Roland4

1 hour ago, gmarsh said:

howdy!

 

are there any pax getting off to go home from here?  Any newbie’s getting on?

 

Reason is, this will be a stop on a future trip and I’m wondering how the airport thing works.  Bus ?  Which aero port is used?

 

cheers

 

G

Unless things have changed, and I don't think they have, the international airport is in San Jose, which is a two hour ride from Caldera. We did it years ago on Crystal and the airport transfer was a good two hours on a "past its prime" highway bus!

40 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

It will really depends on the port and what kind of zoo it is.  There were 2 other big ships in port (4000 passengers each).  We were there last week and the process was get off the ship, and board a bus.  Arrive at a side terminal where immigration was located, clear immigration, get luggage, stand in customs line and clear customs.  For most -- get on bus with luggage and transport to the main terminal.  Catch taxi.

 

We were allowed to stay on the ship until 9:45 and arrived at the airport at 11:30 just in time for the start of check in.  At 12:15 in the lounge,  Our flight boarded at 3pm (3:42 depart)- AA to Miami.

 

Cruise line (Explora) - had a 1/2 day tour and cautioned us on this because it was schedule to return at 1:45 to airport but could be delayed because of the port issues.

 

My suggestion would be to be flexible and plan on doing siteseeing with taxi  if time allows, as port conditions could vary.

One thing that may work to our advantage is that Serenity and Mein Schiff II are the only ones in town that day according to the harbour schedule, and the Mein Schiff is doing an overnight to the 19th.

1 hour ago, nancygp said:

To each his own

 

while we had some very rough weather we still had a very nice cruise

 

Nancy 

I agree! Almost 12 years later, we still talk about it, as recently as last September on Serenity with Jim and Steve! The weather was terrible, but the cruise was great!!

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Today's sunrise is from the 2020 Crystal World Cruise.  On January 23 Crystal Serenity was headed west before being diverted to Cabo for a medical disembarkation:

 

 

Roy

I still remember Captain Vorland's announcement after we left Cabo, "We left so fast it was like we had stolen the ship!" He told us afterward that the seven days it took us to get from Cabo to Nuku Hiva was the longest time the ship had run at full speed since they took delivery of her in 2003!!

3 hours ago, ryndam said:

This close!

 

Most people don't realize that both ships are actually Pana-Max in terms of width, if not length, and virtually every crossing they leave with "Panama Racing Stripes" from close contact with a lock wall!

32 minutes ago, TER777 said:

For frame of reference, the Silver Moon left Athens January 16, going around Africa, arriving Mumbai February 14. Thus suggesting Symphony could do similar canceling Singapore to Mumbai to Athens, March 12 - April 13 sounds like a possibility. 

Sure hope so as we are supposed to be boarding Symphony on April 13! First time on Symphony since the infamous 2012 Trans-Atlantic From Hell!

11 minutes ago, May B said:

I’m so pleased to see you single out this sentence. 

We had dinner with the Crew Manager (sp) a few years ago and it was a real eye-opening experience what they have to do to get crew/staff in and out.

As far as supplies are concerned, I never really considered the effort/scheduling involved to get Containers A/B/C to dockside in Cricket Armpit, Some-South-Pacific-Island so I could have fresh fruit at breakfast the next day!!! Those containers did not just arrive by accident! 😮 😮 

3 hours ago, ryndam said:

Glad I was in our room. I did a grand save as the Grey Goose and Cabernet went flying again. The liquor bottles sleep on the sofa tonight. The wind 💨 s blowing from the aft so it’s not quite as bumpy as yesterday, but we definitely know we’re at sea. 
 

Rob

As Captain Vorland explained when we were on the 2020 WC, these are called "The Christmas Winds", a very steady and very strong wind from the northeast at this time of year. We had the heavy seas on the way to Cartagena, and also lost two port stops to them on the west coast of Central America.

One of these things we as passengers/guests never think about when it is necessary to make major changes to an itinerary;

"Considerations such as adjusting ship provisions and the impact on containers in transit, adapting travel plans (including visas) for our dedicated crew members," 

57 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

24F at 1 PM here, about 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground, so I'm fighting back by wielding a hot stove.  Hot chocolate this morning, grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch.  It's Saturday, so steak tonight according to her majesty's wishes.  Life is good.

It's -10C/14F with a windchill of -17C/1F at the moment, but no new snow, just the frozen, iced-over stuff that fell last week! Supposed to be sunny tomorrow with an almost "balmy" -3C/27F!! Almost time to break out the shorts!! 😁😮😁 

10 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

We might have to close the borders to keep your arctic weather out of here.  Maybe we can build super duper fans to push anything sent our way back to you.  🤗

 

Keith

Fair enough, but keep in mind that here in Central Canada, our worst snowstorms come up from Colorado and/or Texas, so turnabout would be fair play methinks!!😁😁

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Drink up. Eat up.

 

And bring back to our state warm weather. 
 

Keith. 

What??? You don't like the Polar Vortex weather we sent down to you?? 😁 

Actually, be thankful you have not had the full hit from this. It was -50C at the Edmonton airport on the weekend, and at that temperature it really doesn't matter if that is C or F!! We are expecting -14C/-20C with the windchill here tonight, and even by our standards for January, that is cold! 😮😮

5 hours ago, travelberlin said:

However, I understand that it is not for everyone. I understand also that we have different indicators of success. For example, I do not consider a success when only about 20 people (including dance hosts and entertainers) are on the event. Time will tell, which changes this event will experience. 

We were on Serenity in 2018 when they did this the first time, and nothing has changed, including the decorations, since then. We generally head to the Avenue instead.

11 hours ago, HUNKY said:

Viking does allow you to use OBC for the daily service charge.

 

I wish all cruise lines would let you use OBC to pay for shorex booked beforehand.

To the best of my knowledge, and I stand to be corrected, Crystal is the only line that does not require payment at the time of booking for shore excursions. And before someone jumps in here, I am NOT including the "no cost" excursions that some lines offer. 

1 hour ago, Richk582 said:

Is it possible to use onboard credit for excursions?  The reservation agent said it could only be used for dining, spa, or shop spend onboard, not excursions.  I was shocked when she told me that, just want to confirm with the group.

 

TIA!

Wrong! The only things you cannot use OBC for are crew gratuities (if you want to "top up" for a particular staff member) and onboard bookings. And in the casino when they get around to reopening it. Crystal is one of the few lines that allow you to book excursions online and not have to pay for them at the time of booking. They are automatically charged to your shipboard account.

I checked this last week as we arrive one day early for our cruise in April. They use the Athens Capital Hotel, which has 9.5/10 rating with Expedia. It also is priced fairly reasonably for a hotel offered by a cruise line!

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Two factors.  One was to prevent overcrowding.  The other was to encourage development of routes and service from JFK and EWR, also owned by PANYNJ.  The original rule was 2000 miles, but this was reduced in 1984 to 1500.  As part of that reduction, routes to Denver were grandfathered in, along with the Saturday exception (because many flights in the past did not operate on that day - the old "x6" in schedules.)

 

The DCA rule was in a similar vein - both on the over-crowding and to encourage development of flights from IAD.  DCA has many more exceptions, generated by political pressures from members of Congress over the years.

 

Hope that provides the info you wanted.

 

 

Much appreciated! Thanks!

8 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Love the Promenade Deck.

 

Keith

 

And I suspect I am right that you did not take this picture at 5:23 PM !!!! 😁😁😁

14 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Just remember that LGA has a perimeter rule.  No flights with a distance of more than 1500 miles.  Only two exceptions - flights to/from Denver and any flight on a Saturday.

 

 

This is good to now, even though I don't book many clients out of LGA. I am curious about the rationale for this as I have never seen the term "perimeter rule" before today.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Treasure Hunter said:

You are correct. I don’t mind waiting in the airport. We will book a flight around 3:00 or 4:00. We once took a Princess cruise ( and their bus from London). The trucks were backed up for many miles. Because it was a cruise transfer they held the ship and pulled up the gangway behind us. 

Good plan!! The ship will wait, the plane will not!! 🙂 

2 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

The return will be on a Wednesday by Crystal bus.  I was looking at a 1:50 flight ( British Air) but maybe the next one will be better. Thanks!

We have done that transfer twice. The first took a little under two hours, the second over three. There are no real alternate routes, and all it takes is one accident!! As I have said many times before, book the later flight. Do you really want to spend the last day of your cruise fretting over getting to the airport on time?? And at the end of the day, does it really matter what time you walk in the front door at home??

48 minutes ago, edgee said:

Many like to be able to go outside on balcony..enjoy the outside atmosphere and return to nice air conditioned cabin. Or one person may want to stay in air conditioned cabin while other guest goes outside on balcony. I disliked cabin being hot and humid for quite a while after opening inf veranda window. Inf. veranda cabin is poor substitute for a real balcony.

I agree! This layout might work in temperate climes, or even in the Caribbean, but in extreme heat (Panama Canal), or cool (Alaska) it is problematic. Another complaint, at least when CEL first came up with these rooms, is that the "interior" door does not have drapes, so if one party is an early riser and likes to sit out on the balcony, the late riser has to deal with daylight! This may have since been resolved, but it was a common complaint over on the CEL board when Edge first came into service.

5 hours ago, goldengatecruisers said:

The next time someone complains about the new carpets in the 2023 renovated suites I’ll direct them to the Four Seasons in Miami. Suddenly I’m not too bothered with the carpet selections for the newly renovated accommodations on both Serenity and Symphony!  Welcome to Miami, Keith and Anne Marie. Counting days!! 

We sailed Serenity for 11 nights from Reykjavik to Quebec City in September, and if you put a gun to my head, I could not tell you what the carpets looked like in the halls or in our suite. People who comment on such things, either positively or negatively, really need to give their head a shake! It's a carpet! Who cares?? 😁😁

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I expect the new builds will be larger than the existing ships.  I would like to see the increased size be in the form of a greater length or beam rather than more decks so the ships could still get under the bridges that at least Serenity can navigate.

 

Roy

The problem with that is Serenity is already "Pana-Max",  so making a new ship wider/longer makes no sense as it would restrict it to to the new canal. Having sailed on Regent Splendor, Seabourn Ovation, and Silver Moon in the last 18 months, something on that size, or maybe a little larger, would make the most sense. We just came off Oceania Vista, virtually the same size as Serenity, and with a full ship of 1,200 guests it just felt too crowded all the time!

7 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

 

I hope this helps.  

 

Another place to run is if you go across the bridge to to the island where the Mandarin Oriental i located there is a nice wide path that goes around that area and I like to walk and run it with nice views of the Bay and some of the cruise ships.

 

Just as an FYI, if that path used to go all the way around the island, it does not at the moment, due to condo construction. We discovered that quite by accident when we did that walk last month. We just assumed it went all the way around, and ended up having to double back. Still a nice walk though.