cruzgryphon

Looking for restaurant recommendations for dinner near the Holiday Inn LAX (9901 S La Cienega Boulevard). Will be there on a Sunday.

Taking a cruise next February (Discovery Princess) from the San Pedro port. The hotels that are typically recommended are either too expensive (Double Tree by Hilton) or sold out for the dates I'm looking for (Crowne Plaza) or no longer operating as a hotel (Best Western Plus San Pedro). Looked at some other ones nearby San Pedro...but based on feedback on this board, not comfortable with the areas they are in. Wondering now if there are any hotels halfway between LAX and San Pedro - with idea being to split the difference in travel time from LAX to the port that people would recommend. Looking at about $USD 200 to 250 max for one night pre-cruise. Or is it better to just stay somewhere close to LAX and uber the next morning to San Pedro?

I was wondering what Alaska is like in early June. I know the chances of seeing bears are slim, but what about other wildlife - whales, eagles, sea otter, puffins? What is the temperature like? TIA

Hi all,

This is a shot in the dark question. Is there any indication as to when Princess will be releasing or give an indication of their Nov./Dec. 2021 Caribbean itineraries? I do an end of Nov./early Dec. cruise every year. The last few years have been on Royal Caribbean. For 2021 I thought I'd look into what Princess has to offer. A couple of other cruise lines have their Nov/Dec 2021 Caribbean itineraries out. I know it's a long way away but I love having cruises planned in advance to look forward to - especially now.

This is great news!! Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions. 

My apologies if this question has been asked and answered before. I did a search on this forum and came up with nothing.

 I just put a deposit down for a couple of cruises and got OBC (non-refundable) of approximately $500US per cruise.  My TA asked if I wanted to pre-pay gratuities as part of my final payment. I was wondering if it is possible to not do this and instead have the daily gratuities covered by my OBC once I'm on the ship? As a solo traveller who doesn't drink, completely using up $500 US OBC in a week or 10 days will be impossible so thought using it to pay daily gratuities would be a good use of the extra OBC.

TIA for feedback.

Thanks for all the feedback and advice everyone. I've moved up the time of my Civi. pick-up. The downside (for me at least) is that I'll have to do self-disembarkation, but that's better than taking risks with not having enough time at the airport. 

Thanks again!!

I'm going to be on the Jewel of the Seas arriving in Civitavecchia at 5am. I've scheduled RomeCabs for an 8am pick-up. My flight leaves at 11:35am and I'm travelling business class (in case that makes a difference to responses to my question). Should I change the pick-up time to 7:30am or do you think half an hour won't make that much of a difference?

TIA

Thanks for the feedback on this.

I'm going to be staying in Rome in June for 4 nights pre-cruise. I've narrowed my choice of hotels down to three see below. I've checked out TripAdvisor and the reviews are all pretty similar. Wondering if anyone here at Cruise Critic have stayed at any of them and would they recommend it again pre-cruise. Also all 3 have some sort of roof top restaurant/terrace and I'm wondering what those are like in terms of view of the city. TIA

- Hotel Forum Roma

- Capo D'Africa

- Hotel Monte Cenci

20 hours ago, Piper77 said:

Yes - that's the flight!  I had called Royal but at the time the agent couldn't find out the times for me.  We are doing the Jewel as well - what sailing are you on?

I'm doing the June 23rd Greek Islands cruise. How about yourself?

I'm cruising on the Jewel from Civitavecchia and using Royal transfer (travelling solo so it's the cheapest option). Based on your post and reference to CAD, I'm guessing you may be thinking about the 11:45am FCO to Toronto flight (that's the flight I'm taking).  My travel agent called Royal and they said I would be ok using Royal transfer to catch that flight (my  Travel Agent didn't say anything about needing to do self-disembark, but I'll check and see if she can find out).

Just wondering - I'm Canadian and have a Nexus card which I think is technically issued by the US Government (not sure though). Would that Nexus card count as government issued identification?

Good Afternoon all,

I did a search for this but came up empty handed - apologies if it has been answered before. I was wondering if anyone has any experience/reviews of Niki (Vlachou) Olympic Tours Shared Tours in Santorini, Mykonos or Katakolon ? I've read some good reviews about her on TripAdvisor but I wanted to get some feedback from cruisers using shared tours.

TIA

Hi all,

Did a search on this but couldn't find anything so my apologies if it has been asked and answered before. Next year for the first time I'll be travelling to Europe with a smartphone (that works on Google Android if that makes a difference) that supports apps like TripAdvisor, SeatGuru etc.. I was a little overwhelmed by all the apps for Rome and was wondering if there are any specific apps that people would recommend using - to find your way around, get a little bit of information about the sites etc.. I'll be in Rome for 3.5 days pre-cruise.

TIA

Thanks for all the feedback everyone - appreciate it.

Thanks for all the posts everyone. I searched and couldn't find the review that mentioned it, so maybe it was a figment of my imagination or I was being too selective in the reviews I was double checking. I've got a year until my cruise (end of June 2019), so it might be a moot point by then. Just thought I'd ask now since my cruise is relatively early next year there might not be enough cruises on that itinerary to find out.

Thanks again everyone!!

Not everyone gets off the ship or would be off the ship for dinner so they would absolutely feed those people at their assigned times. The dining room may be less crowded than usual but I can't remember them ever doing away with both dinner services completely for a night, no matter where in the world the ship was docked (or tendered).

 

OP, can you provide a link to the review that stated this? I'd like to see that for myself. Please help us with the link to the review you read - there are quite a few to get through if it is among the member reviews for this site.

 

EDITED TO ADD: OP, I read a few of the reviews and if it was the one at the link I will provide, I can understand why you might be confused. It states:

 

"Every night, except for the night of Santorini, we ate in the Main Dining Room - Tides." ....

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=626637

 

Was that the one?

.

Hi,

Thanks for looking it up - but unfortunately that wasn't the one. I searched some more and while I recognized some of the reviews I couldn't find the one that referenced open dining in Santorini :(

I was reading a recent Jewel review of the Greek Isles itinerary out of Civitavecchia. It mentioned that they didn't have fixed dining the day they were in Santorini because of how late the ship was in port. Unfortunately it didn't go into details. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with this, knows what happens, can provide any insights?

TIA

I did a search and couldn't find anything about this so my apologies ahead of time if it has already been addressed.

I've seen references to "Free" walking tours in Rome. Does anyone have any experience with any? Are there particular websites to go to to find them? If anyone has been on one - how big was it?

I'd appreciate any information on this topic.

TIA

I've been doing a lot of the same research you are for next summer. This thread is really helpful. One thing to check for the OP - I think the cruise out of Rome is on the Jewel of the Seas not on the Rhapsody of the Seas. I like the Radiance class compared to Rhapsody. So something to consider.

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Glad to hear a 1:30pm flight will be doable as it is the only flight I'll be able to get on points.

Hi all,

Wasn't sure where to post this - ports of call or here. I'll be sailing from Civitavecchia. I intend on using ship's transfer to get to Rome's airport (I'm traveling solo and feel more comfortable using ship's transfer and don't want to use the train). What is the earliest time that I should book a flight that will be going to Toronto, Canada? Would a 1:30pm flight be ok?

TIA for any feedback.

Typically the post cruise transfers/ excursions with drop off at the airport don't show up on cruise planner and you have to call Royal or else check with excursion staff/ guest services when you board.

As a solo cruiser I know there is some logic to the seating. For solo travellers they will try and seat you with other people travelling alone - who tend to be a little older than me which is fine. In talking to the maitre'd one of the things they do is seat solo travelers with say a couple of people in the same cabin with different last names is things like two people. They also look at language spoken.