*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

Jimmy Bottlehead

I spoke to someone about that today. Only thing is, the weather apparently won't be that nice in November...?

camz09

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote:

I spoke to someone about that today. Only thing is, the weather apparently won't be that nice in November...?

Oh yes, that's a factor alright, but with Naples for example, it might be nice to visit Pompeii without the sun glaring.. though fingers crossed it won't rain too much!

finbarrk

keithclancy wrote: »

FYI these work great for cruises ... very difficult to spot on an X-Ray

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rum-Runner-Flasks-Cruise-Kit/dp/B00FJU0PSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433250373&sr=8-1&keywords=rum+runners

Just make sure the plastic cap is next to your toiletries

Wouldn't it be as easy to buy the onboard drinks package. They work out at good value for anyone prone to having a good few drinks.

hdowney

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote:

I spoke to someone about that today. Only thing is, the weather apparently won't be that nice in November...?

November in the Med will be 50/50. The lower the Med the better chance the weather but you can never be sure. I had wonderful weather Venice October which was good.

The Caveman

WE always book direct on the Cruise Line own US site, or the EU one, as we check both and book with the cheapest one

I know you can get some great specials on Travel Agents sites, but, we prefer the peace of mind of booking direct.

But, we will use cruise.com , iglu or seascanner for booking, with no issue, as our friends use them all the time

keithclancy

finbarrk wrote: »

Wouldn't it be as easy to buy the onboard drinks package. They work out at good value for anyone prone to having a good few drinks.

Carnival is 57 dollars per person per day(inc service charge), even then it doesn't cover everything.

Also Royal Carribbean are pretty pricey:
http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-packages

You could get a 1000ml mix of spirits for around 15-20 euros and top of soft drinks which would do you for the whole trip for 2 people

Worst case scenario they just confiscate it, I'd chance it to be honest since the penalty is just losing it and with the rum runners the chances of being caught are low.

I think with drinks packages people also end up drinking for the sake of it.

finbarrk

keithclancy wrote: »

Carnival is 57 dollars per person per day(inc service charge), even then it doesn't cover everything.

Also Royal Carribbean are pretty pricey:
http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-packages

You could get a 1000ml mix of spirits for around 15-20 euros and top of soft drinks which would do you for the whole trip for 2 people

Worst case scenario they just confiscate it, I'd chance it to be honest since the penalty is just losing it and with the rum runners the chances of being caught are low.

I think with drinks packages people also end up drinking for the sake of it.

It was around €70 per day with MSC for 2 adults and 2 kids. I thought it was good value.

xraylady

Just a heads up to anyone who might be thinking of cruising out of Florida over Christmas. Direct flights dub/orlando 23rd Dec to Jan 6th coming in at a bit over €500 return at the moment.
http://www.aerlingus.com/cgi-bin/obel01im1/bookonline/flexibleSearchSchedule.do
Just mentioning for people putting together their own cruise package. We paid at least 750 last year for same dates. Mind you, I put it on the Bargain Alerts forum and was met with scoffing replies for mentioning the C word ( Christmas - not cruising!) but anyone who's planning a Christmas cruise, this price for direct flights is as good as you'll get. 🎄

adub

Hi all,
I'm looking for advice on Mediterranean cruises for our honeymoon next summer.
We're looking for a cruise around the eastern med. The itinerary is quite popular so that's no problem. The problem we have is which cruise line to go with? Royal Caribbean seem great but the reviews i've seen on cruise critic say the food and entertainment are going down drastically. Does anyone recommend any particular cruise lines? and is the food in the main dining rooms really as bad as some reviews make out? I understand it'll be repetitive but hopefully it'll be of a certain standard.

Any tips/advice you can give would be great.

Thanks in advance

coylemj

There is a thread called 'cruising megathread' in this forum, everything you need to know is there. Don't believe reviews like the ones you've read, usually only people with an axe to grind will post the things you've described, especially when it comes to food.

spurious

I did the eastern Med on Royal Caribbean with my mother last year - loved it. Make sure to organise your own shore trips. The ship organised ones are very expensive. It's not that difficult to make sure you're back on time.

While certainly heavy on the older folk it was by no means exclusively so and we met a number of honeymooners.

coylemj

We did the eastern Med. on a 7 day cruise with MSC in 2014, we went as far as Athens and Corfu and back to Venice via Dubrovnik. Food was fab and passengers a mix of ages. As above, do the research and you'll usually find that you can organise independent transport for shore trips as the official excursions are a rip-off very expensive.

If it's your first cruise, I'd recommend you not go on one of the bigger ships, you may find the size of the boat a bit overwhelming, try to go on a ship with a capacity of no more than about 3,000.

adub

What's the entertainment like on the smaller ships, say the vision of the seas? What really attracted me to RC was the broadway shows. Are they only on large ships? This thread is just brilliant thanks. I'll definitely be booking through a US agent that's a great tip!

xraylady

Booking with US agent , I'd really recommend . It's a pity the Euro is so weak! When you're booking tho you only have to put down min deposit and can pay off bits and pieces if rate improves. Not looking good for medium term though, I believe. Our last cruise we got at 1.36 exchange rate which really brought down cost for us. Also big plus with US agent is if you watch prices on www.seascanner.net and notify your agent when price drops, they give you the drop and reduce your overall balance . This only applicable really for cruises booked far in advance. I really enjoy tracking my cruise and watching for price drops. We saved about $800 on original booked price that way for family of 4 over about 8 months.

Thoie

adub wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm looking for advice on Mediterranean cruises for our honeymoon next summer.
We're looking for a cruise around the eastern med. The itinerary is quite popular so that's no problem. The problem we have is which cruise line to go with? Royal Caribbean seem great but the reviews i've seen on cruise critic say the food and entertainment are going down drastically. Does anyone recommend any particular cruise lines? and is the food in the main dining rooms really as bad as some reviews make out? I understand it'll be repetitive but hopefully it'll be of a certain standard.

Any tips/advice you can give would be great.

Thanks in advance

When people complain that the food is repetitive, those are usually people who cruise on a nearly monthly basis Generally on a 7 day trip, there'll be 7 different menus, each with a different theme. For example, one might be "Shiitake", and have a few dishes with mushrooms. Another might be "Mojo", and have a more Caribbean flavour. There are certain things that are available every day, just in case you don't fancy the main choices - grilled chicken breast, fillet of salmon etc.

I can see that if you cruise really regularly, there's probably a certain element of "oh, it's Tuesday so it must be rack of lamb today", but it shouldn't be an issue for a new cruiser

The food is not of bad quality. It may not quite be the same as a personalised, cooked to order that very second fancy restaurant, but it's at least as good as 90% of Irish restaurants. One advantage is that you can afford to take risks and try new things. They won't even blink if you pick the salmon, your husband has the beef, but you ask for a plate of the gnu to try between you. (No, I've never seen gnu on the menu).

I've sailed with both MSC and Royal, and find them quite equal. With MSC you need to be aware that they cater far more for international guests, so announcements are made in multiple languages, and the big entertainment shows veer towards light/popular opera and acrobatics - things that don't need a knowledge of a specific language to enjoy. You'll rarely/never see comedians, for example. Royal is far more American, in both the service approach and the entertainment. If you're planning on drinking a lot, the MSC drink packages are much better value than Royal's (IMO).

hdowney

You had me excited for two seconds there with gnu Thoie. And then you shattered it . I am really looking forward to trying things I haven't tried before.

Next July and NCL seems such a long way off. BUT.... Due to my doggy having to be put down and the associated costs we had to change our holiday itinerary this year. So no more Lake Garda in early September (was too close to have a decent run of money). We are now going on the Western Med at the beginning of December with MSC. . So excite.

hullabulloo

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of advice for booking a honeymoon cruise in April '16. Looking at doing the 15 night Panama Canal cruise with Celebrity including drinks package with couple days accom needed either side in Miami before embarkation and San Diego post cruise and flights.

Have been on a med cruise with celebrity last year so know what to expect in relation to the cruise just wondering about the best way to book? Irish T/A, online ourselves direct with celebrity or through a US T/A? Exchange rate pretty awful at the moment.

Have priced it online direct with Celebrity for flights and cruise and independently for accom coming in at 6.5k which is a bit over budget sadly

Thoie

hullabulloo wrote: »

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of advice for booking a honeymoon cruise in April '16. Looking at doing the 15 night Panama Canal cruise with Celebrity including drinks package with couple days accom needed either side in Miami before embarkation and San Diego post cruise and flights.

Have been on a med cruise with celebrity last year so know what to expect in relation to the cruise just wondering about the best way to book? Irish T/A, online ourselves direct with celebrity or through a US T/A? Exchange rate pretty awful at the moment.

Have priced it online direct with Celebrity for flights and cruise and independently for accom coming in at 6.5k which is a bit over budget sadly

I think you'll just need to get quotes from a few different places and see how they go. I've found over the last few years that booking my own Aer Lingus flight has worked out cheaper than taking the cruiseline's suggestion. Ask for quotes with and without hotel and flights.

For Irish T/As, Trailfinders, ebookers and cruiseescapes all seem to get good reviews in terms of customer care.

I have the names of two American T/As that I'm getting quotes from at the moment, and have also looked up the Irish and US cruiseline websites to try compare prices. It's awkward though - for example, Royal at the moment are offering "free" gratuities and drink packages on the Irish site, so I need to calculate and add those on when looking at the US agents to compare properly.

For the cruise I'm looking at next year, if I go for an inside cabin there's less than $100 difference between the Irish site and the US agents. However when I look at a balcony the Irish site is about $900 more expensive, without the benefit of price drops!

xraylady

I agree that you need to compare US and Irish agents prices but do also consider the advantage with US bookings that if price reduces, they will reduce the cost any time until the final payment date and even then, will often give on board credit or upgrades. That's a big plus for me. When you book here, the price you book at is the price you pay. Also, it's strange that cruiseline would have major promotion over here and not be matched by U.S. agent. Also, all monies paid are fully refundable up until final payment date, no reason needed.

hullabulloo

Super thanks for the info, so looks like check everyone but maybe best to book with a US agent for the benefit of any future price drops. @Thoie could you mention the US T/A's that you recommend? Thanks!

Thoie

hullabulloo wrote: »

Super thanks for the info, so looks like check everyone but maybe best to book with a US agent for the benefit of any future price drops. @Thoie could you mention the US T/A's that you recommend? Thanks!

I've literally just made a booking with one, will PM you her details as I'm not sure whether recommendations are allowed here. I spoke to her on the phone earlier (discovered that you can phone US free phone numbers for free through Skype) to give her my CC details for the deposit. One thing that took me by surprise is that while the deposit is fully refundable up until final payment date, it's considerably higher than you pay through the Irish website, and seems to be dependent on the length of the cruise - the 13 day sailing I just booked has a deposit of $900!! I'm used to paying €100-200 non-refundable deposit.

She was very helpful - I'm looking at doing a back to back, so she went to some effort to get me the same cabin for each leg so that I don't have to pack up and move cabins. There's also some onboard credit included ($125 between the two legs) which is better than a kick in the teeth. The cruises are already showing up in the planner in Royal, so I think she's trustworthy. She was originally recommended to me by someone I met on my last cruise who's been using her for years, so fingers crossed.

Kalimah

Hi all
Just looking for a bit of advice. We're off mid July with Royal Caribbean to Greece and two destinations in Turkey. We've never gone on a cruise so I'm a bit apprehensive to say the least. I have a couple of questions...

1. Should I get some Turkish lira for our stops in Turkey?

2. Anyone been on this cruise before- would you recommend any or all of the day trips? I'm thinking about doing our own thing in Santorini and Crete but doing an organised tour in Kusadasi and Bodrum.

3.We're gong from Rome. Would anyone know what time we'll have to disembark when we come back to port?

4. Lastly as we're not big drinkers we are not going to buy a drinks package. Would anyone know roughly hoe much you'd pay for a drink onboard?

Any other tips gratefully accepted!

spurious

Eight dollars plus a tip for most drinks.

Thoie

Kalimah wrote: »

Hi all
Just looking for a bit of advice. We're off mid July with Royal Caribbean to Greece and two destinations in Turkey. We've never gone on a cruise so I'm a bit apprehensive to say the least. I have a couple of questions...

Kalimah wrote: »

1. Should I get some Turkish lira for our stops in Turkey?

Yes, but I wouldn't get too much. Decent places will accept cards, so think about what you'll be doing and work out how much you'll need from there.

Kalimah wrote: »

2. Anyone been on this cruise before- would you recommend any or all of the day trips? I'm thinking about doing our own thing in Santorini and Crete but doing an organised tour in Kusadasi and Bodrum.

Any time I've stopped in Turkey I've been meeting friends, so never did the ship's tours there, but they're generally good. You can always find a cheaper equivalent from elsewhere, but if you're on a ship's excursion and get delayed there is some hope that they'll wait for you.

Kalimah wrote: »

3.We're gong from Rome. Would anyone know what time we'll have to disembark when we come back to port?

That should be on your itinerary, but generally they'll kick you off the ship by 10am at the latest in most places. I usually resign myself to getting up around 6am/6:30am on the morning of departure.

Assuming you're on the Rhapsody on July 12th, then the ship is docking in Civitavecchia at 5am. You'll probably find that disembarkation will be between 6am-9am. You'll be given a time slot for your disembarkation. They'll explain it all to you on the ship - a day or two before the end you'll get some letters in your cabin - read them all, and it will explain.

Kalimah wrote: »

4. Lastly as we're not big drinkers we are not going to buy a drinks package. Would anyone know roughly hoe much you'd pay for a drink onboard?

Cocktails are about $14 each if you're a cocktail drinker. Remember that the prices you see on menus around the place don't include an automatic 18% tip for the barman. So if you see a drink for $10, the slip you'll sign will be for $11.80.

A can of Coke is around $2-$2.50 iirc

Kalimah wrote: »

Any other tips gratefully accepted!

You're probably already aware, but Civitavecchia is about 90 minutes outside Rome by bus, so you may want to factor that into your plans if you haven't already.

coylemj

Kalimah wrote: »

3.We're gong from Rome. Would anyone know what time we'll have to disembark when we come back to port?

I've only ever been on cruises (x2) with MSC but if their procedure is typical, you will be given tags for your main bags and asked to leave them outside your cabin on the last night where they will be collected and taken off the ship soon after it docks. You will be given instructions as to where they will be, typically a specific bay in a shed on the quayside out of bounds to the locals so they will be secure. When you disembark the next day, you go to the shed and collect your bags, it just means you don't have to lug them down in the lift and down the gangplank.

That system makes it easier for you to disembark but it does mean that you need to hang on whatever essentials you need for the bathroom on the last morning plus whatever you plan to wear for the flight home.

Others welcome to chip in on the system that operates on other lines if different to the above.

Kalimah

Thanks so much to you both! That's all extremely helpful.
We are going on the Rhapsody on July 12th as Thoie guessed.
The flight in from Dublin arrives in to Rome at 10.30 am so we'll head directly to the ship. Should be no issue with time- I hope!

Thoie

My booking with the US Travel Agent is going well so far (though I feel like an awkward customer, as there were a few RCI-generated vagaries with my booking, so she's just sent me through my invoice - adjust for about the 5th time!).

Today will be the real test. I've got two cruises with her (B2B), and I've just noticed the first one has dropped on the US site by $110. Have just mailed her - now lets see if I get that $110 reduction, or if there's some small print

lorr27

Hi all,
We're going on the Fantasia next Friday and would like to pick your brains about one or two things if you wouldn't mind. We fly in to Barcelona at around 10am and have a transfer to the port. The ship isn't due in until 2pm. I didn't receive tickets etc yet so am not sure what time they are advising us to board. I was thinking around 4? Is there anything to do close by as we've the kids with us and will need to keep them entertained some bit?
We disembark at 2pm and our flight is around 11pm, is there any option of somewhere to store your luggage for the day or maybe someone to take our luggage to the airport?
One last question, will dinner be served on this first night in the dining room or will it clash with the safety drill? We're in the first sitting at 6pm.

Thanks a million!

deisemum

lorr27 wrote: »

Hi all,
We're going on the Fantasia next Friday and would like to pick your brains about one or two things if you wouldn't mind. We fly in to Barcelona at around 10am and have a transfer to the port. The ship isn't due in until 2pm. I didn't receive tickets etc yet so am not sure what time they are advising us to board. I was thinking around 4? Is there anything to do close by as we've the kids with us and will need to keep them entertained some bit?
We disembark at 2pm and our flight is around 11pm, is there any option of somewhere to store your luggage for the day or maybe someone to take our luggage to the airport?
One last question, will dinner be served on this first night in the dining room or will it clash with the safety drill? We're in the first sitting at 6pm.

Thanks a million!

When you disembark in Barcelona there's a stand where you collect your luggage. You can leave your luggage here and it will be minded and delivered to the airport in the evening but it must be collected by 7pm from outside the terminal. It's a great service and it costs €10 per piece of luggage.

Our itinerary had us down for dinner for 6pm but when we checked in it was 6.30pm for everyone on the early sitting. The safety drill was done at 5pm and doesn't take long.

There's an aquarium at the base of the Ramblas but I don't know if it has somewhere to store luggage and it's pricey enough anyway. You can get a shuttle bus to the ships €2 one way from the Christopher Columbus statue which is at the bottom of the Ramblas.

Thoie

lorr27 wrote: »

Hi all,
We're going on the Fantasia next Friday and would like to pick your brains about one or two things if you wouldn't mind. We fly in to Barcelona at around 10am and have a transfer to the port. The ship isn't due in until 2pm. I didn't receive tickets etc yet so am not sure what time they are advising us to board. I was thinking around 4? Is there anything to do close by as we've the kids with us and will need to keep them entertained some bit?
We disembark at 2pm and our flight is around 11pm, is there any option of somewhere to store your luggage for the day or maybe someone to take our luggage to the airport?
One last question, will dinner be served on this first night in the dining room or will it clash with the safety drill? We're in the first sitting at 6pm.

Thanks a million!

deisemum has covered pretty much everything. First night dinner in the MDR will be scheduled so as not to clash with the muster, so don't worry about that. As she said, it may not be precisely 6pm, but they'll have it covered.

On your way home, see if there are any tours available - sometimes they have a disembarkation tour of the city that takes you and your luggage from the ship, does some sightseeing, and drops you to the airport. Not sure how that would work because of your funny times. Usually ships might dock early in the morning, and they take people from, say, 9am and drop at the airport for around 2pm.

Depending on the age of your kids, and how tired everyone is, Terminal 1 in Barcelona has "air rooms" - basically a hotel room within the terminal with a bed, bathroom, TV. They're around €150 (as the day rate is only from 10am-6pm). Aer Lingus usually flies out of Terminal 2.

La Rambla (_the_ main drag of Barcelona) and the Montjuic castle are both quite near the port. I'd take a taxi, cos I'm lazy, but there may be buses available. I'd only do those if I'd got rid of the luggage, and watch out for pickpockets, particularly on La Rambla. Keep passports/tickets/money in an inside pocket, or in your knickers or something. I have a pouch I can wear around my neck that can go under my t-shirt. It doesn't look great - but there are very few people out there who'd want to get that up close and personal with the insides of my t-shirt