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Old November 8th, 2006, 12:13 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
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Default More questions [long]


"Jean O'Boyle" wrote in message
m...

Answered Inline:

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thank You sooooooooooooooooo much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We decided - 7-night Caribbean-Western - from Miami with Royal
Caribbean )) We decided to take just oceanview cabin, it was huge
diffrent between balcony cabin (at this date), we think it's better to
stay in Miami longer.
Ehhh... It took 3 weeks, but we booked our first cruise, finally....
Now we have more questions than before, I'm exetremly happy I found
Your group and You are so helpful... THANKS!!!


Eve,
We just got off the Carnival Conquest this past Sunday, and I ended up
with a bad cold (zimno i kaszel)


Isn't zimno cold as in temperature, not as in illness? At least that's how
it is in Slovak IIRCl

--Tom


so I did not read your post until today.
Having sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance and the Celebrity Zenith, I
would have chosen the Radiance over the Zenith.
Not only because the ship is so beautiful but because I prefer the ports
that it is visting. I would NEVER have taken the Zenith for a 10 day
cruise...She has no balconies and the experience that we had on a 7 day
cruise to Bermuda on the Zenith in 2003 was terrible. From recent reports
and after talking to a friend who just returned from a cruise on her, she
has improved...But ten days on a ship like her would not be my cup of tea,
for sure!
I have never been on the Voyager of the Seas, but have heard good things
about her...at least she will be more enjoyable than the Zenith for your
very first cruise!

BTW, We are from Poland, we have polish passports and we will be back
before 31st of December, so i think we don't have "passport" problem.
We have valid american visas.



I knew right away that you were from Poland...not only from your name but
the* poczta* (mail) and pl
I correspond with some friends in Poland and can read some Polish as my
parents were both born in Poland.


Our plan:
1.Labadee : ??? we don't have any plans for this place, we thought
about excursion from RCI but we couldn't find any intresting beside
SeaTrek Parasail, do You have any idea what to do there??? Have You
ever tried parasail in Labadee?

2.Ocho Rios: We thought to rent a car and go to Montego Bay, but we
worry is it enough time? We would like to see Dunn's Falls also, do You
know how far is it from the port? Where is the best place for shopping?

We read about Ocho Rios and we afraid it's typical industrial place and
there is nothing to do. Any sugestions?

3.George Town: snorkeling, can You recomend any place? We didn't want
to take our equipment, where we can rent something? We heard there is a
place where we can see stingrays during snorkeling, do you know
anything about it?
What do You think about visiting turtle farm? Is it anything
interesting in Hell?
What else do You recomend?

4.Cozumel: is it enough time (9 hours) to get to Tulum? how is with
ferrys? How did You spend Your day in Cozumel? I really would like to
see ruins in Tulum, but we afraid it is too complicated?

5. If You know anything about our ports of call (Labadee, Haiti; Ocho
Rios, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico) we would
love to "hear" everything, all kinds of information would be very
helpful



Others have replied to your questions so I will make mine brief.

Labadee..no excursions as it is a stop at a beach where you tender in for
water activiites and a lunch prepared by the ship.
There are some natives who sell trinkets there if you are interested in
that kind of thing.

Ocho Rios...I would not rent a car to go to Montego Bay. Since this is
your first cruise experience, I would check out what the ship has to offer
excursion wise...Ocho Rios is a very poor place and not a very safe one,
where you will be stopped and pressured continuously to buy anything from
native made goods to drugs and you have to be VERY firm about saying *No*
and walking away. It is not a very pleasant experience and being this is
your first time there, I would play it safe by going with a group
organized by the ship. After several visits there, you learn where to
stay away from and whom to avoid.

Georgetown....you have shopping, Seven Mile Beach (which we were told by a
guide who took us to Cpt. Marvin's Stingray and Snorkle Excursion, is now
Five Mile Beach) because of the destruction caused by the last hurricane
there. Arranging a snorkel excursion is not very difficult..You can do it
on the internet and there are many vendors at the dock holding up signs.
You will be tendering from the ship into Georgetown, also. Captain
Marvin's Website is www.captainmarvins.com and you can see what he has to
offer. We took the 10:45 am, 2 hour stingray and snorkeling tour just
last Thursday and it was a lot of fun..There is not that much time on that
one for snorkeling so you might want to choose a longer one that visits
two reefs instead. It was a lot of fun.. the the stingrays were very
tame. They swim around you and when they brush against you they feel
velvety... more like a "slimey" mushroom!

We have been to Cozumel many times but never to Tulum, so I can't give
you any information there.
There are some nice beaches there and lots of shopping...Margaritaville
and Senor Frogs, etc!

We always play it safe and are on board the ship at least one hour ahead
of the departure time...You definitely do not want to be left behind
somewhere like Ocho Rios! If you are on your own, be sure to be onboard
before the designated time..If you are with the ship's excursion, it is
their responsibility to get you back on board on time and if they are a
bit late, the ship WILL wait for them, but it will NOT wait for you if you
are on your own adventure!

We use a taxi when we go. A group of us will get together and split the
fare between us...We all talk over and decide where we want to go, for how
long and what we want to see. We then talk it over with a couple taxi
drivers or dispatchers and see who will do what we want for the best
price. Do NOT get into a cab without confirming a rate first. Sometimes we
take a taxi van if there are more than four of us. I prefer taxis over
buses because you can decide to shorten or lengthen your times at
different sites, while on a bus you have to go by the bus schedule and
then I'm not patient about stragglers and having to sit on a bus waiting
because someone decided to go buy something they forgot.

Happy planning i piekna pogoda fo your cruise! ;-)

--Jean