geomagot

 

Any great ones NOT to miss?

 

caldera de taburiente national park la palma.... really beautiful... clear air... stunning scenery and ..... the silence takes your breath away:cool:

easy to get a taxi from dockside

How's the food? plenty of choice? good quality?

i'm guessing it will be majesty in canaries this winter??

cant really comment on quality of majesty food have only been on maj once and that was ages ago (others will know) but id do know that there will be plenty of choice... you have to be an incredibly fussy eater to not find something you like on the menu each day and even if you still cant? the waiters will try and find something for you

wine packages are good value imo 5 bottles for about £70 (includes prosecco/zinfandel/pinot grigio etc)

I can't imagine the ship is full as when the cabins are getting low it always says only so many of this type of cabin, but no indication yesterday.

yes i have noticed this too... they dont print that 'hurry only 2 cabins left' when availability is getting low on the new website? (as they did with the old website) when cabin categories are fully booked they just disappear? makes it v difficult to check on availability especially as you cannot check for cabin only availability now either:confused:

same is happening with standard economy aircraft seats

cruise availability is very dependant on available seats on the plane?

but i have noticed that certain cruises keep on disappearing from the website then reappearing again?? The new website is a bit of a mess imo:(

compared to caribbean its not that warm in canaries at that time of year? weather can be v unpredictable (its in the atlantic) its usually pleasant about 20 degrees & sunny but can be quite rainy/stormy & sea temperature isnt great for swimming, it can depend which part of the islands the ship docks at, its warmer in the south of tenerife & gnd canaria unfortunately the ship docks in the north (big storm in tenerife last christmas too.... hopefully that was a one off?)

on the ai? imo you have to sink quite a few each day to make a dent in the ai at full price and many drinks carry a further supplement we usually do payg (unless they offer us a deal) then we can drink the brands that we like (rather than the house wine & cruise spirits) and our bar bill is never anywhere near what they want for ai.... they have 2 for 1 cocktails and happy hour offers each day and payg bar prices are pretty reasonable

hope this helps

When we last went we had cozumel and p.d.c. that was why I wondered. The itinerary has probably been change now so they can change if needed.

we had pdc & cozumel on our itinerary which turned into cozumel & cozumel (there was quite a bit of grumbling onboard about that) to be fair there is plenty to do in cozumel its very much similar to playa del carmen (same shops same senor frogs same taco bars etc) and its easy to get the fast ferry over to pdc the ferry dock is footsteps from the cruise dock

i dont think its the bar staffs' fault, i guess mistakes are made sometimes? thats normal everywhere, i dont think the staff do it deliberately? the bar staff (in fact all the staff) are generally pretty (very) helpful ... maybe they have cut down on bar staff again? putting them under pressure during busy times? have seen a few reports from recent returners of 'cut backs' in staff numbers? especially on dream & celeb

they'll probably substitute it for cozumel (its a much more reliable port for docking) tbh its only 20 minutes on the fast ferry from cozumel to pdc, thoms will still put on the chichen itza tours etc from cozumel they will just put their pax on the mexcoast ferry (pax would have had to tender into pdc anyway)

its quite a year for changing ports tho this year isnt it? (especially on dream) i guess its better to inform people before they go than to make sudden changes at the last minute (as we had last year, san blas/pdc/costa maya/falmouth) … I expect they had a landslide of complaints about that

yes we missed playa del carmen last year, its a tender port, the weather is notorious in that area... it can change in seconds

we sailed over the water to cozumel instead

the weather changed so quickly that some passengers who had already tendered ashore earlier were left stranded on the beaches :eek: and were brought over to cozumel on the mexcoast ferry (after they had witnessed the sight of their ship disappearing over the horizon)

i'm guessing that thoms probably dont want to take any chances with pdc again this year

Hope you are successful in finding your drink. Just returned from Celebration and had great difficulty in getting a Gordon's gin and tonic and a Bacardi and Coke. I was not on a drinks package and was repeatedly given cheaper alternatives. When pointing this out all bar staff did was pour more cheap spirit into my glass. I didn't want a stronger drink, only the correct brand.

yes i have noticed this too when on payg (i like barcardi ... dont like the cruise choice white spirit) ... i'm guessing that because you are having to pay per drink the staff believe that you would prefer the cheaper option (cruise choice) rather than the branded options (bacardi) which costs more

conversely? our kids always had a problem getting a glass of coke £1.10 (rather than the more expensive can £2.80) they would always sell them a can each time (I’m guessing thats because by volume the can works out cheaper)

here's some notes on aruba/curacau/bonaire

aruba:

the best beaches are on the resort strip (eagle/palm/arashi beach) very easy to get a local bus (about $2pp) from the terminal which is opposite the port gates

lots of hi rise resorts & shopping malls here but all the beaches are public (you can just walk through the resorts to get to them) sunbed rentals range from $10 for 2 to $35 at the Rui resort!

the town is a pleasant walk with shops bars a market and a marina (turn right out of the ports gates) past the marina there is a small beach attached to the renaissance resort (its a public beach you can use it) and another beach further on near the airport runway, its a nice sea front walk, there are some coffee shops along there (and lots of huge iguanas)

curacau:

the ship docks virtually in town, its a very pretty dutch colonial town, nice shopping mall, pretty architecture and a floating market (over the swing bridge, if the bridge is open you can get on the adjacent ferry (free)) and a fort and some hi end shops if you follow the road straight up past the floating bridge to the other cruise ship terminal at the top of the road

the main bus terminal is near the central market (after the floating market you will see a large round building this is the market) it will cost about $2pp for the bus to mambo beach (get off at the breezes resort stop or at the sea aquarium stop)

entrance to mambo beach $3pp and deck chairs will be extra, lots of shops bars at the back of the beach and a couple of resorts (taxi to mambo beach is about $20 for the taxi)

bonaire:

another dutch colonial town just yards from where the ship docks, its small with a few shops (a touristy craft market) a small fort and beach front bars

easy to get a water taxi from karels beach bar (next to the ship) over to klein bonaire (a completely undeveloped desert island with a fantastic shallow reef for snorkelling) boats leave and return about hourly

or you can walk along the sea front to the Divi resort (or get a tuk tuk taxi) again all beaches are public so you can use their beach

hope this helps

Not sure what is in a Sidecar but I think it will cost you if any of the ingredients are not within the drink package.

brandy & orange (i think?) probably one of the ingredients carries a supplement on ai (quite a lot do):(

on a plus tho: they did have my cocktail of choice on dream last christmas... bottle of red stripe :cool: and they had banks beer too (dunno if they carried a supplement? we always do payg on dream)

I am soooooo sad I can't see sidecars on the menu :( Oh well I will just have to sample them all until I find another one I like.

the bar tenders will fix cocktails not on the menu if you ask :cool: (if they have the ingredients)

there is a rule? ... its just not enforced its smart casual in main dining room or formal evening wear on gala evening

cant help with ladies wear? (afaik there are no rules for ladies) many of the men will be in dj's on formal night a few in shirt & tie & and a few in open neck shirts (all acceptable)

or you can use the buffet resturant which is casual

cant help with theme nights on spirit? but they do have them on dream (british/caribbean/asian etc)

Should we cash our £££'s into USA $$$ before we go or change them when we get over there ?

We do have a money card that can be used worldwide and gives a good exchange rate as well

 

Never mind it's only ten weeks to National Sprout Day today !

 

Hope you all have a great weekend

10 weeks today... woo hooo:cool::)

no wait!?

i'll be on celebration.... no sprouts:( ... maybe a pumpkin tho ... woo hoo:cool:

we change our £'s before we go... online (slightly better rate for click & collect) cant help with money cards... have never used them? i'm guessing you can use them in the cashpoints but dont they dispense local currency?

some info on some of your ports on this tread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262145

and beaches on this thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2266299

hope this helps

Thank you so much Geomagot that was very thoughtful, I will be ok Cuba Libra and French Martini being my fave tipples so I am sorted.

 

Can I ask another question I did post it somewhere but can't remember where and I can't see an answer anywhere so I will ask again.

 

Is the formal dress code strictly followed? If we book one of the speciality restaurants for that night would we be turned away from the venue if we didn't follow the dress code as hubby is not sure about a dinner suit in the Carribean.

the formal dress code only applies in the main dining room on formal night, its not strictly enforced, many do wear dinner suits/full highland dress etc but many also wear collar & tie and some wear chinos & open neck shirt (its down to personal preference... whatever you enjoy) the only rule is no vests/shorts/sandals in the main dining room (on any night)

in the speciality restaurants smart casual is perfectly acceptable even on formal night (again some will dress up and some dont)

enjoy those martinis (they are strong);)

Thanks Geomagot. Much better than my effort which I would delete if I could.

 

Sent from my SM-T330 using Tapatalk

its not your fault sparkly, posting pics on this forum is a bit tricky? they always come out as tiny thumbnails that no one can see?, i use a free picture hosting site to post my pics on here

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and finally here's a copy of the dreamliner bar menu

enjoy

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Yeeeehaaaa it's appeared when I opened the forum this time thank you so much geomagot for all your trouble very kind indeed

 

 

Glad I previewed this message before posting predictive text had turned you into geomagnetic :eek:

must be my magnetic charm:cool::D

while i am (spending all afternoon) uploading menus:)

here's the boatyard beach club menu for those that may be interested in going

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prices are in barbados dollars divide by 2 for us$

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I know it's me - but I can't seem to find a deck,plan if I do a dummy booking?

click on meet the fleet on thoms home page, then click on your ship, then chose the deck plans tab at the top

hope this helps

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Can you see the pages? I can't see anything

are you using a phone/tablet? try clearing your cache or try to view them in chrome browser

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