Turtles06

I always have ebooks loaded on my devices. But I love sea days so much and I love just sitting on my balcony or on a public deck, watching the water, that I don’t think I’ve ever finished a book on a TA. Just kind of zoned out looking at the ocean is the ultimate relaxation for me. 😊

@Toofarfromthesea my condolences about your wife. It’s very heartening to read about your game plan to see if long distance train travel will work for getting you to a cruise port, and I hope your trial run to STL goes well. In the unlikely event that you haven’t already discovered this, there’s plenty of information on the internet from real people about long distance travel on Amtrak, the pros and cons about types of cars and seats, advice and tips, etc. I like the suggestion posed above about cruises out of California. (It’s pretty hard for me to imagine traveling in a coach seat on Amtrak for a multi-day and night trip from Arizona to Florida. But that’s just me.) In any event, good luck with the trip to St. Louis! I hope you’ll come back here to this thread and tell us how it went.

I was really looking forward to your write up and photos of your time in Honningsvag and at the North Cape. You really lucked out on the weather. Spectacular scenery and blue skies. Love your photos. Blue Puffin definitely has fantastic recommendations here on Cruise Critic. Obviously well-deserved.

Posting the entire contents would be a copyright violation. It’s stealing someone’s intellectual property. Just because the internet has made it easy to do it doesn’t make it right to do it. And yes, there are paywalls because the publications are businesses, selling a product.

This topic is being discussed in the Western Europe forum, with local experts providing factual information.

Those brownies look amazing even in candlelight. I’m so glad you had such a great time on that tour. It was exciting just to read about it. Congratulations on seeing the Midnight Sun! Like you, I love to take photos. Until a year ago, I was schlepping around a DSLR and long lenses, and, of course, had to pack all the chargers and batteries and other gear that you need when you have that equipment. It was finally getting to be too much to walk around with when I was out and about on a trip, not to mention having to pack all of the gear in a carryon. Last summer, I bought an iPhone 13 Pro with the intention of it becoming my primary camera. I was amazed by the quality of the images and the versatility of the camera. I know there are some things one gives up using the camera in a phone, particularly reach. I decided, on balance, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make in most instances. Last fall, we took a three-week land tour in the UK, and my iPhone was my camera. I know there were some shots I missed, but I was so happy with the photographs that I did take and so happy not to be dragging all the heavy camera gear along. An added bonus with using the camera in your phone, as you of course have demonstrated in your wonderful live postings, is being able to share photographs very easily.

I would also get tickets in advance for Holyrood Palace, so you know you’ll be able to get in (unless the local experts say this will not be a problem at the time you were visiting). We were there last fall and really enjoyed going through Holyrood. A multi-media guide (audio, photos, video) is included with your admission, and you use it for a self-guided tour. We normally don’t have the patience to listen to all of the “stops” on these sorts of guides, but this one was so extraordinarily well done, and so interesting that we listened to it more than once. We would stop outside a particular room and listen to the guide for that room as an overview, and then go into the room and stop at each of the marked stations. You may not feel you have time for that much, but you can adjust as you wish. I just wanted to say what a great self-guided tour this was. The Castle of course is great. I know you don’t need anyone to tell you anything about that. Since you are going to walk up or down the Royal Mile, I wanted to put in a plug for stopping into St. Giles. In particular, the Thistle Chapel is amazing. Enjoy your trip!

Same issue here. We had two distinct bookings for the B2B and sent our requests separately; one was processed quickly and the other was ignored. We finally had to send it again.

Folks reading CC on a phone, as I’m doing right now, can’t see where any posters are from.

@YVRteacher I know how much effort is involved in detailed posting and especially when one includes photos, and I want to thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I’m sorry about the hassles you’ve encountered with food, and I hope things are better for the remaining part of your cruise.

Besides the Golden Circle Tour from Reykjavik, there is also the spectacularly beautiful South Coast Tour. For tour operators in each of your ports, do a search in this forum for each port.

@eppler you’ve gotten great advice above. I just want to underscore that if you’ve never been to NY before, driving into Manhattan should not be the first thing you do. Also, in terms of your hotel, it’s really not necessary to stay within walking distance of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Enjoy your trip!

I can’t help with an answer, but I wanted to say what a stupid way to run a business. Don’t wait till people get on board to tell them! I hope your Mom is reassured by the information you got, and that she has a wonderful trip!

This is a very broad and vague request. Putting aside the car rental, what do you hope to see during those two weeks?

Yikes! I wonder who that person was who kept bringing afternoon snacks to our non-Haven suite on the Gem this past winter. 😂

We’ve sailed in forward-facing suites under the bridge on the Gem and the Jewel on four cruises. Yes, there’s a sign on the sea door like the one you mentioned. Unless the weather really prevents it, our experience has been that it’s okay to use the balcony when the ship is underway. No one would book these cabins if the balconies could only be used in port. Just be careful whenever you open or close that door — it’s heavy, don’t let your hands/fingers get caught as you are moving the door. IMG_9860.mov (Atlantic Ocean, by turtles06)

There are numerous discussions here about Amber Cove and the circumstances in which NCL docks there and the amenities available. (The NCL rep with whom you spoke was wrong.) I suggest that you do a search in this forum for “Amber Cove” so you can read them. Enjoy your cruise!

I rather doubt anyone was speaking Latin. 😉

I agree that what you’ve recounted makes no sense and is a totally foolish way of doing business. So much so that it makes me wonder whether something was not communicated correctly on one end or the other. I assume you were not on the call that your TA had with NCL. If you weren’t, you might want to call special needs yourself and see what they say directly.

You missed the context of my post that you quoted. I was responding to, and quoted, a comment from someone who was wondering how guests could be grandparented into a policy that existed when they booked, but overall, a change in that policy would be immediate. The point of my comment was that Celebrity should only make major changes on a going forward basis, that is, when an itinerary is first offered for sale, or there’s an effective date at some time in the future, so that no one would have been able to book a cruise at that point.

They implement significant new policies with newly-released itineraries.

In the very unlikely event that you don’t know this, you will be cruising out of Civitavecchia, which is about a 90 minute drive from Rome. So you’ll also want to think about your transfer to the port, and whether there’s any assistance you’ll need. I hope you both have a wonderful cruise.

You will dock at Fuerte Amador, where the new cruise terminal, according to most recent reports, is still under construction. Unclear when it will be finished. The docks have been completed, and ships are docking there, but unless something has changed recently, passengers are being bused to and from another location, where they can get taxis, etc. Since you have a private tour, you should ask the tour operator where to meet. There’s a specific forum here in CC for the Panama Canal and related questions like yours, at the link below. You should monitor that forum for updates on Fuerte Amador. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ Enjoy your cruise! And if you haven’t already done so, please read David McCullough’s “The Path Between the Seas.” You will appreciate the Canal even more.

I don’t think anyone knows yet what the status of the cruise terminal will be in early December. If you are lucky, it will be finished and you’ll be able to get a taxi there. But if it’s still not completed, or not sufficiently completed for taxis to be allowed in, you may well have to take a shuttle bus to another location. Doesn’t the Joy overnight at Fuerte Amador on December 5? Have you considered disembarking then (you might need to arrange that in advance with NCL) and spending that night in a hotel? (I’m not sure how early is “pretty early” in terms of when you need to be at the airport.) Is NCL showing any airport transfers for Dec 6, and at what times? You still have a few months to go here. Hopefully, much more will be known before you sail.

We’ve done one B2B with NCL (this past winter). No discount given.