Jamietravelstheworld

My travel agent told me Explora doesn't offer travel insurance. I compare policies at SquareMouth.com.

Marrakesh is way more interesting than Casablanca but not sure you can do it as a day tour from Casablanca. If there's an option for Marrakesh and you're willing to do the drive, I would.

Yes, visas will be required for some and it will likely be unclear which ones and how much until the last minute. Won't be as bad as Brazil (I went in 2024 to Brazil and had received mine) because depending on your cruise line, they can handle it for you. I did West Africa with Azamara in 2023 and it was a nightmare, but in the end, Azamara handled everything and all went smoothly. Early 2023 was when these countries were just re-opening after COVID and they had very little tourism infrastructure so they had no idea what they were doing, and the rules changed often. So did visa rates. Azamara advertised that one country's visa (sorry, I don't remember which country it was, maybe the Gambia) would be $50ish dollars and by the time the cruise rolled around it was $130ish. Some passengers felt that Azamara should eat the cost but Azamara was only charging us what the country was charging them, there was no upcharge or processing fee. The country had raised their fees substantially. Third world countries which is what most of West Africa is have poor infrastructures and you have to deal with it. If you can't handle the unknown, don't book a cruise there. You have to be flexible. Some of these ports had challenges - thankfully I was on a ship excursion when we were 4 hours late returning, which was 4 hours after sail away time. That was because of the Gambia's ferry issues and Senegal border issues. The people and countries are definitely worth visiting but you need to go in with a very open and flexible mind.

I have done many safaris, both as part of cruises and as land safaris. You will likely see many animals on cruise safaris, but the cat family animals are the ones that are harder to find midday. However, I have seen lions on cruise safaris, it's just not as common, and not as many.

I will be doing a Baltic Sea cruise and as I look at many of the ports, it seems there's so much to do in each, I don't know how to decide. What would you say is the Must See/Do in each of the following: Oslo, Norway Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany - is it worth the time to go to Berlin - I was there in 1990 or 1991 (just after the wall came down) or is there something closer to the port worth visiting/doing? Tallinn, Estonia Helsinki, Finland Stockholm, Sweden Kiel (Hamburg), Germany

I will have 3 days between doing 2 cruises next summer. The first cruise ends in Copenhagen and the 2nd starts in Rotterdam and I am trying to decide if I should spend those 3 days in Copenhagen or Amsterdam. I only want to pack/unpack once so don't want to split the time. I've never been to Copenhagen before and the last time I was in Amsterdam was 1981. The 2nd cruise will have an 8-hour port stop in Copenhagen and I know I can't see everything I want in that time. For those who have been to both cities, would you recommend I spend my time between cruises in Copenhagen or Amsterdam? (And Amsterdam isn't actually the embarkation port for the cruise, it's Rotterdam, but I'd spend my time in Amsterdam.)

I will be on a Princess cruise that tenders to Moreton Island. What are the options for activities/excursions if one doesn't choose to do a ship excursion? From what I've read online at the Tangalooma Island Resort website (which I believe is where the tenders come in and where most of the ship excursions happen), activities at the resort are limited on cruise days to hotel guests and ship excursions only (no day passes). I'm not finding much else to do then other than ship excursions. Thanks.

I don't remember it being a big deal getting off the ship. Random bag checks for food were the main thing. Longer lines in the morning because everyone getting off at the same time.

It depends on the port. I did a cruise with many Japanese ports and some were very easy disembarkation and some were longer and more complicated. Will also probably depend on which cruise line and how experienced they are with working with Japan customs and immigration. So it's hard to give you a definitive answer. I don't however remember being significantly delayed getting off in any port, but also, I was on a smaller ship, less than 700 passengers.

Change to the later flight, not worth the stress.

It’s Boxing Day, many places will be closed. Honestly, I’d do the Princess tour or find a private tour where the driver keeps your luggage in the car. Will be more expensive but much easier. I’ve done that on arrival before.

I totally posted my above replies on the wrong board - meant to post them on my roll call, so sorry, I don't think I can delete from here.

FYI, in my above post about Taj Mahal, I realized I made a mistake - I have now corrected it so the information above is correct - but we are returned to Colombo on the 2nd day in Colombo, not the first.

Has anyone done an independent overland tour to the Taj Mahal recently (last couple years), and if so, what company did you go with? My ship's overland is ridiculously expensive and sold out, so I'm looking for other options. The ship's tour departs from Male, Maldives, but other departure options would be Mangalore or Cochin, India, with a return to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Thanks.

I was talking with a crew member who said she saw when they dropped anchor and the swells were high then and the ship was struggling with staying steady for that. (I may not be explaining this right but that was my understanding of what she said.) If it was tough to drop anchor, imagine how hard it would be to line the tenders up next to the ship.

I think she’s doing a good job. She got a great full day schedule out very quickly today when port visit was cancelled. And she seems to listen to passenger concerns/requests when possible.

Thanks everyone. I just cancelled (postponed) the cruise.

I have booked a cruise from Tahiti to Fiji for early 2025. After booking it I read that it rains 26 days a month in January in Tahiti so now I'm thinking of canceling. Can anyone who has been there in January tell me if this all day rain or tropical rain that comes late in the day? I know that Tahiti just had a cyclone go through, but that was early February. I want sun - am I likely to find that in early January in both Tahiti and Fiji or am I going to regret going that time of year?

I've been in Argentina recently, both Buenos Aires and Mendoza. There's no rioting. But while things are cheap for us Americans, this devaluation has been devastating for most Argentineans. They have much less money than they used to.I had Uber rides the other day that were 10-15 minutes long and cost me less than $3.00 but the cost of gas when coverted to gallons and dollars was about $3.50/gallon. In my calculation the Uber driver is losing money at that rate. Even though tipping for transportation is not the norm, I tipped generously. I talked with several locals who were telling me that they've had to move home with their parents to be able to survive - both rent and food-wise. And in some places with US cash I was receiving 1200 pesos to the dollar. (And I think my credit card is giving me around 965 pesos to the dollar.)

I had my own table in Polo and know several solo women who always had their own table. Personally, I prefer sharing so I only had my own table once. I think the challenge is that the tables for 2 (which also are the tables for one) in the speciality restaurants may go quickly in the reservations so if you want a table for one, you need to make those reservations as soon as your reservation availability opens up. I've only been on the Regatta (but boarding the Marina this coming week), and the cruise I was on was 3 legs. On the first day of each leg, there was a solos get-together and a lot of people came to it. On the first leg, the social hostess also did a solos luncheon. On the 2nd she said she was going to do a dinner, but never did. On the 3rd leg, we probably had 25 or 30 solo women. Many of them had traveled solo before on O's Insignia on the world cruise. O seemed welcoming to me of solos, but didn't do a lot to get the solos together, that had to be done on our own initiative.

It’s open but my understanding is it can be slow going due to fire trucks and such.

Yes, it’s just like bringing a drink from the bar.

Agreed. I was on a cruise last year where people took their own wine (by the glass) to trivia, dinner, etc all the time. May have been only one couple, not sure, but I’d hate to see Oceania take this privilege away like every other cruise line does.

I am on a Santiago tour today. The guide said she took a group to Valparaiso yesterday. Road is open but slow going. A lot of restaurants are closed as they’re serving first responders. i also met a couple who were in Valparaiso on Friday when the fire started. They said the city area itself was spared.

I know this has been asked before, and I tried to search, but I’m on my phone and it won’t let me search this forum only (which I can do on my computer). Is there a limit to the number of bottle of wine we can bring on board? And can we bring liquor on board? I have bought liquor to take home as a gift and am boarding ship next week.