ingy79

Hi all. Apologies. I had thought that I had posted a thank you a few days ago but see now that I didn't! Thanks for all your help and advice. We have decided to do the Whale watching and see Mendenhall Glacier this time around. Which must mean that we will have to return :-)

We will be on an Alaskan cruise first week in September and had planned on doing the Juneau Whale Watch combo tour which includes the shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier. However, I have now been tempted by the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari from Skagway to the Davidson Glacier. Is there any point in doing both? Obviously doing both will be pricy however if they are both well worth doing for very different reasons, we would do our utmost to do that.

Many thanks for any advice or observations you may have.

Many thanks Budget Queen. I think that is really good advice. And HerfNerd, we may see you in Juneau!! Have a good trip :-)

We are on Celebrity Solstice departing on 1st September. We will be in Juneau on 4th September from 1.30pm to 10pm. We would really love to be able to do a whale-watching and Mendenhall Glacier combo but I'm a little nervous about timing. The combos that we were looking at are 5 hours long and departure times from Juneau are 2.30pm or 3.30pm. Would we have time to get to the 2.30pm excursion if we are not docking until 1.30pm? I am a bit afraid to go for the 3.30pm excursion as I think it might leave it very tight for the all aboard time when we are departing at 10pm.

Alternatively should we wait until we dock and then see if there is anything suitable on arrival? (Not really keen on this in case we are left with nothing).

Has anybody done these before? What would anyone recommend? Any advice would be very gratefully received.

Thanks

Hi there. For reasons that aren't worth going into, we have discovered that the Alaskan cruise that we have booked is possibly the least sensible choice. We are travelling in September ex Seattle which I understand can experience quite unpleasant sea conditions. We have cruised five times before (and did experience bad weather on one of them) however I am a bit concerned about this one. We had intended to purchase the 3 night dining package and wanted to use it at least twice for Muranos however the thought of eating there during bad sea conditions worries me. Would anyone who has gone on this route be able to advise whether the first and last nights are the nights that would be least likely to be rocky or should be wait until we get past the open sea crossing (which I think is on the first full sea day i.e. day 2??)?

Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.:)

Sorry, probably a silly question but why pay an additional $11 pppd to upgrade from classic to premium? Have I missed something? I thought that most bottled beers and spirits were on the classic list as well as wine by the glass and a discount on the purchase of bottles?

What is their web site santorinidaytours.com? Or something else? ANd who was your driver if I may ask?

Thanks!

So sorry. Went offline and only just back today. The website was info@amazing-santorini.com. Our driver had a longer name but we knew him as Markos. Best of luck with it :-)

We are just back from a cruise and used Santorini Day Tours. Couldn't recommend highly enough. Our stay in port should have been 0700-1600 so booked a driver for 0900 but the night before we arrived, we were told that "due to port authority decisions and union issues" we would not arrive until 0900 and not be allowed disembark until 1000 (but still had to be back on board at 1530) which seriously curtailed what we could manage - particularly with the delays getting up to and down from Thira. Our driver had no problem with the time change, took us on a different road to Oia than the normal tours use (thereby cutting out the traffic issues). He was passionate about his island, gave us lots of information and we managed far more than we expected.

Ingrid

Thanks Texan Cruzer. That's really useful information!!

We are a family of five (so need large taxi) arriving into Venice at 0600 and have a flight later that morning from Marco Polo airport. I understand that we will require lots of time and so want to book a land taxi transfer to be waiting when we disembark. I have a number of quotations and am looking to book with one veniceshuttle.it. Has anybody had any experience with them? Are they reliable?

Thanks for your help

We are a family of five staying for two nights in Venice before our cruise. We currently have a reservation (which can be cancelled) for the Corte Grimani apartments which get really good reviews. However, I am becoming a little concerned about getting to the ship on the day we leave. Having look at the map, I think that we will have a 2.2 km walk with five heavy roller suitcases over cobbled streets and bridges. The only alternative that I can see is to walk a little less and get a vaporetto for €7 per person to Piazzale Roma but I have read somewhere that it can be difficult to get room for your suitcases. Am I correct about both of these options or are there other transport options available? Failing that, are we better to cancel and book somewhere much closer to Piazzale Roma (although perhaps not as nice)? Any advice greatly appreciated

Hi again and thank you for your responses. As it happens, we are staying a few nights in Venice, in an apartment close to St Mark's Square, so will have eaten in Venice for a few nights already. Also, my parents are arriving on the day of check in and we will be meeting on the ship so I don't think that they would have the energy or inclination to go back into Venice for dinner but they may surprise me. I was more concerned about avoiding that first night crush in the MDR which I find quite unsettling (I know that's mad). It would appear, however, that that first night crush is more likely on the second night on this particular cruise so I may play the first night by ear and book the speciality restaurant for the second night.

Thanks again for all the responses!!

We are on a 12 night cruise out of Venice. Unusually we have an overnight in Venice before we depart. We had intended to avoid the first night chaos of the MDR and book a speciality restaurant but I am now wondering if it would make more sense to do this on the second night which is actually the night we depart the port? I have read that some people go into Venice for dinner on the night at port so wonder whether the MDR may be ok that night but worse the following night. Has anyone had experience of this?

Many thanks:)

hi , going on the nieuw amsterdam on 9th june 2015 for 12 nights . trying to add on to roll call , but seem to be struggling . can anyine help. cheers

Hi. Not sure if I can help. We are also on that sailing and there appears to be one person who is organising the roll call. If you have not yet got sorted, do you want me to alert her and see if she can help?

Thanks everyone. I'll stick with the original plan so :)

We are a family of five travelling with Holland America in June and will stop in Athens. I had intended taking the metro into the Acropolis and doing the tour ourselves, however, all the reviews that I have read have all stressed the importance of getting there early to miss the hordes of people. Unfortunately, our ship doesn't even dock until 10am and given that it is in mid June and we depart from Piraeus again at 6pm, I am now wondering if it might make more sense to take the financial hit and book the ship's four hour excursion instead??

Any advice very gratefully received.:)

Mapleleaves, you are a bright and shiny star!!! Thanks so much for all of that information, including the disorganisation at the airport. Our ship is scheduled to dock at 6am but our flight is at 1140. On paper it shouldn't be a problem but I am a bit concerned given everything I've read. None of this should have been an issue but the cruiseline changed the schedule of the ship and instead of having an overnight in Venice on the way home, we now have it at the start which makes it a little more problematic. Thanks again!!

Hi. I'm also interested in transfers from the port to the airport. My ship is due to dock at 6am (but obviously this may be a little delayed). My flight is at 1140 and one of the sites suggests that the transfer time is very tight. Could you advise whether you booked the water taxi in advance or if you organised it when you got off the ship and if so, was there much of a delay. There will be five of us. Can they take five and approximately how much should we budget for?

Many thanks