cruisefamilyholiday

1 hour ago, Esjung1 said:

Waterloo train was awesome, about $16pp and it took 1 hr 15 minutes to Southampton.  The train drops you about 1.5 miles from the cruise dock, we took a taxi as it was too far to walk with luggage. That cost an additional $10 for all 4 of us. We stayed in London 2 nights prior to getting on the Regal and our hotel was literally right outside the Waterloo train station so this was super convenient.  We also took the Elizabeth line/Northern Line from Heathrow into London and had no issues, much cheaper than an uber. 

You traveled like a European. Impressive that you took the time to research your trip in such details. Kudos.

On 10/12/2023 at 5:16 PM, LisaAtlCruiser said:

 

Thank you!  We have 3 stops - in Valencia Spain, Seville Spain and then Nassau.  

 

I think I might be over planning for colder temps and should shift a bit to make sure I include enough clothes for warmer temps.

 

 

Southern Spain will be 20+ degrees. Unlikely to be raining. The evenings will be cool around 15° and the weather should improve as you head towards the Carribbean. Barcelona will be a few degrees cooler and rain is possible. 

If you were heading to the canaries after Spain, or near them, that is Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, the crossing would be around 5 degrees warmer.

New York to London at that time of year would be cold. Around 12 degrees and WET.

Long range weather forecasts are available for your destinations now, it is not long away. Enjoy your cruise. 

All Temps in Celcius. 

Express Airport Transport. Standard taxi for less than £150 Luxury or People Carrier for less than £200 including central London

Or a train via the Trainline website 

The road traffic can be insane at the wrong times. Be warned. 

https://www.cruisehive.com/msc-cruises-safely-brings-800-israeli-citizens-home/112817

Some information on the MSC Haifa changes for October 

I booked our first ever cruise. 

It is departing Genoa Italy on the 21st Oct for a one week sailing, one way to Israel. Arriving on the 27th. 

We have flights and hotels in Israel that have been cancelled due to the ongoing situation in tha part of the world. Which is disappointing, but understandable.

What is not understandable is the absolute lack of communication or update from MSC when we contact them.

We have so many unanswered questions. What do we do. Where will we be disembarked? We need to arrange flights back from wherever MSC dumps us, but we do not know where that will be. 

We also have two further destinations that we booked on the way back from Israel. Without any information on where the MSC Sinfonia will disembark us on the 27th, we do not know if we can utilize this part of our vacation.

I understand this is an abnormal day in MSC, but a week from departure do they not know where we are heading? Because I do not and it is really starting to worry me. 

Will we be dumped in Haifa with no flight available home, no hotel, no update on changes?

HELP?

Or maybe SOS 

10 minutes ago, cruiselover108 said:

Thanks.  I just need to calm down “nervous Nellie”…

It is understandable. You would not believe the predicament I have found myself in. 

2 minutes ago, cruiselover108 said:

Excellent point.  Reason I asked is that we are on Silverseas going to Egypt, SA, and Petra and my better half is concerned that Petra may be eliminated from the itinerary which is the primary reason we booked this cruise.

Jordan is not at war. Enjoy your cruise. 

45 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I’d wondered how MSC would handle those who embarked last Thursday in Haifa. 

It looks like they will also be given future cruise credit according to the MSc Israel website. 

4 minutes ago, cruiselover108 said:

What port(s) did they add?  Is Aqaba(Petra) one of them?

No. Rhodes. On the Musica anyway. 

1 minute ago, rrzeurope said:

Yes, but they have less information than this board .. and if the news are right, they decided to start from bodrum on monday, but have not decided where to go on the 26th, but this is not helping me if I have no official info at all, what my options are ...

Well we are literally in the same boat with this problem. Need to know where we will be dumped by MSC to arrange flights back. 

Quote me if you find out and I will do the same for you.

It would appear that a cruise website broke the news before MSC did on the Musica. Maybe a similar situation will transpire with the Sin.

Which ship the Musica?

2 hours ago, rrzeurope said:

now I just need to know about the Sinfonia .. MSC has not announced anything 😞 it is getting a bit late for getting travel arrangements changed ...

When are you due to board?

Have you tried to call MSC?

52 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

As I have never been to Rhodes but always wanted to, I would sign this happily also. 

Rhodes is a fantastic island to visit. A day is not enough to enjoy it. The waterpark in north Falaraki is 20 minutes from the port and absolutely wild and Rhodes town it's self is a brilliant stop to stroll around. The acropolis of Lindos and nearby beaches. It is a shame the collossos is no longer there. The archaeological museum and palace where many films have been set. I too would welcome an extended stay in Rhodes. 

26 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Ok, I was wondering if there were any kind of physical exercises folks could do to condition against motion sickness.   Looking around I read about the "ear plug trick".  The idea is to insert an earplug into one ear (the ear opposite the side of your dominant hand).  Doing that is supposed to fool your brain into focusing on signals from your eyes and ignoring signals from your ears. 

 

I literally just read about this.  Anyone heard of it before?  

 

 

Sounds like something you see on social media.

Balance is not affected by sound.

I do not know why I am resilient to the roughest of seas. Maybe try a fishing trip on a small fishing boat in bad seas, swim in big waves, surf in a storm. Very little bothers me about the sea, I have been swept out miles by a rip on a surf board in double overhead (12ft) waves, it took two hours to get back to shore and whenever I have been on a vessel in very bad seas I can walk around with surprising balance, even surprising the crew. A big storm is free and unexpected entertainment, but there are other things that are guaranteed to make me hurl so I am not strong stomached, I simply do not feel sick in the sea, I feel quite at home bobbing up and down in an almighty swell, it is almost comforting. I remember strolling around on a very rough crossing as a child, the ship could not dock, almost everyone was hurling, lying randomly on the floor or holding on for dear life. That day I realised what the annoying threshold lip on the ship toilet door was for. There was a person in that room flat on the floor and the collective vomit of many people was rolling from one side to the other, splashing them as it came back and they did not have the motivation to move, they insisted I left them alone and close the door, poor fellow. I would assume being more familiar with the sea will help you build up tolerance. Being sober will also help a great deal. 

1 minute ago, KforKitty said:

I think you gave good advice GeezerCouple.  
 

I once bought Dramamine for a whale watching trip in So. California.  As a precaution I took one tablet when the adult dose was two.  I was fine on the trip but on return in the afternoon I was feeling sleepy and went for a lie down.  Six hours later my family woke me, worried.  Even the following day, after a good nights sleep I felt I was wading through treacle all day.  I’ll never take it again.

 

Anyhow, I used MQ motion sickness patches since which are non-drowsy and appear to be effective.

 

Catherine

 

Than you Catherine, I shall look for the patches.

15 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Double "??"

 

You *asked* for suggestions about this.

 

 

And unless you are the *only* person involved (and "cruisefamilyholiday" suggests there are others), then... I'll change my recommendation for all of the others (but not for you, apparently) to try any remedies in advance, so they know how it will work for each of *them*, or perhaps that some possible remedy is *not* going to work for someone...

 

CruiseCritic is an amazing resource, with input from many different perspectives and experiences.

If you are going to immediately shoot down even general suggestions that are directly answering your questions, then...???

 

We are not, by any means, the only ones who recommend *trying* remedies at home, before traveling.

 

GC

I thanked you for your recommendation and I commented. Good advice. Quoting your suggestion.

Thank you for your help and I hope you have a nice evening. 

5 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

??

 

Well... for anyone for whom the medication MAY be useful!

 

GC

I once took sea sickness tablets. The sea was like glass, but the dam tablets made me feel absolutely wonky and I couldn't drive to the port. 

1 minute ago, Korimako said:

We have always used the bands that you wear on your wrists. Much better than medication.

Even stopped us being seasick on a cross-Channel ferry during  the storm which decimated the Fastnet Race in 1979 (Google it!).

Are they all as good as each other, or should I look out for a certain brand?

I hear ginger is good too.

.

Dr strictly prohibited dimenhydrinate due to other medication. 

They couldn't dock in Ashdod and almost all airlines have cancelled or postponed all flights in to Israel. I assume it was to let the Israeli passengers get home. 

Good advice. However it is not for me, I am lucky enough to have unbelievable sea legs.

Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) is not available here and due to health complications, it is not an option. 

What else do people take that works? 

What medicine/Voodoo do you recommend to avoid wobbly legs and sick bags? 

We are in Europe so American medicine won't help. 

Very strange mentality. 

I suspect I would be just as confused by how many days you think is enough to see a poc destination. 

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Yes because it all depends on the question if they disembark / embark passengers this Thursday in Haifa.

To my surprise Ryanair today canceled some flights to Tel Aviv, but also had many going:
https://www.telaviv-airport.com/ben-gurion-arrivals-airline-ryanair

Very interesting for the stranded / stranding cruisers, there is a Ryanair flight from Paphos on Cyprus to Tel Aviv (only 1 hour!). Actually many. 

American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Wizz Air, United and Delta have all canceled flights and suspended them going forwards. 

Virgin Atlantic, BA and EasyJet have cancelled some flights and changed or reduced schedules going forwards. BA are now flying in the morning to avoid crew overnight stays. 

Ryanair released a statement saying they were forced to cancel a number of flights. Pegasus the Greek airline were still flying. 

So do check before booking or travelling to the airport. 

This is funny 

Not true. It depends on the cruise line and if it was an embarkation / disembarkation port. 

Even the now cancelled Royal Carribbean cruise that avoided stopping at Ashdod, stopped at Haifa. That too when things were very active, albeit far to the south of the port.