krkheffe

We are going on our first Celebrity cruise in September.  I was wondering if you could order more than 1 appetizer or main dish from the menu in the dining room.  My husband likes to order 2 sometimes and try them both so just wondering how that works.  Thank you!!

2 hours ago, puppymama1 said:

We just returned from the Chilkoot Yukon tour today and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!  It was the best day of our cruise so far.  We had our ArriveCAN passes ready but never needed it.  Just had to show our passports to get into Canada and back.  We only had one other couple on the bus with us, so it was basically a private tour.  We had Mike as our tour guide and he was exceptional!  Has been doing this for 13 years and really knows his stuff.  He was so informative and funny.  Spotted a grizzly on the side of the road and then spotted a mama bear and cub, and gave us plenty of time for pictures.  Took us to so many different spots that were incredibly beautiful.  We are so glad we did this tour instead of just the train ride up and back… much more personalized because you can stop and get out of the bus for pictures which you cannot do on the train!

Which side of bus is the best to sit on? I read somewhere to sit behind driver on left side.  So was the arrivecan that you did to get on the cruise good for the tour as well...like you don't have to do it twice?

Thanks for your help. Wow....didn't know this couldn't be fixed. I accidentally hit it to begin with...not sure how but too bad for me. I will look at that setting you mentioned. Thanks again.

Kelly

Somehow I managed to click something and now when I look on the boards for instance under a particular port, all the content is marked as read.  I don't know how to change it.  I see an unread content and mark site read on the right upper side but even if I click that now nothing is changing.  Any ideas to get it back to the way it was?  I want to see any new content marked as unread so I know what I haven't seen before.  Thanks for any help.

Kelly

5 hours ago, Coral said:

I actually have done the bus 2x and I have to say it is an amazing trip. You get out quite a bit and see some beautiful scenery. Very little of the time is spent in "Skagway". It is a trip into the beautiful Yukon.

 

I have also taken a car up into the area 2x and enjoyed that as well.

 

Now after saying that - I have enjoyed the National Park Service tour. I would recommend the bus over the National Park Service tour though. If one can do both, great.

We are booked on the bus trip up and down because the longer train trip was cancelled.  You said you have done the bus trip twice...which side of bus should we sit on?  Thank you!

Thanks again everyone.  It is looking more like the Hampton Inn near the cruise port may be our best bet.  Is there anything right around that area to do in the evening or good place for dinner?  Guessing we will have to Uber to the ferry for the trip to Salem.

I did book that Hampton Inn near the pier as well.  I guess I am collecting hotels...haha.  We would still need to Uber to the ferry from the Hampton as well right?  I am not sure by spending the day Saturday in Salem that we will have a lot of time to sight see in Boston anyway.  Maybe having something to do in the evenings would be good. Looking at a map it looks like the downtown area is farther away from ferry than Seaport.  Of course, I am not familiar much with Boston. I looked at the Fairmont and it looks very nice but out of my comfort zone for price.

Thank you!! Thank you for a great list of things in Salem.  I do appreciate it.  Right now I have reservations at the Fairfield inn and Suites Boston Cambridge. They can be cancelled.  Would it be better to stay in the Seaport area for things to do?  I was thinking it would be a closer shot to Salem but if we get there sometime on Friday we may need something to do Friday night and Saturday night.  Not sure yet when we are arriving.

Any particular hotel you recommend? We know it will cost more than we are used to paying but would like to keep it as reasonable as possible. On another note, my husband and I are thinking of renting a car when we get off cruise....on a Wed I think, and maybe drive to Vermont area for 3 or 4 days before flying home. 

48 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Its not a very large town and a lot of the attractions are pretty repetitive (only so many witches you can see/read about in a day). I would consider the 4pm return so you can at least have dinner in Boston and walk around (where there is far more to do at night than Salem). 

 

As mentioned the Peabody Essex Museum is highly worthwhile as is the House of the Seven Gables. There are several historic churches, homesteads, and cemeteries. Then you start to get into the hokey tourist stuff with various witch museums which are more like Ripley's Believe It or Not "museums"-- mainly full of wax figures etc and lacking anything historically substantive. When you've seen one, you've seen them all. 

Thanks for the heads up on which places are the best to visit.  We will make sure to do those 2 for sure!

Thank you everyone.  I will need 2 rooms...one for myself and my husband and 1 for my sister and her husband.  king bed in each will be great.  We will most likely be coming in on Friday Sept. 9th and staying 2 nights, getting on Celebrity cruise on Sunday the 11th.  I booked (but can cancel) the Fairfield Inn and Suites Boston Cambridge for 2 nights total $581.46 per room. I just wanted to have something booked. while I continue to look.  Because we are planning on spending the day Saturday in Salem, I don't think we really need to be near any Boston attractions.  We will likely either Uber or take the ferry to Salem that day.

I will take a look at the hotels someone suggested above...thank you. We also considered a VRBO or Air B+B but they are super expensive as well.

I said $250 a night but obviously we will pay whatever we have to.  

Also, I see the ferry schedule you have to choose a time to leave Boston (we would pick 9:30 am) and a time to come back.  I think there was a 4 pm and a 7 pm departure from Salem back to Boston among others.  Not sure how long to plan on being there.  

Thank you everyone!

2 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Hotel suggestions in Boston or in Salem? Personally I would rather stay in Boston and just go up and down to Salem for the day. Theres a number of ways to get there-- you can take a train from North Station, you can take a high speed ferry, or an Uber is like $60 each way. 

 

The ferry is particularly nice-- its a little less than an hour each way and you essentially get a free harbor island cruise out of it. 

 

There are Salem hotel options-- Boston just has a lot more going on, especially at night. Also make sure you visit the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem-- very worthwhile. 

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, Boston hotel is fine...I was just saying we want to visit Salem pre-cruise so not sure if location would matter because of that.  We will likely stay a few days post-cruise and visit Boston and possibly rent a car and go other places.  Hotel prices are quite a bit it seems.  I would like to keep it under 250 a night if that is possible.  We don't need anything fancy but obviously safe and clean.  I noticed a Holiday Inn in the Bunker Hill area or perhaps a Marriott we would be OK with but I know absolutely nothing about Boston. I think they were in the 200 price range per night.

Hi, we are coming in for a Sunday departure cruise in Boston in mid-September.  We will likely come in some time on Friday and will really just have all day Saturday to explore.  We are interested in visiting Salem.  Any hotel suggestions? We will not have a car so will likely Uber or something to get there.  Thank you!

Does anyone know if Advance Check In in New Orleans is open?  We used them several years ago to transport our luggage post cruise to the airport while we wandered around the city then picked it up at airport. When I click on make a reservation on their website it gives me an error message,  I tried calling then but their mail box is full.  Does anyone know of another service that offers this if it is not open? Thanks!

Here is a tip....I know most people carry a supply of various medicine just in case they get sick. My last cruise while in Jamaica I fell and sprained my ankle really bad. I went to the doctor on board the ship and they xrayed it and everything and then wrapped it in an extremely flimsy ace bandage type thing that they had to tape to keep on. They charged $18 for the bandage and $3 for the tape which didn't work very well. The ace bandage thing got really stretched out and weird looking from the tape.

Anyway...an ace bandage is a small thing to also throw in your suitcase and not something people think they will need. Me either....until I needed it. It will now become part of my medical supply box. I am sure they cost way less than $18.

You might as well stay in a different neighborhood this time. For 3 nights I'd rather be at the beach. Some recommended restaurants within walking distance are Coconuts, h2O, Casablanca, Lulu's Bait Shack, Bahia Cabana (for the place but the food isn't great), and 3030 if you want upscale. In additionn to 7-11 right down the street, there is a CVS less than a mile away, and a liquor store about 3 blocks away (Plaza Liquor). You can always take a taxi or Suntrolley or bus to 17th St or Sunrise Blvd to go to Publix, Total Wine, and Galleria Mall.

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it would be a good location. Do you happen to know if shuttles or someone will pick us up there as our cruise leaves from Miami?

Wanted to add, for clarification, once I knew I wanted to stay there, I ended up booking directly through the Marriott website because that's where I found the best rate and bundle of "reward" stuff. BTW, signed up for the reward program the day I booked, so it's not like I was a long time or high-point member.

Thanks for the info. Right now for my dates the rate is way cheaper on Last Minute Travel so not sure we would get the free breakfast even though I am a rewards member.

Thanks for posting!

I am trying to decide if we should stay at Embassy Suites on 17th street or Courtyard Marriott Ft. Lauderdale Beach for a 3 night pre-cruise stay in March. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn down the street from Embassy and it was fine...but I liked the location of Embassy Suites better as it was much closer to grocery store and it also has a nice looking pool. The Sun Trolley is also nearby to go to the beach of we want to walk around.

The Courtyard sounds nice as well and is right on the beach if I understand correctly. Does anyone know if there is a grocery store or Walgreen's or something like that nearby to purchase soda and stuff to take on ship? Are the places to go for dinner nearby as well? Not sure if in March the water at beach will be warm enough to swim in anyways.

Any opinions would be appreciated as I am not familiar with the Courtyard Marriott at all.

Thanks!

Hi,

 

I think Im convinced to take a Courtney Taylor tour but what are the good places to go with 2 boys aged 14 and 12? Looks like there's a lot of fun places to go but not sure how much time everything takes.

 

It sounds like you can stop one or many places. Any suggestions would be helpful. We'll be stopping in Falmouth and we'll be there from like 10-7

 

Thanks!

Stacy

I am not sure about Flamouth as we docked in Ocho Rios...but we loved the Falls...I had 3 teens with me and they loved climbing them. We also went to Irie Blue Hole and I guarantee they would love that place...but I am not sure you will have time for all of that considering where you port.

We are staying at La Flora hotel in a few weeks. A not fancy but very affordable spot on 12th and Collins. Check it out on tripadvisor.com. We didn't want to break the bank for a five day stay in Feb.:eek: Close to beach as well as pretty much anything else we want to walk to. Not sure of your dates.

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks nice but is booked for the nights we will be there...March 13-15.

Try the Courtyard Marriott South Beach (not Miami Beach), The South Seas, The Avalon.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks for the replies. I do not have a hotel yet so unsure of where to stay. I was wondering if anyone had one or two they could recommend. I would like to be able to walk to everything....except the port of course. If we come in 2 days early, then walking to the beach or shope for something to do would be good.

Thanks again.

Anyone know of a good hotel pre-cruise near the beach in Miami and near shopping? We won't have a car and will possibly be there 2 nights pre-cruise and would like to be able to walk to the beach just for something to do and be able to walk around for soda, etc. and somewhere to eat.

Thanks...I have done a ton of research so have looked at a lot of places but wanted some input from people that have been there. Sometimes hard to tell if there is shopping and eating places around certain hotels.

Not wanting to go over $250/night...maybe my expectations are unreasonable? May just end up staying in FLL and shuttle to the port the day of the cruise. We have never been to Miami,

Thanks

I will be on the Carnival Liberty in March from 10am-6pm. Does anyone know if that is the same time as on the island? I am taking a tour that says it will get us back at 4:45...but then have to take a taxi (30 min) back to the ship. This is a private tour but a reputable one that does many cruise day trips.

I have taken many private tours and always book with reputable companies and never been late. It always concerns me with the times on ship and island though.

Anyone know if St. Thomas time is the same as ship time?

Thanks!

St. Louis MO area it is from 3/10-21