edinburgher

And cheers! back to you Tring/Barbara. Lovely that you are currently onboard and hopefully enjoying some "new to you" ports. With SPB dropped, there are new port opportunities in the Baltic although Tallin was always a popular port. Our friends will be pleased about the tonic water as they find most places they visit do not stock it. Would be wonderful if you could answer some of the other q's too should you have some down time and without going to too much trouble. Really disappointed that Fred are still as rigid with their food offering times. Last time we sailed we completed a questionaire which focused heavily on dining times, fixed sittings, having the same table companions throughout, etc. and we know that several of the pax on our sailing were like ourselves, and would have preferred more flexibility. but it appears that nothing has changed. Their dining inflexibility does actually put us off sailing Fred. so we only occasionally book for an interesting itinerary as we prefer to dine at times which suit us and with whomever we please, or the two of us alone. And as we are used to cruising with international cruise lines, we enjoy going ashore and returning onboard to find we can have a snack or a late lunchl at that time.. And although we don't mind the buffet in the evening (The one on Balmoral is rather nice and the food was good) we would also like to be waited on occasionally. If Marella/Tui can do it, why can Fred not follow suit? I think your name is familiar. Have you sailed Azamara? We only did 4 with them,(all on Quest) then prices rocketed and we looked elsewhere.

They have another question. if anyone can help. Is it possible to take onboard a few soft drinks and/or mixers at the embarkation port? They won't have a drinks package and will buy gin at the bars but have a preferred tonic water brand (Slimline FT) for their g and t's.

I didn't realise that Julymorning so thank you. Will just be patient then as they don't sail until the beginning of August.

Good that you are already on your RC for this sailing as that would be your best way of joining one already arranged by someone else or asking if others would be interested in joining your own tour. As Taormina and Mt Etna are very popular tours from Messina, I think your chances are high.

As already suggested, if you have not already done so, join the Roll Call for your cruise. On there you can ask the same question about names and look for others to join with you. It is also possible you may find that someone on the Roll Call has already organised a tour and is looking for others( like yourselve)s to make up numbers. if you do not know what a Roll Call is, read here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2594924-what-is-a-roll-call-everything-you-need-to-know/

We last sailed Balmoral pre-Covid in June 2018 and post Covid there may have been a few changes. We have friends booked for an August 2022 Iceland cruise who will be new to Fred and to Balmoral, and although I have been able to find our own past info, there are still a few questions they have and if you have answers that would be much appreciated, as the last couple of years appear to have wiped our memories of some details as 2018 is feeling more like ancient history.. Are there still 2 self-service laundries on Decks 9 and 3? Are they free or is there a charge?. Use own laundry powder or is it supplied? Is there a retractable drying line in the canin shower cubicles? Is there still a library next to the Bookmark Cafe? And is there a free steam room or sauna, or both? If so, separate male/female or mixed? And are they still as rigid with meal times? ( Thinking of port days,going ashore and coming back on board), does lunch still end at around 2pm with nothing more available until afternoon tea time(which I think used to be around 3pm or 3-30pm) Thanks in advance for any replies. So much has changed since cruising restarted that I am unsure if my past info is still current. .

same question(with answers) on this current thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2853640-venice-bus-station-to-train-station/#comment-63242852

Thanks euro cruiser. Interesting link. It appears that the shared taxi option may no longer be a possibility, perhaps due to lack of business for the drivers during the pandemic. As visitor numbers increase, there may still be some at the station, but a bit risky if there are none as the buses may have sold out for the preferred time. Looking at the website link, it also appears that the bus transfer may be the better option as Vesuvius tickets can be supplied by them and they now need to be bought before arrival at the ticket office. Lindancer, there are Trip advisor reviews for both Vesuvius crater and for the bus company. Lots of helpful info on the pros and cons if you read them. It is actually quite an experience to walk around the crater rim and to peer down inside it, especially if one has visited Pompeii and/or Herculaneum before Vesuvius,meaning that the story also has a start and a finish.

Iinternet searched "port of Maloy" andamonmgst other results, up popped a description from the Hurtigruten UK website.(Norway ports) Wary of copyright,and CC rules which mean copy/paste cannot be used, I suggest you do the same and read what it says. Briefly, one of the biggest facilities in Norway for processing and exporting fish, also has lighthouses and a famous Rock shaped like a mushroom.

Should you decide to visit Herculaneum, the other great thing to do there is to go up Mt Vesuvius. it is the same train stop. When we went, there were shared taxis outside Herculaneum Scavi train station, which drove up to the Vesuvius car park, gave you time to go up to the crater on foot and return to the car park, then drive you back down to the train station, where we paid. We asked the driver to stop on the way down for a photo op as the views of Naples were staggering from there. It should be easy enough to find out if the taxis still offer that service from the station by going online. Do not pay the driver until you are back at the train station. And if you decide to do this, when you exit the train station, look up, and if you can see the top of Vesuvius go there first. If it is hidden in cloud,walk the few minutes to Herculaneum first in the hope the cloud will clear later. Thinking that your grandson and yourselves would love this easy DIY trip. Pompeii has pros and cons, as does Herculanem. P. is huge and merits a long if somewhat tiring day. H is more compact but also more built up so easier to imagine more of the homes and shops. And a half day is enough time to see it all. We returned there in 2018 or therabouts, having first visited many years previously, and found that, in the intervening years more areas had been excavated and opened to the public.

The "on your own" will likely drop you off and give you a"meet back here" time, otherwise your time is your own to go wherever YOU want to go. The other two may include a lunch stop which couldeasily use up an hour or so of your already short time there, but on your own you could pick up a snack/sandwich and a drink and eat quite quickly. The other two actual tours take you places you already visited on previous trips, or take you places you have little interest in. Really it is your decision to make. tony s has offered one solution.

You can walk up to Santa Barbara Castle There is also an elevator which has a small charge, but much easier than walking uphill especially if it is hot. Entrance at steeet level along the waterfront.

We did the opposite to work around opening hours. We walked into Heraklion to the museum, visited, then took a public bus to Knossos from Heraklion centre.. Leaving there, we took another public bus which actually routed within a couple of minutes walk of the port. The driver told us when we reached the closest bus stop to the port. There should be info online about bus routes, otherwise try Heraklion Tourist Office.

Both of the above merit consideration, but Honfleur is an easy enough DIY option should you choose that option and super attractive to visit. Many previous threads and posts about the logistics of getting to/from Honfleur, simply use the search box to bring them all up. And others on your Roll Call may also want to go there and to share a taxi with you. You might enjoy that more than an organised tour. On another visit we took the train to Rouen, also worthy of a visit, and on our final visit to LH we explored the Alabaster Coast, but Honfleur is a perfect "first time" visit should you have no connection to the D Day battles.

Sorry We did not go to cinque terre so I do not know the answer to that, but I think SM(Liguria) has only one train station, la Spezia more than one, although I do know the main one there is la S/ Centrale. You would need to check that online but there must be lots of info on "how to get to cinque terre from la S". We very much enjoyed both Santa Margherita and Portofino. There will be threads on both which you can find using the CC Search facility, and will be also for cinque terre. For best reslts spell carefully. eg it is Santa MARGHERITA not Santa MARHERITA. Info and images on all of them online to help you decide, but whichever you choose will be good anyway.

And should you decide against this plan, you could consider this one: Take the train from la Spezia to Santa Margherita, a very attractive town and from there you can catch the ferry for the crossing (just a few minutes) over to Portofino. Although you could walk, taxi or perhaps even take a bus (I do not know about buses) between the two, the ferry ride gives super scenic views of both Santa Margherita and Portofino. Both places are attractive to visit (google both online) or even use the CC search facility on this Italian forum to find previous threads which mention either or both. All you need to do is go to the empty search box under your user name, input either Santa Margherits or Portofino then click "on this forum" from the dropdown underneath the box, hit the little magnifying glass and all previous threads with that name in them will be produced and you can read them at leisure. The same principal applies for CinqueTerre. Enjoy whatever you decide to do.

Compromise by taking one suitcase between you plus the two bags. You don't need to fill the suitcase, just pack what you want to take which doesn't fit the backpacks. We have tried packing only one weekend size bag for each of us on 7 day city (not cruise) trips but it wasn't terribly successful so when cutting back now, we take one suitcase to share and a small weekend size bag each and that does. A typical 14 night or longer cruise would have us with one suitcase and one carry on each. We have done 3 cruises up to 30 days and didn't need more than that then either. We did a 7 night city break to Madrid with only the two small bags (and they are small) the following month we did a 7 night Berlin trip and added the suitcase so we could take the things we missed having with us on the previous trip. We found that the small weekend siz bags were just too small, although your backpacks sound as if they are larger. We can put in the suitcase things like liquids including toiletries (banned from carry ons) and spare shoes, folding mini umbrellas, 2 or 3 books, lightweight dressing gowns /robes (we had definitely missed these and they are not always supplied). and a spare lightweight jacket each as weather can change. Really it depends on where we are going and the kind of typical weather in that location. if hot, can add sandals, sun lotion, after sun lotion etc and need access to a washer as clothing needs more frequent changing. The no liquids rule means with only carry ons, one of the first things you would need to do is go out shopping.-and who wants to do that? We have our own preferred brands and prefer having them with us rather than having to buy whatever is available locally, assuming we can read the labels that is.

E.g does the cruise line (Royal Caribbean) provide basic transport into the city location? For best replies you should ask this question on the Royal Caribbean thread.

In addition to my previous post (#2), could add that we visited twice. Both times we docked just across the street from the town. We got up early both times for the sail-in as the light was perfect for photos and there was a beautiful feeling of calm and stillness as we made our way towards the town. Leaving later in the day, the light was way too bright and in the wrong place for photos and a lot of the early morning charm had gone. Like PurpleTraveller, we also stayed in town the first time but avoided the uphill hike( which isn't for the fainthearted in heat of 30C plus). Second time we also took the local bus to Perast and went over to Our Lady. It was OK going when we were seated, but returning to Kotor our bus was full and we had to stand almost all the way which only meant we had to sit and enjoy a cold beer on arrival back in Kotor. We also enjoyed looking at some of the super yachts docked in Kotor town.. Many have put quite a bit of Kotor info on earlier threads, which is why I suggested using the Search option as others have posted in the past about out of town options in addition to info on the town itself.

I have watched quite a few cruise clips on youtube etc with tips and advice, but none of them ever say anything about specific excursions or ports (none that I can find anyway). Hi,I don't know where you looked before, but the info is all out there, you only need to look for it in places you didn't look before. I am unsure if I can give you the names of the websites, but if you simply internet search something like "cruise ports info" or "cruise ports guides" you should get several in the results. One we really like gives the impression from its name that it will only tell you which ships are in port, but it gives much much more than that and is our "go to" site. As for excursions, your cruise line should have info available for your sailing. Even if you would rather not have a shorex, they are useful for giving an idea of what is possible. And there are companies which specialise in shorex, although they are really only the "middlemen" as they subcontract. to local companies. To find these, simply internet search something like "shorex from ???" or "cruise tours from ????" To DIY shore visits, search Tripadvisor and others, and don't forget local Tourist Info Offices, as many have excellent suggestions. These will give you info on what others have found to do and it is up to you to decide what appeals to you. Some castles, museums etc will have "how to reach us" info on their websites. And don't forget the CC SEARCH option. for Q and A's asked by others over the years. The search facility is very easy to use. Go to the relevant forum for the country in which each of your ports is. but not to your own thread. Log in, and just below your user name, you will see the empty search box. Input the name of your port, (being careful with the spelling.) then tick "on this forum" from the drop down underneath the box, then hit the little magnifying glass. All previous threads containing that word will appear in the results and you can read them at leisure. Obviously you only enter one of your ports at a time. CC used to have info on many many ports of call, where docked, transport, etc etc, but it appears to have disappeared in recent times, or if it is still there, I cannot find it so now use the alternative methods above, some of which I hope you find helpful..

Think it is this thread being referred to: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2697012-palma-de-mallorca-diy-new/page/3/#comment-59164259

Tthanks for acknowledging as not everyone bothers to do that.

Super easy to DIY in Kotor. There have been multiple threads on Kotor, some more recent than othes due to the lack of travel in the last couple of years, and most will have the info and ideas you are asking for The easiest way to get maximum info is to use the CC SEARCH facility, where all previous threads containing the word Kotor will appear in the results. and you can read at your leisure. (you will also find several references to being up on deck very early for the really scenic sail-in). The search facility is very easy to use. Go to this Other Mediterranean Ports board, but not to your own thread. Log in, and just below your user name, you will see the empty search box. Input the word Kotor, then tick "on this forum" from the drop down underneath the box, then hit the little magnifying glass. All previous threads containing that word will appear in the results There is also lots of online info for Kotor. Try the usual cruise port info websites for docking info, distances etc (whatsinport, cruisemapper, cruise crocodile and others) ,,Tripadvisor and local tourist info websites and anything else which comes up when you internet search something along the lines of"?????" Tourist Info". or even only the name "?????"

Arriving at 5pm in the evening means you could plan an evening ashore in la Rochelle with dinner in a local restaurant. If you are near enough to the Cognac area, (i think, the only area in the world which can give it the name cognac) visiting would be a quite rare opportunity and much less less common than the opportunity to visit a winery somewhere in the world, but really it is personal choice how you spend your time there. You might even want to consider a private tour to Cognac (if there is one) and find others on your RC to share the cost with you, or decide against any tour at all and enjoy doing things your own way. I really don't think a guided tour is needed to explore la Rochelle, and as a town it has quite a lot going for it. There will be much info about the town online, including tripadvisor and other info sources. .A recent thread, but you may find others when you use the search option for la Rochelle on the boards. facility.https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2840178-excursions-on-our-own/page/2/

A recent thread, but you may find others when you use the search option for la Rochelle on the boards. facility.https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2840178-excursions-on-our-own/page/2/