ColoradoBelle

Ok...I will advise my 'crew' of 7 or 8 that we will attend both the Sail Away and the May 29 at 11 meet and greet! Thanks for organizing.

We have a couple of cars...but my ride from the airport didn't show because she was in tears driving from airport to hotel. Decided to take the car back to the Hilton/Albrook Mall and take the express bus to Colon.

BUT will write to Steve and see about getting us all a van maybe.....check your email Steve....I'll ask my group and let you know!

Hi Kathleen! Now go post over on the Roll Call thread!!!

Mal and Marie Louise: thanks for linking the OTHER thread. How are you coming with transportation? Maybe we can meet up in PC the night before the cruise for dinner?

I took the liberty of inviting all of the TA Panama to Lisbon peeps to be friends. Now I'm not at all sure what that means, but maybe we'll be able to contact one another or at least get email notifications from Cruise Critic when someone posts.

I'm going to ask all of you to go over to the OTHER thread (listed under Roll Call, since Pullmanteur doesnt' seem to have its own listing. WHY? Because if we get enough people, cruise critic might give us a meet and greet. And it would be helpful to have us all under one thread.

Wanderwoman: we have 4 single ladies in our group (2 US, 1 Can, 1 Mexican)and 3 of us are in single cabins...heck, for the price, we had to do it! I had a single cabin once through the Panama Canal when the lady I was to share it with cancelled....and I LOVED it!!!!!!

Lee: I agree this will be a FUN cruise! I had originally booked us into Colon for two nights because some of the peeps are shoppers BUT THEN I talked to a friend here (in PV) who lived in Panama for 3 years and she said NOPE. So I cancelled and rebooked the Country Inn & Suites by Carlson onthe Canal (there are 2 hotels w/ same name but only one on the canal). It's a good area in Panama City and from your balcony you can watch the ships going through the Canal and free breakfast and shuttle to the Albrook Mall. So if you reconsider your option of staying in Colon....let me know. What time do you get in on May 25th? Kathleen (dejane) gets in @ 2 and I don't get in til after 7pm (on Copa from FLL). If times are close we may be able to share a taxi from the airport.

DCCruising: thanks for all the info on Icelandic. I'm having a hard time getting airfare back...may end up joining you on the Sept return!!!!! In my REAL life, I'm also a Linda!

Jakubowv: I tried renting a car one way, but they sent me this weird confirmation letter that indicated I could not...at any price....and that I had to return it to the airport. also, it looks like dejane got a rental tonight, but she may find the same thing. (Hope not!!!!!) Anyhow...welcome and please go to the OTHER thread!!!!!

Bought My Points: thanks for all the info on the Zenith. Can't believe there were only 100 of you!!!! Our cruise has been so low priced I can't believe that it isn't sold out. Looks like they finally raised prices a wee bit, so maybe it is filling up.

Those of you sailing the return TA in Sept: hi, you may talk dejane into that trip too!!!!! (allig and 123 and dccruisin)

If I forgot anyone, I'm sorry, but I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I'm hoping we can get a spreadsheet started with names and emails or cabin numbers so we can start an activity and excursion sign up...and maybe a small party on board (hey, with free drinks, why not?) or dinner the night before the cruise, etc.

It's only a MONTH!!!!!

CB:D

If you've decided to take this cruise, please go to the roll call section of cruise critic, click 'other' (because it appears that Pullmantur doesn't get its listing in the regular section) and post on the roll call site.

If we get enough people signed up, the other ships I've been on put together a 'cruisecritic' party onboard with free gifts and a place to socialize with other cruise critic peeps.

This link might work: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2323310

Hope to see you there!:D

Thanks so much for this information!!!

My friends will be very happy to hear about the good vino and even cava!!!!

I'm happy to hear that the food is good too.

I'll pass along to my Toronto folks that Copa is a good airline for them to take.

There are 4 of us, 2 Canadians and 2 English, none of us speak Spanish but I am sure we will manage, looking forward to meeting you all, we are embarking in Caracas May 24th

Hi Mal60!

Noticed you are from Toronto. One of our group is from Toronto..she owns the Madison Manor Boutique Hotel and Pubs. This will be her first cruise.

We now have about 11 people going from Puerto Vallarta : 4 US; 3 Canadian, 4 Mexican. Most everyone speaks English.

Kathleen wants to know if anyone likes to play mojo canasta....she taught it to me and I can vouch it is fun.

When do you arrive in Panama?

Thanks for the info. I am considering this cruise but my Spanish is limited to (a very authentic) Hola! which makes people think I actually speak Spanish. Unfortunately my only other Spanish phrase is Habla usted Ingles? LOL.

 

Would already have booked if I could only get a reasonable one-way flight to Panama.

If you can get to Ft. Lauderdale, Copa has one way flights to Panama for $103 with 2 free bags. I'm on it March 25th!

So I just booked 4 cabins on this cruise and airfare to Panama.

We will be a fairly eclectic group: 2 US, 1 Canadian, 3 Mexican and the list is growing.

Didn't yet find out if this is an assigned dining table or free-style seating. Does anyone know? Or how many formal nights?

I'm going to ask if we can get a Roll Call started so we can maybe get enough people to do a meet and greet.

We just returned from a Caribbean cruise on the Monarch and I recall one crew member, at least, was from Bali working in one of the bars.

There is no need to speak Spanish on the ship as all announcements are made in Spanish and English, and occasionally, on our cruise, in Dutch and Portuguese too as we were travelling to Aruba and Curacao as well as Caracas where people from Brazil got on.

This was our fourth Pullamantur cruise and English has been spoken by staff on the ships, at least well enough to deal with anything you need.

Hi Peter and Monica!

How does this ship compare in amenities to the Brilliance of the Seas? Would you give us some idea as to the dining room food and service and especially, since drinks are included...does that include a reasonable wine with dinner?

I was hoping to take the Ovation from Barcelona to Dubai in May BUT I needed to find someone to share the cabin......this trip is so economical I can have one all to myself. I have 3 friends interested in this and I haven't even put it on my facebook page.

I live half the year in Puerto Vallarta, so I am used to a Latin theme!!! I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself, just note that the cabins are extra teeny (110 sq ft including bathroom for a standard interior and they don't get much bigger from this Category K. I tried to price a junior suite but was told that everything other than inside and outside regular cabins was sold out.

I'll post back if we decide to go....hopefully we can get enough people to start a Roll Call.

Best!

CB

Like Ine, I spend my winter months in Puerto Vallarta. I'm a senior and live alone. People generally eat late in PV, so I am often walking or bicycling home at midnight. I live in an apartment on the beach in Centro. I generally do not lock my door although there is a locked gate to get into the building.

I have never felt threatened or worried at any time including May 1. Actually on May 1 I had taken a taxi from a friend's house south of town because he had lent me a computer monitor and I couldn't negotiate it on the bus. I then left my wallet in the taxi, but didn't realize it until that night. I luckily had the number of the taxi and called...and the driver told me right away that he had my wallet and that all the money and both of my debit cards were safe. He had his brother bring it all the way back into town for me that night...because he had already taken it home as his shift was over. That kind of honesty is typical in PV.

But, back to May 1. The preceding week, the federales had commenced an operation to rid the state of Jalisco (a very big state) of a new drug cartel. They had captured one of the gang leaders. In retaliation and on Labor Day weekend (May 1 here), a typical time for protests around the world, the cartel set off molotov cocktails around Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. First, let me say that I don't condone property destruction. But the 'bad guys' took great care to make sure there were no innocent bystander injuries. First, they fire bombed 4 banks that were closed for the holiday, after telling anyone in the area to please move back. They also set fire to some buses, but first they went onto the bus, apologized, made everyone get off the bus and THEN they set it afire. The gas stations were open and so they called and warned the stations to close; then they made sure noone was standing around, and THEN they set them afire...I think 5 gas stations, 2 in PV and the rest nearer Guadalajara.

The police and federales asked the public...tourists from all over Mexico because of the holiday and gringos and locals...to stay home or in their neighborhood so that the feds could catch the 'bad guys'. There were 7 Humvee vehicles with manned machine guns on the back just 2 blocks from weher I lived as they were part of the federale Operation. The fires were quickly put out, the banks boarded up and repaired by the next day. The airport was secured and also the border north to Nayarit state. No one of the many Ex Pats living in PV saw or heard any gunfire. Not one person was injured. And it was over in one day.

That night the news was fun of the rioting in Seattle (evidently for May Day celebrations???????) and Baltimore. There were injuries, damage in the millions, and gunfire. Yet no one is blockading Seattle. Go figure.

There was an incident outside of Guadalajara where a federale helicopter was forced to land and there were 7 deaths which is very sad. But it seems that here in southern Mexico, that the fights between the cartels and the federales stay between the cartels and federales. Both are sensitive to the tourist industry and neither want to see that industry ruined.

The other 6 months of the year I live in a very small ski resort town in Colorado. I've lived in LA, Maui, Aspen, Dillon, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and San Francisco and I feel safer here than I did in any of those places.

I don't work for the tourist trade and never did. In fact, I guess that if tourists stop coming to PV, I'll find my dollar goes even farther! But this town is safer than most any US city of same size. And both it and its people are beautiful.

Come see for yourself:D

Those are some really cool websites!

I'll have to bookmark them.

Wondering if the people who booked directly with NCL are getting better

communications and treatment than those who booked through a TA?

Thanks Fluff..you've set my mind at ease!

I appreciate your posting!!!!

Thanks, Keith...will do!;)

Couldn't believe how expensive it was to go 77 miles from London to port in Harwich (Oct 13 TA on Infinity).

BATransfer offers the best rate...but it has some negative reviews.

Just wondered in any cruiser here has used them before and would care to comment?

thanks!

Not worried about getting lost...or long walks to the FOOD (better to keep from gaining 10 lbs). Didn't like being at the dead end of those 'block section' inside corridors. But one of the ship deck diagrams offers hope: there may be a door or opening from the foreward elevators into the 'inside' maze. If so, our room would be on the corner: a wall blocking noise from the els, yet a quick step to/from the els. I can deal with that.

Oh...our return on the Celebrity Infinity. 14 days as opposed to 12 on Oasis. Same price....we were upgraded to a verandah outside stateroom....YAHOO.

Thanks Celebrity!!!!!

Just got assigned a cabin on Deck 11. (11446) That's fine, BUT I noticed that it is located down an interior corridor, not opposite an outside cabin (in the regular corridors) but in a maze-like narrow passageway corridor running midship.

Has anyone been booked in such a cabin and are the corridors kind of scary in a claustrophobic kind of way?