Eastern caribbean Cruise - Royal Caribbean

We are going on a caribbean cruise on Royal caribbean
from Miami

we are n. california folks

Navigator

Sailing on July 2 for days.

is this a bad time of the year to go on such a cruise?

It is the EASTERN Caribbean cruise.

We are a family of 4.
2 parents and 2 kids -
2 boys 13 and 9

Since we are on a budget .......we cannot go on all excursions.

Question on Excursions
***************************

Which are the best Excursions ?

Which offers god value ?

What Excursions should we not miss ?

What would be really great for such a family ?

Any pointers help would be highly appreciated

Any other unrelated suggestions to the above are MOST welcome.

Thanks
Ava

I would go over to the cruise critic message board and post there. here
is a link to them.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

wrote:
We are going on a caribbean cruise on Royal caribbean
from Miami

we are n. california folks

Navigator

Sailing on July 2 for days.

is this a bad time of the year to go on such a cruise?

It is the EASTERN Caribbean cruise.

We are a family of 4.
2 parents and 2 kids -
2 boys 13 and 9

Since we are on a budget .......we cannot go on all excursions.

Question on Excursions
***************************

Which are the best Excursions ?

Which offers god value ?

What Excursions should we not miss ?

What would be really great for such a family ?

Any pointers help would be highly appreciated

Any other unrelated suggestions to the above are MOST welcome.

Thanks
Ava

wrote:
We are going on a caribbean cruise on Royal caribbean
from Miami

we are n. california folks

Navigator

Sailing on July 2 for days.

is this a bad time of the year to go on such a cruise?

It is the EASTERN Caribbean cruise.

We are a family of 4.
2 parents and 2 kids -
2 boys 13 and 9

Since we are on a budget .......we cannot go on all excursions.

Question on Excursions
***************************

Which are the best Excursions ?

Which offers god value ?

What Excursions should we not miss ?

What would be really great for such a family ?

Any pointers help would be highly appreciated

Any other unrelated suggestions to the above are MOST welcome.

Thanks
Ava

Is this your first cruise? If so, I wouldn't go on any excursions, with
the exception of a visit to St john. My family loves Coral World
aquarium on St. Thomas. However, I found there was so much to do on
board it wasn't worth trying to do the excursions. We tried to do it all
and got worn ut. DO go shopping in St.martin and be prepared to bargain.
Other than that, spend a couple hours at each port, seeing what's there.
Maybe spend some time at the beach. Then on the NEXT cruise, do the
excursions. I'm not an expert, but I know what I did wrong. We're on our
5th cruise now.

Clay

wrote:
is this a bad time of the year to go on such a cruise?

Well, it is hurricane season, so don't have your heart set on a
particular port stop. They will change itinerary to avoid storms.

Which are the best Excursions ?

The ones that involve activities that your family will enjoy.

Which offers god value ?

Not sure about that. Never saw one advertised as including G_d
involvement. Only kidding. Good value? No excursions you buy on the
ship will offer you good value (in my opinion). Most anything the ship
can arrange, you can arrange on your own for a fraction of the price.

What Excursions should we not miss ?

Can you be more specific about your itinerary? All you said was Eastern
Caribbean. Can you tell us your ports (I don't feel like looking up
your itinerary).

What would be really great for such a family ?

What does your family enjoy? Watersports? History? Land-based sports?

Any pointers help would be highly appreciated

Since we don't know you, it's hard to say what would be the best things
for you to do in port. Give us more info, we'll give you more pointers.

Any other unrelated suggestions to the above are MOST welcome.

Have fun.

Lee

Thanks
Ava

No matter what cruise you take it is going to cost you more than you
anticipate,do not forget ,they add tips to your bill,your
drinks,including soda,we always figure it will roughly cost us at least
$500,00 more than we had originally thought it would.We have been
cruising for our 37th time in october

Thanks for your replies:

This is our FIRST cruise. That's why all these silly questions.

Questions:

1. What is the situation with tips ?

I heard that one has 2 choices:
- pay at the beginning
- pay at the end
is this true ?

If so which is a better idea ?

How much should one tip ? and who to tip ?
Any experiences ?

2 .Question re Kids unlimited drinks ....sodas and juices.
Can one prepay before boarding ?
Any pointers ?

3.. Do they provide an iron in each cabin on Royal Caribbean ?

4. Any experience wit internet connection ? Need one for a few minutes
each day.

Thanks
Ava

We rarely go on cruise line excursions. No need to. Just go off on your
own. Much cheaper.

To me, the must things to do include taking the ferry to St. John and
snorkeling at Trunk Bay on St. John. You do this the day the ship stops at
St. Thomas. Take a taxi to Red Hook (about a 20 minute ride). Take the
ferry across the channel (about a 20 minute ride). And then catch a taxi to
Trunk Bay (about 5 minute ride).

If your ship goes to St. Maarten, I like the little island Pinel Island.
Take a taxi to Cul de Sac, and the little boat across to the island. It's
very cute there. The kids will love it. They might even see a topless girl
or two there... which might give them a chuckle.

--Tom

wrote in message
ups.com...

We are going on a caribbean cruise on Royal caribbean
from Miami

we are n. california folks

Navigator

Sailing on July 2 for days.

is this a bad time of the year to go on such a cruise?

It is the EASTERN Caribbean cruise.

We are a family of 4.
2 parents and 2 kids -
2 boys 13 and 9

Since we are on a budget .......we cannot go on all excursions.

Question on Excursions
***************************

Which are the best Excursions ?

Which offers god value ?

What Excursions should we not miss ?

What would be really great for such a family ?

Any pointers help would be highly appreciated

Any other unrelated suggestions to the above are MOST welcome.

Thanks
Ava

wrote in message
oups.com...

Thanks for your replies:

This is our FIRST cruise. That's why all these silly questions.

Questions:

1. What is the situation with tips ?

I heard that one has 2 choices:
- pay at the beginning
- pay at the end
is this true ?

If so which is a better idea ?

Everyone pays at the end. The system is set up to work that way. You can
have the tips put on your ship-board account (in that case you hand out
vouchers) or you can pay by cash.


How much should one tip ? and who to tip ?
Any experiences ?

There are specific guidelines. They'll explain it.

Basically you pay $3.50 per person per day to your waiter and cabin steward.
And $2.00 pp pd to the assistant waiter. Plus a few bucks for the maitre
d'. Then add half the amounts indicated for the kids.



2 .Question re Kids unlimited drinks ....sodas and juices.
Can one prepay before boarding ?
Any pointers ?

Yes. Bring along packets of crystal light for use in your cabin. Have the
kids drink lemonade or punch for lunch and dinner, instead of paying big
money for soda.



3.. Do they provide an iron in each cabin on Royal Caribbean ?

No. Fire hazzard. You're on a ship.


4. Any experience wit internet connection ? Need one for a few minutes
each day.

There is an internet cafe on the ship.

--Tom

Thanks
Ava

Ava, you can purchase a soda card at the beginning of the trip (they just
put a coke stamp on your seapass card) and they can have unlimited drinks.
Have a fantastic time!!
Lori

wrote in message
oups.com...

Thanks for your replies:

This is our FIRST cruise. That's why all these silly questions.

Questions:

1. What is the situation with tips ?

I heard that one has 2 choices:
- pay at the beginning
- pay at the end
is this true ?

If so which is a better idea ?

How much should one tip ? and who to tip ?
Any experiences ?

2 .Question re Kids unlimited drinks ....sodas and juices.
Can one prepay before boarding ?
Any pointers ?

3.. Do they provide an iron in each cabin on Royal Caribbean ?

4. Any experience wit internet connection ? Need one for a few minutes
each day.

Thanks
Ava

one more question:

On Royal Caribbean - Navigator -
will they have a plug to recharge my laptop batteries.

I will need to use it check emails.

Thanks
Ava