cjc23

Please can anyone recommend half day (am) excursion to Soller?

P&O only offering train excursion woth reviews saying rushed!

have you booked a private excursion?

On 5/30/2023 at 11:18 PM, cruisegal415 said:

I just wanted to follow up to update everyone on what we ended up doing in Palma. Our ship docked at 7 am; on board time was 5:30 pm.  My original idea was to take a taxi to Valldemossa, then to Port of Soller, then the tram to Soller, then take the train back to Palma and explore Palma/see the Cathedral.  Thanks to suggestions from Roger, we switched the itinerary to start from Palma, to Soller, to Port of Soller, to Valldemossa, back to Palma and see the Cathedral. 

 

I played around with the idea of doing it ourself, taking a taxi to Palma town center to catch the train to Soller at 10:10, booking the 12 pm tram to the Port, then taking a taxi or bus to Valldemossa and taking the bus back to Palma, but my husband was nervous about doing it on our own.  We ended up booking an excursion with a private tour company, which turned out to be worth the expense for the following reasons.

 

(1) First of all, it is a long drive from the port to the town center.  Celebrity did offer shuttles, for a fee, but it was nice to be picked up at the port.  There was a lot of traffic.  We were picked up at 9, and had a 9:50 am train reservation.  I learned that if you do it yourself, you get on one train, where there are a lot of people, and the first train doesn't leave until 10:10.  If you are only buying tickets one way, I think you have to purchase them the day of, in cash.  There were an awful lot of people buying tickets and waiting on the train, and it looked crowded.  One thing I found out was that if you book a private tour, the tour guide gets the tickets in advance, and there is a separate train running on a parallel track that seems to be only for tour people. Our tour guide booked us into a private car on the train (for an extra amount of $, but I think it was worth it) so our group had our own car on the train.

 

(2) When we got to Soller, we had some time to explore the town and taste the orange ice cream. We had tickets on the 12 pm tram to Port Soller, again, if we did it ourselves, it was quite crowded and some people didn't have seats.  Our tour guide managed to get us on the tram first, and made sure we had seats.  If we did it ourselves, we may not even have had seats.

 

3) We only had about a half hour in Port Soller, which was more than enough time.  There isn't a whole lot there, but there are lots of restaurants on the water.  If I were to do it again, I might skip Port Soller to give us more time in Soller, Palma, or Valldemossa.

 

4) The drive from Port Soller to Valledemossa was amazing! But scary! You are on mountain roads, very curvy, and quite close to the edge, which is a long drop.  We passed quite a few buses, which was very scary as it doesn't seem like there is enough room for two cars (or a car and a bus).  I don't know if we would have found a taxi in Port Soller, I didn't see any.  There was a bus that we could have taken, but I don't know if the bus schedule would have lined up to when we left.  

 

5) We didn't spend too much time in Valldemossa as we were concerned to return to Palma in time to see the Cathedral and get back to the ship on time.  Since there was so much traffic coming out of the port, we didn't know if it would take as long to get back to port from Palma (it didn't). But it was reassuring to have our own guide and driver to make sure we left in time and had enough time in Palma.

 

6) Our guide took us through the Cathedral, which was nice. Some of our group did not care to see it, so they had more free time in Palma.  We did a tour of the Cathedral in Valencia with just the audio guides, and it is a big difference to have a real, live, guide instead of just the audio guide.

 

This is a long post so I am going to post my recommendations for a true DIY visit separately.

On 5/31/2023 at 9:46 PM, silkworms said:

Hi Roger b

 

in Palma off cruise ship Saturday 10 June. In port 10am to 8pm

we wish to meet friends at San Joan Restaurant, Carrer de Sant Joan for tapas lunch.

If we meet them at Cathedral is the restaurant walkable (I have booked it for 1.30] or do you suggest getting a taxi from port direct to restaurant.Many thanks.

May I ask whom the private excursion was with, as wanting tp book half day morning soller by train and tram.

Are you able to book all MDRs before you embark? my parents cruise next month and not great mobility or tech savvy, so standing in queues or using an app wont be possible. Hoping I can make the bookings for them before they embark.

We recently booked Ariva for next year, and didnt quote our portunus then peninsular membership as thought lapsed seeing as not cruised with P&O for over 15 years.  Now found paperwork and think peninsular still valid as no expiry date.

will i be entitled to any extra OBC if I contact my travel agent and have my membership added?

TIA 

Are you able to book all MDRs before you embark?

my parents cruise next month and no great mobility or tech savvy, so standing in queues or using an app wont be possible.  Hoping I can make the bookings for them before they embark. 

We are departing from Southampton and wondering if we place our 1 litre bottle per person in our suitcases or carry on bag?  Has anyone placed a bottle in each 😉

Hi

The 3 of us are currently booked in 7204 (category 2B) for our forthcoming Caribbean cruise however considering upgrading to 8107 (category FV) however its right at the front so worried it may have lots of vibration/motion.

Please let me know your views?

thank you

Please help? Is celebrity equinox cabin 7292 one with a large balcony on the hump?

read comments and 1st and 3rd cabin being large but not sure where you count from!

thanks

Has anyone stayed in this cabin as also thinking of choosing this one?

Thinking of choosing this cabin - any advice?

believe it has a slightly larger balcony?

will there be any soot issues which aft cabins are reported to have?

any engine vibrations?

welcome your views

thanks

Current midship on deck 7 however thinking of upgrading to concierge cabin on deck 9 at the aft (cabins 9366 or 9380)

Will there be any engine motion?

what are the pros/cons?

please let me know your honest views

thanks

48 minutes ago, cjc23 said:

Hi

We will be sailing on Celebrity Equinox in October which I believe docks at Crown Bay at 8 am.

we have booked a snorkel excursion departing 9am from Yacht Haven Grande.

are they close? Would we need a taxi and will it be easy to find one?

Sorry - Ignore this thread and will create a new post on the right forum!

Hi

We will be sailing on Celebrity Equinox in October which I believe docks at Crown Bay at 8 am.

we have booked a snorkel excursion departing 9am from Yacht Haven Grande.

are they close? Would we need a taxi and will it be easy to find one?

Hi

We will be sailing on Celebrity Equinox in October which I believe docks at Crown Bay at 8 am.

we have booked a snorkel excursion departing 9am from Yacht Haven Grande.

are they close? Would we need a taxi and will it be easy to find one?

Hi

Like you live in the UK, and we cruise on Equinox in October.  We are flying out early and staying two nights at Pelican Grand Beach at Fort Lauderdale, which is located on the beach.  Travel agent recommended this compared to Miami which we may find too busy!  we have organised a private transfer from miami airport to the hotel then plan to catch uber  from hotel to the ship.

we have to disembark ship at about 8am and flight home isnt until the evening, so booked a mid sized suv for £54 with full insurance and tank of fuel, and plan to visit the nearby Galleria huge mall for some compulsory shopping! Your wife may like this 😉

I have booked a hot glass class on Equinox in October however read post revolution this area is being removed!

can anyone confirm or deny?

thanks

Hi

on an eastern Caribbean cruise in October and selected flexible timing due to various departure times.

what time typically  are the theatre shows - so i can try to plan when to dine?

thanks

Has anyone stayed at Pelican Grand Beach hotel? Our travel agent has recommended this for 2 nights before embarking celebrity equinox

thanks in advance of your replies

Where can i find out which cabins will change on Equinox following the refurb?

we are booked in 7204 (cat 2B) which accomodates 4 and hoping we wont be impacted!

Hi

thanks for comments so far.

its €160 for the family and not per person.

the cabin available is C1 9366 which looks as if it has a bigger balcony however we don’t want vibrations from the engines.

has anyone had this cabin?

Three of us travelling on equinox in same balcony deck7 2B category in oct19.

just noticed to upgrade to concierge in aft cabin it’s about £120/$160 extra hence the question is it worth it?

whst are the perks?

would we get much vibration on deck 10 in cabin virtually at rear of ship?

thanks 

Can you book or reserve your lounges in advance or just report to reception on the day?

thanks

We would like to do the VIP excursion via celebrity cruises - any idea which vip beach they are allocated as appears different locations for various cruise liners 

Plus we dont dock until 12:30pm and leave at 7pm so is it worth booking this trip?

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review now you are home.

We always take a taxi at Barcelona even although we have transfers included (cant be bothered hanging around waiting for others for the bus).

There are loads parked right at the airport and the cost is around 35 euro if I remember rightly.

You absolutely don't need to pre book.

Hi Blondie008

We have booked with NCL with transfers included, however like you favour taking a taxi instead of hanging around for the bus to fill. Did you tell the transfer bus you wouldn't be using them? Dont want them waiting for us!