LSWRArt

We are doing a trip from Romania, through Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia to Hungary.  None use the Euro and each country has a different currency.  We will need a sensible amount of money in Romania and Hungary, but what do we do in Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia?

We will go on the organised tours, but we might want a drink, or an ice cream.  I assume too small to use a credit card.  Are Euros accepted at local cafes, etc., or will we have to change money into each currency and quite possibly not use it?  

The holiday costs enough without wasting money en route, so any suggestions welcome.  

Thanks, Arthur

Thanks for the helpful suggestion. Rgds, Art

We were on a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef with 5m beam seas on a 30m catamaran. Very uncomfortable constantly rocking from side to side. I wasn't sick, but felt ill and did not want to eat at all. The divermaster said try a Scop patch (not tablet) and it was great. I felt instantly better and had no side effects. I shall certainly take some patches with me for our upcoming Alaska cruise, in case it starts to get rough.

The trouble is everyone reacts differently to medication. I have just had to come off penicillin because I had awful wind problems which were so bad I thought I was going to be sick. Yet millions take penicillin without any severe side effects, so it is always down to the individual

Thanks for the info. Is Skywalkers open all day as a viewing area before turning into a night club in the evening? it looks a good place to sit to warm up between visits to the deck

We are going from Vancouver to Alaska on Golden Princess. I guess it might be a bit chilly to spend much time outside, so where are the best places to see the magnificent scenery en-route?

Thanks, Art

Thanks everyone for all your help. Fantastic advice from all of you!

It looks as if it is just my TA being peculiar. Perhaps they have problems with flight changes (although we are not using their flights) so they like to wait until the last minute before sending stuff out to save doing it twice.

Anyway, I shall take all your advice, wait a couple of weeks after paying the final balance and then log directly on to the Princess web site and print out all the stuff well in advance.

JF- we are just out of England a couple of weeks before the cruise, but we are touring up through Vancouver Island and then disappearing off the map to Great Bear Lodge. That and the cruise is costing a fortune, so we are economizing on the hotels en route. If we were stuck for a couple of pages I am sure they would print it, but you often get reams of info sent to you and I did not want to have to ask our hotels to print out a whole load of stuff.

Anyway, Now I know what to do and the problem is solved.

Thanks again everyone, Art

We will be touring Canada for 2 weeks before we board our Princess Line cruise from Vancouver. For the last 5 days before the cruise we will be in the wilderness with no internet or phone access.

Our tour agent says "tickets will be emailed to you 7 - 10 days prior to departure which will need to be printed".

I am assuming this is because they do not get the final information from Princess Line until just before the cruise, even though we will have paid in full 3 months earlier.

We are going to have very limited access to printing facilities (only what quite basic hotels are willing to do for us), so has anyone else had this problem and how much do we really need to print out?

What about luggage labels? Can you pick these up at the port, or have these to also be printed out?

Thanks for your help, Art

We will be touring Canada for 2 weeks before we board our Princess Line cruise from Vancouver. For the last 5 days before the cruise we will be in the wilderness with no internet or phone access.

Our tour agent says "tickets will be emailed to you 7 - 10 days prior to departure which will need to be printed".

I am assuming this is because they do not get the final information from Princess Line until just before the cruise, even though we will have paid in full 3 months earlier.

We are going to have very limited access to printing facilities (only what quite basic hotels are willing to do for us), so has anyone else had this problem and how much do we really need to print out?

What about luggage labels? Can you pick these up at the port, or have these to also be printed out?

Thanks for your help, Art

Hi Coral, That is really helpful. I just saw an advertisement somewhere for an 8 hour tour and thought it looked really good. I knew that it was too soon to book for next year, so did not look at the booking details.

With the coach from Anchorage you leave at 0930 and get back 0730 pm. The train is even later at 0945 am to 0915 pm. It is just 5 hours for the actual 26 glacier cruise leaving at 1230 pm.

Art

hi everyone,

Whittier does not seem to have a lot to offer, but our plan at the moment is to leave the Golden Princess in the morning and to go on the 1215 Surprise glacier cruise with Major Marine which lasts about 5 hours. We would then overnight in Whittiier and catch the Phillips 26 glacier cruise next morning, as that takes 8 hours. Hopefully that way we will see the beautiful Prince William Sound, lots of glaciers closer than we can on the Priness cruise ship and some sealife.

It seemed better to overnight in Whittier than to have two additional journeys to and from Anchorage.

We do then plan to go on to Anchorage, after the second cruise, to spend a few days there and also take an excursion to Denali.

Art

Thanks Coral - really helpful.

Enjoy your cruising. Art

We're cruising north to Whittier on the Golden Princess.

Arrival time is shown as 1230 am - so I guess they are tying up soon after midnight while we slumber in our cabins.

We plan to spend the next night in Whittier so we can do a 26 glaciers cruise the next day.

We thought to do a short boat trip the same afternoon as we arrive and that leaves at 1215 pm. As we are making our own arrangements and do not need the shuttle can we get off at any time, or are we still allocated a specific time?

We are in the forward part of the ship on deck 10 (Caribe).

Does anyone have an idea whether we would be safe to book this boat trip with enough time for us to disembark, clear customs and drop our cases off at our hotel?

Will everyone be off the ship by around 1000 am?

Thanks, Art

Thanks to you both for your helpful replies. Its great to know we do not need to panic and also the suggestion of another provider of the tour. Art

Has anyone booked a glacier helicopter and husky sled tour on the glacier direct with an operator in Juneau?

It is a cheaper than booking through the cruise company.

The question we have is that booking for 2018 does not come on to their systems until October. We know these tours get booked up early and we do not want to risk not being able to do this, as it will be one of the highlights of our holiday.

Has anyone booked this excursion direct with the Juneau tour operators late the previous year and did you have any problems finding a place on the day / time you wanted?

Thanks, Art

Golden Princess Alaska - June 2018

Thanks for clarifying that - it makes it a bit better. I think the ships all make most of the profit from the add-ons they can sell.

I've just gone teetotal :eek:

This is one of the most expensive side tours from our cruise so....

- Should we do it through Princess Line, or a local operator (any recommendations?)

- We are 70 / 71 and have no problem walking on normal ground, but my wife hates anywhere slippy and I would hate her to fall and break her leg and ruin the rest of the holiday, so how difficult is it to walk safely?

- Do you get enough time on the glacier for a good sled ride?

Thanks for any advice on this trip

Art

I found a review that said soft drinks package was US$7.50 per day, but I believe they also do a package for alcoholic drinks. Any idea how much this costs versus cost of buying G&T?

(Golden Princess to Alaska)

Thanks, Art