Busybears

Such a great thread!! Learned a lot. Thank you!! It seems that not too many people are docking in Hamilton like I will be. My girls and I will be on Holland America and dock in Hamilton for 3 nights. So, I'm thinking maybe I can take a ferry from Hamilton to Dockyard for some sightseeing in the morning, and then bus to the light house, bus to Warwick, walk from Warwick to Horseshoe, then bus back to Hamilton? That'd make it a pretty fun day for me and my teen girls? Any thoughts or alternative suggestions are much appreciated.

Since the water can be chopping during this time of the year, our plan for Belize is up in the air - it will be based on how soon we can get tendered in, and how the weather is going to be like on 1/28/2016 when we get there.

We are thinking about taking water taxi to Caye Caulker on our own. If the water is nice, we'll find a local snorkeling tour operator to take us out to the reef and shark alley. We just have a couple questions:

1. Is the water taxi on time and boats are reliable? Has anyone had issues with it?

2. Will there be local snorkeling tours available once we get there?

:confused: Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

We used Schwartz near Times Square for post-cruise as "walk-in". $10/luggage. It's really convenient.

I googled "taxi fare calculator NYC" and found a few websites that offer some ideas. Maybe worth a try. :confused:

We just took taxi everywhere :). With 3 of us, it may not save that much with shuttle or bus fare. From the hotel to LGA is about $40 for taxi. Not sure about Newark though - maybe a little more because I think LGA is the closest to the Pier.

I didn't try busses or subway either because time is of essence for us. We were trying to see as much of NYC as we can before and after the cruise, so taxi worked great.

I didn't see much discussion on this topic before we went on our cruise on 6/17/2015, so I thought I'd share what we did here. Hopefully it will be helpful for some people.

We flew in from California, so we had to stay in NYC one night prior to the cruise. After much research, I found Holiday Inn Express Manhattan West via hotwire, and got a room for $231/night for me and my two teen girls.

This particular hotel is about 5-6 blocks away from Times Square, and it's easily walkable for us. We took a taxi to Central Park which was less than $10. Basically the location is really good. The most surprising part to me was that we actually were able to walk, dragging our luggage with us, from our hotel to Pier 88. It's only like 2-3 blocks away!! Piece of cake!

The hotel staff was very nice and helpful. They were able to hold our luggage after we checked out so we could have more time to explore NYC before having to board the ship.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this place in case you are looking for one for Manhattan departure.

I would love to visit Catalina again, but next time I would like to check out Two Harbors area or other part of the island. Haven't figured out how yet, but one day ;)

Personal attack should be a no-no here. Just because I feel staying Best Western is a good deal of good value and now is being described as "having expectation low enough". Ouch. Why oh why being so mean? I will not get back on this thread as my expectation on fellow cruisers are high enough not to tolerate such insult :). Cheers.

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Just got back from the cruise and this is what we did. We got off the ship and walked 1.5 miles to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden using our cell phone GPS. We then paid $7 to get in, walked through the garden and got on the 1.2 mile "Garden to Sky" trail which has a gate at the entrance you can open and close. The elevation is not bad at all (to us anyway) and the view is definitely rewarding. We then came back down and climbed some steps to the top of the memorial which is beautiful. After the garden, we walked back to town and continued to walk everywhere checking things out. We were going to rent a cart after the hike, but were told the cart can only go around Avalon which we already covered most of it on foot, so we saved our money on that idea. It's $40/hour, and one place offered 1 free hour for 2 hours of rental. The trolley would be a great alternative but then again, it only goes around town and to the garden which we did on foot, so we didn't do that either. We also thought about zip-lining there, but it's over $100/pp, so we skipped it. We spent overall very pleasant 5-6 hours there walking, hiking and shopping.

To post #8 - all I can say is "each to their own", yes? For those who happen to read this and wonder about Best Western Long Beach, check them out on Tripadvisor website. I think non-biased reviews from 300+ people should provide a better idea. And Long Beach does have a long beach that is absolutely gorgeous :). That's me on Monday pre-cruise :). ATTACH]299954[/ATTACH]

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One of the main reason for parking at the pier is that so we don't have to wait for the free shuttle as I read somewhere that you could be waiting for a long time to get on one which would be maddening for me :).

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Hi, Artist47 - I decided to park at the pier for $12/day and booked a "mystery" hotel from Hotwire in Long Beach for like $54. I got Best Western Long Beach. It's a great value - free parking and breakfast, perfect for pre-cruise stay. The area is a bit sketchy but the hotel itself is very nice and 2 miles away is the beach and shopping area. I'd highly recommend it.

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Thanks for all the info but we boarded our ship on 1/20/14 so missed the great info on taxi . What we ended up doing that day was to pay $2.00 and hopped on the shuttle waiting at the pier to go downtown. The person on the shuttle informed us that they also offer tours to La Bufadora for $15/pp. They run the tour every 30 min or so until around noon. The $15 includes transportation, 2-hour viewing and shopping time, bathroom break (otherwise it's 50 cents public bathroom) and a free margarita at a restaurant called something "Banana". It also has the option to include one hour shopping time at downtown and bring us back to the pier. It sounded great and that was what we did. We were very happy with the tour :). Perhaps we will explore Ensenada with taxi next time.

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Thanks for the info on the tour and taxi. Maybe that's what we'll do. Princess quoted $35/pp for a 4-hour trip to La Bufadora and stop at Riviera del Pacifico. Not sure if it's a good deal. Sounds high to me.

Great info. Thanks!! It's 70 degrees in Sacramento so it's not like we are cruising to thaw out the winter :). However, still nice to be away. I was looking at Estero Beach pictures and it looks like they don't really have a sandy beach, but it could be that the pictures are from the hotel there. Very confusing. Does anyone know? I was hoping to find some sea kayaking info without much success either :(.

Thank you, artist 47!! I printed out the tide chart and hoping to see at least some actions from the tide which shows on Thursday, 1/23/2014, the high tide is at 1:30 pm. Guess with all researches I have done, I think we'll maybe do the downtown in the morning, and then head to the blow hold at noon to see if anything is spetacular :). Wish us luck!!;)

We are going to be in Ensenada next Thursday (1/23/2014). Forecast says it will be at 78 degrees and sunny :). Therefore, we would like to spend some time on the beach even though I know most people seem to indicate beaches are not that great in Ensenada and the water will be cold.

I have been unable to find much info on how to get to either Estero Beach or Rosarito Beach from the pier. Can we take a city bus? If so, where to catch it? If we have to take taxi, can someone please share how long the drive is and how much? Thank you so much in advance!!

We will be in port from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. I keep hearing about the toll road being closed, so that adds another layer of confusion on my intent to plan. Any suggestions on a nice beach? Perhaps we can do either the La Bufadora or Guadalupe Valley in the morning, and then try some fish taco downtown, and then hang out on a beach in the afternoon when it gets warmer. We'll be there next Thursday (1/23/2014). The forecast seems to indicate we'll have a high 70's day. I haven't been able to find much info on beaches in Ensenada...

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone here has hired a taxi in Ensenada to go to both La Bufadora and Guadalupe Valley for the day? If so, how much approximately? Any suggestions are appreciated.

I just booked a "secret hotel" from Hotwire yesterday for my cruise on 1/20/2014. $53 got me Best Western of Long Beach, and it has really decent reviews ;). Since i was just looking for a pre-cruise stay for one night, I did not want to spend too much money. Free parking for the night and free breakfast - my kind of place.

We can do a 6-8 mile hike with 1,500 ft elevation comfortably. If it's a steep uphill to the garden, we might take the trolley as one suggested, and then do the hike behind the garden to the top, and then walk back to town... I need to find a good Avalon map so we know how to find the Garden from the pier.

Yes, Sadie - after checking out the hotel reviews on DoubleTree and Crown Plaza, I believe parking at the pier is the way to go especially we are only going on a 4-day cruise. A lot of people complained about waiting a long time for the free shuttle... Thanks for your help!

Thanks. I also found this and thought it's very helpful: http://www.everytrail.com/guide/hermit-gulch-trail-loop.

From the pier to Wringley Botanical Garden is about 1.75 miles. Can't wait to check this out and take in the view that everyone's talking about. :)

Thanks, Sadie. Those two hotels were mentioned everywhere, but I was under the impression that people were asking for shuttles to the pier, and not necessarily discussing leaving their cars at those hotels. I will look into the options. In the meantime, I'll continue to check online.

Hi, we are driving to San Pedro so we are looking for a hotel/motel that offers "park and stay". Any suggestions? Thank you so much!!