hkto

Central Funchal has beautiful parks & gardens which are in walking distance from port. Also market is interesting. Most of the full day tours which btw are very inexpensive (25€ pp for 8 hr tour in minibus) are not suitable for 9 to 6 cruise schedule. But it's possible to book something private, can check http://www.madeirahappytours.com/en/component/content/article/8.html We took one of their day tours, very good service.

Can't tell you about private cars but there lots of taxis there most bigger cars (Mercedes, etc). Distance is about 5 miles, my edicated guess is 10-11€ , no more than 15€ with traffic

"I've heard that the transfer from port into town is very expensive. Is this true?"

Not true as both docks (St.Appolonia & Alcantara) are in Lisbon. If by "town" you mean center of Lisbon (Praca Commercio or Rossio) taxi should be no more than 6-8€.

"Any suggestions where we should head for shops and restaurants (I'm thinking pandora, clothes shops that kind of thing)."

If you are looking at shops like Pandora & other brand name shops head to big shopping centers Colombo http://www.colombo.pt (metro:Colégio Militar) & Vasco da Gama http://www.centrovascodagama.pt/ (Metro: Oriente). Colombo is a bigger mall

If you are into seafood I can recommend Sea Me

http://www.peixariamoderna.com/ Lots of good reviews on Tripadvisor.

With luggage I would budget slightly over €10 from Alcantara & may be €8 from Santa Appolonia. Both locations got lots of taxis. Beige colored taxis are OK.

To prebook in advance can try

http://www.azores-tours.com/en/

http://www.azoreantours.com/

http://www.taxiazorestours.com/?lang=en

Of course there are more tour operators on the island

There is not much in PDL proper; very small town with some cafes near waterfront. Excellent selection of Azorean cheeses in shops near the market. Also small sweet pineapples unique to islands are worth trying. Whale watching boats go from marina not far where ships dock. More interesting things to do are either visit Sete Cidades (see colored lakes) or Lagoa Fogo (very picturesque lake). Either trip can be on a taxi or pre-arranged and shouldn't be more than 3-4 hrs. Furnas (hot springs) is a slightly longer trip.

Vueling to BCN is from T1.

If you arrive and depart from T1 the process is to pass immigration (should be fast), collect luggage, go up flight of stairs to Departures, check in again and go to your Barcelona gate. For/from T2 go exit Arrivals & take bus shuttle there (5 min). Overall I'd say 2 hrs between flights is plenty however many times that I've taken YYZ-LIS flights it was rarely on time (usually late) so buy so insurance just in case.

There are tons of taxis in the airport. There might a line up in arrivals level so I would go to departures to get a cab. Lisbon is not big so cab fare should be reasonable. As mentioned before metro is now in the airport and also aerobus to city center http://www.yellowbustours.com/en/cities/lisbon/airport-transport/

There is also this one http://www.safecruiseparking.com/ They claim no break ins

Yes MSC charge through a foreign bank however $100 charge should not be $103. I suggest calling the CC and asking for credit. If they don't agree ditch them & find a less greedy company. As I mentioned my CC didn't charge. Some CC companies like to pull cheap stunts like allowing to go over credit limit and then charge overdraft fees, The whole point of credit limit that transaction should be denied. In this case we called and charge was removed.

The latest I've heard is the on board expenses are charged through a Foreign Bank for Americans, which would mean most will have a 3% fee added, but some cards, and banks offer 0% fee for foreign charges, mostly travel cards! Best to call your card issuer to find out!

From my personal experience the statement is incorrect (I didn't hear, I was there & paid the bill). There is no F/X surcharges as the ship's currency on the Caribbean cruises is US$. You'll be billed exactly the same amount as it appears in the final bill in US$. No F/X surcharges on any US$ denominated CCs. However on the European cruises ship's currency is € and US$ denominated CCs will incur 2.5% F/X charge unless it's waived by the CC issuer.

Lisbon it not that big so if you are comfortable using public transit then you can get to Belem pretty much from anywhere. It's about 15-20 min from center by tram#15. This link http://www.booking.com/district/pt/lisbon/belem.html gives some hotel suggestions in Belem area. Atlas is a very nice hotel & close to the monastery but quite pricey (by Lisbon standards anyway). Hotel Jerominos & Royal Garden are also close & cheaper.

There is no name on vouchers, Allegrissimo, wine or beer. Anyone on the ship can use them so try not to lose them.

Start with http://www.msccruisesusa.com/us_en/Special-Services/Beverage-Packages.aspx Click on any package (Book Now button). You'll see a page asking for personal details. Enter captcha string. Then it'll display applicable packages that you should be able to add to cart.

Booking drink works fine as long you have your booking #. The process is to pick package, enter booking #. It'll display name, sailing date & all package that can be ordered. Just pick & put into shopping cart. On shopping cart checkout it'll ask for email address that receipt us to be sent. At this time packages are just ordered. Show the receipt in the casino bar for vouchers & MDR - for wine & you'll get the voucher book. You'll be billed for them in the final bill on the last day.

Here is how it looks

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72962149/Clipboard01.jpg

Here is some legal verbage from the email "The full payment will be taken from you at the time of embarkation. Should you cancel or modify any service booked, no charge will be applied if we are notified of your cancellation and/or change no later than 9 (nine) days before the day of embarkation. Should you cancel or modify any service booked later than 9 (nine) days before the day of embarkation, you will be subject to a cancellation charge which amounts to the 15% of the price of the service or product booked but in no case whatsoever higher than 30 euros."

I got charged in USD for all onboard charges. Amount matched the final bill and there were no other charges levied by CC even the payee was in France (MSC DIVINA PARIS). Same was true for cruise charges, all in USD as quoted by TA. No surcharges.

Dress code is just a suggestion; there is no dress code police. There are 2 gala nights; some people dress up (tuxedos, cocktail dresses) & some don't. I think NCL encourages casual dress code & MSC not really enforcing.

To OP; if you are in Canada get a F/X & fee free CC which is presently Sears Master Card or Amazon Visa (apply from amazon.ca). Save 2.5% over regular C$ traditional cards. Both settle at interbank rate. Can always check rates on oanda.com. Both cards are very good with excellent online sites. They are useful to have around for any type of F/X transactions (online or in store)

To OP; making the 12:25 flight shouldn't be a problem. However our disembarkation (we left around 10am) took close to 1 hr. If one chooses to accept the assigned time slot (which is determined by cabin #s) then people first go to the designated gathering spot; then wait in line to get to baggage carousels, collect luggage & go through passport control. Otherwise there is self assist where people can go between 7 & 8. Breakfast is served from 6am.

As far as transportation to FLL goes there are lots of shuttle & bus drivers soliciting business in the port so getting a ride shouldn't be a problem.

I don't believe that there is "page" that shows reservation but if you lets say try to purchase drink package it'll ask for reservation # & will display your cabin #. Also if you booked with MSC directly they should email your e-docs which have cabin #, boarding ticket, seating arrangement & luggage tags. Online check in is mandatory but passport # is not as some passengers don't have them for the US only ports itinerary (photo id & proof of citizenship is required)

$44 per day lets you have either bottled or draft as long it's not premium. Beer package (14 vouchers for $52) is for bottled non premium beer only which is either 16oz US beers (Bud, Miller, etc) or 12oz imported (Corona, Heineken, Red Stripe, etc)

There is no dress code police. Suitable attire is just a suggestion, i.e. wear white on white night. Dinner seating (1st or 2nd) as well as table# is assigned for the cruise duration.

Airport to port taxi is $24 fixed rate & as previously mentioned some airport hotels have complimentary shuttles to airport (but not to port). Closest hotels to port are in downtown Miami & quite a few less than a mile from port. So even if shuttle is not offered taxi will be very reasonable. To see a list can try expedia; paste Port of Miami as destination & then sort by distance. Hyatt & couple of Marriotts are on the list.

I am just writing what I saw on our embarkation day. Definitely people had luggage bigger than 20-21" airline size carryons. It's all probably boils down to security; whether they'll allow certain items or not. And since security is after the checkin so no places in line are lost.