cruisin'rose

I agree, very disturbing to be strong armed into this. We are considering this cruise. Do you mind sharing your tour operator?

I am jumping in here as I did not post the post you are referring to. We are going on Carnival Paradise August 18th cruise. We have booked by email Cubaoutings.com for day 1, a tour of Havana, and Cuba among Cubans for the 2nd day, a trip to Vinales. Both were recommended by earlier travelers and have good reviews on TripAdvisor. I will post our experiences with these private companies when we get home.

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Here are maps of the Hop On Hop Off bus routes. T1 is the City route for 10 CUC and T3 is the beach route for 5 CUC.

 

 

 

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/218248_34037389f241430b8a9296f7807aabd7.pdf

 

 

 

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/218248_1338fc88884b4df4bbeb06e50ce1a598.pdf

How long does it take to get to the beach? When is the last bus going back? I am wondering if our tour is over at 3:30, if we could go to the beach for a little while.

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I’m looking for some advice regarding the best things to do from Lahaina port in Maui.

 

Our ship is tendering - published port times are 8am to 10pm on a Wednesday. We are a family group of 6 adults - ages 20 to 50.

 

I know that there is the RTH and OLL. The ship has excursions for these but I’m not fussed on being stuck on a large bus all day.

 

1. What are the best local tours?

 

2. Do tour operators service this port?

 

3. What are the must do things in Maui?

 

Any other ideas or advice appreciated .

 

 

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We just left Maui on Friday. One of the most fun things we did was go to Warren and Annabelle’s Magic right on Front Street in Lahaina. Never would I have thought I would so enjoy a magic show, but it was a different from anything I have ever seen. On the recommendation of a friend, we bought the Royal Flush package, which included drinks, a dinner-sized plate of appetizers, and a dessert, enjoyed in the parlor before entering the small theater for the main show. Reservations must be bought in advance and they have a website with more information If you want to check it out.

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Same here.

I so agree! My Kindle Paperwhite has been all over Europe and the Caribbean! I don’t consider it technology because it does not surf the web, but gives me access to hundreds of books. I take it everywhere!

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Carnival Ecstasy is now going to Princess Cays on the 10-day Journeys Cruise from Charleston on Nov. 5. Aruba, Bonaire, Grand Turk, Princess Cays, and an extra sea day is replacing St. Thomas, St. Marten, Tortola, Dominican Republic, and San Juan.

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We've never done Western Caribbean but family who are with us have and loved it. Doesn't matter to me as long as we get to board the ship and leave port lol.

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I found tours listed on buy shore excursions on my reservation for April 20, 2018.

Thanks so much for your wonderful review! The pictures are fantastic! We are doing four nights on Maui next April before a Honolulu to Vancouver on another line. Your OLL photos sold us on that!

My ship is set to leave at 6 P.M. and we arrive into Athens at 5 P.M. the preceding day.

 

I know it will take some time to get our bags and to go through customs and immigration in Athens. Then we plan on taking the train into downtown Athens where we have an AirBNB. I guess by the time we get set into our room it will be around 8 P.M. Let alone if our flight is late. Any suggestions for our short time in Athens before our cruise?

PK Travel will do a tour for you and take you to the port. They were wonderful to work with. Their website shows the different options, so you may choose what you want to see. We did a full day Athens tour since our flight was overnight and the next day we went 1/2 day to Ancient Corinth before the port. Trip Advisor ratings give them top reviews and so do we!

I think you made a wise choice. You will go directly to the Acropolis as and be there as soon as it opens beating the crowds and the heat. You will be tired from your flight so driving around in an air conditioned Mercedes will prevent the fatigue getting worse. The driver makes sure you see everything you want and makes sure you get there but there is no thinking or getting lost. Make sure you see the illumination of the Acropolis. Sometimes hotels have roof top bars.

This worked great for us! Our flight arrived at 7:10 am. PK Travel met our flight and took us straight to the Acropolis. We picked up a local guide onsite and enjoyed our time there. When we came out, our driver was waiting to take us more places. There were many people there then, so our early arrival helped us make best use of our time. Our hotel did have a rooftop bar, too!

We went on the Outback Dominican Adventure tour from Carnival Magic in April. We took a small backpack from home filled with crayons, pencils, and paper. I had read on cruise critic to do this but can not recall which thread. The teacher was most appreciative and the children happy. Our tour guide said they encouraged school supplies and not to give money even if children begged. He said when cruise ships first started coming there, children would skip school to beg and the responsible adults are trying to teach them the right ways to live. The children love the tour guide. The all wanted to show him their work and sing a song with him. It was the best ship sponsored tour we have ever done! After the school we visited a working farm and toured their home, then drove through the rainforest to their headquarters for lunch and entertainment. Last stop was a beautiful secluded beach.

We have arranged a taxi tour company to meet our early morning flight, take us on Athens tour, and drop us at hotel in Plaka area. The next morning the same company will pick us up at 10, take us to Ancient Corinth tour and then take us to port to board Vista. Private tours can be a little pricey, but this will most likely be our only trip to Athens. Too many beautiful places in this world! Hope my review after will be completely positive!

My husband suffers from post hepatic neuralgia, permanent nerve damage resulting from shingles. His pain is often severe and he takes both pain meds and injections at a pain center on a regular basis. On the Carnival Sunshine repo cruise in April 2014 he took 4 or 5 acupuncture treatments from an acupuncturist trained in China. The treatments helped him enough that he sought out a Chinese-trained acupuncturist near our home. Unfortunately, the treatments near home were not as successful. The treatments were expensive but he felt worth the cost.

If you enjoy the thread , it may be good news . We had hoped to finish it within 3 weeks , before we left for our next cruise . But it may run longer now . My wife slipped and fell yesterday , landing on her left Patella ( kneecap ) , breaking it into 3 pieces . :eek: We are getting ready to meet with the surgeon in an hour or two , and we fear that our trip may be in jeopardy. :( We'll update and continue when we return home .

So sorry to hear of Pat's accident. We have so enjoyed your review of our wonderful cruise and London transfer. Best wishes for her speedy recovery!

We are going to see how our 2016 Med cruise is on the Vista and take it from there. We sailed NCL in 2013 in Europe and were unimpressed but really, as port intensive as these cruises are, you spend little time on the ship. The pre and post cruise cities are where spending time is awesome.

So agree! We did Celebrity Eclipse transatlantic repo in April and saw so many countries! The Eclipse was impressive and we loved her and the sea days, but Europe and our four days in London made it awesome! Going back on Vista last Med and transatlantic.

In 11 cruises we have had inside cabins the majority of the time. All were on Carnival except the last. We put our tv on outside ship view, take a battery travel alarm and nightlights, and enjoy the public areas of the ship. We would rather cruise more often and spend our money on excursions and a few land days pre or post cruise. We found an inside cabin a cost-effective way to see Europe for the first time. We did Celebrity Eclipse transatlantic repo in April in an inside cabin and were ported in Bermuda, the Azores, Portugal, Spain, France, and England. We had big bucks suites all around us, but we saw the same countries and did many of the same private excursions booked with CC people who had been to Europe many times and shared good advice. No one asked or cared what category cabin we had. We have booked an inside cabin on the Vista last Med and transatlantic and are so excited to be going back!

The tours were fun....especially the Stonehenge/Salisbury one....so much better a way to spend a day then straight to London and waiting for a room to be ready.....must say it was the fastest I have moved through a castle though!! Bet you still got lots of good shots of Windsor, especially during your tea with the queen!!! LOL!!:D:D

Billy and I were on Jeanne's transfer also, and it was the perfect choice! It was a wonderful day and we were so glad to meet you all! We just caught up with your review and your pictures are wonderful! We're looking forward to the rest of your review. Hope to see you all again on another cruise adventure!

North Carolina, but definitely not a tar heel!

 

Ed

Close to us, Ed. We're from Clover, SC, just south of Charlotte. We'll be first time Celebrity cruisers on Eclipse transatlantic in April.

I just tried to sign up for this for our 14 day Med cruise which departs 30th August next year. I get a message saying invalid cruise date. I selected Eclipse as the ship so where am I going wrong? I also tried 1st September, same result.:confused:

I have had the same problem for months until today. This time I went in from right side box on this screen rather than from the roll call for my cruise on the Eclipse next April. I have no idea if that made a difference, but over 120 people from my cruise had already registered, yet I have never been able to do so until today. Good luck with this! This will be our first cruise on Celebrity. Although I am not impressed with their website, I plan to be most impressed with everything else!

We wanted this specific itinerary as our first transatlantic and first trip to Europe. We have already booked and are so looking forward to it. The roll call has been quite active and we've already booked some private tours.Thanks for the advice about waiting to book after final payment. Good pointer for next time! As new retirees we are hoping for many next-times!

Carnival also charges tips ahead of time for anytime dining guests. We're going to pay tips anyway and do not consider it a big deal. Our next cruise will be the Celebrity Eclipse transatlantic in April and we weren't surprised at the policy when we booked. I've enjoyed reading the Celebrity boards and look forward to sailing Celebrity.

We have stayed there several times. It is beautiful, with a lovely pool and koi pond. I don't remember where we ate dinner, so it must not have been too special! The hotel has a hot breakfast bar for you to enjoy before you go by shuttle to the port. We found it to be a good place to leave our car. We will stay there again if we cruise from Port Canaveral.

Carnival might be a better choice with children. I hear the kids program on the Sunshine is very good, but you might want to choose a different Carnival ship. Sunshine is horribly crowded and the main pool area is far too small for the number of passengers. I think there is only so much they can do with refurbs on these old ships, however radical they are.

We did the Sunshine repositioning cruise from New Orleans to Port Canaveral last April and did not find it to be horribly crowded at all. Perhaps that is because there were fewer children on an 11-day in April, but we had a great time. The food, service, entertainment, and ports were good. There were many activities both the children and active adults enjoyed, such as a ropes course and large water slide. I would not hesitate sailing the Sunshine again. That repositioning teaser prompted us to book the Eclipse transatlantic repositioning next April. We've heard wonderful thing about Celebrity and are so looking forward to it. Any day on a cruise ship is a good day!

Our cruise is later, but in preparation we got a new card with the chip feature along with the signature and no foreign transaction fees. We have been told that we need that in Europe where they use chip-pin cards, not yet available here. We can swipe the card anywhere here like we always have, but in Walmart we actually insert the chip part in a special place. The young cashier was familar with the chip and showed us how to do it the first time.

We're on that repo 11 days, too! So excited!