ldog

We are booked there in October. It gets pretty good reviews for a medium priced hotel. The Plaka area is central and walking distance to sites with lots of restaurants nearby..

It's relatively easy to set this up ahead of time. Depends on the country. But please don't just miss the ship. It's unfair to the rest of the passengers if they are looking for you.

We are boarding in Piraeus on Oct 19. Staying two nights ahead at the Plaka Hotel. Right in the centre of things. We have stayed in both Piraeus and Athens before other cruises. They are both fine. If you are only coming in one day early after an overnight flight you are just as well to stay in Piraeus. There are lots of really good seafood restaurants around the harbour. I'm a big fan of Matt Barrett's greek travel site. There is almost too much information. Here is the page for Piraeus hotels....https://www.hotelsofgreece.com/athens/coast.htm

We are on that cruise too. Four of us are planning on taking a ferry to Aegina for the day.

I have given up trying on weekends. It's ridiculous and so incompetent.

I know they had no choice but it was still a long way. It was more expensive than a taxi or uber. We booked the HAL transfer because we thought it would be easier and less hassle with the two ships in port but it wasn't. It was awful. I don't use a wheelchair or walker but standing in lines is pretty painful for me. I was a mess when we finally got home. Agree with others an extra day is warranted when disembarking in San Diego.

We took the HAL transfer.....never again in San Diego. It took another long lineup to get on the bus and then they dropped us a long, long way from the check-in counters. We knew that our plane was already going to be late so it wasn't a time problem. The plane ended up being six hours late so it was a nasty trip home.

I totally agree with you Cheryl. We didn't go to any of the parties because they were SRO after we came down from late dinner. the problem with showing movies on the Lido deck was the sound was horrible and badly out of sync.

About half way through the cruise I was complaining in the washroom about the soap and a kind woman showed me how the censer on the dispenser worked. It's hidden on the underside. Everyone in the washroom was astonished and laughing about it. Poor design. I passed the information on to a lot of people.

We are out of noro lockdown as of this afternoon which will be good for the crew. They have been working extra hard to keep things clean.

I wish they didn’t have those honking big amps on either side of the front of the stage. Too loud and they block sight lines.

We were able to move our dining time to fixed late. The lineup for anytime after the first show was horrendous. Last night the service was good. we gave up on getting dessert downstairs a couple of times.

Last January we flew from Toronto to Tokyo on AC and then Singapore Air to Singapore. It wasn’t as bad as I expected.

Its all to recorded music now.

That's what I thought too from last year and it was aggravating that he never concluded a lecture. Just said that his wife was telling him to stop- so he did.

We were on the Westerdam last February and March. The crew are fabulous especially the wonderful ladies at the main desk. We also had some wonderful Asian entertainers on the main stage. I hope the Japanese have sorted out their cumbersome entry requirements.

The problem with Billboard, for me, is that they perform the same set list over and over. It seems canned and processed. Even the banter between songs is repeated. On BTB cruises it's even more obvious. A single performer can read and adapt to the audience and it's spontaneous and creative and thus, more fun.

I don't remember what it looked like. I just know that I've ordered one on almost all of our cruises in the last ten years. It's strange that it's not offered anymore.

I know I can probably get it onboard. Just wondering why there is next to nothing available to pre-order.

For previous cruises I have always pre-ordered a bottle of Remy Martin as a treat for DH to our room. There are none listed on the website now. Only one vodka, gin, bourbon and scotch. Is this something new? Will I be able to purchase once we are onboard? We don't have the HIA package as I don't drink alcohol at all so it's not worth it to us. We are on the Koningsdam in mid February.

You got my hopes up with your topic title. Short answer is no except for a slight discount if you pay for wifi ahead of the cruise.

We were on the Zaandam on Christmas last year. They had goose on the menu. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had on a ship. I hope you get a chance to try it.

We've done it twice and are considering doing it again. We've had all sorts of weather from sunshine to rain and even snow. It's awesome! We love the ports in Chile and Argentina too. Falkland Islands are great.

We were onboard last year. New Year’s Eve party was dressier than others but it was the full gammet from evening gowns to polo shirts. The dinner menus were varied. I had a delicious roast goose dinner at Christmas.

I dislike all of those canned, scripted shows. They are badly written and presented. There is little research or fact checking. A sorry excuse for information.