We-R-Off

Would welcome recommended independent tour companies for Altun Ha day trip rather than cruise ship tour.

Thanks

It depends on the ship. Most cruise ships are of such a size that they must use the ocean port of Laem Chabang. Count on a two hour of so transfer from the city. Smaller cruise ships, most often the luxury lines, can directly access the city via the Chao Phraya river.

I understand that Laem Chabang, our port is quite near to Pattaya.

As we shall beginning our holiday in BKK & have no wish to revisit Pattaya, any suggestions of areas of interest in the vicinity, or should we just go for lots of massages ?

I have travelled many times to Thailand.

Where is the port for BKK?

I have just returned from 2 weeks touring & quite comfortable using public transport but not sure where the port is from cruise liners.

We have been watching it closely. The challenge is getting reliable, balanced news. We leave tomorrow for seven weeks in Thailand. As soon as we get there we will head south to Ko Samui and then Krabi.

 

I think that it will be fine as long as we avoid the street demonstrations.

I have just returned from Thailand.

Krabi was fine, as was Chiang Mai.

Unfortunately BKK was a different matter. We were staying close to Sukhumvit, where there were many road blocks & demonstrations especially close to both the skytrain at Asok & Sukhumvit stations.

We successfully passed the masses by using the overhead walkways.

The atmosphere is tense & no one knows how things will go pre-election or post-election.

Taxi's & tuk tuks know how to negotiate the blocked roads, & actually the roads are less conjested than they are normally.

We used public transport, ie skytrain & MRT & got about easily but nevertheless the atmosphere is definitely tense.

The Aegean itineraries are all very interesting and enjoyable but you should research the ship better. The Voyager is probably the most criticized ship of the fleet, judging from reviews (not just CC) from past passengers of various nationalities including Italians. I've never been on the Voyager but from what I've read since Costa took it over, it doesn't sound too great. The cruise line however IMO is very good.

Thank you for your feedback. I've read that the voyager is a small ship previously owned bt a Greek company. I haven't actually been able to read any reviews, what am I doing wrong? Can you direct me to reviews?

I hadn't found anything & also for sales this ship isn't showing up on many sales sites. Was beginning to think that we are on the Marie Celeste!

As the cruise dates are the most convenient & itinerary is excellent, price very good we are going with it. We are going with no great expectations except itinerary & will go with the flow.

As far as I can see it is also a matter of state of mind, my sister & I want to spend time together as we live in different countries.

You should use a couple of minutes to browse both the Costa and MSC parts of these forums regarding your question. There are many interesting discussions which tries to answer your exact question.

 

The answer really depends more on you then anything else. Do you know the cultural differences between most European countries and North America, and do you know that Europe consists of ~50 countries and ~50 cultures?

 

Philip

Yes I know the cultural differences & this is not my issue.

My biggest concern is that I am not getting any feed back at all regarding this particular cruise. My sister & I are both travelers & have been to many exotic places as Independent travelers. I have done 3 cruises to date but my sister has never cruised. We love the itinerary which my sister picked as she has not visited any of these places, as she is particularly well travelled.

I have not found one single report about the cruise! Perhaps only Europeans have been on it & haven't discovered cruse critic!

Anybody out there been on the cruise from Trieste to Trieste?

I have mainly cruised Celebrity which we like. Cruised with RCL which we didn't care for.

I am looking to cruise with Costa Voyager in the Aegean. The itinerary is great as is the date but have no experience with Costa. I'd welcome frank reports on Costa.

I am planning this trip with my sister who hasn't cruised before. The other possibilities are with Norwegian & MSC but the itineraries are less attractive & prices more expensive for same time period- really tempting.

Thanks

Thanks for everyone's comments. This confirms that we are making the right choice in STAYING ON THE SHIP and enjoying the day that way!!:D

I personally would think it a great shame to stay on the ship during a port call.

We found Cozumel a great place to shop, but last time we regretted not going to any Mayan sites. We've never benn to Belize & we plan to go to Lamanai on the ship's tour & get a taxi in Cozumel to visit Gervasio on our own & then perhaps explore a bit.

We enjoyed walking around in Cozumel last time, it is very easy to wander around. I think you should do your sopping in Cozumel & do some great activity in Belize there are many exciting things to do for every taste.

We are considering this trip, but Celebrity are charging $113. We will be in port from 10:30 -18:00 which makes it a little tight for a private tour company.

We are also visiting Cozumel & thought to do Tulum. Which would be the better to visit or should we go to both?

We spent 2 full weeks in Costa Rica just 3 years ago. We were independent travelers & visited numerous rain forests, had 2 days in Tortugero, which was wonderful & we've also zip lined. We've seen banana & coffee plantations too as well as volcanos !!!!!!

I would hate to stay on board during a port call but not found anything so far that we haven't seen or done.

Would welcome any suggestions. We are moderately active early 60 year olds.

I would do a city or Mayan ruins tour. You can book it right at the pier as soon as you get off the tender. I considered it but we were slow getting off the ship that day and the time difference meant we may have to rush through some things. It does take 30-45 minutes to get most places but the tour guides have a map that will show you how far your attraction is before you book. The guides have on a uniform shirt with khaki pants. They were very professional and left me alone when I changed my mind. I'd say their prices are $15-20 cheaper than the cruise line's shore excursion prices.

 

 

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Can you recommend reputable tours to do a city of Mayan ruins tour?

We were planning to do Tulum in Cozumel, is it worthwhile doing Mayan ruins in Belize?

Thank you so much Terry! We're going to be in Dubrovnik in October and I'm so excited to see this beautiful place.

 

I'm going to copy your post into our Meet & Mingle so everyone can get a sneak preview of what awaits us this fall!!!

We will be visiting Dubronik next June & this thread has been so useful.

How do you copy it to the Roll Call?

This is reassuring to know. We have cruised only once which was Celebrity Century and were considering a Carnaval cruise to the Mexican Riviera but were not quiet about going with Carnaval. We decided to book an 8 day with Summit in April. Thanks for your report it confirms our decision to stay with what we enjoyed.

what date are you in Cozumel?

How many hours did you require for your trip?

Thanks wrote a couple of days ago - so far no reply. Hopefully will hear soon

Could you put Gerry's email on this thread please.