redlock

We were on the Breakaway from the 15th July 23, calling at Greece, Malta Italy and France. We encountered no problems getting drinks with the FAS package. Before we went a lot of complaints were regarding drinks not being served and/or taxed in Livorno but all seemed to be sorted when we were there.

Think the OP's gripe is about tax being charged whilst sailing through Puerto Rico waters, although not stopping there. Never heard of this before. So if you are cruising down from NY to the Caribbean, depending on how close you come to the eastern seaboard, you might be charged tax?

Don't know if Marella allow this but some of the American lines have stopped opening the dividers, saying they wont open them due to fire regulations.

Having to tender at Mykonos isnt necessarily a bad thing, as the tender drops you off in the town. If the ship docks, the port, its about 3km from the town centre, so is either a shuttle ride or a 35 min walk.

To avoid the queues for the cable car in santorini, you can buy a ticket for the boat to Oia, which is a much more picturesque town than Fira. The ticket includes the boat to Oia, a mini bus ride to the town from the port and also a return coach ride back to Fira. We have done this a couple of times, the last being in July 2023 and I think the price was about €40. Tickets are sold on the pier at Fira. Obviously, there are still queues to get down and back on the tender when returning. Although if you are one of the first ships into port that day, you may be lucky and breeze straight up the cable car with very little waiting.

Yep, I can appreciate that.

The normal security line in Seattle took us 95 minutes to get through, a few weeks ago. Whether this is standard for Seatac, or we just picked a bad day, I don't know.

Hi Longleaver, We can also recomend the luggagelounge if you fancy a few hours on the beach. We got an Uber there and dropped the bags off and relaxed on the beach, ready for our flight back to Heathrow. Lunch at Finnigans Way

As I said, our sea day was very rocky. Much more than a normal rough day, to a point that even the bar staff were mentioning it later in the day. But the Spa was still open and to be honest it was probably the best place to be. Hope you have a great time.

Our first sea day was very rocky, all the first night and upto about 1600 the next day till we got sheltered by Moresby Island. We spent most of the morning in the Thermal Suite. I thought it would have been shut but it was open, the water in the pool was moving so much it was exposing all the water jets. The staff were constantly wiping up the water.

Have a great time in Alaska. We were on the Encore on the 17th Sept sailing. Had a great time. I booked the White Pass Railroad independently but unfortunately we couldn't dock in Skagway due to high winds. I emailed The White Pass Railroad and they refunded me straight away. Still a great cruise and enjoyed every minute.

We were on the Encore last week and did the Wine and Cheese tasting. I think there was about nine different tasting classes through the week. It lasted about an hour and there were about 42 people on our session, although it wasn't full and places were laid out for more people, maybe late comers? We booked this when we got on, near the Atrium bar and think it was about $22.

Got off the Encore yesterday (24th) and me and the wife had a Thermal pass for the first time. Thoroughly recommend it. We loved it and used it every day. Mostly mornings and the occasional afternoon. Maybe we were lucky but we got loungers every day, even the ones adjacent to the windows. Some days more people were in the suite than others but it never felt overly full. We found it emptied around 1200 - 1300, due to people going to eat. The combination of relaxing pools, steam room and snow room had the same effect every day.....a mid day snooze.

Fantastic pics, Bird. Where did you enjoy the best views? Balcony, Bow, Upper deck or OL. We are travelling from the UK next week to join the Encore on the 17th. Been following your trip report every day. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

We were in Livorno a few days ago (Sunday) on the Breakaway and got the train to Pisa. I didn't see any advertisements for any shuttles straight to the Train Station. As you say, the cabs on the dock were all filling up for Florence/Pisa. We got quoted 300 Euro for an 8 seater round trip to Pisa which is only about 15 mile away We ended up getting the shuttle to town. We were told at the Tourist info that a free shuttle to the station could be caught at the H&M shop round the corner from the bus drop off, but we ended up walking to the station which took us about a 30 min. The trains were quite frequent and cheap (5.5 Euro each). It was another 20mins walk to the Leaning Tower. When returning, after getting off the train in Livorno, we got the (crowded) free shuttle to the cruise shuttle bus spot and transferred back to the ship. The shuttle buses from port to Livorno are 7 Euro return. As an aside to the earlier posts regarding Bar sales etc.....All normal drinks were served whilst in port.

This has happened in Greece, Italy and now the UK. Maybe they should keep up with local regulations more closely.

Because this is a professional company, with years of cruising experience and must indeed know about certain (tax) regulations.

Think it has been stopped, certainly has on the ships I have been on since covid. Escape, Dawn and Jade

Was on the Dawn over Christmas and New Year, really enjoyed it, no complaints. Best meal we had was Los Lobos.

We asked at the Dining Reservation desk and was told it would be fine. All went well and no questions asked. As Keith says, the vouchers do not specify any particular restaurant now.

You can also gift the second voucher to another couple as long as they are dining with you. Our friends dined with us in Los Lobos on the Dawn last month, using our second voucher. We shared the wine.

As an aside.. My wife and I were on the Dawn over the festive period and travelled with our two friends who are Silver latitude members. We were allowed to use our two vouchers for us and our friends, as long as we all dined together. We all enjoyed the Los Lobos resurant together, easily the best meal of the cruise.

Correct about the Dawn's 12/22 sailing. We are currently onboard and went to San Juan on Xmas Day instead of PP. We also got to St Thomas 4 hours earlier this morning as less distance to travel.

We are on the Dawn next week from the 22nd and due into Puerta Plata on the 25th. Just been tracking the Dawn this week and she was due in PP today but is now berthed in san Juan.

Can recommend The Andante hotel in Barcelona. A small comfortable boutique style hotel, close the the port and Las Ramblas with a stunning view from the roof top infinity pool.