cougfan

We took the shuttle to town and then took the ferry to Suomenlinna. We bought a combo ticket to see everything on the island, museum, small submarine, fort and a house (maybe something else but can't remember exactly everything we saw). We spent most the day there. After taking the ferry back to town we walked back to the ship along the water. Where we had docked wasn't too far from town.

If there is a party in the Centrum.....maybe you should be there instead of going to bed.

 

 

 

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We usually had to be up by 6AM to get ready for a port stop. We usually needed a vacation after our Med cruises because we never got to sleep in except for sea days.

We have been in 8594 on the Brilliance (twice), Jewel, Radiance, and 9584 on Serenade, the last time was Sept. 2016. We were very disappointed in that the noise volume was very loud. If they close the fire door it was bearable, but usually it was open and the noise went until midnight. I had to go to sleep using my Bose noise canceling headphones. Very disappointed that If we go on another cruise on a Radiance class ship we will have to pick a different balcony room location.

Hi,

see this reply about what to do with luggage for the day:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2531682

We visited the WW II museum (maybe for 5 hours or so) after we got off the boat. I think they have opened up an area for the Pacific war so maybe it would take longer now. Before the cruise we had gone to the aquarium (we did the penguin encounter, great fun) and walked around the French Quarter. There is also a zoo but I think it is further out of town and you would need a car.

We didn't reserve ahead of time. We were approached by a person soon after getting our luggage. We followed them to where they take the luggage and paid. We had thought about just having them store our luggage for the day but they have to leave fairly early to take the luggage to the airport (1PM or so) so we just had them take our luggage to the airport.

We used this service:

http://www.advancecheckin.com/

We dropped our bags off after we got off the boat (paid cash) and then picked up our bags at the airport near baggage claim. It worked very well, we spent the day at the World War II museum and then took a cab to the airport. Our flight was at 6PM and I think we had to be at the airport to pick up our bags by 3PM or so.

We have had 8th deck hump rooms on Radiance class ships (Brilliance twice, Radiance, Jewel and Serenade) five times and will never again book one. The noise last September from the centrum was loud and went until midnight. We were in the Med and had many early mornings for excursions and we had to sleep with earplugs or headphones on. It is a long walk aft but hopefully not as noisy.

Hi,

I'm not PCWalton1 but we did a Kauai Photo tour in April/May 2014 while on a Hawaii cruise. We had a good time and learned quite a lot about photography. While on vacation now we still use some of the hints for taking photos. We did the Drive and walking tour.

Hi,

when we stayed in Cairns we stayed at Reef Palms. It was close to the airport and we had free pick up for our reef trip. We used Reef Experience for our one day reef trip, they are the ones that do Reef Encounter. In fact we took a group out to the overnight boat and brought a few people back with us.

There is room for luggage on the train. You can pick seats facing each other and put the luggage on the seat next to you. That is what we did when we took the train. We also stayed at the Lurline House B&B. Since we didn't have a car it was nice they picked us up and dropped us off at the train station.

We took the Akrotiri and Oia ship's tour back in September. We were tendered to a port to catch the bus which took us to Akrotiri first, then Oia for a couple of hours and then back to Fira. We were given a ticket to use on the cable car to go back to the ship.

We also arrived in Athens very early. By the time we had got off the ship, walked to the metro stop and took the metro into Athens, the Acropolis and museum were open (they open at 8AM).

We booked our tickets to the Vatican online and then took the RCI transportation (by bus) into Rome. We booked our tickets for 11:30 and had enough time once reaching Rome to go the Castle San'Angelo before the Vatican. We were there the end of September 2016 and the crowds were huge, wall to wall people all over the Vatican museums.

We took this photo tour in 2014. It was great, we took pictures that I think are very professional. We also use the photo tips all the time on other trips.

I think the price was around $50. We had two large bags and one carry-on size. We had originally planned to just pick up our luggage at the port but you needed to be back there by around 1PM. You had till 3PM or so to get your bags if they took them to the airport. You meet them at baggage claim to pick up your bags. Very easy and worked great.

When we visited Volcano State Park we made sure we were the first people off the boat and took the rental car van to the airport. According to my pictures we were hiking the Kilauea Iki crater hike by 9:30. This hike took us 2 hours and then we drove to the end of the Chain of Crater Road by 12:30. We saw the arch and hiked out on the lava for a bit (maybe 30 minutes or so). We then drove back up the road to hike to the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs. We then were back up at the top at the Jaggar Museum to see the crater from the overlook by 3 PM. We still had enough time to visit the Big Island Candies store by the airport before returning the car.

We used this company in 2015.

http://www.advancecheckin.com/

They took our checked and carry-on bags to the airport for us to pick up before we checked in. Our flight left around 6:30PM. We spent most of our time at the World War II museum.

We did this hike during a port stop in Hilo in 2014. We rented the car through Discount Hawaii Car Rental, $41 in 2014. Make sure you are the first ones off the boat, that way you will get on the first rental car shuttle and be first in line at the airport. We also drove down the Chain of Crater Road, walking to where the lava went over the road. We also had time to walk to the Petroglyphs (just off the Chain of Crater Road). We still had time to go to the Jaggar Museum and see the crater from the back deck. Make sure to leave enough time to check the car back in, there were a lot of people checking cars back in. The shuttle back to the port was crammed and some people had to wait for another one.

We went to the gardens March 2015. We walked from the ship, took about 30 minutes, not sure if that is something you would be doing. We had a good time. Make sure to time your visit to see the Marching Flamingoes. The zoo part is fairly small, easy to see in an hour or so. Afterwards we walked through the Pirate Museum.

You might think about going to the Ardastra Garden/Zoo. We were in port for more time than you but you should have time to visit it. We walked from the ship (around 30 minutes). It opens at 9AM and there is a Marching Flamingoes show at 10:30. After the show we spent a couple hours walking around seeing the other exhibits. Afterwards we walked back and went to the Pirate Museum. Even though there were 5 ships in port, not many people were at the zoo so it was nice and relaxing.

http://ardastra.com/

For our Hilo port day we were able to hike the Kilauea Iki trail, walk through the Thurston Lava Tube, drive down the Chain of Crater road and back to the Jaggar Museum with the Kilauea overlook. At the end of the Chain of Crater Road we hiked out to where the lava crossed the road and saw the Sea Arch. On the drive back up we stopped to hike out to the Pu'u Loa petroglyphs. We were in the park by 9:30 and left at around 3PM. We had time to go to the Big Island Candy store before returning the rental car at the airport.

Does RCCL provide a direct water shuttle from Brillance OS to St Marks Square? If so do you know the cost?

Thanks!

When we did the Venice Med cruise back in 2008 they did have a shuttle to St Marks. It was right in front of the ship on the pier. When we got off the boat the line was very long to get on it, we ended up walking. I can't find how much it cost, but I seem to remember it was $20-30 and was unlimited.

On our two Med and one Baltic cruise the ship changed the time for each time zone. The Cruise Compass would have the info in it, usually it would change very early in the morning. We just had to remember to set our clock/watch to the new time when we went to bed. The Baltic cruise was the worse, I think we changed time three times on the way to St. Petersburg and then three times on the way back (we cruised out of Harwich).

In Hilo we just made sure we were ready to walk off when the OK was given. We were the only ones on the shuttle to the airport, which is only a 5-10 minute drive away. At the airport there was one person in line in front of us. When we returned the car there was a long line and the shuttle was stuffed full of people going back to the port.

For our 2014 Hawaii cruise we rented our car from Hertz which at the time had a free shuttle to the pier. We had it for two nights, just paid the parking fee at the hotel. The morning of the cruise we visited Pearl Harbor, dropped the car off at Hertz, by the airport, and took the free shuttle to the pier. If I remember correctly, Hertz had two different times for the shuttle, I think we took the 2:30PM one. Check to see if they still do the free shuttle.