General Chat

Oh yes, I got very bitten in Florida one year, mossies love me. I get bitten in tenerife as well. but it is the dengue fever etc that is worrying. That is on the increase in Europe too I believe. I will check the welsh thread.

Ann ................

I've posted about the mosquitoes on the Welsh thread



but do please remember that mosquitoes are found in most areas of North America

Still not got dates, carnival phoned and left a message when we were out. We phoned, she was at a meeting, we had to go out as I had a hospital appointment. Hoping she will phone tomorrow now.

And now I have found another worry, a health warning on line about taking good precautions against mosquitos as the ones there can carry dengue fever and something else that has no cure as well as malaria :-S :-S

forgot to mention - when we arrived in Tortola we were met by friends who live there - they took us on a tour of the island, which had been hit by the hurricane and then took us to a private Island off Tortola, Peter Island - it was fantastic - the rich and famous live there and the beaches were out of this world - all empty as the place is so thinly populated - there was an article in the travel section of the Mail on Sunday a few years back - the lovely Linda Bellingham and her husband spent time there

if you go on P & O you will get a designated restaurant but you can also eat in any other restaurant - Marco Pierre White was on the Ventura and you had to pay to eat in his restaurant - don't know why anyone would bother - the food was out of this world in our restaurant

We went on a Carribean cruise when my husband retired in 1989...retired early as was in Met police....it was Nov,just after hurricane Hubert.

Saw the devastation ,but the big liners are so stabilised we never even felt the movement...was the Cunard line.
It was wonderful,we did 11 Islands,but flew to Puerto Rico.
The only island we didn't like was Guadaloupe...a bit rough...
The whole cruise was very memorable and I have a video I watch sometimes ...would like to go back!

no .............


certainly don't look a gift horse in the mouth!!! :-D

I will I will contact her on FB

Ann,,,ask Hayley shes a keen cruiser and been on so many shes like an old salt or queen of the cruises,,,,,, ;-) :-D :-D :-D.

September to November gets worse for possibility of hurricanes. We would like June if possible. This is given to us by our son who won it and has been allowed to transfer it to us as he is unable to go. I don't think we would have a designated restaurant. And, we are not cruise or coach tour people at all but gift horses and all that :-D

AnnC ..............

I did check the Carnival ships ............. and many of them have the most incredible array of things for youngsters to do!


The 2 months of July and August is school holiday time all over N. America ................. and parents wants things for their kids to do.


The kids go back to school immediately after Labour Day, first Monday in September .............. so you would not see as many parents with children between the ages of 6 and 18 travelling then.



My friends took 2-3 cruises a year .................. and mainly had good meal partners, but some bad ones, and then it is useful to be able to eat elsewhere!




As I said, the tips I gave came from them, and were gathered over a 10 year period!

no children on our cruise - and we were definitely not organised - you could do your own thing and we never ever felt "crowded, in spite of the large number of passengers - we had excellent company on our table in our designated restaurant

We've never been on a cruise ....... or a land tour! .............. because we hate being organised.

We do have friends who cruise regularly, and I've picked up some tips from them


do you like being in big ships with crowds??

Check how many passengers are carried on the Carnival ships


Remember that July and August are the height of the season here, and that therefore the ships may well be full. They are the 2 months of school holidays in N. Am. And ............. remember that American kids are often not as "controlled" as one would like.


Check what types of trips, events, etc are organised or available on board the ship and at the places visited .................. that will give you an idea of what age groups are being catered for. If there are lots of "kiddie" or "teenager" events, then expect a lot of kids


September tends to be when people without children travel.


Check whether you have to always eat in the same restaurant, or whether there are several places to eat, and you can choose a different one each night

Some cruises have assigned tables .......... and you always sit with the same people. Some do not.


Consider the cost of paid tours at stops............... you can often walk off the ship and see much of the town.


Many of the big ships cannot dock .............. they anchor out in deep water, and you have to take tenders into land




Our friends were almost complete opposites in their likes and dislikes when cruising ......................

The wife would go straight to the library on boarding, and take out as many books as she could.

She would then spend most of her days reading ............... in a lounge or on deck.

she loved the meals, and much of the evening musical entertainment ......... but not the shows


The husband was more energetic. He would walk a mile around the deck every morning

He would get to know many of the crew by name

He would participate in lots of the organised activities ............. and often won prizes!

He always read up on ports where they were going to stop ................. and found things they could without going on an organised tour.

Thanks Ann,

think it was September/October

Thank you Ann. What month did you go? I wouldn't do it if I had to go from Southampton. Not sure what Islands we would go to, I assume that depends on when you go.

I went on a Caribbean cruise a few years back - the ship was extremely stable - P & O s.s. Ventura - I would not do another cruise the way we did it, which was sail from Southampton cos it was about five days across the Atlantic - we called in Tenerife first - when we reached the Caribbean it was beautiful although we couldn't go to St Lucia as there had been a hurricane - St Maarten and Tortola were lovely but St Vincent and St. Dominica were dreadful places -like shanty towns with no infrastructure and not the kind of places you would want to walk about in. The ship and everything about it was wonderful, food was incredible plus the entertainment. We flew back from Barbados - that was nice

We should have flown to Barbados in the first place and cut out the Atlantic

I have never been on a cruise because I am not a very good traveller. Although, because I have never travelled on the sea other than to the Isle of Wight, when I was ok, I have not tested how good I would be on a cruise ship.

We have the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise for 6 days from Miami. Has anyone done this? If so what month did you go and was it rough. I think of necessity we will be looking at July or September (I know it is potential hurricane season). Do all the Carribean cruise ships use their stabilisers? This would be on the Carnival flagship.

Anyadvice welcomed. :-|