Mark O
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Posts posted by Mark O
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12 minutes ago, edinburgher said:
Last time we docked in Barcelona we really didn't want the crowds that we had experienced on previous port calls. (plus a one week land stay) we thought we had also seen most of what was of interest to us, so we did something totally different.
We walked along the pleasant waterfront, passing small marinas, cafes, restaurants etc to historic Barcelonetta and explored there before continuing further along the promenade which runs alongside the sea and the several beaches. If doing this, you will pass a hospital on the left opposite the beaches, continue onwards. We walked as far as Port Olimpic (correct spelling) then took a left along a main road with traffic next to that port and close to a small shopping centre walked a very short distance before cutting in to the left at the fountain with Olympic athletes in the middle, then walking anti-clockwise around the perimeter of the Zoo until we arrived at one of the entrances to Parc de la Ciutadella, a wonderful public park The rest of the route was traffic free apart from the few streets in historic Barcelonetta. . Nowhere we went was crowded, and like the waterfront/promenade walk, was peaceful and free of traffic noise. Parc de la Ciutadella is very important park in Barcelona and there is quite a lot to see and do in there., including a truly monumental fountain which is quite a sight to behold, a boating lake and various other attractions. If you don't like the sound of the beacv/promenade/Barcelonettasuggestions, you could simply head to the park which is worth a visit.
Try googling Barcelonetta and Parc de la Ciutadella for info, images also tripadvisor for reviews.
There are two cable cars in Barcelona. We have only ridden the Montjuic one but it was worth doing..
Thanks for that great suggestion. Did you need to take any transportation on that journey?
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Thanks - I'm interested.
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Thanks for those suggestions - you made some good choices on your trips. We're actually going to be there for one day on a cruise stop (and I can't edit the original post) but we'll look into your suggestions.
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My wife and I will be arriving in Barcelona on April 2nd. As we've previously seen many of the major sights (La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, La Pedrera-Casa Mila, Jewish Quarter, Gothic Quarter, Basilica de Santa Maria, Barcelona Museum, Picasso Museum, Barceloneta Beach, Els 4Gats Restaurant and Las Ramblas), we're focused on seeing Casa Batlló, stopping for some tapas and wine (not on Las Ramblas) and we're looking for any other suggestions of things to do within walking distance. Also, we plan to take a taxi to/from the port and city and would like some hints on how much to expect to pay, how not to get scammed, and where in the city would we be able to find a reputable taxi, etc. I know this is a lot, but we'd appreciate any suggestions.
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Thanks, walkingsoon, for the comprehensive reply. We haven't cruised since the pandemic, and everything we've read about quality and service on some of the other lines has been worrisome, so we are looking forward to experiencing Princess's new ship.
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My wife and I are frequent cruisers but new to Princess. We're planning on booking the Sun Princess 10-Day Grand Western Mediterranean in March. We've pretty much decided to take the Princess Premier pricing option as it seems to be a good value. I realize that the Sun Princess is a new ship, but I'd appreciate if the experienced Princess cruisers can help answer a few questions:
Should we expect to arrive at the main dining room and be seated?
Will we need reservations for the main dining room? When can reservations be made?
If we have reservations for the main dining room, would we expect to arrive and be seated or would there likely be a wait? If a wait, what is typical?
When can we make reservations for specialty restaurants? Is there typically a wait for a table?
We're thinking of booking a Deluxe Balcony, maybe stateroom 11403. We prefer to be nowhere near a smoking section. Does this look like a good choice?
Any other tips are much appreciated.
Thanks so much.
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After booking a Viking River Cruise with "free air," I must say I am very disappointed. The flights they offered did not have a sufficient (for me) connection time, so I immediately paid the Air Plus upgrade and was able to switch to flights that met my needs. A few months later, the outgoing flight was cancelled and they rebooked me on a flight with a 2-hour connection time in Dublin, which is insufficient for me. It's virtually impossible to get an economy flight with sufficient connection time without having to pay between $650 and $1,500 per person. To avoid the connection time problem, I thought I might go a day or two early and spend the night in Dublin. I went back to the Viking Air website and although it offers me the ability to change flights and add stops, Dublin cannot be selected even though but they put me on a flight that connects in Dublin. I will never take a vacation with "free air" again, unless I can opt out and get a reduced price.
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On 8/31/2022 at 11:25 AM, BND said:
We're on Jewel out of T5 in Nov and I had read that they have machines that you pay at before you get in your car when I was trying to find info. Or do you pay as you exit? I've searched for photos, videos, etc, but nothing.
How did this work out for you?
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I'm in the process of booking a Viking River Cruise with free air. Having Air Plus is very important to me as I need to have sufficient connection time to allow me to have some of my diabetes equipment hand-checked. In a chat they told me I could add Air Plus, but on the proposal they sent, it said "Air Plus - requested." This makes me think that it's not guaranteed that I will get that. Have to inquire further. And by the way, they increased the price for Air Plus from $799 per person to $999 within the past few days.
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On 7/11/2021 at 1:53 PM, little britain said:
An officer turns up, says cheers, doesn’t drink any champagne 🥂 because they aren’t allowed to as on duty then they leave, the rest of us eat lunch. Hope they still do the complimentary wine ( although most of the time it was that Beringer stuff 🤢)
Apparently most officers didn’t enjoy hosting the tables, and it was always an effort to get them to attend, so I’m thinking most officers may be doing a sigh of relief.
FWIW; with the vouchers it means I can now get a decent glass of Whispering Angel with dinner instead of the house hooch PG; it may also mean I can get a decent g&t before dinner. Shame it’s only 5 vouchers a day though!!Does the new policy put a dollar limit on the drinks you can get with the voucher?
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I don't remember where I read this, so I am not sure if this is accurate, but i read somewhere that they are automatically issuing the 125% future cruise credit for cancelled sailings and that you have to request a refund - at which time they will cancel the future cruise credit and process a refund.
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Any suggestions for a driver/tour guide to take us from our hotel in Civitavecchia to/from Orvieto on the day before we sail?
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Will be on the Jewel sailing 10/3/19 and wondering if we will tender at the old port or dock at the new port in Mykonos. Thanks in advance.
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55 minutes ago, LeeW said:
As long as it doesn't vanish from the Order History it isn't a problem. Not likely to get any sale price reductions if it isn't being actively sold, though.
Looks like that's it - you can click on it in the order history and see the current price. -
31 minutes ago, brillohead said:
I think it depends on availability, too. If a given excursion has a limit of 20 people and all those 20 slots are sold, the excursion might disappear, because there's nothing left for you to purchase.
Then if someone cancels their excursion, those slots become available again so the tour appears again.
Also, if the tour operator adds a second boat / bus / guide / whatever to handle the additional demand, the tour would become available to purchase again.That sounds too logical for RCCL.
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Has anyone else noticed that excursions that are available for a particular cruise regularly appear and disappear from the Cruise Planner for the particular port? Sometimes an excursion (that I've either paid for or am watching) appears in the listing; sometimes it does not. Later in the day - sometimes minutes later - the same excursion (whether I previously paid for it or not) reappears. Makes it difficult to plan excursions and track prices.
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So do you agree that if whoever is handling the revision refuses to keep the $200 OBC then i should probably rebook on board next week? Of course there's always the risk of price changes between now and then.
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Thank you all. Of course, every call I make I get different answers. What benefit might there be to booking on board next week vs amending the reservation?
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We are Diamond members and booked a non-refundable balcony reservation for the Radiance 6/14/19 Vancouver to Alaska 7-day sailing with post cruise tour 1A (3 additional nights) while aboard the Serenade in December 2017. Turns out we have to switch to the 5/31 sailing - also with cruise tour 1A. We know we will have to be penalized $100 each for changing the non-refundable reservation. As part of our initial booking we received:
CAS No Ref Dep of $326 - (I think this was the $325 (or $326 in this case) discount for Diamond members booking a balcony cabin more than six months in advance.)
Onboard credits of $300 as follows: (1) An onboard credit of $200 applied to guest 1 and (2) an onboard credit of $50 each – not sure what these were for.
Questions:
(1) Should we cancel the original reservation and make a brand new reservation or simply adjust the existing reservation?
(2) Either way, would we retain one or more of the onboard credits?
(3) Was the future cruise rep who booked this correct in applying $325 for a 10 -night sailing plus cruise tour or should I only have gotten the Diamond balcony discount for a 7-night sailing?
(4) And finally, since we are going to be on board Serenade (yes, again) in a week, would it be advantageous to make the change when we are onboard rather than through reservations, and why?
Thanks so much. -
Let me say that I always use non-cruise excursions - based mostly on what I read here on Cruise Critic. But I am concerned that the third party excursions being referred to here (Blexie, etc) are not necessarily allowed under current rules. In order to accurately complete the guest certification (application for the Visa) you have to check off whether you will be doing a full-day cruise line excursion or a full-day third-party program which has to be offered by a US sponsoring organization or one or more of the other general license categories in number 4 on the RCCL list (I'm not sure if a quick stop at the synagogue or church would meet the spirit of the Visa requirement if you spend the rest of the day in bars and other activities). You cannot do a self-guided program of people-to-people educational exchange unless you booked prior to June 16, 2017. So how is everyone justifying using Blexie or any other Cuban tour guide unless they are sanctioned by a US sponsoring organization? Most will probably never get into trouble, but what happens if you run into a problem and then have to reach out to the USA for assistance?
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Announcement this morning that the Port of Stockholm is closed due to high winds until at least mid-day tomorrow. Awaiting a further announcement regarding our itinerary as we enjoy a day at sea.
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I'm going on a Baltics/Russia cruise out of Amsterdam in May. We're staying at the DoubleTree Centraal Station and I was wondering if you can walk to the cruise terminal with rolling luggage or if taking a taxi would be better. It seems pretty close but these maps can be deceptive. Thanks.
Teanne
My wife and I will be sailing on the Brilliance on May 28th and also staying at the Doubletree Central Station. Glad to hear the port is walkable!
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I typically pick up some wine glasses at a bar whenever I need them.
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Yes that's true for calling, but for texting, ensure you use the correct messaging app.
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TRANSPORT IN BARCELONA (taxi, metro, bus, etc... to the city, port and airport). All information and questions!!
in Spain and Portugal Ports
Posted
Thanks for all the info on this post. Regarding the shuttle to/from the cruise port, should I expect a long line and a long wait? If so, where is the best place in the area where the shuttle stops in La Rambla to get a taxi?