shipster60

We leave soon for a cruise on Reflection. I have never been on this ship.  I remember reading on these boards in the past that people take folding storage boxes from the dollar store for storage above the bed. Now I can’t find that information. Can anyone tell me if that works for you, or if you feel it’s helpful. Thanks! 

Thanks to all of you. This completely clears it up for me. Either way, a ships tour is the only way to get off first and avoid going up the cable car or taking the ferry to Oia. 

11 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

The ship will stop first at the place where ship tours are tendered off the ship.  Only those on ship tours can disembark here. They will get on buses and will not be using the cable car/steps at the second stop. Then the ship will move to a different location and will begin tendering off other passengers. (Those not taking ship tours -- possibly also some who are doing a ship tour of Thira only?)

 

I am not sure about all private tours. You should discuss with the tour provider. Some ask you to meet them at the top of the cliff in Thira. If you are headed elsewhere on the island, your private tour guide may want to meet you where the tenders drop off at the bottom of Thira to board another boat that will take you around to wherever you are headed.

 

Thank you so much. That's the answer I was looking for. When I read "only those with booked tours" would be dropped off at the first port, I didn't know if that meant only ship tours, or anyone who had already booked a tour, including private ones. I'm trying to decide if I should just book the ship's tour so we can get off earlier. 

I hope the OP doesn't mind me tagging on to this topic but there seem to be several on this thread with experience in Santorini. I'm confused about the different ports. If you book the ship's excursion, do they drop you off at a different port? Do you still need to take the cable car up? If you have booked a private tour, will they drop you off at the same port, or do you have to exit at the old port and take the cable car/ferry? Do you have to wait for all the ship excursion passengers to get off before anyone else can take the tender? Thanks to anyone that can clear this up for me.

Does anyone who has visited recently know if taxis are waiting at the top of the cable car? I read that someone hired one to drive them to Oia. Do you know if you can hire one to drive you around for the day, stopping at your chosen points of interest? Or, were there tour companies trying to get your business at the top of the cable car? Just wondering if this is an option.

On 7/21/2019 at 7:21 PM, CCWineLover said:

 

We did this on our last cruise (arrive in Barcelona early) last May.  We took the Spain Day Tours - all day in Barcelona and Montserrat.  The next day (embarkation day) we spent the morning doing the Free Walking Tour of the Gothic Quarter (excellent), then strolled around Las Ramblas, and then made our way to La Sagrada Familia for our 2;00 ticket pre-timed and bought ahead.  We got there at 1:30 and that was a good thing as we stood in line and they actually let us in 5 minutes early.  We then went back to the hotel where we had our bags stored and took a taxi to the ship - got there around 5 PM.

 

As for jet lag - everyone is affected differently, but our philosophy is to stay up while the sun is out and light - at all costs.  In the past, just being in a new vibrant city is enough to keep us going, doing some small wandering around, snacking here and there and what not.  Plenty of all that in Barcelona!

 

Have a fantastic trip - you will enjoy Barcelona!

Where did you find the information for the walking tour?

I have reservations at both Hotel Leo and Park Hotel in Barcelona.  I understand they are both 3 star type hotels. Can anyone give advice on which would be the best choice? We will be there late September for 2 nights. Others suggested here are booked already for my dates. Thanks!

How particular are they about your selected port arrival time. The last time we sailed with them I don’t remember being asked to select one. We may decide to do a morning tour in Barcelona before boarding. If I chose 12:30 but get there later is that a problem?

I second the vote for Marelvy Pena. She was wonderful. The view from the monastery was wonderful and can’t be accessed by large bus. She walked around with a fancy white umbrella which made her easy to follow. I don’t remember being hounded unreasonably so maybe they knew to stay away. We also stopped for coffee and she convinced a fruit cart vendor to give us samples. Of course, we all had to have more after that sample. People in the area seemed to know her. You won’t be sorry if you book her.  

I know this is a cruise air question, but it’s specific to Celebrity. I booked flights through Celebrity for a March 2020 cruise. I chose the pay later option. My flight shows up on American Airlines but it won’t let me choose seats. I called back to flights by Celebrity and was told it had to be paid for and ticketed first and that won’t be until Feb. even though final payment is Dec.That doesn’t make sense to me because I have already booked through them for a September cruise and I was able to pick my seats right away. That time it was before final payment as well. Those flights were with United. Hopefully someone can help me clarify this. Should I call back and talk to someone else?

So far there are only 2 ships in port our day. I’m hoping the crowds will be more  manageable.

On 6/24/2019 at 10:33 AM, Love the beach said:

Our first time there we took the local bus to Oia and back. 2nd trip (3 years ago) we took the ferry to Oia with their bus ride back to Fira. Someone mentioned that they may no longer have the bus going back in which case you would need to get the local bus or a taxi back. Whatever you take...Oia is well worth it! Would love to go back again!

How long should we plan to be at Oia to really enjoy it? Looking at some tours that only spend and hour there. Is that enough time to see everything?

Has anyone booked a sailing excursion while visiting Mykonos? I was thinking this might be a good port to book one to swim/snorkel. Any advise is appreciated. 

Has anyone taken an excursion to the Blue Grotto in either Messina or Malta? I would love to hear your experience and who  you used.

I’ve been in contact with Spain Day Tours. They can do a full day tour that includes Palma and Valldemossa, but not Soller. Am I going to regret not going to Soller. Should I try to do both another way?

Thank you so much everyone for your input. My flights are through United. I was able to use my record locator provided and select my seats for all flights except those with Lufthansa partner. I’ve flown with them before and believe that would be the case even if I booked myself. I plan to call them directly. I’ve read what great rates people have gotten through celebrity before, but like Tfree said, for my particular itineraries I never found them to be different than what I could book myself. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a good price this time. We’re able to fly business for less than what I can book premium economy myself. Thanks again for everyones’s reassurance. 

I have read many posts about flights by celebrity but now that I’ve book one I’m having trouble finding them. I found an unbelievably good price on Barcelona round trip, business, so I jumped on it. I booked the “pay at final payment” option which comes on July 2. Will this fee actually hold? Should I go ahead and pay now? How does seat assignment work? Thanks for any input on your experience. 

Just returned from Celebrity Cruise. We stopped at Incheon first and Jeju Island the next day. Several immigration officials came on the ship in Incheon and we quickly finished the process. We were off the ship by 7:30 am. Many tour operators were waiting right off the ship. There is no terminal in Incheon. We also had to disembark in groups in Jeju but it was seamless. Very nice terminal in Jeju with internet access. We had great private tours with My Seoul Tour and Funtasy in both locations.

Did you use Funtasy for Juju? Which part of the island did you tour? I was looking at their site, but can't sort out which would be the best tour?

We have booked 1108 on Millennium. Does anyone know if it’s balcony is regular size?

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I'm just starting to research a DCL cruise. We've cruised many other lines, but never DCL. Starting to plan a trip with daughter/sil and grands, ages 5, 10 and 13. My friend loved concierge deck and perks. Could someone please give me more information and tell me if you think the perks are worth the almost double costs.

Oh, I loved the table side Museli. I'm not of fan of the way they make it now, too soggy for me. Fresh is so much better IMO.

 

 

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We just left Busan and heading in, we had zero expectations. Three days before the port I booked a tour, and having cruised a lot, I was STUNNED that this city actually was once of the best excursions I have ever been on. We had a private van, and avoided the herds. We went to the oldest mountain temple in Busan with gorgeous views. We hiked along the coast to the wide sandy beach in the city. We went out to a far island via van to beautiful cliffs and a see-through walking bridge (like in Jasper, Grand Canyon). We went to this hill side old village that reminded me of Santorilli (sp?). It was newly renovated for tourists and it was amazing to walk the narrow valleys and take part in all of the photo-ops. We then went to the fish market, and the international market for shopping. It was one after another show stopping stops. Probably my favourite port so far in Asia. Quite the surprise! Message me if you want further details etc.

I would like to know the tour operator please.

We were in 1599 a few weeks ago! It's at the start of the hump on the port side - an excellent location. The beam referred to did not obstruct our view. The only thing we noticed was that the balcony was often wet. Not sure if it was due to regular cleaning, or that the ocean spray hit this area because of the hump. Regardless, we found that when we wanted to go on the balcony, it was often too wet to do so.

 

It was very quiet (Reflection has an 'extra' deck level above deck 11 that insulates you from the top deck), close to the elevators, but protected from the sounds by a sliding glass door.

 

Otherwise - a great cabin! I would stay in this cabin again, but we were not as impressed with Reflection as we are with Eclipse. We speculated that the 'extra' deck for Aqua class resulted in more Aqua class passengers making Blu busier. We felt it was noticeable, but certainly would not deter us from sailing on Reflection again - she's just not our favourite. Our next ship will be Silhouette.

Thanks for your input. Good to know the post isn't a major distraction.

We have booked 1599 for a Mediterranean Cruise. After reading a recent post about cabin selection and looking at photos of Reflection, I'm worried that there is a support post obstructing the view. Has anyone stayed in 1599? I found two comments on this cabin in the stickies and neither mentioned an obstruction. All the other cabins on the hump are booked now, but I'd like to know if I need to keep watch for another cabin to open. Thanks!

We booked this same cruise while on a Panama Canal cruise last November. It looks like a great itinerary. I'll agree with other posters that what I like best is not having to change hotels and pack and unpack. We celebrate our 44th this May, so we're probably close to the same age. Hope to meet up with you on the Roll Call for this sailing.