VirtualRain

Although you have no leverage, what have people been successful in negotiating when you see a significant price reduction on your cruise after you've already made final payment?

Once I was able to get an upgrade from an inside to an ocean view, since the price of the ocean view had dropped to about what I paid for the inside. I had to demand talking to someone in charge though. They weren't just going to give it up easily. I say something like... "These late price drops just encourage everyone to book their cruise at the last minute... Is that what you want me to do next time?"

Has anyone had similar, or better luck? Anyone told there's absolutely nothing that can be done? Do some of you not bother to monitor prices after final payment, or do, but don't complain?

I'm now planning to take a few Princess shore excursions... They are priced in USD. I see I can pay for those in advance, but it's not clear what the exchange rate will be. Has anyone recently prepaid shore excursions? Are they billed at 10% exchange rate? Maybe I'm better off buying more OBC and paying for the excursions that way?

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

As people may have noticed, since I changed photo hosting sites, the pictures are no longer showing up and this site doesn't allow editing posts, so here's a link to the photos...

Sounds like you've got the best of what's offered if you don't want to go to the Bardo. (It's the museum where all the best Roman-era mosaics from around Tunisia are displayed.)

 

 

 

The baths are considered part of Carthage, so if your tour description of the Carthage tour mentions anything about baths, you'll probably go there. It's not far from the Citadel and Sidi Bou Said. Then again, on a half-day tour there just may not be time.

 

 

 

What line are you on that is still calling at Tunis? I know many have canceled after the incident a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed Tunisia (so much so that after a couple of port stops, I went there for two weeks to see the Roman sites.....!)

We're on Princess who cancelled one port of call on June 1st and is evaluating the rest. Our scheduled stop is June 11th so I'm not sure what to expect.

All 3 are good. Carthage is interesting if ruins float your boat. Not too much in way of signage, so you'd have to stick with the tour guides.

Sidi Bou is absolutely charming. I'd consider buying a holiday home there.

The Souk in Tunis is very cool. Lots of alleys to explore. You'll probably get lost, but somehow always end up at the square where the coach/taxi will drop you off.

For shopping, expect to haggle overvthe prices. All is good natured. Not as nasty and agressive as in Cairo, for example.

If you speak a bit of French, it will help a lot.

Remembervto dress reasonably modest. Especially the ladies. Forvthe girls (and the narket) perhaps have a light head scarf. Just something to losely drape over hair and shoulders. It is a respectful gesture that will earn you a lot of good will from the locals.

:-)

Thanks for the tips.

What are your other choices, and what does the Carthage tour include?

 

I recall you have an interest in photography, I found Sidi very touristy but pretty in that Mediterranean way; there are some good photo ops there. The Souk is not as colorful as some others I have visited but if you're attentive you can again find some interesting shots.

 

If your Carthage tour does not include the ruins of the Antonine Baths (situated right on the shore), then look for a tour that does. They are very scenic and it's also rewarding to explore the tree-shaded ruins above the beach for glimpses of ruins and mosaic flooring scattered here and there. Just don't "wander" too close to the Presidential (ex-Presidential?) complex next door. I can tell you from personal experience, the guards do not like it.

Hey you're absolutely right that photography is my main interest. Sidi Bou Said sounds very picturesque and the Souk sounds like a very interesting place to do some street style photography.

None of the tours mention the Antonine Baths... Here are the tours available (there are only a few)...

- Carthage, Bardo Museum, Sidi Bou Said & Medina (8hrs)

- Old City of Tunis & Bardo Museum (4hrs)

- Carthage & Sidi Bou Said (4hrs)

- Tunis's Medina & Souk (4hrs)

- The Souk on Your Own (4hrs)

Since neither of us are big on museums so the Carthage and Sidi Bou Said tour and the Souk on Your Own seem like a great choice for us with one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Amazingly they are priced at $25 and $10 respectively. :eek:

If our stop in Tunis goes ahead, I'm going to stick to the ship tours - they are remarkably low priced! I'm leaning towards Carthage and Sidi in the morning and the Souk on your own in the afternoon. Is one likely to be better than the other morning vs. afternoon? Thoughts?

I doubt most passengers would really have preferred to be in big storms at sea as well as on shore during them.

 

The ship could have docked, but the wind was so high it would have pulled the pier apart.

 

Nothing the Captain could do to cause the iceberg to move out of the way.

 

LOL. Tough luck on that trip. :)

One time we missed four scheduled ports out of ten on a trans-Atlantic

o Big storm and ship kept hundreds of miles away

o Too much wind so ship could not dock on an otherwise beautiful day

o An iceberg sitting in the only spot the ship could anchor on a perfect day

o Another big storm that again the ship kept hundreds of miles away

 

Three of those became sea days. Another port was substituted for the fourth.

Wow... You must start to wonder if the captain is just lacking skill... That's horrible.

We berthed on the right-hand side of B.

Which ties in with this website

http://www.whatsinport.com/Volos.htm

 

Not sure whether you can walk out of the port, perhaps you have to take the shuttle, which drops at the ferry.

 

JB :)

Hmm. Thanks, I guess not knowing whether I can walk out or not means I should just plan to take the shuttle regardless and book from one of the agencies by the ferry terminal.

BTW, which villages in the hills did you visit? I understand Mykrynitsa is nice? We might try to stop there after Meteora in the afternoon before returning the car.

There are two terminals in Genoa, one for cruises and one for shipping/commuting lines so I would assume you would dock at the cruise one, stazioni marittime. That is the one where MSC docks. I highly doubt it would dock at the other one, especially as the HOHO bus picks up from the cruise line terminal.

Thanks. It looks like the easiest thing to do is exit the port, get on the metro at the nearest station, and then ride it to the end (train station) where there is a Europcar rental place nearby. :)

People book the itinerary because, among other ports, they wanted to stop at Tunis. If that stop would be possibly unsafe on cruises later this year, I would expect Princess to cancel. If considered safe, I would expect it to stay on the itinerary.

 

Several years ago we were booked on a Princess cruise in May with a two day stop in Alexandria, Egypt which was a big draw for that cruise.

 

Then, in early February there was the revolution in Egypt and several weeks later Princess changed the itinerary to remove the Alexandria stop and substitute a day in Livorno, a day in Malta and a 2nd day in Istanbul.

 

A number of people canceled (it was before final payment) because Alexandria had been a big reason for booking. We did not cancel because we had not been to Malta before and figured we would get to Egypt on a future cruise.

 

Of course, there were then a number of new bookings from people who liked the new itinerary.

 

About a month before the cruise, conditions had changed for the better in Egypt and the original itinerary was reinstated. This made those of us who had not cancelled very happy. It made those who had booked because of the new itinerary very unhappy, especially as it was now past final payment.

 

Ship ended up sailing at only about 70% of capacity.

 

I suspect Princess is not changing the itinerary for the future cruises yet because they do want to keep the itinerary they sold if it is safe enough there to do so.

I hope things get back to normal (?) in Tunis soon and Princess doesn't need to reroute. But I can understand if they need to.

In our case, Tunis is one of 17 ports on a 21 day cruise in June that's now past final payment and while I'll be very disappointed if it's cancelled, I don't want to be stressed out visiting there either.

I've been on Princess cruises before where a port was inaccessible due to weather, wind, or tide conditions, and their MO in that case is to make it a sea day instead. Although I'm usually ticked off at that outcome, again, I can understand it given the last minute nature of the decision.

What's not acceptable (in my view) is to leave this particular decision to the last minute and sub a sea day, when they had plenty of time (e.g. 2 months) to reroute to a different port of call. I hope that's not even a consideration.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the helpful tips here... buying OBC and paying gratuities in advance at the 10% exchange rate is going to save me a bundle and I would never have known about this savings had it not been for this thread. Thank you!

Docking is in the commercial dock - a mile to the west of the ferry terminal / town centre, where there are several rental agencies. I think you'll find they all speak English. Our ship had a free shuttle to the ferry terminal & I think most others offer a shuttle for about $5.

We rented at Sixt, (Antonopoulou 5, Volos) but there are Avis, Hertz & other agencies in the area. We pre-booked, but didn't pre-pay. Don't recall the cost, but inexpensive. Fuel was full-to-full. A very acceptable pristine modern car, no worries.

 

Dial Volos car rental into Google & there's a map with most agencies, I had to do that to get Sixt's address. This from my UK computer, may not work for you

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sll=39.3668745,22.9461155&sspn=0.0254809,0.0439463&q=volos+car+rental&output=classic&dg=ntvo

 

I'm guessing you're heading for Meteora - can't help there, we had an early sailing time which made that trip a little unsafe on timing so we mooched around the villages & hills behind Volos.

 

JB :)

Thanks John... so on the map below... do the ships tie up near A, B, C, D, or E?

As you can see Budget, Thrifty and Hertz are nearest the industrial area, while Sixt, Eurocar, and Avis are by the ferry terminal.

Volos Port by Virtual.Rain, on Flickr

No there was one the other way as well. That one would be about a 15-20 minute walk from the docks if you're coming in on a cruise ship from a company like MSC or P&O

Hmm. Ok good to know... But I guess I don't even know where the ship docks. :( I'll be on Princess... Do you or anyone else she king this thread know where the ship's tie up?

Love your pictures. We will be here in October on the Vision of the Seas. Can't wait. We will be arriving by water taxi and returning by water taxi

You're so good I check all your posts to see if you've been where we're going [emoji3]. We did the boring ship trip in Santorini last year, but this June we're renting a car from Tony's. We're also following your Athens tips! We were on the Emerald for New Years as we're from Houston - you're a Princess guy so as you can imagine, Crown Grill was our favorite. Thanks again for the invaluable information. It's right on point [emoji3]

Haha... thanks! I can't wait to get back to Santorini. :D

Do you want the big companies such as Hertz, Avis Europcar etc.? There aren't really any near the port as it is such an old city and so compact in the centre. Most are a taxi ride away, or at the airport. There is one within walking distance to the port but can't find a website for it.

I would be fine with anything that's close to the port.

Google Maps turned up this place...

http://www.manuelcarrent.it

Is that the one you were thinking of?

Hi, the popular private tour operator in Velos that everyone raves about here on the forums is already booked up for our June stop in Velos (he has no english speaking drivers available). So without an English speaking guide, I might as well do it myself and save some money. Hence I'm thinking of renting a car.

I'm wondering if anyone either knows exactly where the ship docks, and/or what car rental agencies are nearest the dock?

Are there any car rental agencies near the port in Genoa? If not, is there anything within a short walk, metro ride, or taxi ride?

We want to visit Portofino for part of our stop over in Genoa.

Thanks.

As some may know, the Emerald is in the Mediterranean this summer and cruises are being marketed as 7, 14, or 21 day segments that all overlap.

We're taking the 21-day segment from Barcelona to Istanbul (now that the price has finally become more reasonable) which can also be purchased as three 7-day itineraries (or overlapping 14-day itineraries).

So I'm wondering if anyone knows what to expect for the MDR menu cycle? Will we likely end up with Princess' standard 7-day menu repeated three times?

Thank you for posting your DIY VirtualRain! Having lived in Vancouver many years ago (plus a dozen years in Victoria), I appreciate virtual rain much more than actual rain! :D

 

Thanks also for the addition of the Flickr link to your photos. So incredibly beautiful.

 

We're on Nieuw Amsterdam in June when there will be 4 ships total in port. And, 3 of them (including us) arrive at 7:00. OY! It should be an interesting day!

Virtual Rain, if I haven't said it before you write very inspiring DIYs. We've referred to your posts on multiple trips and although we haven't hit all you've done in one, we ultimately will :). Thanks for some of the very best posts on CC.

Wow thanks. Great to see this thread is still active after all this time.

We're actually booked on a June Princess Emerald cruise that will be stopping here again... I can't wait to get back to Santorini. Not sure what we will do this time, but we may very well do the same things.

We are scheduled to be in Tunis on the 11th of June. It's odd that they've difinitively changed the June 1st visit but none of the others yet. Maybe they are working on other options and just don't know where exactly we will be going yet? I just hope it doesn't turn into another sea day.

Thank you so much for such a great review!

 

We will be coming in April, our flight will get into Papette at 7:50 pm, so I'm guessing we won't get to the ship until almost 9 pm.

 

I am wondering if there are any stores on any of these islands that we could buy some good but inexpensive bottles of wine. I'm wondering if anything would still be open in Papette as the ship is leaving that evening. If not on Papette do you have any knowledge of any other stores on the other islands?

 

Do you happen to know if any wine would be cheaper than we can buy on the ship even?

Wine is sold in Supermarkets in Tahiti so I would just ask your taxi driver to stop at the supermarket on the way from the airport to the ship. There is a supermarket on the way. I'm not sure what it's hours are but you can just stop by as its right on the main road.

You can definitely find cheap wine... I think I mentioned that I found a bottle of sparkling wine for about $8. Having said that, Princess wine prices are fairly reasonable, especially after you factor in the $15 corkage fee for consuming your own wine in the dining room. IMHO, It's generally only worth bringing cheap wine on to consume in your room, or something special (and thus likely expensive) to consume in the MDR. Otherwise, just buy on board.

Would you be able to email me your post with the pictures? For some reason they aren't showing up on my computer on this forum. My email address is airbarren@yahoo.com. My mom and I are going to Santorini next week and we can't wait!

Unfortunately this forum doesn't allow people to edit posts after a short time, so when I changed photo hosting providers, all the links went dead, and I couldn't update them.

Anyway, you can find them on my Flickr account here, if you or anyone else is interested...

Thanks for all the kind words. If anyone's interested, here's a link to the rest of my photos from the cruise...

Tahiti Highlights...

Under the Sea...

Cheers!

Hi again VR,

 

 

 

I know from when I went to the Greek Isles that you do beautiful photography. Any suggestions as to why I can't load the pictures from this review?

Yes, I changed photo hosting providers last year, and unfortunately, this site won't let me edit the post to update the photo links.

However, you can find the photos on my Flickr account...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chris-mccormack/collections/72157649739738739/