You must not drink Alcoholics, they are very expensive, better drink Ice-Tea, Coffee, Juices for nothing.

Laundry is not necessary. One Suitcase is enough, to carry your Clothes with you and refit them at home.

Shore Excursions are very expensive. Do them at your own, this is worldwide no Problem, if you use Taxis, Buses etc. If it is possible and you like so, you can share the Costs and the Trip with another Couple.

Tipping is at your own decision. NCL takes the Money in advance, you can go to the Pursers Desk and rebook it. Nobody MUST give any Tips.

It's an impossible question! It depends on what you like to do?

The alcohol, excursions, photographs, spar treatments and gambelning can all mount up! Some people maybe spend a qarter of their fare on 'extras', others spend more than there fare!

You can save a lot of money by doing your own excursions on foot, by bus or taxi, rather than buying the ones on offer from the cruise lines - on the other hand they are very convenient. Do you really need to buy all the Photographs on offer? You can drink and gambel in moderation.

If you are careful, you do not need to spend a fortune - on the other hand, you are on holiday!

Do return and let us know how it went. Do check the 'Readers Reviews' for you ship (menu left).

[ 04-14-2002: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Royal Caribbean 11nts circle of the Caribbean-ship-The Brilliance of the seas

From Miami

Ports of call--Key West--Cozumel--Grand Cayman--Ocho Rios--Oranjestad--Willemstad--

Thanks everyone

I will be on 'Brilliance's of the Seas' first cruise, in July, if they build her in time.

I will be posting a review here...so stay tuned!

[ 04-26-2002: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

We just did the Circle the Caribbean in December. It was an enjoyable cruise.

Royal Caribbean has a tendency not to provide self-service laundry on their ships. However, they do offer laundry service done by them.

Each island has its own charm. I think you'll notice a striking difference between a tropical island like Jamaica and the more desert islands like Aruba and Curaçao. But we enjoyed our entire 11-days.

Shore tours - they can be expensive depending how long they are. My wife and I tend to take a general island tour the first time we visit a new island. Then the next time we visit the same island we have a better understanding of what really tickles our fancy. All shore excursion tend to hype the good points but neglect the shortcomings.

Royal Caribbean's web site will show you all the shore tours they have for your cruise. Just enter your booking number. That way you can reserve or at least get an idea on how much you wish to budget. We booked all of our tours on-line that way they were paid well before we sailed. One less expense on the ship.

Alcohol - As stated previously alcoholic drinks can be expensive. But what one person finds expensive another finds to be moderate. We find mixed drinks to be in the $3.00 to $6.00 catagory. You judge.

My wife occasionally uses the beauty salon for me I think the prices are outragous. But she only thinks they are slightly high. Again each person has their own value.

quote:

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Originally posted by gizmo:
Shore excursions can really add up. You can do the same yourself for less money.

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You're not kidding...recent cruise took us to Gibralter. We wanted to go on the Dolphin, Nautilus IV trip. Tour brochure wanted for 8 of us [4adults, 4 kids] £240, I baulked...so I found their website, to discover children 12 & under were free anyway and adults £20, total £80, a somewhat large saving of £160. Their dock was in walking distance so no transport, or a quick taxi ride away.

I booked direct....sadly the weather was too windy & choppy for the trip in the end though

I also booked us a tour of Gib with a local company over the web, saving us £66. He was so good too and gave us some extra time.

It's certainly worth doing a bit of research into the tours.

quote:

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Originally posted by sread:

BUT if you're doing your own thing and you are late back for any reason, or if something goes wrong, you're on your own and the ship will go without you.

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It depends on the trip whether it's wise/worth it to do on your own. We went to Marrakech, a 13 hour trip, I wouldn't have done that other than on an arranged tour; too many things could have gone wrong there. I have no intention of 'cutting things fine' and spending the day worrying about whether we'd miss the ship or not.

I'd had enough of that worrying whether we'd even make embarkation when it took 5 1/2 to drive to S'ton, instead of the usual 2 1/2. Good job we always leave *plenty* of time.

Love Aruba! Here's where you'll find all kinds of info -

http://www.aruba.com/home.htm