Denverite

Do you know how far it is to walk from SagradaFamilia to Catalunya

I would actually like to know the answer to this also. I did plot with Google Maps a walk from Sagrada Familia to Casa Mila (about 1.1 miles), then down Passeig de Gracia to Placa de Catalunya (about 1/2 mile or less), and then down La Rambla to Columbus Circle (another mile), so a total of about 2-1/2 miles for that route. I'm not sure how accurate this is but that is what Google Maps shows. Perhaps someone who has actually walked can provide better information. If you go to Google Maps and put in both destinations, you should be able to get an idea.

I am going to be purchasing my tickets soon and had a question to those that have been there before.

 

If I book the 9:00am entrance time, the first entrance time is at 9:30am for the Passion Tower. If I book the 9:30am tower can you then go back into the main part of the church once you are finished with the tower?

 

Thanks

Yes. Last time we were there, we had just booked the admission. After visiting the church, we went to the ticket booth and booked tower tickets. We had to wait about 1/2 hour for the tower. However, once you come down from the tower you are in the main part of the church and can still look around for as long as you want. Just an FYI for anyone who decides to wait to book tower tickets when you get there, get them as soon as you arrive. We were able to go to the back of the ticket booth and did not have to wait in any lines. If you wait until after you have looked around the inside of the church, you may have to wait until your timed ticket for the towers comes up. And they were very strict with the timed tower tickets. Make sure you are there at your appointed time.

We just purchased tickets for our May trip yesterday. The web site was very easy to use. We used the Sagrada Familia web site first to choose tickets. All is in English. Once you choose date, how many tickets and what type, and time, the site then links you to the Clorian site to pay. Although this was not in English (or perhaps there was a link to English that I did not see), it was very easy to determine that they just wanted your credit card number, expiration month/date, and 3-digit code from the back of the credit card. Once you purchase the tickets, there will be a link to print the tickets. Also, you will receive an e-mail with a pdf copy of the tickets. Very easy!

Thanks to all of you for the detailed information. We will look for both Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti check-in counters at Marco Polo Airport. Air Dolomiti supposedly has 4 flights from Venice to Munich on the day we fly, so I'm not too concerned, even if we miss our connections in Munich. After all, we are flying home and will get there when we get there. I did allow 2 hrs in Munich for connection time and 2 hours 20 minutes in Chicago. And thanks Zach123 for the detailed information on Chicago customs/immigration. I've gone through customs/immigration in San Francisco, Denver, DC and NY, but never Chicago, so that really helps.

As for carry-on luggage, I think we'll be okay with one small carry-on and no problem with weight of carry-on. Unless of course we buy something large and heavy in Venice - oh, probably not!

I thought I knew what to expect but I just read the thread about "which airline to check in with". We will be flying in June Venice to Munich to Chicago to Denver on a ticket purchased through United. All flights are United flights except for Venice to Munich, which is operated by Air Dolomiti (a Star Alliance partner). According to my ticket, it shows $0 for first bag checked Venice to Denver. I'm not so much worried about whether or not Air Dolomiti might charge me for baggage, but whether to check in at the Air Dolomiti counter or United counter in order to get bags checked through to Denver (and I did check to make sure the flight goes from Marco Polo airport and not the other Venice airport). I know the Marco Polo airport does get crowded. I'll check with United but thought someone here might know. And I "assume" that the bags will be checked all the way to Denver and not to Munich and then re-checked there. I know we have to go through customs/immigration in Chicago as that is our first stop in the US.

Thanks.

We have tours booked with Tour of Sicily (Tradizione Turismo) from Palermo and Messina. I can't yet recommend them since we have not yet been there, but I will say they are very easy to communicate with and very prompt in responses. From Palermo we are going to Segesta and Monreale. I think their prices are reasonable. Their web site shows various recommended tours under "shore excursions". Their web site is http://www.tourofsicily.com and they are highly recommended on trip advisor.

I agree with everyone that Princess prices are very high, even with the discount that our TA can get for us. We are almost elite with Princess but decided to venture out and try other cruise lines because of the prices. We are booked on a 22-day Med cruise with HAL in May that is far less than other cruise line prices. We also check the Celebrity Tuesday Specials. I really like Princess but prices and itinerary are now more our focus and we will now shop around for our cruise vacations. I still want to try one of the new Princess ships, Royal or Regal, but will wait until prices come down, if they do.

Thanks Hank and Suzski for the additional information. I think since this is such a port intensive cruise (22 days with 3 sea days) that we will just take it easy and walk through Korcula. If we have time we might take the local bus or taxi to Lumbarda. Thanks again for responding.

I must admit that we enjoyed taking a private tour while on Korcula. It was organized by one of our fellow cruisers and we drove a long way thoughout the island and visited 2 wineries. If you are a oenophile you should try to sample some Grk wine, which is a white wine grape unique to the island. The wine is quite drinkable, and then you can tell your friends you tried Grk. We actually brought a bottle back to the ship and shared it with the wine steward...who although a Master Sommelier, admitted that he had never heard of Grk.

 

Hank

Hank: Do you know what tour company you used? I found one company but thought the price of 635 Euros was a bit high for what we want to do.

Thanks.

I have not been in Monte Carlo during the Grand Prix, but we will be there this year on May 22, 2014. The Grand Prix is Thursday through Sunday (22nd through 25th), and the Cannes Film Festival is May 14-25, 2014. We have a private driver picking us up in Monte Carlo. His information indicated that ships will not dock in Monte Carlo but will tender to the Fontvieille pier, not dock at the main Hercule pier. He said they do this every year and no problem picking us up as the Fontvieille pier is away from the crowds. It looks like from the Monte Carlo port web site that most, if not all, ships will tender to Fontvieille during the month of May. I know that does not answer your question about public transportation from Cannes to Monte Carlo, but I would guess it will be very crowded if you are in Cannes or Monte Carlo during this time period.

Thank you both for your ideas. Sounds like we could just make a relaxing day of it. I think we will just play it by ear that day. I did find that you can get a taxi near the bus station for about 70 Kuna to Lumbarda (that price might be out of date). Also, they have water taxis and buses so we could look into that. Also thinking of renting a bicycle and just riding around the area for a couple of hours. We will probably just end up as you said sitting and enjoying a beer watching all the other people be active!

I have searched back a few pages but without the search function, it is difficult to find posts on Korcula, Croatia. We will be in Korcula the first part of June and this is sandwiched between Dubrovnik; Kotor Montenegro; then Korcula; and then Split. We have pretty active on-our-own days for the other ports so are looking for something more relaxing for Korcula.

How difficult would it be to get to either Lumbarda (looks like about 5 miles away) or Smokvica (about 20 miles) by taxi? Expensive? Thinking of visiting the winery in Smokvica. Any problems with taxis returning if we don't have a taxi wait? We really don't want to rent a car.

Any other ideas of what to do, other than walking around Korcula?

Thanks for any help.

Fran

I would love to get more information on Palermo as I am having a hard time finding anything that looks interesting. Erice looks interesting for the views and the marzipan cakes, but not sure about Segesta as it appears there is a temple in the middle of a field. Anyone been to Segesta? Would also be interested in feedback on Monreale and Cefalu.

As a technical person I like to walk on the Deck 1 (aft from the Atrium) to listen to voice of the engines. A cruise ship is a huge sophisticated machine, but I take it as a live being and love to hear and feel it being alive (noise, vibration, motion, smell, toots...).

However, I don't want to stay in a cabin close to engines.

So ocean view cabins behind the atrium is no go for me. If it's the only option I would rather look for a different date.

Generally, ocean view category is what I never book. I prefer an inside if I want to save or a balcony if I want a balcony.

An obstructed view on Deck 4 is an excellent compromise.

They are lovely cabins conveniently located.

Sometimes they are available at a price of an inside.

If those cabins are within your budget - no doubt.

Cabins on the lowest deck and closest to ship's center of buoyancy (slightly aft midships) are the least affected by motion.

 

Another consideration regarding large J cabins on Deck 1. This place in flight from the ports that are used in ports of call. As you board the ship, it takes a few seconds to get to your cabin.

Thank you for the additional information. I was concerned about the noise from the engines. I don't mind motion from the ship and actually like a little rocking side to side in the aft. If prices come down enough, we will spring for a balcony with the single supplement. Otherwise, it will be Obstructed OV on Deck 4 if still available.

The closer to the pivot point of the ship, the smoother the ride. That's determined fore to aft, side to side, and top to bottom. Main Deck, especially close to mid-ship, is right about there at the pivot point. It's about the smoothest place on the ship.

 

The passenger areas look just about like all the other passenger areas on the other decks, so there is no sense that you are "in the bowels" of the ship, as you put it. The mid-ship area has the atrium, Front Desk, Shore Excursion Office, and the Future Cruise Consultant's desk, so it feels like a spacious, active area of the ship, too.

The outside cabins have windows above the water line, so there are interesting views of the sea.

Thank you so much RuthC. That is just the information I was looking for!

We have not sailed on the Noordam and noticed this thread about the inside cabins on the Main Deck. We have never been that low on a ship before, always opting for middle deck toward the aft of a ship. Could you comment on being that low on the ship--i.e., more movement, less movement, do you feel like you are in the bowels of the ship? Trying to decide on either OV on Main Deck or Partially Obstructed View (4079/4087) on Deck 4 for someone traveling with us who will have to pay single supplement. If the only OVs available are toward the aft, would you get more noise being that far down? I'm rethinking now that an inside cabin might not be too bad for a 22-day European trip due to your comments. Thanks.

We have cruised over a dozen times with Princess and once with HAL. We are now looking at Celebrity Silhouette May 2014 Venice RT or Venice to Rome. We have a friend who will be going with us and will book her own cabin. Because of the hefty solo rate, we are going to wait to book if a Tuesday Special is available. We are okay with any cabin, we have checked airfare and realize it will be higher, and are flexible with dates. And if it doesn't work out, that is okay as I have back-up plans in place for later cruises. We are not interested in the 1-2-3 promotion.

Questions:

1. When I did dummy bookings based on available Tuesday specials, I was able to get the reduced rate for 2 people, but when I changed to one person, the rate was 200% of the original rate, not 200% of the Tuesday Special. The chart on the Tuesday Specials indicates 200% Single Supplement. Is that really not available for singles?

2. Does Celebrity allow solo to book GTY?

3. I am assuming final payment for May 2014 cruises would be 90 days prior to sail date, and if so, I would need to look around mid-February for any price drops. Correct?

I realize there may not be any Tuesday Specials for the particular cruise we are looking for but as I indicated, we have other options.

Thanks for any help.

We just returned from our Rome to Ft. Lauderdale transatlantic and once again had an unbelievable time with Stefano of Rome Cabs. We have traveled many times with him and he does not disappoint. This time we did a one day tour from Rome on our arrival (Castles and Lake tour). It was just the right amount of time for our first day since we were jet lagged. One of the best things about Stefano is that he knows all the really great restaurants and we have never had a disappointing meal when with him. We also did an all day tour (Sutri, Calcata, and Viterbo) on our next port day from Civitavecchia. Once again a very informative day. If you haven't visited Calcata, I highly recommend it. We were there in November and practically had the place to ourselves, thus allowing us to get some great scenic photo shots. Once again, had a great meal in Viterbo. We had a very comfortable van for the 7 in our group. We have been lucky enough to have Stefano himself for all our trips and are quite fond of him. I'll post a review and a link to some photos in a separate posting on the Italy port of call board... Fran

We did the British Isles cruise a year or so ago with Princess. Our stop was at Holyhead, Wales and we did book with Busybus. We had the mini-bus and absolutely loved the tour. I know they also have a larger bus but we wanted a smaller group so booked specifically the mini-bus. Our driver was fantastic and I definitely recommend this company. Because our tour was from Holyhead, our itinerary was a bit different than what you have listed. We visited Caernarfon Castle, Snowdonia National Park, stopped at Betws-y Coed for lunch, and then on to Conwy Castle and Llanfair (souvenir place). We had Bob as our driver/guide and he was great. We had a group of 12. Definitely highly recommend this company.

Is Nha Trang the sort of place you can just get off the ship and find a local guide who could take you around? Taxi?? I appreciate that a lack of English may be a problem.

 

How far is the town itself from where the cruise ship docks?

 

Thanks for your help - you have been fantastic.

 

Beryl

Beryl: Hopefully someone else will answer you about finding local transportation. The tender leaves you off very close to some shops and the Oceanographic Museum. There are vendors there selling postcards, hats, etc., as well as vendors right at the dock selling most everything. However, I'm not sure about taxis. Lack of English might be a big problem unless you had a map of places and you could perhaps point to where you want to go to. If you want to see anything of Nha Trang, you really need some sort of transportation as many of the sites are some distance from the port. Also, the city of Nha Trang is rather spread out, as far as I could tell from the van ride. I never explored local transportation because we knew we were going to do a tour. Sorry but I'm not going to be a lot of help on this one...Fran

We used the same company as Roger (Macro Duck). I think the company had about 7 individual tours that day so they probably had to parcel out the tour guides. It is always luck of the draw as to what guide you get. Our guide was very charming; his English was just difficult to understand.

The boat portion of the tour was only about 45 minutes. We actually enjoyed it because it was so hot. The boat takes you to coconut island, around the harbor/fishing boat area, and then to the place where you have a snack. Also you see some of the houses on stilts by the water, a rickety bridge, rice paddy, interesting scenery from the boat. You get on and off the boat at coconut island and the house where you have a snack. I think some of the tours did the reverse of what we did and they did the boat portion at the end. I don't know of anyone who just did the land only portion. The company told us to try to be the first off the ship, which we were. We were on the first tender and met our guide a little after 9am. We were back in plenty of time to walk around. Since you are doing a private excursion, you can tell the company when you want to return to the port. We actually had time to stop at the beach and take pictures. We didn't spend much time at the Dam Market as we were really not looking for souvenirs. I believe the last tender was to leave at 5:30pm (it is only a 10 minute or so tender ride).

April 20, 2009: We had booked a tour for 8 of us that was really fun and interesting. This is a tender port but we had no problems getting tender tickets for the first tender. The tender ride takes only about 10 to 15 minutes. Once you get off the tender (and yes, there are many vendors right at the dock), you walk a short distance to the Oceanographic Museum to meet the guide. It was difficult to understand our guide’s English, but the tour itself was terrific. We had a short tour of the Oceanographic Museum and then boarded our van for a ride through Nha Trang. The beaches and manicured trees are really nice. We boarded a riverboat for our trip down the Cai River, with views of houses on stilts, fishing boats, rice paddies, rickety bridges, before stopping at “coconut island”. The family here chopped off the tops of fresh coconuts and we had coconut milk. Then back on the little boat to visit a family house and have tea and fruit. We also visited a house where they were doing rush mat weaving. You could try your hand at the weaving (but don’t quit your day job). We then visited an orphanage where the children sang a song for us and we handed out candy. I had packed 300 lollipops in my suitcase for this. Priceless pictures of the children! After all that it was time for lunch at a seaside restaurant—included spring rolls, cucumber soup, squid with vegetables, mackeral in tomato sauce, rice, and fresh bananas. Not quite finished with the tour yet! On to the most amazing embroidery workshop/store—here is definitely the place to buy first-class souvenir picture if you need something for your house. Some smaller pictures were $120 to $180 and larger and more complicated pictures were much more. These embroidered pictures of flowers, Vietnam life, or people looked like paintings and were very intricate.

We also visited the PoNagar Temple (about 100 steps up to the temple), with wonderful views of the harbor and fishing boats below. Final stops at the Dam Market for souvenirs and the beach to walk in the sand and take pictures.

For photos of our trip, I posted a link to our photo web site on the Cruise Blog thread.

Highlights: The entire tour

Lowlights: The guide’s English, although this did not spoil the tour, and I applaud anyone who attempts to learn the English language

Oh--good to know that the dropoff point is different on the second day. So it looks like we will be going through Central MTR. I think I read somewhere that there is an underground walkway from the pier to Central, or perhaps I was dreaming, but I am sure we will figure it out. I think we will only use MTR for one day so probably will do single journey tickets instead of an Octopus card. I understand they also have a Tourist One-Day Pass that costs HK$55 (about $7US) if we decide to go other places via MTR.

I assume you went to Lantau Island -- anything not to be missed, other than the cable car ride and the Big Buddha. The main reason for us for going is the cable car and it appears there is a gelato shop at Ngong Ping!

Do you have any other recommendations for Hong Kong? We are thinking of doing a night-time cruise to see the lights. There is a cruise aboard a wooden junk that leaves from Kowloon Public Pier #3 at 7:40pm to see the Symphony of Lights.

Thanks for all your help.

Thanks Bohemian. Great directions. We will probably do this the second day but assume the shuttle drops us off at the same place. Your directions help. I've located the MTR lines on a map so should be easier than trying to figure out Central MTR that looks like a lot of entrances and exits.