brucert

We have been sailing Oceania on and off since 2008. My drink of choice is a Long Island Ice tea. I’ve ordered them singly in Horizons and also as a 2-for-1 during happy hour. They are ALWAYS served in the same generous-sized glass. If I had to guess, i’d say it was a 10-12 oz size tumbler. None of the others in our group has ever complained about the size of the drinks, and my wife always drinks martinis. I must admit we don’t frequent Martinis, and maybe the pours are less generous there. Horizons just has a beautiful view in the early evening.

Mura

Thanks for a very informative link to drink prices. Gives us a good idea of what's available.

cbb

thanks so much for the quick response. hope to run into you on board after papeete. maybe during happy hour?

bruce and pat

we have the good fortune of joining your ship in papeete on saturday morning, and have a few questions for anyone who might be interested in answering.

we sailed with oceania in 2010 on its amazon cruise (miami to miami) and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. we seem to remember a "happy hour" time starting in late afternoon (5pm?) and lasting an hour, in which you could get 2 drinks for the price of one. we may be mis-remembering which cruise line offered this, but do think that it was oceania.

do they still offer this in any of the bars? also, we're trying to get an idea of drink costs on board. for example, what would a glass of red wine cost; how about a long island ice tea? if anyone has a photo of the bar menu with prices, we'd really like to see that.

very much looking forward to joining the ship in two days!

what is the latest pricing (i've heard that rcl has recently raised prices) on cokes by the drink? also, is the cheapest soda package still $6.40 per day? thanks for any input from recent cruisers.

I have been asked several times by CC people if they could print some of my walking tours. I have no objection, of course, but thought it might be better to have a version in pdf format. That way the pages are not cut at the wrong places and it makes it easier to print.

 

If you go to the following site for the Walking Tour of Bruges, Belgium, you see a link to the printable version.

 

http://www.********.com/Brugge%205.html

 

I will do the same with the other walking tours. But it is just another project for 'tomorrow'.

lair bear

for some unknown reason the forum moderator has blocked the link to your pdf file of brugge walking tours. would you please email the pdf files to me at brtuffli@sbcglobal.net?

thanks a bunch.

bruce

Can anyone recommend a private guide - we will be passengers on Voyager of the Seas in October - prefer not to do ship tours.

Also is it easy enough to obtain local currency via ATM etc.

we just got back from a med cruise on HAL and can heartily recommend pepo klaic as a tour guide. we booked him through toursbylocals.com (see http://www.toursbylocals.com/TBL/WebObjects/ToursByLocals.woa/1/wa/searchForTour?wosid=gveOw9gw0tAqmTUeIZKHtg). you can customize his tour to your preferences, and the cost for our group of nine was about $65 each for up to 12(!) hours. he showed us some amazing views of dubrovnik from above, took us to cavtat (an absolutely charming resort town down the coast), took us to an amazing restaurant situated on a mill stream, and provided us with a private tour guide for the dubrovnik old town. the price includes pickup and guaranteed on-time delivery back to your ship.

we thoroughly enjoyed being with pepo, who was born and raised in the area so is quite knowledgeable and can answer any questions you might have.

a possible downside for some of you is that they require a deposit up front and then payment in full about 2 weeks before the tour date. the good news is that you pay in dollars through paypal (or other credit cards). don't quote me on this, but i believe paypal has some sort of guarantee on payments made through them. check paypal's site to be sure. also, toursbylocals has a phone number in the usa that you can call to ask questions (866.844.6783).

try to arrange to walk the wall as early as possible in the morning, as there is no shade to be had up there.

atms are pretty much everywhere to obtain kunas, but most local vendors will accept euros. the problem with having kunas (unlike euros) is: what do you do with the excess when you go home? i recommend not getting any until you need them and then only as much as you need.

hope this helps,

bruce

dear dubrovniktravelady:

as i've just discovered this wonderful thread, i haven't had a chance to read through all of it, so please excuse me if i am repeating questions you've already answered. we are arriving on the holland america ryndam at 8am on september 3 and must be back on the ship at 9:30pm. do you have suggestions on what our group of 9 (65+ year-olds) could do on our own for the day, or do you suggest we take a ship's tour? i have heard that you cannot recommend a local guide, but i'm sure we can find one if you think that's the best way to proceed. many of your posts refer to the wall and the old town. is there enough in that area to keep our group busy for most of the day, or do you suggest something else in addition? also, can you find out where our ship will be docked and how many other ships are in town that day?

i don't mean to overwhelm you with giving details of suggested itineraries, but if you could just give us a quick overview of what would be the best use of our 13 hours in your wonderful town, we would really appreciate it.

thanks

bruce

hank

we will be visiting naples on an upcoming cruise. at least one in our group of nine wants to know if makes sense to visit BOTH pompeii and herculaneum on the same day. i have done a little research and can't seem to come up with a consensus. you've been to both; what's your opinion? is herculaneum just more of the same, but maybe a little smaller, a little better preserved, or are they different enough to warrant seeing them both in the same day?

thanks

bruce

hank

what a great thread and a great service you offer! we also like to strike out on our own whenever we can, and hopefully you can give us some advice on some ports we plan to visit in an upcoming mediterranean cruise. we have visited many of the cities you have talked about, and your advice is spot on.

we will be visiting trapani, italy; valetta, malta; katakolon (for olympia), greece; corfu, greece; dubrovnik, croatia (i know you said you've not been there); naples, italy (we've done capri and pompeii); cagliari, italy; and finally palma de mallorca, spain.

if you've been to any of these cities, i would appreciate any advice on how to use private tour guides or even guide ourselves, if that is doable.

thanks in advance, and hoping you're still posting to this thread,

bruce