fvandewouwer

just wonder, booked 2 cruises and seeing taxes/fees were lower ( 150 usd ) then when I booked my cruise Can I apply for the lower taxes/fees ? I called my agent and she tells me she can only apply for lower rates until final payment day not for lowering the taxes/fees

I do not understand why I need to pay higher taxes and fees when I booked my cruise 6 months ago as when I should have booked it now

please help me clear this one

thanks

all the best

thanks yes we know after all those cruises we have never missed the ship but a couple of times we came too close and that was really scary

have my doubts about Colon ( only one way to and from Panama city ) but really do not want a buss-ship tour it is just not that kind of traveling for us

have a nice weekend

Frie

 

When you are on a ship's excursion, the ship will wait if you are delayed...and if they can't wait, they will get you to the next port on their dime. (So, 99% of the time, they will wait!!). A private tour, while seldom late, will NOT get you to the next port....you're on your own.

 

If something is a goodly distance from port, and it's an "all day" trip, then a ship's excursion will be like an insurance policy!

I hope you enjoyed your cruise, RCI ?

if I check the tours from the cruise line there is no such tour perhaps their online list is not complete.

It seems like a nice trip you had, and luckily you took a ship's tour regarding the traffic jam ( boarding at Colon ?? )

still not sure what to do but would not want to miss the ship that is for sure:eek:

thanks for your time to reply

have a wonderful day

 

 

Our ship stopped on the Pacific side of the canal and offered a tour. First by bus, then by boat. Our boat guide pointed out birds and lured capuchin monkeys down on the boat with a fruit she had picked before. The boat tour started near Gamboa where the small marina had a fleet of excursion boats.

 

There was a bad traffic jam on the way back to the ship. Luckily we were on a ship excursion and knew the ship would wait for us.

Hi BillB48 thank you so much for your input, really appreciate it

will check out Monkey Island and Gamboa Aerial Tram but I had no idea that we would see a great deal of the rain forest on our way crossing the canal

 

perhaps we need to hire a taxi to take us to Panama City if it only takes about one hour it should be doable ... ( in Panama we can take the HOHO bus )

maybe too much for a day .....

 

I also met someone on TA who is doing the same cruise ( I am trying to read as much as I can and saw someone asking almost the same question on TA ) and she gave me a link to a private tour company that helps cruise people building there own day so ...

did not have the time to write them an email but will certainly do and see with what they will come up to

 

thanks again for your time to explain me a little more about those national parks ( really had no clue )

 

I do wish you a very nice day and a splendid weekend

from cold Belgium

Frie

 

 

Sorry I can't offer any help in a private tour of the areas you are interested in, perhaps there might be someone on your Roll Call that may have a private tour that you may be able to join. As for visiting the national parks, Panama's National Parks are really just protected areas that restrict habitation, farming and such... not actually set up as a visitor attraction. There are a couple of tours that would take you within some of the areas of the parks such as the Gamboa Aerial Tram or a trip to "Monkey Island." You can get a good feel for the rain forest on either of these trips and you will see a great deal of the rain forest on your Gatun Lake crossing during your transit.

 

A trip to Panama City is something that can be done from Colon very easily. Most of the trip to the Pacific side is on a modern expressway and normally doesn't take much more than an hour each way.

Hi,

 

RCI April stop Colon from 8-7 ( day after full transit canal )

We know that the Panama cruise most people take to see the working of the locks, we are from Antwerp and have been too many times into locks so we are more interested in the wildlife and beauty of the national parks

can anyone help us finding a shore excursion ( private ) to one of the most beautiful national parks of Panama.

As we will not stop in Panama City but sail to Puntarenas there is also an option to go to Panama City but I wonder if that would not be too far from Colon

Any help much appreciated

thanks for your time

best regards from Belgium

Frie

thanks for your reply, yes a lot of people would love to stay near the elevator , our TA also found it the best room but .... we have some bad experience staying near an elevator so .... thanks for your answer, I do wish you a wonderful weekend

Hi,

 

we are trying to figure out what the best outside cabin is for us

on the je Jewel of the Seas RCI

we can choose between 3086 which is located at the elevator ( afraid of noise due to traffic from the elevator )

or 3548 which is between cabins ( not sure what is on deck 2 on the map it shows as an empty space ??? )

we are very light sleepers and are searching for a quite cabin

 

I do thank you all for your time to answer my question

have a wonderful day

Frieda

sorry Keith, forgive me, due to my English not well explained question

Charleston is a port of call from 7 am till 5 pm so wanted to be sure that we need to be back on board at 4.30 or 4 pm to catch the ship ( want to make a tour from 2 pm till 4 pm in the city )

it is not our embarkation port

sorry wrong forum ??

 

 

Since this is your port of embarkation you need to check in 90 minutes before the cruise leaves.

 

If you board and then want to get off then 4:00 would be fine.

 

Keith

Hi Kirk, yes the latest, ok thanks

probably need to change my walking tour

have a nice day

 

 

If you are asking the latest you can be on board I would not be later than 4:00.

Hi,

 

Can anyone that has cruised Charleston before give us an idea of the boarding time if ship leaves at 5 pm

We would love to do an afternoon walking tour at 2 pm till 4 pm and I am trying to figure out if we will be back in time to catch the ship

( do not want to miss the boat :) )

 

thanks for your time to answer us

have a wonderful day

Frieda

this I would never have found and the one with cruise terminal and visitor center on it

I will print and take it with me

no more questions Thank you so much everyone, especially Bill !

have a wonderful weekend

 

 

 

Here are some sites to check out:

 

http://www.sciway.net/maps/downtown-charleston-south-carolina-map-grid4.html

 

http://www.charlestonsfinest.com/sc/mapdntwn.htm

 

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0LEV131AndTSl4AJe9XNyoA?ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-312&p=historic+charleston+sc+city+map&rs=0&fr2=rs-bottom

 

http://thecharlestoncitymarket.com/index.cfm

 

These sites will give you some idea as to where the ship will dock (noted on maps). Hope this helps.

 

:cool: Bill

 

so we really do not need to book anything in advance ?

it would be a lot easier for us if we just could hop off the ship and walk back on without being somewhere on the clock

we really appreciate a guided tour but hate to walk behind someone with a flag and a group of 40 not even interested in what the guide is telling ( have done a lot of city trips so we know )

is there a a kind of hop on hop off system ???

or even better if we can walk everything that we need to see ( and I do not mean shopping but ok when we see some also restaurants or bars does not interest us, why should we, we have a driving restaurant with us)

so it would be great after breakfast step of the ship and walk around go back for lunch and after that do another site of town .... would that be possible

a city map on the internet ? google maps I have but still cannot figure out where we dock ( am Flemish and blond perhaps that is the reason ;)

 

thanks again

 

 

QUOTE=jordanaire;42759976]The ship's pier is right next to the downtown area. It's only a hundred yards or so to the Market Place. Just a 5-minute walk. From there, you can shop, rent a carriage ride, eat at some fantastic restaurants and more. Most of your Charleston tours can be bought right here as well. You won't need a cab. It's all right there within walking distance. So much to see and do! It's a beautiful city!

 

:cool: Bill

also you are a great help was during break time at work reading about those walking tours and tried to figure out to do several in one day

so one during morning coming back to the ship for lunch and one during the afternoon

just not figured out yet where the ship will dock exactly

 

also the reduced price ticket tip : wonderful we do have groupon not sure if I can register for the us deals

 

so lovely of you all

xxx

 

From the links that Bill posted above, I can personally recommend the Low Country Walking Tours. My girlfriends and I took that tour last fall when we were in Charleston and loved it! We found reduced-price tickets on Groupon, I think.

Hi,

We do have 3 days before our cruise in August and we minor down all beach hotels but still have 3 and I can use your help to decide which one is the best for us
( prices are more or less similar )

B HOTEL

COURTYARD MARRIOTT

HILTON FL BEACH RESORT

at this point we have chosen the Hilton but I can cancel it without having penalty the room that we booked is a studio suite ( is this a good room ? )
we booked it through a local travel agency

which one is " the most quiet and clean one " seems like a strange question but we appreciate a good nigh sleep so quiet is top priority

we do have 2 days before our cruise and would love to spend one day shopping at sawgrass mill small, there is a shuttle service that I found out leaving from several hotels

the other day we would love to take the Carrie B ( did that 20 years ago and would love to see the changes )

so no need of time spending at the beach or sunbathing at a swimming pool

hope you can help me choose between those 3 hotels

thanks for your time to help me
have a wonderful day
Frieda

Bill thank you so so much

this is indeed a wonderful help

 

 

also Carolyn thank you for your time to read and answer to my mail

 

this is really a welcome surprise, in this cruise

itinerary ( I do like beaches but I really can appreciate some history and great old buildings )

 

have a great weekend

 

goodnight

 

xxx

Wow Bill, thank you so much As I began reading this afternoon I also found out that this is an amazing city and one day is too short to explore but a wonderful opportunity to feel the touch of the iceberg

I am going to try and find a map from where we can start our walking tour

the carriage tour seems a wonderful idea, did find a website about the historic tour

did not know what to expect but now I am getting really excited

thank you so much Bill for your time to help me

have a wonderful day

Frieda

 

 

 

Charleston is only of America's most beautiful cities. I ought to know 'cause we lived there for 10 years! You can literally walk off the ship and begin a walking tour of the city. It's just a hundred yards or so to the Market area. Here you can see vendors selling many items from the Charleston area as well as sweet grass baskets. You can take a carriage tour of the city from there. Several "low country" cuisine and seafood restaurants are here as well.

 

I recommend taking the carriage tour and seeing the Battery, which is an area in the downtown area featuring some of the most beautiful 150+ year-old homes in the USA. You can take a harbor tour, a tour of Fort Sumter (where the Civil War began), or tour Patriot's Point and see a WWII aircraft carrier, submarine and more.

 

Charleston is a great place to visit and you will only touch the tip of the iceberg with your short visit there. Have a great time!

 

:cool: Bill

 

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

cruise RCI Vision of the Seas Palm trees and pink sand

one stop from 7 am till 5 pm at Charleston South Carolina

can anyone help me with what to do when we arrive at this port

try to find out with Google maps where we will dock,

if we can walk out of the ship to check out the town or is this an industrial harbour ??

 

Any ideas what we can expect ? Any ideas what we really should visit

by bus or taxi

 

all your ideas are more than welcome

have a wonderful day and thank you for making time to help me

from Belgium

xxx

Wonderful thank you so much, I do hope one day I can help answering a question for you goodnight fr Belgium Frieda

have just read your review and would love to thank you for it because we have learned just before we leave ( next week ) that we really need to go on the behind the fun tour My hb is also a boat engineer and despite you are not allowed to go in the engineer room the bridge seems great to.

Also I know now a little more about the fun on board and because we are also not sunbath people your deck 5 tip is great to have a relaxed day.

English is not our first language but we will try some of the comedian acts and the adult pub quiz ... probably not good for us but we will give it a try.

We have seen Saona island 20 years ago and go this time to Catalina ( private tour ) and for Aruba and curacao did do an island tour some years ago so for now we just want to walk out of the ship and hope we can walk around to see the area in the neighbourhood so that is why I do have a last question, can you walk out of these ports right into the city or is it all too far away ?

again wonderful you just did the same cruise and thank you for charring your experience it is a great help

have a wonderful day

goodnight from Belgium

Frieda

This is where I posted about my recent cruise on the Breeze 12/21/13:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1964485

 

I mention what we did at each port as well.

 

I have just read your review and would love to thank you for it because we have learned just before we leave ( next week ) that we really need to go on the behind the fun tour My hb is also a boat engineer and despite you are not allowed to go in the engineer room the bridge seems great to.

Also I know now a little more about the fun on board and because we are also not sunbath people your deck 5 tip is great to have a relaxed day.

English is not our first language but we will try some of the comedian acts and the adult pub quiz ... probably not good for us but we will give it a try.

We have seen Saona island 20 years ago and go this time to Catalina ( private tour ) and for Aruba and curacao did do an island tour some years ago so for now we just want to walk out of the ship and hope we can walk around to see the area in the neighbourhood so that is why I do have a last question, can you walk out of these ports right into the city or is it all too far away ?

again wonderful you just did the same cruise and thank you for charring your experience it is a great help

have a wonderful day

goodnight from Belgium

Frieda

We booked an Island Tour with Howard Folkes while we were in Aruba. He met us in the cruise ship terminal right after we docked. He was great!

http://folkestours.com/

 

Will certainly check it out seems great, La Romana is not easy what did you do ? Lot of people seems to stay on board ..... thanks again next week we leave am getting nervous:)

We just got off the 12/21/13 sailing of the Carnival Breeze to Aruba. We stayed on ship time for the entire cruise (but it is up to the cruise director to determine this once on board). The times that Carnival posts on their website is all local US time (aka Ship time).

 

Thank you so much this is the information we really needed, I do hope you had a great time, any advice for us ?

have a wonderful day

good evening from Belgium

Frieda

You know, I've been to La Romana in May on Carnival Freedom but I seriously don't remember if there was a time difference.

 

Depending on who you will have a tour with, they will know the exact time the ship docks.

 

Funny yes normal venders would know, this time it is an exception that is why I try to find out, leaving time is not a problem, arriving time is would not want to let someone wait for 1.30 hour if someone can help me finding port information .... would be very grateful

someone La Romana please

And, as long as you set your watch to SHIP'S TIME, whether they change time or not, you will NOT miss the ship! Don't use your cell phone, as it may reflect the local time. The ship will have clocks at every exit....make sure your watch is set to the same time and you'll be good to go.

 

thanks, yes I know, would be a pity ( and a lot of trouble ) to miss the ship

that is not the problem biggest problem now is our pick-up time from the ship still not know how to figure that out

anyone who has done La Romana recently Carnival Breeze,

 

First a happy new year to everyone !

 

need to figure out if the ship Carnival Breeze January ports of call La Romana Tuesday 21th January will stay on the ship's time or not.

( already checked and there is a time difference between Miami 1 hour ) will the Carnival Breeze stay in La Romana on ships time or not

( someone will pick us up from the ship (not a local ) that is why we need to know )

 

Thank you all for your help

have a wonderful first day in 2014

Frieda

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