First timer, some basic questions

[amit]

Hey
we are first time cruisers and booking the 12/29/12 Fantasy East Carribean and have some questions . All help much appreciated :-

1. Is it worth the price difference between category 11 and 5 (for the verandah)

2. We are not US passport holders and not sure about some visa/immigration rules in some islands that the ship touches (we are applying for Bahamas visa for sure to enjoy Castaway Cay). However, are there passport checks at each stop (St Maartens, St Johns, San Juan)

3. Are there any special events for New Year Eve since the website didn’t have any info?

Many thanks again,

Amit

 

[Princess_Kayla]

Hey
we are first time cruisers and booking the 12/29/12 Fantasy East Carribean and have some questions . All help much appreciated :-

1. Is it worth the price difference between category 11 and 5 (for the verandah)

It depends. If you smoke lol you will probably want one. I liked it because in the morning or at night I could sit out there and look out at the ocean and smell the ocean air without tons of kids racing around and what not.

2. We are not US passport holders and not sure about some visa/immigration rules in some islands that the ship touches (we are applying for Bahamas visa for sure to enjoy Castaway Cay). However, are there passport checks at each stop (St Maartens, St Johns, San Juan)

We didn't have our passport for the bahamas and I'm pretty sure they don't check in St Maarten and St Thomas/Johns. We're getting ours anyway to be safe ya'know?

3. Are there any special events for New Year Eve since the website didn’t have any info?

I'm not sure maybe some one else can answer this one

 

[wdwwishes]

We always enjoy the balcony and wouldn't cruise without one. As for the passport, I don't think you show them going ashore in the islands, at least we didn't on our Bahamas cruises. I think there is something about having one for re-entry into the US should there be an emergency. I just think its worth it to have them just to be safe. I think being on the ship for New Year's Eve will be fun and there might be some added things. Have fun.

 

[castmbr]

No passports needed for St Thomas or St marteen

 

[owensamo]

I can't answer the passport/visa question for non-US passport holders (we have US passports and have never needed them - or visas - for any of the islands. However, there may be different requirements depending on what country your passport is from). St. Thomas/Johns is a US territory, so probably wouldn't be a problem (it's actually considered re-entering the US when you sail there - we used to have to go through US immigration check at like 6am that day, but they got away from having to do that a few years ago).

As for the room question, we have sailed 8 times (with 2 more cruises booked for next summer) and have yet to sail with a veranda. We've mostly sailed inside staterooms - twice, we've had oceanview portholes on Deck 2 (Magic), with our upcoming cruises also being Oceanview on the Fantasy. We've sailed with people in our party who had a veranda - and that was nice - but we've not found it necessary by any means, and the extra money has gone towards photos, excursions, Palo, etc. so we could enjoy the trip that much more. We do tend to spend a lot of time on deck enjoying the outdoors, the atmosphere, and people-watching - DH figures that we're on a cruise to enjoy everything the ship has to offer, not spend time in the room, so he probably wouldn't use it anyway!

In my opinion, I think I would only find a veranda necessary on port-intensive itineraries like Alaska (though the naturalists on deck would probably have me spending more time there anyway) or in the Med - in the Caribbean, there's not that much to see!