We were inspired by Samantha Brown's Carnival cruise so away we go! - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The Itinerary:
As I said this was inspired by a show we watched of Samantha's Brown's. We her! We love her disney and non disney stuff. We watched a cruise special that she took with her family last year. It was an 8 day cruise which we have been wanting to try out. When I saw her at the Baths of Virgin Gorda, I told Eric I wanted to do this next time if we could. I didn't mean that exact cruise and it wasn't meant to copy her cruise exactly. But, in the end it somehow came out that way *LOL*
A few months later as in about 4 months later, Eric calls me and said for me to DVR that Samantha Brown cruise special that was on and coming on again later that day. So, I set it up and he goes on to inform me the cruise I said I liked that she did happened to be the exact cruise we booked *LOL*
So, how cool is is that we have a visual on what we will be doing soon?? We kept it on the DVR and watch it here and there.
It is really cool to see the ship and the activities,etc.
So, when choosing the itinerary we choose an 8 day cruise. We usually do a 7 day but this would give us another port and another day for not much more than we usually pay. We decided we wanted to give this a try.
We choose the Carnival Freedom ship. This ship goes out of Ft. Lauderdale which we went out of last year.
The itinerary we choose was:
Sat. March 27th: Ft. Lauderdale depart at 4:00pm
Sun, March 28th: Fun day at Sea
Mon, March 29th: San Juan 5pm-midnight
Tues, March 30th: St. Thomas/St. John 7am-6pm
Wed, March 31st: Antigua 7am-6pm
Thurs, April 1st: Tortola/Virgin Gorda 7am-330pm
Fri, April 2nd Fun day at sea
Sat, April 3rd Nassau 1pm-8pm
Sun, April 4th Ft. Lauderdale 8am
That's what we choose. We have been to some of these ports before but it was ports that we really enjoyed. There are a few that we have never been to before and are excited to try out.
Here are a few pics of the where we are going....
San Juan....
We have been here before so here are a few pics of San Juan
This is Downtown Old San Juan. We plan to do this on our visit this time. More on that later though
St. Thomas/ St. John
We have been here several times and love going here. We have plans for both islands, more to come on that but here are a few pics from prior cruises
St. John (Trunk Bay where we plan to go this time)
St. Thomas
Antigua NEW PORT...we have never been here but here is what
it looks like
Tortola/Virgin Gorda...Brittish Virgin Islands NEVER BEEN....NEW PORT...
This is what the baths look like
The last stop is Nassau....I have no pics of this right now. We have done this port before. We have something really cool lined up here that we are really excited about!
So, that's a bit of what we are doing and what it looks like
We are 48 days out. We should get our packet and cruise tickets at around 45 days out next week!!
We did book cruise insurance which is a must do! Because if you were to get sick or a bad weather cancel the cruise or anything happen to your luggage you loose everything. The cruise insurance was booked at time of booking and was 100 for us both total. Which is a great price!
We do plan to drive down again more on that later!
Up next: The ship details!
Just found this! Great start! I'm looking forward to following this TR!! I agree with the above poster; great deal on inshurance, what company did you use?
Looking forward to more.....
Great start! Sorry I didnt get on board right away! I am so behind on my browsing! I am so glad you pointed the way for me! lol!
I love that itinerary! I have read about your other cruises before but this one seems the most up my alley! I think if I can ever convince Rob to cruise you have to be our Travel Agent! LOL!
Tortola looks amazing! And I have always wanted to go to San Juan! Ahhh I am so excited for you! Its SOOOO close now!!!!
PS- You are keeping us in suspense with the surprise at Nassau! Since that is the only area on your itinerary Ive visited and it was only for a small part of our honeymoon I am especially interested!
Thanks They are beautiful...I think that is why we are partial to the eastern carribean cruises
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Do you mind if I ask what company you used for your trip insurance? Was it directly through the cruise line? That seems like a good price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
Just found this! Great start! I'm looking forward to following this TR!! I agree with the above poster; great deal on inshurance, what company did you use?
Looking forward to more.....
Our travel agent highly recommended Travel Guard. She said that they have had nothing but great success with them and they are much cheaper than other companies. especiall the cruise ship itself. We have used them four times, for our past three cruises and this current one. They send you stickers to place on all the suitcases and information to carry with you in case something should happen. Our travel agent had a bunch of pamphlets in her office that she gives us to fill out and she sends it in each time. The older you are the more expensive it gets but I think for his parents it was only 130 total or something like that. I know it came out to a little over 200 for us all four together. I hope that helps
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great plans and ports!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyRapunzal
Great start! Sorry I didnt get on board right away! I am so behind on my browsing! I am so glad you pointed the way for me! lol!
I love that itinerary! I have read about your other cruises before but this one seems the most up my alley! I think if I can ever convince Rob to cruise you have to be our Travel Agent! LOL!
Tortola looks amazing! And I have always wanted to go to San Juan! Ahhh I am so excited for you! Its SOOOO close now!!!!
PS- You are keeping us in suspense with the surprise at Nassau! Since that is the only area on your itinerary Ive visited and it was only for a small part of our honeymoon I am especially interested!
I'm so glad you found it. I figured you had been busy and missed my posting on FB.
I will sooooooooooooo be your travel agent for a cruise if you decide to do so I love doing this stuff. Actually, Eric is better at scouting them out than I happen to be. He plans these cruises and I plan Disney *LOL*
I cannot believe how close it is OMG! We have just started our cruise buying which luckily this year we do not need very much at all!
I will do an excursions update next weekend since I have a three day weekend but in the excursions update you will see the excitement I have for Nassau this time around
Our travel agent highly recommended Travel Guard. She said that they have had nothing but great success with them and they are much cheaper than other companies. especiall the cruise ship itself. We have used them four times, for our past three cruises and this current one. They send you stickers to place on all the suitcases and information to carry with you in case something should happen. Our travel agent had a bunch of pamphlets in her office that she gives us to fill out and she sends it in each time. The older you are the more expensive it gets but I think for his parents it was only 130 total or something like that. I know it came out to a little over 200 for us all four together. I hope that helps
I don't know if I ever mentioned it but when we were going on our Honeymoon I got so excited because the Sandals reservations through our TA actually use the same travel insurance company as Disney! lol! I don't know why that got me all happy! It like disney-fied the Bahamas trip planning for some reason! LOL! Also, just FYI... once you are married trip insurance goes down big time as well! We used to pay what amounted to $26 per day and this go round it only works out to be around $18 per day! More marriage perks! lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by scdisneyfan
I'm so glad you found it. I figured you had been busy and missed my posting on FB.
I will sooooooooooooo be your travel agent for a cruise if you decide to do so I love doing this stuff. Actually, Eric is better at scouting them out than I happen to be. He plans these cruises and I plan Disney *LOL*
I cannot believe how close it is OMG! We have just started our cruise buying which luckily this year we do not need very much at all!
I will do an excursions update next weekend since I have a three day weekend but in the excursions update you will see the excitement I have for Nassau this time around
Thanks girl! The suspense is kiiiilling me! I feel so special that the only place I have visited in the Caribbean is the place you have some extra excitement for! Woot woot! I am full on planning to spend whatever Disney is charging to finally go to Hawaii after Aulani opens so that would be summer 2012.... that leaves me quite a bit of time to scheme for a cruise maybe summer 2011.... hmmm... maybe I should start searching now! lol!
Of course I am drooling for all the details and can't wait to hear about it and you haven't even left yet. How cool that you can take a look at 'your' trip on TV whenever you want to get psyched about it. Like you could NOT be psyched about a Caribbean cruise, duh! I just LOVE that blue water and the Baths sound awesome. Maybe Samantha Brown's special will be on again, if it is let us know so we can see where you'll be going too. And I think we went to Antigua on the one cruise we have been on for our 1st anniversary. I think we did a beach day with a picnic on that stop. Way lucky that y'all live close enough to be able to drive to the port instead of having to tack on airfare too!! Bonus!!
Teh ports sound great Crissy! And looks so beautiful. I can't wait for my first Caribbean experience in about a year!
I saw that! My friend went to the Dominican Republic a few years ago and said it was really beautiful. Her pictures were amazing! I know you will love it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyRapunzal
I don't know if I ever mentioned it but when we were going on our Honeymoon I got so excited because the Sandals reservations through our TA actually use the same travel insurance company as Disney! lol! I don't know why that got me all happy! It like disney-fied the Bahamas trip planning for some reason! LOL! Also, just FYI... once you are married trip insurance goes down big time as well! We used to pay what amounted to $26 per day and this go round it only works out to be around $18 per day! More marriage perks! lol!
Thanks girl! The suspense is kiiiilling me! I feel so special that the only place I have visited in the Caribbean is the place you have some extra excitement for! Woot woot! I am full on planning to spend whatever Disney is charging to finally go to Hawaii after Aulani opens so that would be summer 2012.... that leaves me quite a bit of time to scheme for a cruise maybe summer 2011.... hmmm... maybe I should start searching now! lol!
Okay so i need some marriage perks! There are too many to count these days!
I heard a little about Aulani on a podcast. I want to read more about that. Sounds amazing! If you scheme for a cruise you let me know I will help!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny
I remember some of those pictures from last year! Melissa has me wondering about your excursions now...
I will update today to kill some of the suspense LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDolphin
Your port options sound wonderful!!
Thank you! we are really getting excited...especially with this snowy weather!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsteiny23
Of course I am drooling for all the details and can't wait to hear about it and you haven't even left yet. How cool that you can take a look at 'your' trip on TV whenever you want to get psyched about it. Like you could NOT be psyched about a Caribbean cruise, duh! I just LOVE that blue water and the Baths sound awesome. Maybe Samantha Brown's special will be on again, if it is let us know so we can see where you'll be going too. And I think we went to Antigua on the one cruise we have been on for our 1st anniversary. I think we did a beach day with a picnic on that stop. Way lucky that y'all live close enough to be able to drive to the port instead of having to tack on airfare too!! Bonus!!
Keep it coming!
well drool no more *LOL* I will def let you guys know when her special comes on again. I looked for this week and dont see it right now but I will keep looking!
We live about 12 to 13 hours away. So I wouldn't call it close but his parents refuse to fly *L*
Quote:
Originally Posted by islandgirl
Just found this!! Your plans sound wonderful!! Can't wait to read more!
Okay so I have another update for today. I'm off work and thought it would give me time for a small update for you guys!
I have a month a week and four days until we leave for Ft. Lauderdale. Not that I'm counting or anything
We have some time left and I want it to stretch out until we leave.
Today I thought I would talk Excursions.....
When you go on a cruise, you usually book exercusions. You don't have to do this but if you wanted a guided tour on the port of call then you would do this. We always choose excursuions because they have always been a lot of fun. The excursions allow for you to explore with a guide and its a bit safer. Also, you sometimes still have time to explore on your own after the excursion if time allows.
We called Eric's parents at the first of January and asked if the could come to our house so that we could book excursions. At the time we had hit 90 days out and we really needed to book them. You should book about 90 days out in advance and you can do this on the website.
You just register on the website and it pulls up your cruise and the excursions offered.
His parents came in in January and we spent the weekend deciding what we wanted to do. Eric and I had already tentatively come up with some things we wanted to do. But, this time there were five ports. It gets really expensive with five ports
His mom offered to buy one of our excursions for us for christmas!
That saved us 150 dollars
After much deliberation and searching. We decided on our excursions.....
San Juan
We decided that since we would only be here from 5pm to Midnight that we would just explore the old city on foot. Its really easy because you just walk off the port and into Old San Juan.
A little trolley goes through all of Old San Juan and its pretty easy to navigate even though its in spanish they use english too.
We decided to just do some shopping and exploring since last time we did not get to do much of this because of the rain and his parents were pushing us along. They have decided to do this with us but we informed them this time we are taking our time if they want to stay they can if not ohhhh welll they can go back to the ship *LOL*
We also decided that we will eat some authentic dinner here... We are not real sure just yet what that will be but we have a bunch of travel books to look at and decide.
St. Thomas and St. John
We have decided to do a few things at this port. We have been here several times on cruises and we pretty much know our way around this port.
We decided that Trunk bay is the most beautiful beach we have ever seen (its the pic of me and eric above in the previous update with the beach behind us). We decided to take an excursion here to this beach, Trunk Bay, in St. John.
Its a 40 minute ferry ride over. Then a bus to the beach where you can sun bathe or snorkel for three hours. I think they serve some refreshments. Then you take the ferry back to St. Thomas.
We have enough time in St. thomas that after we get to the boat we will go change clothes and the we are going to take the tram up to Paradise Point in St. Thomas. We did this before on our other Carnvial cruise and its lovely!
After that we will shop some and then head back to the boat.
Antigua
Okay, so we have never been here before and it took awhile to come up with something for this port. But, after much deliberation we decided on "Historic Antigua and Beach"
On this excursion its from 815am to 1245pm. You take a bus from the port to Nelson's Dockyard, a restored 18th century British Naval dockyard. Then you go to Dow's Hill interpretation Center. Where you have amazing views of the harbour and dockyard.
Then they take you to Shirley Heights for a photo op. Then its off to the beach, Turner's Beach, where a complimentary drink is included and you stay there for a few hours.
We have Google Earth and looked up all the places we will go and its looks amazing! I cannot wait to see it in person.
After that we have a few hours and we will probably just walk into town after being dropped back off at the pier. But, here we are overly cautious because they just had some issues with americans being arrested and placed into jail here indefinitely at this point. They caused a scene and were a bit irate but Eric and I are wary of what we do here. So, we are going on the cautious side of things in town.
Tortola/Virgin Gorda
Okay so we land in Tortola which is a BVI (british virgin island) and we will take a ferry over to Virgin Gorda.
Here we will explore the Baths. I showed you guys the pics before so I wont do that again but it looks amazing. Here we have three hours. After this we will head back to Tortola and I'm not sure if we will do anything there once we get back.
Nassau
Okay, so I know there is some excitement over what we are doing here. I'm not sure if you remember on our last Carnival Cruise we came to Nassau where it rained the whole time and when we got to our excursion it was at a Breezes resort where it was supposed to be all inclusive but it wasnt. There were so many complaints from this excursion that we got our money back from the cruise ship
That was a pretty bad experience.
So, we decided that we have always wanted to go to the Atlantis Resort on Nassau.
Eric and I found that our ship was offering an excursion to Atlantis Resort that was a bit pricey but with his mom paying for one excursion we felt we could swing it.
The excurision is a all inclusive Atlantis Resort water excursion.
Okay, so you take a bus over from the port to the Atlantis Resort. It goes over around noon. You have from noon till about 6pm. You are given wrist bands and you get to use all the water park facilities at this resort.
You have access to all the water slides. All the pools, and the lazy river. You also have access to the beach
You can stay up to 6 hours. They provide towels and shower rooms.
WOW!!! We were so stoked to be able to do this this time
They offer shuttles back to the ship every thirty minutes until 5 or 6pm.
We read a few reviews from Carnival cruisers who did this excursion and said it was well worth the money and they were impressed with how well they were treated and it was nice to have the showers and towels provided.
So, that's the excursions we decided on. They came up to about 450 total for the both of us. They were a bit pricey but we expected that.
I also want to say that if you are interested in Cruising there is a website that I highly recommend. Its like passporter for Cruisers. Its cruisecritic.com its a great informative website. You can chat like you do here or you can read reviews of the cruise that you are planning on taking. We read those reviews right up until we leave. There are good and bad reviews of course and we just take what we need from that. It also gives us a little of what to expect on our cruise.
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her! We love her disney and non disney stuff. We watched a cruise special that she took with her family last year. It was an 8 day cruise which we have been wanting to try out. When I saw her at the Baths of Virgin Gorda, I told Eric I wanted to do this next time if we could. I didn't mean that exact cruise and it wasn't meant to copy her cruise exactly. But, in the end it somehow came out that way *LOL*
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I love doing this stuff. Actually, Eric is better at scouting them out than I happen to be. He plans these cruises and I plan Disney *LOL*
We have just started our cruise buying which luckily this year we do not need very much at all! 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
How cool that you can take a look at 'your' trip on TV whenever you want to get psyched about it. Like you could NOT be psyched about a Caribbean cruise, duh! I just LOVE that blue water and the Baths sound awesome. Maybe Samantha Brown's special will be on again, if it is let us know so we can see where you'll be going too. And I think we went to Antigua on the one cruise we have been on for our 1st anniversary. I think we did a beach day with a picnic on that stop. Way lucky that y'all live close enough to be able to drive to the port instead of having to tack on airfare too!! Bonus!!
Susan
and searching. We decided on our excursions.....
they can go back to the ship *LOL*
We are not real sure just yet what that will be but we have a bunch of travel books to look at and decide. 
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