saraheg77

 Yes, just send them an email with your hours and they can let you know if you will have enough time!

We stopped in Madeira in March and used https://www.lido-tours.com/en/index.html - they have several tour options.  We did the Northern wonders - we enjoyed the tour company and everything went smoothly, but I probably would recommend a different tour from Northern wonders, mainly because we thought the Sao Vicente Caves stop on it was a bit hokey. 🙂  We all thought the island was beautiful and enjoyed all of our scenery stops. S

Hi - we were there in June and used Croatia Shuttle to get us to Krka National Park (it was beautiful!)... they did not guide us while in the park, we explored on our own.  They have several options, depending on how long you are in port.  Enjoy!    

https://croatiashuttle.com/en/tours

Wow, I guess we got in just in time.  My husband was top level on Marriott and they matched us to Black on MSC in late Oct. We are taking our first MSC cruise late June, so are interested to see how it goes.  We've sailed NCL (now silver), RC (gold) and Carnival before.  

We have Marriott points and are using them at the Four Points in 2 weeks.  My parents have stayed at this hotel for a previous cruise and were pleased with it.  I can report back after we return!  

We are in port from 7am-5pm through NCL in March and the ship does list alhambra excursions, but we are going to the Alhambra with http://www.malagadaytours.com/ - you might want to send them an inquiry with your details and see what they say!  

On 1/29/2019 at 1:52 PM, lamchops said:

I'm trying to plan DIY excursions and would like to know which pier or dock the NCL Spirit is using in each port.

Any help would be greatly appreciated by those on our roll call.

 

Arrecife, Lanzarote

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Madeira , Portugal

I'm going to 3 of those ports on the Spirit in March.  I think the info you need you can find on the ncl port site... 

Madeira: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call/cruises-to-funchal

Arrecife: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call/cruises-to-lanzarote

Santa Cruz: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call/cruises-to-santa-cruz-de-tenerife

Las Palmas: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call/cruises-to-las-palmas

We have been on several NCLs with kids - just got back from the Jewel to Alaska with our 8-yr-old & 10-yr-old. Our kids always wanted to be in the kids club rather than go to the shows, but I really wish I'd at least taken them to the circus night! I think they would have enjoyed it! Like others said, they do try to keep all the shows family friendly, except the late-night ones. On this one, there was a special kids' show where they got to practice while in kids club and then did a fun circus performance on the big Stardust stage one of our at-sea days at 11am. We like the dining room food, but it does last quite a long time, so we usually let the kids have buffet pizza or whatever then go to kids' club while we go to the dining room. :D Some in our party really enjoyed Le Bistro & Cagney's and we paid extra one night for Moderno Brazilian and enjoyed it... We like the included Chin Chin asian restaurant and O'Sheehan's Pub, also!

We have no idea on balconies...always been inside :)

We have been on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL and the main difference we see with NCL is the freestyle dining and that you don't need any formal wear... but I still take casual dresses for evenings, because I like to.

https://farflunglands.com/central-america-caribbean/cuba/

 

This family did a land based trip but lots of good ideas there. I bookmarked it for the restaurants.

Thanks, also! Lots of good info here! We are probably booking a walking/car tour with Blexie for our first day and they have ideas, but said we can request whatever, so I'm going to look through that blog and see if there's kid-specific things I want to request!

I have no suggestions, just following, as I'm taking my 8-yr-old son and 10-yr-old daugher in December! :)

Thanks, I'll look into that. It's surprising how little information I'm finding on this specific topic. I'll probably give the cruise line a call this week to see if they have any additional info.

Last week I took the 7.5hr tour with Chilkoot and our ship was docked from 7am to 8pm. I think we got back to Skagway around 4pm and I still had time to explore Skagway. I haven't taken the 3.5 hour, but really enjoyed the train trip and the drive further up into the Yukon Territory! If you're docked awhile, you should have plenty of time! Enjoy!

Was wondering if anyone has taken both the 3.5 hour and 7.5 hour trips through Chikikoot and which they enjoyed more. I was leaning towards the longer trip, but the shorter trip would allow me to spend time in Skagway.

I think Anita thoroughly addressed the off-ship attire! As far as on, we just got back from an NCL June 4-11 cruise... for evenings, I took 3 longer casual dresses with cardigans that all went with the same pair of shoes and that was perfect for dinners/evenings. I wore them each twice and a night or two I just wore jeans and sweater to dinner. Hubby took 2 casual slacks and 3 casual collared short-sleeved shirts with one pair of shoes that went with all and that worked well. It may be warmer for you, but the rest of the time on ship, I pretty much wanted jeans, long sleeves & comfy, closed-toed shoes. My kids did swim in the warm pools on the ship, but I didn't! My husband wore some shorts & short sleeves, but he never gets cold! Feel free to ask me if you have any other specific questions! It was a great itinerary!

Wow. How to pack. For guy? For gal?

 

 

 

Main concern:

 

Types of shoes?

Outerwear?

Sweaters/Sweatshirts?

Other shirts

Shorts?

Jeans?

Dress pants/Dress?

Umbrella

 

Anything else you can suggest in the line of clothing needs

When were you there? We actually just went last week and I had booked a rental before I even started this thread, just expecting tips, not people telling us not to drive at all. Luckily, our car wasn't anywhere to be found, so we did find an awesome taxi driver who took us to the pool and the village and all over and he was great with lots of info and got us some mangoes and a custard apple to eat. I was pretty glad that it all worked out that way! We also got a bit of rain that day, so that would have added to the road driving craziness and my husband wouldn't have been able to enjoy the scenery! Thanks to you and all the other posters! I think my initial thought was that I couldn't find a driver to pre-book, but I should have remembered that there would be tons of taxi drivers wanting to drive us around every port!

I am recently back from Dominica and we went to the Carib Village. We paid a taxi driver to take us. We went to Emerald Falls on the way up. It is about an hour drive from the port to the village. I would NOT recommend driving there on your own. We paid $130 for just the two of us, in an air conditioned van. We felt safe and the driver took care of us.

We got to the village and it was just us. We paid the entry fee of $10 each and were given a tour by a guide. Then we drove back, taking about an hour to get back.

The roads are narrow, steep, and lots of switchbacks that you cannot see oncoming traffic. Some places the roads were completely washed out, so we had to navigate around them. There are skeletons of broken down cars on the roads and hanging over the cliffs. If you make a mistake, there is no road help, no cell phone service, and you are very remote and isolated.

 

Please consider this option, for your own safety and the safety of your family. Plus, the driver will probably tell you about the island and make scenic stops that you might otherwise miss.

Thanks, my hubby has actually driven in numerous foreign countries and I'm doing my research. I couldn't get the interest of anyone else on my roll call to join a tour to the Indian Village and not sure our budget will afford a private tour. I will continue to explore options, though. Thanks for your advice!

Seriously.

 

Dominica is NOT a good island to rent a car as a tourist and go traversing around the interior of the island. Especially for a 1st time visitor. The locals drive like crazy and the roads are in VERY poor condition and VERY curvy.

Don't take this the wrong way, but there is a fine line between "not being scared" and being foolish.

 

I would suggest a little more effort in finding a tour guide and setting up a custom tour to visit the Carib village (including other sites like the Emerald Pool, Jacko falls, Layou River valley, Mr. Nice's Fruit stand etc.)

 

I personally arranged and organized such a custom tour a few years back through a local guide company(Reyno) -- getting others from our sailing's roll call here on Cruise Critic to join and share the costs of the 7 hour tour.

 

The Carib territory is further away from the more popular tourist sites on the island, but it is kind of neat seeing that side of the island.

 

I would advise to have your husband consider using some common sense and nix the idea of renting a car on the island. It's dangerous! Accidents are very common.

 

Here's one that was fairly recent.

Thanks! Bumpiing is the one I tried, but there weren't any others interested that day in going to the Village. :( But now I've directly emailed two different people from the Kalinago Territory and gotten wonderful responses! They say the actual road to the Territory is "fairly straight forward and is two way marked out with a white line all the way". My hubby has driven in numerous foreign countries, so we will see.

Try Bumpiing Tours to see if they'll accommodate your wishes. We just went on a fabulous hiking trip in December with Naithan from Bumpiing and I can't speak highly enough about him and the company. Very accommodating, great communication before we arrived and great directions/signage to find them at the pier on our port day in Dominica. It's such a beautiful island and I highly recommend seeing it with a local who can easily navigate the unmarked roads and get you back to the ship in plenty of time. They even added in a sight I wouldn't have tried/known about (Titou Gorge) but which ended up being a highlight of our entire cruise for the whole family!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love visiting Dominica but this would be the last island on which I'd rent a car. The roads are narrow and not in the best shape. There seemed to be little or no directional signage. Plus, the driving habits of the locals scares the h€%% out of me! It would be a bold move for a non-local to drive there, in my opinion.

Haha! Thanks, I was thinking the same thing, but my hubby says he's not scared. I may have to close my eyes the whole time. We did add the extra car insurance 😳

Hi all,

Who has rented a car in Dominica? We have a family of 4 and really want to visit the Carib Village, but couldn't find a tour to take us. Also curious about if the village mostly expects groups coming in or if it's open to the public? The village would be our top choice and then make our way to whatever spots we could fit in. We are in port from 8 to 5.

Thanks!

Sarah

Hi all! We are a family of 4 and thinking about just renting a car and driving on our own to our top picks... are there any issues with the chocolate factory or spice place just being open to groups or are they just open to the public?

Thanks!

Sarah

Thanks for the review! We are on a 9-night Norwegian and visiting a few of those. I've always wanted to ride a hot air balloon and had no idea there was one, but I just looked it up. It appears to be 25 euros and not too long, so that should be do-able since my hubby doesn't like heights and doesn't want to ride! :D Thanks for all the info!