twobuckbear

Cool. Maybe they can wear sweatpants on formal night, too.

 

Point is, there are standards that some people do appreciate. You can always make excuses.

Great idea....I'll bring my tray. Oh, I forgot, no formal nights on NCL...:eek:

I like that there are no trays. They look tacky.

I think your post is tacky. Some people really find them useful, especially elderly cruisers.

Celebrity had them... fantastic!

We used SAS both ways in October and had no complaints. One thing I never thought about until we were in Monday morning traffic is that SAS pays the extra fees to use the express lane so we were able to get there much faster than if we had used Uber who may not pay the higher fee.

Good point. We were quoted 25 minutes to the port. We have a 9:30 am pick up at our hotel. Quick drive and were on the Eclispe in no time.

Easy peasy.

Heading out on the Equinox on December 30 and flying into Fort Lauderdale. Any ideas on transportation to the port of Miami? We arrive at around 8:30 in the morning so have plenty of time. Looking for an idea on cost as well. Also - once we return we need to rent a car to make the drive back to Jacksonville. Flights that day are limited and we need to be back to Jacksonville for an event that Saturday. What car rental agencies are available in the Port itself. Thanks so much for your feedback my friends!

 

Regards,

Elaine

SAS Transportation. 15.00 per person. Very reliable. Using them in April from Ft Lauderdale to Port of Miami.

Hi all, just looking on welcomepickups.com to book my transfer for my cruise this weekend (oh my i cant believe it is almost here!!)

For the return from the port to the airport, the ship gets in at 5:00. My flight is at 1. What time should I put to be picked up at?

Also, in the port, is that were I just put the ship name?

Thanks in advance!

I would give myself at least 3 1/2 hours before flight. Just put in ship name....they'll figure it out.

Sorry, didn't mean to post twice. Disregard the message below.

 

 

I have reserved with Welcome.com for airport pick up to hotel.

 

 

What is the exact name of this company? welcome.com takes me to CNET. I found one called welcomepickups.com.

 

Is that it?

Yes that is it. I apologize for leaving out pickups!:o Judy

I'm sorry to hear about your husband.... I hope you enjoy your cruise and the thermal suites. :)

Thanks for your kind words. Judy:)

can anyone recommend a company for private transfer in Barcelona, from hotel to port and from port to airport?

Many thanks for your advice.

I have reserved with Welcome.com for airport pick up to hotel.

I will be using them because they provide English speaking drivers.

Our flight gets in late and the last thing I want is to struggle with language barrier. I get a little testy when fatigued. :o Welcome also monitors flights and promises to be there when we land. I will post how it all works out. They price the same as taxis for evening pick up.

I will probably just cab it to the port on Sunday. Hope this helps.

Judy

14051 is a MC cat. mini suite, bed by the door. The elevator bank is inwards so no issues with that besides some more traffic passing by.

 

There are different reports on how to identify the tub or shower thing with Epic's mini suites and unfortunately they are contradictory..

 

"The mini-suites that have the bed next to the balcony have a bathtub and the ones where the bed is close to the door have a shower."

Another posted;

"..but categories MA and MC have the tubs while MB and MD's do not. I can say with great confidence that I did read the above in some official NCL brochure or maybe even the website."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1424192

Thank you. I'll post the configuration when I do a review.

Thermal Suite passes are sold for the duration of your cruise. At the discretion of the spa staff and if full-length passes are not sold out, the spa may sell daily passes. These are usually only on port days when the ship is empty (i.e., never of sea days). If you purchase the pass online, there will be a discount over what you would pay onboard. The Epic has one of the nicest Thermal Suites in the fleet. Buy a pass. Enjoy.

I bought passes for upcoming cruise online. Will be therapeutic after 8 hr tours of Italy. Looking forward to thermal lounges. Thermal therapies are supposed to be good for DH' s stage IV prostate cancer. It will be his birthday present:D

Thank you! After all my research, I figured I would "pass it on" to others who had an upcoming cruise on Epic. BTW - a transatlantic is also on my bucket list!

 

 

 

 

No, they do not expect tips. We gave the driver 5 euros when we got to our hotel, and he literally thanked us up and down. Then the bellmen who came out of our hotel to get the bags from the car told us that they get paid a "living wage" and not to tip extra to drivers, taxis, restaurants, - even the bellmen! We did not tip our other private transfer drivers after that. We ended up "rounding up" our restaurant bills and taxi rides, and the all were very grateful. We did tip our private tour people nicely, though. (Naples, Florence, Pompeii)

Noted. Thank you. Good to know. Perhaps then I'll wait until Sunday AM and find an ATM near hotel before heading to Epic. Judy

Praying for Florida n surrounding areas.

There are ATMs at the airport and you get the best exchange rate. You'll be fine.

Ok thanks. That's what I'll have to do.

I live in the desert. We have Chase n Wells Fargo...no luck there.

My car service at BCN will just have to wait till I find an ATM.....if he wants a tip. BTW, do private transfers n taxis expect tips in Spain? Sorry, didn't mean to start a new thread.:rolleyes:Judy

You are so very welcome! BTW - If you like escape rooms, try to book Escape the Big Top as soon as you board. It is done on the sea day, and they only have 3 times they do it - 10:30, 1, and 3, if I remember correctly. It is free, and quite challenging, and books up very quickly. Have a great upcoming cruise!

 

Judy - we definitely paid a fee when we got Euros from the bank before we left, but it wasn't too bad. As I said in my review - we have never used an atm, and dh did not want to start in Spain! However, as Quilting Cruiser stated - there are plenty of atm's in the BCN airport, and quite a few we saw while walking in Barcelona.

Thanks. Feel better now. Might try Chase. Tried AAA too and the link went to the Wells Fargo sight. It was something about not having a revenue generating account that prevented me from buying Euros from them.....my mortgage and IRA accounts didn't qualify:mad:

Thanks to Quilting Cruiser for info too:D

Pe4all

Thanks for all your great info. You answered all my questions and then some. I really want euros in my hand when I get to Barcelona. However, Wells Fargo would not sell to me as I have no checking with them. Not sure what to do. Guess I'll have to hit the ATM upon arrival.

Happy Fall

Judy

Great review and very helpful. We leave soon for the same trip.

Wondering about the VAT refund? How does that work and what does one do?

May do the beach in Palma. Thanks for that tip.

So glad your BCN departure was smooth. Hope ours is too.

Could you provide a link for your private transfer? Was the rate resonable? Did they speak English?

Again, thanks for taking time to post. This is valuable info.

One more thing....did you purchase Euros in US or wait for arrival for Barcelona ATM.

Judy

Any thoughts of Epic 14051? Looks to be near stairs/elevator bank. Tub or shower?

Any input would be appreciated. Too late to change rooms so just looking for a heads up.

Thanks Judy

Tapas are usually pre-prepared and are on display in a cool cabinet on the bar - in our opinion bars with Tapas menus are generally not as authentic and tend to be more tourist orientated/more expensive. If you are in a bar and there are 'extras' listed on a board just point to the board and shrug your shoulders - most bar owners are rightly proud of their tapas selection so, if they cannot speak any English to describe what is available, will usually happily bring examples of each to show you. Don't forget that many of the most authentic bars only offer tapas if you are sitting at the bar not at a table. Whereas round here in Andalucia we still either get a free tapa with a drink or don't pay more than one euro, we do find they can be considerably dearer in Barcelona being up to 4.50 euro each in some bars.

 

Regarding pastries, in Barcelona - and throughout Catalunya, especially well known in Mallorca - our favourite is 'Ensaimada' a lard based snail like confection often served at breakfast ranging from the size of your hand to giant wheels (see photos here) https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs2hLfapZJXgACxZLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=ensaimada&fr=yfp-t-UK102

Most Spanish pastries are very similar in basic content as can be seen here https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs3PHfapZfzcAMnNLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=spanish+pastries&fr=yfp-t-UK102

Don't fail to try the national morning addiction 'Churros' served with coffee or very thick hot chocolate - these are donut style fingers made for dunkingcsometimes drizzled with cinnamon or icing sugar. If you find horseshoe shaped churros like these https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs3NYgKpZuoMAOQFLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=churros&fr=yfp-t-UK102#id=7&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F6%2F6f%2FChurros_Madrid.jpg&action=click on offer these have probably been bought ready made/frozen and just reheated rather than made from scratch on the premises and are nowhere near as good in our opinion.

Oh my....I'll be in pastry heaven. The photos made me drool:rolleyes:

Thank you for explaining tapas. Got it now. I will be pointing a lot. Gracias

There is absolutely no need to go on organised Tapas tour in Malaga. You will get a much more real feel of the city just following the locals into whichever bar takes your fancy (there are hundreds!). No problems if you don't speak Spanish - most staff speak some English or just point to whichever tapa you want to try.

If you don't read Spanish how would you point to what you want to try. Perhaps you are speaking of pointing to pre made tapas not a menu? Trying to figure this out as we will be in Barcelona and I want to try everything. Want to try pastries to....any suggestions? Thanks Judy

I always make sure I am part of the last group to leave the ship, usually about 9:00 - 9:30 am. Take a taxi to the hotel. Leave your bags at front desk. They will hold them in a secure place, explore Barcelona, have lunch and return at check in time.

Or:

plan a tour with Barcelona Day tours with others from your roll call. I did this last summer. They pick the six of us up at the pier and we went to Monserrat for the morning and had lunch we were dropped off at our hotels in the afternoon. The driver held our luggage securely in the large van we had for the day tour.

I agree....Barcelona Day Tours for pick up upon disembark is an excellent idea. We are doing this upon our return on the Epic.

The tour price is very affordable too. I will post a review after our tour. Judy

We were really worried about this when we flew out of Barcelona last Sunday, 8/13, as this was one of the strike days and we were on an early flight so there was no room for error. We had no issues whatsoever. We were through security and to our gate in 30 minutes. Our car picked us up at 7:15AM, we were to the airport by 7:45AM and at the gate by 8:15AM for our 10:40AM flight. We also had no problems upon entry either. We landed on Saturday, 8/5 around 8:30AM and breezed through customs/immigration. It was WAY better than what we expected based on what we had read about the horror stories.

Thank you for taking time to post your positive experience. I hope others will do the same.

Regards, Judy

Not much to add for now, unfortunately. The Gov of Catalonia, which can only intervene in the issues related to level of service, has ruled that service level has to be at 90% of normal operations during the strike -in this country, the right to strike in services deemed to be "of public interest", which includes transportation among other, is subject to a "minimum level of service" decreed by the government which varies depending on the "gravity" of the situation.

 

This, however, does not always guarantee that it will really function at such level, in this case 90%, because sometimes workers practice a "slowdown strike" while they are in their jobs, theoretically covering the "minimum level of service". If that can be proven, they might get penalized later on, but that's normally months later, after a court process, blah, blah, blah and a fight with the unions. In fact, during the partial strikes these past two weeks, they've practised this form of strike in several occasions and the lines have increased during times in which the strike wasn't officially being followed.

 

However, and to make things worst, the underlying problem is that the Gov of Catalonia has its hands pretty tied because airports are run by AENA, the airport authority, which depends directly from the Gov of Spain. AENA and the Spanish Gov have been dragging their feet since the beginning of this strike in early August and it doesn't look like they are going to make any movement. The Spanish Gov has increased the staff of the Guardia Civil, the police body in charge of border control, but this won't help much because the security controls are outsourced to this EULEN company. There has been talking about Guardia Civil taking over their functions, but that's not constitutionally so straightforward, so we'll see how it evolves.

 

In short, we passengers are caught in the middle of a power struggle, and it sucks!

Thanks for your insight. Well said...."It sucks"

Hope others with update as new info becomes available.

Arrival/departure experiences would be helpful, as well.

We went through BCN to sail on the Epic at the beginning of June. On arrival at Barcelona airport we did not encounter any noticeable delays. I was a bit worried about our return to BCN for our flight home, we had a 10.20AM flight back to the UK. We self disembarked the ship at 7AM, and I had arranged for a transfer to pick us up at 7.30. This was on time and we were at BCN by 8AM. When we went to check in for our flight, the lady on the desk advised us to go straight through security and passport control. We did this and although the airport was quite busy it took less than an hour to get airside. At Barcelona airport they don't show the actual gate number until about 45 mins before take off but they do indicate which area your flight is departing from (the different areas are letter coded, A,B,C,D etc.) We were in the correct area for our gate in plenty of time.

Thanks Cully1953. Very helpful departure information. We're arriving/departing BCN in near future. Concerned with industrial issues. Have heard horror stories. Hope you had a great cruise.

I hope others post their experiences and keep us updated on delays.

Regards, Judy

FYI for anyone with a similar delima. I ordered an Orange Holiday SIM card from Amazon.

Has everything I need. Good for two weeks. Enough stuff for texting, calling and navigating.

Says its easy to use. It has great reviews. Not the most economical but has best reviews.

Ordered here because I have no time upon my arrival in Barcelona and cruise departs on a Sunday when very little is open. Otherwise I would have purchased in Barcelona, as they have Orange Boutiques there.

Hope others find this info helpful.

Now I just need a good language app. and purchase some Euros before the end of Sept.

I know, there are a million ATM's at my disposal over there. However, want some in my wallet upon arrival.

Will got to a local Wells Fargo branch with a currency exchange. Must call before to make sure they have Euros in stock. Was considering online purchase but shipping is an added fee of $15.00. If that is not an issue for you, AAA also has online ordering....thru Wells Fargo at same shipping price.

Let me know if anyone has a good language app to suggest.

Thanks, Judy

You won't be able to purchase a SIM on a Sunday. Shops are indeed closed.

 

But you can purchase a SIM online before you travel, these are some of the many companies:

https://www.simyo.es/

https://www.tuenti.es/

http://www.orange.es/

Bravo! Thank you EnricM. I'm on it.