Nicagal

On 6/1/2019 at 11:03 AM, mama_2_boys said:

Sketchy because I've read multiple reviews saying/warning that they took taxis and we're told one price but on arrival they were told twice, or more, than the original prices. I've also read multiple posts saying they were locked in and unable to get out until they paid the higher fee.

Everything I have read says to take a cheap cab ($4-8pp) to Doctors Cave Beach if you are wanting a great day at the beach.  After reading everything that is exactly what my hubby and I are doing - jumping in a cab and spending the day at a beautiful beach.  Yes you have to be aware of your surroundings, but you have that everywhere.... even at home.  Agree on a price ahead of time and only give that amount after getting out of the cab - (if you are worried).  I wouldn't stay on the ship and miss a great beach because of scare tactics.  Ask around and see if you can share a cab with others on your ship as well.  That's what we did at another island... ended up being cheaper too.  

Thanks  everyone for your advice!!  This gives me a good idea of where to start.

We have been all over Italy but have never made it to Messina.  Our cruise also goes over to Valletta.  Wondering if anyone who has been to either of these ports can make some suggestions.  These are the only ports I'm troubled by what to do.  We are not ones to take the cruise line excursions.  Prefer small tours or DIY.  And no our roll call has not started any tour sharing yet.

Thanks in advance!

We used https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/ last May.  My hubby and I took it by ourselves to our Airbnb and back to the airport.

Very good company.  Booked before we left.  There is no other way to enter Venice then in a private water taxi.  Even after 13 hour of traveling we were energized by the experience.  So glad we chose to spend the money and do it right!

On 5/2/2019 at 7:29 AM, tbenson81 said:

Thanks again everyone. I do very much appreciate the experiences and expertise of everyone. The more and more I read though, it is sounding like the Amalfi drive might not be as enjoybale as I once thought. What are everyone's thoughts on skipping the driving all together? Early morning train down to Salerno - ferry to Positano - ferry to Capri and ferry back to Naples?.  I understand that ferrys can be delayed also but it seems like they are a little more reliable than driving.

 

We are first time visitors so are having a hard time deciding whether to eliminate Capri or eliminate Ravello and Amalfi.

 

Hlitner - I guess the one good thing in the event that we missed our ship is that Naples is our final port and we arrive in Civitavecchia the following morning at 5am. We absolutely dont want to miss the ship but if we did, it could be worse. I guess we would have to make it back to Civitavecchia to collect our luggage from the ship.

We did the Naple-Ravello-Amalfi-Positano drive with a tour group of 8 people in 2015 and it was great.  I would not suggest adding Capri in to the mix.  Last May my hubby, sister and BIL stayed in Sorrento and drove to the Salerno ferry and did the ferry from Salerno-Amalfi-Positano and back.  We didn't want to bother with the drive for a day trip.  LOVED the ferry.  The view from the road was great, but the views and the experience from the ferry was amazing!! And cheap!

I would totally recommend taking the train to Salerno if you can do it that way and doing the ferry ride!  Highlight for sure!  We had no problem with ferries running late.  Just make sure you buy your tickets early.  We got off the ferry and bought the next leg right away so it didn't sell out.

No problem, I'll talk to my husband and email you. Honestly I just didn't remember what page in the roll call it was posted in, and figured since you jogged my memory with the mention of Dominica I'd ask rather than wade through the older posts. :)

No prob [emoji6]

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Nicagal, this reminds me! I vaguely recall seeing a note about needing to contact Bumping Tours if we want snorkel gear. Andrew and I will need it. Should I contact them or give that to you to pass on?

Lol... I posted in our roll call that I needed your email so I can contact him with a list of what people need. If you can send me an email, info in roll call that would be great

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We were on the Royal Princess last Sept. and were surprised we didn't dock at the downtown Roseau location.

We docked at the Woodbridge Bay Deep Water Harbour instead.

There were shuttle buses (don't know about fees), but we walked to the downtown core.

We asked why we didn't dock at the more convenient downtown location and were told the captain preferred the further dock (maybe easier??).

So be prepared for either location.

Thanks. We are the only ship in port that day so fingers crossed it's at Roseau. Thanks!

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It looks like Roseau, Dominica according to www.cruisetimetables.com

 

Jonathan

Thanks so much for the quick reply and excellent site.

Does anyone know which Port Royal Princess uses in Dominica? I know there are 2 but cannot find anywhere which one we will be at.

Really enjoying your posts. We are doing this identical cruise next year, so am excited to hear more about it. Especially the snorkeling you did in Bonaire and Dominica. Di you do private or thru Princess, and all the other details! We have done the Eastern Caribbean, but this is our first time on Southern.

Hop you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Was discussing this with friends last weekend. I don't get real involved in roll calls and haven't signed in lately but my friend organized a number or excursions on their lengthy upcoming cruise. She said a new member signed in (new to cc) and in the first post said they were interested in any excursions available. There were a couple cruise cancellations the next week and when my friend posted that there were openings, this new person sent her an email within 10 minutes asking to be put on them. Same went for other excursions. So here is my question:

 

Do you think new rc members should be able to sign up before members that have been on for over a year?? My friend received an upsetting email from one of the original first month members saying she had asked about joining months earlier. Friend does not like to keep waiting lists - says she is not a travel agent and doesn't want to deal with keeping lists. The note stated this "new" member has not added any information to the rc, just took advantage of good deals on tours. This person wants her to bump the "new" member and give them the spots. My friend doesn't want to post - is afraid of backlash. In every case, this new person posted within a half hour of the tours becoming available - does he live on the roll call page? Or have a buzzer that goes off with a new post??

 

Thanks

 

Any comments??

As someone who has been putting a lot of effort into planning private tours for my upcoming cruise and looking for others to share the tours with I have to say first come first serve...

Unless it is stated from the beginning that there are rules as to who can join etc.

I chose to set everything up in a spreadsheet that everyone on our cruise can see. It shows availability and who is signed up for what. We also asked everyone to provide an email address. When a member wanted a tour posted they posted the info for me or emailed it to me. It is up to the members to keep up with the threads, you miss a day and sometimes you miss pages of posts...some days you miss nothing. You snooze you lose... My cell alerts me whenever there is a new post... That is how active I have CHOSEN to be on my rollcall... You can CHOOSE to be active or not. I also do not think it should be frowned upon for being that active!! Again it's a choice. My phone alerts me, I choose sometimes to respond right away, other times I choose to ignore it. I do not think it is fair that just because someone booked their cruise later than someone that they should not have access to any openings. Now you cannot complain if you are late on roll call and the private tours have all booked up... that is totally different.

I arranged my own tours for myself, and if others wanted to join that is great! However, as others have said, there will always be those bad seeds in the group. As someone said they seem like they will take over... We have group leaders and it is their job to be in charge, if you want to be in charge of a group, take the initiative like many others do and set up your own tour! ;)

I prefer to do private tours as they are typically cheaper and way smaller groups. I made sure I looked up reputable companies, that if someone no-showed or canceled at the last minute that it would not affect me! The company's take a visa # etc for booking purposes only, you no-show, they charge you...then I don't get stung in the end.

Thanks the advice! I am booking for next year Oct 2016. So hopefully we will have less hurricanes predicted for then too.

I am looking to book a Caribbean cruise at the end of October next year, and was wondering if anyone has done this cruise at this time and how they found it weather wise? I know it is still classified as hurricane season, but is it worth booking? Looking at the Southern or maybe Eastern. I have only been to Caribbean in Feb-April. Any suggestions? :confused:

Thanks for posting this; very interesting? We were planning to do the Grand Med from Barcelona to Venice on the Island in 2016. Princess has had this itinerary for so long, I'm surprised it isn't listed. Plus they are spending $$$ on changing the Island (adding more cabins) this spring so she can sail into Venice for 2015. Anyone know what is happening? Thanks.

 

Sure will change our plans for 2016 if no Grand Med!

We are doing that sailing this Sept. Looking at the new itineraries I am VERY happy to be doing the cruise we have booked! Nothing hitting every port I wanted like the Grand Med does.

We used a private cab driver in Athens two weeks ago and he was fantastic. I would be happy to share his name and information if you are interested.

That would be awesome thanks! More info the better!

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Amazing pictures! Can't wait to get there! We will be doing the reverse trip with Princess in Sept!

Were you happy with the company you chose for your day in Athens? Still trying to research that stop.

Thanks for the great review! :)

Thank you everyone for the advice! Definitely some research to do. We thought it would be easier to rent a car and drive but i will look into train etc.

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Need recommendation. Upon completing med cruise we are tring to figure out if we should spend time in Barcelona and then do coastal drive down to Gibralter, or spend time in Barcelona and then head to Madrid. We will be in Spain early October. Only have 5 days post cruise so need to choose wisly. Not interested in museums.

Looking for recommendations on how to spend afternoon / evening in Mykonos when we are in port from 1pm-midnight. Any nice beaches / restaurants that are close to each other and or ship so we can feel safe later at night?

Thanks for any help/suggestions :)

The newest post is up - this one details our entire Day 3, a day at sea!

 

We had a mostly relaxing day lounging around the pool, eating, and it was the first formal night on board. A little shout out to Cruise Critic in this blog post, as I think members of the forums would understand this most...I described a very interesting version of chair hogging that I had never seen before (with a pic!). I got a good laugh out of it and hopefully you will too.

 

http://justinpluslauren.com/caribbean-cruise-day-sea-aboard-emerald-princess-day-3/

Enjoying your blog. We board the Emerald in March for Eastern Caribbean. Our first cruise. Was unsure about it, but your blog is getting me very excited! Bring on the sun!

Thanks everyone!

 

Here's a brand new blog post, and the last pre-cruise one before boarding the Emerald! We ate a restaurant called Sublime in Fort Lauderdale and it was amazing!

 

http://justinpluslauren.com/caribbean-cruise-sublime-restaurant-fort-lauderdale/

 

Next blog posts will be all about boarding the ship and embarking on our 10 day adventure aboard the Emerald!

We board the Emerald in March for Eastern Caribbean (our first cruise)... Looking forward to your blog.

I completely cracks me up when people say there is nothing to see here but a few minows or whatever. There's an entire reef there full of tons of stuff located right in front of the Sapphire Condo's. It's as soon as you walk in to the water and goes WAY out but yet it's still not deep. In the middle there is sand for those that just want to swim. There is some sea grass in areas and people have spotted sea turtles.

 

To us, this place was paradise. The beauty, the water, the beach, the sea life, iguanas walking around and in the trees. It was the best of both worlds for those that like to snorkel and those that don't.

 

I did a review on it...I'll link it here. At the bottom of the review is a link to all of my pictures from that day...you tell me if there's any snorkeling to be done.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280889

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course you can view all of my pictures at the link in the review.

 

Also, you can check out their webcam any time day or night and see what it looks like there:

 

http://www.sapphireinthesun.com/

Read your full post...you said you guys went to Sapphire Beach then headed to Paradise Point. We are going to St. Thomas in March. We are at port from 730am - 4pm. What would you recommend for time at each place? After the beach did you take the cab right to Paradise Point? And what was the cost / time frame from Paradise back to the port? Want to do both, heading to beach first since like you said they don't open til 9. What did the full day cost you guys? Your help/opinion is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!