StCroixCruiser

My 80 year old mother had her passport, cash, credit cards, and prescription sunglasses stolen in Rome while on a metro bus to the Vatican. Afterwards I knew exactly the old woman who did it, as a local motioned to me to be careful and watch her because she was a Gypsy pickpocket.  I didn't know she had already victimized my elderly mother, who was sitting some distance from me due to the bus being crowded. We wasted 3 days of the trip and a lot of $$ going to Milan to get a temporary passport issued, along with dealing with cancelling credit cards and her panic about the whole experience.  So, if you do have your passport with you as you walk about, be extraordinarily careful with it.  Lesson learned.

On 9/3/2023 at 5:45 PM, brockmom said:

Hello

We have a 8:45 am excursion - meeting spot in the Old port where we get off the ship tender.
How long is the tender ride? We will be meeting our tour guide for the speed boat And not using the 

cable cars . Kind of wondering what time we will need to leave the ship ?

any suggestions

thanks. ,

Keep in mind most cruise ships only allow their guests in suites or those booked on tours through the ship to get on the first tenders after arrival.  Everyone else stands in line to get tender tickets, and then stands in line to board their tender.

I've been to Rhodes twice and absolutely loved it both times. Wandering the cobblestone alleys, the Way of Knights, visiting the Grandmaster's Palace, and enjoying a glass of wine in the city square while a sketch artist drew my portrait made for magical days.  So many Med ports are about viewing rock piles from antiquity. This is interesting, but so is Rhodes where modern civilization exists as a living history within a Medieval fortress. Even the memories make me smile years later.  

On 10/2/2023 at 4:21 PM, CCJack said:

Help me decide between these two cruises.   They are on the same ship, pricing comparable (with the 10 day a little more due to extra day.)    I don't know much about these ports - there are some different ports between the two.   I am leaning towards 9 day just because with flight days it turns into a fairly long trip for us and I was thinking to limit cruise to 9 days.   Unless the 10 day has better ports.... thank you.

 

 

9-day

 

SUNDAY

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

5:00 PM Embark

MONDAY

Kusadasi, Turkey

6:30 AM - 1:30 PM

TUESDAY

Istanbul, Turkey

9:30 AM

WEDNESDAY

Istanbul, Turkey

4:00 PM

THURSDAY

Volos, Greece

11:30 AM - 7:30 PM

FRIDAY

Mykonos, Greece

7:00 AM - 7:00 PM (Tender Port)

SATURDAY

Rhodes, Greece

8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

SUNDAY

Heraklion (Crete), Greece

7:00 AM - 7:00 PM

MONDAY

Santorini, Greece

8:00 AM - 9:30 PM (Tender Port)

TUESDAY

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

7:00 AM Disembark

 

10-day

 

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

5:00 PM Embark

FRIDAY

Thessaloniki, Greece

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

SATURDAY

Izmir (Ephesus), Turkey

7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

SUNDAY

Istanbul, Turkey

10:00 AM

MONDAY

Istanbul, Turkey

4:00 PM

TUESDAY

Mykonos, Greece

11:00 AM - 8:00 PM (Tender Port)

WEDNESDAY

Paros, Greece

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM (Tender Port)

THURSDAY

Rhodes, Greece

9:00 AM - 8:00 PM

FRIDAY

Heraklion (Crete), Greece

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

SATURDAY

Santorini, Greece

8:00 AM - 9:30 PM (Tender Port)

SUNDAY

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

7:00 AM Disembark

Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini are some of my favorite ports ever, and I booked my upcoming cruise specifically because it included Santorini (and Mykonos, but unfortunately not Rhodes).  Since all three ports are on both itineraries, I suspect you will enjoy either cruise.

To make your choice, I'd recommend checking into what types of excursions you might want to experience in Istanbul. One cruise is there one day and the other two.  If you find a lot you'd like to do, go with the 2-day in Istanbul option. If the excursions aren't capturing your attention, go with the 1-day in Istanbul option.

To get all the details on the public bus routes on Santorini, here's the best resource I've found, including maps, photos, videos, and narrative:

Santorini Public Bus - Routes, Schedules, Tickets, Map (santorinidave.com)

And other Santorini info you might find of interest:

Santorini Greece - The 2024 Travel Guide (santorinidave.com)

Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos are some of the easiest cruise ports to do it yourself and have an amazing day quite inexpensively, although it helps if you don't mind walking alleys and cobblestones since they are all built that way.  They are three of my favorite ports ever, though.  And I've been a lot of places.

From the Falmouth cruise pier, stay to the left as you exit and turn into the lane along the marina slips.  Go right along the line of boats and you will come to a gate going out to the beach right there on the bay.  There is usually a guard at the gate charging a few dollars per person to use the beach.  There is a beach bar 100-150 yards down the beach where you can rent lounge chairs with pads pretty cheaply and the beer is cold.  It's not the best beach to get into the water, but it may be better at the far end near the fancy resort.  For a sunbathing, beer sipping, read a book, throw a frisbee kind of beach break, it's cheap and no taxis to worry about.  

My last cruises on MSC they allowed 2 bottles of wine per cabin per cruise to be brought on board for consumption in your cabin, or you could pay a corkage fee to drink it in the dining room.  Now they updated their condition of carriage document for alcohol as follows:

due to a website glitch, I can't even check my account to see if points have been applied.  When I enter my Voyager number, I get a pop-up stating it is entered incorrectly.   But it's the number I use when I book a cruise and that finds  my account just fine.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:32 AM, Matkustaja said:

Thanks so much for this tip! That saved us over 300 eur.

 

I sent an email to a MSC representative and a few hours later a negative amount due showed up for the reservation. Final payment had taken place already. I was offered refund, onboard credit, or to use it for excursions.

what email address did you use to send the request?  I can't get any response from MSC in English using the contact page on their website.  I get a form email in German and that does me no good.

On 7/27/2021 at 8:51 AM, drsel said:

Don't get confused about the 5% 10% or 15% discount

when you choose your Cruise on the MSc US website and put your voyagers club number, the discount be automatically be applied and then you can see how much it is.

That's great in theory, but I chose one of the Voyages cruises on the list and it didn't apply the extra 15% it said it would. Attempts to reach MSC to correct the price only resulted in an email from them in German which I cannot read.  The MSC website has a multitude of issues, and correctly calculating the posted discounts appears to be one of them.  Which means I also probably won't get the on board credit despite being a Gold member.

On 7/26/2021 at 5:56 PM, eagletwo said:

Not sure why, but it seems all the ships back into Ocean Cay. That would put your view on the (starboard) right side of the ship.

They dock the ships this way because it's far easier to do the spin around maneuver in the basin with visibility during daylight hours and not approaching midnight when most of the ships depart OC.

55 minutes ago, USAWanderer said:

 I am more of a low key person so I tend to book my cruises when US children are in school (NO OFFENSE ANYONE) when there are less young people on the ship.

I found years ago that the best way to have a lower number of kids running around the ship is to book longer cruises.  I try to go 10 nights or more.  Most parents don't seem inclined to take the kids out of school for more than a week or pay for the kids to accompany them on longer cruises.  The occasions where my only option when I have time off work is to book back to back 7 night cruises leads to some level of regret, due to the higher kid count and how that affects life onboard.  I avoid cruises of less than a week like the plague.  Which we all have some experience with lately!

19 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

If I'm not mistaken our resident ship engineer, @chengkp75, has often said that balcony doors wide open screws up the air conditioning for all nearby cabins.

I'm less worried about a/c than I am about dying due to exposure to infection from other cruisers.  The a/c only affects other cabins if they are recirculating air amongst groups of cabins.  The cruise lines have stated they are moving away from shared air.  If each cabin's air system is isolated, then my cabin won't be affecting the temperature in other cabins nearby.  If they are sharing recirculated air amongst groups of cabins, I definitely want to reduce the potential infection rate in my cabin by augmenting with outside air.

11 hours ago, bbornino said:

Last week we booked 3 cabins on the Apr 19 Celebrity Reflection.  There were no inside or Oceanview cabins available. I presume capacity was reduced by bloocking off the cheap cabins.

With the cruise lines advertising that they are working to avoid recirculating air within the ship, it may be that interior cabins are blocked off until they resolve how to pipe in all fresh air to interior cabins. 

It's also easier to quarantine people in balcony cabins without them freaking out from claustrophobia... plus it would boost the coronavirus contamination in the recirculated air if they were locked in interior cabins.

Interior cabins are still available if you call the cruise lines directly.  While balconies are available, they'll try to upsell you as it's currently their safest option for your health.  It is in the cruise lines' best interest to avoid having plague ships dominate headlines soon after the industry resumes active operations.

As a frequent solo cruiser since my husband died, I've often opted for interior cabins and spent most the time out and about.  My next cruises will surely be in balcony cabins, with the balcony door wide open for as much fresh air as possible.  And I may opt for more time spent on that private balcony when it's facing the sun rather than time on deck with lounge chairs butted up against each other.

7 minutes ago, paceyswife said:

My husband loves  the idea of the duty-free six pack! Can you take outside alcohol onto the beach should we head down to Calico Jacks?

Yes, I do it all the time.  I rent a chair from them and sometimes an umbrella.  If I want more drinks or snacks, I buy them at Calico Jacks.  Then I feel good about using their restroom if I need to.  I'll be there twice in January on back to back cruises.

Usually there are far more chairs available at Calico Jack's (and another hustling vendor on the adjacent beach area) than there are people looking to hang out there.  Some snorkel boats drop off people for 30 minutes to an hour as part of their excursion, but they leave quickly.

I did a different excursion with Native Choice. They had half a dozen tours leaving about the same time doing different combinations of their offerings, including Chochoben Ruins, Mayan Family experience, 7 Colors Lagoon, Beach Break, etc.  I think they may have had a zip line option, too.

Due to my mother being part of our group and having mobility issues, we chose the Mayan Family (local home with native lunch included) and 7 Colors Lagoon excursion (with open bar) and it was great.  We also stopped at a roadside fruit stand for honey pineapple and dragon fruit. 

The tour guide was extremely impressive for a young 22 year old who looked 15.  We all learned Mayan math during the longer portions of our drive and lots of local Mayan history.  The vans were newer and the A/C worked well.  Cold water was provided several times, as well as bug repellant. 

So, while I haven't been to the Chachoben ruins yet, I give thumbs up to Native Choice as an excursion company at this port.  And their prices included more than the cruise ship's similar offerings.  The only difference being you have to walk about a mile to their shop location versus taking a bus out of the cruise port.  On your return, their vans drop you right at the cruise port entrance by the taxi stand.

I buy beer at the port's duty free liquor store when I get off the ship.  Simple and reasonable at $13 for a 6-pack of icy cold white tip lager.

On ‎10‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 8:25 AM, epermar said:

We will be in Georgetown in late January 2020 for a port day.  I just saw a couple articles online from August 2018 that mentioned Calico Jacks was going to relocate to West Bay.  Does anyone know if Calico Jacks is still at it's original Seven Mile Beach location or if it did in fact move?  What about Royal Palms?  We are looking for a casual beach day with some drinks and a snack and were considering Calico Jacks.  Thanks in advance!

I was at Calico Jacks in October 2019.  Same place as always on 7 mile beach.  The government is putting in a huge parking lot between the road and the beach at the Calico Jacks drop off point.  Our taxi driver tried talking us into the Royal Palms (I think he gets a kick back from what he was saying) and bad mouthing the parking lot, but honestly the fresh pavement was easier to walk across for 100 yards to get to Calico Jacks than when we had to walk across a deserted lot/field in  years past.

chairs at Calico Jacks were $5 and an umbrella was $10.  Taxi for 2 each way was $8 or about $3pp each way if you wait for the bus.  So $16 for a taxi round trip or $12 for the bus round trip.  So we took the taxi and didn't wait.  The beach bar has taxis waiting in the small parking access immediately behind it for your return trip without having to trek out and find a bus.

If you want to start the party even before you get to the beach, pick up a 6-pack of white tip lager in cans at the duty free liquor shop at the port.  $13.  What a steal after shipboard pricing for drinks.

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#destports

On ‎11‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 6:57 AM, BadSanta said:

First time to Ochi Rios with wife and two kids (10-12). Just wonder if we "need" to do any excursions, or is it possible to do something close to port like beach etc without doing the day passes at a resort? 

If going to any of the Dunns/Blu Hole, can it be done on our own with local bus/taxi? 

Ocho Rios has a beach right at the port.  For an inexpensive DIY day... When you exit the ship and go through the port area, stay to the left.  There will be a path that leads towards the water along the bay.  A gate through the fence has a guard who lets you through onto the beach for a few dollars a person.  Walk a couple hundred yards along the beach to a thatched open air beach bar hut and they can set you up with beach chairs (and umbrella if you want it) for a small fee.  There are palm trees you can set up near if you don't want an umbrella all day.  Get drinks from the bar or they bring them to you if it's a slow day on the beach.  The last time I was there two years ago, I paid $3 to get onto the beach, $5 for a padded beach chair, and $3 each for Red Stripe beers and $2 for Ting. 

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 11:50 AM, cellfree said:

There must be some recent Armonia cruisers who can tell us what was done during Dry Dock. 

They would have had to cruise shortly before dry dock and then right after to know what was different...

I sail in a week and hadn't heard back about status match submitted a month ago.  After requesting a call back 3 times without getting a response, I managed to speak with an MSC agent today.  She looked in the system and said I'd been matched to Gold level from my Princess Platinum.  I never received an email from MSC. 

She seemed rather irritated that I had called.  But I also needed help with web check-in, as the MSC website wouldn't allow me to access my back to back reservations.  The agent tweaked something in the system that had me locked out... and still seemed irritated that I had called. 

They had already messed up my booking by not applying the government employee discount or booking the All In rate that was available and I requested.  Oh, they also didn't book my transfers and now it's too late.  Which is another pain in the backside.  The agent said they must not have understood that I wanted transfers when I provided my airfare information for that specific purpose.  It's been one long string of ***** trying to book with this cruise line.

But I'll have 2 weeks of floating in the sun to get over it.  I don't know if I'll sail with MSC again, though.

also, how does one go about booking airport to ship and back transfers from MSC?  Do I have to call direct to do that?  I should have stuck with Princess or Royal Caribbean.

I recently booked back to back MSC cruises for January and cannot get the website to allow me into Web Check-in.  No matter how many times I click the various web check-in links, the circle icon spins for 4-5 seconds and then stops and nothing happens, or sometimes it goes to an error screen saying the website redirected me too many times.  Is there a special trick to get into this function?  I have a cruise departing on January 6th and am getting quite irritated that the website doesn't work.   I requested calls from MSC without hearing from them.  Please help!

I enjoyed my Native Choice excursion with my mother (who still raves about it) in October 2019.  We went to a small village where we were guests in a local home (Mayan people) for a tour of the gardens, made tortillas, and then a delicious lunch.  I'd go back just for the lunch!  We stopped at a roadside stand to buy local sugar pineapple and dragonfruit and then had a couple hours at the 7 color lagoon at an eco resort with an open bar (local beer and basic mixed drinks/wine) with kayaking available and beach chairs.  The place was deserted other than our group and one other tour that left soon after we arrived.  The tour guide was a young kid (said he was 22 but looked maybe 15, lol) who was incredibly knowledgeable and interesting.  We all learned Mayan math during the drive.  My mother travels with a collapsible mobility scooter and this wasn't a problem.  The guys helped push it through some gravel pathway at the 7 color lagoon.  The A/C in the vans worked great.  Bottled water and insect repellent was provided.  I usually choose more active excursions when I travel on my own or with friends my own age, but this was a cultural experience as well as a beach/open bar/meal excursion.  Native Choice had 3-4 other excursions leave shortly before ours, so there are multiple excursion options to suit your group's preferences.  They were a positive experience for a tour provider.