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Huatulco tours

14 minutes ago, weedpindle said:

On this cruise. About 1600 on this leg, 1690 on the la to ft lauderdale trip (on this one also)

How are the activities onboard?  Any dancing, nightclub, karaoke, trivia, bingo, etc?    I read in the FAQ pages that these activities have been cancelled for our Feb. 12th sailing.  Thanks

Hi,  I am checking out this roll call for my sister-in-law, cousin and niece.  They are excited about going, this is the 1st cruise for 2 of them.

They just booked and I wanted to find out if there was a roll call or a meet & mingle started before I told them about this site.

I always check out these site when I cruise, it's great making friends before cruising and finding others with some similar interests. 

The active ingredient in Bonine is meclizine. They are the same thing.

Yes, you are correct, but the inactive ingredients are different and it can make a difference for some. The important thing is to find something that works for you so that. You can enjoy doing activities.

Thank you - I read Seattle up to Skagway can be rougher being "outside" the passage. I hope not too bad with Bonine I always take it, I get motion sick just sitting in back of car, & only have experienced it leaving St.Thomas on a cruise having only sailed Caribbean before.

I have two new cruisers w/ motion sick issues, so hope they survive their first cruise and want to do a Caribbean one!

I have really bad motion sickness. I have tried everything. Bonime worked ok some of the time. About 5 years ago a nurse told me about Meclizine. You don't need a prescription but it is behind the counter in the pharmacy. This really changed traveling for me and my family.

Like anything, check with your doctor, don't just take someone's advice. It is also very inexpensive. At sam's club for example it is $4-5. for 100. You only need to take 1-2 in 24 hrs, but in case of rough weather it is ok to take up to 3-4in 24 hrs. Like anything, give it a trial run before your trip.

Charliebeth,

 

Formal nights were Wednesday and Sunday.

Thanks so much.

After viewing you photos & reading your review, Oregon is now on my bucket list, LOL.

Hi, enjoying you review and photos. We will be on the Legend on July 19th.

What nights were the Formal nights?

Thanks,

Charliebeth

This trip turned out to be completely different than when we booked it. We were lucky and got a casino bounce-back offer on our last cruise, over New Years. This was the last date available for that offer, so we jumped on it, and upgraded to a balcony. A week after we booked, I got diagnosed with Breast Cancer and have since undergone surgery and chemo. I'm just a week out of my last chemo, so we are staying away from crowds, and not doing any of the active things we would normally do. However, this trip was a great shining star for me to look forward to during treatments. We're so thankful to be here and seeing these wonderful sights.

Thank you for posting your review. Glad to hear you had such a great time. You sound like a wonderful, caring person to think of others so shortly after everything you have been through.

Our cruise is on July 19th and you have answered some questions we had.

Thanks, Charliebeth

We're sailing on the Carnival Legend in mid-July, and are torn what to do in Ketchikan. We want to do the Bering Sea Crab Fishing excursion (the Deadliest Catch boat), but also want to see the totem poles.

 

Would we have time after the fishing excursion to wander around town and see the museum and/or totem poles?

 

Thanks!

Hi, we are sailing on the Carnival Legend July 19th -26th. We are wondering what to do in Ketchikan. There are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 kids.

There appear to be three options for excursions on a New England/Canada cruise: (1) purchase the ship-sponsored tours (which use local tour operators); (2) arrange something directly with a local tour operator; or (3) rent a car and explore on your own. What would be your preferences, and why?

Kerry & LuAnn, I was just wondering when you are taking your cruise. We are going on the Maasdam, B2B, July 4th-18th. Maybe we will see you on our cruise.

Thanks,

Charliebeth & Jim

The Silver Line is free from the airport.

 

What you do it to take the rental car shuttle back to one of the terminals like C or E and hop on the Silver Line (lower level for terminals A, B, & C - outside for E) and ride to the World Trade Center indoor station (not the outside street stop at WTC). Be sure to tell the driver you want to get off there - if no one requests the stop and there are no folks waiting in the station, the bus will go through without stopping. You then take the escalator up to the mezzanine and take the elevator back down to the opposite track where you take the SL2 bus to Black Falcon terminal. If you get off at the WTC outside street stop, you lose your free fare because you are outside the turnstiles and must pay to get the SL2 bus. You cannot do a free transfer at Silver Line Way.

 

This takes 45 min- 1 hour depending on which terminal you get on at and the transfer time.

Hi Carol, thank you so much for your help.

In your opinion, what would be the best (fastest) terminal to catch the Silver Line to the Cruise Terminal?

Thanks, Charliebeth

Silver Line

 

The Silver Line is the newest "T" offering that was built to service the South Boston Waterfront area and the airport.

Hi Carol, Thank you so much for the info. We are arriving on Friday and renting a vehicle. On Sat. we will drop our bags off at the cruise terminal, check in and than return the vehicle to the airport.

Taking the T, back to the cruise terminal sounds like it will work great for us.

Do you know what the price is for the T?

Thanks, Charliebeth

$25-30. The accessible Silver Line bus is free with one accessible transfer.

What is the Silver Line Bus and where would we catch it?

How close does it come to the cruise dock?

Thanks

Thanks for the sightseeing info.

FYI: June 6-7, 2015

9th annual Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco Festival.

Louis Armstrong Park, 11am to 7pm on both days. For more info http://www.jazzandheritage.org.

Music, food, craft, etc.

So glad we are going to be finishing our river cruise on the 6th and will be able to attend this festival. I found out about the festival at http://www.neworleansonline.com

We are also staying 2 nights in New Orleans.

Just found out there will be the 9th Annual Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival in the Louis Armstrong Park on June 6th & 7th. Excited about going, we love this type of music.

 

Charliebeth

I found out about this festival and other activities/restaurants at http://www.neworleansonline.com

OMG!! We arrive in Memphis 1 week from today.

We are impatiently awaiting the arrival of our document packet. Can anyone share what exactly comes in the packet! :p

Hi Lynda, we just received our packet on Tuesday for our May 29-June 6th river cruise. Included in the packet was:

Boarding Documents

Embarkation Timeline flyer

Hop On - Hop Off Tour info card

4 luggage tags

1 emergency contact card

Shore excursions guide

Essential travel guide

Ticket contract

It was delivered by UPS. Small package, but I guess it cover's everything we need. Charliebeth

We were on this exact itinerary in May 2013. It was our first river cruise and we were a little skeptical whether we'd like it as well as our ocean cruises. We loved every minute of it. The hop on hop off buses were wonderful, the towns we stopped at were very interesting, the weather was great and our waiter was spectacular. We liked it so much we are doing another river cruise on the American Queen this October from St Louis-Nashville.

How did you get from Memphis Airport to the hotel (Sheraton Memphis Downtown)? Thanks

It truly is a relaxing cruise, much more so than a European River Cruise. If at max capacity the AQ carries about 450 passengers.

 

Food is subjective. I found it to be good, but not necessarily fabulous. I actually liked the Front Porch Café (Deck 3 aka Texas Deck) at the front of the boat more. It was casual, and had a friendly vibe and the service was better than the dinning room.

 

The public rooms are beautiful, and the production shows in the theater were actually quite good. If you want to sit in one of the boxes in the theater go to deck 3. Some of the boxes do say reserved (For suite guests) but the very forward boxes are for anyone.

 

Favorite spot on the boat was on deck 4 at the front. They had lots of rocking chairs that one could just sit and relax and admire the view.

 

For the most part I found the staff to be friendly. The dining room staff appeared to have too many tables, and were inexperienced, which did cause some service issues.

 

The boat will dock fairly close to the French Quarter. I hope you gave yourself some time to explore New Orleans's as it's a wonderful city.

 

If interested, I have a full write up on our experience. Click on my web page (Bottom of my signature) and click on the tab that says "See the USA"

Hi Laura, I just read your write up and enjoyed it very much. Thanks for the many tips about the boat. We are staying 2 nights in New Orleans after the cruise.

Since we will arrive early Sat. morning and our flight is at 6pm on Monday, we are renting a car. Planning on spending some time visiting some nearby area's. Thanks, Charliebeth

There has been very little mention of American Queen on this forum. Someone else started a similar thread in Feb. 2014 and didn't get any responses:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1983315

I have been very surprised that there has not been any response from anyone that will be on our cruise. We have taken other ocean and river cruises and have always found other fellow cruisers to chat with before the trip.

We took the American Queen from Memphis to New Orleans about three years ago. We very much enjoyed the cruise as well as the destinations. I loved the hop-on, hop-off tour buses - they were very helpful in getting a feel for the ports. Be sure to leave some time for just walking around the cities - they were very interesting. Life on board is very relaxing; you will probably find a number of alumni groups from different universities. We enjoyed the food, although the service was sometimes hit or miss. We loved the public rooms - -particularly the card rooms and the library -- and do go hear the riverloreian talk about the Mississippi. We had not been to New Orleans before and absolutely fell in love with the city.

One thing I must add - we hit some very cold weather - had to buy a sweatshirt in Baton Rouge.

Also, the river was high - we missed a couple of ports.

Thanks for the info about the buses. It sounds like a easy way to tour the towns. I am looking forward to visiting the card rooms, hopefully find others that enjoy playing cards and games.

I don't think we will have to worry about it being too cold since we are going the end of May and 1st week in June. Thanks, Charliebeth

Wow, it is less than 2 weeks until our cruise!! Hoping to chat with others that will be on this river boat trip. Charliebeth & Jim

Your review is very enjoyable. Can hardly wait for the "next day" review.

I never used to have any problems with motion sickness, but as a result of taking oral chemo, I seem to have developed a sensitivity. The last couple of ocean cruises resulted in my having a limited appetite and incurring as much as a ten pound weight loss. I always have had an interest in river cruising and wonder if that provides a smoother ride that lessens the chance of motion sickness..

Hi, I have taken 7 ocean cruises and 3 river cruises and I have found river cruises to be a lot smoother. I checked with American Queen Steamboat Company and they told me the boats are usually cruising at 4-6 MPH. It is difficult traveling when you have motion sickness. I get sick just traveling in the back seat of a vehicle.

I have had this problem most of my life and I used to take Dramine, but it makes me very drowsy. The patches did not work for me, I felt very dizzy and my sight was very blurry. You name it and I have tried it, Ginger, wrist bands, etc. I have also tried Non-Drowsy Dramine and Bonine, these worked ok for me, but not as well as Meclizine.

About 8 years ago a friend recommended Meclizine ( it was first introduced for use by chemo patients for nausea) and it has really changed traveling for me. Since than we have taken 7 ocean cruises, 3 river cruises, train trips and many bus tours without my having motion problems.

You used to have to have a prescription to purchase, Meclizine, but now can purchase it over-the-counter, in the pharmacy in most states. It costs about $5-7. for 100 tablets. You take just 1-2 tablets every 24 hrs.

Please check with your doctor or ask a pharmacist if this is something you can take. Do not take my suggestion or any others without checking it out first.

I would also suggest you take whatever you decide on trying before taking a trip, just to see how your body responds. You really don't want to wait until you are on a trip to try something out.

Hope this helps you with future traveling.

I hesitate to write because everyone seems so cheerful and happy about the trips. We took this trip, unfortunately our room, 513, was very noisy and directly underneath some sort of maintenance area where a lot of noise was made in the middle of the night.

 

The dining room was absolutely packed, and service was very slow. The food was pretty good, but the service people seem somewhat nervous and pressured. Unfortunately for me, I got the flu about five days in.I spent the rest of the trip in bed.it was very hard to get help and service to the room.The upper half of the river was very dark and somewhat depressed, the cities were little tired.

 

The talent on the boat was wonderful, the persurs office people were very good.

I heard That quite a few people got sick but I couldn't confirm anything.

 

We will not be taking another river cruise. Sorry if my review upsets some folks, but so be it.we paid a fortune for our room,and our attendant was a very unhappy guy. I don't see great things ahead for the AQ.

Sorry to hear you did not have a good time on your cruise. Getting the flu on the trip did not help matters. It's difficult traveling when a person is ill.

I hope this really doesn't stop you for taking another river cruise. Have you taken any ocean cruises? We have taken 7 ocean cruises.

This will be our first river cruise in the U.S, (May 30th-June 6th) Memphis to New Orleans, but we have taken 3 river cruises in Europe and prefer the river cruises over the ocean cruises.