mlbcruiser

blue_water, I think you meant to direct your last post to Phoenix Dream. I had responded to Phoenix Dream myself as to miss St. John just because you aren't a beach person would be a shame! (A photo I took from the overlook above Trunk Bay has adorned our frig for the past 20 yrs!) If I could recommend just one caribbean island for someone to see, it would be St. John! BTW, I love those hook bracelets, too! And the jewelry shop(s?) that have the opals made into rings, charms of whale tails on necklaces, etc. (Unfortunately, I never have the $ to afford one since I spend it on travel!)

Phoenix Dream, yes, it's DEFINITELY worth going to St. John even if you are not beach people. The scenery and views are phenomenal even just from the main road! Lots of beautiful photo opportunities. Take a walk in both directions from the ferry. All the way down to the resort accommodations called "The Gallows" (you will see the little bldgs. off to the right as the ferry arrives in Cruz Bay), then back through the town, along the wharf, past the bars, etc., and all the way down back past the ferry to an usual looking little shopping enclave called Mongoose (or something like that?). Go back into it a ways. Even if you don't want to shop, there are a couple of nice places and shops to browse in back down near the wharf, w/views of the sea and ferry coming over from STT, etc. There are some outdoor "hut" type eateries in town (I think the fish and chips place is still there?) and a barbecue place that the locals run (food is safe), plus several other restaurants. The Annaberg ruins are fun to visit, took as you pass all the main beaches on the way there and there are really nice views from there (and mongoose!). If you take a little tour you will likely also learn things about the idea for the Nat'l. Park, about Caneel Bay, etc.


Whataboutport, if you reserve an excursion through the ship, the ship will not leave w/out you. That is why some people do ship's excursions only. If you go back just a page or 2 and read earlier posts on this very thread, you will see these RCCL excursions have been discussed very recently.

Bruce, it's not uncommon to find 7 ships in port at STT on the same day. Yes, it's going to be crowded. Most esp. downtown in Charlotte Amalie around the shops. Still, you should find taxis at the ready. As for the ferry coming home from SJ, due to your ship getting in late, you may just want to go ahead and go over there w/a ship's excursion. Check out the ferry schedule and see how late and how often the ferries run from Cruz Bay to Red Hook. Most ships will be gone before your's so as long as you can catch a ferry, you should be o.k. Taxis know what ships leave when and when the ferry comes back.

Janet, "far" can be subjective. Crown Bay is farther from Red Hook than Havensite by several minutes, depending on the traffic. Someone else on here will have a better answer for you but thought I'd just mention that.

[B]RE: Having enough time for St. John[/B]: wbclucy, 2 hrs. and 15 min. is really NOT enough time for a half way decent look at St. John, esp. if you have a friend you want to spend any time with, or who wants to show you around (and believe me, I can really squeeze a lot into a short amount of time when I need to!). You will no doubt want to get a look at the lay of the land, the beaches, AND have a bit of time to walk around the Cruz Bay area. We've been to St. John numerous times and even once spent a wk. there.

[B]"On your own time" excursion[/B]: Some RCCL ships offer a trip over to St. John (3 -?- different group tours ferry over together). However, one tour stays on the boat in St. John. That group is taken on a ride along the NW shore, seeing various well known beaches, going all the way to Annaberg ruins. On this excursion you wind up having 3-3 1/2 hrs. "on your own" after the coastal tour, which is a fair amount of time. Not ideal, but at least enough to spend some time at a beach and then visit Cruz Bay. You would have to check the excursions offered in St. Thomas for your sailing to know if it's offered.

[B]RE: the ferry from Charlotte Amalie[/B], someone mentioned it being rough sometimes. I guess that happens, but we've been lucky since we've taken the C.A. ferry 3 - 4 times in a span of many yrs. (always in March) and never had rough seas. It took us about 45 min. one way to get to Cruz Bay that way. The views along the way are really fabulous! I recall going past Frenchman's Reef, seeing some cool hillside homes, "Hurricane Hole" and a few well known resorts. Our first time was many yrs. ago & that time there was a narrative by the capt. or a crew member delivered via loudspeaker that pointed out a few scenic highlights along the way. In subsequent yrs., there was no commentary. IMO, it's worth going that way at least once for the scenery. You can always take the C.A. ferry to St. John yet come back to STT via the ferry that goes to Red Hook, then take a cab back the rest of the way. Keep in mind the ferry from/to C.A. doesn't run as frequently as the one between Red Hook and Cruz Bay.

Hope this helps someone!

My husband and I went to Cinnamon Bay just once, a few yrs. back just to see it and snorkel, etc. From what I recall, you should be fine. Esp. if you can catch the ferry by around 9 a.m. or so. We just hung out at the beach a bit and snorkeled. We didn't hike at all, though. Just be sure to make it back to St. Thomas at least 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. before you have to be on the ship to avoid stress and be on the safe side.

Livethelife, thanks for the info. I would also have considered Crown Bay as being one of the Charlotte Amalie docks. However, that site listed Crown Bay separately. When I initially clicked on Crown Bay, it didn't show any ships docking there that day, so I figured maybe there was some construction going on or something. I then tried Charlotte Amalie, and that's when it showed the Oasis. I much prefer Havensight (which is apparentlly WICO) but more and more the ships we have been on have been docking at Crown Bay.

Thanks again!

Anne, I was wondering if you know if the Oasis switches between Charlotte Amalie and Crown Bay? I got the impression from some posts on this thread that it docks at Crown Bay, but I just checked on CruiseReport.com and it says it docks in Charlotte Amalie on our date, Feb. 26, instead of at Crown Bay.

 

We, too, are looking at the cheapest way to get over to St. John as we love it there so much! I would also be interested in knowing the current taxi prices to Red Hook each way from both Charlotte Amalie & Crown Bay (pp or per vehicle?). Any help on that issue would be appreciated. And the cost to get to, say, Hawksnest, from the ferry dock at Cruz Bay?

 

RCCL has 3 or 4 different excursions that go over to St. John costing between $35 and $40 pp. All groups are combined and leave at the same time from Charlotte Amalie. You could essentially sign up for any of them yet use them only as a mode of transport to/from St. John. They offer different lengths of time on your own, depending upon the one you choose. And it's a pretty ride by water from Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay. Problem is, the last time we used the Charlotte Amalie ferry we took our dd's inlaws w/us - independently. That day the ferry was being utililized by the ships to transport people on their excursions. This held up the departure by a lot. I recall having to wait an interminable amount of time before we actually managed to leave for St. John. That is why we will go to the trouble of getting to Red Hook and taking the ferry from there.

 

Lots of good info. on this thead. Thanks!

So muster drill will probably be about 4:15. Guess we'd better plan on doing the touch-base M&G somewhat early. I hadn't really thought of a problem getting outside to an upper deck for sailaway. Even though I've looked at the Oasis layout, I haven't studied it. Apparently the ship is so large that it takes a long time to get up top to a good sailaway viewing area (?). Why is it necessary to go through the promenade? Surely there are other options (combos of stairs, elevators and walking down hallways of cabin decks)? Hope we get assigned to an easy to get to muster station location!

 

Thanks for the info., everyone!

Trying to plan a short, embarkation day Meet & Greet just to touch base w/other roll callers on our cruise. Can anyone tell me what time they held the muster drill?

 

Thanks for any info.!

Wow, I didn't realize this motel was still around! Actually, I am wondering if it's the same one I remember (used to live in Tampa back in the late 60's-early 80's). The one I recall was on Dale Mabry Hwy., not too far south of I-75. It USED to be a fairly nice large motel, w/a definite "South Pacific" decor (on the outside, at least), nice tropical pool area, etc. The port isn't over about 15 min. from there for someone who is familiar w/how to get there, but it's not an area too many cruisers would seek out. Mosts tourists like staying near the port (in downtown), or at one of the motel/hotels by the water along the causeway (Courtney Campbell Causeway which runs between Tampa and Clearwater and isn't far from the airport), or maybe the hotels by Westshore Blvd. close to the airport. Many also stay near Busch Gardens and the nearby Univ. of So. FL in northeast Tampa. Dale Mabry USED to be THE motel area of town but once motels began popping up near Busch Gardens in the late 60s, Dale Mabry lost that title. Try looking at reviews on sites likeTripadvisor.com.

Don't know if this helps much, but hope it gives you some direction.

Ask the bus/van driver who takes you there. and also anyone at the info. booth near where the tenders let you off. Sometimes the shore excursion staff or purser, crew, or even dancers & other entertainers (they often get off the ship when in port) are great sources of info. You may have to ask a few people, but eventually one of them will probably know.

 

Last time we were in Gr. Cayman we were dropped off down the beach a little way from a large chain hotel. Everyone who had asked to go to 7 Mile Beach seemed to get off there. What we didn't expect was a gated off area where we had to pay a couple of bucks each to be allowed to pass through the gate to the beach. There is supposed to be free access in certain spots, but our driver obviously had her own drop off plan and stuck to it! I wish I could recall it better but I do remember we were able to rent beach chairs from the establishment that ran the gate/property. I think they had a bit of food and drink, and it was just a bit down the beach at a large hotel. There were waverunners on the beach in front of it. It was in very easy walking distance. I can't recall but it may have been a Marriott (?). It had a sit down open air restaurant & bar, and you could just walk along the beach to find other concessions. Hope this helps!

Those little booklights sold in bookstores that bend & easily fold (to about 1 1/2") long are great to keep on your nightstand to use as a nightlight in case you need one during the night. (There is never an outlet in the bathroom, so keep that in mind.) You just flip them open and it's like a little flashlight. Good in case you have to look for something or don't want to crash into a desk chair on your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

 

Also, a small, lightweight, travel alarm clock is nice as well, since cell phones often do not work.

MJL, I have not yet been on any of RCI's Freedom class ships but definitely agree w/you regarding the "musts" because those are musts on the Voyager class ships as well. (I was reading these posts because we are thinking of MAYBE doing the Liberty next Feb. or March. BTW, we used to live in Ballwin. Live in Wildwood now, though.)

 

One thing I will comment on that a few posters mentioned is the pub. We once cruised on the Explorer w/some neighbors. We all had teenage girls and boy, did we utilize the English style pub on several nights! They had guy who sang and played guitar (somewhat badly) and hosted sets of karaoke singers between his songs. (There was also the "official kareoke" in one of the lounges). We all had a blast in that pub! Subsequently, we went on the Voyager, then Mariner, then Navigator. The pubs were never that "active" or fun after that one trip.

Deck 6 has mostly dining venues on NCL's Dawn, but our cabin is under the casino - sort of - on the starboard side. Can anyone tell me if #5056 or any cabins located beneath the casino have an issue w/noise? Thanks!

Make certain you know where your rental car office is located (download a map from Mapquest, Google or Michelein or the rental website) and know ahead of time the best means to use to get there. Most agencies do not pick up at the port nor do they offer transport from the port to their office. In some cases it's easy; others not so easy. We recently returned from a combination land and cruise trip to Europe, and rented cars in 6 different cities. 3 of these were one day rentals while we were in port, and included Cannes, Livorno and Civitavecchia.

 

In Cannes, there was a bus from the port down the main blvd. which runs along the beach. It's main destination is "Palm Beach". The tourist info. booth near the port advised us to get off at the Hotel Martinez (coincidentally the Cannes Film Festival was going on and people and papparazzi were all around this hotel so it was easy to spot!). Our reservation was with Budget, but there were a few in the same area, which was near a major intersection about 2 blocks north of the beach, on the road along the side of the hotel. We were able to get a GPS, which was helpful. (BTW, for 4 of the 6 rental car reservations we had for our trip, all made via the net w/various agencies, we were told they had no GPSs. HOWEVER, it turned out that only one agency really did not have them: Iberrent in Lisbon, Portugal.) We had visited Nice, Monaco and Eze in the past so this time we visited St. Paul de Vence, which was just charming! We found the roads fairly well marked and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful little town.

 

Livorno was a trial! I had prepaid our rental in order to get a much lower rate. Although I had done quite a bit of research, I had been unable to locate a rental office that was very close to the port, one that would pick us up, or one that offered transport to their office. I had only a downloaded map. However, upon arriving, we found Avis, Hertz and Europcar all had set up little tables dockside! (No help to us.) Taxi drivers all refused (quite forcefully!) to take us to the rental office, which coincidentally was again Budget's. There was a bus that was quite pricey that we could have ridden to a central location in Livorno. We called the rental office and were told NOT to take the bus as it would not drop us off anywhere near there. To make a long story shorter, we finally managed to get out of the port area and to a gas station on the west side of town, but we pretty much acted like Amazing Race contestants to do it! Once there, we phoned the agency again, and an agent then came to get us as we were only about a mile from the office. It was then we learned the port is about 15 kilometers long, with several different named areas, so they had not known exactly which port area we were at. But all's well that ends well, and the agent very kindly drove us back to the port when we returned the car. We had been to Florence before, so from Livorno we drove to San Gimignano, which I highly recommend. We had considered Lucca, but from doing some research and speaking to people who had visited both places, it seemed to be the more interesting of the 2. And certainly the drive there was very, very scenic and fragrant - through the hilly Tuscan hills.

 

Since we had returned a car to Civitavecchia in the past, we were familiar with the area and knew that we could walk to Hertz from our ship, which is what we did. So easy! Since we had visited Rome a few times before, we drove to a very very tiny town I only very recently ever heard of: Civita di Bagnoregio. (I THINK I have the spelling right?) It is NE of Civitavecchia, closer than Rome but the drive takes about the same amount of time or perhaps a bit longer since you drive on 2 lane, winding country roads. Whereas to reach Rome, you stay on the Autostrada the whole way. It is a tiny town, accessable only by car & reached by foot via a very steep, high "sidewalk" leading from Bagnoregio. (FYI: definitely NOT for those who are handicapped or in a wheelchair.)

 

If you do plan to rent a car and drive yourself to your destination when in port for one day, be sure to allow enough travel time to be able to reach your destination and get back to your ship at least 60 to 90 minutes ahead of time - just in case!

I had a guy that was willing to charge what would have amounted to about $57 pp if we could have gotten 2 more people. But there aren't many on our roll call and those going are going w/the ship's tour (blah!). Go to tripadvisor.com to the Cannes forums, maybe Rick Steves and Fodors as well, and this site, and do a search. Contact every private driver/tour co. you can find via email and maybe something will crop up. You should also ask on the ports of call section to see if anyone was able to get a taxi from Cannes to take them and what it costs. (We are off on our trip tomorrow!)

Granada is MAGICAL! If you go there, you MUST also visit the Albacin (old Moorish Qtr. across a ravine from the Alhambra) on another hillside. The view of the Alhambra from there at night is fabulous! And the tiny streets wind and twist. You can also see gypsy flamenco shows inside preformance rooms in lovely homes carved out of caves. But, alas, you would have to stay overnt. to see this. Then there is the cathedral that holds the bodies of Ferdinand and Isabella in the old section of the main city of Granada below the Albacin and the Alhambra. If you can find a private driver, I think you would benefit. Esp. one who could show you around. It sounds like you have enough time, but there is just so much to see and it's not hard to tire out and get sort of burnt out. Everyone needs to chill out and seeing everything there in one day will not allow you to really get the "feel" of this, one of my very favorite places in the world!

But if you think you may never get another chance, go for it - however you can. Good luck and I hope you can work all of this out!

We are renting a car this time to go from Cannes to St. Paul de Vence. (Wanting to avoid transferring.) Be careful when you get the train out of Ville France. We took a bit too long to get off the ship and up to the train station. The station in Villefrance was PACKED and people from the ship were standing in line. The tickets to Monte Carlo (where it seemed everyone was headed) were sold out for the next several trains. We had no problem going BACK to Villefrance, though, later in the afternoon. I don't know that that was normal, but for whatever reason, it happened to us.

 

Sundapple, as I mentioned the first time, DO NOT let all of that info. scare you. It isn't as complicated as it sounds. I think I overloaded you w/stuff that I didn't even know the first time we got a rental car in Europe!

Sundapple, I've gotten different prices from different agencies and have rentals reserved in 4 countries for our upcoming trip. For sure EVERYTIME the highest rates were from the larger, well known agencies, of which Hertz, Avis, Sixt and even (surprisingly to me since we've gotten good deals from them before), Europcar and AutoEurope. The best rates have usually been offered by: Economycar.com; Fastcarhire.uk (I can't get that one straight up by just using.com);Budget and National have come in SOME places, surprisingly - something straight from their website and sometimes through a booking agency. You can do Priceline and BID on a car; run it through Yeego.com (I've gotten different agency options each time) and there is one called something like Spaincarhire or Spain-something, which sounded great but they were a bit higher priced than the lowest; just not as high as the highest.

 

Now, here are some things you should know, but don't let them discourage you. They will make renting sound way more complicated than it is: I've had issues trying to find out WHERE a particular office is located in places where I've wanted to get the car somewhere inside the city (Barcelona, for instance) and not right from the airport. (Can require a lot of legwork - putting address onto Mapquest or Google first, etc.), but when it's an airport, no problem. Watch for opening and closing hours and days. Some of these places close mid-day (siesta) for a few hrs. and while you might be able to access them, it could be of extra cost. Some you save money on if you pay in full ahead of time, or else pay a deposit at the time of booking. But mostly you get all the money back if you cancel by a determined date. Some right up to rental time. (In one case it was a 2 euro fee to cancel.) There was one called Holidayrentals.com or something out of the UK (I THINK?) that was inexpensive and the background seemed good, but I cannot seem to access online myself!? It came up through Yeego.com (a discount booking site) once. Just be SURE to read the terms of each contract THOROUGHLY! One more thing - in the past we have never obtained an int'l. driver's license. Never needed one, either. Often they are required in the country but the rental agency never makes you have one. This time I talked my dh into getting one because IF you get into an accident, THEN you need one. There is translation into even Arabic inside the one he got from AAA and that is the main reason. Plus, in the fine print of the automatic cdw insurance that often comes with a rental (though not usually from Hertz, Avis, etc.) the ins. is invalidated if you wreck and do not have an int'l. license! If you have a credit card and want to waive cdw (we have coverage through our credit card IF we initial/decline it on a contract, but SOME of agencies will not let you have a car if you decline the insurance - Hertz, etc., will, usually). We never knew any of this stuff until we rented in the UK in Oct., when I carefully researched the insurance stuff. Never ever had the int'l. license before this time. So it will be a bit of a risk when I drive, which won't be much - but as long as I don't wreck . . . ! LOL (We did have a side mirror torn off once by a young parking valet at our inn in Positano several yrs. ago. AutoEurope contract included ins. So they never charged us a dime and didn't give us one bit of trouble on the return!)

 

Well, I think that is enough to get you going. Hope this helps! Go have fun and I think you will be glad you got a car. (Just be prepared for a few "discussions" over directions. ;) Good luck!

Sun Dapple, I understand your hesitancy about not wanting to drive in a place you have never been before, but it really isn't as bad as you think. And if you drive in the San Francisco area, you are 3 steps ahead already due to the hills, sea views, winding roads and so forth. For one thing, they (UK excluded) drive on the same side of the road as us. Many more of their signs use int'l. symbols, too, so they are easy to understand. If you can get a GPS, it would help a lot. Even so, get maps from Google or Mapquest (you have to click on the right - "international" on that site) for routes, print them out, and bring them w/you. I don't know how old you are or what your driving experience has been, but it will cost you somewhere in the vicinity of $100 USD a day to rent a car in the vicinity of the places you are speaking of visiting. (I know because I just checked out a bunch of rental agencies and we have a rental car for Cannes in 2 wks.) If you use buses, of course those aren't expensive. But cabs over long distances are. I checked w/several drivers for Cannes to St. Paul de Vence and the most reasonable guy was about $125 one way, not incl. any of the other places you mention. (We would actually use him if we had 2 more people to share the cost with!)

 

BTW, we have toured Nice before, and it was nice, but we absolutely LOVED Eze!!! The view and location, w/the teeny lanes, etc! It's a little fairytale-like village. But it all depends upon what you like most. We were in Nice in the late morning/early evening on a tour, and it was rather dull at that time of day. But from what my own dd told me after she stayed there, it is much more lively late in the afternoon through the night time hours.

 

Whatever you decide, have fun and good luck! (And don't stress if you miss something. Trips never go exactly as planned and you will just have to go again! ;))

luvmy3girls and Donna, like the lady on 40 Rock says, "I want to go there!"

I'm didn't even think about doing a search on Google. (I am one of the stupid few people in the world who almost never use that site!) THANK you both so much for this info! Now, how do I figure out how we can get there? We are already renting in cars in 3 of our 4 ports, plus in Portugal, Spain, (can't take one over their borders or it costs $700!), and Greece for land portions of our trip. And most of the low cost agencies do not have GPS systems, which means LOTS of "thinking" and getting lost! Maybe a train to Rome and then??? But will we have time? (Gotta definitely research this!) Thanks again, ladies!

Cathy, this is what comes up when I do a search on Tripadvisor:

 

Sorry, but nothing matches your search for Civita de Banoregio

 

In post by Donna (before my last one) it is mentioned as though it is somewhere around Civitaveccia. Those photos you posted the links to are beautiful, however! Please post if you find out more!

Hank, thanks for the info! I have copied it onto my notepage.

Re: the GPS systems, I am finding that many agencies do not have them available for rent. We made a reservation almost 2 wks. ago for Cannes, and I contacted Budget to see if we could get a GPS. I was told they do not have any. We were able to get one for Livorno (different co.), but that same co. does not have them avail. for Lisbon (where we REALLY need one as we are going to try and find my husband's home when he was a baby in Estoril!). I checke a few other agencies in Lisbon only to find the same thing. Having said that, I have not checked w/Hertz, but their cars in EVERY case I have tried anywhere are always more expensive. I have been sticking mostly to the agencies known to be a bit more budget friendly, many of which incl. CDW (although we can get it free through our credit card as long as we definitely decline it ON the contract). We have a Garmin of our own, but never downloaded European maps due to the cost, uncertain chance to use it, and not wanting to lug it w/us. O guess we will probably take the train into Rome. As you said, it's such a great place just hanging out is good enough.

 

Donna, I just did a search using the places you said you did a private tour to outside of Civitaveccia and turned up almost NOTHING on Tripadvisor! A few hotels, and a photo of a fort or castle-like structure on one hotel review. Nothing under "things to do" for those places. How/where did you get the private tour?

Woops! Forgot to set my email notification so had to post something. Sorry!

Hank, I read through about the first 8 pgs. of this thread agreeing with the ecouragement you and others have given to those who are hesitant about doing things on their own when in an unfamiliar place. My dh and I started the "old fashioned" way (as someone else mentioned) by taking a library book (yep, Europe on $5 a Day!). I encourage people to do things on their own any chance I get. We DO have to watch our money when we travel, and find it usually goes a lot farther when we do things on our own.

 

Now, I have some questions for you: We're doing a combination land trip to Lisbon, Catalonia and Santorini very soon. In between land portions we are doing a short, 5 day W. Med. cruise. We have been to every port before and also have driven quite a bit when vacationing in Italy and Spain. This time we have reserved cars in most of the ports to visit a couple of places we have not yet seen.

 

The first port is Cannes, where we plan to drive to St. Paul de Vence. Is there anything you can think of that we especially need to watch out for? Any tips worth sharing?

 

Next we've reserved a car in Livorno and this is where I really need an expert's opinion. We plan to visit San Gimignano. While we have driven in the area before ( on our way from Venice to Siena, and then on Civitaveccia), we have never driven from Livorno. An alternative would be to take the train to Lucca (and yes, go through Pisa). But I have the impression that we will like San Gimignano a lot more, and that the drive there will be more beautiful (Your input here, please!) I think the route from Livorno to S.G. should take about 2 hrs. one way, but wondered if this sounds about right to you? Do you have any suggestions for doing this? Should we expect very heavy traffic making it risky getting back to Livorno in mid-to-late afternoon? Are we crazy not to just go to Lucca by train? Please give me some feedback on this if you will.

 

As for Civitaveccia, we have stayed in Rome a couple of times but will probably go in again. We'll probably take the train in, not really knowing what we'll do there this time. And frankly, we just don't want to reserve ANOTHER car! We'll probably just hang out, walk around, etc. Are there any towns which are exceptionally interesting and/or beautiful near Rome that that would be worth a visit,and that we could easily visit by train or bus from Civitaveccia?

 

One more thing. I have to caution people to have a backup plan IF they are not able to catch the train or bus of their choice. That has happened to us a few times in re: to catching a train to a city. In Villefranche, it seemed there were far more people than there were tickets to Monaco on the first few trains and that presented somewhat of a problem, causing many to not be able to get tickets until hours later. Another time we were in Madrid and were told it was no problem to go to Atocha Station and catch a train to Toledo w/out a reservation. WRONG! We arrived about 10 a.m. and already all of the trains were booked until about 2 p.m. And this was only early June, and on a Monday, when several sights in Toledo were closed! (Luckily we went to the bus station and were able to get a bus quickly.)

 

Anyway, I hope you see this and can give me some tips or advice in regard to driving to the places I've mentioned. It's nice to know of someone else who prefers to drive. Everytime I mention driving in Europe, people start lecturing me on how great the trains are, etc. etc. (Been there/done that w/a Eurailpass yrs. ago. While fun, we'd rather be able to stop and explore whenever the urge strikes. Thanks for such an interesting thread!

We were at the Boatyard just over a wk. ago and liked it a lot. We had been to Barbados before and just wanted a more active beach environment, and someplace w/food and restrooms, etc. It's close to the port and we didn't feel ripped off. Just a word - we were told it was $15 to get in and that came w/return cab, chair and umbrella, w/one free drink. That is all correct EXCEPT if you want an umbrella, it's $2 more. Beach sand is very nice and the water a lovely color w/gentle tide.