Goldygolfer

Credit cards, Paypal, Square and online banking - either PC or apps. I've gone weeks without ever having to touch paper money or coins.

 

 

In ports ??

In my humble opinion the dirtiest, most germ-laden thing that we all handle - not just on cruises, but everyday - is money ! ! ! Notes as well as coin. I'm just wondering how people who feel the need to disinfect their cabin deal with handling money.

The countdown on the NCL website for our cruise is now 45 days. There have been 0 shore excursions to either peruse or book for at least 10 days now. They were there once, but have magically disappeared.

We were in Wellington on the Radiance about 14 months ago and RCI did provide shuttles to 2 different locations. One was to a department store in the centre of the shopping area (and quite close to the funicular railway) and the other to the I Site office (quite close to the Te Papa Museum). We went to the centre of town first, rode the funicular to the top of the Botanical Gardens, then walked to the Museum and caught the shuttle back from the I Site. The cost was $5pp

each way. Sorry - can't help with taxi info. But others may chime in with more recent info.

Kirk - I think you might be confusing Cannes with Marseille.

We flew into CDG in September and then had another flight to Marseille.
This involved a change from Terminal 2C to Terminal 2E and it was a very, very long walk. There is no way that we could have done it with a 1hr 5min turnaround.
As well as the long walk to the other terminal, our luggage carousel for the incoming flight was changed halfway through the delivery so all those whose luggage had not already come through had to move to another area to retrieve our luggage. This created a further delay.
I believe that you will need most of the 3 1/2 hrs and would definitely book the later plane.

Thanks for taking the time to write this very positive review Fran.

We have never sailed with NCL before, but are doing a 37-day cruise (4 btobs) on the Pearl in April and May, so we were particularly interested in reading your comments.

Your review has certainly "tweaked" our excitement.

I have just returned from a 10-week land tour in France and it seemed me that no self-respecting French female (aged from 10 to 90) would even consider stepping out her door without a scarf. Yes - even the stylish little girls wear them. This was true from the warmer weather in September (light-weight scarf) to the cooler weather in November (warmer scarf). All worn and tied in what seemed like a hundred different ways.

 

Porthopper's advice re the black pants is also right "on the button" - especially in the cities.

 

We have also cruised in the Med area in November and found that "layering" was definitely the way to go - long pants, long sleeve T or lightweight jumper, jacket and, of course, a scarf. The scarf is also handy if you need to cover your head when visiting some churches.

And don't forget your most comfortable shoes. You will do a lot of walking. Enjoy.

Thanks Dave. I am really grateful that you went to so much trouble to take us all along with you on your cruise.

I hope my friends who were on board enjoyed the cruise as much as you obviously did.

Lucky them - they did the cruise before as well and now have a 3-4 week land tour of Canada and USA to look forward to.

Hope you had a safe trip home.

 

PS - Particularly loved the towel animal pool party photos - what fun !!!

Hi Hank - Do you also read Tripadvisor (sister site to CC) ?

There is heaps of info there on how to rent an apartment in Paris.

If you take the time to read some of the previous postings, you will also find many recommendations - and otherwise.

It's an excellent site - just like CC.

Hi Dave - Really enjoying your reports. I have friends onboard.

Have you run into Ken & Lesley from Australia (shadow 10 on CC) ?

Sorry that the weather and the seas have not been "kind", but the food looks wonderful !! Greetings from "Downunder".

Our TA advised us this week that Qantas will be adding on a fuel surcharge - begining from next week. I believe that Virgin have already done this. She suggested that it would be in the vicinity of $150 pp for a return flight from Aus to LAX. We paid up immediately for our 2014 USA cruise in the hope of avoiding it.

Thank you everyone for your very helpful comments. We will probably go with the City View Trolley. The difference in price will help pay for the conch fritters, which I am looking forward to trying.

We are in port from 8am until 5pm in April next year.

 

I have read many of the threads and reports for this port stop and think that coming from "Downunder" this will probably be our only opportunity to see Key West, I am thinking that one of the trolley bus tours might be the best way for us to get an overview of the area.

 

However, I am now confused since I have discovered that there are two different companies that do this type of tour - one being considerably cheaper than the other. But cheaper is not always the "best".

 

We are a group of six and would really appreciate any comments from anyone who has done either one of these tours as to which one we should consider doing. Or any other suggestions that you think might be better.

 

Thanks in advance. Greetings from Australia.

We are also going to Argostoli, what did you end up doing? and how did you get to/from Sami?

 

Scroll up to post #2 for some ideas. It's a beautiful island, made even more interesting by the fact that not many cruiselines call there.

Thankyou Goldygolfer for all your info. Hope you don't mind but have forwarded some of your experience to our CC friends on Radiance doing the trip in March from Fremantle.

 

Of course I don't mind. The whole point of CC is to share information.

I have appreciated what I have learnt from these boards and am therefore very happy to pass on my experiences in the hope of helping others.

Sandy - Even on the bus they will come aboard and check your ID. You don't need your passport, your drivers licence is fine. It didn't happen in all NZ ports, but did in most, so make sure that you have your Sea Pass card (which you need to get back on the ship anyway) and your drivers licence (or other form of photo ID).

 

We didn't have to go through any other immigration or customs check -just the photo ID - at any NZ port.

 

Please feel free to ask any further questions.

Hi Sandy - I'm not Jo, but perhaps I can answer your question.

 

The day we were there (on the Radiance) as we walked down the gangway, there was an "I-site" (NZ Tourist Bureau) set up in a container on our left as we walked along the pier. The general shuttle buses were departing from the same area. The green bus was about 40 metres further on - slightly to our right. Definitely inside the port gates.

 

On our return, they dropped us right near the gangway.

 

Perhaps Jo will confirm this.

We arrived home yesterday from a 14-day cruise to NZ on the Radiance of the Seas. We were in Dunedin on Friday 9th December and did the Taieri Gorge Train Trip - arranged privately.

 

Our trip -

Train -Booked directly by emailing - reserve@taieri.co.nz no deposit or pre-payment was required. Lined up at the booking office in the Station. Names were on the booked list. Paid our money and boarded the train.

Train departed at 9.30am and returned at 3.30pm.

Some carriages were modern, but we were in a vintage one.

Commentary is provided and we made a 15 minute stop at a small siding called Hindon for passengers to have a walk and browse local craft stalls.

 

Food & Drink - was available on the train - some prices:-

coffee, tea - $4NZ juice, coke - $3NZ pie & sauce - $4.50NZ

cake slices & muffins - $3.50-$4NZ beer $6NZ wine $8NZ

Lots of food and drinks to choose from.

 

Shuttle - The ship provided shuttle buses from Port Chalmers to Dunedin for $10 each way. We caught the other shuttle bus (operated by Headfirst Travel) with the choice of $5NZ each way or $20NZ including a 1 hour tour of Dunedin from the train station back to the ship in the afternoon. This shuttle is a green bus at the end of the pier (sometimes called the Bottom Bus), with the sign "Dunedin Train Station". Pay the driver direct.

 

Lunch at Middlemarch - There was a Lions Club barbecue at the Station (and more craft stalls). The Pub is across the road (with a variety of food). A little up the street is Quench (modern up-market cafe) where we had an excellent home-made pie and a glass of wine.

 

Cost - per person - Train ticket $97NZ, shuttle with tour $20NZ.

Total $117NZ = $90 AUD. Plus lunch & wine - about $13NZ + 10AUD.

 

Ship's Tour - Cost $203AUD or $99US. No shuttle required as that train departs from the pier. Only goes to Pukerangi which is at the top of the gorge (Middlemarch is about 45 - 50 minutes further with great scenery of the Otago plains). There is a short area with 2 tracks where we passed the ship's train. They appeared to be eating a picnic-style salad from plastic containers and had wine glasses on their tables.

 

The train trip is very scenic and both options (private or ship) would be very pleasant. We really enjoyed our day and found that doing it privately was no hassle at all and about half price.

 

I will check back on this thread from time to time to see if anyone has any further questions that I might be able to help with.

The contact I had was - kathy@kokolis.com

 

Cheers

Yes. We had at least 2 spare seats.

(Sorry to take so long to reply - went to golf).

I'm sure you will have a great day. We did. We finished up with 13 of us from our roll call in a minibus.

Cephalonia was quite a surprise. As you suggest, there is very little information on the CC message boards ( I don't think a lot of cruise lines call there). Therefore we really had no pre-conceived ideas. I think this is why we were agreeably surprised and very glad that we did a tour.

Enjoy.

The health spa section offers a full range of health and beauty treatments - including those normally offered by hair and nail salons.

My favourite is the ferry to Watsons Bay and lunch at either the Pub or Doyle's Restaurant next door (both owned by the same company).

Which one depends on your budget - both are great.