What was your most memorable independent/DIY experience in port?

[jwattle]

This started out with a guide of sorts: the golf pro from a Celebrity ship had us as well as a customer from another Celebrity ship in tow. We were in Haines Alaska. The golf was great (minus the bears, that was a bit ...pulse-raising, added to the challenge). The eagle-sightings were amazing. Then we got to the end of the game, hopped back in the van and headed for the ferry back over to the ship. Just as we got there, the pro realized she had left her purse at the golf course so she had the van turn around and head back. We got back just in time to see the ferry depart. She asked the van driver if they wouldn't hold it for us. He laughed. When was the next one? Two hours. She began to sweat noticeably. This was her first contract; this was her first cruise ON her first contract. Our fellow golfer's ship was due to sail in two hours. The ferry ride was about 1/2 hour. This wasn't good, not good at all. 

She pulled out her phone and began dialing like a Tasmanian Devil on crack.

After about fifteen minutes she turned to us and said that she had a little charter plane lined up in an hour that would take us over. The van driver said that he had a couple of sights until then. We ended up enjoying a local brewery in one of the building facades where they'd filmed "White Fang"; apparently all of the facades were left up after the filming and local businesses established in the buildings.  We enjoyed a couple of young but very strong brews there, then it was on to disk golf in the woods behind the brewery. The "holes" were used kegs. What a fun time!! 

Finally, time to go to our charter. Yes it was definitely a puddle jumper; DH and our fellow golfer from the other ship sat in back with the golf pro and I got in the co-pilot's seat, barely able to see over the panel.

We had a quick jaunt over, and Michael, our fellow new friend, ran up, and they literally pulled up the gangway behind him and headed out.

Exciting! Beautiful! Suspenseful! Fun! Unexpected!

What a day.🥰

[rkacruiser]

Another DIY experience that I had was in Rome.  My hotel was on the Via Veneto.  Easy to access the Spanish Steps, the Fountain where people throw coins in, etc.  Had a map and began my trek.  Even with the map, the oddly angled streets around the Fountain confused me.  Somehow managed to find myself near the railroad terminal where there was a Police Officer.  His English was less than my Italian.  But, he was able to manage to direct me to where I ought to go.  I arrived, finally, at my hotel--dehydrated (and I was already suffering an upper respiratory infection)--and needed to prepare myself for a night time tour of Rome with a very late dinner.  The dinner(which included some entertainment) was very good, but, I would have enjoyed more if I had felt better and not still so exhausted from my "lost" meanderings earlier in the day.  

 

 

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Another DIY experience that I had was in Rome.  My hotel was on the Via Veneto.  Easy to access the Spanish Steps, the Fountain where people throw coins in, etc.  Had a map and began my trek.  Even with the map, the oddly angled streets around the Fountain confused me.  Somehow managed to find myself near the railroad terminal where there was a Police Officer.  His English was less than my Italian.  But, he was able to manage to direct me to where I ought to go.  I arrived, finally, at my hotel--dehydrated (and I was already suffering an upper respiratory infection)--and needed to prepare myself for a night time tour of Rome with a very late dinner.  The dinner(which included some entertainment) was very good, but, I would have enjoyed more if I had felt better and not still so exhausted from my "lost" meanderings earlier in the day.  

 

 

 

Don't feel alone.  In our younger days I also managed to get horribly lost in Rome.  Ended up at a police station and managed to ask them to point to where we were on the map.  I didn't know Italian.  Tried a few words of Spanish, which is kind of dumb I know, but it worked.  We also got horribly lost our first time in Venice.  I think we wandered around those narrow streets for an hour before finding our way back to our hotel near the train station.   Now, I think I could walk around Venice blind-folded.  That is if we ever get to go visit Venice again.   

[ontheweb]

Since this thread has changed into horribly lost stories, we were in Santorini and were lost. We stumbled upon a museum in a cave and decided to go in. There was one other couple so the guide gave the tour in English for us and Greek for them. After the tour we showed the guide our map from HAL, and asked where we were on the map. He laughed and said we were off the map. He asked if we had rented a car, and when we said no he tried unsuccessfully to get us a cab. Then he showed us a shortcut back to the area on the map.

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Since this thread has changed into horribly lost stories, we were in Santorini and were lost. We stumbled upon a museum in a cave and decided to go in. There was one other couple so the guide gave the tour in English for us and Greek for them. After the tour we showed the guide our map from HAL, and asked where we were on the map. He laughed and said we were off the map. He asked if we had rented a car, and when we said no he tried unsuccessfully to get us a cab. Then he showed us a shortcut back to the area on the map.

 

In my case, getting lost was a "memorable independent/DYI experience".  That is the title of the thread!  🙂🙂🙂

[cruisemom42]

As a dedicated DIY-er, I have learned NOT to rely on the maps provided by the ship/cruise line. They are invariably simplified and sometimes are printed with an odd orientation (e.g., not with N at the top) that confuses me. If I'm planning to go off on my own, especially in a big city and even more especially when I know I have a deadline to be back on board ship, I will either purchase a good city map in advance of travel or pick one up at a known TI stop once I arrive.

 

I also have taken happily to using Google Maps to help me create a walking route and also take advantage of their "street view" feature to orient myself to key landmarks, tricky turns, etc.  This can help reduce the chances of getting lost immensely.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to wander around, which can be serendipitous. But usually I reserve that for when I don't have other pressing deadlines to be met.

 

[ontheweb]

23 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

In my case, getting lost was a "memorable independent/DYI experience".  That is the title of the thread!  🙂🙂🙂

And ours was also a memorable independent/DYI experience. I remember it well years and years later.

[ldubs]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And ours was also a memorable independent/DYI experience. I remember it well years and years later.

 

Well, you were literally off the map.  That qualifies as one to remember.  Hahah

[ldubs]

6 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

As a dedicated DIY-er, I have learned NOT to rely on the maps provided by the ship/cruise line. They are invariably simplified and sometimes are printed with an odd orientation (e.g., not with N at the top) that confuses me. If I'm planning to go off on my own, especially in a big city and even more especially when I know I have a deadline to be back on board ship, I will either purchase a good city map in advance of travel or pick one up at a known TI stop once I arrive.

 

I also have taken happily to using Google Maps to help me create a walking route and also take advantage of their "street view" feature to orient myself to key landmarks, tricky turns, etc.  This can help reduce the chances of getting lost immensely.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to wander around, which can be serendipitous. But usually I reserve that for when I don't have other pressing deadlines to be met.

 

 

Prior to a trip to Como, I spent a lot of time memorizing how to walk from the train station to our hotel.  I had it down.   All so I could impress Mrs Ldubs with my directional savvy.  Would have worked too, except when we arrived is when I realized there are two train stations in Como.   So I bought a map from a tourist kiosk.  Which kiosk was of course just around the corner from our hotel.  

[lenquixote66]

Our first cruise was in 1973.There were no shore excursions .We were in Bermuda,young and healthy .We walked as far as we were physically able only to realize that the ship was leaving in 45 minutes and we were more than an hour from the cruise port.We decided to hitch hike and were picked up by a guy who had no problem speeding and he got us back to port on time to board the ship. 

[SelectSys]

On 7/13/2021 at 12:12 PM, iancal said:

Iguazu Falls.   Flew up for two nights from BA...

 

We almost did not go. So glad we did.  It was the highlight of a combined land and SA cruise.

 

On 7/13/2021 at 8:52 PM, capriccio said:

Iguassu Falls was our favorite DIY tour too.  Absolutely spectacular scenery...

 

We flew in from and back to Rio de Janiero ...

Another vote for having a great time at Iguassu although not part of a cruise trip.  Spent a few days at the hotel inside the park on the Brazilian side and it was amazing.  Rafting, hiking, bird watching & park, good food and drinks along with the ever present coatis cruising around the hotel looking for food.  

 

On 7/14/2021 at 3:22 PM, Ashland said:

Every port where we have just gotten off the ship and walked around on our own has been memorable.

Good sentiment!

 

15 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Since this thread has changed into horribly lost stories, we were in Santorini and were lost. .

I didn't get lost, but I really enjoyed visiting Santorini and just wandering around.  Great weather for our visit and it wasn't too hot or crowded.

 

 

[ilikeanswers]

My tour thread got unexpectedly and pleasantly bumped🤗😄, so thought I might give this a bump see if any new CCers have something to add👍. 

[John Bull]

Up the river from Saigon to Cu Chi tunnels by speedboat.

 

Early days of Vietnamese tourism & a nightmare to organise by e-mail, operators had poor English and I had nil Vietnamese.

No ship's RollCall to find sharers, so we decided how much we were prepared to pay for a boat if we couldn't find sharers, and booked. Turned out we had no need to worry about finding sharers on-board, we ended up having to turn people away. Shared cost was about the same as seats in a van 🙂.

We didn't have to pay anything up-front & communication was awful, and I was worried that having found sharers the boat wouldn't turn up.

 

But it all worked out great - four of us at the front & four at the back, all in the open air and swapping seats from time to time.

On the way up we stopped at a crocodile farm, and a seriously grubby little fishing village - a real eye-opener.

The river was only about 100 yards from the Tunnels and we had an interesting and instructive time seeing the Viet Kong tunnels, the inventive hides & gory man-traps, and learning about "the American war".

On the way back the river was blocked for larger vessels by a sand barge which had loaded too high & got jammed under a bridge 🙄 but we were able to slip past it.

Finally a stop on the outskirts of Saigon at a super "tourist park" (Binh Quoi), an oasis of green with lotus ponds, thatched cottages, a monkey bridge, bamboo waterwheels, vast tropical foliage and Vietnamese restaurants & snackeries. Popular for weddings - there were several during our visit even though it was mid-week.

 

That cruise was on the now-scrapped ms Discovery (Love Boat's twin-sister), about 650 pax. A seriously old tub with very basic cabins, no casino or toys, but a very friendly atmosphere and a fabulous crew. And small enough to sail up the Saigon River and berth in the city centre.

So sorry she's no longer around and no similar cruise ships to take her place. 😪

 

JB 🙂

[dolittle]

We had a two day stay in London before a Baltic cruise .Walked all over and used the tube stumbled into the west end ( I think) . Walked by a theater where Oliver! the musical was playing got tickets for our last night. It was great to see my favorite show about London in London . It was a great way to end our stay in London and one of our best cruises.

[babs135]

Nagasaki. Off the ship and onto a local bus heading to the Peace Park. A very helpful young man showed us where to get off and how to get to the Park.  Spent ages there before going to the Atomic Bomb Museum which was very sobering.  A slow walk back to the port with a pause for a leisurely lunch and then a visit to the Shopping Street (can't remember if this is the proper name) before returning to the ship. Too early in the year to visit the gardens so we'll just have to go back!! 

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, babs135 said:

Nagasaki. Off the ship and onto a local bus heading to the Peace Park. A very helpful young man showed us where to get off and how to get to the Park.  Spent ages there before going to the Atomic Bomb Museum which was very sobering.  A slow walk back to the port with a pause for a leisurely lunch and then a visit to the Shopping Street (can't remember if this is the proper name) before returning to the ship. Too early in the year to visit the gardens so we'll just have to go back!! 

 

We did something very similar in Nagasaki.  Took that light rail all over the place, including the Peace Park, Glover park,  and the shopping area.  A very enjoyable day.   

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, babs135 said:

Nagasaki. Off the ship and onto a local bus heading to the Peace Park. A very helpful young man showed us where to get off and how to get to the Park.  Spent ages there before going to the Atomic Bomb Museum which was very sobering.

 

Nagasaki is on my bucket list because I want to visit their Museum.  I visited the one in Hiroshima and that also a very emotional and sobering experience.  Speaking with others on my cruise who also visited the Hiroshima Museum as well as the one in Nagasaki, their opinion was that a different slant to the exhibits were presented in the two Museums.  I would like to see for myself if I agree.  

[Hlitner]

DW and I have done DIY days in hundreds (no exaggeration) over nearly forty years so trying to choose the most memorable is tough.  But DW quickly remembered one very ambitious port day while we were on the Prinsendam in Alesund, Norway.  That particular itinerary got us into port early in the morning and the ship did not depart until 11pm (very unusual).  We had always wanted to see the Geiranger Fjord so decided it was possible to do it with a rental car and a long day.  The drive had to coordinate with two ferries including a long ferry ride from Hellyselt to Geiranger.  We mapped out a circular route (no back tracking) and managed to pull it off...getting back to Alesund by 7pm.  Not only was this one of our more ambitious port days, but also very satisfying as we finally got to cruise through the Geiranger and later take the windy scenic route that works its way up the mountain from the town of Geiranger.

 

There have been plenty of other memorable days such as our first two day visit to St Petersburg when we got our own Russian Visas and did it on our own (including taking the regular Russian hydrofoil from St Petersburg to Peterhof (a much nicer way to get to Peterhof then a tour bus).   We have also had a few wonderful self-driving days from Marseille up to various parts of Provence.   Come to think of it just about all the most memorable DIY days involved rental cars.  We have also done plenty of train trips but none stand out as much as those fun driving days.  

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, babs135 said:

Nagasaki. Off the ship and onto a local bus heading to the Peace Park. A very helpful young man showed us where to get off and how to get to the Park.  Spent ages there before going to the Atomic Bomb Museum which was very sobering.  A slow walk back to the port with a pause for a leisurely lunch and then a visit to the Shopping Street (can't remember if this is the proper name) before returning to the ship. Too early in the year to visit the gardens so we'll just have to go back!! 

 

48 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Nagasaki is on my bucket list because I want to visit their Museum.  I visited the one in Hiroshima and that also a very emotional and sobering experience.  Speaking with others on my cruise who also visited the Hiroshima Museum as well as the one in Nagasaki, their opinion was that a different slant to the exhibits were presented in the two Museums.  I would like to see for myself if I agree.  

 

I did a two-week trip with DS to Japan about 10 years ago -- the entire trip was DIY except for two partial-day tours I'd booked for things that would have been very difficult to do on our own. I was a little worried because when I'd gone to Japan 20 years before that, there was not much English signage and not much spoken either. What a difference time makes! We never had any problem negotiating the busy subway and train lines in Tokyo, where we stayed for nearly a week. Then used the train to go to Kyoto, visited Himeji castle and Nara, Fushimi Inari shrine, and finally to Hiroshima (and then to Miyajima island via ferry where we spent a night in a ryokan, complete with a kaiseki dinner...)

 

The whole thing was a wonderful experience but Hiroshima certainly made an impression on us. It was a rainy day (which seemed appropriate for walking around the Peace Park) and the museum was very moving. DS was a senior in high school at the time -- it was one of those rare moments where a parent gets to recognize the budding adult in their child.

 

[iancal]

On 9/1/2021 at 1:16 AM, John Bull said:

Up the river from Saigon to Cu Chi tunnels by speedboat.

 

Early days of Vietnamese tourism & a nightmare to organise by e-mail, operators had poor English and I had nil Vietnamese.

No ship's RollCall to find sharers, so we decided how much we were prepared to pay for a boat if we couldn't find sharers, and booked. Turned out we had no need to worry about finding sharers on-board, we ended up having to turn people away. Shared cost was about the same as seats in a van 🙂.

We didn't have to pay anything up-front & communication was awful, and I was worried that having found sharers the boat wouldn't turn up.

 

But it all worked out great - four of us at the front & four at the back, all in the open air and swapping seats from time to time.

On the way up we stopped at a crocodile farm, and a seriously grubby little fishing village - a real eye-opener.

The river was only about 100 yards from the Tunnels and we had an interesting and instructive time seeing the Viet Kong tunnels, the inventive hides & gory man-traps, and learning about "the American war".

On the way back the river was blocked for larger vessels by a sand barge which had loaded too high & got jammed under a bridge 🙄 but we were able to slip past it.

Finally a stop on the outskirts of Saigon at a super "tourist park" (Binh Quoi), an oasis of green with lotus ponds, thatched cottages, a monkey bridge, bamboo waterwheels, vast tropical foliage and Vietnamese restaurants & snackeries. Popular for weddings - there were several during our visit even though it was mid-week.

 

That cruise was on the now-scrapped ms Discovery (Love Boat's twin-sister), about 650 pax. A seriously old tub with very basic cabins, no casino or toys, but a very friendly atmosphere and a fabulous crew. And small enough to sail up the Saigon River and berth in the city centre.

So sorry she's no longer around and no similar cruise ships to take her place. 😪

 

JB 🙂

We spent a month in Vietnam and enjoyed every minute.  From Phu Kwok in the south to Hanoi.  We we are spontaneous cruisers.  Sitting in our Saigon hotel room we decided to go to Da Lat next day prior to heading up the coast.  While in DaLat we took a private tour to a small village where our guide told us French had been a common language.  This old gentleman approached and I greeted him in French.  Not great French but his was pretty rusty as well.   He was beaming when he heard the language and wanted to know where we were from.   Turns out he had not spoken in in years and was thrilled to spend ten minutes conversing with us what was probably the most atrocious use of the French language ever.   He tried his best to convey the history of the village to us.

 

Cu Chi tunnels were a highlight.  My spouse did more of the tour than me...I am somewhat claustrophobic.

 

The other highlight of the trip was speaking a guide in Cambodia whose family had walked for months to avoid the Khmer Rouge.   Tragic but a testament to a people's desire to survive.

 

When Thailand finally opens up post covid  for the winter our plan is to include another three of four weeks in Vietnam IF  they also open up.  Wonderful people.

Edited September 2, 2021 by iancal

[clo]

54 minutes ago, iancal said:

On 9/1/2021 at 12:16 AM, John Bull said:

We spent a month in Vietnam and enjoyed every minute. 

Did you go to Hue? Tony Bourdain claimed that they had the best soup in the world, bun bo hue, and we agree. The lady opens at 7 or 8 AM and when it's gone that's it. If I remember two big bowls and a bottle of water was US$4.

 

[iancal]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Did you go to Hue? Tony Bourdain claimed that they had the best soup in the world, bun bo hue, and we agree. The lady opens at 7 or 8 AM and when it's gone that's it. If I remember two big bowls and a bottle of water was US$4.

 

 

[iancal]

We spent four days in Hue.  Our hotel arranged a private tour in the countryside to the mausoleum of a former emperor.  It was amazing.  We enjoyed all the food we had in Viet Nam.

Edited September 3, 2021 by iancal

[clo]

3 minutes ago, iancal said:

We enjoyed all the food we had in Viet Nam.

Oh, boy, so did we! I came home and learned to make cha gio.

 

[Joebucks]

Something that sticks out to me was my first ever foreign port: Cozumel. People love to snub their nose at it, or even stop reading once they see that name, because it is so common. We've had plenty of fun times there!

 

This was our first ever foreign port. I had little idea what to expect, and none of this was planned out too well. Waking up and seeing a foreign port from our balcony for the first time was an experience I will never forget. The weather was beautiful. The port itself was very lively. We rented a moped to explore. We spent quite some time at Chankanaab, what a beautiful place. Stopped at various places to checkout nature, shops, etc. It reminded us to appreciate the smaller things.

 

Then I got back on the ship and finally got to see one of my lifelong favorites perform live, Jay Leno. It was a good day. At that time, I definitely realized that I loved cruising.