Arkansas cruisers

We, too, used the GPSmyCity website to select and map out Dubai attractions as a Custom Walk, and then used the Big Bus Dubai website and found that the Big Bus could take us to most of the attractions we wanted to see. For our hotel, we reserved the Swissotel Al Murooj Dubai, because it was a quick 10 minute walk to the Dubai Mall. Then we booked the 48 hour tickets online in advance for the the hop on hop off Big Bus, the one with the brown buses and logo, not to be confused with the red hop on hop off City Sightseeing buses. The Swissotel was a quick 15 to 25 minute RTA Taxi ride to and from the airport for under $16 for two passengers. The hotel staff showed us the easiest way to cross the busy streets to walk to the Dubai Mall, which served as our hub for activities such as the Big Bus, the Burj Khalifa, restaurants and shopping. The day of arrival, we explored the Dubai Mall and its Underwater Zoo & Aquarium, Ice Rink, etc; took the Burj Khalifa at the Top Sky tour (booked in advance); and saw the fountain shows and Burj lights. The next morning we checked in at the Big Bus kiosk on the ground level of the Dubai Mall. We took the Red Route for the first day of our 2 day ticket, and hopped off for the included Arabian Dhow Cruise. I also enjoyed our stops at the Dubai Frame, the Museum of the Future, and the Gold Souk. The following morning we took the Blue Route for stops at the Mall of the Emirates to see Ski Dubai, at Dubai Marina to see the beach, and at Jumeirah Palm to tour the included Lost Chambers Aquarium and to see the Jumeirah Palm hotel. Good luck and enjoy! Dubai is amazing!

We had a wonderful tour with Bumpiing in 2016. We went back to Dominica in December, 2023, and I asked our tour guide about Levi. He said Mr. Bumpiing was doing other things now, and there was no indication that he was unhappy. On this visit to Dominica, we went to the Roseau Cruise Pier area and arranged a three hour shared minivan tour with Glenford Baron. It was a rainy day, so we didn’t walk to Trafalgar Falls, but just went to the Trafalgar Falls viewpoint, then hung out at the River Rock Café during the rain. We also visited the Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs, the Morne Bruce Garrison viewpoint, drove around Roseau and then went to the Dominica Museum and the Old Market Square and Craft Market. I did not hear of any tours going jumping into Titou Gorge. I heard of some people going tubing on the river, and some people going for the champagne snorkeling with mixed opinions regarding the tiny bubbles, rocks, and no coral.

We went around the horn on the Celebrity Eclipse from San Antonio to Buenos Aires in January 2019. We actually flew into Santiago Chile, and then flew over to Easter Island for three days of touring with Eastern Island Travel prior to the cruise. That was an exceptional bucket list pre-cruise adventure! We arranged independent tours in most ports with folks on our cruise critic rollcall. Since it was before Covid, some of these vendors might not be in business now, so you would have to check TripAdvisor and their websites, but here’s who we used: Santiago to San Antonio- i SA Van transport. Puerto Montt- Puerto Montt Excursiones. Punta Arenas – DIY with taxi to Nao Victoria Museum, and walking. Ushuaia – Tierra Turismo for Tierra del Fuego National Park trek. Then DIY walk to the End of World prison and the Maritime Museum. Puerto Madryn- Sentir Patagonia for Punto Tombo penguin colony. Punta del Este – we were scheduled with Bike Tours Uruguay for the peninsula tour, but our stop was canceled due to weather. However, we have re-booked with her for December. Montevideo – Uruguias. Buenos Aires – BA Bikes for north tour in the morning, and south tour in the afternoon. The day of disembarkation, we took the ship’s Tigre and Delta River Cruise tour with the drop off at EZE. All the tours were wonderful. We were glad we went in January. It was cold and rainy (raincoat & layers) in Ushuaia, but nice weather (mostly T shirts and capris/shorts, with light jackets just in case) everywhere else. And we were glad that we went counter clockwise, so we could visit Easter Island while we were fresh. Hope this is helpful. Good luck, and Enjoy!

Thank you very much for your encouragement. I did call and talk to a representative at FE. Even though my preferred flight with the more generous layover time was already ticketed, she claims that FE changed me back to the short-layover flight because FE was aware of a high cancellation rate with my preferred flight. (The AA website version I used said the cancellation and on-time rates were not available). She told me that there would probably be another change in three weeks. Does that sound like a legitimate excuse? I also asked about FE’s policy on the earliest flight permitted on the day of disembarkation for FLL. HAL’s Grand Voyage rep said 3 hours after arrival, but the FE rep said 4 hours after arrival. Pretty ironic, since FE changed me to a 11:15 AM FLL flight after the ship’s 7 AM Fort Lauderdale arrival. We carry our own luggage off using self debarkation, and take a taxi to the FLL airport, so I think we should be OK if we remain booked for the 11:15 flight, correct?

Please help me understand if my problem is a Flight Ease problem or an American Airlines problem. I booked flights through Flight Ease in March. Since then, I have received 4 flight change notification emails from HAL, informing me that my flights have been changed so that I have what I consider insufficient layover times. In August, after receiving a notification that my return flight was changed, leaving me with only a 47 minute connection time in DFW, I called Flight Ease and got a very nice representative who, after about one hour on the telephone, was able to change me back to my comfortable three hour layover. However, today I received notification that my flights had been switched back to the flights with the 47 minute connection time! In looking at the American Airlines website, there is still availability on my preferred flight. Any ideas of what is going on? Does Flight Ease only have access to certain AA flight segments? Unfortunately, it is past the full pay day, so I think it is too late for me to book my air independently. Thanks for your insight. not looking forward to spending another hour on the phone with Flight Ease tomorrow…

Bluewater, do you know if AC Smith is still in business? I emailed him August 6, at his Hotmail address, and have not heard back from him. Is that to be expected? Thank you for all of your advice. You have been very, very helpful.

We had a very active Cruise Critic Roll Call--see if you can still find it under Holland America/Zuiderdam "October 3 - November 17, 2022 - 45-Day Tales of the South Pacific". See if you can find posts from CC Member "blueM." He created a spreadsheet with all of the tours, though there were some last minute changes once we boarded. Hopefully you can still access the spreadsheet via a link in his Signature. All of the tours that we took were great. There should be up to date Trip Advisor reviews for most of the vendors. Happy Planning!

There is now a listing on Trip Advisor for Untouched, in Fiji, under Transport Services. You can type in "Untouched" after searching Things to Do/ Fiji. Here is one review under Garden of the Sleeping Giant in Fiji: "Wonderful stop on an independent cruise ship shore excursion We really enjoyed our guided walk through the gardens, with the tour guide’s explanations, plus our free time walking the rest of the trails, and the delicious drink. Our visit to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant was one stop on our Lautoka tour #1 with Untouched Fiji/Untouched Tours. Untouched Fiji/Untouched Tours handled all of the details for the half day/morning independent cruise ship shore excursion. Email and Facebook correspondence with Pete Bolatolu prior to the tour was frequent and helpful. On Facebook, there was an Untouched Exquisite & Tours private group (which I found most helpful), an Untouched Fiji business page, and an Untouched Fiji personal page. On arrival to the cruise port in Lautoka, we found their company’s comfortable minibus parked around to the right and behind a large structure. We checked in with Pete and his wife Lucy, and paid the fee in cash in US $, so we did not need to change currency. In addition to our stop at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Untouched Fiji/Untouched Tours also took us on a driving tour of Lautoka and Nadi; to the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Hindu temple in Fiji; Jack’s of Fiji for shopping; and the Smugglers Cove Resort and Ghostship Bar & Grill on Wialoaloa Beach on Nadi Bay. Pete was an excellent tour guide -experienced, knowledgeable, responsive to questioning, helpful, interesting and organized, with excellent communication skills. Lucy was his very nice, caring and helpful assistant. They adjusted the itinerary to accommodate the weather, crowds and our needs. I highly recommend visiting the Garden of the Sleeping Giant as part of the Lautoka Tour #1 with Untouched Exquisite & Tours/Untouched Fiji for an enjoyable, active, interesting and educational excursion that is great for a first-time cruise ship visit to Lautoka, allowing you to see the highlights of northwestern Viti Levu Island, Fiji, in one morning."

We cruised the Galapagos in 2018 on the Celebrity Xpedition, and I understand that things might have changed since then. We, too, are SCUBA divers, but found that everything we wanted to see, such as turtles, sea lions, sharks and penguins, was no deeper than 20 feet, so the ship’s deep water snorkeling excursions were perfect. We were so pleased with the way that Celebrity organized the itinerary. Each evening’s enrichment lecture highlighted the unique features of the upcoming port (s) and described the next day’s activities.Their “free” shore excursions were divided into different categories, based on physical abilities, and everyone signed up for the next day’s morning and afternoon excursions following the lecture. Often times the ship would move to a different port during our lunch break, and some days the ship offered three excursions. We became friendly with a few other active, water-loving cruisers, and signed up together for the deepwater snorkels and other active excursions. I would not want to miss a day of Celebrity-organized activities and meals, and add in the stress of booking, gearing up and paying for another vendor, just to dive 20 feet deeper. Plus, if you miss the the ship’s excursion in Santa Cruz, you might miss the pink flamingos, and you will miss the opportunity to share those memories with your fellow cruisers on the last day’s slideshow! Do be warned that the water is cold year round. Celebrity provided fins and full wetsuits, but I took a sharkskin top, a lycra hood and socks to wear underneath, and my own mask, snorkel, and de-fog. If I were going again, I would also take a rash guard top, tights and a neoprene hood. Be sure to take your gear and go early to the wetsuit fitting appointment, to make sure that you find a wetsuit and fins that will be comfortable for the week. Hope this is helpful. Enjoy!

Has anyone had any experience with Untouched Tours in Lautoka or Suva, in the Fiji islands? They have a wonderful Facebook group, but I cannot find any reviews from people who have toured with them. Thank you for your help.

Does anyone have any recommendations for vendors for a half day, preferably morning, kayaking excursion on the Faaroa River from the port in Raiatea in November 2022? The cruise ship’s excursion is sold out, and even though we are on the waitlist, I would like to search for an alternative. Thanks, in advance, for your help!

Thanks so much for your well written and informative travelogue. Is there a page of the When and Where that shows the times for the various food service venues ? Did I miss it? Thanks!

Shareholders OBC for HAL gratuities? I just read the fine print on the Shareholders Credit benefit page for sailings through July 31, 2023, that states "credit cannot be used for...gratuities charged to your on board account." Is this something new? Pre -covid, I think we were able to use it for gratuities on Carnival cruises.... We booked the HAL Have it All promotion, so already have Wi-Fi, drinks, specialty dining and excursions. Any suggestions for use of this Shareholders OBC if we cannot use it for gratuities? I assume it is non-refundable. Thanks!