smithley
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Posts posted by smithley
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Not sure about its proximity to the port, etc., but my husband and I had an absolutely delightful stay at the Hotel du Vieux-Quebec about 10 years ago (and reviews suggest it hasn't declined a bit). It's in the upper town on a great street walkable to all of the sights of Old Quebec. I strongly suggest you book directly with the hotel - they have a lovely breakfast in a basket option with French pastries from the legendary bakery up the street. Warm and friendly staff will assist you and you can chill out in the comfy lounge.
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We went on RCCL's Jewel of the Seas for a Transatlantic starting in Amsterdam (Aug/Sept '23) with 3 stops in Iceland, cruise through Greenland's Prince Christian Sund, another stop in Greenland and then stops in Newfoundland, and two in Nova Scotia before disembarking in New Jersey. We have cruised to Alaska twice, cruised from England through Scandinavia and the Baltic, and have done the Norwegian Fjords. All of those trips were absolutely fabulous and up to this point the fjords took the cake. However, the transatlantic was an experience like no other - absolutely breathtaking scenery, especially through the Sund. Glacier after glacier, iceberg after iceberg, crossing the Arctic Circle and even a bit of the Northern Lights. Be forewarned that weather may not be your friend and you might miss a port - we had an extra night in Akureryi because the seas were too high to dock in Reykjavik - but enjoy. Also - our cruise was a great value since there is no need for a balcony room in the colder and foggier climes.
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For a cruise stop in Sydney I would definitely recommend some sort of excursion. Sadly, most of the folks we talked to felt like they didn't have sufficient time at the locations they visited (Louisburg Fortress, Bell Museum, Highland Village Museum, etc.) and the day was quite foggy so some folks were unhappy about their views (not sure how the tour operator could fix that). We normally like to do things independently, but didn't find that much to do in town after our tour. We did enjoy our visit to Island Folk Cider House. https://www.islandfolkcider.ca/
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We were in Halifax on September the 10th and there were several tour operators in the cruise terminal as well as just outside. The biggest was a HOHO operator.
I can highly recommend Tay Mac Tours: we took their Historic Halifax walking tour which was very reasonably priced and included the sights the posters above have mentioned.
https://www.taymactours.com/historic-halifax-by-foot
We stepped off our cruise ship and immediately located our meeting point and our guide, Glenn. We had a small group of only 6 and began our leisurely stroll through town. Glenn provided lots of great historical information but at a pace that wasn't overwhelming. The route to and from the Citadel (entrance is not included in this tour) was good and probably not one we would have selected just looking at the map. After the tour we had a nice seafood lunch at McKelvie's, some great ice cream at Cow's along the boardwalk, and enjoyed beers at Garrison's which is within sight of the cruise pier. Yum! Loved our visit and hope to return to Halifax one day.
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I can highly recommend Tay Mac Tours: we took their Historic Halifax walking tour which was very reasonably priced and included the sights the posters above have mentioned.
https://www.taymactours.com/historic-halifax-by-foot
We stepped off our cruise ship and immediately located our meeting point and our guide, Glenn. We had a small group of only 6 and began our leisurely stroll through town. Glenn provided lots of great historical information but at a pace that wasn't overwhelming. The route to and from the Citadel (entrance is not included in this tour) was good and probably not one we would have selected just looking at the map. After the tour we had a nice seafood lunch at McKelvie's, some great ice cream at Cow's along the boardwalk, and enjoyed beers at Garrison's which is within sight of the cruise pier. Yum! Loved our visit and hope to return to Halifax one day.
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Thanks for the distillery tip - we'll be heading to The Hague one day for museum-ing and I'm sure we can squeeze in a little tasting too. Also good to know that an early drop off is doable.
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MAVIP - thank you so much for your reply! The last time we visited Amsterdam was in 1984 - I imagine we'll see a lot of change. We're looking forward to spending time outside Amsterdam in Delft and The Hague too.
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We're sailing on the Jewel at the end of August, but we'll spend several days beforehand in Delft. We were thinking about taking the train to Amsterdam the morning of embarkation, dropping our bags off at the terminal, and then spending some more time in Amsterdam before actually getting on the ship. Since every port is a bit different, does anyone know if that's a doable plan? Also - any idea how early we might be able to drop off our bags? Thanks in advance!
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I've enjoyed your posts and pics so far - that sail into Geiringer is truly breathtaking! We'll be on the Jewel out of Amsterdam in August headed to Iceland and Greenland and excited to be back on a Radiance ship. Wondering if the thermal suite up in the spa is still there with full length windows as you recline on the warm loungers? If you get a chance, would you check it out for us? Thanks and keep on sailing through beautiful Norway.
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We're taking our 1st Oasis Class cruise and it's our 1st as Diamond Plus so we're a bit overwhelmed with the size and offerings of the ship. Here are our questions -
I apologize in advance if these have been answered previously, but in searching I haven't located clear answers yet.
- Is it essential to get pre-cruise reservations for the Aqua and Mamma Mia shows? Can we wait and get them onboard after we've sorted out dining, etc.? (We're currently on the waitlist for early seating rather than the 7:45 slot - which seems to really class with showtimes.)
- Are the 3 Aqua shows the same show repeated or 3 different shows?
- We're not much into specialty dining (we have lots of really yummy places in Dallas); however, we're thinking about using the BOGO that we're entitled to with D+. Do we just go up to the restaurants on Day 1 to arrange that?
- I've read great things about the new terminal in Galveston and easy, breezy embark/disembarkations. If we arrive before our allotted time slot, can we just get in the Priority line and board early? Assuming that they're not swamped, of course.
Any other favorite must-do tips or cautionary tips are appreciated. Thanks so much in advance.
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Back from our cruise last week and wanted to report on this excursion. We booked through RCCL to minimize hassle in case of cruise cancellations, etc. We were very pleased with the Aimoar Adventours company that ran the excursion and with our guides, Hector and Yocelyn. Nice transport for the ~90 minute ride - they only had 10 people in a vehicle for 16 so come extra distance between folks. The rafts were very sturdy and outfitted with life jackets and held only 4 people. As advertised, a chill float down the river and then a stop in the lagoon for swimming. Water was only chest deep and you could reach down and get some of the sand to some quick Mayan-style exfoliation. Float back and then a light lunch before the drive back. I think that any excursion from Costa Maya is going to require a long bus ride, but it was nice to do it in comfort with interesting narration from our guide. Tip: bring an extra towel or two for the ride back because you might get a bit chilly in the vehicle if you're still damp from swimming.
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We were at Nachi Cocum last week and had some delicious, cold Leon beer in bottles.
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Also, I know some folks have posted dissatisfaction with how they handled refunds with COVID - frankly, I can't imagine dealing with that as a small business completely dependent upon tourism. I can't speak to current full refunds from Nachi Cocum; however, I will say that when our ship's itinerary was changed, they were very quick to respond to my email inquiry and were able to accommodate us on the new port date for Cozumel.
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FYI - I can't speak to current full refunds from Nachi Cocum; however, I will say that when our ship's itinerary was changed, they were very quick to respond to my inquiry and were able to accommodate us on the new port date for Cozumel.
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We were there last week and it was just as we remembered from 2015. Nice clean beach, attentive service, delicious food and beverages, and a pleasant chill atmosphere. If you're wanting a party or child-toy friendly atmosphere, this isn't it. If you want to have a quiet day at the beach - enjoy! By the way - we were stuffed by the end of the day: appetizer, soup/salad, entree (grilled grouper with rice and vegies for us), and dessert (we only had room for coconut ice cream). The tortilla soup was the best I have ever had and that's saying something since I'm a Texan
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We were there a week ago and loved it. Not sure how great it is for kids - most of the families spent their time in the pool. That was fine with me since we wanted quiet beach time sans kids. We've been to Cozumel many times for many cruise port days, and although we've never had a bad experience at any of them, Nachi Cocum is our new favorite. Making reservations online was easy. We walked past the phenomenally long taxi line and grabbed a cab on the street and zipped right down. Once there, we were situated with chairs and a table under a palapa with a drink soon in hand. We just wanted to enjoy a quiet and relaxing day on the beach which is just what we got. We can certainly recommend the nachos and grilled fish but we were too full to even consider dessert. We ate everything - fresh tomato and onion salsa included - with no after affects.This will be our go-to destination on Cozumel from now on.
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Although we have stayed several times in Galveston the night before departure, we have often found the inexpensive hotels to be a little seedy. The prices in Galveston also seem to be quite seasonal depending on spring break, mardi gras, etc activities. Our last 3 cruises we have stayed at the Hilton in Clear Lake down the street from NASA. It provides a nice side trip to NASA if you'd like and I love the lobby decorations done all in space theme with lots of astronaut-era themed pictures. Then we make the 30 minute drive down to Galveston in the morning. As far as parking in Galveston, I would highly recommend 81st Dolphin http://www.81stdolphinparking.net which is a family-business we've used for more than 10 years. You park, unload your bags and they shuttle you to the drop-off point. They use vans so they run frequently and you don't have to wait for them to fill an entire bus. When we arrived back in Galveston a week ago, one of tires was flat but our driver had an air tank and he quickly filled up our tire so we could drive to Wal-Mart for a quick fix. That's service above and beyond. By the way - if you search for Dolphin parking on the web you'll likely pull up a competitor. Stick with the real deal.
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Sailing on the Navigator in a couple of weeks and I understand that part of the new refurbishment was installation of new flat screen TVs. Anyone know if there is an accessible HDMI port on the new TVs? I'm interested in hooking a cable up to my laptop or Kindle Fire. thanks!
Jane
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On our recent Med cruise we arranged for Rome in Limo (RIL) to take care of our group of 6 for the day. As we exited the port, we were pleased to see that several RIL drivers were waiting and they quickly found Ameruco who took good care of us. Our goal was to see both Herculaneum and Pompeii and hopefully a bit of the Amalfi Coast. We went to Herculaneum first, bought our combination tickets and rented an audioguide. We spent 1 1/2 hours at the site but really needed 2 hours. The audio guide is quite good and it was amazing being 6 of the 20 or so people at the site that early. You could walk in and around almost every house and inspect the frescoes without any ropes or crowds. From there, we traveled to Pompeii where we met our guide, Maria, who Ameruco arranged for us that morning. She was terrific - very knowledgeable, excellent English and very good at arranging our time efficiently. We spent 2 hours at Pompeii and although we saw only 1/4 of the site because it's huge, we feel that we got a fair overview and saw many things our fellow cruise passengers seemed to have missed. From there, Ameruco suggested we travel to Positano rather than Sorrento so that we could enjoy some coastline as well a nice lunch. Our lunch at Ristorante Da Costantino overlooking the bay was a pleasure. Finally, Ameruco got us back to port at an appropriate time before we had to be back on board. We were very impressed with the professionalism of this company, their prompt attention to our questions in making arrangements, and their overall friendly service. We would use them again in a heartbeat.
Halifax
in Canada/New England
Posted
Just want to put in a second thumbs-up for TayMac Tours. Great pace, great information, and it left us with time for a delicious lunch, walk along the boardwalk for ice cream and beer. FYI if you're on a cruise stop it might be helpful to note that the Public Library (that looks like a big stack of books) has free WiFi and restrooms.