edinburgher

and less stressful! I hope you get the Altona berth as the ferry dock is right next to the ship and there is a bus stop outside on the roadway which travels close to a number of sights. We found Altona very convenient and used trains, buses and ferries across our two days. Bus route 111, search online for the route description which shows a sightseeing map of Hamburg where not only the route is shown, but it also marks each stop closest to a particular sight/attraction so you know where to get off/on. We printed off the image and took it with us. And search online for day passes for public transport. After 0900 on weekdays, no 0900 restriction at weekends, it is actually cheaper to buy one "9-Uhr-Tageskarte“ which covers public transit in the central area for up to 5 persons, than it is to buy 2 regular day tickets. We used it on the ferries, public buses, and the suburban trains. info online.

Absolutely.😀

All of the above info was correct at the time, but I do not know if there have been any changes since, as post pandemic there have been many changes in many sectors.

Sorry, no, but with Leknes being a port,and ferries used quite extensively in Norway for A to B and longer journeys, I would check these before checking public buses. I had the impression that I had to plan ahead for this port. Definitely. and your new best friend is probably Google.😀(or the Leknes Tourist Information Office)

This was widely reported here, also reported that the illness was noro, but whether correct or not I do not know. Most countries in "Africa" have some horrible diseases, and the more we read about them the more we wanted to avoid catching them. As some of them are fairly easy to catch we took a conscious decision many years ago to avoid S, W and E African countries either on cruises or land trips due to the risks. We did though, venture to countries in N Africa several times and were "vacced to the max" Does anyone know what happened with flights that were missed, any reimbursement for rebooking these, or were additional flight expenses covered by travel insurance?

Should the car rental option not be taken for any reason,, and you are still keen to visit inside a U-Boat, just mentioning that there is also a U-Boat Museum in Hamburg itself. Not a German U-boat though, it is a Russian one. Docked in front of the Fishmarket on the waterfront in Hamburg. Should you be docked at the ALTONA cruise terminal, it would be super easy to reach it by ferry. as these leave from next to the Altona cruise terminal and the U-Boat museum is only a short distance from there, i cannot remember exactly but possibly only one or two ferry stops from Altona to Fishmarket. You could check that online.

May or may not be worth it to you, but worthy of consideration before dismissing the idea.

If the car rental idea falls through for whatever reason, you could perhaps consider using a public ferry or a bus, and it could we worth exploring either or both ideas.

Motril itself has very little to offer tourists, the principal reason for the port call being for trips to the Alhambra Palace, one of the top attractions in Spain. (or maybe it is actually the #1) For anyone with no interest, can only suggest you try internet searching something like "side trips from Motril" to see what appears in the results, or look at the shorex for any options other than the Alhambra. And "Motril beaches" if you only have an interest in a beach day. (ref post #3 above)

You could do that if you are prepared to base yourselves somehere like Pisa instead of Florence.(or anywhere else with a direct rail connection to Civi) And accommodation and restaurant prices are probably lower in Pisa than they are in Florence, and Pisa could be a lot less crowded than Florence. If you were to choose a hotel close to Pisa train station, it would be an easy enough commute to and back from Florence each day and visiting hidden gem Lucca for a day would also be easy.

I did think it would be a more difficult decision for you, and it appears i was correct. if it is any help at all, local taxi drivers know when there is a ship in port and we saw a number of them when we arrived at the station. FYI, arriving at Inverkeithing from Edinburgh, you would exit onto the platform next to the car park and roadway, so minimal walking, really only a few steps on flat ground. OTOH, in case it makes a difference, travelling in the opposite direction means walking across the railway bridge to the opposite platform.

Not knowing about the engineering works, , only knowing there were train connections, I threw the idea into the pot for further internet research. Apologies for wasting everyone's time.

For what its worth, just throwing into the mix of options, that both towns have direct connections by train although I know nothing about these andsome online homework would be needed to check if this could be a viable option.

And you may or may not have to take the excursion on foot in addition to the terminal walking, unless you have been lucky to find an excursion in a vehicle?

As nobody has replie, offering you a few suggestions. Tthere have been a number of past threads which included the word Galataport and some may be useful, I do not know. Choose which to read from these: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=galataport&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Contact the Istanbul Tourist Office and ask about disabled facilities or services at Galataport. Check the official Galataport website for similar info. try YouTube and search for Galataport as these days, everything and anything can be found on there and you might be lucky. Try an internet search along the lines of "disabled facilities and/or services at Galataport cruise terminal"

and the little "Bateau Bus" sails the short distance across that harbour next to those mega yachts.

I have only now noticed your location is listed as "SW Scotland" in which case you may want to consider parking at Rosyth. This because we are Edinburgh based, and as the return cost of our train tickets for the few stops to/from Inverkeithing was absolutely minimal, and travel time only 20/25 minutes, it meant that the parking cost for us was way out of proportion to the little effort involved. Travelling longer distances than we did means your non-driving costs could be much higher and the parking cost would perhaps make more sense. At that time, with your back to the terminal building and the ship more or less straight ahead, the parking area was a short walk off to the left.

These are widely available in the UK as we often see riders on mobility scooters wearing them. They appear to come in different sizes to fit differently sized scooters, and styles can vary slightly. You could try internet searching something along the lines of "mobility scooter waterproof rain covers" or try different combinations which are similar, because there is a high possibility they will also be sold in the US

If your cookery session doesn't work out for some reason,do consider the Godfather Villages excursion as the scenery really was beautiful although you need a head for heights! 😀

Have you previously visited Taormina itself? That would be the usual #1 choice for first time visitors, with Mount Etna on a second visit, or a combo of the two on a first visit. We visited 4 times in total, and our most recent visit was actually an excursion to "Godfather Villages", with stunning scenery throughout, so you might want to consider that one if it is offered. There have been a small number of past threads mentioning it, and you can read them here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=godfather villages&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and You mentioned Viator, which is not itself a tour company. There are a few drawbacks with Viator, frequently mentioned on boards. Not that they are bad, and many visitors have good experiences with them,but there are a few issues to consider before booking through them. They are a middleman and you won't know which company they are booking your tour with. Any questions, queries, complaints or anything else will need to go through Viator, not the tour company. Their TCs and Cs are quite difficult for cruise pax as they require 24 hours notice of tour cancellation for a refund, and passengers do not always know 24 hours ahead of time that an arrival will be late or the call cancelled.

it depends on the cruiseline, but latest is usually 30 mins before sailing although it could be an hour, but even if only 30 mins, for peace of mind you might want to plan for an hour before to avoid any last minute panic caused by a delay somewhere along the way. You will be in port from 0800, and once the ship is cleared by the authorities, you will most likely be able to leave around 0830. Depending on when the HOHOS begin running,you could be off early, do both loops and be back on board for a lateish lunch or leave the HOHO route somewhere along the way and enjoy some sightseeing on foot before making your way back to the port by taxi (plenty of them and reasonably priced)or see below. As it is your first cruise and probably first time visiting Barcelona, you may not already know that there should be a port shuttle bus which picks up passengers when leaving and returning to their ships. It runs to a timetable and follows a route. Try internet searching something along the lines of "Barcelona cruise port shuttle bus" for info. Barcelona is a wonderful city to visit, but very popular, ie busy. Remember that if you decide to visit the Sagrada Familia, you will need to pre-book an entry time. Post #3 mentions tenders. Barcelona is not usually a tender port but others on your itinerary may be, and tendering can take a lot of time, with bigger ships taking longer to move large numbers of passengers off and on to the ship than smaller ships do. You will know which ports are tender if the words "at anchor" are mentioned or if there is an anchor symbol next to the name, or whichever notification MSC use, although I have no knowledge of the way they work. And yes, if tendering you need to allow a lot more time which will reduce your sightseeing time ashore.

There have been mentions of both on past threads, also much info and suggestions for Malaga. you could find them using the search tool and decide which to read. This one would be a good starting point, bu you should read it all the way through as the specifics you are asking about appear in different posts scattered here and there. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2948753-advice-about-malaga-please/#comment-65798676

It absolutely was, and thank you for pointing out my error. That guide only added to our enjoyment of the day and I was trying to give others the same experience, so although I got half of his name wrong, I did at least try.......

We took a few FRED cruises, but only twice out of Rosyth. We considered driving there and parking at the port for the duration, but were too penny pinching to pay the quite high cost of parking at the port. You could check the current cost then decide if it is worth it to you.. There had been a change or two between our first and second from Rosyth. First time around when we exited the train, we only had to wait a short time for the Fred shuttle bus to take us to the port. Second time around the shuttle bus was no more, so on exiting the train we took a taxi the relatively short distance to the port.(note that I use the word "port" rather than "ship") Once there our taxi had to wait in line for a shortish time as there were other vehicles in front and passengers can only be dropped off once the vehicle reaches the actual terminal building. (this also applies to passengers arriving in private cars) This because there is a large hall for the embarkation process with a separate section for luggage. When arriving by both the shuttle and the taxi, porters came to take the luggage directly from the transport to the luggage area. In the main terminal area, passengers took a seat until they were called to a check-in desk where the usual formalities were carried out. At this point we were given numbered tickets for the bus transfer to the ship. This is a bit bonkers as the "journey" is barely a minute long, but no walking is allowed. Before exiting the passenger area in the terminal building to board a bus, hand luggage went through x-ray. Once the bus dropped off at the gangway there was really no delay as all the formalities were already completed.. Both times we did this, we were quite impressed with how efficient and smooth the check-in and boarding processes were, apart from the bonkers bus journey. 😀 I have no idea if changes have been made as it has been a few years since we sailed from Rosyth, (in part as there are fewer and fewer local sailings, also because we detest the rigid fixed dining arrangements, and sitting with the same folks every evening)but others who have sailed more recently could advise. Way back in the day, once upon a time, Fred even had coach transfers available to buy from Waverley Bridge Edinburgh outside the train station direct to Rosyth but these were withdrawn by the time we took our first.

You mentioned Spain, Portugal and the Canaries. Note that the Canary Islands have different tax rates from elsewhere in the EU, therefore "duty free" on any of those islands costs less, meaning you may find lower prices ashore than on the ship.