gmachar

28 minutes ago, SharonK said:

This is wonderful to hear as we have 3 tours booked with them in October and 2 of the are the same as yours!

Looks like others think their drivers (who really were great guides) were the best, but we sure loved the ones we had!

Just stayed at Hotel Gaudi - such a cute place with a great location! Since we had to be at the airport at 4am, they even packed a breakfast for us!

Charlene

We are just back from a TA on the Oasis with 2 weeks in the Mediterranean after. For our stops in Italy we booked private tours (4 of us) in a mini van with RomeInLimo. We had Marco in Rome twice - Hidden Rome & Rome highlights,

in Florence we had Sabrina twice for Florence/pisa and Lucca & the the Tuscan countryside and from Naples we had Giovanni for Sorento, Positano & Pompeii.

Every tour was great & the drivers could not have been better! For us it was worth it to have just our group (and most of the tours were cheaper than ship tours). 
Absolutely recommend this company!

Charlene

Just back from a TA on Oasis with 2 weeks in the Mediterranean. We used RomeInLimo 2 times in Civitavecchia, 2 times in La Spezia, and once in Naples. Each time we did a private tour (for 4 of us) in a van. Could not have been happier! We were picked up at the port, had great tours - Marco both times in Rome, Sabrina both times in Florence & Giovanni in Naples - all made our time in port memorable!

I highly recommend.

Charlene

We are just off the Oasis TA and med. For the first time ever we ate in the MDR only once the last week. Ended up at the Windjammer for dinner & found more choices and hotter food! My husband (& some of our table mates) had escargot more than once that was served not even close to warm. As a fish eater, I was disappointed to have few choices - the salmon was good, but must it be almost every night!

Char

On 5/17/2024 at 8:29 AM, dougp26364 said:

I have not and will not read through every post.

I will state our opinion as we exit Ovation of the Seas post 8 night Alaskan Cruise. 
die to illness, we had stayed away from cruising for 14 years. Our last cruise was the inaugural year on Oasis and we had to cancel our inaugural year cruising on Allure. That’s the time gap between experiences.

food quality overall was poor for lunch and dinner. We always managed to have a good breakfast on the MDR but not so good the one time we tried Windjammer. My chicken parm at Jammies was overcooked and tough. That was a big disappoint. In the MDR we never could get refills on our sodas. They put brown gravy on the prime rib, which was so thin of a cut you could see light through it if you held it up. The grilled NY strip steak was as bad. Fortunately we were in a JS and could utilize Coastal Kitchen for a couple of dinners. That experience was more in line with what we recall the MDR to be.

To be honest, it looked as if they were training a lot of first contract employees. That would explain the service. They were trying hard but just didn’t have the flow down yet. 
The food, however, was generally poor. There’s no excuse I can give them on this one. It’s pathetic they were contemplating charging for Sorrento’s. While edible I’d place it a step or two below Little Ceaser’s. 
we are Diamond level so we’ve been loyal to royal and will continue to be. We booked our next 7 night Canada cruise while onboard.
 

Hopefully this was a one off experience. of. It we’ll begin planning our meals a little differently than we had in the past and lower our expectations 

 

I see I can set up Uber from home for pickup at the end of the cruise & transport to a hotel in Las Ramblas - any issues with using Uber in Barcelona?

thanks,

Charlene

We are also from Minnesota & my mom was “Grandma Dee” to all the grand kids & great grands, so fun to see your name!

We love to cruise out of San Juan - weather always warm, seas almost always calm, a new port every day! We will be on Rhapsody next Jan/Feb - wouldn’t mind a little bigger ship, but with a port every day it’s fine.

Char

How about bringing snack size bags of popcorn (already popped)? I’ve done that - I like a salty snack at night!

Char

We are so enjoying this laugh out loud review! Thank you!

Gerry & Char

Found some YouTube tours of the aviary to get a feel for it.

Has anyone been recently? Wondering if you can buy a pass to just the aviary at the port? The port website only lists a port pass for $43 that includes the aviary,  chocolate tour & tequila tour. RCCL has the aviary pass on sale for $10.99 now, but the time is listed as 10:00-11:00 & was hoping to be more flexible about time. Also not sure I would go along with the rest of the family (hanging bridges? And I’m afraid of heights!)

Thanks,

Char

We were 2nd ship in - got off late because of morning rain. We still found chairs with shade, but not in front & that was fine.

Thanks for the info - I’ve spent a lot of time looking for a post office while cruising, so will keep this in mind!

Charlene

Haven’t been to Copa, but the other 2 are both on the same beautiful beach & both great! If you want to swim with the turtles go with the Boatyard, otherwise Harbour Lights will be a bit cheaper.

Char

There will be buses outside the pier looking to give tours &;then drop off at the airport.
They  usually give you a few hours to explore Old San Juan & hold your luggage. I think last Feb. we paid $70 for two of us (with tip) & had a choice of 2 times to be dropped at the airport. You may have to wait a bit for the bus to fill if you’re off the ship early.

Charlene

My husband bought his from Coolibar -they make all kinds of products for avoiding the sun.

Char

Vision is much smaller than Adventure, so not the choices for eating at off hours, etc.

Have been on both, and would choose Adventure!

I have only cruised on small to mid-size ships. However, after being on the Vision for a month last winter, I thought it was too small - not enough food choices, activities, etc. Still had a great time, though! Especially if you’re on a port-intensive trip.

Charlene

I tend to pick the cruise for the itinerary & best price - Celebrity seems to always have great perks, but otherwise they seem comparable.

Charlene

We did a walking tour with Isle Caribe last year from our Celebrity ship. It was the first time Celebrity stopped in Ponce & they were very excited to have the ship there! The tour we took was the only tour operator who was based in Ponce, but they brought in tour operators from San Juan. We just took a cab downtown & met the tour there. There were students posted all over the town to answer questions & direct people. We paid $47 for 2 & thought it was very interesting.

Charlene

Are you doing a private tour or is it open to more - we are on the same cruise as you?

Charlene & Gerry

Still a lot of recovery going on in the island & maybe Levi has been gone - just got an email from him to answer one from a few weeks ago.

Charlene

Have stayed at Hotel Milano & felt it was fine - nothing fancy but the location is great!