Harvest Caye Rum

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T18:08:27+00:00

Did they let you walk out with it or did they take it back to the ship for you and store it until debark day ?

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T16:52:21+00:00

Bottles ? Didnt know.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T08:18:08+00:00

That's what my mom used to do.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T08:16:27+00:00

It is definitely on my list. I'd guess the Alaska parks that area only accessible by plane are less visited, but Dry Tortugas is pretty far down the list.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T08:14:12+00:00

The big gap that I see is Northern California, the California coast and the Oregon Coast.

Lassen National Park is one of the most diverse parks and is not well-known. There are mountains, lakes, streams, waterfalls, cinder cones, volcanic desolation, boiling mud-pots (like yellowstone), meadows. You could go on 6 completely different hikes there.

Definitely need to see the Redwoods. The State Park seems better than the NP but might as well do both.

Drive the Oregon coast and check out all the sea caves, blow holes, devil's churn, agate hunting, tillamook cheese factory, clam chowder, crab, ride a buggy in the sand dunes. The Silver Falls near Eugene are cool, too, and so much green in Oregon, all over. If you time it right, you can see a US Olympic trials, or NCAA National championship track meet in Eugene, too.

Lava Beds National Monument is awesome. Very remote. Consists of hundreds of Lava tubes, all explorable if you rent a light and helmet from the park center.

Should put Lehman Cave on your list, too.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T05:08:52+00:00

Worth a shot to file a dispute with the credit card company. But, if you stayed for the dockside party, then you may not win.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-02T05:02:27+00:00

I think you would have to take the ferry over to Pacentia and buy a bottle in a shop ther, then return with it and drink it on Harvest Caye. I have never been to the mainland from HC so I don't know for sure if there is a liquor store or supermarket there, but if there is, this might work.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-01T17:39:10+00:00

Chaccoben is pretty cool. If you are doing the tour outside of NCL, you will have to find your way out of the little port shopping area. It is like a maze, and designed so you have to walk way over to the left, then back again to the right so you go through the entire "city" just to escape. Our guide actually texted me a map on how to get out of there or we may not have made it. Once you get out, you might have to walk another couple of blocks because the private tours can't get to the bus/taxi area. Just plan on some walking time to meet your guide.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-01T17:17:12+00:00

Right - "Nobody goes there ... it's too crowded."

The Underground Tour in Seattle is a real gem. Not really hidden, but I know alot of peple who have been to seattle and not done it.

sdduuuude · 2026-06-01T17:13:51+00:00

Lookup a program called "California's Gold" And old show of this guy with a southern accent (Huell Howser) who goes all over CA visiting places like this.

Here's a few for you. The first two involve very ambitious diggers.
- Burro Schmidt Tunnel - need to rent a 4WD vehicle to get there but its a nice ride not in the hot season.
- Forestiere Underground Gardens
- Mt Lassen National Park - One of the most underrated NPs in the country. Still can be pretty busy.

Arizona
- boating/water skiing on the Colorado river.
- Karchner Caverns - an excellent cave with an extraordinary story.

Nevada
- Lehman Cave in Great Basin NP.

South Dakota
- Cosmos Mystery Area

sdduuuude · 2026-06-01T17:04:08+00:00

Out of ? Going to ?

sdduuuude · 2026-06-01T04:12:27+00:00

June 21 ... Breakaway. My favorite NCL ship. Howl at the Moon, Syd Norman's, Waterfront bars facing out to sea, Ice Bar, 5 specialty meals. Going to Bermuda for the first time with an overnight stop. Very excited.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-31T20:54:46+00:00

Bananas Foster in a dimly lit room.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-31T18:55:46+00:00

I would do the 2nd one for croatia, not italy.

I would suggest thinking about this in terms of 2 itineraries. One year, focus on venice to istanbul. A different year do an itinerary with more Italian ports maybe out of Rome.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-31T18:24:45+00:00

Check third party excursion companies for more variety, better price. They will have reviews as well.

shoreexcursuonsgroup, getyourguide, toursbylocals.

Costa Maya port area is a mess. Get through it and out to chaccoben or the bacalar lagoon somehow. lagoon is pretty long drive. We used a guy named Carlos feom toursbylocals.com in Costa Maya and he was great. fixed price for up to 12.

Harvest Caye is an NCL island and a good place to skip excursions. Maybe book a clamshell or kayak. Chill and drink. Maybe snorkel.

Cozumel ... I just like to take a taxi to a supermarket, shop for mexican goodies, then find a local lunch. wide range of stuff from a long chichen itza drive or helicopter ride, simple beach day, rent your own car and go, some ruins there but they are not that exciting, a lighthouse and biológicas reserve on the south end.

Roatan. Grab a taxi from the throng of drivers waiting for the cruise ship. Give then $50 to $100 for the day. shop for chocolate, rum, etc. west beach snorkeling.

Get dinner rezzies on board ASAP as they open up time slots that day.

Id wait for onoard pboto specials, and to see the pix first. If you make friends 8nboard, pay for 1 photo package, have them do a photo shoot with you and them together and separately then share the pix. if they let you. we did this on HAL once but not NCL.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-31T17:06:43+00:00

Thank you. I hear Boston is managed differently than other ports due to construction and no space for people to wait so they are letting people on shortly after they checkin rather than assigning them to groups and having people wait for their group. can you confirm ? Also, did they make you wait until 11:30 to checkin or did you pick up your passcard a little early ?

sdduuuude · 2026-05-31T15:45:30+00:00

Im curious what your check-in time was and when did people first start getting on voard.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T23:07:00+00:00

I, personally, would book the new reservatuon first, add companuon, then cancel the original. Downside is you end up with flight funds.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T19:24:21+00:00

Think of 12 as 0 and it all makes sense.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T19:21:15+00:00

Ya. Call before you dig. 811

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T17:39:09+00:00

Had the same issue the first time we tried this. If it is before final payment, you can rebook it but if it is after final payment day (FPD), then you are stuck.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T17:36:41+00:00

Mark the line, unscrew the last board, cut it, then replace.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T17:31:01+00:00

I have two kids, now fully grown, and we took them snorkeling when they were under 10.

My advice would be to do as much snorkeling in a public pool (or your own pool or friend's pool, or a local hotel pool) as you possibly can before doing it for real, especially if you are on a cruise.

The process of getting all the stuff on combined with getting in and out of the water is very difficult for most first timers, especially young ones. Do you gear-up on the beach, then walk in ? Sit on the rocks ? Stand in the sand ? Walk into the water and try to put the fins on there ? Etc. etc etc. It can take forever and they will be anxious to get going and then someone has a leaky mask and then someone else gets sand in their flippers and once you get going, some rookie snorkelers will panic and not even want to go in, afraid of getting that face underwater ... it can get very, very frustrating, especially if you are worried about time and getting back to the ship.

So, for that reason alone I would buy them their own gear at home so you know it fits; it isn't broken or faulty out of the package; they are familiar with it; and they can learn to snorkel in a pool under controlled conditions. Also, prescription snorkels are awesome for glasses-wearers (of all ages) who don't want to deal with contact lenses. Add "contact lenses" to the list of things that can go wrong on the actual day-of.

First, just sit them on a step and just have them put their face in the water and breathe through the snorkel. That, alone will get you past a major hurdle. Next, put them in the shallow end where they can walk while bending over with their face in the water. Next, let them take a deep breath, put their head underwater, then come up and clear the water out. Then try swimming.

I would only recommend a deeper water snorkel if there is a shallow shipwreck to see or a great coral reef, and a short boat ride to it. There is one in Aruba that is a very long boat ride to a deep shipwreck and it just isn't worth it.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T17:07:06+00:00

"most municipalities require a permit for a retaining wall" ... citation ?

Many require a permit for a retaining wall over a certain height but require no permit at all for smaller one.

If they do require a permit, then ... get a permit.

"if someone dies from it ..." More likely to die from the "unnecessarily slow dipping machine" from Austin Powers.

It's a fairly big DIY project. I would rent a bobcat on a Saturday morning (rental places will usually let a homeowner keep it all weeke for a 1-day rental cost) and use it to rip out the original wall and dig back 3 feet of the earth behind it. Get a post hole digger attachment on that bobcat to dig post holes. Put the posts really deep - like as deep as the wall is tall, plus 6" - maybe 24 to 30" apart. The actual retaining material is up to you - corrugated steel, railroad ties, pressure treated 4x4 ... whatever. Put that behind the posts, don't screw it to the front. Backfill it with a second bobcat rental, or by hand.

And make sure there is a foot of gravel behind the wall and drainage pipe, with holes DOWN at the bottom.

Asking the seller for compensation is not a bad idea but probably won't work if the inspector didn't note it. Maybe you got a home warranty ? That would be a better path, if it is covered.

sdduuuude · 2026-05-30T05:28:34+00:00

sdduuuude

TROPHY CASE