jsmac3

Our favorite Hotel in NYC is the Casablanca . . . I can't remember if it is 42nd or 43rd Street . . . and next door is Tony's . . . our favorite Italian Restaurant.

7 hours ago, ghstudio said:

Thanks for the replies.  We've decided to brave it and give HAL a try....We'll have a rear facing vista suite on deck 10 (deck 9 unavailable) but it will be nice to be on a smaller ship again (all of our cruises now seem to be on 2000-3000 passenger ships). Food is subjective and if it's not great, I'll just have to eat less and drink more 🙂

We are long-time Princess and Carnival cruisers.  We took our first HAL cruise on the Veendam last November to Cuba.  We enjoyed it and have booked the Maasdam  Sea of Cortez cruise for next April.  We thought the food was fine . . . on par with Princess.  Our cabin was a Vista Suite and thought it was larger than a Princess Mini-Suite - the balcony definitely was deeper.  We definitely enjoyed the smaller ship. 

Although we booked the Best of Havana tour through HAL, we were not forced to take their tour nor was it necessary to leave the ship in Havana.  If we travel to Havana again, we will do exactly as you say . . . disembark and hire an old car. 

Our tour was scheduled for 8am but we weren't called to leave the theater until nearly 10am . . . the Cubans only allowed 5 buses at a time to enter the port . . . so those that disembarked on their own saved themselves two hours. 

Cienfuegos was/is a different matter . . . we travelled to Santa Clara and it was quite a drive . . . we arrived back at the port in time for the final tender . . .

We were on the November 19th Veendam cruise to Cuba and took the "Best of Havana" tour.  We enjoyed the tour and thought it was a good value.  It is advertised as an eight hour tour but became a ten hour tour because the Cubans only allowed five buses at a time to load at the cruise terminal.  So we waited nearly two hours in the theater to be called.  Everything on the tour can probably be seen in 4-5 hours using one of the classical car tours or a private tour company. 

We've cruised on the Pride four times - one of those for 14 days through the Panama Canal.  It is one of our favorite ships.  We always booked an extended balcony cabin on the upper deck (which is deck 5 I believe) and forward.  This area is directly above the theatre but noise dies down by 10:30pm. 

Is Legend basically taking over what Miracle is doing right now?

 

The two ships are pretty much identical, right?

I suppose . . . they are both Spirit class ships - identical except for how their interiors are decorated.

Anyone know what's taking her place; I am significantly out of the loop? :P

The Miracle is moving from Tampa to Los Angeles during late September 2019 and then the Legend will move to Tampa.

We got off of the Miracle yesterday and because there were only two Customs agents, it was very slow. We had our bags and did self disembarkation and stood in line to get off the ship for two hours. We were in line at 8:15 and in a cab at 10:30. I can only imagine how long it took the rest of the passengers to get through that line.

On embarkation day we watched the last passengers leave a few minutes after 12 and then they immediately started boarding the new passengers.

 

 

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We were on this same cruise . . . we made our 12:30 flight, but the flight attendants mentioned that several cruisers didn't make the flight.

On embarkation day (the 2nd) traffic was awful . . . it took our shuttle 25 minutes to travel from the Marriott Waterside to the terminal (1/2 mile).

Been on both - loved them both but would select the Golden for the same reason as previous posters - fewer people - however - depending on where the Caribbean is going and if its window suites are available at a good price I would select the CP which means you get a suite (minus balcony) for about the same price as a mini-suite. I don't remember if the Golden has window suites.

I know this is early, but are there any other Cruise Critic members booked on this cruise?

We booked this cruise but aren't sure we will go. We took this cruise on the Caribbean Princess in 2016 and may wait until 2019 to go again. Depends on what happens with the price . . .

Thank you for this. Now how much time should we factor in for the delay of being an American who has never been there and has no clue what they are doing?! :)

We flew into Heathrow for the first time this past May . . . we found Terminal 4 (Delta Terminal) to be very easy to find our way about . . . we had heard all sorts of things about Heathrow . . . but we thought it was great . . . both directions.

Now, if you have to change terminals for a connection, that may be another matter, but if you're flying into London or departing from London - no problem.

I would opt for the Grand out of SF if a window suite is available . . . they cost about the same as a mini-suite and you have a lot more room and are entitled to suite benefits.

I recommend you buy a London tour book and map, determine what you want to see each day and then select a hotel location that supports your plan. Research the hop on hop off bus routes and the rail/tube routes and station locations.

There is so much to see and do in London - don't do like we did our first trip there - wake up in the morning and then decide what to see.

You can also arrange for a car to take you on a bit of tour from the airport into the city and you can also arrange for a car to take you to Stonehenge or some other site and on to Southampton.

Have a great trip!

We like the Marriott on Biscayne Blvd . .. there is also a Doubletree next door. A room that faces the East . . . you can watch the ships come in and leave . . . and have a great view of the South Beach skyline at night. They do offer a shuttle to the cruise ships but not from the airport. The food is very good there.

One of our favorite hotels.

If you have made a good faith effort to resolve your issue, and they still wont honor their terms, call your credit card issuer. They may be able to dispute the charge for you, however they may not be able to do anything. If your attempts with the merchant fail, give it a shot.

Agree with this idea . . . some credit cards have/offer their own warranties as well.

Thanks Shogun,

Do you believe you can visit these sites on your own when cruise ships are in port?

I seem to recall reading in a review that a private tour operator couldn't get their clients in one of the sites because cruise ships were there.

We recently completed the British Isles cruise that stopped at Liverpool . . . next time we'll take the cruise that stops at Kirkwall. My questions . . . are there Princess and/or Private tours that take you to the three primary sites - the large ring of stones, the tomb, and the village site?

I can't remember all the names.

Thanks.

If it is still offered, I recommend the tour to the Bob Marley cultural museum and mausoleum . . . a great tour.

Thanks for the review.

We were on the Caribbean Princess for its May 20th British Isles cruise. I wrote a review and I believe I said the food was good but boring. It doesn't seem to me there are as many items on the menu that I like as there used to be . . . such as black bean enchilada and polenta.

I made a HUGE mistake and ordered the meatloaf on the final night of the cruise - it really was bland . . . but I ate it all and topped it off by going up to the Lido deck and having a chocolate milkshake.

If you are unhappy with the food in the MDR there are lots of other options, pizza, the grill, the international café, room service, the horizon court so you have options whereas on a land tour if you are unhappy with your meal you it will cost you extra.

We had three lunches in Ireland and three lunches in Scotland and they were pretty much the same thing - beef and potatoes - good but kind of bland, but those meals won't stop me from going back to Scotland or Ireland.

I am 66 and I know that my sensation of taste has changed so bland for me might not be bland for someone half my age.

So bland or not, I wish I was on the Caribbean Princess right now.

It has been 12 years since I've taken a 10 day cruise with Princess . . . on that cruise as well as the two 12 day cruises I've taken since, menus were not repeated. Same for the two 15 day cruises.

We missed the Beatles show, the theater fills up early and some go to two shows. At 640pm their were no seats available, we had dinner at 8pm and we were just too tired for the 10pm show. So go to the theater early.

We were on the May 20th sailing, we have always wanted to go to Kirkwall, but Liverpool was great and it fit into our schedule for the summer.

We are booked in F305 for an April 2017 cruise and would love to hear anything and everything about that specific room and your experience with the "Suite" amenities in room and across the board. Thanks![/quote

 

The suite benefits are listed on Princess' website and they provide them all . . . we checked them off. We liked this cabin's size and comfort, its convenient location, and the expanded room service menu. Being able to order a full breakfast for room service on a British Isles port-intensive cruise meant you didn't have to go to breakfast with 3,500 of your closest friends at the same time in the Horizon Court, and if at the end of the day, you are too tired to go to the MDR, you can order room service from the MDR menu.

 

We also enjoyed the two large windows and being that close to the water . . . it was very enjoyable sitting there looking at the scenery or just watching the ocean slide past.

 

Breakfast at Sabatini's is great but we were only able to go three times because or tours we scheduled.

 

Hopefully, this is helpful.

The first formal night was the second evening - the day of the Guernsey port call, the second formal night was the evening of the first sea day.

What items did they have?

As I remember, crab legs, fried shrimp, fish, scallops, smoked salmon, a couple of seafood salads, and I believe they also had crab cakes.