unclegrandpa

It is ok for what it is, a 3 hour tour. I personally prefer full day group tours if it's hiking or bicycling. So it depends on what you plan to do for the rest of the day. It was good for me because it let me rent the bike from them on the spot and go over to the French side. So I toured Phillipsburg with the group for the first half of the day and then did the French side on my own for the rest of the day. I would recommend this tour to people who plan to do it this way or have something else planned. The bikes were ok. The helmets were ok as well. They were the cheapest Trek bicycles, hybrid type. They were better bicycles than a bicycle I got on my St Lucia rainforest tour. Over there neither the bicycles nor helmets were ok.

I need to learn more about that area. I first had an impression that that was like a national park with a trail system. So I was planning to take Uber to a trail head, hike and/or run for a couple hours and then take Uber back to Melbourne. If it's just villages and gardens with no forest that definitely won't be much fun then

Anyone considering Dandenong Ranges? Seems like about 1 hour away and around A$100 each way using Uber. Does not seem horribly far or super expensive.

I will look. This may be too complicated for me. I prefer to use sites that have a straightforward way of canceling everything. NCL started changing our itenarary again today. So this is all up in the air again.

There is a lot to see. It just all either starts or ends at the wrong time or takes longer than the time the ship is there. Unless you are a museum geek or able to rent and drive a car on your own, choices are not that great.

I don't think so. First it's only one person and not two. Secondly the NCL excursion includes other things besides just a ride to Sovereign Hill. They also take you to Balarat. All fees are probably included. So it would be equivalent to 3 long taxi drives plus all the entry fees. I get $50 USD off one excursion in each port plus a 10 percent discount. So it would probably be more like $250 USD which is still a lot. But makes more sense than paying for a taxi.

They are sold out. Normally they just add more. So I am not sure how all of them are sold out. Their website says they usually do Sovereign Hill and Wildlife Park. https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/MEL_01/Sovereign-Hill-Wildlife-Park I understand it's 113km or about 80 minutes each way. I am usually interested in outdoor activities. I would look at the museums there if there is nothing else to do

Those don't seem to be bookable online. Unless I am missing something.

I am planning to be in Melbourne with Norwegian Spirit on January 19. They don't offer any shore excursions for that port, and I was wondering if it's possible to book anything online on my own or maybe at the port itself. I looked at viator but pretty much everything is 12-13 hours and doesn't work with the time I am in that port. I would be interested in doing the Sovereign Hill and the Wildlife Park excursion. Or something similar. Which companies offer shore excursions in Melbourne that you can book yourself online?

Did you have to make any reservations or did they have bicycles available?

In my case the NZ ETA app did not scan the passport number correctly. For example it put in BB instead of 88. It does not read the chip like the Australian app does. So be careful and double check everything.

I am planning to rent a bicycle to ride on the off-road trails or go to some hiking trails from the port and just for general sightseeing. The ports of call are Dunedin, Timaru, Wellington, Napier, and Tauranga. Would I usually need to rent a bicycle in advance or is it possible to do it on the spot? I found some stores in Dunedin and Wellington. But I have not received any response from them yet. I will probably call them on skype or something like that if no one here responds. Is it ok to leave a bicycle at the hiking trail head or is it uncommon/unsafe?

I understand that the December 23 cruise had more stops originally. I am aware of the places where the ship isn't docked and it's just another day at sea. It's strange to me that they don't just add more excursions like they did on all the other cruises I was on. We will see what happens to the January 4 cruise. If they don't have any more port cancellations that would look better.

I was not saying all. There were like 11 left total. Some ports have nothing. The ones that are left are mostly just a couple hours. Of course I don't have to have an excursion in each port and I don't have to buy from them. If you book outside tours and they cancel ports you may not be able to get the excursion money left after a certain time. It's normal for them to go back on sale because some people cancel.

I did call them. They just say they are sold out. In case of other cruises they would just keep adding more excursions, more buses. The local authorities may limit traffic or something. But because I never experienced this before and they cancelled ports for the same cruise on a different date, I am concerned. Besides if you buy from them you get 50 dollars off on excursions as part of the fare and 10 percent off after a few cruises with them. So you end up losing that benefit if you cannot book anything even if you do end up in that port.

January 16. I just never saw them to not offer anything. That is why it seems weird.

I booked a cruise to Australia/New Zealand with NCL. I chose them because they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines. I noticed today that some ports offer no shore excursions. I also learned that the December 23 cruise had several ports removed. I started worrying that they offer no excursions because they will be removing some ports. I have never been on a cruise where no excursions were being offered weeks before the cruise. My question is have they ever stopped in as many ports as they showed when you were buying a cruise to Australia/New Zealand or do they always do it to make people think they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines? I talked to their customer service, and they told me they could remove ports without providing any reason and do not have to reimburse anyone.

https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/300017/ticket/3020

Are you saying that if I buy the excursion on the ship I won't get charged the tax as long as the ship is 3 miles away?

I booked a couple shore excursions for Pride of America. I noticed that they are charging tax on top of the list price. I have not had to pay tax on NCL shore excursions before. Is this something new or is this because it is an American ship so they are required to charge tax? Do they charge it if you book shore excursions on board as well?

If anyone is interested I did rent a bicycle at the pier and rode to Marigot. I went on the road with cars. It's about 11km rather than the 9km route I was originally thinking of. It took me about 40 minutes. It's not too bad. There weren't many bicyclists but I did see a few. There was some traffic on the Dutch side close to the French border. There was also sidewalk in that area that I used to go around the waiting cars. It's not hot yet this time of the year. Trisports told me most people rent their bicycles at the airport. I was able to rent it at the pier because they were giving a bicycle tour for the cruisers. I first did a tour with them for 3 hours in Phillipsburg that I purchased on the ship. The bicycle rental itself was 20 dollars. They told me to lock the bike to the other bikes and take a picture when I return it

930AM flights are as expensive as 2 pm flights. So that makes no difference. Has anyone been able to leave the ship at around 6-630? Or does it never happen? I think the deadline for me to be out is 630AM. There are dozens of options for 5-8AM at the fraction of the cost of the after 10AM flights. Cruisers make a huge impact.

What time was the earliest people started disembarking there? I didn't have to wait to go through customs and immigration last year. It's all automated now. Didn't take long for the TSA either. I have Global Entry so at least I can go to a separate line. I am more concerned about being able to get off the boat on time. I noticed that time could be unpredictable. Next morning isn't cheaper for me because you have to pay for a hotel and lose work hours. 1 AM flights are cheaper. But then you can't really work the next day either.

Our ship is scheduled to arrive at 6AM. If anyone had this arrival time with RCL, what was the earliest people were able to get off ship? I am trying find the cheapest possible flight. The only reasonably priced option is 750AM. Probably too early. But I am still hoping it might work.

You have to have a pass from the the forest service in order to be able to park at the main entrance to El Yunque. I have been trying to obtain one. It has not been possible. I was able to get one a year ago but never went. I understand they sell out instantly. You can still enter some parts of El Yunque from another side. However, that is far from the major trails such as El Yunque trail or the Tower Trail.