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Posts posted by jesunrise
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Thanks for your review. I'm heading out on one of the Cuba overnights in a few months, and there is not a lot of info out there about the Empress.
Can you comment about any loyalty perks? I know there is no D or D+ lounge, no happy hour (3 drinks loaded on the card instead), and I believe I read something about a past passenger sail away celebration?
Did you use the WiFi? If so, how was it?
I suppose they may make some changes when the itinerary changes, but it is helpful to have any advance info.
THREE DRINKS for HOW MANY NIGHTS were you cruising???
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Thank you for the time and effort to give us all important information on Empress of the Seas!
HOPE that RCCL immediately reserves space somewhere for Diamond and Diamond Plus Lounge for daily Coctail Party as well as Diamond and Diamond Plus past guest Welcome Back Party!!! That is expected and why we booked with RCCL instead of competition to CUBA!
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We just returned on a cruise with Princess on the Royal Princess cruising the British Isles. We had a balcony on the Dolphin deck, mid ship and thought it was a great location. The cabins were well insulated and we heard minimum noise from any other cabins.
Many people here have written great things to do while in port, so I wanted to share, what we did and how it was, to help others.
We arrived in London on the day we were to board the ship, we took a Princess transfer to South Hampton. We met others who had arranged their own transportation, but our experience was very good, although it was a little pricey. The boarding process was a little backed up, but we boarded within 1 hour of arriving at the Princess terminal.
Ports:
Guernsey, St. Peter Port - This is a tender port.
- We did this on our own, listening to others who advised to take the local bus, bus #91 (or #92, which is the same, it just goes around the island on the opposite way). It is a local bus, so there is no guide/information. It takes you around the island and shows you the beautiful coast as well as other small towns/villages on the island. We had a local get on and share some information until he got off at the golf course. We had a pleasant day, speaking with other cruisers, but didn't learn much about the island. It was 1 pound per person, you can buy tickets from the bus driver directly. Near the stop where the bus begins, there is a great coffee shop and local restrooms.
- We also went to the Castle Cornet, which is to the left as you exit where the tender comes in. It was interesting, but not the best castle we saw on the trip.
Cobh, Ireland - We docked at this port
- We did this on our own as well. We had been to Blarney Castle and Kinsdale before, so we didn't want to do that.
- We were going to take the Cobh Road Train as we'd heard good things, but due to the wait, we decided to walk around the downtown area, bought some Irish Scarves and walked slowly up to the Cobh Cathedral. It was lovely, although the day we were there they had services with first communion, so we didn't tour it.
- We spent part of the day in the local park people watching and had the opportunity to talk to some locals to hear about their lives. That was the best part of our day.
Dublin, Ireland - We docked at this port.
- We chose to take the Princess bus, at a cost of $18 round trip to downtown Dublin (they dropped us near Trinity College).
- We had recently visted Dublin, so had no desire to do Trinity - Book of Kells, Guinness, etc.
- We had booked a tour with Dublin bus tours for their Castle and Mountain Tour. It was quite lovely. We drove up to Malhide Castle, which was fantastic with very nice grounds. The cost was included in our overall trip, but normally is about 12 euro/pp. It is nicely done with furnishings and great stories by the local guides. We then drove up to Howth, a great village and enjoyed the town for lunch and walked part of the pier to look for local seals. This also included a Hop On Hop Off, but as we'd recently been in Dublin, we didn't take advantage of this. The tour was about 24 euro/pp. It ran from 11-4. We then caught the bus back to the ship.
Belfast - we docked at this port.
- There is a free shuttle to downtown, right across from the town hall. The day we were there, it had a fair (bank holiday). So we got to enjoy this with some local artist, food and crafts.
- We had recently been to Belfast and toured the "Troubles areas", as well as the Giant Causeway and LondonDerry. If we had not just recently done this, we would have stayed in Belfast or done one of these things. Belfast is one of our favorite cities as the people are so friendly and helpful and willing to share their history with us.
- We chose to go to Carrickfergus Castle on our own. It was was a quick 20 minute train ride away. It costs us about 4 pounds/pp. We arrived and followed someone's great directions of heading left from the train station - walk downhill on Victoria Street, cross Albert Road/St. Brides' Street using the pedestrian crossing; continue downhill through the North Gate. Continue Straight down the road and in about 5-10 minutes you'll reach Carrickfergus and the sea. It was about a 10 minute total walk from the train station to the Castle. The castle was not furnished, but is quite nice with some great history. They do free tours and we arrived about 1 hour before one began, so we explored on our own. We spent about 2 hours in the Castle before going back into the little town. We had lunch at a place called The Central Bar, which had very reasonable lunches and excellent food. We were the only tourist in the bar, and had some great conversations with the locals, who were quite friendly. If it is full, there is additional room upstairs. You order at the bar with your table number and they bring out great food. We had fish and chips and one member of our party did the soup and bread. We all greatly enjoyed it. Taking the train back into Belfast, we walked around the fair area before catching the free shuttle back to the ship.
Greenock, Scotland. We docked at this port.
- We took the train into Glasgow as we'd never visited Glasgow before. We did the Hop On Hop Off bus, for a cost of about 13 pounds/pp. We enjoyed some time in Glasgow before catching the train back to the ship.
Orkney Islands, Scotland. We docked at this port.
- Unfortunately, by the time I booked this cruise for our group, all the local tours were full. We ended up taking a Princess tour of Skara Brae and Skaill House. I had also considered taking the Ring of Brodger tour with Princess, but it was waitlisted and unavailable. Frankly, after taking the first tour, we drove by the Ring of Brodger and I was glad I hadn't spent the money Princess requested for the second tour. We booked this online prior to the cruise and were glad we did as the cost to book on the ship was higher than pre-booking.
- The Skara Brae and Skaill House tours were very nice. I had read great things about the Skara Brae. However, I was unprepared for the wind and mud. I wish I had brought some rain/water/mud proof boots as much of the island was muddy. The island is also known for its wind, so be prepared. The Skara Brae is over 5000 years old and well worth the trip. The tour guide did an excellent job. If you can arrange a tour on your own, I would recommend it. We went with Princess, which was pricey, but with everything else being sold out, were glad we didn't miss out on these treasures.
- We also walked into Kirkwall as a local guide had recommended going into a store called the Oden Stone. I was very glad we did as they had some local art work and some interesting items. Everyone in our party bought a little something here. We also walked up to the Earls Palace and the Biships Palace and the St. Magnus Cathedral. Here too, there was a local art festival across the street which we had the opportunity to go and see some local artist both at work and selling their wares. It was quite nice.
Invergordon, Scotland - We docked at this port.
- We booked a tour with WOW Scotland Tours. This was a great experience. The local guides can not meet you inside the port gates, so after you walk down the pier, you have to leave the gates and the local guides are waiting across the street. We took the Outlander tour and HIGHLY recommend it. We went to Culloden battlefield, Loch Ness, Beauly Priory, Clava Cairns, the Clootie well and many other places our guide shared with us. It was one of the major highlights of our trip. It was not the most inexpensive trip we took, but Gordon and his team give you a day well worth it!
Edinburgh, Scotland. This was a tender port.
- We chose to take a Princess tour due to the tender port as we'd heard concerns with not always being able to get into town. This was a good choice as those who went into Edingburgh on their own were in after all the Princess tours for the tenders and got in too late to be able to get into the Holyrood Palace and other areas of interest. We took the tour to Glamis and St. Andrews. We booked this online prior to the cruise, which was more cost effective than booking from the ship. Glamis castle is still a functioning home, so it is fully furnished and the tour guide did a great job. The tour was about 1 hour, and there is a small cafe and gift shop as well as restrooms here. We then drove onto St. Andrews and of course had to visit the old course (where the Open was being set up) and visited the town, including the old church. This was an all day tour and we did enjoy it and felt it was one of the Princess trips that was worth the money.
Le Havre, France. We docked at this port.
- We rented a car from Rent-A-Car in advance. They are the only rental car agency at the port. They had a number of rental cars ready for those of us that had reserved our cars in advance. Please note, it will be a stick shift, everyone that rented had one, although some said that they requested an automatic. They open at 8:00am
- We took a chance and drove to Mt. St. Michel. We left the car rental agency by 8:15am. We had decided if we were by Caen in about 1 hour, we'd go to Mt. St. Michel and if not, we'd go North to the Normandy beaches. We did well and go to MSM by 10:45. We parked in the lot. Note: Parking is 12 euros, unless you park where the buses or campers then it is more. We caught the free buss up to the MSM entrance. We walked up the hill to the abbey and took the tour. It was 9 euro for the tour a few more euro for the audible tour. We stayed until about 2 pm and then thought we'd drive to the Normandy beaches on the way back. Unfortunately, we got a little lost out in the country and lost our cell phone signal, so we decided to stop in the city of Bayeaux where there is a beautiful church and drove onto Honfleur where we enjoyed the little town, before filling up and heading back to the port.
- We dropped the car off at the port and the cost was about 90 euro for the car and 56 euro to fill it up. We filled up in the city of Honfleur and still arrived to the port with a full tank. It was about 15 minutes away on the highway.
- We brought an international data package, which we used on the drive as roads from Google Maps were different. We did fine with this until we got off on a road to head toward the Normandy beaches, but lost the cell signal and had gone a different way than the Google map print out. Lesson Learned for not downloading the directions before losing the signal....
Overall, we had a great trip and would highly recommend both the Royal Princess and the ports to anyone. The ship had lots of entertainment and many different venues to keep us all engaged.
Hope this was helpful to you as others who posted gave me great ideas for my trip! Bon Voyage!
This port report on ALL of your experiences took a LOT of time and may I say how much it helps to have!
Thank you for your trouble on behalf of others!:D
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If you could get two weeks off now....and do a back to back cruise...with the air and time and money...lets say 6000.00 in your pocket, one or two people....what would you want to do? Carnival and another line? Two weeks on same ship...two different Carnival ships... There are some deals out there....What level of cabin...would you go down a level to try a certain line or ship??
Let's dream a bit....:).
Please accept our invitation to join our Bucket List Bunnies on the April 26 cruise on CARNIVAL DREAM which sails from New Orleans and Pre-cruise is the New Orleans Annual JAZZ FESTIVAL! Amazing list of Entertainers daily beginning with the Gala April 23.
April 26 leg includes Mexico, Belize, and Honduras and the May 3 leg goes to Key West and Bahamas.
Always recommend Back to Back! All the stress is in the going and the coming, right? Once you are on the ship, the longer the better!
Love the Fantail Balconies and Suites if any left. I booked the Forward FRONT CORNER JR SUITE of the Ship this time.
Best Successes!:)
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This is our first CCL cruise, but not our first cruise out of New Orleans. ;)
Last time we stayed at the Ramada in Metairie LA about half way between the airport & the port. They have since been bought out by Country Inn & Suites but still offer all the amenities that Ramada had.....free airport shuttle, free shuttle to cruise port as well as free parking during your cruise. They have undergone a remodel since Oct of 2013 when we were last there.....and I thought it was sure nice enough then! There is a K-Mart right behind the hotel that you can walk to for cheap sodas & water for the cruise as well. They also had a wonderful free breakfast in the mornings.....not just donuts & coffee but real food. We are booked there again for a super rate of $78, but I booked that over 3 months ago and the rates have gone up since. We really liked this hotel.
THANKS so much for sharing your GREAT TIPS above! Important help for a lot of ladies in our group!:D
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Embarkation was a breeze. On the ship by 11:00am . We had priority boarding because our cabin was a mini suite. Well worth the extra $ for all the extra room and large bathroom. Ship is beautiful and easy to get around. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Food in dining room pretty good overall , lido deck buffet not so much. Most things looked good but lacked flavor. Shows were pretty good and the bands were excellent . We especially enjoyed The Blackjack Band. Debarkation was a little slow but not too bad. We had a very relaxing week on The Dream!
Hi from Arkansas!
Booked 9206 for April. Were you in it or 9206 or 9205? Is there a window in addition to the balcony? Is there a door next to the suite to go outside on front of ship? Please provide details and THANKS!:)
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CABIN#2130 Solstice
Deck RESORT
Cabin # 2130
Class SKY SUITE
Oversized handicap suite was about 30% larger with 1 extra floor to ceiling window (we had a double wide, it was the same size as the balcony doors, very nice.
Starboard
Bed near balcony (loved that!)
Quiet Cabin
Balcony View - too bad the overhang from sun deck obscured our view of
the sky.
Balcony Oversized-balcony was about 30% longer, same width as a normal sky suite balcony. Very shady at all times.
Was wind a problem? no
If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? no
Any specific problems with this cabin?
Missing 2 amenities. No pillow menu, and no celebrity tote bag. (customer relations desk said they did not get their delivery, so they'll ship it to my home)
*Any other comments? *
The sky suite is just a glorified, concierge cabin, same wine, flowers bath products and such.
More importantly, in my opinion, (which was shared by other,experienced suite cruisers, who we spoke to, sailing in a celebrity suite),
the butler service was almost useless.
Lots of issues, our simple requests, like a pitcher of water in suite, morning coffee and pressing services, not fulfilled adequately. Forget about unpacking, and packing assistance. It did not exist! We asked our butler on arrival, with bags sitting in front of us, what services we could expect... did not offer us any assistance, and he was nowhere to be found the last sea day to help with packing either. however, he did manage to pop out of a corner the last morning to receive a gratuity, it would seem his timing had magically improved...
Yes, I could have complained to guest services, but we preferred to chalk it up to experience, as this was our first butler experience.
Needless to say, we will not bother to get a sky suite again.
Room steward service was and is always excellent. It is all we need.
The ONLY advantage to a suite is room size. But I think a handicapped cabin in concierge would have been just as good. Aqua class actually includes more amenities, like bottled water and dining in Blu, but as suite guests we had to pay extra to eat there? Ridiculous!
(We often ate in Blu anyway, because the food and service was fabulous!)
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Hi from Arkansas!:)
Thanks SO MUCH for the great advice!!
To be clear, did you allude that AQUA CLASS gets daily bottled water INCLUDED as an ammenity??:confused:
THAT WILL BE A REAL VALUE to us!:D
My review of Zaandam
in Holland America Line
Posted
Wow! May I express my sincere appreciation for such a current and detailed review of the ZAANDAM! You took a lot of time and trouble to help others and I am so glad that I found this under a different sailing. We cruise Zaandam on June 18th and I am, as always, looking forward to the next cruise! I also cruise A LOT and hope to see you at a CC M&G someday! Thanks again!