our ship, and everything looks like so much fun. And even though the kids are separated by age group, there are certain times each day when they have "free play" and my boys will be together, along with their cousins. DS6 and my 7-year-old niece will be in the same age group, DS3 will be in a different one, and my older niece (she'll be 10 in May) will be in a different one. But during free play they will all be together!

On the adult activity list, I see a lot of alcohol tasting events! There is a martini tasting, a margarita tasting, a sangria and tapas tasting, a wine tasting, etc. Each event is $15 per person, the same it cost back in 2006 when we last cruised and went to the martini tasting! I will definitely be at many of those!

 

[Leshaface]

Bonnie! I didn't even realize you had wrote back! Sorry!

So, instead of going to the Godiva online store to scope out the deals, I made my own chocolate covered strawberries to fulfill my desire for chocolate....and oh gosh they were fantastic and I didn't have to wait for them to arrive AND i only paid $3.83!!

The bad part: I ATE EVERY SINGLE ONE IN ONE SITTING!! So, please, don't ask how many I made..I'm super embarrassed!

That tasting sounds fantastic!

Speaking of Sangria, I make some of the best Sangria around! (probably because I know no one else that makes it! ) My mom requests it all the time, so she'll go out and buy the ingredients and I make them for her in a big pitcher, and she can have a glass a night That's dangerous stuff though..it's almost like Jungle Juice

That would be awesome if our cruise had some sort of tasting like this...or we can just make our own tasting session!

 

[Leshaface]

So nothing really to update, except that my husband pointed out that something was wrong with my ticker!

I told him last night, "Babe, we only have 3 months, 4 weeks, and 2 days till our trip!!" .....I didn't even realize what I said, till he pointed out to me that it didn't make sense (blonde moment)

I've already decided that I'll be getting my first spray tan next month, then one more after so I won't be super see-through when we land in Florida Also, i'll be getting (dun-DUN DUN!!) my first brazilian wax ever next month... The only thing i've ever had waxed is my underarms so i'm quite nervous! I'm really out of the loop I guess, since i'm the ONLY one out of all my friends that has never had one....

That's all the progress I've made so far with the trip...I think I already said I'll be making reservations for Remy and excursions on April 7 ( ) so that's pretty much it for now!!

 

[franandaj]

I've already decided that I'll be getting my first spray tan next month, then one more after so I won't be super see-through when we land in Florida Also, i'll be getting (dun-DUN DUN!!) my first brazilian wax ever next month... The only thing i've ever had waxed is my underarms so i'm quite nervous! I'm really out of the loop I guess, since i'm the ONLY one out of all my friends that has never had one....

I don't even know what a Brazillian wax is. I've had my eyebrows waxed, and ONCE I had my moustache waxed. Never again!

 

[Leshaface]

I don't even know what a Brazillian wax is. I've had my eyebrows waxed, and ONCE I had my moustache waxed. Never again!

A Brazilian is when they wax EVERYTHING down there..i'm talking the front and the back! :rotfl So it's kinda like an Extreme Bikini Wax!!

I'm not sure if I'll ever get my eyebrows waxed..i'm scared that half or my entire eyebrow will come off on that strip, then I'll be doomed! I don't really need a lip wax; I have a few black hairs that I pluck every month or so, so not a big deal. I was blessed with no dark facial hair, but man my underarms are a WHOLE different story!! Before I got my underarms waxed, I would sometimes have to shave TWICE a day just to keep from having the dark shadow during the summer! But now that i've had them waxed about 3 times, the hair is much finer and not as thick

 

[franandaj]

I missed this update before

So, instead of going to the Godiva online store to scope out the deals, I made my own chocolate covered strawberries to fulfill my desire for chocolate....and oh gosh they were fantastic and I didn't have to wait for them to arrive AND i only paid $3.83!!

The bad part: I ATE EVERY SINGLE ONE IN ONE SITTING!! So, please, don't ask how many I made..I'm super embarrassed!

You literally made me laugh out loud, so I had to read it to Fran. She says you're supposed eat them all in one sitting cause they are too fragile to last!

 

[franandaj]

A Brazilian is when they wax EVERYTHING down there..i'm talking the front and the back! :rotfl So it's kinda like an Extreme Bikini Wax!!

NO THANK YOU! Ouch!

 

[bangzoom6877]

So nothing really to update, except that my husband pointed out that something was wrong with my ticker!

I told him last night, "Babe, we only have 3 months, 4 weeks, and 2 days till our trip!!" .....I didn't even realize what I said, till he pointed out to me that it didn't make sense (blonde moment)

I've already decided that I'll be getting my first spray tan next month, then one more after so I won't be super see-through when we land in Florida Also, i'll be getting (dun-DUN DUN!!) my first brazilian wax ever next month... The only thing i've ever had waxed is my underarms so i'm quite nervous! I'm really out of the loop I guess, since i'm the ONLY one out of all my friends that has never had one....

That's all the progress I've made so far with the trip...I think I already said I'll be making reservations for Remy and excursions on April 7 ( ) so that's pretty much it for now!!

First off...if I had made chocolate covered strawberries, I would have eaten them all in one sitting too! Those things are so simple yet so delicious!

I have never had a Brazilian wax. I'm scared of those! I have had a regular bikini wax, which was weird in its own way, but I really didn't mind it at all. I have done that a few times, and it's always been right before a vacation. I used to get my eyebrows waxed every month at a salon around the corner from my house, but the last couple of times, my skin got very irritated, and I complained to them. The only answer they gave me was that I probably spent too much time in the sun right before or right after. I explained to them that I hadn't been outside in the sun at all so that was not a possible reason. I stopped going there and started doing it myself, and tweezing in between as needed. So far it has been working out, but I do miss the convenience of getting it done...it was much faster than doing it myself!

As far as cruise planning, there is not much to do, in comparison to a WDW trip! I have been all over Cruise Critic the last few days since we are off this week, and I think I have found out all I need to know. I know all about the kids' camp and how it works, I saw some recent menus from the dining room, I know that they serve lunch in the dining room (sit-down service) on embarkation day as well as at the buffet, I know the gym opens at 6am, and I know that there is a VIP line for boarding for repeat cruisers on NCL. Of course, this is all info for an NCL cruise out of NYC, so your info will probably vary from mine. I also found out that to go to the aquarium at Atlantis without doing a tour through the ship, it costs $39 per person minimum to get in. Price goes up depending on what you do there. That would apply to you, in case you decide not to do a tour. I am going to look into the shore excursions and see if any of them are worth it for us. Usually we venture off on our own (when it is safe of course), but we'll see. Every cost also has to be multiplied by 4 for us, as I find that most times kids are either the same price as adults or not much of a discount at all.

So, it feels really weird to me not to be planning so much for this vacation, compared to last summer's Disney trip! We return from the cruise on August 6th, so it will be very shortly after that time that it will be time to book our July 2012 DVC trip! My cousin got engaged recently and she said they are planning to get married in the summer of 2012. I will ask her some time before our cruise if she has a date set yet, or a date in mind. That will give me an idea of when we can go to Disney in 2012.

 

[Leshaface]

I missed this update before

You literally made me laugh out loud, so I had to read it to Fran. She says you're supposed eat them all in one sitting cause they are too fragile to last!

This is the best excuse ever! But she's right...they probably would have been good for another day, and I would have eaten them all anyway!!

NO THANK YOU! Ouch!

I know, i'm a little frightened as well, but I get really bad razor burns on my bikini line so I'm going to try this and see how it works out..if it goes good, i'll get another one about a week before our cruise!!

Plus this woman in Monterey got AMAZING reviews from Yelp!

 

[Leshaface]

First off...if I had made chocolate covered strawberries, I would have eaten them all in one sitting too! Those things are so simple yet so delicious!

I have never had a Brazilian wax. I'm scared of those! I have had a regular bikini wax, which was weird in its own way, but I really didn't mind it at all. I have done that a few times, and it's always been right before a vacation. I used to get my eyebrows waxed every month at a salon around the corner from my house, but the last couple of times, my skin got very irritated, and I complained to them. The only answer they gave me was that I probably spent too much time in the sun right before or right after. I explained to them that I hadn't been outside in the sun at all so that was not a possible reason. I stopped going there and started doing it myself, and tweezing in between as needed. So far it has been working out, but I do miss the convenience of getting it done...it was much faster than doing it myself!

As far as cruise planning, there is not much to do, in comparison to a WDW trip! I have been all over Cruise Critic the last few days since we are off this week, and I think I have found out all I need to know. I know all about the kids' camp and how it works, I saw some recent menus from the dining room, I know that they serve lunch in the dining room (sit-down service) on embarkation day as well as at the buffet, I know the gym opens at 6am, and I know that there is a VIP line for boarding for repeat cruisers on NCL. Of course, this is all info for an NCL cruise out of NYC, so your info will probably vary from mine. I also found out that to go to the aquarium at Atlantis without doing a tour through the ship, it costs $39 per person minimum to get in. Price goes up depending on what you do there. That would apply to you, in case you decide not to do a tour. I am going to look into the shore excursions and see if any of them are worth it for us. Usually we venture off on our own (when it is safe of course), but we'll see. Every cost also has to be multiplied by 4 for us, as I find that most times kids are either the same price as adults or not much of a discount at all.

So, it feels really weird to me not to be planning so much for this vacation, compared to last summer's Disney trip! We return from the cruise on August 6th, so it will be very shortly after that time that it will be time to book our July 2012 DVC trip! My cousin got engaged recently and she said they are planning to get married in the summer of 2012. I will ask her some time before our cruise if she has a date set yet, or a date in mind. That will give me an idea of when we can go to Disney in 2012.

I don't trust myself to wax things on my own

When I read about your menus post, I started to think something. I was going over the menus and there the majority of the sit down have soup and salad. What's included? Can you get both or do you only choose from one or the other as an appetizer?

Also, I never even realized that there could possibly off-ship excursions for way cheaper! How did you find this out!? Through Cruise Critic?? That may be something I could look into if there were any cheaper excursion!

 

[bangzoom6877]

I don't trust myself to wax things on my own

When I read about your menus post, I started to think something. I was going over the menus and there the majority of the sit down have soup and salad. What's included? Can you get both or do you only choose from one or the other as an appetizer?

Also, I never even realized that there could possibly off-ship excursions for way cheaper! How did you find this out!? Through Cruise Critic?? That may be something I could look into if there were any cheaper excursion!

On every cruise I have been on, in the main dining room, they allowed us to order as much as we wanted of whatever we wanted. Yes, I am proud (and NOT ashamed! ) to say that there have been many times that I have ordered more than one appetizer, 2 entrees when I couldn't decide (especially when they serve steak AND lobster!), and more than 1 dessert. It is a complete food fest! There will be food everywhere, and anything extra you want, just ask! Many times, I get an appetizer, plus a soup AND a salad, all from the starters section of the menu. Then an entree, then a dessert (or more than one of something, as I said). Every cruise ship I have been on also had an international cheese plate on their menu, which was also included! Want to try something new? Try it. Don't like it? You can get something else...no extra charge and no check at the end of your meal! Another tip...there is always a children's menu, and every cruise I have been on, they have french fries on the kids' menu. On our last cruise, sometimes I wasn't into the side dish that came with the entree, so I would ask for fries instead and they gave it to me.

As far as shore excursions, I was 13 when my parents took me and my sister on our first cruise. We went our of NY to Bermuda, and on that cruise we stayed in Bermuda for 3 and a half days (you sleep on the ship, it is your resort and you come and go as you please). We did a few excursions, which we booked through the cruise ship. As my parents are very friendly and outgoing people, they met a lot of people and made a lot of friends on the cruise. They go to talking to some more experienced cruisers who told them that there are other ways to see the ports besides tours through the ship. One way is to grab a taxi (they are usually lined up when the ship is docked, waiting for passengers), and tell the taxi driver where you want to go. We did this 5 years ago in St. Thomas. We wanted to see Paradise Point (you take a cable car up into a mountain, beautiful!), and we also wanted to go to the beach and shopping. So, we grabbed a minivan for DH, me and our son (he was only 18 months old, and we hadn't had our little one yet...he was our "souvenir" from the cruise! ), as well as my aunt, uncle and cousins who were cruising with us. The cab driver took us to the cable car for Paradise Point, and we asked him to meet us there again after 90 minutes. We went up to Paradise Point, drank a bushwacker (delicious drink that knocks your socks off! don't worry, there were plenty of sober people looking after my son!), watched a bird show and enjoyed some of the views. You could see Puerto Rico from up there! Then, we took the cable car back down, met the cab driver, and he drove us to the beach. We asked him to meet us again in 2 hours, which he did. He took us to the shopping area. We stayed there for an hour, then he took us back to the ship.

Now, there were beach and shopping tours through the ship, but they cost more than twice what we paid for all that, AND we got to see Paradise Point as a bonus!

That is just one example...my dad started doing this on our second cruise when I was 14, in Bermuda again. He would get us a cab outside the ship, and ask them to take us to where the locals go, so we could see how the locals live on the island. Some places though, we were warned not to venture out on our own, like in Jamaica where we took a bus tour through the ship. Even the tour guide warned us when it was time to get off the bus and do a little shopping, to be very careful as crime was high there at the time (summer 1994). We always enjoyed seeing different parts of each island, not only the tourist attractions.

People on Cruise Critic could also give you some tips on touring at the ports. There are some boards dedicated to each place (I was just on one the other day for the Bahamas). There is some great info out there!

Oh, and there is the opportunity to swim with the dolphins if you are interested. It's expensive, but my nieces did it last year and they loved it!

 

[princess aleya]

Great start to your Pre TR, can't wait to hear more.