Dobby36

we stayed around the corner from here last week, and walked to the Zuiderdam at pier 30. It was quoted as 20 mins and .6 miles or so on gooogle maps. we were apprehensive with luggage, but it’s all downhill until you are basically at the port area and since the weather was nice we tried it. No issues. And the shuttle between the piers pulled over and picked us up for the last 500meters or something since he knew where we were heading (once you get inside the port area they have a shuttle on loop to take folks in and out and between exit gates, but there is still nice sidewalk and it’s flat and easy to navigate) Alternatively , there is a simple entrance and loop for Ubers and taxis and buses to use to drop off at terminal. They all seemed to know the drill and a few taxis always hung around to catch folks who wanted to venture out back into the city. We used one of these when we headed to dinner after settling into our room. We initially ordered an Uber to a restaurant on rue Saint John downtown and it was only $11 but would have been a 20min wait. Since the taxis were right there, we hopped in one and by the end the meter rose to $13for the same trip. He only took cash but we handed him a twenty and asked for $5back and he seemed fine with that small tip. Couldn’t have been easier.

Yes, we Ubered from Quebec City airport into the old city area across from chateau Frontenac last week. The wait was only 10mins and the designated waiting area easy to find outside baggage claim. They had regular and XL options, if I recall. It was $42usd on my credit card statement but the fare is shown in CAD on the Uber app and it was upper 50-something CAD. this was about 10pm on a Friday night. our driver was very kind, but spoke only French. It wasn’t an issue as all was handled through the app and I can speak a few words of french, but I was a bit surprised as I had read that most tourist-facing employees would be more fully bilingual. But again- it was no issue at all, even if I hadn’t been able to chat a bit.

We were on Zuiderdam last week and it also was this location. On my phone the closest address looks like 47 West Street. The ship has to stay behind bar island, we were told. So it is out of view of the main harbor front. The tenders bring folks around to that west st location and there are tons of tour operators, golf cart rentals, etc right there. It was a foggy day for us, and so the Zuiderdam had to constantly blow their fog horn every few mins. You could hear it a mile away into town, and we heard lots of grumbling complaints about it.

I like them both for different reasons. I would also reccomend “life by Francesco “ YouTube channel. He mainly goes on virgin voyages and Disney cruises, but has some interesting videos from a flight attendant perspective as well. there is another couple with a YouTube channel called “JJ Cruise” who can have good info but I find a lot of their vids are just re-hashing of other info and often have ridiculous sensational titles that are misleading. Like “you’ll never guess why the cruise passenger was BANNED for life!” That gets annoying when it’s usually just a discussion of some posting here, and they offer no new info, just clickbait.

same experience for me on Rotterdam, both self-serve beer and Coke freestyle machine were not operational. (But easy to grab from any bar!)

@relayforlife tagging you to see my post above, since I saw you have this booked this week too. Hope you have as great an experience!

@sgmn and @Julma returning back as promised. We did this water taxi to rowers wharf yesterday. Couldn’t have been simpler! The crew were nice, they even graciously reterned to dock after a quick call when we (stupidly) forgot a backpack on board.. walk is maybe 5 mins from exit of cruise terminal, literally in shadow of cruise ship off the bow. They include good instructions for directing you in the confirmation email. You can then choose what time at top of hour you want to head to airport, we walked around aquarium and long wharf area and into north end for brunch and stumbled into an art festival. Would highly recommend!

Just wanted to say yesterday I did the water taxi to rowes wharf with luggage storage, then later to the airport. Was perhaps inefficient as others have noted above, but we had 11 hours to kill after leaving Zuiderdam until our flight. He staff were friendly, the boat was cute and perfectly fine for a short trip. The guy even returned graciously after we (stupidly) forgot a backpack onboard and gave him a quick call. i would def suggest it for some scenic views of Boston harbor before a flight. Pickup is right at end of cruise dock, as you can see below and they send solid instructions for the 5 min walk in email.

yeah, like $5 a hand.

here is my…scorecard (?) of bringing ports as far as getting wine on board: Vancouver-corkage fee venice- confiscated (this was at height of C.19, and we actually were bussed to trieste at last min and all was chaos, so I forgive this one!) FLL- no one noticed in carry on either time Seward AK - someone even said “be careful” when they noticed the glass, but no charge Quebec City- corkage fee Its totally a crapshoot based on port, security staff, and conditions at the time. may the odds be in your favor!

Thank you for the note! Yes, they did have room rátes that specifically included bay views and we splurged on one. (It’s our honeymoon, so why not!?)

Thanks for sharing the article, @TLCOhio ! we picked the Ritz Carlton for our stay in a few months, primarily for its location with views of the bay and steps from Raffles. Looking forward to exploring. The JW sounds like an excellent option too!

Tagging @AllTheSun for the report back, as requested. See post above!

OK, I feel a bit sheepish. While I still contend that the info sent ahead by HAL was skimpy on details, the process couldn’t have been more intuitive. There is ample signage, all the way into the nearby city streets which directs folks to “zuiderdam, 30” or “zandam”. the boarding and Check in was smooth, and quick. Multiple folks checked to ensure we didn’t have our “Z” ships mixed up. All the Uber and taxis seemed to stream in and out as if they knew exactly where to go. We walked from the Manoir Morgan, across the street from the Frauntenauc (spelled wrong, I know) and it was all downhill less than a mile and easy even with large rolling luggage. We could see the shop from blocks away. HAL also provides a free shuttle to the edge of town to get you out of the industrial/port area if you prefer. It stops at the drawbridge and runs to the terminal every 10 mins or so. We took it venturing back out to town and then walked in on the return with no problems.

Thanks for all the pics and info. We are going to check out of our hotel and make our way down to her in a couple hours - the live preview got us so excited to get on!

Agree, there are no fees as long as you cycle money through the tables or slots in sufficient amounts related to what you charge your room account. I’ve often used it somewhat as an atm…but after a dozen rounds at the roulette wheel in the hopes of doubling my “atm withdrawal” 😛 the amount lost/gambled needn’t be in the thousands to garner good discounts on future cruises or free rooms. I’ve often (and my mother, partner, friends sailed with) gotten some freebies and future offeres or discounts and none of us would be considered high rollers in a land casino. I assume more helps, however!

To me, It’s clear as mud! Haha From our roll call and the port site we know Zuiderdam is slated to be at 30. But we also read it seems that could be behind a secure area that you get to after a terminal checkin process somewhere else nearby? I also see this on the port site that says it’s accesible by foot and taxi,..

They have a “premium” seat class that’s closer to the front of the plane than economy, is slightly more legroom, offers a free alcoholic drink during drink service (when available) and slightly earlier boarding. It’s generallly a good value but obviously not first class. Bag fees are waived if you book with An Alaska card, (they have a good companion fare in card too) or if you are AA oneworld elite. they are my fav domestic airline, but I’m biased as they have service from San Diego’s newer terminal and are the only carrier flying nonstop to my most frequent destination.

so nice to see this, as I will be on next week! Yay. im not a huge techie, but I noted your screenshot says “sever:Seattle” Do you know if that means you get the US version of websites onboard? The reason I ask is on past cruises when booking a new one onboard, I can’t get info from HALs site, as it defaults to the EU/German HAL site no matter what I try. Which results in me having to compare all voyage options with those flimsy paper printouts from the future cruise folks LOL(and lacking pricing!)

When we got off there last a couple years ago there were so many folks handing flyers for $free play and the casinos were easy to find and well,armed along the main strip to the right when exiting the port area. Not sure I recommend one over another. We tried three throughout the day, they all has ship crew there spending money like proverbial sailors in port! All were moderately sized, and quite smoky. But fun times had to be sure.

Thank you! I was looking forward to the cooler temperatures up north but my weather app has so many days showing 80-plus! Oh well, excited nevertheless and thankful for HAL superb laundry in the event of some sweaty days! 😄

I would check out the South America board, as it looks like you are doing a SA circumnavigation from FLL. There’s lots of info there on tours to see penguins, things to do in Buenos Aires, Lima, etc. You may also get value from the Panama Canal forum. we cruised South America with HAL earlier this year and enjoyed penguin excusión to Bluff Cove on the Falkland Islands but there are many. If you are using the web browser to “manage my trip” on the HAL website, you can read reviews of past cruisers experiences with HALs official excursions. The descriptions in the navigator app don’t provide reviews. I take them with a grain of salt but they are helpful. since you are only a few months out I wouldn’t delay, especially in the Falklands or other popular places where vehicles and guides may limit tour capacity, so best of luck and get to reserving! 😉

I second the recommendation of that tour team. We had a lovely experience with them. i didn’t stay in Valparaiso, stayed in Santiago. But I think it was the better choice. Valparaiso was a bit on the rougher side. Certainly felt safe in the daytime with a guide but not sure I would have wanted to venture out alone after dark. In Santiago I would (and did) as it was a gleaming, bustling city at least from the experience in the area we stayed in (Las Condes) earlier in 2023.

We used this company in March. They were fab. https://puertosanantoniotours.com guide was great, made multiple winery stops and had lunch along t he way. Also did some walking in Valparaiso for the street art and he was full of interesting facts and knew nice overlooks and haggled with us to get better pricing from street vendors, etc. was able to accommodate multiple hotel drop offs or airport drop offs from our one van at end of day. We organized a group through our roll call.

and there have been quotes from CCL leaders to the same point: https://thepointsguy.com/news/carnival-corporation-cruise-ship-orders-on-hold/