BlueSkiesTX

Just now, Shimsdan said:

 

Great information!  Question for you (hope it doesn't sound silly) - was the $510 the price per person or for the whole group?  I only found where it was $500pp.  Just wanted to confirm.  Thanks!

 

It was $500 for our whole group (not PP).  HTH!

I

1 hour ago, Coral said:

The unfortunate situation is that unless you book a private tour with a specific private guide (with reviews) - it is impossible to predict how good the guide is.

 

I have had good luck with Spain Day Tours on the 3 tours I have taken. I have also had awful guides (both private and with the cruise line) on other tours. It is impossible to predict. The best advice I can give you is to give feedback to Spain Day Tours and maybe if they get enough feedback, they won't use that guide again.

I am glad that you and so many others have had good luck with Spain Day Tours. We did not. I posted my review so that others were aware that Spain Day Tours does not always hit it out of the park like some tour companies do.

It also concerns me that this company asked another unsatisfied cruiser not to publish any bad reviews. 

The shows were at 7 and 9 on our Dec. 21 Infinity sailing. 

On 11/16/2023 at 10:48 AM, Kellie in Texas said:

Some of the details may have changed by now, but the main thing I can offer is to definitely do the ship's tour, just because of the length of time the day takes. 

I agree! 

I also agree with my fellow posters. Do it as a land trip. We stayed at Hotel Xcaret Mexico two years ago and were able to visit all of the parks. My kids really enjoyed it. My daughters were 13, 11 and 9 at the time. 

Many years ago, I visited Xel-Ha as part of a cruise ship excursion. It was a long day and I was much younger! The ferry ride is looong and you spend a good chunk of your day just getting there and back. We were able to enjoy Xel-Ha more this last go-around as we were staying at the resort nearby. Since it was through the cruise line, I wasn't worried about missed connections or not getting on the ferry on time.

Xcaret is a fabulous park and we really enjoyed the big Xcaret Mexico Espectacular Show that takes place in the evening. You can't see it on a cruise ship excursion. This park needs hours to explore and do it justice. 

We have snorkeled in Cozumel multiple times in Nov./Dec. The water temperature is cool as Clackey stated but not cold. I felt much colder in the shade on the beach than I did in the water or sitting on the boat in between snorkeling sites. (I HATE cold water, fyi).

The snorkeling is fantastic in Cozumel. Have a great trip!

On 1/4/2024 at 4:06 PM, catbro said:

Hello, would appreciate input from any who have done a November sailing of  Canary Islands and Morocco ports of call from Barcelona. We enjoy Barcelona to start/end a cruise and are very interested in the itinerary/ports.

 

However, my big concern is whether it will be too chilly and windy onboard the ship when outside. I think it will be too cool to use the pools and can manage that, but I just don't want to be forced to be inside for the majority of the sailing time between ports.  I know that weather is unpredictable and that region of the globe has some unusally warm falls. We were pleasantly surprised by a trip to Barcelona and Marbella in late October where it was still very warm and enjoyable. But I don't know if it is the same for the Canaries/Morocco.

 

Would love to hear your experiences on this sailing and appreciate all input and advice. 

We just returned from the Dec. 21 Canaries/Morocco itinerary. The weather was delightful. I would never go on an Alaskan cruise because I think even in summer it would be too chilly for me, so we are similar in that regard.  We had crisp mornings in Barcelona, but plenty of sun.
 

We went on a catamaran on Christmas Day in Tenerife. We even went swimming in the chilly Atlantic for 30 minutes. It was freezing for the first minute, but felt very refreshing soon after. 

The captain even made a joke about all of the sun-bathers working on their tans. A few brave souls were in the pool. Others were bundled up in Celebrity-provided blankets around the pool. 
 

We spent the normal amount of time on our balcony. Around 4pm, it was so warm while docked in the Canaries, we had to move inside to cool off. 
 

Our coldest day was Dec. 30 in Seville. There had been a big temperature drop. It was definitely jacket/puffer weather for this Texan. 
 

By Jan. 1 in Valencia, I felt comfortable walking around in a long-sleeved shirt. 
 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help! 

On 3/4/2023 at 10:11 AM, NMTraveller said:

E class has very few views unless you are sailing in a suite.  No sky lounge.  Very few outward facing windows.  On my Cabo cruise I could see whales spouting all around the ship just while walking around.  This would not be probable on E class.  

 

I would not sail E class for a scenic itinerary as one wants to see the beauty even while walking around the ship.  

 

 

This reminds me of Anthem of the Seas. I felt like I was in a beautiful floating tin can. It took an effort to find the views. No thanks! I love the M-class ships and look forward to trying the S-class ships on my next two sailings in “hump” cabins. 

We just returned from a cruise to the Canary Islands on the Celebrity Infinity. I wanted to recommend a tour given by Angela Tejera, owner of Lanzarote Experience Tours. We booked our tour through ToursByLocals. I did not know ahead of time that Angela owned the company. Her adult children are also tour guides for the company. We booked a private family tour similar to the group tour offered by the cruise ship. I had little to no expectations for this tour as I was not overly excited to visit Timanfaya Park or visit volcanoes in general. Timanfaya was incredible, however. I am pretty sure it's the closest I will ever come to stepping on what felt like another planet. I can see why movies are filmed here. Angela was able to navigate us through the hordes of tourists at the park. She told us stories of how she came here as a child and her mother cooked over the heat steaming up from the holes in the ground. The park rangers all knew her and seemed to like her. She gave us plenty of space on the tour (which I love) and time to get a quick coffee/snack in the cafe at the park as a family. We rode camels on the outskirts of the park. The camel drivers from Morocco were quite a hoot, guiding the camel caravan along by the sound of their voice. 

We went to another lookout point over the sea and were able to take some great photos and admire the beautiful natural landscape of Lanzarote. Since it was Christmas Eve, Angela told us about the traditions in Lanzarote and took us to a spot to show us the miniature villages that are created. In each of these minatures, a nativity is added. Each neighborhood does this tradition, recreating their own neighborhood with a nativity inside. We spotted them twice more on tour stops along the way. 

Our final stop was the winery. We were able to sample Canarian wine and see the unique way grapes are grown in this region. It was amazing to both see and hear how resourceful these people are! Angela knows the region well as her family has been here for generations. She was happy to answer questions along the way. She had a nice, clean and comfortable van.

Our private tour was $510 USD for a 5 hour tour for our party of 5. She was waiting for us 30 minutes ahead of time at the port. (We are always early). We were dropped off on time at the cruise port.

Here are the exact details from the Tours by Locals page. It was customizable though. We just chose to go the basic route. I think it's a great "Taste of Lanzarote" itinerary for first time visitors.

Pick up at the cruise terminal in Arrecife
Stop 1 - Los Hevideros
Stop 2 - El Golfo volcano
Stop 3 - Timanfaya National Park
Stop 4 - Camel park
Stop 5 - La Geria, the wine district
Return to the cruise ship

I wanted to review this tour as I could not find much on CC for this island. If we ever go back, I would not hesitate to contact Angela for recommendations on other parts of the island. She does not know I am writing this review. Happy travel planning! 

We just returned from Barcelona for the second time. We opted to do Casa Batllo "Be the First Visit" at 8:45am. It was not crowded and we used the audioguide we received. The audioguide is detailed enough to really get a feel for how the house and how all of the details were created. I have always been a big Gaudi fan, so I really enjoyed it.  My DH thought it was a little lengthy for each room. There is an opportunity for a photo leaning out of one of the upper balconies. Do it! We ended up buying both pictures of DH and myself and the one with two of my daughters. 

We also tried the Montjuic cable car this time as it was a great way to spend some time in the sunshine while we wore off our jet lag the first day. There are lovely views of the city and I enjoy a nice cable car ride. 

We walked or took taxis for our two days pre-cruise and one day after. I never felt we were over-charged or scammed. My husband paid with ApplePay on his phone. 

Enjoy your trip! We love Barcelona. 

On 8/21/2023 at 7:21 PM, Sunny AZ Girl said:

We will be in Tenerife for the second and third times in November of next year (2024) while we are on 2 different cruises that stop at the island each time.  I see that whale watching is in season at that time.  Can anyone recommend a tour operator that operates out of the cruise ship area for whale watching?  I doubt if we would want to travel to the other side of the island to do this.  It is still early, but I don't see a ship excursion doing this. We have done a regular island tour on our first visit a few years ago.

We just returned from a Celebrity Infinity cruise to the Canary Islands. We went to the south part of the island in Tenerife for whale watching. It was Christmas Day, so excursions through the cruise line were limited. I also wanted to do something fun for my water-loving teen daughters. Keep in mind this is Christmas Day, so we knew transport would be limited. We ended up taking two taxis for the 5 of us. The bigger taxis were not available at the time. Though pricey, our taxi drivers stayed while we took our 3 hour sail with Monte Cristo Catamaran and drove us back to the cruise port in plenty of time. Honestly, I think we made their Christmas. They collected a nice fare with minimal effort on Christmas Day. Monte Cristo Catamaran is top-notch. You can check out their reviews on TripAdvisor. We did see plenty of pilot whales surfacing as well as a few turtles. Pilot whales look like long, black dolphins. The catamaran served drinks and food throughout the voyage and there was time for a 45 minute swim. Although the water was frigid at first, I found it to be pretty relaxing after the first minute. And, I say this as someone who HATES cold water/cold weather.

Sunny AZ Girl, to answer your question, we could not find a whale watching tour that left near the cruise ship port. From what I could find, all of the whale watching occurs at the south of the island.

Kmkub, if you can get cheap transport to the south of the island, a sail and swim is lot of fun in Tenerife. As someone who has snorkeled extensively in Bonaire, Mexico and Caribbean, I did not see amazing sea life here. The pilot whales and few sea turtles were delightful to watch, but I am sure it is much better in other places around the world. Was it a great way to spend a Christmas morning in Tenerife? Absolutely. 

I am happy to answer any other questions you may have. 

On 10/25/2023 at 3:05 PM, Grumpella said:

Just my opinion, in advance of the negative comments (lol):

 

I used Spain Day Tours for Bilbao last week off the Norwegian Dawn.

 

We were told to meet at 7:45 and the bus would leave at 8:00 am.

 

First of all, the directions to meet the bus where very confusing, as it said to walk toward the tour buses and taxis.  There were none at that time of the morning.

 

Second, the tour bus was not there at 7:45 and I ended up calling them at 8:00 am, the bus arrived at 8:01.

 

It was dark, raining and the guests were all walking around looking for the tour bus, as they were confused by the directions also.

 

The worst part for me was that the tour description said there would be free time in Bilbao, but there was none.  I know the description says subject to time, but in my mind, that means it might not happen because of traffic issues, etc,, not because the tour guide just kept talking and talking and in my opinion, took us to some stops that were a waste of time, such as a stained glass mural at the train station or a building which was made of 4 different buildings (not much to see).

 

I wrote an email to Spain Day Tours to complain and the manager Joseph offered me a partial refund (up to 50 %) but asked that I kindly give them a second chance and not write anything negative about them or mention the refund.  This makes me wonder how many other issues there have been with this tour company that we did not hear about.  I stated that I did not want a refund and would rather speak the truth.

 

 

I just posted my review of Spain Day Tours (Cadiz to Seville). Our tour guide was not good either! She just droned on and on. I would not book them again. I am glad you posted your honest review as well. I also wonder about other issues with this company. 

I booked Spain Day Tours based on reviews from this board. This was an all day excursion from the port of Cadiz. Communication with the company beforehand was simple and prompt. On the day of the excursion, all of our fellow travel mates were ready to go at the designated spot before the tour guide arrived. It was just us and the bus driver for about 10 minutes. The issue was resolved quickly as the tour guide was at another spot. The tour guide spoke briefly on the journey to Seville from Cadiz. We had a bathroom break about an hour into our ride as they knew bathroom availability would be limited at Plaza de Espana and the Royal Alcazar. The bus was clean and very comfortable.

Before we got off the bus, the main tour guide told the group we would be breaking up into smaller groups (15-18ppl) and the name of our guides. Our guide, Theresa, was friendly enough 😐, but incredibly boring. The group received "whispers", ear devices to hear her. It did not fit well on our ears though. For English speakers, her accent was a little hard to understand. At the Plaza de Espana, I remember one or two details of her talk.  We ended up waiting for the bus due to a parking issue for 20 minutes in between sites.  She went into WAY TOO many details in each room at the Royal Alcazar. Both sites we visited were incredibly packed with visitors, so it was hard to even keep our group of 18 or so together. Also, it was a lot of walking and standing for both young and old. 

Of all the tours I have ever taken, this one was the most boring when their were endless possibilities to be warm, engaging and engrossing. The sites themselves were beautiful. I am going to do more research on them post-cruise as I definitely want to visit Seville again.

The bus returned promptly to port as the bus to Seville from Cadiz was a little over an hour each way. 

Looking back on it, I wish I would have sought out other options. Had the guide been engaging, it would have been another story. 3 out of 10 stars for us. It can be hit or miss. 

Happy travel planning!

My daughters loved the kids club when they were your kids ages. The kids club is smaller and the staff are really engaged with the kids. Camp at Sea Night is really fun and the staff even has events for the whole family. I prefer Celebrity's kids clubs to RCCL because they are smaller. My daughters loved both and grew up cruising. 5, 7, and 9 are great ages for any kids club, IMHO. My daughters are 15, 13 and 11 now. The two older ones will probably join us at nightly trivia while the younger one will enjoy the kids club in the evening. My kids never needed the slides and bells and whistles with the RCCL ships.  We were always exhausted from our excursions anyway.  Ultimately, you know your kids best.  Have fun! 

2 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Yes. That's the one I used.

Thanks again! 

4 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

That is fine. That's all I've ever done - the email prior to sailing. Then I just check in with my service team in the dining room. I have almost always been given the menu for the next night during dessert so that I can place an order and they can be prepared.

Thank you! Just confirming, I sent the email to the appropriate email address/team, correct?

This will be my 15 year old daughter's first time sailing as gluten free. She has a newly diagnosed wheat intolerance (within the past year). She is not celiac, yet.  I have read through the threads and plan to talk with the maître de after the muster drill or as soon as we can. We have the same dining reservation every night in anytime dining, so I expect we will have the same service team nightly. I have just emailed "special_needs@celebrity.com" to alert them. Is there any other form or any other pre-cruise notifications I can give them? I didn't see any way to indicate this in the cruise planner.  

On 6/14/2023 at 7:14 AM, Saturngrl said:

I always pre-book Select Dining times in Cruise Planner.  It saved us from long waits to be seated in the MDR on Reflection.  Others without reservations were provided beepers because the waits were well over an hour for many of them.  

We do the exact same thing. I have already pre-booked our Select Dining reservations for our December cruise. We get the same time, same table and same wait staff every night. No waiting. 

We will actually be in La Palma, not Gran Canaria. I was looking at the wrong island all day yesterday. Trying to do too much in one day. We are going to La Palma, Grand Canary, not Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Whoops! I am going to hire a private taxi/tour for La Palma to see the north side of the island.

Texas is perfect at Christmas, but we started to go to even sunnier locales for the holidays and now we can't stop. 😁 Yes, we are on Infinity right after you and will be staying in Barcelona a few days before and one after. Happy sailing! 

On 7/21/2023 at 4:25 PM, Tbird58 said:

I'm looking for suggestions for tours in Gran Canaria.  I'm open to ideas.  We'll be there for the day in December, so I'm not sure how warm the water will be.  Most excursions I've looked into leave from the other side of the island and don't offer transportation, which we could find a way there; but time is an issue.  Thanks!

I could have written this post. We are in the exact same situation. We are on a similar itinerary during the holiday sailing on Infinity. Just not quite sure what to do in Gran Canaria. Looking at snorkeling possibilities as well, but they are on the other side of the island as you said. You are given wetsuits, thankfully. I think the water is going to be quite chilly.

50 minutes ago, AmberCascades said:

The quality of GF pizza seems to vary from ship to ship and even on who is doing the actual making of it.  My husband usually asks for one near the beginning of the cruise to test the "enjoyability".  If it's great then he plans which days  he will get it afterwards.  If it's not great then he doesn't bother.  The pizza-maker is often up there with waiters and stewards as far as getting extra tippage at the end of the cruise.  He is very appreciative when they take the time to make a good pizza. lol   

 

My husband takes a digestive enzyme product called Gluten-ease.  It helps if there is cross-contamination.  

 

 

My daughter also takes Gluten-Ease. It's very helpful! Thank you for your response.

50 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That's great news. Now comes part 2 of the pizza question. Do they have dairy-free cheese?

I would love to know this as well. I have a gluten free and dairy free kid. She would be over the moon if they had dairy-free "cheese".

21 hours ago, cbfb said:

When I did my upgrade a few months ago they gave me the 15% on top of the 9%. Not sure that always happens but good luck when you call. 

It worked! They gave me the 15% on top of the 9%. Thanks again! 

15 minutes ago, cbfb said:

When I did my upgrade a few months ago they gave me the 15% on top of the 9%. Not sure that always happens but good luck when you call. 

Wow! Thanks for information. I will try it. Who knows?! Might be my lucky day. 😉

I have used the Pack-It Garment Folder from Eagle Creek for the last few cruises. I have had cotton dresses come out virtually wrinkle-free. 

https://www.eaglecreek.com/products/pack-it-reveal-garment-folder-xl?variant=39788347687049

I bought mine at The Container Store a few years back.