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Help with RCCL cruise to Bermuda & Carribbean

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colejake

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My husband & I have taken 2 cruises many years ago. Costa was Great & then a terrible experience on Carnival. Now that he has retired, we thought we would give cruising another try.

We are booked on RCCL Grandeur for repositioning cruise out of Baltimore in Nov. It is 14 days- 2 in Bermuda and the rest in Carribbean.

Any info on what to do & where--- any tours that we can do on our own or tips on the cruise or the ship would be great!!

It has been so long....please give us some advice.

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Lynn - Bermuda is probably our favorite port to sail to. It is very easy to get around the Island. You can buy an all day ferry/bus pass which will get you just about anywhere (and the ferry ride to Hamilton is very pretty). What specifically are you looking to do while you are there? Perhaps I could help. What Caribbean ports are you stopping at.

The Grandeur is a very nice ship with a great crew and sailing from Baltimore is a breeze. Have a great cruise and ask any questions that pop into your head. If I can't help you I'm sure there are plenty of other Crazies who can.

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Hi Lynn! I love the Granduer even tho I haven't been on her in a couple of years. We have traveled all over the caribbean so if you tell us what you like to do like Marylou suggested I'm sure one of us can help.

What ports?

Are you a beach person? Tour person? Adventurous?

We'll all be glad to help in anyway we can so ask any ??'s you may have.

Welcome aboard!

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We had looked at this cruise so I will be very anxious to hear your review.

My sister and her family go to Bermuda twice a year: Thanksgiving and over the summer. So I'm guessing that there must be plenty to do. Most of their pictures include a beach.

As for the Caribbean, we love it there! We are water people so we tend to find things to do that include snorkling, rhino riding (think motorcycle in the ocean), catamaran sailing, speed boats. My husband and I don't shop at all so we can't offer any hints in that area. We also just love to walk around the towns and mingle.

Caribbean Magazine is always filled with ideas of places to visit, things to do, etc.

Give any of us ideas on what you like and I'm sure we will all have input.

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Lynn - Bermuda is probably our favorite port to sail to. It is very easy to get around the Island. You can buy an all day ferry/bus pass which will get you just about anywhere (and the ferry ride to Hamilton is very pretty). What specifically are you looking to do while you are there? Perhaps I could help. What Caribbean ports are you stopping at.

The Grandeur is a very nice ship with a great crew and sailing from Baltimore is a breeze. Have a great cruise and ask any questions that pop into your head. If I can't help you I'm sure there are plenty of other Crazies who can.

We like to see what life is in other places.....not really daring adventurers. We just don't want to miss the important things associated with each port.

We really don't care for the Shipboard Tours....would rather see it on our own or a reccomended tour arranged thru someone who knows the territory. And we would like it to be "cost effective"....we are retired.

The ship is in Bermuda, BVI, Aruba, Curacel, Cozemel, Grand Cayman & St Maerten.

Any help will be much appreciated.

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Hi Lynn! I love the Granduer even tho I haven't been on her in a couple of years. We have traveled all over the caribbean so if you tell us what you like to do like Marylou suggested I'm sure one of us can help.

What ports?

Are you a beach person? Tour person? Adventurous?

We'll all be glad to help in anyway we can so ask any ??'s you may have.

Welcome aboard!

We like to see what life is in other places.....not really daring adventurers. We just don't want to miss the important things associated with each port.

We really don't care for the Shipboard Tours....would rather see it on our own or a recomended tour arranged thru someone who knows the territory. And we would like it to be "cost effective"....we are retired.

The ship is in Bermuda, BVI, Aruba, Curacel, Cozemel, Grand Cayman & St Maerten.

Any help will be much appreciated.

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Hi Lynn! I love the Granduer even tho I haven't been on her in a couple of years. We have traveled all over the caribbean so if you tell us what you like to do like Marylou suggested I'm sure one of us can help.

What ports?

Are you a beach person? Tour person? Adventurous?

We'll all be glad to help in anyway we can so ask any ??'s you may have.

Welcome aboard!

We like to see what life is in other places.....not really daring adventurers. We just don't want to miss the important things associated with each port.

We really don't care for the Shipboard Tours....would rather see it on our own or a recomended tour arranged thru someone who knows the territory. And we would like it to be "cost effective"....we are retired.

The ship is in Bermuda, BVI, Aruba, Curacel, Cozemel, Grand Cayman & St Maerten.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Aruba is lots of hotels and beaches. Haven't been there. Co-worker goes there every year for 1 wk vacation. Not a lot to do other than sugar plantation, city tour, beach or eat.

Cozumel has great snorkeling. Chan Kanab (I didn't spell it right) park is beautiful and a short taxi cab away from the port. Think beautiful park on a beach. We have been there 3 times (I think) and never took a ship excursion. First time we rented 3 jeeps (6 folks) and drove around the island, stopping wherever and doing whatever. It was a blast and very safe. Next time was the park by taxi. Last time we hooked up with some scuba divers and went on their boat and snorkeled. Incredible island, very friendly, felt safe. Lots of folks will take the Mayan Ruin excursion. While I enjoy the historical aspect of seeing ruins, it takes the entire day; it's very hot; very humid and very buggy. If we were spending a couple of days in Cozumel then I'd dedicate one day to the ruins and use the other days to island explore. But since the ship only stops there for 8 hours tops, I hate using all of those hours for one excursion.

Grand Cayman is beautiful. Again, never paid for any excursion there. Been there 3 times as well. You can walk to the shops from the port. You can take a city bus to 7-mile beach (white sand, beautiful hotels and even prettier people) which I think is only a dollar or so. Fabulous snorkeling right close to the port. Most folks pay for the stingray island excursion. I really have no desire so I don't even think about this excursion. But I'm told it's well worth it.

St Maarten is my most favorite port and I'm sorry that we won't be stopping there when we cruise the Caribbean November 2010. Again, very easy and safe to get around. We have always hired a taxi right outside of where the ship drops you off. First time we just asked the driver how much he would charge us for the day (there were 3 couple so the bill was quite reasonble for the 8 hrs that we were with him). He took us to both sides of the island, stopped at his favorite places (obviously local stops) and pretty much gave us an idea of what the island was all about. Next 2 times we did RHINO riding. Think motorcycle in the ocean. What a blast. We signed up for it through Shore Tours. Not the ship. If at all interested, seek out Shore Tours. St Maarten has incredible restaurants and bars. Again, a very friendly island. It also had Orient Beach which is clothing optional. We've stopped there each time as well. But, we did not partake in the clothing optional option.

Each of the ones that I listed have shopping close by the ports. I am not a shopper so I can't tell you good, bad, indifferent or otherwise.

My husband and I also like to get the flavor of the island by walking around (me more than him, but he does it).

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Well, if you just plan to shop running into towns, it will be a breeze for you, if your doing excursions or tours well, I would suggest being careful. We typically just like to book thru the cruiselines, we had a bad experience where our bus broke down. Thankfully we booked thru the cruiseline we were over an hour late returning to the boat. But becuase we were on a "cruiseline tour" the boat waited for us. If it wouldnt had been cruise ship tour the boat would have left and we would have had to pay the expense to get home. I know a vacation is about having fun and getting the best deal for your dollar. But for me its also about being safe.

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