bearette

I have done several cruise line (Disney, NCL, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, RCCL and MSC at the end of this year).  I haven't done a cruise I didn't like. Disney was the best, all round food, service and entertainment were great, but it is too $$$ for regular visits.  I have found every kind does something better than the others. NCL does the flexible dinning times, kids club, and buffets better.  Royal has better kid entertainment (slides, ice skating etc...) and better perks at Diamond.  Princess is very elegant and better food. Carnival has better parties, and as a Californian, more convenient to the port. Celebrity had better food was more elegant and offers some Local portnoptions, but is expensive for the 3rd and 4th in a room.

While we have done the  most cruises on RCCl, we aren't married.  If the price or destination is better (or what we want) we will book something else.  We figure it can't be that bad and are willing to try, so far we haven't been disappointed, but we have liked some better than others.  I will also say it can be ship based as our least favorites cruise was a big ship on NCL (Joy), but one of our favorites was a small ship on NCL (Spirit). So research line and ships to.know what you are getting into.

On 5/1/2020 at 3:35 PM, Hoopster95 said:

 

If you've got an hour to kill.....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2524044-marinafrench-polynesia-mar-4-192018-review-wlots-of-photos/

 

I ended up spending all day today reading this... Great review! It gave a lot of great information on the cruise line and the itinerary.  I wasn't that interested in this area before today!  With the mandatory house arrest it made the day better, so thank you for doing it and sharing it😊.

I've done both and I say , let price and itinerary decide, as there is not much difference.

21 minutes ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

Ooooh, so much fun! We are looking at booking on a new MSC ship for their Yacht Club in April, 2021. We live about a 20 minute drive from the BCN port, which I think will prove to be quite convenient once cruising-things resume. 😉

 

Honestly, I have never stayed at a hotel in this area (and paid for the bill, myself). I stayed at the Marriott in L’Hospitalet Llobregat, but at the time I was living in the US and only in town for a work-trip, so work paid for it. I would not recommend that hotel/area (despite being close to the port), so that does not much matter. I would surmise, though, that because the government has mandated hotels only book at a certain % capacity once they re-open, that this might be why the prices are higher? “Make as much €€ off of the few people who stay with us” type deal, perhaps? Not sure....

We have the new ship of MSC ship booked for November as well. I think by then it will be open, but I don't think August is looking good with those restrictions.  I originally thought it would be open in June, but I am with the others now who think September or October will be when they are allowed to cruise again, unless we get a vaccine sooner.

Wow,  it was fun to fo llow your cruise in quarantine (now not you thank goodness), hindsight is always 20/20 and I feel for you- we left for our cruise the day you got on (RCCL Dubai cruise on the Jewel) and while it started ok, by day 3 we were in the same boat as you, having passengers tested and praying it wasn't positive.( I did a  review if anyone is interested, click on my name to find it, we all.have time to read now...).

I wanted to ask you about having any luck with hotwire.  I am still trying to get the money back for the hotel we booked when they cancelled all cruises and then had to cancel the hotel when they shut down the country, so we were forced to leave.  They told me we had to wait for another department to "review it" and it would take 30 days to hear back, not for $ but just to see if we could get money back. Seems fishy to me....

I am the worst map reader, that is why we now have T- mobile so we can always access the maps! I plan the trip and my husband does the navigating.

Roman ruins- is that where this Roman amphitheater is located? https://www.arenes-nimes.com/en/home

I'll have to look at what is around St. Remey.  We don't have a ton of time, and we will have to be back to the ship by 5pm, so 4pm at the latest to return the car.

I'm more of a spend 10 hours in one area girl, so I won't plan for more then two places, one far and one closer so we can make our way back on time. Aix-en-Provence will be my back up if we take too long. 

Has anyone been to the  Château des Baux-de-Provence? It can be bought as a combo ticket with the  Carrières de Lumières. https://www.chateau-baux-provence.com/en/home

We love the history and architecture items so Roman ruins and castles are right up our alley.  It also looks like the company that runs all of these has kid friendly touring option too ( I found the other places by clicking on the pictures at the bottom from the Carrières de Lumières page.) Does anyone know how feasible these places would be in our limited time?  

We use Avis because of points/ account so it usually ends up being best for us, even if it is a few dollars more then the competition.

Les Baux was on my radar before but you have convinced me now.  Then I'll let my husband pick the other town based on what he would like to do.

I can second that, did the same thing at the same cost, but we had two kids so paid 5 euro extra for car seats (per kid).  We were able to.spend a lot more time then all the bus tours by renting the car so had a nearly empty Olympia by staying an hour longer than most buses/tours. We had time for a waffle and coffee at one of the town's cafes, too.  There is a winery around somewhere too, but we never found it as we enjoyed Olympia and the town for shopping.  There is little in the way to explore in the area except a few beaches of a place to eat if you have extra time.

We do have the water and coffee package for the dinning room!  I am so excited about having water!  My daughter only drinks water 99% of the time, so I was excited by this.  We do have the Fantastica package so we didn't have any drink package, as it was more than$1,000 to add it and we thought the only thing of value was the drink package.  I thought we would just being on bottles of water, but I read they don't allow that either so this will make sure we don't go thristy.

I haven't seen anything official, but yesterday I was looking up the ship and I could only find cruises starting November 2, 2020. Didn't it have October the sailings before?

I'm going to log on now,  I usually don't start the online stuff until after final payment,ironically the thought never occurred to me to check on line to stateroom it would say. It says "s-2" as my cabin type and my afternoon number (not posting that one line).

I will be sailing in November, but I admit the price point for a suite room was what enticed us.  My cruise  was less than $3,000 for my family of four in a suite, I can on!y get a balcny, and that is finding a good price after much research, at that price point on RCCL. It will be a fantastica experience so not the fancy YC, but we don't want that.  We wanted to be in Europe when other lines weren't there and so we thought we would try it.  I'm prepared for dinners to take hours, waters not to be included at dinner, and announcements in many languages.  I've had good and bad food on all cruises so I will find what is good and stick to it.

That's not too bad, I didn't see any sort of package on our booking and we used a TA, not the website , which says it includes drinks from the US only if you book online.  I hope it has water and coffee or tea, but if not I can pay for a few drinks and make sure to visit the buffet for more water.  As long as I can get a cup of caffeine at breakfast I can survive.

I'll make sure to stock up on some bottles of water in port before boarding.  I've done other cruises so I understand the additional gratuity added on.  Their prices seem a little lower than other lines so even buying several waters and other drinks we won't even make it to half of the drink package price.  I would probably do it if I didn't have to pay for the kids too, but that extra money puts it in the no way will we use it category.

We don't drink enough to make any sort of package worth it. what are the included drinks, as I understand things like tap water are not given in the dining room? drip coffee and hot tea? What about for kids? My kids don't drink soda or juice so the packages for all of us just don't make any sense for 896 euros we can pay as we go. I don't see any sortof bottled water or other sort of bulk packages ? We are not cruising until November, hopefully when coronavirus will be a distant memory.  The cruise sails out of Barcelona if it matters.

If you want internet every day, book before as it will be cheaper.

What was your cab fare for your trip from the Hotel Jazz to the ship?  There are four of us, but we are only taking carryons. Last time we took the port shuttle, which was 1 euro, but I hear it is more now. Does anyone know if they charge kids (both 😎 for the port shuttle?

What time does the ship dock?  That is one of those times that cuts it very close;  If you can get off starting at 7a.m maybe but an earlier time, probably.  I would look for luggage storage and take the five thirty. I would have a cab/ car waiting if you chance it, but my advice is no. 

What about car rentals if we wanted take a day to stop  in Windors and Stonehenge etc.. on the way up and back?  Where are the car rental offices in Southhamton? Avis if they are in town. Thanks.

If they are sailing , I think it is safe to cruise again.  Although no one in my travel party is at risk, so I am willing to change it.I was also on a cruise when this something went down so my tolerance for changing it is high.  I don't have another cruise booked until November, but I will do one this summer if I can do one at a price I like and get there for a reasonable price.  I would need my husband to get least minute time off too or in would have none booked now.

We have a flight out about 10AM and will be staying near Sagrada Familia. Last time we Were there we took the airport bus, but this area appears to be a little bit further out, so would we be better off taking the metro to the bus or all the way to the airport?  We will only have carry-ons. We have 8 year-old twins too so cost for them is also a factor. We have done walks in the snow to save cab fare, but if it is only a few dollars difference we can take a cab too. I know cabs in Barcelona are relatively cheap.

I have it(Rick Steve's book) on order from my library, but you are right, my library is closed.  I have time to figure what I want to see.  If we want to see Marseille we will forgo the car and just walk, taxi or bus ourselves around.  

I was interested in some of the outer towns you mentioned, but will probably pick one or two in the time we have. It sounds like the most convenient will  be anything near the train station. Do you or anybody else know what parking is like in those others towns?

We use Avis for most of our rentals so prefer that company, but I am so confused by which location would be the best to rent from (there are three, the10 Boulevard, 31 Boulevard and Garage Vag Dhaiti). Our ship hours are 8-5pm and we don't want to do a tour as we will have our kids. My husband is comfortable driving in foreign countries and a car with a stick will be no problem. They all seem to open by 8am, but which location would be easier/convenient to get to.  I would prefer a bus or walking options as paying for an expensive can both ways defeats the purpose.  Has anyone rented a car and can shed light on which way would be the best of how they did it?  I saw the previous post on this, but they recommended the airport because of the early port time, but that isn't something we have to worry about and it is usually more expensive to rent from the airport. 

Also, this car rental is for a trip in November,so we should be safe from all the closures by then, but it will be the off season of that matters.

Thanks for any tips!

Tenerife we did last minute as we could not dock at our original port. We went up the mountain (volcano) in a cab.  It was freezing up there, but nice in the city so take a jacket. There is a gondola if you have time to the top, we did not.  The landscape in places looks like the moon, so I highly recommend it if you like unique lanscapes. There is a visitor center with a walking path and videos.  You could easily drive it if you are comfortable renting a car, but we didn't have planning time so just took the cab. 

My mehs have always been going to things I don't like because they are "must dos." When in the museum in Amsterdam,  I turned to him an hour in and asked " are you done" and we're both happy to leave as we both hated it and got out of there ASAP before we wasted anymore time. He was going for me and I was going for him, but we both didn't want to be there. 😆 

I also agree with the gondola in Venice, we never did it and never felt like we missed out having ridden on the back seats of the water bus...we felt like we enjoyed it more there as it felt private with only four seats. 

Check trip advisor reviews as it appears no one here has stayed there, and with coronavirus you probably won't get many replies here.