Hey fellow cruisers!! As we have crept on 70 days until we set sail we are diving into the planning process! Final payment is closely approaching and although we are happy with the price we paid I am sure a lot of people are eagerly hoping they get a price drop. Since the rate we booked at included OBC (On Board Credit), the price drop would have to be pretty significant for us to scoop it up but we would consider upgrading to a balcony if the price was right ;)
We have been doing a little research here and there in regards to excursions but this will probably be a no frills type of vacation. We really just want to take a relaxing break and hang out on the beach in February while everyone we know is freezing their tails off; yes we will be sending some braggy photos to them!
One thing we do want to try to get in is horse back riding on the beach. I am a little iffy about it but I get to do a lot of the planning for our trips so if my boyfriend comes up with an idea I try to incorporate it. We originally looked into doing this in the Bahamas for our cruise on the Glory but got no response from the tour operator :(
Carnival does offer a horseback riding excursion in Grand Turk but it is about the same cost as doing it through a private company. I feel we may get a better experience being one on one with a small group rather than being herded around on the ship excursion. It does make us feel better that if we book with Carnival the ship wont leave us behind but with us having such a long day here I am sure we will have no issues with timing. Decisions, decisions. Only time will tell.
We are definitely planning a beach day for our stop at Little Stirrup Cay. Just a nice, relaxing day drinking a Miami Vice or two and hanging out in a lounger.
Have you been to Grand Turk or Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay)? Ever been horseback riding on the beach? Let me know your thoughts!
Tips & Tricks of all things cruising from a self professed cruise ADDICT.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
Faster to the Fun?
Carnival recently revealed their "Faster to the Fun" program with their 2.0 upgrades. We decided we would buy it for our upcoming cruise on the Victory. What does "FTTF" include?
*Priority Check in with Express Boarding - There is a separate check in line for those who have achieved Platinum & Diamond status, along with FTTF cruisers. You board the cruise before regular boarding.
*Guaranteed Stateroom - Your room is ready as soon as you board, as opposed to having to wait until 1:30 or so as normal. This is great for people with carry on bags or kids.
*Express Luggage - Your luggage makes it way up to your room ahead of normal.
*Guest Services Line - Hate when you just need something quick but there are 50 people at Guest Services? Now you can join the "platinum" line! You also have a designated line you can call from your room to reach guest services.
*Dining Reservations - Your group gets priority for reservations at both the main dining room as well as specialty restaurants.
*Tender Priority - Ready to board a tender boat to one of your port stops? Head down to that special line at guest services and you can bypass the line. NOTE - This does not include return tender OR ports of call where you are docked at the pier.
*Debarkation - You can leave first or last! FTTF allows you to choose early or late debarking.
Think FTTF seems like something you could use to your advantage? Want to know if it is available for your sailing? Check out Carnivals Shore Excursion page for more info.
**You only need to buy FTTF for one person per room, not for both or all. If you have more than one room, one person from each room must purchase.
*Priority Check in with Express Boarding - There is a separate check in line for those who have achieved Platinum & Diamond status, along with FTTF cruisers. You board the cruise before regular boarding.
*Guaranteed Stateroom - Your room is ready as soon as you board, as opposed to having to wait until 1:30 or so as normal. This is great for people with carry on bags or kids.
*Express Luggage - Your luggage makes it way up to your room ahead of normal.
*Guest Services Line - Hate when you just need something quick but there are 50 people at Guest Services? Now you can join the "platinum" line! You also have a designated line you can call from your room to reach guest services.
*Dining Reservations - Your group gets priority for reservations at both the main dining room as well as specialty restaurants.
*Tender Priority - Ready to board a tender boat to one of your port stops? Head down to that special line at guest services and you can bypass the line. NOTE - This does not include return tender OR ports of call where you are docked at the pier.
*Debarkation - You can leave first or last! FTTF allows you to choose early or late debarking.
Think FTTF seems like something you could use to your advantage? Want to know if it is available for your sailing? Check out Carnivals Shore Excursion page for more info.
**You only need to buy FTTF for one person per room, not for both or all. If you have more than one room, one person from each room must purchase.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Carnival Victory AGAIN
We booked another cruise !!! We are still interested in going to Bermuda for 2015 but since those schedules aren't out yet we decided to book a short cruise next February to hold me off :)
Carnival had a "National Cruise Vacation Month" sale with pretty good rates as well as offering on board credit so we jumped the gun. In addition to the great sale, we still had our 20% off a future cruise discount from our debacle during Hurricane Sandy last fall good for use on a 6 day or less cruise so we booked a 5 day from Miami.
There were 2 options we were looking at.
Option 1
Carnival Victory sailing from Miami 5 Days February
2 days at sea, 2 port days: Grand Turk , Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay)
OR
Carnival Sunshine (formerly the Destiny) sailing from Port Canaveral (Orlando) 5 days April
1 sea day, 3 port days: Nassau, Freeport, Key West
Ultimately the decision came down to the itinerary. The Sunshine is a completely new ship and all it has to offer is amazing BUT the itinerary is terrible. We LOVED Key West but probably wouldn't go back on a cruise. There is a lot to see and the area is 100% different that anywhere else in the US. It is slow paced and fun and there is A LOT of drinking going on. The Bahamas- I feel so so about. On our last cruise we were to call at Nassau & Freeport. Sandy came in and we were left with a couple of hours in Nassau. We had an awesome time at Atlantis but really there isn't much else to see. The vendors were also worse here than anywhere else we have been. From what I know, Freeport is the same deal. A couple of beaches and some shopping, not much else. Nassau is a frequent stop on most of Eastern Caribbean itineraries so I am sure we will go back eventually.
So with the Sunshine itinerary out of the question we ended up with Grand Turk and Little Stirrup Cay (pronounced Key). Grand Turk is the largest of the Turks & Caicos islands from what I understand and the port area is great. The beach is right off the pier as is a large Margaritaville Party Pool Bar area. I'm sure we will be stopping here ;)
Now there is Little Stirrup Cay which I had seen on a couple of random itineraries. This intrigued me. Turns out that this is actually Coco Cay, one of Royal Caribbeans private islands, that they lease to Carnival sometimes. Having never been to one of the cruise lines private islands before I was excited!
I am also excited to be on the Victory again, we even got the same room! This ship may not have all the bells and whistles that newer or updated ships have but it will always be our first ship. I love it. The layout is great and the Panorama deck is a great location for our room to be.
And of course there is Miami- my favorite place to cruise from and I love South Beach. We aren't sure if we will do a pre or post cruise in Miami since this is a last minute trip, we have to have a last minute budget.
LET THE PLANNING BEGIN! Interested in following our planning process? Subscribe to get all the latest posts to your email!
Carnival had a "National Cruise Vacation Month" sale with pretty good rates as well as offering on board credit so we jumped the gun. In addition to the great sale, we still had our 20% off a future cruise discount from our debacle during Hurricane Sandy last fall good for use on a 6 day or less cruise so we booked a 5 day from Miami.
There were 2 options we were looking at.
Option 1
Carnival Victory sailing from Miami 5 Days February
2 days at sea, 2 port days: Grand Turk , Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay)
OR
Carnival Sunshine (formerly the Destiny) sailing from Port Canaveral (Orlando) 5 days April
1 sea day, 3 port days: Nassau, Freeport, Key West
Ultimately the decision came down to the itinerary. The Sunshine is a completely new ship and all it has to offer is amazing BUT the itinerary is terrible. We LOVED Key West but probably wouldn't go back on a cruise. There is a lot to see and the area is 100% different that anywhere else in the US. It is slow paced and fun and there is A LOT of drinking going on. The Bahamas- I feel so so about. On our last cruise we were to call at Nassau & Freeport. Sandy came in and we were left with a couple of hours in Nassau. We had an awesome time at Atlantis but really there isn't much else to see. The vendors were also worse here than anywhere else we have been. From what I know, Freeport is the same deal. A couple of beaches and some shopping, not much else. Nassau is a frequent stop on most of Eastern Caribbean itineraries so I am sure we will go back eventually.
So with the Sunshine itinerary out of the question we ended up with Grand Turk and Little Stirrup Cay (pronounced Key). Grand Turk is the largest of the Turks & Caicos islands from what I understand and the port area is great. The beach is right off the pier as is a large Margaritaville Party Pool Bar area. I'm sure we will be stopping here ;)
Now there is Little Stirrup Cay which I had seen on a couple of random itineraries. This intrigued me. Turns out that this is actually Coco Cay, one of Royal Caribbeans private islands, that they lease to Carnival sometimes. Having never been to one of the cruise lines private islands before I was excited!
I am also excited to be on the Victory again, we even got the same room! This ship may not have all the bells and whistles that newer or updated ships have but it will always be our first ship. I love it. The layout is great and the Panorama deck is a great location for our room to be.
And of course there is Miami- my favorite place to cruise from and I love South Beach. We aren't sure if we will do a pre or post cruise in Miami since this is a last minute trip, we have to have a last minute budget.
LET THE PLANNING BEGIN! Interested in following our planning process? Subscribe to get all the latest posts to your email!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Bermuda anyone?
Good evening guys! I am always on the prowl for a cruise to book and decided to start looking early for Spring 2015. When trying to narrow down a cruise, we wanted to go out of Baltimore. We loved driving to Norfolk for last cruise as opposed to flying. We are interested in Royal so our options are Baltimore or Jersey for optimal driving distance.
We aren't interested in doing a Port Canaveral/ Bahamas cruise and although Royal offers amazing longer itineraries to the Caribbean from Baltimore, Bermuda sounded like an interesting choice. Since you are in port for 3 days, it is kind of like doing a cruise & a land vacation at the same time.
Any of you lovely cruise enthusiasts been to Bermuda? What were your favorite activities?
Has anyone been on a cruise that stayed overnight at your destination? What was it like to be able to come and go as you please?
Hopefully you guys will have some great ideas for me! Leave them in the comments below.
Happy cruising!
We aren't interested in doing a Port Canaveral/ Bahamas cruise and although Royal offers amazing longer itineraries to the Caribbean from Baltimore, Bermuda sounded like an interesting choice. Since you are in port for 3 days, it is kind of like doing a cruise & a land vacation at the same time.
Any of you lovely cruise enthusiasts been to Bermuda? What were your favorite activities?
Has anyone been on a cruise that stayed overnight at your destination? What was it like to be able to come and go as you please?
Hopefully you guys will have some great ideas for me! Leave them in the comments below.
Happy cruising!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Sorry for the lack of posts!
Just wanted to come on here and give you guys an update. Unfortunately we decided to cancel our December cruise on the Oasis of the Seas. It was pushing $3k with airfare not including any excursions or extras. It was a really hard decision but I am trying to plan a trip next summer to Italy & France so I will be updating on that some since Naples is a cruise stop. We will most likely be visiting Naples (Capri, Amalfi Coast), Rome, Venice, & Paris! Hopefully it all works out as it is in the planning stages now but it is looking to be an amazing trip!
Remember- If you have any cruise questions please let me know! I love hearing about your plans and itineraries and would like to be able to help if I can!
Happy Sailing :)
Remember- If you have any cruise questions please let me know! I love hearing about your plans and itineraries and would like to be able to help if I can!
Happy Sailing :)
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Comparing the Worlds Largest Cruise Ships, Then & Now
I found this while perusing on pinterest lately and found it to be quite interesting. Check out the actual site where it can be found here
Monday, April 8, 2013
250 days !!!
250 days until we sail on the biggest cruise ship in the world! We have never had to wait so long to cruise! The ship is a destination in its self so that's also going to take a lot of research. We don't want to miss a thing!
What do you do to pass the time between booking your cruise and embarkation day??
Ray-Ban 4148 Caribbean Sunglasses - Black/Crystal Green (Google Affiliate Ad)
What do you do to pass the time between booking your cruise and embarkation day??
Ray-Ban 4148 Caribbean Sunglasses - Black/Crystal Green (Google Affiliate Ad)
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