lorelei0922

Our MSC cruise leaves out of Genoa next Saturday.. Yay!

We are flying in the day before and have gotten us an Air BnB room for the night. Not the most prestigious place but it will do for the night and we're adventurous!

We expect to be settled into our room by 6pm and it will be our 10th anniversary LOL.. we plan on skipping the day perse' till we're on the ship the next day to celebrate!

So what shall we do for the evening? anything interesting to take in for the evening? Great place to eat? music?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//44.413486,8.928755/@44.4133056,8.9264562,17z/data=!3m1!4b1

Thats a google map of where we are staying...

Also... getting to the ship the next day, does anyone know the best method? Or can tell us exactly where to go even? lol

we're happy getting the bus and stuff but is the terminal walk able? I know some port areas are just not appropriate by foot... We wont have a ton of luggage, just a backpack each and one bag that rolls or is carried easily.

Thanks for such detailed info! I'm going to save that for my trip kit so i know just where to find the things we need!

Its gonna be a fantastic trip!

We are celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary, my 42nd and His 54th birthdays all that same week.

We will be in Rome on the 30th of September and are looking for advice on the best way to do the biggies on our own.

We will have purchased a BIRG ticket to get from Civitavecchia Port so will have access to the local transport systems for the day.

Ideally the Big ones for me to see and do is probably the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Forum and the Trevi Fountains.

Now I'm aware that booking "skip the line" tickets to some like the Colosseum are really the done thing, but where will we find the best price for that? and once there, how do we find the skip the line place lol

Ive thought of one of the hop on hop off bus tour thingies but we will have already spent the money on the BIRG ticket and we already have access to the busses and trams. Why spend more ?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks!!

We will be in port on the 30th of September and of course want to make our way to Rome.

We're pretty intrepid and though I have NO Italian lol, I'm bold and have a translator!

We have seen that the best way to get Rome and include local Rome transport as well may be with a BIRG ticket.

Is the Best place to pick this up at the Train Station? Has anyone done this very recently and could tell me the best procedure?

I see there is a free shuttle offered by most cruise lines out of the port, but a bit of a walk from the train station. Could anyone confirm if MSC offer this shuttle?

I have also seen a post that there is a shuttle from that point to the Train station which is very inexpensive ( the post listed .80p for the trip) Can anyone tell me if this is true and how to find it? ( We're happy to walk but anticipate a long walking day in Rome so want to save our energy early on lol)

On other cruise lines, Carnival etc...

It it common practice, if you would like more than one appetizer or want to try both the chicken and the steak or whatever... or god forbid 2 deserts.. its never a problem to just ask for both.

Is this the same on Thomson? We are doing the Colourful Coasts itinerary on the Majesty, the 25th and just dont want to put my foot in my mouth by asking for more than I'm suppose to.

Is there a place on the Thomson site to find the excursions that are from them?

I found a list of all the excursions for each place but it lists pick up points from hotels etc not the ship or port... and many of them are not applicable to our visit.. ie... evening events etc...

Thanks for that Steve!

I do think we'll have a great time! We've decided to do the Colourful Coasts trip i think as that suits the dates best.

Its nothing to do with being a poor second.. at all! I love to explore new places and this will tick those boxes really well. I have recently fallen in love with snorkelling and wanted the warmer weather and water to enjoy that ;)

But I'm certain we will have a great time! We've decided to go for the inside room as we are quite happy with cheap and cheerful and dont intend to spend any time in our room beyond sleep anyways and we can use the extra on excursions...

Any great ones NOT to miss?

It stops at...

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Santa Cruz, Tenerife

Santa Cruz De La Palma, La Palma

Funchal,Madeira

Agadir,Morocco

Arrecife, Lanzarote

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

We actually found the flight cost went down if we fly out of Bristol... go figure... much closer to use down here in Devon and cheaper...

Any idea how long the flights to Gran Canaria are?

compared to caribbean its not that warm in canaries at that time of year? weather can be v unpredictable (its in the atlantic) its usually pleasant about 20 degrees & sunny but can be quite rainy/stormy & sea temperature isnt great for swimming, it can depend which part of the islands the ship docks at, its warmer in the south of tenerife & gnd canaria unfortunately the ship docks in the north (big storm in tenerife last christmas too.... hopefully that was a one off?)

 

on the ai? imo you have to sink quite a few each day to make a dent in the ai at full price and many drinks carry a further supplement we usually do payg (unless they offer us a deal) then we can drink the brands that we like (rather than the house wine & cruise spirits) and our bar bill is never anywhere near what they want for ai.... they have 2 for 1 cocktails and happy hour offers each day and payg bar prices are pretty reasonable

 

hope this helps

Thanks for that... my girlfriend and I are meeting today for lunch to do some planning and i'll bring up this stuff..

Actually no.. its not nearly as warm and pleasant as the Caribbean. Most of the storms are past in the Caribbean by January and temps hover low to mid 80's with the waters matching... still LOVELY weather.

Still... the Canaries are likely a better sunshine opportunity than the med in January lol

I'll talk to her about the AI... she routinely drinks black tea or water.. ONLY... though she may think of pushing out the boat for a few drinks on the cruise... HOWEVER... she's particular about the brands so yeah... that might not work for her... perhaps we'll just do the PAYG...less bother in getting what you actually want like you said.

How's the food? plenty of choice? good quality?

Thomson's offers two 7 day trips to the Canary Islands in January... Both similar itineraries... not much in the price difference.

We've never sailed with Thomsons and were looking for some comparison to other cruiselines. We've only sailed Caribbean cruises with Carnival so far so dont have much frame of reference..

This cruise would be mid January with a girl friend.. so just us girls kinda cruise.

What can you tell me about the overall experience and what is there for 2 ladies in their early 40's ish to get up to ?

I MAY drink enough to make it worth the cost but she almost certainly wouldn't... would we be better off just PAYG ?

What other things are "extra" that we might not think of?

Has anyone does these Canary Island cruises ? What did you think?

I'd love to be sitting on a beach and snorkelling in warm sea this time but I just don't see getting to the Caribbean in our budget.

Ouch!!

Just called to see about either going down to deck 11.. or downgrading to a regular balcony room elsewhere on the ship.

Deck 11 + £220

Regular Balcony + £114

sighs... what to do !!

Half of deck 11's rooms are still Cloud 9 Spa rooms, the forward half. The ones that are closer to the outdoor areas are not Cloud 9 rooms. It's easy to tell where the division is on the deck plans. Also, the colors of the rooms change on the deck plans. The deck 11 balconies will be covered & give you more privacy. Chances are, they are only slightly higher priced than deck 10 balconies, so it makes more sense to get a Cloud 9 balcony on deck 11 rather than a deck 10 room + purchasing the spa pass.

Ideal.. this is exactly what i was looking for... I think i'll have to call Carnival today!

Only problem is the UK operators dont seem to actually have experience with the ships so no way to advise !

Thanks for the help!

Heather

Question for those who have sailed on Dream ...

I booked a Spa Balcony room on the Dream ... room 1203 .

Now I've become a bit concerned about HOW over looked the balcony is.

I saw some pictures someone posted a view from next door sort of thing and it is Completely overlooked with people on the Serenity deck looking down on you.

This isn't good.

On the Conquest we were on Deck 7... obviously Dec 8 was above us and we had the basic privacy everyone has, you COULD look through the gaps in the divider but other than that its pretty much private unless someone is REALLY trying.

I'm wondering if I ought to down grade to a deck that is covered ? and how can I find out?

I believe 11 is still spa balconies ??? .. would those then be "covered" by the deck 12 balconies?

Help! only got to the 7th of July when i have to make my final payment to make a decision.

cant use the fare thingy cause i booked on the UK site.. but did go back and try a mock up fare and it looks like i'm gettin a better deal so far.. will just keep an eye on it i guess!

different perspective here..

i'm new to snorkeling and only have done it a few times. I wasn't required to wear a life vest... but... it was recommended of course.

my problem is... i'm a big girl.. with a Bigger chest... the biggest vests they had wouldnt have done up around my chest... ( 42 KK ) ... so.. what to do there?

i'm practically unsinkable.. cant actually DIVE down without weights at all anyways....

for safety though.. would my own vest be a good investment and accepted by the cruise people as an option ?

There are lots of places "on the high street" or even the local supermarket "Tescos" where you could change a few dollars to British pounds so you have a bit of cash when you need it without having to order a lot to bring with you.

You can also ask for Cash back at most supermarkets or even small shops if using a debit card and that would be given to you in Pounds.

I'm American living in the UK. I keep a US bank account with a Debit card. No chip ... i'm able to use it at ATM's ( or hole in the wall ) but some stores or machines dont know what to make of it so be sure you have a back up

Ok, could someone take me through this process like a kindergarten-er? lol

How do you keep an eye on what your cruise would cost and that?

and how do i see if i qualify for a cheaper fare ?

sooo new and lost at this part!

We have a cruise booked on the Dream the week of the 20th Sept 2015.

We planned to fly in from the UK and stay in New Orleans for a week before our cruise.

Turned out, the 5 day cruise on the Elation on the 14th will actually cost us LESS than staying in the city for a week!

With car hire, hotel, decent food beyond McDonalds... that doesn't even include entertainment and stuff to do around the city...

even if its an older smaller ship we figure we get a cruise out of the deal. Carnival food was good to great on our last cruise on the Conquest so i dont expect it to be McDonalds variety lol.. and we get free entertainment for the week.

So we'll get a hotel the night before and the night after then head to the Dream for another 7 day cruise we originally planned.

Not sure what it is, but can tell you it is not a laundry room...there isn't one on that floor.

Talked to Carnival today.. it IS a laundry room... Upgraded to a Balcony Spa room for £45.. deal!

We've just booked our second cruise today.. choosing room 11247. Next door to the left is a white space .. blank between the next bank of rooms.

Can anyone tell us what this blank space is? (ive googled and searched etc... and seen a few people ask the same question with no answer lol... just dont want a noisy laundry room or some such next door)

Can anyone tell me about the views from the balconies here? we would like a rather private not overlooked space if possible. The pics i saw of the balconies have two regular chairs. On Conquest we had one lounger and one regular... is this the case on Dream? If not can i ask my room steward about it?

Our first cruise is was on the Conquest just back in September. Can anyone tell us what we'll find different on the Dream?