cruiseesl

On 7/18/2022 at 11:49 AM, MILLERVILE said:

can I bring water onboard I see they sell caned water but we drink a lot of water and not crazy about cans? i also drink quinine foe leg cramps.

I recently sailed on Brilliance of the Seas.  The cabin had a small cooler which was entirely useless for keeping drinks, even in cans, cold.  It is labeled as a cooler rather than a refrigerator (so it would not be good for perishable foods) but honestly, the "cooled" cans of water would have almost the same temperature if I'd just left them on a counter in the air-conditioned cabin.

On 6/9/2022 at 8:24 PM, cruiseesl said:

I called Royal today and an agent told me they do not offer a transfer from Venice city center to Ravenna. May I ask how you arranged this?  Thank you.

I received the same information.

On 6/8/2022 at 1:46 PM, wallyj said:

Hi @little britainmeans you get back/make your way back to VCE/ Marco Polo airport. Where RCL has scheduled shuttle service for a fee to get passengers arriving that day to the Ravenna port.

I am traveling solo, and  I think managing my luggage on my own will not be possible in a multi-stage transfer from my hotel to the port. I do appreciate the information.

On 6/8/2022 at 1:47 PM, Tlbecker1 said:

VCE is the airport.

ah, yes, of course

8 hours ago, sunshinelover59 said:

Royal also has a transfer from Venice City Centre to Ravenna port. That's what we have booked. Not exactly sure where the pick up point is.

I called Royal today and an agent told me they do not offer a transfer from Venice city center to Ravenna. May I ask how you arranged this?  Thank you.

10 minutes ago, little britain said:

Firstly, Venice to Ravenna is 3 hours drive.

You either go back to VCE and take the RCI shuttle for $45pp e/w

Or you go to Santa Lucia train station and catch a train for about €13pp to Ravenna ( one change at Bologna or Ferrara)

 

Or you pay a fortune for a driver - €310

https://www.pantareichauffeurservice.it/project/venice-to-ravenna-cruise-terminal/

 

or 

https://www.trevisocarservice.com/transfer-to-ravenna-port/

 

Thank you, but what do you mean by go back to VCE?  I will have already been in Venice for a few days, and on the cruise start date I need to get from my Venice hotel to the Ravenna port. Maybe train from Santa Lucia train station to Ravenna train station, and then a driver from there to the port?

Can anyone recommend a transfer service to take me from my Venice hotel (which has its own water entrance) to the Ravenna port for my RCCL cruise on embarkation day?  I believe that would require a boat plus a car, but I want an inclusive arrangement. I won't be able to manage my luggage for meeting a shared ride. I've done a lot of googling and can't seem to find this scenario.

I will be on an RC cruise this July that will stop at Argostoli between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. I have never been to Kefalonia so I'd like to choose my touring carefully. Does anyone have a tour company to recommend?  Thank you.

On 5/10/2022 at 9:29 PM, Ashland said:

On our Athens port stop we used PK Travel...lot's of great reviews on this board and so glad we booked directly with them as part of our roll call. Just an amazing tour !!!!

Thank you.

23 hours ago, GeorgeStrid said:

Hi there. In Kotor you can find a few excellent tour agencies or private guides and some of them are Mont Travelers Montenegro/Kotor then guides Ana and Dzordz, Dimitri, Marko who are highly recommended by this agency but many others here on cc. On some of their website you can easily find free tour catalogues that then you can use for taking ideas for your own tour. These guys are really creative so go for it and have fun. We did. 

Thank you.

22 hours ago, marazul said:

In Greece liquor is sold in grocery stores and wine stores.  There are no dedicated liquor stores. Just ask when you get to Mykonos. 

thanks.

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Can't help with a guide, but Achilleion Palace is closed right now for restoration; no date for reopening is given on the website:   HOME - Αχίλλειο Ανάκτορο (achillion-corfu.gr)

Good to know, one less factor to consider. Thanks.

While on Mykonos in 2019 we enjoyed a particular variety of mastica liqueur. I stupidly did not buy a bottle there, nor in the Athens airport. I later learned that this particular mastica is not exported to the US. This year I’ll be on an RC cruise that offers a stop in Mykonos. Can anyone here direct me to a liquor store in town? 

I have been to Corfu before but not for many years. The ship excursions are not calling my name. The port stop is officially 7am to 3pm.  If I could organize my own tour (or go w a small group) I'd go to Paleokastritsa again for views and definitely to see the monastery, perhaps Lakonas (never been there but it sounds like nice views or a place to browse around)), and end with a couple of hours on my own to stroll around Corfu town, before heading back to the ship.Seeing Achilleon Palace again might be nice, but not essential.  Any suggestions for reliable guides/tours?

I am not excited about some of the shore excursions offered by Royal Carib., for a cruise this July, partly because I have visited some of those ports before.

If anyone has any personal recommenations for local guides/tours in Kotor, Corfu, Athens, Mykonos, and Argostoli, kindly share the information.  I already know about Viator; looking for more direct contacts with local vendors. Thank you.

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

They don't provide the tours, they are a broker. They take your money and go get a low bid contractor to provide the tour. This results in very attractive prices, but can also result in many problems with who is responsible and reachable when there is a problem. 

 

This might be a company that was known as shoreexcursions.com prior to Covid. There are many threads on brokers on the Med Ports boards. Most end with the strong recommendation to use recommended local vendors,  not brokers.

 

I will start to look for local tour vendors and guides. Thank you.

9 hours ago, jsn55 said:

When an 'established' company changes its name, there's always a reason.  Usually it's not a good reason from the traveler's perspective.  I looked at ShoreWhatever several times a few years ago and their website was impressive ... but never got the chance to dig deeper.  How clever you were to call your destination directly ... thanks so much for sharing this.

Agree the website is impressive.  Thanks for the response.

20 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I don't think I can post a link, but I just read on another site about them.  They are not a company you'd want to deal with from what I read.

 

A few quotes from that review:

 

a friend said... they used a company called ShoreTrips to book several great excursions for this itinerary. ... I searched for ShoreTrips and was diverted to a website for a company called Venture Ashore. Something seemed off when they asked if I wanted to purchase trip insurance through them for an additional fee if for some reason the ship didn't port that day or we had to cancel due to COVID. Again, I should have done more research, but I went ahead and booked our excursion. It was transportation from the ship in St. Thomas to Coral World for a Sea Lion Swim, some time at a nearby beach, and then back to the ship. Everything seemed legit until I didn't receive the vouchers they said they would email me in 72 hours. I decided to call and the call went directly to hold music, so I went to their website and chatted with "someone". He assured me I would receive my vouchers today. This morning, I received an email with vague meeting instructions (meet at the port and look for a van that says, "Transfer to Megan's Bay" (25 minutes away from Coral World), and no vouchers. Then, I searched the internet for reviews on this company. I found nothing. Nothing on Cruise Critic. ... Nothing on Trip Advisor. So, I decided to call Coral World directly. The woman I spoke with was lovely. I asked if a company named "Venture Ashore" had booked a group of tickets on time and date of my reservation with them. She said they only sell group tickets for their dolphin swim directly to the (cruise line only), and she was sorry that I had gotten caught up in this elaborate scam. ... I hope someone here will learn from my mistake. We do have a happy ending to our story in that the Coral World rep sold me tickets to the sea lion swim interaction, and we will still get to have the experience our family wanted to have; just with a much higher price tag and a lesson learned.

THANK YOU so much for that.  Their website is elaborate and impressive, and because I am interested in non-cruise-line excursions I could have fallen for their scams.  Very much appreciate the information! I'll probably go for old reliable Viator, unless I can find personally-recommended guides in the various ports.

I hope I’m posting this question in the correct place. I’ll be taking a Royal Carib. Med cruise this summer. I’ve visited some of the ports before. I’d like to avoid the big crowds on the ship’s excursions, and I came across a tour company called Venture Ashore. They seem to offer tours in every conceivable cruise stop in the world —the way Viator does, but this company is new and emphasizes small groups. I was wondering if anyone can recommend this company. https://www.ventureashore.com

On 5/3/2022 at 3:12 PM, jean87510 said:

The reviews are more recent there.  Plus I think a lot of people tend to use the same companies over and over here because they feel safer with familiarity if that makes sense.  I usually do both plus I look on Carnival website for ship excursion reviews as they use same companies.  Shoreexcursioneer.com. Shore-excursiongroup, Viator.com.  Mostly to read the REVIEWS not to book.

Thank you.

15 hours ago, jean87510 said:

try this.  You go to port of call, Europe, Italy ports.

 

Shore excursions - try TripAdvisor for recent ones.  It's tough I know but you may get lucky.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/

 

 

I somehow thought that excursions were reviewed here on cruisecritic. Thanks for the suggestion for tripadvisor.   

It's not a problem, which is why, if my cruise includes Venice, I'd want to start from there. I've been to Venice three times.  I want to see it again, and would plan on arriving a few days before the cruise begins to revisit my favorite places.  I'd rather not continue my visit post-cruise. Thanks for the advice.

I have cruised a few times before, but not for some years and never for a European destination.  I am looking at Royal Carib Mediterranean.cruises for June or July 2022. I want to start and/or end in Venice. I see one cruise on Brilliance of the Seas, but there seem to be other interesting choices for different sailing dates. What I can't seem to find is recent reviews on the specific itineraries, nor reviews of the shore excursions (can't find the excursions at all, actually.)  Helping me navigate this site would be so appreciated. Thank you.

We are booked on a Silver Sea Northern Europe cruise in summer 2022. We finish in Copenhagen at 7:00 am. I know there is a process for disembarking a ship. Unfortunately,  we have to return to the US the same day. I hope to return to Copenhagen another time. Is there a port-to-airport transfer service that might allow time for  one or two very quick photo stops on the way to the airport (esp. thinking of The Little Mermaid, or the Palace). Would there likely even be time for that? Thank you.

Currently the US is requiring citizens returning to the US from Europe to be tested for Covid not more than 3 days before returning to the US. What are your suggestions? Thank you.