Bruin Steve

Do they post an entertainment schedule anywhere...so that we can plan out the shows beforehand? Or do we have to figure it all out once onboard as well? (We're on Symphony of the Seas in April).

The only local tour company I know of that does regular LA tours with pick up in either San Pedro or Long Beach drop-off at LAX is Sunseeker Tours: Tours from Cruise Terminals (8 Hrs) Los Angeles – Sunseeker Tours

We just disembarked the Majestic Princess Coastal cruise last week (LA to Vancouver). For our stop in San Francisco, we wanted to do a winery tour. I took a look at the Wine Tour shore excursion offered by the cruise line--and noted that it got some very mediocre to poor reviews--comments mentioned only two wineries visited and not enough free time in Sonoma to do lunch on your own. So, we started looking for alternative arrangements...and came upon "Edge of the World Tours". Edge of the World Tours | Sonoma Wine Tours and Private Tours from San Francisco (edgeoftheworldsf.com) Edge of the World offered the option of either booking your own private tour or taking a tour they managed. With all the uncertainty with people canceling cruises during these pandemic times, we figured signing up to a tour they managed was a safer bet than trying to put together our own group. Pricing came to about the same either way...and the cost slightly LESS than the Princess excursion. And the group size was 12 persons--which works out WAY better than the 45-50 Princess would have crammed onto a big bus shore excursion. I posted information on the tour on our Cruise Critic Roll Call and a number of others joined us in booking this. On our tour, we had 12 of us...ten from the cruise Roll Call and another young honeymoon couple from the UK that the tour provider picked up at their hotel. We had a small last-minute issue when Princess changed our port time in San Francisco just days before the cruise. I contacted Edge of the World and they accommodated the change by moving back the pick-up time by 15 minutes. Our guide was Marc--one of the owners of the company--and he was EXCELLENT--very knowledgeable, very entertaining...everything you might want in a tour guide. We headed across the Golden Gate to a brief photo stop just across on the Marin side of the bridge, then on to Sonoma. We visited two small family-owned wineries in the morning--Mayo and Wellington, then a lunch break and free time in the charming town of Sonoma, followed by a visit to one more small winery--Homewood--in the afternoon, then free time in Sausalito before a return to the ship. We had private appointment times at each winery and the hosts were all informative with interesting presentations followed by VERY ample samplings of several wines...The small group arrangements made it all so much better than the shorex would have been with 50 people crowding to a bar for meager samplings. I HIGHLY recommend this tour for anyone with a port stop in San Francisco.

We have a Transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Rio to Lisbon April 13, 2023. Never been to Rio before. Have no idea what to see, what to expect, how much time to spend, where to stay, etc. Looking for a safe area with lots nearby--restaurants, sights, etc. Also, would three nights pre-cruise be enough? (We have a 13-night cruise followed by 4 nights in Lisbon and Barcelona followed by another 7-night cruise)... Hotel recommendations? Should we book city tour? A private tour guide? Anything we MUST see? Thanks...

Just received notice...New itinerary: Day Port of Call Arrive Depart Fri Barcelona, Spain 5:00 PM Sat Sete, France 8:00 AM 7:00 PM Sun Provence (Toulon), France 8:00 AM 7:00 PM Mon Ajaccio, Corsica, France 7:00 AM 4:00 PM Tue Palma De Mallorca, Spain 11:00 AM 7:00 PM Wed Ibiza, Spain 11:30 AM 9:00 PM Thu Cartagena, Spain 9:00 AM 7:00 PM Fri Valencia, Spain 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Sat Barcelona, Spain 6:00 AM Cagliari, Sardinia dropped...Ibiza is the replacement. Mallorca moved up a day. No reason given.

Flying in to Athens in four weeks for Apex B2B cruises, staying pre-cruise 4 nights and post-cruise one night at the Hilton. Need to figure out ground transportation. I read somewhere that there are fixed taxi prices for Airport to Central Athens hotels, however I'm seeing some greatly varying quotes. Also heard Uber works, but really only as a conduit to taxis...which, again, makes me uncomfortable as to possible rates. Benefit to Uber might be going direct to credit card...but it also looks like I could pre-arrange taxis and charge to card as well. But thinking it may make sense to have the rides pre-arranged. I am a little concerned that they tend to ask for time of arrival...and, who knows, with possible flight delays, time to retrieve luggage and time to make it through customs, what time to ask for. I don't want someone charging me, not waiting and leaving...or charging me a large amount of money for "waiting time"... Any suggestions? Is a taxi the way to go? Should I pre-arrange one or wait and take my chances? Or is there a better way to get from the airport to the Hilton? And how about the Hilton to the ship in Pireus? Basically, the same for the return at end of B2B cruises. Thanks.