dwl16

22 hours ago, oscarshep said:

Hi all,

 

Sailing on Discovery 2 in July. Not been on Discovery 2 for a couple of years and remember the food was excellent last time although not enough fish dishes for me. My first pick is always seafood (although I do like every kind of food...sadly for my waistline !) and I was wondering how the food was this year from any of you lucky people who have sailed on her this year so far. Obviously hoping to hear about my favourite seafood being in plentiful supply. 

Oh to have 1st World problems....how fortunate we are.

 

Jim

We were on Discovery 2 for the TA crossing in April.

The food was mostly OK but not very inspiring. The buffet items were frequently lukewarm with a limited choice. The MDR was better but the best food was in Gallery 47. I don't eat seafood but I seem to recall swordfish on the menu there. Its a great ship. I enjoyed it and I'm sure you will too.

21 hours ago, SteelerBaggy said:

 

4. The best included coffee (latte, capuchino etc) is from the bars once they are open. On our recent TA the atrium bar opened at 10AM

5. Check out the Italian food in Gallery 47. Its part of the MDR so it is included but its better quality than the main MDR. However it has a limited choice of menu items.

Booked a couple of times with CN and didn't get an upgrade offer. Also e-docs not available at 60 days. I assumed it was related to their payment terms with NCL

Thanks for the suggestions, will discuss with hubby and decide which one he is most comfortable with :-)

I used the car park mentioned in post #6 last week

Its name is the Triangle Car Park and can be booked through several agents. I used Holiday Extras. It is just outside the port gate and a few minutes walk to the Ocean terminal. There a few things to note however. There is no barrier in and out, only CCTV survellance. It is only suitable for those leaving and returning to the Ocean terminal. The same company does also have a nearby car park with a chargeable taxi service if you return to a different terminal.

We were in Bergen on Thursday and had to use the shuttle bus. There were no queues whatsoever and the process both ways was really smooth.Our ship was pretty full too.

Just to add to the above as we too were in Bergen that day. Contrary to other posts the shuttle bus went from the dock to the port gates not the park although that was what some on our bus were expecting. It was a 10 min walk to the fish market following the route marked on a map collected at the port gate. The ship did sell a tour named "Bergen on your own" which took you to the town centre but I have no details about it. The bus and the walk were indeed smooth.

The use of San Antonio as a point of start and departure is a new situation. only one Sun it in has done the back to back Buenos Aires - San Antonio - Miami cruise. Another will do it late fall/ early winter this year, then we will be on board in March 2019 on the third such run.

Currently I’m looking at excursion opportunities from San Antonio. However, before going ahead I want to think through the process. Under the old route through Valparaíso there were good options within the city, and some of those have been offered to me now. However, the big difference is that we will have to travel from San Antonio to Valparaiso and back and I wonder just how much of an issue that could be. How easy is it for in transit passengers to disembark when the main disembarkation is going on? Obviously, the journey time will affect how much can be done, but how much? Does anyone have any experience of the route from San Antonio to Valparaiso? Would it be more sensible to consider an excursion to Santiago instead? Any other issues anyone has had with this aspect of the itinerary?

Thanks for any helping on any of the above questions.

I was on the Sun Miami to San Antonio cruise last December.

The facilities at the port were basic but very efficient. There was very little tourist infrastructure in San Antonio but most of the Valparaiso tour operators adjusted their operations for the new port. They have to chase the cruise ships or lose their business. I suggest you look at the Valparaiso websites for excursions. They will pick up from San Antonio.

On our last trip we had a free bottle of water because of our latitude level. It is not spring water but water made by a similar process to the ships tap water. Both can taste a bit flat because it is pure water with none of the minerals, additives and air bubbles found in domestic water. Previous posts about water bottles are the way to go and if taste is an issue bring your own additive.

Has anyone Cruised to Quebec and flown home from Montreal? What sort of transportation did you use? Is there an easy way to get from Quebec to Montreal?

I am going the opposite way, from Montreal airport to Quebec cruise port. Check VIA rail website. They have trains which allow checked in baggage and if you book Quebec to Dorval (not Montreal) there is a VIA rail bus to the airport. BTW Dorval is about 2 miles from the airport. By booking on a Tuesday well in advance there are some very good prices. I already have my seats allocated for a train in September. Journey time is 4hours 20 minutes.

If you haven't flown with Ryanair before, make sure you are fully aware of their luggage and boarding pass rules.

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app

the comment above is so important it should be in capital letters. The standard baggage allowance for Ryan Air is 15Kg and they will charge you extra for checking in at the airport. Print your boarding passes before leaving home.

Another option for your travel is to stay the night before at the premier inn at Stratford, London and catch the A9 National Express coach from Stratford in the morning. This avoids rush hour travel.

We are on the 11 day on the dawn next week! Any tips/advice? Did you go to Santa Marta as well? Any advice for there? I am unable to find much info for that port. I would love any info you have to give :)

 

 

Went to Santa Marta in December on the SUN.

There is a shuttle bus that takes you to the end of the promenade. There is a market there. The other place of interest is the Simon Bolivar Park. There are shops and cafes on both sides of the park. You can get to the cathedral where Simon Bolivar was buried by walking past the park and following the signs. The rest of the town is not very safe for tourists.

If you want a full day then go on an organised trip with the ship or Dora.

Thanks, we are staying in a airb&b, so unable to eat first unless we go shopping!! Will make a note of Elephant House. We are staying at Royal Mile and North Bridge...so that will be right on our way.

We were in Edinburgh in October and had breakfast in the Royal Mile on 2 occasions. There is a wide selection of cafes, restaurants and pubs that serve breakfast on the Mile near the North Bridge.

I was on the cruise leaving Barcelona on 4th May. (Check out Seahawk Sirens review)

At the meet&greet we were given the following names

Carlos Dinis - HD

Joel Dizon - CD

Martin Cliff - Restaurant

Clyde Harbin - Housekeeper

Bon Villaluz - Guest Service

Aura Pistritu - Beverage

Like I said in my previous post, I was in Santorini with NCL a couple of weeks ago, and they opened the tenders to everyone without tender tickets around 9.30 so the tender operations done by the Greek tender boats were pretty effective. And the walk from the pier in Oia and "up the hill" just takes about 10-15 minutes... But of course, I agree with you that it is better to have some extra time to reach the meeting point than the opposite...

I was on the same cruise as TrumpyNor and have some additional information.

There are 2 companies offering "speedboats" to Oia. The boats wait until they are (nearly) full before leaving the dock. This makes timing difficult but the earlier you get to the boat, the quicker it will fill up. The ticket we had was the boat trip, a bus from the boat to the bus station in the town of Oia and a later bus to Fira but not the cable car down. Walking uphill in the heat depends on how fit you are!

I returned from the Spirit yesterday.

I was given a list of internal phone numbers.

The Hotel Director was Carlos Dinis

The Getaway will dock at the Ocean Cruise Terminal so you will need to take a Taxi to Southampton Central. Its about 2 miles. The main booking agency for British trains is thetrainline.com This will give you all information about schedules and costs for all the train operating companies. Note ticket costs vary with the time of day and are always cheaper if bought in advance.

We were on the last trip of 2016. The train has 3 groups of passengers. Those catching flights that afternoon, those staying overnight in Anchorage and those going on to Denali. In all cases the train terminates at the airport. Those going downtown proceed by coach. Your bags are picked up the previous night and taken by road to either the airport or the hospitality centre in downtown Anchorage. On our trip many bags including one of ours were delivered to the wrong place. Each coach has an onboard attendant who gives a commentary and takes orders for snacks and cooked food. The seating is pre-assigned in tables of 4 so some people face backward but with panoramic windows and a glass dome visibility is not a problem. There is also an outside standing platform between each coach. Note that breakfast is available on the ship. From memory I think the buffet opened at 5:30 that morning and we assembled in the Stardust Theatre at 6:30. In my view this trip is worth the premium over the road transfer or the scheduled rail service.