sjmbruce

On 4/1/2024 at 7:29 AM, Laszlo said:

We have gotten taxis at 7am for both going to the beach and over to H20 sports. 

Were the taxis waiting at the port or did you need to call for one?

59 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

It depends-- assuming you are meaning in the Dockyard (although taxis at the smaller dock in Hamilton proper might be easier). Taxis do rank up at the Dockyard but it depends on how early you intend. You can always call for a taxi or you can use an app called Hitch which works like a local Uber for taxis. 

Yes, we'll be at the Dockyard. Thanks for the Hitch info!

We'd like to get up pretty early and catch a taxi. Our goal is to have the driver wait for us at sea glass beach while we take some pictures, then drop us off nea/at horseshoe bay so we can walk the trail that connects the nearby beaches. 

Will there be taxis early in the morning? If not, does anyone have a contact we can get ahold of ahead of time to arrange this?

3 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Help us to help you.

How much time do you have?

 

When did you book the cruise, meaning when did you make the *first* payment?

When does the ship sail, and when do you plan to leave home?

GC

I booked January 2nd, after final payment. I had to pay in full at booking.  

I leave February 22nd, arrive at the embarkation port on the 24th,  and the ship sails on the 25th. 

I booked a cruise pretty last minute and now I need very last minute travel insurance.

Any suggestions?

I booked a cruise pretty last minute and now I need very last minute travel insurance.  Any suggestions?

So my husband and I can each bring on a bottle of wine but we'll have to pay a corkage fee even if we intend to drink it in our cabin?

4 hours ago, Hezu said:

If you want a reasonably simple solution, then I would suggest Sony RX10 IV, which is compact superzoom with a great zoom range covering wide angle to supertelephoto, fast autofocus and good image quality. Not the cheapest option, but if you would like to similar focal length coverage for interchangeble lens camera that might cost even more and you would have to change lenses occasionally and that may lead in missing shots and also as safari environments tend to be dusty there would be a high risk to get dust also on the camera sensor. ILCs may still have few advantages over RX10 IV (or other compact cameras).

Btw, do I assume right that currently you don't have any existing camera equipment (excluding camera phone)?

Thank you for the suggestion, especially about not having to change lenses. I wouldn't have thought about dust and the time it takes to change a lense. 

I think I'm okay with spending up to $1500 to get a great camera.

And you're correct, the only camera I currently have is my phone. 

I don't even know where to start when looking for a camera to bring on a South African safari. I assume I'll want great zoom and action shot capability.  Any recommendations for a beginner who wants an awesome camera?

1 minute ago, chfenton said:

I apologize if this isn't how most others feel and no disrespect intended, but is it not easy for an 18 year old to understand "Don't charge anything to your seapass without asking me"?

I take it you're not around a lot of teens these days 🙂? I get what you're saying. Yes, she'll understand.  Will she push boundaries, maybe?  I don't think she'll do anything irresponsible but I also want to eliminate the temptation. Either way, I just wanted to know if Royal would let me block her card from purchases. 

1 hour ago, allie3490 said:

Then maybe the nice thing to do would be to treat her on your card. 

I'm already treating her to airfare, a cruise, and an internet/soda package. I am being plenty nice. I don't mind buying her a coffee or giving her a small daily budget, but I don't want her thinking she's 18 and on a cruise with an unlimited magic card. 

We've been on Carnival, Princess and Royal. Aside from the little perks you get from sticking with one cruiseline, I've never understood the fierce loyalty to one over another.  

I've only been on one NCL cruise, the Pride in Hawaii. I wasn't a huge fan but loved the inter-island itinerary.  We're going to give them another try this year. 

4 minutes ago, Cigar King said:

I had this issue on a recent cruise.  I solved it by making sure they understood that the card would allow them to BUY anything on the ship, but that their MOTHER would be paying me back and they would have to deal with those consequences when they got home.  Fow me it worked out...a few charges in the arcade.  No biggie.

I'm going to have a very serious conversation with her beforehand and I'm pretty sure she'll do the right thing.  Just wanted to remove the temptation 😆 There's no one to pay me back so I'd just be stuck. 

4 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Then you'd have to go to guest services when you board and set that up. Nothing you can do ahead of time.

No problem with doing  that, just wondering if Royal would basically deactivate her card from being able to make purchases

20 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

When you check in, you can have her add her own credit card.

Unfortunately she doesn't have one. She's a bit of a late bloomer who had a really hard time with life the last few years due to health issues and parental abandonment. She's finally getting it together but no job/no credit card.  

I'm bringing my 18 year old niece on a family cruise. Her flight and cruise fare are covered and I've also bought her a soda package as well as the internet for one device.  I don't want her to be able to charge anything with her seapass as those charges would go to my credit card (correct?). Is there a way to set that up?

The only NCL cruise I have ever been on is the Pride in Hawaii. I loved the itinerary,  I loved Hawaii, but I didn't like the Pride. The service wasn't great and everything took a long time. I lost weight that week because I wasn't a fan of the few choices that were available.  

I've read that the Pride is a different experience than the rest of the fleet.  We're going with NCL again for the itinerary.  

How different is the Pride from other NCL ships?

Looking at their spa offerings,  it looks like only a full cruise thermal spa pass is available.  Do they sell daily passes once onboard?

I'm planning a cruise that includes Tallin. I keep reading terms like "old town" "upper town" with cobblestones and towers, and "medieval Tallin". Are these all the same area? 

Thank you all! It's too early to book but I now know where to do it. 

We booked with the "free at sea" package with one night at a specialty restaurant.  How do we make a reservation?

The last time I was in Ketchikan there were tours available at the port.  We walked off the ship and there were a bunch of operators offering wildlife tours. Is that still the case?

Where does everyone go to eat crab? 🦀 

The time in port isn't long and starts late: 7pm until midnight. I'm thinking it's safe to assume that 7:30-11pm will be the actual time spent on land. 

With time being short, I'm trying to plan a nice evening, maybe dinner with great views of the sunset.

Thoughts about this plan?

Any restaurant recommendations?