MJL

We have just posted our review of a westbound Panama Canal cruise on the Infinity. We had a great private tour when we were in Cartagena. We saw so much more on our private tour then we did on a previous visit with a ship tour. Our review is on our website www.thepreismans.com.

Mike, thanks for the good information regarding Cartagena. How long was your tour? Did you assemble a group of other CC members to fill or partially fill the bus? How much per person should we expect. We arrive there until Feb. 5, 2016, but I like to plan ahead when it involves highly rated tour operators.

BTW, we were on the Infinity October 1 to 12, just before her transatlantic.

Mike

Help. We are trying to get from Le Havre to Bayeux for a Normandy tour. Either I have to hire a private driver, or find more people to go on the tour so we can be picked up at the port. In other words, they either refuse to come get you in Le Havre OR charge a huge amount of money and tell you to find more people to lessen the cost....

 

This is maddening.

Have you looked for a CC roll call for your cruise? You might find others with the same interest in arranging transportation.

Enjoy

Mike

We were in Aruba for 10 days in late October and I would consider it windy every day. Most of the time it was not a factor, as ArubaLisa pointed out, the buildings block some of the wind. I thought it would be more of a factor when snorkeling, but it was not the case. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the help. I will keep an eye out for sure! Here is another question... will the pictures be of our group or just us as individuals?

Everyone is linked so that there is a "group" even though some of the photos could be individual based on the activity. I recall that we had to spend some time going through photos one by one, eliminating stray photos of other people that for some reason ended up in our batch.

BTW, it was mentioned I believe, but I agree that the food is surprisingly good. Much better than we were expecting. There was also an assortment of free smoothie drinks that hit the spot in the morning.

Mike

 

I searched for posts on Harwich Cruise Bus and came across your post. Are your comments still valid? I investigated options for LHR hotel to Harwich transfer after late evening arrival at LHR and overnight at Premier Inn M4. Train is not an option for us. Your comments about this being better than the ship transfer, at least for my case, since it doesn't require going back to LHR Arrivals :mad: , make sense to me. And I thought the superstore stop was useful. The only alternative I found, other than private car service which I think is overkill for this situation, was silverfleet shared minivan, and I thought a regular coach, though slower with all the pickups, would be preferable.

 

Comments? And my thanks in advance.

The Harwich cruise shuttle information can be found on London Toolkit's site:

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/harwich_fromlondon_shuttle.html

We were initially planning to take the bus, but we are now planning on sharing a private transfer with some other cruisers that we have "met" on the roll call. If you have not done so, you could check in on the roll call and see if there are others in need of a transfer from the city.

Mike

Does anyone remember the price of photos??? TIA

I wish I could remember how much the package totaled. We had the photos loaded on to a flash drive which cost a few bucks more but is much more portable. I think it was in the neighborhood of $70.

Going through the underground rivers you learn to spot the sensors and cameras so you can get some great posed shots. The helmets have transmitters that signal the sensors.

Mike

Thank you all for your answers. Laundry in the sink is standard for me on vacation, but I've never found it very successful for slacks, even the so-called quick dry variety. I'll have to look into the Dri-Fit brand.

Dri-Fit is a name that Nike generally uses to identify a line of products. Those products are nice for travel as they can be lighter in weight than other fabrics and dry more quickly. Under Armor is a leading name in this category, but many other clothing manufacturers also have a quick-dry type of product as well.

Mike

My husband and I are going on our first cruise. We are going on the Celebrity Summit Feb. 22nd - March 1st. Flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico, stopping at ports in Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. We are on the sky deck?

 

Is there anyone sailing on this cruise? I would like any useful/helpful tips, excursions...anything would be helpful about the ship itself and the islands. :) I am new to this site and this is my first post. Thanks for your help.

Welcome to CC. I would add: If you've never been to Puerto Rico, fly in several days early. Enjoy Old San Juan for it's history and culture. Plan to arrive at the ship somewhat early to get familiar with the ship and it's amenities.

Great ports on this itinerary. A lot of nice beaches and excellent duty-free shopping in St. Thomas.

Enjoy!

That is the policy, however we brought a bottle back from a stop in Italy, fully intending to have it taken and held till the last evening. It was in a tote bag. They let it right through. We paid the corkage and enjoyed it with dinner!

 

Perhaps it was OK because we only had one bottle, or perhaps because they figure folks want to try some local wine. In any case - we were very happy.

m

I definitely plan to put it to the test, even if they hold it. We'll have a couple of nights post-cruise to handle any excess inventory above and beyond what we will be able to carry back in checked bags.

As a professional wine judge (honest--see http://winejudging.com/bios/bob_foster.htm) let me comment that while box wines were originally mediocre at best, in recent years there has been a big jump in quality. The wines from Target and a brand called Black Box have been winning gold medals when judged blind against other U S wines at major competitions.

That's good news. We had a relative give us two boxes that they thought we would like. Trying to wrap my brain around cab-from-a-black-box.

Mike

Am I correct in assuming that while you can bring two bottles on board at departure, additional bottles are not allowed to be brought on at the various cruise ports? That was RCI policy.

We use neoprene bottle carriers obtained at wineenthusiast.com, but you have to catch them on sale.

Mike

Tulum is nice to see, but if you ever have a chance to do a land vacation in the Riviera Maya - do it then. That is when my daughter & I did it, and it was a nice relaxing day to see the ruins.

 

I agree. Plus, just south of the ruins there are some great beaches with laid back beach clubs, bars and restaurants. Great place to spend a day, but could not imagine factoring in transportation back to Cozumel in time to board a ship.

Mike

So, ArubaLisa, the way I interpret the chart 4 of us could take a taxi from downtown, (Renaissance) to the Marriott for $11 on a Monday. Is that an accurate interpretation? We will have luggage.

Thanks

Mike

Taking a trip to Coba Ruins and have lunch in a Cave afterwords.. Has anyone done this and if so how was it?? Thanks in advance for your reply..

Do you know the location of the restaurant? There is an underground restaurant in Playa del Carmen called Alux. It's a fascinating venue with a different atmosphere. There are large rooms and many smaller rooms located off winding paths in the cave.

We ate there about a year ago. There are many people of the opinion that it's a good place to go for drinks, but the food is just ok, and a bit over-priced.

An interesting place to see if you have the opportunity.

Mike

...and their site has now been updated

"Every lunch and dinner on board includes free-flowing regional wines as well as complimentary beer and soft drinks. In Europe, complimentary sparkling wine is also served with breakfast."

Now, if they would throw in a few pre-dinner and post-dinner beverages, we would be set. Not that I'm complaining, of course.

Mike

Good news for AmaWaterways cruisers who like a refreshing beverage with lunch. Complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks will be offered. Our Fall Ama cruise is looking better all the time.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/02/01/amawaterways-europe-cruise-inclusive/1870829/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TP-TheCruiseLog+(Travel+-+The+Cruise+Log)

Mike

I was wondering what is everyone's favorite place for a drink? When we were on the Mariner last month we liked the Sky Bar, Ellingtons, Bolaros. Just curious to see what people like on the Liberty....

We enjoyed relaxing in the evening in the Viking Crown Lounge. Some drinks, a little music and looking out over the pool deck and the ocean.

Mike

One (silly!) question... do the closets in the staterooms have SHELVES?!!

 

We just returned from a cruise aboard Empress and the blasted closet was entirely SHELF-LESS! Of course the Empress was RCs smallest ship, but still, there WAS still room for shelves!!! ;)

We did in our closet. Off to the right with the safe. They were definitely very useful.

Mike

I just updated our reservation to reflect the 8:30 PM dinner seating. I never really thought about how this effects the shows that we may want to see. Does anyone know what time the shows usually start and are there usually two seatings of the show (one after each dinner seating).

They will typically have an early pre-dinner show for the people who have late dinner seatings.

Mike

Did any of you have adjoining balcony cabins? If so, were you successful at having the divider opened?

I vaguely recall a latch or lock and thinking how cool it would be to have them all open at one time. However, we did not inquire about opening the divider since we did not have a reason to have them open.

Mike

Ok, I throw one in here and there.

Liberty of the Seas at Labadee

Mike

Any advice on excursions at any of the ports? I think the stop in Puerto Rico is 5 hours, and for that amount of time wonder if it's even worth getting off the ship.

Since you are going to be there in July, you will have a good amount of daylight to work with. If you've never been to Old San Juan, and you have any interest in history or architecture (and possibly shopping), you owe it to yourself to do a walking tour, either guided, or on your own. If not, there's many dining/drinking options where you can enjoy the atmosphere.

The San Juan port forum can help give you more ideas.

Mike

Whats a must do? What can we skip? Where are the best places to eat, get a drink, meet other cruise addicts? How is the food? Entertainment? Ship itself?

 

We are bring our DS (then 15), will there be other teens onboard?

 

What is your favorite place on the ship for a sunset? A sunrise?

 

We have a D1 for the 3 of us, think it will be enough room?

 

Whats the english pub like?

 

Let me tackle a few of these. First, recognize that many folks will have different opinions. Must dos for me may not mean a hill of beans to the next guy. This is a very nice ship. Keep in mind that it is a very large ship. that means lots of people. Don't be alarmed if you have to wait a few minutes around meal times to catch the elevator.

Must do: Ice show, eat at Portofinos, Flowrider (especially for the teen), see the parade in the promenade.

Skip: Art show, ship photographers (IMHO)

Drinks: Our preference was relaxing in the Viking Crowne Lounge over looking the pools.

Food: Did I mention Portofinos yet?

Entertainment: Varies, just see the shows that you can. But be sure to see the ice show and Quest.

Sunset and/or sunrise: Balcony with a beverage

Teens: Yes, we traveled in November and there were lots of teens. Teenager should like the rock wall and the Flowrider. There are many other teen activities.

Room for three: Plenty of room for sleeping, but you will have to use every inch of storage space.

English pub: Small. There were a few small events there like trivia. This was not the highlight of the cruise for me.

Have a great time!

Mike

This is what I love about these boards, I learn something new every day:D Todays lesson - I now know what an Alpha is:)

 

I'm curious about the tips though, I thought that if you didn't pre-pay the gratuities they were automatically added to your seapass account? Is this not the case or do people take them off their seapass account after they've been added? Also, even though I pre-pay my grats, should I also cash tip bartenders/waiters who are not covered under the pre-pay vouchers? I'm aiming to 'get it right' this time as I hadn't found these boards before we had our 1st cruise:)

 

Thanks

 

Pam

When you purchase a beverage on board the tip is included in the total amount billed to your SeaPass account, so no additional tipping is required. If you do not pre-pay gratuities for waiters, cabin steward, etc., you have the option of obtaining vouchers during the cruise. They will provide a form in your cabin. You complete it, return it, and they will provide you with envelopes and vouchers to give to the appropriate crew member. You can always add more cash if you would like.

Mike