DonTreadOnMe

I am looking for some suggestions for hiring a private driver for the day in Cabo.  There will be 10 of us 6 Adlts, 4 Children.  We want to hire a bus to drive us around for the day.  Will likely go out to San Jose and hit a beach or two as well as lunch somewhere.

Please post your recommendations of companies you have used/had good experience with.

yep, on all Oasis class ships to my knowledge. But yes for sure on Symphony.

They said meter read $17 and paid $20 including tip. They likely meant FLL to Port Everglades as that is what we have paid for a cab on that route in the past.

Yep, my bad. Sorry. I missed the Miami part. :o:o:o:o

Last time we grabbed a mini van cab. 4 of us paid $20 with tip. Meter was $17 IIRC.

The link is now active!

 

www.americanexpress.com/wlcl

I get nothing with that link. Web page no longer exists. Tried while logged in also.

Liberty of the seas splash pad for kids is prob the best out there. Slides are great too. We have sailed her twice. Once as a family with our kids, and the other with our whole family...Grandpa to Grandkids. It is a great multi-generational ship. We have never sailed Carnival and have honestly been reluctant to do so based on all the feedback we have gotten from friends. We are considering sailing on Panorama in 2020 however due to price, newness of ship, and proximity to home. I would highly recommend the panoramic Ocean view rooms on 11 (or whatever they are calling them now) We booked our whole family in that corridor. Grandparents took a balcony, kids and grandkids filled the panoramic rooms...they have been our favorite so far.

$200 Carnival GC for $185 w/code EMCPXRT35 (limit 2)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?sdtid=11970839&SID=287e77e6ab2411e88e0afae05afd5f940INT&AID=10446076&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Slickdeals%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16832979004&cm_sp=

Our favorite rooms so far. Don't recall being annoyed by the horn.

Doesn't change the ridiculous flow of traffic in the area...or lack of flow prob better put. They also need to install anti-fogging devices before we will sail out of Galveston again. ;-)

We are sailing Ruby in Jan. Deals just aren't good enough these days once you add airfare to fly to east coast. We love Royal, but will also be looking to try out Panorama possibly in 2020 with our kids. RCCL is missing out on my business the next few years.

Is there any rhyme or reason to when they show up? I have checked several times and never see any available.

It is hot, but not unbearable. I mean it isn't like you are walking around Phoenix at 125. If you are of decent health, take it easy when needed, and stay hydrated it is fine. You will just need showers at least once a day, and will likely stop for gelato several times a day.

For the most part I would say you just experienced RCCL. However, Symphony is the nicest ship we have sailed. Being brand new helps. They are always very hygiene conscious (in fact I would say it was more lax on Symphony than our other cruises). We also try to hit ships soon after dry dock if possible. I was def worried about Oasis class size...but it is our favorite by far. The flow is just much better than Freedom class (which we also love).

The nice thing about the being as far aft as possible is you'll have great views of the aqua shows. We've done that twice and now we just do Central Park balconies.

It was great, we enjoyed it as well. I would likely book Central park cabins in the future or OV Balcony. If the show didn't run past 10pm I would say no big deal, but IIRC one night Hiro started at like 10:15. We are not late night cruisers for the most part.

Last year around Labor Day weekend, we were able to book a cruise with the kids sail free deal. It saved us a lot of $$$. I’m hoping there’s another sale around Labor Day this year.

I am just waiting for it to include 2020.

good to know. Our flight arrives at 7:30, our docs say our transfer will be available at 9:30 but our boarding time says 2:30. We will just show up early and hope to get on.

The bulk of passengers get on in Barcelona. It was very quiet and had very few people getting on compared to what you are probably used to. This was our first cruise that had midweek departures. I would def do it again and make sure we boarded at the mid week port. No crowds at all going or coming off the ship. It was fantastic.

I saw a question about leaving the ship in Barcelona for those of us sailing from Rome but didn't see an answer. Did you have trouble getting off the ship with everyone ending their cruise in Barcelona getting off?

Getting on and off in Barcelona was not an issue. They send you off a different gangway. As for getting on it was all the same line for the most part, but as the line built up with returning passengers they opened new lines for those not boarding that day.

So higher up I take it?

 

And who's Hiro?!

If you are going to want the view out the back I wouldn't go much higher than 11. If you aren't going for that I would personally book closer to the front of the boat and on 12/14.

Hiro is the diving show.

We were in 11729 on Symphony. It is a beautiful view out the back of the ship,and watching Hiro from your balcony is great. Hearing Hiro when we want to sleep not so great. So you just need to weigh your priority. Here are a few shots from 11729 balcony.

There is some outside MDR on deck 5.

Piano stairs near Windjammer, Dr Seus hair thing (real descriptive I know). I am sure there were a few others I don't remember off the top of my head.

There are 4 (at least in the windjammer). 1 next to Loco Fresh on deck 15. 1 in park cafe on deck 8. 1 or 2 next to Sorrentos on deck 5.

It is possible I have missed one, but someone else can chime in if I did.

Yup, pretty random. It had just run before that for a month or so May-first part of June. Then went away for 3 weeks or so, then back for a few weeks.

The closer to the ground, and closer to the aft...the more noise you will get. Although difference may be negligible. We loved our location to see out the back of the boat, but didn't care for the constant noise from Hiro. We sailed in 11729 fyi.

Thanks everyone. Think a cab or metro is the way to go. Is it safe to assume cabs only take euros and not credit cards? Anyone take the port bus from La Ramblas lately?

The ones we took did not take cards, but that doesn't mean some wouldn't. They are pretty inexpensive.

The trip from the airport to Venice hotels is not particularly easy. There are various ways to do it, depending upon where your hotel is. It's a bit complicated, or I'd explain the options. However, suffice it to say that if you want to make things easier for yourself, you may want to pick a hotel that's not too far from an ACTV vaporetto (city water "bus") or Alilaguna (other water "bus") stop, and doesn't require walking over too many bridges, even though most bridges in Venice are small. Some hotels may be wonderful, and in great locations, but not easy to get to, especially with luggage. For those hotels, you might end up struggling with luggage and/or needing to take a water TAXI (more expensive) from the airport, and possibly to the port.

 

We stayed at Hotel Rio two years ago. The location is good for getting both from the airport and to the port, although the hotel was certainly not anything approaching luxury. We prefer the little European places rather than the big name places, so it was fine for us - and reasonably priced.

 

If you're just looking for something close to the port, and are mostly just spending a night there as insurance against missing the cruise, there are easy options. Perhaps you can get a general idea of those by looking at tomsportguides.com and finding the Venice port guide.

 

I think the port would be called "Stazione Maritima" or something like that on Google.

This...start with where you are going to go and then find the boat/bus routes and stops. Then start your search in those areas. It is very easy to drag your luggage if you do this. We did AirBNB and loved it. Were were there for several days however, but We stayed right near Guglie bridge. (short walk from Train station, which is how we arrived, and short walk to Guglie stop...only 2 stops from the airport. The walk to the grand canal is very short from almost anywhere.

I realize that your stay will not be like mine, but he planning of transport first is still very relevant IMHO.