Captain Canuck

car service like 777

picked us up across the street from the terminal

phoned us to id us

we stayed at a hotel by the airport..free shuttle to the hotel..took sky train in for the cruise the next day....had enough time to take the train in to downtown Vancouver to check out stuff and have dinner...train stop near the hotel

price for hotels by the airport much better than downtown

have medical trip insurance through work

decided a long time ago to self insure on trip cancellation....no claims in over 35 years so if we lose a trip or 2 now we are still far further ahead

mind you biggest threat to missing a trip would be my work cancelling my leave so they would have to compensate so I did not worry that much about it

since I assume you are watching the Oilers beat the Habs ( 3 - 1 right now) I will offer my 2 cents

NCL way better than Carnival.. Carnival is more of a party ship. Have done 7 or 8 of them/ starting to let little stuff slide so not as good as they were. but a cruise is a cruise

love NCl. they started anytime dining which we are big fans of. great chicken wings in the blue lagoon. also pub lunches with Brit style fish and chips...

cannot comment on teen stuff as I am an old guy.

but I would recommend trying NCL

not 100% on point but I think kinda funny...my wife really wanted to see the northern lights...so we took a trip to Iceland. it included a northern lights cruise that just went out in the harbour away from city lights. clouds blocked the lights so we did not see any. however, we do live up north so took her out in the back yard and viola. we do live on the edge of a city so not as good as Iceland would have been but she saw them.

? we sue feet..its a Canadian thing

for Pompeii we planned on travel on our own. looked at the train but a bit of a distance from the port..found a bus that went from close to the port to Pompeii..then the ship put on a bus service that just gave you time on your own in pompeii for a reasonable price...good as it gets you in and out of the port itself which is very busy

Just to clarify for Rome, there is a BIRG ticket available for 12 Euros that is good for 24 hours for train fare between the port and Rome, plus metro and busses in Rome. This ticket can be purchased at the train station in the port city of Civitavecchia and must be validated before you get on the train.

thanks for that...would be really bad if somebody relied on my post and tried to use regular ticket on metro....

rome..there are posts on cruise critic that show how to go to rome from the port via train complete with photos

easy to do

train ticket has to be validated once on board to be valid...there is a little punch machine..on the platform too....this ticket is also valid for metro and buses in Rome

just got back from Disney World...they use the same basic concept...watch device that is your room key and links to your park pass, meal plan and credit card. not much different from carrrying a room card but better in my opinion.

give it a try you may actually like it

or will have ammo to complain about it for years

but its your vacation so what you want is what counts

20 minute taxi ride...

metro is a good option. cabs in Athens are notorious for ripping off customers...I was a victim of this..dropped me off at my hotel but it was actually a lane behind hotel with a bit of a walk with luggage...street was also dark and driver claimed the large bill I gave him was a smaller one.

once we got to the Pireaus metro station we took a bus to the stop nearest our ship. could have walked but it was about the furthest berth from the metro. not fun with luggage so you could take a cab from the metro station.

Acropolis a must. as is the neighbourhood at the base of the hill. lots of shopping and eating places. museum has the gold death mask etc. one of my minors was Classics so this meant more to me than it would to most.

have fun

best western plus oceanside was good. close to port..walking distance to lots of eating places

cambria inn and suites was also good...walking distance to a mall

but just checked the prices and they are pretty high for that time period...since you will have a couple of days I would suggest renting a car..would let you stay at a cheaper motel and drive to the ship (actually drop off is at the airport for rental cars and they have shuttles to the port)...would check this out as I did this over a year ago so it may have changed. car would also let you go around a bit...everglades for an airport ride..gator farm or Miami beach area...

have fun

second vote for Dukes

also check out if they have movies on the beach while you are there..they set up a big screen on the beach and you can watch a movie

just googled it...restaurant being renovated but will keep the grill..but it just will not be the same

thanks for letting me know

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

down the beach towards Diamond head..my fave spot...Shore Bird...restaurant right on the beach..great spot to watch the sunset..tiki torches...basically you buy the kind of meat you want (steak or fish) and bbcue it yourself on a huge grill...there is a guy to help....dinner comes with a salad bar.....I recommend grabbing a couple slices of pineapple to bbcue to go with the steak...sunset normally just after 6 so seating around 530 good...and they knock a couple bucks off for early bird dinner....

after dinner can walk down Waikiki beach

enjoy

port everglades has the most ships...simple supply and demand...more ships lower prices. you can also get better prices on older ships. we have done the caribbean a lot so now do it for the ships/ Oasis, Allure and Harmony are all amazing. ship is a destination by itself. full blown theater productions.

if you are going for the ports then figure out which itinerary does the most ports you want. balcony cabins are great but if you are going to be in port all day might be something to splurge on later.

if you fly in think of staying in Ft Lauderdale over night. coming from Canada we have to as weather can be an issue.

welcome to the addiction

yes..googled it

http://www.broward.org/Airport/Services/Pages/Default.aspx

do not know if they are still there but Oasis had these viewfinder type deals in Central Park...steel column with a glass top and you can look into them....I just googled it and apparently they are pedestals as part of art installation...somebody created a webpage showing where to find this and the other art http://www.botos.com/small_wonders/

agree with Johnny Rockets for breakfast...free and made to order

milkshakes there are great..charge for them but worth it

also agree with booking shows as soon as you can...you can always change plans once on board. If you do not have a reservation they do release seats just before the performance due to no shows.

great idea to read a review...do it with the kids and let them help plan

She who must be obeyed always wants a balcony. I have a fear of heights so tend not to use them much. So naturally we get a balcony most of the time. Sometimes just not really worth the extra cost. Port busy itineraries are an example. Have done a few med cruises where you are in port all day. No real chance to use a balcony. did hawaii which was similar. cruise ports are not scenic in Hawaii so use in port not great. BUT the ship did go by the coast with the after dark display of the volcano pouring lava into the ocean. you could go outside to see this but was very cool to watch from the room

was on the Legend. No mini fridge in my room. needed ice for my insulin. stewart brought me ice twice a day (would have done oftener if I asked). but if it was all melted when I got up in the morning I would grab a bag full of ice from the water and ice machine in the buffet. had a ziplock to carry stuff in my luggage . bring along a bag and you should be fine.

they had a guy in the port directing people to the area to line up for the rental car shuttles...there was a sign for National..we stood there for a bit until a guy suggested we split a cab...turns out no longer a shuttle and the guy at the port did not even realize that.

just did this with National..they quit doing a shuttle..was about a $10 cab ride. Think alamo also does not have a shuttle. check with the rental car company websites to make sure. people try to help here but info changes

Wow. Y'all must be some celebrities with those attitudes. Humble much?:mad:

come on...that was obviously a joke