Shades of Turquoise

I realize this is an old thread but my question relates to OP's. We will be arriving by train from the land tour portion at 6pm. Can anyone with experience estimate how long embarkation will take? I agree meals are secondary to scenery but we are trying to get our group together with reserved mealtimes and are wondering what dinner reservation time makes sense on boarding day.

Thanks for your replies! Will shoot for port side.

Sorry if this is a duplicate inquiry but I wasn't able to find an answer by searching. Can anyone tell me if smoking is allowed on balconies? How about open decks and if so port or starboard? I'm sensitive to smoke and try to book cabins on opposite side of smoking open decks so that when going to pool we don't land on the smoking side and have to walk across. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the advice!

I am looking at Gallery One for one night pre-cruise with travel to the port on the day of the air show (May 7). Can anyone tell me whether the location of the hotel will allow for easy taxi transportation to the port taking into consideration road closures and crowds on air show day? I'm currently booked at Embassy Suites on 17th but was hoping to change reservation to a points stay and Embassy Suites is sold out while Gallery One is still available. Thanks in advance for advice.

Can anyone venture a guess as to whether it will be feasible to visit St George on National Heroes Day? I haven't been able to determine whether the orange route ferry will be operating, and on what schedule. Also, is the "Raft Up" an event that will generate large crowds in the area that will impact our ability to visit the beach and other sites nearby?

Colin had told us by e-mail quite some time back that he would be available for a tour when we are there on Explorer. Now that we are less than 2 weeks off, though, I have not been able to get an e-mail response confirming details. I figure we'll just look for him when we disembark and if we can't locate him will move on to "plan B." For those who have toured with Colin, can you please tell me where you met up with him? Is he located where the other blue-flag taxis are, or did he meet you in a different designated spot?

Can someone tell me how we'd go about getting to the park I see so many pictures of? Is it possible to walk there after having parked the car in the lot for the cruise? I would love to have a chance to see the memorial - and take pictures of the ship - before we check in and board.

 

Also, do you really need to have cabins next to each other.

Thanks for your response. We're a family of 5; that's why we strongly prefer cabins next to each other. We also prefer the sofa bed to pull-down. There aren't that many cabins that meet all these criteria. I've been watching (to no avail) for a price drop, and noticed this new availability show up today.

We need a D1 cabin with sofa bed to hold 3 next to a D2 cabin to hold 2. We are currently booked with this configuration on deck 7 all the way forward. I just saw that 8652 & 8654 are open for our sailing. In your opinion, are these 2 cabins in a better location? I am nervous about being so far forward because some members of our party tend to have motion sickness, but at the time I booked the 2 cabins we have were all that the RCI rep offered.

Interested in hearing the thoughts of those experienced Explorer cruisers...

Can anyone tell me which side of open decks are designated as smoking areas on Independence?