Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

Packing Advice for a First Cruise (to the Caribbean)

by Janis on October 19, 2015

A first-time cruiser named Morgan asked for our advice as to what to pack for her 7-Day Caribbean cruise.

Here is Mr. Jones’ packing checklist as we are heading out the door for a cruise or any kind of trip anywhere in the world:

“Got your passport?”
“Got your credit cards?”

If my answer is “yes” to those two questions, then he says, “We’re good to go. Everything else is gravy.”

Well, he is right, but mashed potatoes are boring without gravy. And packing the essential items versus too much stuff for your cruise is a good thing.

Here are 7 packing tips for your first Caribbean cruise:

1. Bring cash in small bills – although the cruise ship is mostly a cashless society (shipboard charges are tied to your key card which is tied to your credit card), $1 and $5 bills come in handy for room service tips and when you are in port. Most everywhere in the Caribbean will take US dollars but you want small bills (not the $20s or larger bills typically spit out by ATMs.) For example, when you are bargaining for that carved wood item in Jamaica or Mexico, you don’t want to get agreement on a price of $4 only to have to pull out a $20 bill and ask for change.

2. Pack lightly but do take:

Comfortable walking shoes
Flip flops to wear to and from the pool or hot tub
Tennis shoes for gym or walking around deck and/or exercise classes
A single pair of dress shoes/sandals (yes, you can pick one pair that goes with all your dressy outfits)
Two swimsuits so one can be drying if you do not like putting on a damp suit
Cover-up for swimsuit (to wear from your cabin to the pool, and anytime you leave the pool area)
Shorts, capris, t-shirts or sundresses for daytime wear
Dressier but still resort casual pants, capris, sundresses, etc. that you can mix and match for dinner/entertainment
One-two formal dresses or sparkly tops to go with dressy pants– like you would wear to formal party or wedding
Sunscreen — do not skimp on sunscreen – the Caribbean sun is intense, and a sunburn is not a fun way to start your cruise. However, cans of sunscreen can add a lot of weight to your checked bag; you may want to buy at CVS/Walgreens after you arrive in south Florida but don’t wait to buy on ship, where it can be very expensive. We also always take sunscreen towelettes (that we order from Amazon) with us.
Camera/phone/charger cords/plugs/power cord (there may only be 1-2 outlets in your room)
A small battery-operated alarm clock (you may not be able to have your phone charge by your bedside, and there won’t be an alarm clock in your cabin.)

3. Once at the ship, do not give up your carry-on bag to the porters; keep medicine, your passport, money and credit cards and anything you can not be without for a few hours with you throughout embarkation.

4. Buy two bottles of your favorite wine in Florida and carry it on with you and your cabin mate. Each guest may bring one 750 ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne per person in their carry-on luggage on Embarkation Day only on Carnival Cruises. (Check your cruise line’s website for its current alcohol policy.) NOTE: On Carnival, you must pay a $15 corkage to drink in the dining room, but you can consume in your cabin for free.

5. NOTE THAT FOR CARNIVAL CRUISES, Guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages onboard that are packaged in bottles. You can bring a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, and milk) packaged in cans or cartons on embarkation day in your carry-on luggage. For Carnival, “a small quantity” is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person. (This is a change in 2015 and is designed to speed up the boarding process and eliminate those trying to sneak booze on the ship in water and/or soda bottles.

6. You do not need traveler’s checks. Bring small-bill cash, credit cards and your ATM card to get more cash in port if needed.

7. Bring a small packet of laundry soap if you want to hand-wash anything in your cabin; bring dryer sheets if you plan to do self-serve laundry. (Not all ships offer this.) Or, you can have the ship do your laundry by the bag, but that should not be necessary in 7 days. Shout Wipes and/or Tide To Go Instant Stain Remover Pens can be useful.

The bottom line: most first-time cruisers over-pack. Take your passport, credit cards, a swimming suit or two, flip-flops and a cover-up, sunscreen, and some cash in small bills. All the rest is “gravy.”

Cruise fans, what advice do you have to add for Morgan? Please share in comments below.

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A Look Inside the JW Marriott Marquis Miami Hotel

by Janis on October 17, 2015

When searching for information about hotels we are considering, we like to view photos and read information shared by recent hotel guests. To return the favor, we occasionally post iPhone photos along with notes from our recent hotel stays.

A Look Inside Suite #2402 of the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Miami, Florida

In late September, we enjoyed a 2-night weekend stay at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel using Marriott Rewards points for one night and paying for one night. The hotel is located at 255 Biscayne Boulevard Way in the heart of downtown Miami. The photo above was the sunrise view from our bedroom in the Bay View Suite #2402.

The 1,066 sq. ft. suite features a luxurious king bed in the corner room.

A hallway leads to the in-suite bathroom. Floor to ceiling windows overlook Brickell Key, a man-made island and the mouth of the Miami River.

The in-suite bathroom features double sinks, a large soaking tub, and a handicap-accessible shower. Part of the mirror contains a television screen that becomes a regular mirror when not in use.

Bath amenities are by Aromatherapy Associates, created especially for JW Marriott hotels.

In the separate living room and sitting area, the wet bar offers an espresso maker and a hidden mini-bar.

If you are a coffee lover, you will enjoy this Illy coffee maker in Suite 2402. You may need to study the directions for a perfect espresso.

Hidden around the corner from the living room, there is a fully-equipped office nook.

As you enter suite 2402, there is a guest bathroom off to the left.

We came to Miami to visit friends, and one of the highlights was dinner with them at Chef Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne on the first floor of the hotel.

Butternut squash has never tasted so good as it did in this dessert, part of the Miami Spice three-course tasting menu.

We also enjoyed the food and service at the Met Cafe & Bar, a casual dining spot on the hotel’s second floor.

Our bottom line on the JW Marriott Marquis Miami Hotel:

The hotel offers an excellent location in downtown Miami.
This hotel would be an ideal for a luxurious pre- or post-cost stay in Miami.
The hotel staff — ranging from the valets to the front desk to the executive lounge — was welcoming and professional.
We stayed two nights, using Marriott Rewards points for 1 night. As a Category 8, a one night stay requires between 35,000 and 40,000 Marriott Rewards nights. We considered the hotel to be a terrific use of points.
If you stay, don’t miss dining in the DB Bistro Moderne.

What’s your favorite hotel in downtown Miami? Please share in comments below.

We often stay in Marriott-brand hotel properties. Check these posts for a look inside some of our favorites:

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A Visit to the Titanic Quarter and Titanic Belfast

by Janis on October 14, 2015

As cruise aficionados, we couldn’t resist a visit to the shipyards where the ill-fated RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Titanic Belfast is a 130,000 sq. ft. monument to Belfast’s maritime heritage that opened in 2012. The attraction is located in Belfast on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard on Queen’s Island, an area of reclaimed land dating to the mid-19th century.

Known today as Belfast’s “Titanic Quarter,” these 185 acres of land housed the huge facilities of shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, including two iconic cranes nicknamed “Samson” and “Goliath.” As shipbuilding declined in Belfast, the area became derelict until a redevelopment effort began in 2001.

Today the Titanic Quarter is one of the world’s largest urban-waterfront regeneration projects with a hotel, apartments, a movie studio, office space and numerous entertainment venues including the Titanic Belfast museum.

The Titanic Quarter is also the home of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Visitors interested interested in tracking their “roots” may use PRONI’s collection of archives to research family and local history.

The star attraction of the Titanic Quarter is the 126 ft. high angular building designed by Eric Kuhne and Associates. Covered with 3,000 individual silver aluminum shards, the Titanic Belfast building is designed to recall the shape of ships’ prows (the part of the bow above the water.)

Some visitors and locals think the building reminds one of an iceberg.

Inside the Titanic Belfast you will find nine different galleries that cover everything related to the Titanic, from the history of Belfast to the discovery of the sunken ship in 1996.

The first gallery, Boomtown Belfast – explains what was happening in Belfast at the start of the 20th century when the city was a global leader in engineering, linen manufacturing, and home to the world’s largest shipyard, Harland & Wolff.

Next, you visit The Shipyard Ride – a Disney-like ride up and around a replica of the 66 ft. high steel scaffold built to aid the construction of Titanic and Olympic. As you ride in the mini-cars, you get the feeling of what it might have been like to work on building the Titanic.

The Launch gallery portrays scenes from May 31, 1911, when Titanic was launched into Belfast Lough as 100,000 people watched. This section of the museum overlooks the slipway from which Titanic was launched. Through the windows, visitors see the slipways and docks as they appear today.

Gallery Four, The Fit-Out, details how ‘The Ship of Dreams‘ was detailed to rival the finest hotels in the world, as the replica of a first class cabin shows. We enjoyed this area to explore the Titanic’s opulent interior, including replicas of the first, second and third class cabins. We were surprised at how similar some things still are today on cruise ships more than 100 years after the Titanic. Here you can take a 360-degree computer-generated tour through all the levels of the Titanic, from the engine room to the dining rooms and the bridge.

Another of our favorites, the Maiden Voyage gallery, introduces you to the individual passengers on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, as the completed Titanic left Belfast on April 2nd, 1912 to embark passengers from England, France & Ireland before heading across the North Atlantic for America. This gallery contains photographs by Father Francis Browne, who was aboard Titanic for the leg from Southampton to Queenstown (now Cobh) in southern Ireland.

The Sinking – tough to comprehend, gallery six covers the evening of April 14th, 1912, when, despite warnings from other ships, the Titanic, sailing at near full speed of 21 knots, collided into an iceberg at 11:40 pm. The iceberg ripped the ship’s hull open, and approximately two and a half hours later, she sank below the surface of the icy North Atlantic. More than 1,500 passengers and crew members lost their lives.

The Aftermath of the sinking is documented in the seventh gallery, which includes a full-size replica of one of the lifeboats used to evacuate passengers from the ship. British-built and American-owned, the sinking of the Titanic was immediately investigated on both sides of the Atlantic, trying to find a culprit to blame.

The Myths & Legends gallery covers the movies, books, songs and legends that have been inspired by the Titanic disaster. Interactive screens allow you to explore myths about the ship.

The last gallery offers the chance to Visit & Explore the Wreck, presenting the Titanic as she was discovered in 1985 (nearly 2.5 miles below sea level) by a team led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard and French diving engineer Jean-Louis Michel. Below the floor is the Ocean Exploration Centre, Titanic Belfast’s principal educational facility, which shows marine biology and exploration in Northern Ireland’s coastal waters as well as Ballard’s various expeditions around the world

Outside of the building, the bronze sculpture Titanica, by Rowan Gillespie, depicts a diving female figure similar to figureheads on the front of ships. Located in front of Titanic Belfast, the sculpture is meant to represent hope and positivity.

The Titanic Belfast is open 10am – 5pm daily, with extended hours between April and September. The standard admission charge is £15.50 per adult, with discounts for children, students, seniors and families. We visited during an afternoon in early September, and found some galleries to be crowded with tour groups.

Learn more about the Titanic:

Titanic: Belfast’s Own

882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic

Can’t get enough of the Titanic?

Titanic

Giant Titanic Inflatable Pool Toy

We’ve also learned about the Titanic in two other locations:

Comparing Cruising 100 Years Ago: The Titanic Exhibit at Kansas City’s Union Station (a traveling exhibit)

A Walk Around Halifax, Nova Scotia (the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic details the role Halifax, Nova Scotia played in the Titanic disaster)

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Princess Cruises to Raise Gratuities Starting January 1, 2016

by Janis on October 9, 2015

Princess Cruises announced today that it will increase its daily gratuity charge on all voyages departing on or after January 1, 2016.

The new daily gratuity amounts for Princess cruise guests will be as follows:
• US$12.95 per guest per day for regular staterooms (interior, oceanview and balcony) — an increase of $1.45.
• US$13.95 per guest per day for mini-suites and suites — an increase of $1.95.

Guests who are currently booked for a Princess cruise that sails on January 1, 2016 or later can avoid the increase by prepaying their daily gratuities at the current gratuity amount through October 31, 2015.

“The gratuity rate increase is comparable to cruise industry standards and is Princess Cruises’ first increase since May 2011,” writes John Chernesky, Princess Cruises Vice President for North Sales.

Princess Cruises is following increases in gratuities by other cruise lines this year. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises increased gratuities on their ships effective July 1, 2015.

Earlier this year, Norwegian Cruise Line raised its daily service charge effective March 1, 2015. (Norwegian notably calls its gratuities a “Daily Service Charge,” and makes it difficult for guests to remove the charges even if they do not feel the service is appropriate.

Tipping is a very personal issue. Most regular cruisers will likely agree that shipboard personnel are some of the hardest working “service” workers you will encounter. We have never tried to remove daily gratuity charges from our cruise bill, and we often reward our favorite staffers with additional cash tips directly into their hands. But we do often wonder just how much of the daily “gratuity” or “service charge” amounts actually end up in the hands of the front line staff that serves us, rather than being siphoned off to others on-board who are not in guest-service areas and should truly be paid by a salary.

What do you think? Does an increase in gratuity charges have any impact on your cruise plans? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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