Cruisen Elf

I read in last year's  Roll Call of a Northern Lights Cruise that Rodne would not refund money less than 2 days out.  Since their port stop was cancelled after that, they did not receive a refund.  I am struggling with the same dilemma - not wanting to pay Princess's prices, but hesitant to book in case the port is cancelled. I decided to to tour the port on my own, and if we want, to take a Rodne cruise the day of our stop without booking and paying ahead of time.  We are stopping in October, though, so the demand may not be as large if you cruise earlier in the season.  Here is the link to that roll call:  

On 2/16/2023 at 5:48 PM, Cruisen Elf said:

We did a pub crawl with traditional Irish music and dinner with this company:   https://www.musicalpubcrawl.com/

I am so sorry  -  our pub tour with traditional Irish music was in Dublin, not Belfast.  So please disregard my previous post unless you want to try the music in Dublin.  🥴

We did a pub crawl with traditional Irish music and dinner with this company:   https://www.musicalpubcrawl.com/  They also have just a pub crawl with no dinner that may fit into your time frame better.  They played and talked about traditional Irish music, and we really enjoyed it.  It is a quick taxi ride back to the ship.

This was pre-pandemic, but it looks to be the same tour.

While browsing the Celebrity website today, I saw 2024 cruises that included Ireland and Iceland, and Iceland and Scotland.  Both included stops at Kirkwall.  They may have others, I didn't look at all of the options.

1 hour ago, DHP1 said:

You have to go to Customer Service onboard and they will take care of it. 

Good to know!  On our last cruise, I waited until we were onboard to make specialty dining reservations so I could use OBC, and there were few options available.  Most restaurants were booked solid.

19 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We had standing reservations on our last cruise and they still had to check us in every night at the door just as though we had never made any reservations at all.

I can't understand what the new medallion app does to speed up the seating. 

This was our experience, too, on our recent Enchantment cruise.  We had to wait in line every night, in spite of having reservations.  We were never seated at the same table or same section.  IMHO the Medallion App made it more chaotic than before.  It certainly did not give us an opportunity to "Dine My Way!"

Can anyone recommend which main dining room to select on Enchanted Princess?  I have never had a choice before, and can't find any info or pictures about the different dining rooms on the Princess website.  Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

15 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

Shareholder obc is non refundable - your folio shows both refundable and non refundable. You can use the non refundable pre cruise to purchase excursions, specialty dining, etc.

 

Hal

 

Thanks!  I never noticed that it specified refundable & nonrefundable OBC right in the personalizer.  🥴 

Is Shareholder OBC refundable or non-refundable?

Another vote for the Best Western Plus in Elkridge, MD, booked through Trinity Reservations.   We have stayed there several times and have been satisfied with the hotel, location, shuttle, and parking.

1 hour ago, VTSKIandCRUISEGUY said:

I checked out trinity, and there aren't such great choices for Baltimore.

 

One place was cheap, but no shuttle included - 15 miles from the port, and $30 each way with Uber. That's why it was cheap. It becomes not so cheap with the Ubers.

 

Another was also a good price, with shuttle, but it's 15 miles away. Also, if you're coming from the north, it's on the wrong side of the port, so it's a long extra drive.

 

The third choice looks like a decent price (but read on), only 5 miles from the port, and on the northern side. However, there's just 1 shuttle at 10:30, so if you have a time slot of 11:30 or later, you're waiting outside at the port for quite a while. Also, the shuttle back is only between 10:45 and 11:00. That makes no sense because everyone is off the ship between 8:00 and 9:30. This means you need to Uber it back, which they point out is $20, since they know that no one is waiting almost 2 hours for their shuttle. Add on that $20, and the price is no big deal.

 

 

I just did a mock booking with Trinity for this coming Friday, 8/19/22, and found "free round trip Baltimore Cruise Port shuttle from 8am to 12 Noon" at the Best Western Plus BWI in Elkridge, MD.  We have stayed there several times, and have been pleased with the hotel and shuttle service.  If this one is the one you referred to as "out of the way," we didn't find that to be the case for us, and we travelled from the "North,"  out of the Pittsburgh, PA area.  And it had an Irish Pub next door (pre-Covid at least) with great food!  Hope this helps!

I have found detergent pods are easier to pack than liquid or powder detergent.  I use them along with unscented dryer sheets I pack when doing laundry aboard Princess ships.

12 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Not sure you can really do it all in one day and do it thoroughly we have been there probably 10 or 12 times and find something new each visit 

That's the best kind of place!  It's like reading a good book over and over again, and always discovering something new.

I submitted a request for 3 separate cruises on April 21st, and on May 2nd I received new invoices showing the shareholder OBC for 2 of the cruises.  The one they didn't credit the OBC to was an upcoming New Zealand cruise in Oct. 2022.  I am speculating that it may be cancelled since New Zealand has not yet re-opened to cruises.  Does this sound likely?  Or should I follow up with Princess?  TIA for any insights you can share.

6 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

No the tender site is IN the Port Arthur historic site, entry is covered by the cruise line. There will be guides there if you want a tour, or just wander around yourself, I strongly suggest the harbour cruise and the Isle of the Dead Tour, I have never done the Point Puer (Boys Prison) tour other than privately with Mrs G whose Thesis they use for much of the information I understand.

So we don't have to pre-purchase entrance tickets in order to visit the site?

Thanks!  This is exactly the kind of information I needed!  Looks like we can walk right off the tender stop to the Port Arthur Historic Site.  Not being sure where we would tender made planning impossible.  So again, many thanks to both of you!

Does anyone know where Princess ships are anchored and where we are tendered to at Port Arthur?  I'm trying to find an independent tour, or transportation to the historic Port Arthur site from the port, and haven't been able to find anything yet.  It sounds like they have lots of interesting tours at the site, but I can't figure out how to get there!  TIA for any info you can share. 

2 hours ago, nini said:

Great! I will try and find that as we have a Transpacific booked for next year- departing from Sydney.

Oops!  Here is the link. Sorry I didn't think to post it before:    https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2837668-book-recommendations/#comment-62825606

2 hours ago, nini said:

I was going to suggest Rick Steves, but he only does Europe. I was very surprised.

Yes, I've found him very helpful when it comes to Europe, too.  I posted on the Australia/New Zealand Cruisers board and was able to get several suggestions.  Thanks for trying!

Thanks for all the great suggestions and links!  Can't wait to dive into them!

I am looking for book recommendations about the general, overall histories of Australia and New Zealand.  I would also appreciate any ideas for general travel books that folks have found useful for each of those countries.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can share!

I also posted this on the Australia/New Zealand Ports of Call board, but haven't received any suggestions yet, so expanding my horizons!

(Trying to remain optimistic that our upcoming October/November Australia and New Zealand cruisetour will happen, since it's already been cancelled once.)

Whether you have an Android smartphone or an iPhone, you should be able to message others on Google Chat (formerly known as "Hangouts") as long as you have wi-fi service.  If you enable notifications on your phone, you will know when someone sends you a message.

I am looking for book recommendations about the general, overall histories of Australia and New Zealand.  I would also appreciate any ideas for general travel books that folks have found useful for each of those countries.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can share!

(Trying to remain optimistic that our upcoming October/November Australia and New Zealand cruisetour will happen, since it's already been cancelled once.)

During our recent sailing on Anthem, we were told that the theater stage was designed specifically for their show of "We Will Rock You."  They said it could not be re-done for a different production without going into dry dock and removing the hull.  Perhaps this is the reason why the Broadway shows don't change very often or rotate from ship to ship. 

Thanks so much for continuing to keep us updated!