Let'sCruise

You are allowed to bring golf clubs on board the ship to Bermuda, correct?

Retired Spanish teacher who has taken numerous trips to Spain with students and happily without recently. If you want to do Sevilla, Granada, Córdoba in more than a few hours, do the land tour. I just did a Med cruise from Barcelona to Italy and back to Barcelona, with a stop in Mallorca. I did one day pre-cruise and one day post-cruise and still did not see all I wanted. (It was my first time in Barcelona.) Had I only had the day in port, I would only have seen the sites from the HOHO bus. There are many good land tours throughout Spain; I suggest finding something that shows you Madrid (with side trips to Toledo and/or Segovia) and Andalusia with Granada and Sevilla must dos. Cordoba is also amazing with its Mezquita. Anything that also includes Barcelona is a real plus.

Can you tell I love Spain?

Just off the Epic and right after Paris attacks. While I did not need to get to the airport early, I witnessed people walking off with their bags at 6 am. The ship docked at 5 am, but I wasn't awake then.

I just returned from Barcelona and stayed at the Catalonia Catedral by the cathedral (not Sagrada Familia) pre-cruise. The hotel is right off the Portal del Angel, a pedestrian shopping area and a 5 minute walk to the Ramblas. There are several restaurants within a 2 minute walk. Plaça Catalunya is a 5 minute walk.

Post-cruise I stayed at the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza at the Plaça Espanyol, which is near the Olympic sites and the Poble Espanyol. The Poble Espanyol has lots of restaurants but there is admission to enter this venue. Across from the hotel is the converted bullring, made into a shopping center. The top floor is all restaurants. There is an outdoor elevator to take you to the top when you experience fantastic views. You can check out these hotels on booking.com or trip advisor.

I don't think there is a bad location for a hotel in Barcelona.

How much time do you have before your flight? Here are some possible solutions for luggage storage - http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/faq/cruise-ship-terminals/pier-luggage-storage-sightseeing-then-airport.html

Barcelona is very easy to do yourself. Take one of the HOHO buses and you will see everything with the option to get off when you want.

The ports were great. We had tours booked for Rome, Naples (Capri, Sorrento and Pompei) and Cannes (Monaco, Eze) and did Pisa, Mallorca and Barcelona on our own.

There was very limited window or open air space on the ship - only the pool deck and the aft in H2O. Deck 5 had the jogging track (about 100 yards long- more of a dash) and had the lifeboats blocking any view, no seating area. Because we were heavy in ports and in the autumn with early sunsets, the pool decks were not very crowded.

While the Epic is the largest ship I have sailed on, I did not mind the size of the ship although it is a long walk to the elevators and there are no steps mid-ship either. It was a good way to burn off calories. The ship was at capacity but crowd flow worked well except when everyone was embarking after a port day and you had to wait rather long for the elevators.

I enjoy privacy when using the bathroom facilities and showering and the layout of the double balcony cabin did not afford any privacy. The doors to both the toilet and the shower are lightly frosted fiberglass. (You can see through them.) The toilet was right next to my pillow with just the fiberglass and a curtain between us. No need to say any more. You will know all your cabin mate's habits very well.

Perhaps if I had been traveling with my husband I would not have minded so much but I still would not have gotten much sleep.

If you are looking for tapas there are plenty of cervecerias everywhere. It will depend on where you are going to be. We had dinner (very early Spanish style) on our first night near the cathedral. There was a place on the square that had rather expensive prices; down the street a little bit and the prices were much less. The menus are outside the restaurants, and Spain requires a menu of the day which is usually a good deal. Also you generally pay a bit more outside than inside. The outside allows smoking; the inside does not.

Near the Ramblas and Barri Gotic prices will be higher due to the tourism. We stayed near Plaça Espanya on our return and more locals were eating there and the prices were less. At the top of Arenas shopping center (former bullring) there are restaurants overlooking the city that were pricey but the view is magnificent. If not to eat, go for the view.

Will you be staying in Barcelona or just a port day? If so, what section of the city?

My friend and I arrived in Barcelona the day before our cruise, took a taxi to the hotel since it was our first time in this city. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon touring using the HOHO bus. Our hotel was located off the Ramblas very close to the cathedral. It was very convenient to walk to Plaça Catalunya and the Ramblas. We did some more touring Sunday morning before taking a taxi to the ship. Post cruise we stayed in Plaça Espanyol and toured this part of the city. The Airport bus stopped in front of our hotel, taking us directly to the terminal. Easy peasy!

Why not try booking.com to search for a hotel. All the hotels I looked at had several options for rooms and beds.

There were shuttles as you exited the gangways to take you to either the downtown or directly to the train station. It cost 15$ American charged to your onboard account to go directly to and return from train station. Be sure to carefully note how you enter the train station because you will find the bus in the same place when you exit. If you follow the crowd you will be on the opposite side of the station and will not see the bus.

Remember to validate your ticket; the machines are small and there is not a lot of signage for them.

Just returned from my first NCL cruise on the Epic to the Mediterranean. I am willing to answer any questions. My traveling companion and I spent a day before the cruise in Barcelona as well as a day after. We did some ship tours and a private tour as well as some do on our own.

Overall I would rate the cruise as a C. I did not like our large balcony cabin, (loved the balcony). There was no privacy for personal hygiene. The food was average- some things very good, some not so good. We did not eat in the fee restaurants, preferring to eat in ports. We enjoyed some of the entertainment.

I will try to answer questions honestly.

I am planning to use the Aerobus to our hotel in Barri Gotic next week. I used Google Earth to see the walk and it looks safe and flat- about a 10 minute walk on a pedestrian only walk.

I would choose Cordoba if you want to see something you would not see anywhere else. The Mezquita is worth the time traveling there - hundreds of marble arches with a surprise in the center. Walking the flowered streets of the city is an adventure with very good restaurants. The white washed houses of Mijas you would also see in Cordoba. Malaga never excited me; so much more to see in Sevilla or Cordoba or Granada. (I was a Spanish teacher and took several trips to Spain with students.)

I tried to attach a photo but couldn't get it to attach.

If you have not been to Andalusia (Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla) I would go there. You have the Mezquita and windy Andalusian streets in Cordoba; the cathedral and palace and beauty of Sevilla and the fabulous Alhambra in Granada. The AVE, high speed train, goes to Sevilla and Cordoba from Barcelona. It is easy to take a bus or hired transportation to Granada and then take a bus or train back to Barcelona for your flight home. I have not yet been to northern Spain but I understand it is very beautiful as well. Madrid is also a marvel in itself, very different from cosmopolitan Barcelona. The AVE runs from Barcelona to Madrid as well.

We are booked on the Med cruise in November on the Epic with a guaranteed balcony. What are obstructed view balconies, both full and partial obstruction. Is it a view of the lifeboats hanging right outside the balcony?

This is our first time on NCL.

I ama booking Catalonia Catedral pre-cruise and Catalonia Barcelona Plaza post cruise. I have stayed in Catalonia hotels on previous visits to Spain (first time in Barcelona), and I have found them convenient to places of interest and/or transportation, very clean and very nice to deal with. They are a 4 star European hotel chain.

I am booking the Catalonia Catedral pre-cruise one night and Catalonia Barcelona Plaza post-cruise one night. I have stayed in Catalonia hotels on previous visits to Spain (first time in Barcelona) and have found them to be clean and very convenient and all around nice hotels. The do run upwards from $100/night and are 4 star.

Juneau: I did the Wings flightseeing and salmon bake at Taku lodge in early June. We went in the am so we were the first ones there that day. Hence, no bears. It was wonderful! The scenery and the food outstanding!

I have heard excellent reviews of Harv and Marv's whale watch but as we were a group of 7 we needed a bigger boat and decided to do Hoonah Adventures in Icy Strait Point.

Are you doing a dog sled? We did Alaska Excursions in Skagway for the dog sled and it was a lot of fun.

We did the Taku Lodge floatplane and salmon bake 1 week ago. It was awesome - fantastic views, great food. Ask if you can sit in the co-pilot seat for the best views. We booked through the cruise line because I had heard that the excursion sells out. All 5 planes were in use for our excursion and each plane holds 8 or 10 people. The lodge was full.

We were not lucky enough to see any bears, but the excursion was still great. A word of caution - the mosquitoes are plentiful. We had the battery clip-on mosquito repelers and they worked well.

Sorry, forgot the question about the entertainment and food. Because we had multi-generations on this trip we did not do a lot of the entertainment venues. The City of Dreams show by the entertainment staff was in my opinion, very strange, and we didn't enjoy that. The other shows we saw were a comedian brought on board in Juneau and a very talented concert pianist who was amazing. The music in the centrum was varied and enjoyable as we passed through. The camaraderie between Cruise Director Amy and the Captain was a lot of fun.

We ate in the dining room every dinner. The service was outstanding. We are not gourmet diners so the food was good. Lunches and breakfast were in various venues throughout the ship. The Windjammer did get crowded for breakfast, but we would walk to the back and eat at the tables in Rita's Crab Shack and we were often the only ones in there.

In Juneau we did the ship (Radiance) excursion to the Taku lodge at 10:30 and returned at 1. The plane held 8 or 10 people plus the pilot. What beautiful views and the salmon bake was excellent. We were not fortunate to see any bears. The mosquitoes were out in full force on the nature walk, but we had the battery mosquito repelers and they worked great. I think my husband bought them at Dick's sporting goods.

In Ketchikan we did the city and totem combined tour on a trolley that was green and red. There is also a red trolley that goes through just the town. The city tour was 1 hour and the trip to Totem Bight was 2 hours. We were dropped at Creek Street and walked around there for a bit, then walked back to the ship dock area. Once you get off the ship there are booths with venders of all kinds of tours. Totem poles are not my thing but the 2 hours was enjoyable because we had nice weather and the scenery was good.

In ISP we first did a whale watch with Hoonah Adventures. We were a group of 7 so we could not use the smaller companies like Harv and Marv or FISHES. The 20 passenger boat was clean and the captain knowledgeable. We did not see many whales but did see a brown bear on shore and went reasonably close so as not to scare it off. After a short walk into town we took the shuttle back to the pier and saw quite a show by a whale in the harbor who was rather close to shore and feeding. The driver pulled over so we could watch. According to the cashier at the Crab Shack this whale has been there the last 3 days, but it is hit or miss as to whether you will see whales near the ship in ISP. By the way, in town across from the school is a very large eagle's nest right next to the road. We were fortunate to see mama in the nest and papa on the branch above. Worth the 10 minute walk from the small marina where we picked up whale watch.

DH did the zipline and he enjoyed it very much although he prefers the platform type ziplining. I tried to talk myself into it, but chickened out when I saw the height of the top platform.

We certainly overpacked and brought back as many clothes unworn as worn. You can buy jackets, sweatshirts, wind jackets, fleeces, gloves, scarves and hats very cheaply at Alaska Shirt Factory, which is in Juneau and Skagway or Trader Joe's in Anchorage. They are very good seconds or prior year merchandise of some very well-known ski and winterwear manufacturers with a different logo.

Layering is the way to go - we just did not have the need for short sleeves on this trip, but the week prior was warmer. You just don't know.

Also, people did not overdress for dining room. Some people had formal wear but most dressed casually.

I just returned from southbound Radiance of Seas. We had a great trip. Rain in Juneau and cold wind in Hubbard Glacier. Otherwise we had some sun and light winds.

Juneau - Taku floatplane and salmon bake

Skagway - dog sled and zip lining

ISP - whale watching and hipline

Ketchikan - city tour with Totem Bight Park

I am happy to answer any questions.

Just back yesterday and the bears were hiding. No bears were seen on the excursion. We saw one on shore from our whale watch. The salmon are not yet running so bear sightings not easy.

Yeah!!! I will be there on Sunday.

Retired now so I can travel whenever. Lucky me! Check out vacations to go website. There is a search for teacher discounts on the left. It may be that the dates will or won't work for you. RCL does give police discounts which we have been able to take advantage of. Thank you for being an educator.