JimmyTheSaint

The Briksdal Glacier has troll cars ( they're like golf buggies ) that take people from the entrance up to about 200 metres from the glacier. Very useful for people who couldn't do the 40 minutes walk up the hill. Sorry I don't know the cost of these.

Ha Ha Ha, well done my American friend, a perfect demonstration of how not to make tea

Is that now a Carnival upsell tactic? Offer rubbish tea and coffee so they can upsell.

We always travel with our own tea bags as Americans and Europeans can't make tea. 

We just came off Carnival Pride yesterday after finishing a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Hopefully you get better weather than we did. We prefer to organise our own excursions so we didn't book any through Carnival.

Skjolden is very small, the sheep in the field by the dock seemed to be the most popular sight. 

Olden, close to Briksdal Glacier which can be reached on public bus, sightseeing bus and numerous excursions companies all offereing tours at the dock

Alesund, very interesting town, great viewpoint up 418 steps, easily reached from the dock

Bergen, large town, funicular railway and scenic hikes, markets, historic sights, all within 5-10 walks from the ship

Molde, very neat small town, hikes in the hills above,

Because they use Lipton tea bags which produce a drink that looks like dishwater, probably tastes like dishwater. I've never tasted dishwater but I did try Carnival afternoon tea with the fancy wooden box full of Lipton's tea and it's what I imagine dishwater tastes like.

Proper British tea tastes nothing like that, looks nothing like that. Luckily for some fellow Brits that we met onboard we had a good supply with us and handed them out. The look of relief and gratification from them was very rewarding.

20 hours ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

I did not see afternoon tea offered on my nine night Carnival Pride cruise. We had two sea days.  I looked in the app and printed daily programmes.  I would have like to try it.

 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Did you try their tea? Absolute muck, undrinkable. Their coffee isn't much better.

We were in group 21 for Disembarkation, the last numbered group. We were off the ship by about 07:30. Disembarkation started before 06:00 for those doing self disembarkation. The process seemed very well organised and was quick.

There were a lot of porters available if required and there were distinct areas for those using taxis, coaches, private transfers, etc.

I've just finished a cruise on Carnival Pride and one of the things I really missed was not having the Mongolian Wok. If I had the authority to do so I would shut down the Bonsai Sushi place on Pride and turn it in to JiJi's and then it could be used as Mongolian Wok at lunch time.

Two benefits for Carnival;

one, more revenue from that floorspace, there was never more than one or two people in Bonsai and I'm willing to bet they were using OBC,  JiJi's is the best $ restaurant Carnival have and is always busy 

two, by having a Mongolian Wok for lunchtime they can close Chopsticks in the Lido Buffet and use the space for something new like Shaq's Big Chicken.

6 hours ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Hi! 

 

I double checked with John Heald and for the Europe cruises, a certified LFT is fine, just as long as you get a certificate (called a Fit to Fly in the UK) - it doesn't have to be proctored/observed unless you are flying or sailing to or from the USA.

 

I am using ExpressTest at a cost of £12 per person.

Thank you, very useful information. You've saved me and the Mrs about £40 as we were going to use in person tests at our local airport.

Such a shame that a multi billion dollar company couldn't / didn't provide that information to all customers but had to rely on customers contacting one of their employees via Facebook. Very unsatisfactory situation.

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

No, it is not.

Keep your money in your pocket.  It is neither required nor expected.

100% agreed, definitely not a European thing.

Tipping an expected percentage of the bill is not a thing in the UK so tipping any amount would constitute a good tip. Tips do not offend ( it's not Japan ) but are neither demanded nor expected.

We've done it a couple of times, it's a great day trip. I drive everywhere so that part doesn't cause me any concern. I've driven the full length of Crete and really enjoyed it. There are parts inland that are narrow and winding but in the coastal areas where you get loads of tourists the roads have to be capable of accommodating coaches and the volume of tourists.

The island of Spinalonga is fascinating. We drove to Plaka as it's the closest village and shortest boat trip over to the island. 

In Agh Nik the area around the lake has many restaurants and is well worth going for a stroll

Portimao isn't a very interesting town and one of the very few in the Algarve that doesn't really attract tourists. There's a very good beach nearby, Praia da Roche, but unlikely to be beach weather in late October.

From the nearby marina you could take a boat tour to the Benagil cave. I've spent a few holidays a bit further west in the town of Lagos from where you can take boat trips around the caves and coves of the Pointe de Piedade and the old town is lovely for a walk.

Further west you'll find what used to be referred to as The End of the World at Cape St Vincent. A very rugged coastline where the Portugese used to train their sailors who circumnavigated the globe. There's the fort at Sagres to explore and a lighthouse at Cape St Vincent.

Europe, Carnival have the pride there this year and next year. The itinerary's  tend to be port intensive, many cities and countries covered in one cruise,  different type of cruising compared to Caribbean or Alaska.

Our overall impression after our one and only RCI cruise was that they were very pushy on up selling throughout the entire cruise. The quality of the food, entertainment and ambience on board was similar between our Carnival cruises and the RCI cruise. Given the extra cost of the RCI cruise we didn't feel it was as good in terms of value for money.

Marazul beat me to it. We did exactly that on our last visit to Barcelona. Taxi from the port to Sagrada Familia, taxi from there to Parc Guell and finally taxi from PG to Placa de Catalunya. 

From Placa de Catalunya we walked down La Rambla with diversions off to the Gothic Quarter. From the end of La Rambla walk over to the Columbus monument and then just to the right of it as you're walking you'll find the cruise port shuttle bus to take you back to the ship.

Taxis are plentiful in Barcelona and are cheap. You'll find taxis at all the main tourists sites in Barcelona.

We were in Messina 2018 on a Sunday and did the ship excursion Taormina On Your Own. It basically provided coach transport to and from Taormina. Everything was open and it was a beautiful little town to stroll around. Messina on the other hand is rubbish, I'd recommend you take the trip.

Chocolate Melting Cake that is most helpful. Thank you.

Take him on a European cruise if he likes port days. Carnival have the Pride there for full seasons this year and 2023.

Every cruise we've ever been on they cleared the comedy club between performances. Annoying if you have a good seat as you end up at the back of the long line to get back in for the next show.

I agree with everything VMax1700 has said about Marbella and Puerto Banus.

That whole stretch of the Costa del Sol should be used on university Town & Country Planning courses across the world as an example of how to ruin a coastal area. Concrete jungle with no redeeming features.

Have a look and see which other excursions are available, preferably heading inland to the Pueblos Blancos or The Alhambra in Granada.

I wouldn't walk in Belfast port as it's an industrial port with lots of heavy goods vehicles moving around. The Titanic Museum have a dedicated taxi drop off point for one of the local taxi companies ( Value Cabs ) so that's what I'd use to go back to the ship.

Agree with all of the above suggestions, if I was to recommend one to miss it would be Mykonos. If it's your first time there then I'd suggest going but only for a short while, may be an hour or two at most. 

Another one where you can take it easy is Rhodes as the ships dock a 2 minute walk from the town. Don't take an excursion, just do your own thing and have a walk around the town at your own pace.

It's your cruise so do as much or as little as you please, don't fell you have to see and do everything as that's impossible.

Pisa is about 2 hours by train to Civitavecchia. Plenty to see and do for a few days in Pisa and close enough for day trips to Lucca and Florence.

Another vote here for My Time dining. The appeal for us is the flexibility to decide on a daily basis when we want to eat. It depends on what we've been doing during the day.

Thanks for posting, we're sailing on Mardi Gras later this year.

I had a look at the menu for Chibang, it looks very disappointing. I'm a big fan of JiJi on Horizon and Vista but with most things fusion, hybrid or whatever term they call it it's a compromise so dilutes the thing that makes it appealing.