Host Bonjour

Thanks for sharing this informative piece from The Sun by Ryan Gray. 👍 We always like to give credit when posting content from other sources 😉 I feel like it'll hurt students and artists and such, those whom you'd kind of want to have access to the city, though maybe as can often be the case, pensioners and students etc will be free or reduced charge. Otherwise, yes! The money can only help with preservation and restoration costs. We hope 🙂 Thanks again for sharing!

Just about anywhere in Italy is challenging (if not closed, shorter or reduced hours) on a Sunday, but with that said, as Genoa is a port city and not a small provincial town, you'll be able to find somewhere to eat lunch. And yes, on regular business days, it's likely most businesses will close for lunch in the afternoon. Small independently owned shops will almost certainly be closed, but any large franchise type operation may be open for limited hours. If there's any place you have an eye on checking out, I would google in advance to see whether or not it will be open. Enjoy your Med Cruise, it's going to be amazing 😎

Yes you can, at at the front desk. Otherwise, tourism would go into sharp decline. Servers will speak english in citie It's true there will be less English spoken outside of cities, but with professional workers, and definitely the younger generations, there will almost certainly be English speakers because everything is inter-connected these days, and it's incorporated into education at an early age. Don't overlook using Google translate, which includes a speaking component that will "speak" words. I believe that similar to maps, a fair amount of it works offline. (I'm into speaking languages so I've not experimented, it didn't exist when I needed it in Hong Kong, China and Japan!) And it's available in a staggering amount of languages. It's important to be prepared in the event of any encounter that might require language facility. In no instance should one expect everyone to be fluent in our own language, even if more of the global population are capable of speaking it (and mastering), these days. Keep the phone charged and ready with a language translator at the ready, hopefully not for use in any emergency, just finding an amazing winery or castle 😉

I would have never noticed 😂 and it's another brilliant shot, in every way. I must have lost a sense of romance, these days I notice murmurations, whichever tree is the "conversation" tree (you know the one) or, as happened recently, why one edge of a building was lined end to end with birds, while directly across the street, was lightly populated. Missing the courtship for sure. And this photo begs for captions. I love it.

Do they ever make a sound! Not when reclining of course, but when two get to kicking each other, wow. In the Blue Mountains I witnessed, from decent distance, an all out brawl and the howling sounds sure broke the silence in an otherwise tranquil setting. Quite a thing to be wandering amidst these creatures that are lounging about... routine for you all, I'm sure. But what an experience, which is exactly why we travel. Talk about a way to travel, joey there has the best ride in town. I almost thought this was a camouflaged reptile. This is what the absence of any variety flora and fauna in one's environment does to a person. 😂 So, so cool. There's a YouTube channel called The Dodo which posts very short videos of all types of animals. There is one from Australia with the brightly colored red and green bird, a lady who gets her daily visitors of a community of these birds. One brings his girlfriend. We don't see any pigeon romances around here. I guess you just have to look! Thanks for the spectacular photos, everyone, every week.

Honestly don't think we've seen this question, or if so, not for a long time. My best thought would be to ask your hotel to recommend a service? It might be interesting to go into the city, drop your luggage at the hotel if it's too early to check in, and plan to visit Le Marais and Montmarte, two particular neighborhoods of Paris with unique appeal. A taxi could easily bring you to both areas, recommend where to explore (Le Bastille, Place des Vosges, Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge etc) pick places to eat, walk around, and before you know it, time for bed. Give you a bit more of a feel for Paris. Check with your hotel. Good luck.

They're not necessarily wrong about HoHo's in terms of getting a feel for a city, but I think it's most helpful for certain cities, particularly those that have many sections that aren't necessarily connected in any particular way. Paris is very well connected, by design: look at it on a map (with the arronidissments noted) and observe that they are arranged in order, clockwise, crossing the river from the Right Bank (where the 1st arr is, in central paris) jumping the Seine to start at the 5th, on the Left Bank, and then crossing the river again to start the 8th, etc etc. It's also not very big. You would spend most of your time exploring the inner circle of the city, though by all means, be ambitious, especially if you're DIY. That's why the best way to do Paris is a combo of walking, metro, or even renting a bicycle. (Maybe a bus, but Paris also can be notorious for traffic depending on the day and time) Another HoHo issue is that the buses cannot fit down many of the smaller (and more curious, picturesque, pedestrian/tiny car/scooter only) streets of Paris. They do the grander boulevards, which are worth seeing, but you really want to dig into les quartiers... the neighborhoods. If it were me, when I arrive I would check in, if it's time to eat, ask for a recommendation from the concierge (or folks at the desk, who know the area well) in a near-ish place so you can have a nice walk, maybe with an alternate route back. Get an unlimited transit pass while you're out. Walk by the river, maybe take the Seine cruise (and take another at night, yes it's lovely) because it slices through the city, in itself, a great overview. Or, depending on where you're staying, just park yourselves in another cafe and people watch somewhere splendid, swing by the Louvre and walk along rue de Rivoli or pop into the Tuileries, on the Champs Elysées, Boulevard St Michel, Boulevard St Germain, or go to Champs du Mars and relax for a while. Walking from Place d'Etoile to Place de la Concorde is a stroll, but if your lodging is somewhere along the way, it's lovely. Just ideas for previews. If you have 3-4 days or more in Paris, you will have enough time to take in museums, gardens, see monuments, parks, shops, whatever it is you're interested in but keep in mind that no one can see everything. People miss things when trying to do too much. It's such a beautiful city with architecture, history, atmosphere, all around you. Make room for some random things and let the DIY spirit set you free. Oh and with Notre Dame still being renovated, consider visiting Saint Chappelle instead, but you want sunlight for that. (I know there's Sacre Coeur, but the stained glass and concerts get overlooked)... Anyway... pace yourself, but stick to the ground on day 1, Paris is quite manageable. Have a lovely time.

Hello Cruise Photographers 📸 🚢 At 71 pages loaded with enough ships to probably circle the equator a few times, it seemed like we were overdue to start compiling another volume of stunning images of ships in port. It can be the one you're sailing on, others in port or if you live in or near a port, show us what you saw. (Great view of RCL on the West Side Highway Sunday but it was super hot and I was running late for an event I was coordinating! 🤪 err... well the ship was in the berth, I was in the car 🙃) Here is a link to the original Ships in Port Photo topic for anyone interested in browsing the history, or if you've previously posted in the topic and would like access to your content. The topic is closed to new posts, but still lives here on the board and won't go anywhere. Really looking forward to the new collection! Thanks to everyone for taking the time to create and share these wonderful images. Keep well and smile 🙂

Would a pinned topic be helpful? As this is part of our current reality and travel planning, would it be convenient to have one place to post and answer questions, as opposed to scanning through pages and topics? One would be able to jump to the latest info and/or search the topic to see whether or not the information they need has been posted. Folks can also post the latest news, updates, links as it is rolled out: when/where/how to get tests, time tables, airlines, hotels, port, etc. Let's have the yeahs and nays please! Thanks in advance.

!Hola! After a wonderful run at about 22 pages, it seems the right time to begin a new chapter of Palma de Mallorca DIY topic, with thanks to everyone, especially roger b, for making it such a wonderful part of the Spain community. I have closed that thread to new posts but it remains viewable to anyone as a valuable source of information for trip planning or if you wish to review any of the posts you have made to the topic in the past. Having fewer pages will make it more amenable to searches for new and repeat visitors alike, rather than a place where only new posts will get added on to the existing topic, making it a valuable source of information for visitors to the Spain message board. In the new thread, please continue to adhere to the forum T.O.S., as everyone here has always done, and focus your wonderful contributions on the do-it-yourself topics of interest that have made the original compilation such a rousing success. Examples of DIY inquiries/discussions are, but not limited to: Arranging transportation to/from, or while in port Restaurants Accommodations What to see or do while in port Beaches HoHo buses and ordinary buses And....other pertinent DIY inquiries This is definitely NOT the place to ask about tours, guides, etc. as that takes us outside the realm of DIY. Best answer to someone posting such a question (or a review we don't see and remove; remember you can always alert us for prompt removal!) is to refer them to a topic that might answer the question they have asked about a tour, or kindly suggest starting a new topic, so that this topic adheres to its mission. Thanks in advance everyone for making Palma de Mallorca 2.0 the success we know it will be. 🙂

Hello Spain Ports Community! Its been 7 years and 20 pages since the original Barcelona Day Tours (BDT) thread was started. I figured it was time to start a fresh thread. Please post your requests here for information and experiences from fellow cruisers with BDT. As our experienced Cruise Critic members know, this is one of the rare exceptions made when direct questions may be posted regarding Barcelona Day Tours. A similar exemption exists on our Italy ports board. The intention of this thread is to accommodate our members’ information sharing and reduce the number of similar threads so that other Spain port questions will be easy to view. And the obligatory fine print.... Please keep our TOS re: limits on discussion when posting requests/replies to posts; our rules are stated at the top of this board in the formerly “sticky” notes, now pinned topics. Remember about "one (or two) post wonders as well. Those will be removed. Everyone that posts here is always wonderful and we appreciate your enthusiastic participation on this and every single topic throughout Cruise Critic. We’re not us without you. And so about that Barcelona port stop....🚢