jollyjones

I tend to wear classic black pants every evening, just add a smarter top with maybe a sparkly scarf/stole and jewelry for formal, and more casual tops other nights.

That’s one of my tricks for cruising with only carry on luggage.

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I’d say SS never docks at Pier 2, it’s usually Princess. I was merely demonstrating that pedestrian access to Port Everglades is possible, just not very practical for the higher numbered piers.

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You can walk in to Pier 2 - I have done it a couple of times - but anything beyond is really too far, especially to the piers around 21 where SS usually dock. Cab is about $12.

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The Chronicles usually state something like 'no shorts in indoor venues after 6pm'

(I don't think passing through an area or being on the stairs is any sort of problem)

Around the pool deck bar and Hot Rocks and outside of Panorama one will see some shorts in the evening, but mostly men wear long pants and women wear dresses/skirts, long pants or capris.

I find this frustrating as, coming from Bermuda, I find nothing wrong with smart Bermuda shorts for evening, even formal, wear but you just know that if they said smart shorts were OK, people would push the definition of 'smart' beyond reasonable.

So I have to equip myself with capris just for cruising since I live in shorts all year round!

PS Don't be afraid to make as many dining reservations as you like - it's easy to cancel once on board, by lunchtime of the day is usually OK.

It's about a 20min walk from Santa Apolonia to Praca do Comercio altho' there have for some years been roadworks going on which confuses things a bit. Taxis in Lisbon are generally plentiful and pretty cheap.

A question. Would anyone know where the Whisper will Dock in Lisbon or how to find out that info? From what I can gather there seem to be 2 different areas that accept cruise ships.

SS ships generally dock at St Apolonia.

The big ships dock at Alcantara.

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Worrisome.

The main reason I gravitated to, and remain with, SS is the availability of low solo supps on so many cruises. I'd like to try Seabourn (if only for comparison) but the 75% supp makes it soooo expensive, especially as I'm coming up to 250 days with SS so my loyalty awards are not trivial.

However, in the past is was usual for SS to only show the solo supplement offers for the rest of the calendar year - showing them a year or more out is a recent change - so going back to only showing the rest of this year may not be too sinister - who knows?

Can only hope for the best ... and will definitely quiz the cruise consultant about it when I'm on the Spirit next month.

Sorry, Mudhen! We arrive in London the 6th and leave the 7th. Back the night of the 17th and fly home the 19th.

 

On the 9th we'll be arriving into Hamburg. Remind me again, why are you in London?

 

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Boarding the Spirit on the 10th, as am I. At Tilbury, ugh.

I leave home 6th, arrive London 7th, so I guess we'll miss. Other coolers on the Spirit aren't coming till 8th or 9th, I think.

And upgraded internet, the free version is about 0.6 MBPS ... slooooow ...

I have flown many times BDA-HNL via MIA and have looked at lots of ways of doing it. Finally settled on MIA-DFW-HNL on AA as best for me.

The first (shorter) leg might be a narrow body, but the DFW-HNL is currently a 772 and is quite comfortable.

I avoid flying via LAX to HNL because I don't want a 6 hr flight in a narrow body.

 

We still have 135 days before boarding the Whisper for our Panama canal cruise, but I do have a question for any coolers who might be familiar with Fort Lauderdale hotels. We're planning to fly in a couple of days early (winter, caution due to storms etc.), and I've read about some water taxi tours that we might take on our extra day there to fill the day. Does anyone have any recommendations for hotels that are close to where we'll embark onto the Whisper, that might also have easy access to these water taxi tours? My husband is a 'foodie', so access to good restaurants would also be a bonus. Thanks for any insights anyone can offer.

 

The hotels I'd recommend for proximity to the water taxi stop are the Hilton Marina, then the Renaissance, then the Embassy Suites 17th St - all walkable with the Hilton the closest. I've stayed at them all (and several others in the area) pre-cruise. They get booked up fast as they are also close to Port Everglades, and are expensive in peak cruise season so book early.

The water taxi is fun, I've done it and enjoyed the day - it's more a hoho boat than a taxi but watch the schedule, it isn't that frequent.

https://watertaxi.com

The Sun Trolleys are fun too and are more useful for getting around:

https://www.suntrolley.com/routes-schedules-fares/

Fort Lauderdale isn't exactly a foodies mecca so don't get too excited. The Boatyard isn't bad and is situated on the small Seminole River so the outside tables are pleasant enough.

http://boatyard.restaurant

 

next, bit of advice seeking any ideas for a good hotel in Athens.

.

Hi Spins,

Last time I was in Athens (2014), I stayed at the Hera Hotel:

https://www.herahotel.gr

It's a very friendly, reasonably upscale, boutique hotel centrally located with a useful rooftop bar and restaurant with good views of the Acropolis.

Not as posh as other recommendations maybe, but very satisfactory and probably less expensive.

Looking forward to Sept!

B

I have used dayuse.com several times and have found them to be reliable.

Why would you expect 'weird' food? We're a normal civilised little island. More civilized IMO than some countries with Atlantic coastlines.

Yes, it's amazing how cleverly they do the sums - seldom can you do better with new offers because the base fare has increased. Or the different discounts are worth less.

A couple of times, I have seen cruises (that I have already booked and paid for) offering a lower solo supplement but when I get mine re-fared, the base price has gone up just enough so that the re-fare with the lower solo supplement is the same as what I originally paid, to the exact dollar.

That said, once ... just that tantalising once ... I did notice that the base fare for a cruise I had booked and paid for had decreased significantly so I asked my TA to get it re-fared and I got over $1,000 refund.

So it can pay to keep checking the website for price decreases (I unsubscribe from the emails, they're way too annoying) but don't expect to find any very often.

It'll be Moss. It's the end of his current contract, he's been on since the stretch. Jimmy K is boarding in Boston to take over for a few months.

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I had a similar sort of credit following a cruise - not the Spirit one - and nothing happened until I sent to my TA a copy of the letter that I had received onboard telling me about the credit. She followed up with SS and very quickly received the official form with the code that I'd need to use to apply the credit - it seems that you may have to ask for your code.

I think tickets don't show till 50 days out.

No sign of my silver box yet but then it's a loooong way to Bda, always takes ages. My TA will let me know when it's here. Not that I need it, I just keep the bag tag and throw the rest away.

I fly across the Atlantic several times a year and generally get the best prices about nine to ten months out. After that, you may get seats in the cheapest fare buckets but it becomes less likely (but by no means impossible), particularly if you don't have much flexibility on dates.

However, this tends to be less true of one way prices - is that what you are looking for? If you have airline mileage status, one ways are a good use of award tickets but availability trans oceanic is limited, again you need to book as early as you can.

For a cruise next April, I would have bought the plane ticket by now.

Perhaps most people suffering holiday discomforts accept them as the luck of the draw and are insufficiently irritated or motivated to actively seek legal redress ; it is a daunting prospect.

.

Perhaps some of us simply don't want to. Perhaps some of us simply feel that just because something didn't work out well, doesn't mean we deserve to be compensated for it. Perhaps some of us enjoy life more by simply going with the flow and enjoying what we have, rather than demanding redress for what we don't have.

silver box has arrived!

Countdown begins...

 

 

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Good grief, it surely can't be coming so soon. I've only just got home from the Muse.

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Obviously this wouldn't apply to people who live near a cruise port, but I think I'll tire of the aggravation of travelling to and from the ship before I'll ever tire of actually being on a cruise ship at sea.

OMG I only watched the brief clip available on YouTube, absolutely cringeworthy. They wasted a Silver Suite for that?!!

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And if anyone is interested in a simple and cheap way to Rome, which I chose out of interest rather than parsimony, I strolled from the ship to Civi train station in about 20mins, got a train for 5euros, then strolled to my hotel in another 20mins. OK, I admit I only travel with carry on, would be different with luggage, but taxis were in good supply, could take you to the station.

Very interesting looking out of the train window at a small muddy stream/river - the Tiber! What a let down.

And, I dunno if the ghost of Mussolini is still around, but that train was on time to the second.

What a great cruise it was, and I so enjoyed meeting the Stumbles, hopefully our paths will cross again!

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Book as much as you feel like - it's very easy to change bookings once on board.

There'll be a 'solos gathering' on the first night and the group usually goes to dinner together so you don't have to worry about that. Then, if you have a 'foot in the door', i.e. a reservation for one at a specialty restaurant, it's usually not a problem to increase the number, or cancel it if you get a better offer.