Reina del Mar

We stayed in the Holiday Inn at the Rocks, Sydney for our first Australian cruise. For the next cruise it had changed to Rydges..but sadly Covid hit and cruise/ hotel all cancelled. We were fortunate enough to change to February 24. I’ve now tried to book it again. Unfortunately there seems to be ‘an issue’. Please does anyone know if Rydges is selling the hotel or any other information ??? Otherwise.. any suggestions for an hotel near OPT ?? We wondered about Sebel Suites, Quay West or Radisson Blu…would we be able to walk to drop off cases, like Rydges?? Medium priced hotel please. Many thanks.

If you haven’t prepaid gratuities you can use for that or a drinks’ package on the lines I have travelled on. I have no idea how to do this..but hopefully someone will come along later and explain….use a small amount in the casino, then cash out the whole amount, making it ‘refundable’…as I said I have no idea how. Items in the shops, in my opinion, are very overpriced and not wonderful quality. Spa prices are extortionate, (about three times what you might pay shoreside) you are charged 18% gratuity and they try to persuade you to purchase goods from them, again at inflated prices. If you are booking cruiseline shore excursions, be aware you can get similar at the pier for lower prices, but cruiseline operated tours offer the security of the ship being held if the tour is delayed. If you need internet, you could use to pay for a package. We have paid for Speciality restaurants, but for us it was unnecessary as Main Dining Rooms offer food which is fine for our tastes. Good luck !

We take prescriptions and medication in individual containers. However, on embarkation put the week’s tablets in a weekly/ daily container..this can be replenished for second and subsequent weeks. Had no issue on recent South American cruise.

I have used both. Bands just twice..and second time one split in the wind. Clips are quite useful but take more room in your suitcase. We have also had one break during use. That said, they anchor your towel and avoid it curling up. So we always take them.

Arrived in Santiago for a South America cruise the day before the Pope arrived. Many places closed or roped off. Lots of Police and Security Officers patrolling and guarding area where he was due to visit. We couldn’t see as much of the city as we would have liked. Didn’t affect our cruise as we used cruiseline transfer to port.

Just reporting back, following our trip. We were picked up in Santiago just before 9.30 am, as arranged. Journey to San Antonio was about an hour. Dropped off at cruise terminal, wheeled cases a very short distance to check in. Short wait in terminal. Had to hand over passports to cruiseline and had a receipt for them. Another few steps to pick up medallion..less than five minutes all told. Then outside to a complimentary shuttle bus which dropped us off at the gang plank. We were onboard, and in our cabin by 11.30 am

Just returned from Chile……European, two round pin adapter worked for us.

Our travel agent booked us a transfer from the airport to our hotel and from our hotel to San Antonio port with a company called South Bound. They were professional and punctual. You need to state whether you need a Spanish or English Speaking driver and/or guide.

We sailed into San Pedro..but out of San Antonio, Chile; so can’t help with time it takes to get through international arrivals at LAX. We had a car booked at Santiago, Chile …they had monitored our flight and were waiting for us, with a board. I think many/most car services do this. Maybe someone could make a recommendation.

Isn’t this the waste they are trying to avoid ?????????

Debating some sort of drinks’ package on RCCL. Please can anyone post drinks’ menu for 2023 ???? Many thanks.

That is exactly what we did last week..left several cans of soft drinks / some wine and a note to the steward saying he was welcome to them, if he were allowed.

I appreciate I can drink tap water on Royal Caribbean ships. This question is not about that ! I ordered a Water package for our August cruise back in February. I paid £11.80 for 12 bottles. Looking for a price reduction today, I was staggered to see the cost now showing over £29 for 12 bottles…can anyone explain why, please ?? Many thanks.

Returned from South American cruise on Sapphire Princess last Friday. Majority wore suits on Formal Nights (two Formal and one Dress to Impress) A light weight suit takes much less weight and space than a pair of jeans or a sports coat. Dress shoes may be an extra. We manage to pack formal clothing within our 23kg International flight allowance, helped by taking travel sized versions of toiletries. Smart Casual Nights in MDR saw a variety of styles…some not very smart and rather more casual. We also saw the occasional pair of shorts being allowed in.

We were looking for information about leaving a cruise ship at San Pedro and returning to LAX for a same day flight..unfortunately we couldn’t find much, so I am explaining our experience here. Originally our return flight to UK left at 6pm..we intended taking the Princess disembarkation tour at $90 per person. This meant we didn’t need to worry about cases as they would be stowed under the coach and later dropped at the airport. Unfortunately flight was changed to 2pm. Asked onboard about transfers to airport to arrive by 2pm. Excursion desk sent us to Guest services. Lady at guest services was able to offer very little information regarding specific terminals and said the coaches would drop at each terminal ‘on request’ at a price of $30 per person. We had no interest in waiting for the coach to fill up, then empty at each terminal, as we hadn’t done the transfer before, so had little idea of length of journey and whether we would have disembarked with enough time for three hours pre flight check in. Decided to take a risk and look for taxi. This worked out really well for us. Walk off disembarkation started just after 7am. We were fortunate enough to have an early disembarkation group and were called at 8am. Our bags were waiting for us. International arrivals was quite slow- only one desk for international passengers. Outside by 8.30 am. Went straight to the waiting line of taxis. There was a price board, showing $65 to LAX. It was just an ordinary car where two large cases and one rollaboard fitted into the boot and second rollaboard in front seat, we sat in the back. Traffic was quite busy, we arrived at Terminal 2 before 9.30 am. Price asked was $68 due to slow traffic..obviously plus a tip. We were there in plenty of time, before check in actually opened. By 10am we had checked in and were on our way through security to the gate. Our first visit to LAX since the refurbishment..we had a drink/ snack after security but had no idea of the LONG walk to the gates for KLM. There were courtesy carts available which helped but for those with any mobility issues, you will need extra time….if walking reckon on 20-30 minutes. Hope this is useful.

We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Centre. It is an older hotel but has a fantastic breakfast which can be included, at an extra cost. It is a fair walk from the centre. We walked to the Costanera Centre without difficulty and it was easy to find taxis to get back to the hotel.

Agreed ! We used our OBC and more for 18 days, this time. Next year is 26 days around Australia..so we’ll make do with included drinks, or take one of those tiny squirty squash bottles to add some flavour. Maybe we’ll carry some cans onboard too. Wonder if they realise they are pricing themselves out…or perhaps there are many who are prepared to pay ????

We had the Classic Soda package on Sapphire recently- got off Thursday. They were not very keen to sign us up for the Classic Package and wanted us to take the Alcohol free package, which is quite a lot more expensive. We persisted and managed to get the Classic package. I am not sure whether it was cost effective for us and think we might do ‘Pay as you go’ next cruise. Some bars would give you fountain drinks, others provided us with plastic bottles of Diet Coke/ Coke Zero and others gave cans. Depended on who was serving and whether they ‘knew’ you as regulars or not.

Our transfer is with Southbound. They picked us up at the airport and dropped us at hotel. Confirmed 9.30 pick up for Sunday.

Oh dear..think we have been breaking protocol. Good Spirits Bar is our favourite bar..we have the Plus Package but usually only my husband drinks spirits and I drink Wine, a cocktail or a soft drink…should I not sit in Good Spirits Bar ?????? Or perhaps he should sit in Good Spirits and I should sit in Vines when drinking wine and the cabin or in a lifeboat when drinking soft drinks ??? Being serious, I was under the impression passengers could sit wherever they wanted to except The Sanctuary or Club Class.

Haven’t bid for an upgrade, as we choose our cabin and stick with it. I am under the impression that upgrades would be to the cabins that nobody else wants….I could very well be wrong, but I wouldn’t risk it.

Not sure what to advise..wanted to buy a Princess expandable roller bag to take purchases home. Unfortunately they were out of stock on our 2022, B2B cruise so we couldn’t get one. No huge issue just squashed everything into case and prayed was within weight allowance. My worry would be if they didn’t have stock/ size you might be without a jacket unless pre ordered ??? Might depend on when you are travelling..beginning or end of season, and how many they sell. ?? Decisions, decisions !

We stayed in The Brick Hotel Recoleta.now the Sofitel. At the time (five years ago) it was part of a Princess Package..not sure whether they still use it. It was flagged up as a five star hotel but we felt it was more like a 3.5-4 star as it needed a great deal of updating. It may have since been updated. Food and staff were excellent. Good location for an upscale mall (didn’t buy anything) and for restaurants. It was a fair walk to the centre of BA.We used the hop on/off bus to see the main attractions. There were some homeless folk sleeping on the streets but the police seemed to be monitoring and moving them on.

Union Castle’s TSS Reina del Mar……sadly long gone !!!!!!!!!!!

As an aside………My husband has quite a few Fossil watches, mainly bought from outlet stores on holiday in USA. The only one which has broken was the one he bought in the ship’s shop on Ruby Princess! It lasted less than six months…took it to a watch maker, thinking in might need a replacement battery..but no, totally wrecked.