Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Royal Clipper Transatlantic 10/28/10

Sailor without a boat

By Sailor without a boat,
in Star Clippers

Recommended Posts

DebSailing

DebSailing

Posted
Posted

Hi Kim,

I still haven't booked a hotel. Since I'll be alone and have never been to Lisbon, I was thinking of maybe just going with one of the big hotel chains. I'd like to arrange a Lisbon tour and thought it might be easier and the chances of the desk staff knowing English might be better. The Sofitel looked good, until I read a review that said it was fine, except the tours were "very weak". So I don't know if my logic is good or not!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

Hi fellow cruisers,

Got the documents last week. Went online to pick airline seats--some were saved from my original requests, some not. Read the shore trip info--now I need to read the other info I accumulated to see if we will do it on our own or do ship's tours. Also preordered wine to be in our room --in US dollars, not Euros, and no bar tip. Need to keep checking the weather in Lisbon to see what to wear--the rest of the trip--not a problem. Need decent shoes for Lisbon's cobblestone and the Morrocan adventure.:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sailor without a boat

Sailor without a boat

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Ok, all is right with the world, the cruise documents came yesterday!

 

Now I've got another question: After looking at the itinerary and the excursions, something doesn't make sense. It looks like we are only in Safi for half a day in the am, yet the excursion to Marrakesh takes 12 1/2 hours. This doesn't seem possible, any thoughts?

Also, I thought the ship would offer currency exchange for the individual countries, but the booklet doesn't say so.:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

Documents in hand--good for you!

Maybe the Safi trip picks them up to go to their destination and then delivers them to Essaouira (which I haven't seen on the itinerary before). We have seen that example on some past cruises.

I don't recall the SC offering too much in the way of currency exchange--maybe too many nationalties to take care of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DocH2O

DocH2O

Posted
Posted

Essaouria was on our itinerary last fall sailing from Lisbon to Barbados on the Royal Clipper. I figured from the itinerary that the bus would take us from Safi to Marrakeesh, and then Marrakeesh to Essaouria to meet the ship which would have sailed while we were gone.... but when we got to the ship in Lisbon, Essaouria was off the itinerary, and we just took the bus to Marrakeesh from Safi, and then back to Safi. We never went to Essaouria. There were considerable security concerns in Safi - we had a police escort half way to Marrakeesh - which may have been the reason Essaouria wasn't visited at all. My husband's brother, who lives in France, has vacationed in Essaouria and says it is wonderful, so I was a bit disappointed.

 

If you take the trip to Marrakeesh, by the way, skip the pharmacy if you can. The rest of it is great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DocH2O

DocH2O

Posted
Posted

"The Marrakesh excursion takes you to a pharmacy?:D"

 

Indeed. The first 5-10 minutes were interesting, but then the hard sell to buy herbs and spices and purchase massages from the staff went on and on and on.:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

We went thru Boat US who now automatically transfers us to the Star Clipper reservation system. The "The Star Clippers Gift Order Form- Bon Voyage Gifts" has always been part of the paperwork. We have not done this before, we always order wine at dinner and will continue to do so--but we figured for this long of a trip it might be good to have some in our room. Only a few prices are good, but we don't have that many stops on the TA so wanted to stock up a bit.:rolleyes: Also, the wine is prepaid with US dollars, not the Euro -which is way not in our favor now--and there is no bar tip added. Ask your travel agent about this. If you do it within 7 days of sailing there is an extra processsing fee!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

DocH2O,

Researching Morocco now. Did you do the Casablaca or Rabat tour--or talked to anyone that did? Rabat seems to be a nicer city--and apparently you can do only one city due to the timing. I've seen a lot of comments about Casablanca being pretty nasty without much to see.

Thanks for any input.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

We leave here Sunday AM for flights. After our transatlantic overnight from ATL, we are at CDG for about 5 1/2 hours Monday morning. Hopefully no problems from the strikes, and we get to Lisbon @ 3 PM on Monday. We will be maxed out , but, have a few days to recover! Will have to check out some local port wine! :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...