cft8
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Posts posted by cft8
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You could check to see if any of the museums have late hours on the day you will be there (for example, the Museum of Fine Arts is open until 10pm Wednesday-Friday).
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4 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:
The $5 cash is sensible in your situation.
You might want to consider not trying to keep 30-40 people together. Breaking up into smaller groups.Once we get over to Hamilton, I expect people will split off, and we'll announce a time & place to meet back. I also have 2 co-leaders, so we can split off if most people want to stay with one of us. This is our first time to Bermuda, but not our first time organizing this large of a group, so we have those sorts of logistics well under control!
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13 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:
Agian you don't need local cash. You won't find a place that does not take USD. If you go to an ATM in Bermuda and get cash you better spend it because you will be stuck with it. You won't be able to exchange it back in the US or on the ship. Bermuda $ can only be exchanged in Bermuda. People from Canada, UK etc. who plan to visit Bermuda won't be able to get Bermudian currency either. If they want cash in advance to spend in Bermuda they must get USD.
Also buying tokens is not like the DC Metro which by the way if you ever come back here does not use tickets anymore. In Bermuda you tell them at the how many tokens, 14 zone tokens for the ferry, they will tell you much that will be, you hand over the USD and get the tokens back.
Yes, I know that the DC metro doesn't use paper tickets anymore. I still have my smartrip card in my wallet from when we lived there (years after the incident I mentioned). It gets occasional use on visits back! 🙂
As for the cash, it's good to know that I won't run in to a place where I can't use US cash. I'll see what I feel like when I get there as far as getting Bermudian $ and I completely understand that it can't be changed back. Like I said, I enjoy having the souvenir and so I might get $20, buy a few postcards, some stamps, and a cup of coffee and then have a souvenir.
My group is not just my family - it could be 30-40 people, and I'm not interested in collecting money from everyone, dealing with giving everyone change, and passing out tokens. If 50 cents is that important to anyone, they are more than welcome to pop in to the visitor center and buy a token, but I've told them if they want to stay with me, they need to plan on having $5 cash and paying on the ferry.
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I appreciate the feedback. I started to have a panic attack that I'd told everyone they'd be fine with USD, and then we'd get to the ferry and find out it wasn't accepted! This group is counting on me and it's very important that I be as prepared as possible.
I honestly haven't checked with my AAA office (where I typically buy currency) to see if they have Bermudian $. I'll give them a call since it sounds like it might not be possible. I can't cite my source at the moment, but I know I did read that USD is generally accepted, which to my mind means that I might encounter a situation where it is not. I generally get a bit of local cash to be safe and I like having it as a souvenir for myself and to bring back for the kiddos in our family. That said I don't often travel to places where the exchange rate is 1:1 (Panama is the only other place I can think of), so it's more of a situation of needing cash for places where I can't use a credit card. But, as long as I can get off the ship and on the ferry and over to Hamilton, I'm good and I can always find an ATM to get cash if I haven't been able to in advance.
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From what I have read, USD are widely accepted since the exchange to the Bermudian dollar is 1:1. Is this true on the ferry? Can we get on and pay in cash with $5 US? We will potentially have a large group and so I do not want to spend time having everyone stop in the visitors center to buy a token since the savings is only 50 cents. (Let me tell you about the time our whole family needed to buy tickets for the DC metro and the people in line behind us applauded when we were done.) I personally plan to get some Bermudian $ ahead of time, but I'm not sure everyone I'm traveling with will.
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It would apply to anything you bought, but...Royal Caribbean doesn't sail from New York, they sail from New Jersey so the New York tax doesn't apply.
Of course! Momentary brain lapse!
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Does this apply to non-alcoholic packages as well? Such as Royal Caribbean’s soda and refreshment packages?
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kctwinmommy from Chicago, which rental agency did you use in Southampton?
We want to rent a car at the port to tour north Dorset after our cruise, so it will be a one way only, returning it in London. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.
I thought I posted this the other day, but evidently it didn’t save.
Anyway, I’m not kctwinmommy, but I did rent a car in Southampton. We rented from Hertz, mainly because that is where we get points. We had a one-way rental, returning the car at Gatwick.
If you reserve an automatic, I’d just contact them a week or so before and make sure they will have the level you book so that you do not end up with a really expensive upgrade like we did!
We picked up at the West Quay location, which you can basically see from the City Terminal. We considered walking there but we ended up sharing a taxi with our friends because I really did not feel like hauling the luggage all that way.
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8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:
Check in staff take the pic.
Anything that will fit in the xray machine.
Which begs the question, how big is the X-ray machine? Is it similar to the size of the machine going through TSA screening at the airport? If I had, say, a duffle bag that was longer than what I'd be able to carry on a plane, but no wider than a typical carry-on, would that fit? That's what I'm trying to get a sense of. I'm sure my carry-on bags have been x-rayed at other ports, but I can't recall any details, and I've never been to Cape Liberty.
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What is the boarding process like? I saw an old post from 2016 that said you get an RFID sticker for your set sail pass that you can use to track you bags on the Royal IQ app. I'm wondering if that still happens.
If you didn't upload a photo during check in, does the pier staff just take your photo with their iPad for checkin or do you have to go to a separate line?
How large of a suitcase can you take as a carry on? (I am managing a large group & have materials for our first event that I would like to carry on in case my luggage doesn't arrive at my cabin before the event.)
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We got our foreign currency before we traveled from our AAA office. I’m not sure if we got the best rate, but it saved us the hassle of finding an ATM, particularly when we were in port for a short time.
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According to this thread, Kung Fu Panda has already been converted to a fish & chips shop. The photo of the menu posted shows that they do still serve some noodle dishes.
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It seems the return time will vary. There is another thread where I mentioned that I’d been notified that the sailing I am on (September 6) returns at 4:30am and someone replied that the port schedule shows about half the sailings returning at 6am and half at 4:30am.
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1 minute ago, Biker19 said:
Well, that's what I get for just looking at Royal's site and not for other options. That's the location that's marked as a restaurant, but not named on the deck plans I saw. I'm excited it's fish & chips; one of my favorite meals! 😋
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5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:
Look for Kung Fu Panda on the deck plan.
Kung Fu Panda is not shown on the current deck plans either (unless I am just missing it, which is admittedly very possible). That's why I asked where it is, so I could see what the deck plan does show. I did just notice an unlabeled area with the restaurant icon on Deck 14 by the Splashaway Bay, though.
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2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:
It’s a fish and chips shop now.
Where is this? I don't know where the old noodle shop was, but I was looking at the deck plan and I don't see anything that sounds like a fish and chips shop.
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Yes, we have done this with my mom, my sister, and me, all in different staterooms with the same package. They give you a slip of paper with your access code.
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I've seen that there is a sightseeing rate for taxis of $50/hour for a 1-4 person taxi. Is this something you need to set up in advance, or can you just ask for it when you hail a taxi? Depending on how long we spend in Hamilton on the first day of our overnight, I want to consider taking a taxi back toward Dockyard, stopping at Horseshoe Bay and Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. But, I don't want to feel rushed with our other plans and I don't want to be committed to doing it if we decide we'd rather just go straight back to the ship via ferry.
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You’re welcome - as Americans we tend to not think much about whether someplace like a train station will have an elevator or not. When you are looking at a tube map, you will see stations marked with a wheelchair symbol. Those are the ones that have elevators all the way to the train platform. Others, including Gloucester Rd only have elevators part way.
I vaguely remembered this from my study abroad days. I had planned for is to take a taxi from Victoria train station to the hotel (we arrived at Gatwick and took the Gatwick Express). My main reason for this was not wanting to manage luggage on the tube at rush hour and so I did not review the access information for the Tube. My husband convinced me we would be fine. I was tired and didn’t feel like arguing. Not only did we have to haul our suitcases down the stairs to the part of Victoria where we needed to get the tube to Gloucester Rd, we were then met with the stairs to go up once we got there. My husband lived to tell the tale (barely), but next time he will probably listen to my plan! And I will never forget to check the tube map thoroughly!
Fortunately we had arrived several days ahead of the group to spend some time on our own and so I was able to give the others a heads up!
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Be aware that Gloucester Road Tube station does not have an elevator from the platform to the street. You need to be able to carry your luggage up about 25 steps. When I took a large group to London last year, and stayed at a hotel close to that station, I recommended to our members get off one stop early, at Earl’s Court, and take a short taxi ride to the hotel. (Earl’s Court does have an elevator from the train platform to the street.)
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We rented a car post cruise and went to Cambridge. We were able to request an automatic transmission. They gave us a Mercedes M class (we booked a much less nice car!). We asked for a different car and since this was a small location, they said they didn’t have one. The insurance was ridiculous. I think they ended up waiving part of it because our credit card has coverage, but we might have been in big trouble if we’d damaged it. Luckily, we didn’t.
Our friends who also rented had figured they’d be fine with a stick shift. They drove around the block, decided they would never make it, went back to the agency (we were gone), asked for an automatic and got one that was not a fancy Mercedes. So, we kind of got screwed.
But, if you rent from a large airport location, you will probably have more choice, or they will be more likely to give you what you booked in the first place.
Another option, if you want to base yourselves in London, is to consider day trips by train, rather than a car rental. You can get to Bath and Windsor that way. For Stonehenge you would have to go to Salisbury and then take a bus to Stonehenge, but I think you can take one that’s basically just a shuttle and not part of a tour group.
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We have not been to the Caribbean (I hope to go someday!) - we have been to the Pacific NW, New England/Canada, and Europe. This year we are going to Bermuda and Alaska. So, they have all been ports where I have wanted to see things, and also places where the temperatures were not conducive to pool time. So far all the ports have been places that I would want to see again. But, if we ever did do a warm climate cruise, I can see staying on board. The first time to any port, though, I’m sure I’d have FOMO and get off at least for half a day!
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Her performing schedule is a little complicated, and so is that of Hadden-Paton: Laura Benanti will star as Eliza Doolittle through 7/7/19. Kerstin Anderson will play the role of Eliza at Tuesday evening performances, however Laura Benanti will perform on Tuesday 3/19, 4/23 and 6/4. Laura Benanti will not perform on 3/9, 3/10, 3/24-28, 4/27-28, 6/5, 6/28-30 or 7/6. The role of Henry Higgins will be performed by Michael Halling on Wednesday evenings.
I assume it’s because she had concert dates or other plans that were scheduled before she extended. Fortunately we are going on Friday, May 9, so we should be good, baring any illness or injury. It was at the top of my list even before they announced that she was extending, so that just sweetened the deal. I love the show so I’m sure I will have a great time regardless of any unforeseen changes!
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Once concern about HP is that people need to realize that it's two long plays. So it's a commitment for either a full day (Wed, Sat, Sun) or two evenings (Thurs, Fri). If time is limited for a visit, that might be an issue. Luckily, it'll be in NY and London for a long time and just opened in Melbourne and San Francisco, hopefully for a long time as well. (And, by the way, we really enjoyed it)
True and I should have mentioned that - I was trying to get my reply typed before my training class started up again! :-)
We were not able to get the consecutive nights for the dates we had free on our London trip (turned out those performances were special sensory-sensitive performances). We were hesitant about devoting a full day to it, but we bought them I think before they announced it was coming to NYC and certainly before they announced additional US cities. We did not know if we’d have another chance to see it, so, we went for it and were so glad we did!
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Serenade of the “C’s” I Mean “I’s” – Ice Bergs, Iceland, Ice Caps and Ice Cream
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
I agree with you - I can't wait to go back to Halifax! Not only did I not have enough time to spend at the places we did go (gardens and the Citadel, mainly), but there were also places I wanted to see but didn't get to, like the Maritime Museum.
I have enjoyed your review and photos and now a crossing like this is on my bucket list!