GenghisQuan

Debating using this one to get from Istanbul airport to cruise terminal. Anyone with experience using it in the past? Or know what it means by "cannot be used at transit ports"?

It seems like a cab is the ideal method due to the luggage that I would need to schlep around. How to do this without getting scammed? Uber? Airport taxi line? Private transport arrangement through Viator? Costa seems to have a taxi service option available, although I have no idea what it means by "cannot be used at transit ports".

Public transport is out as I land on embarkation day and it seems to take like 1.5 hours to get there, on top of wrangling with luggage on the way.

Eyeing a Western Med cruise in December, current choice is between Costa Smeralda and MSC World Europa, but I can't seem to find any reviews on either of these ships. Has anyone been on Smeralda and give their experiences with this ship?.

Eyeing a Western Med cruise in December, current choice is between MSC World Europa and Costa Smeralda, but I can't seem to find any reviews on either of these ships. Has anyone been on World Europa and give their experiences with this ship?.

7 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Wingfield had a separate tour fee.  But one has an excellent idea to do both as they are adjacent.  Best to book Wingfield in advance, then schedule Romney around it.
 

Is Wingfield actually managed by someone? Or did you mean book a trail tour? All the ones I'm seeing leave super early in the morning, are there like other guides I can hire individually?

Hi there, just wondering if anyone has used them to book tours/excursions?

Hi there, just wondering how feasible is it to do the Wingfield Estate hiking trail on my own? All the tours leave way too early in the morning, and I would also rather have more time to spend on the Romney Manor grounds.

Also could anyone help me understand the relationship between Wingfield Estate and Romney Manor? If I'm already visiting Romney, do I get access to Wingfield with it?

Thanks.

Hi there, anyone know if Laviscount Island tortoise sanctuary is still open and if it is, how to actually get to it? Haven't been able to find any info anywhere other than the occasional bundle tour with Stingray City (that they said they couldn't do because I should book through the cruise ship) and one of the Adventure Antigua tours which doesn't have them together.

Thanks in advance.

Hi all, as the title suggests, am looking at a Caribbean cruise for December and have a choice between Southern vs Eastern. To what extent is either better or different from the other? Are there islands that are considered "must see" for either itinerary or for the region in general?

Some more notes:

• We are not too big on swimming or watersports
• We do love nature excursions and hiking, and petting furry animas
• We are also not particularly big on shopping
• If one sees noticeably less tourists than the other, that is a plus

With the gradual reopening and recovery, I have been eyeing Mexican Riviera cruises, and notice that Norwegian Bliss is available as an option vs Majestic Princess.

However, I have had a previous extremely lackluster experience on board Pride of America, characterized by poor organization, bad food, too many guests and not enough space, the utter inability to actually dine freestyle due to lack of capacity in the dining rooms, and various other issues as noted here. I got the overall feeling that it's built that way on purpose so you'll shell out for extra services or to eat in the specialty restaurants.

So my question is, for those of you who like Norwegian, what do you like about it and think it does better than other mass market lines like Carnival, Royal, or Princess?

3 hours ago, jfeathe said:

 

Looks like someone accidentally deleted the worksheet and started on their family budget!! 😁

 

 

Doc reverted.

Looks like someone needed to double check the header name before editing the worksheet.

6 minutes ago, Anita Latte said:

 

Yes, my understanding is that if you don't contribute to your points at least every three years, your points account will zero out, points will expire, points will die. However you want to put it. And they say that you can only do the status match once, so it's not like you can lose your points and then match up again and start over. It's like a once shot deal. I think it's a wonderful program and I'm very happy to have been given what I was.

For sure. I just felt it needed to be pointed out because most status match programs with other industries/services just give you the status but not the corresponding nights. For example, I have Marriott Gold via the credit card, but it doesn't give me the corresponding total elite nights for that status, so if I want to make Lifetime Gold or Platinum, I still need to accrue those normally.

12 minutes ago, Anita Latte said:

 

Exactly. My match level was given the lowest level of points for that level. 4300 for gold.

TBH giving you the points to get you to the status is much better than just giving you that status, as it makes it much easier for you to get to the next level of status.

Only problem with MSC's program is that you need to cruise with them once every...3 years, was it? Because your status will expire otherwise.

Welp, it's down again to 44.5/share, likely due to overall market uncertainty shenanigans.

On 5/7/2019 at 6:30 AM, Philob said:

• Also beware of the local "baijiu".  Some of them will make Granny's moonshine smooth as a glass of cool water   

Surely you meant "also partake in the local "baijiu".  Some of them will make Granny's moonshine smooth as a glass of cool water "

2 hours ago, midohio said:

Got my match last week: Marriott Titanium Elite matched to MSC Silver.

Jeez, did someone at MSC have a horrible experience at a Marriott property or something?

The blurry residue obscuring the window from about 0:04 of that video seems like the biggest argument against an OV for Alaska unless it's significantly cheaper than going balcony.

2 hours ago, jondfk said:

I tend to agree with those who suggested roughest water between Cabo & Los Angeles, but every sailing is different.  We did the 10 day from San Francisco in February and the entire sail up the coast was basically as glassy as a lake. 

Is it the waters between Cabo and LA, or between LA and SF as seems to be implied by other posts?

18 minutes ago, Splinter said:

Long Beach is 7 miles from San Pedro, but 100 miles from San Diego. You wouldn't fly into LA to take a cruise out of San Diego!

No, but the flights themselves aren't too different from each other.

17 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

If you don't know, I am not sure it is worth my time to try and explain.

Ooh, posturing, how fun! Seriously though, your favorite lines include high-end luxury lines like Windstar, Oceania, and Seabourn. Clearly you do expect expect the cruise line to do much more than provide you with transportation, food, and board.

Do people generally find balconies necessary for Caribbean, Mediterranean, Mexican Riviera, or Panama Canal itineraries?

On 6/24/2019 at 7:20 PM, Splinter said:

HAL does 7 and 10 day Mexican Riviera cruises out of San Diego. If you are going to fly, the cost to fly into LAX and SAN from the Bay area is about the same, but the airport in SAN is only 3 miles from the pier, and there is a lot more to do there before/after your cruise if you want to extend your trip. LA is not your only option other than SF.

 

Southwest also has FREE 2 checked bags per person, so that can save you a lot compared to other airlines.

I was kind of considering LA/Long Beach/SD to be the same area, as they're not too far from each other.

Hmm, might need to look into Southwest, then.

6 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

 

Was having a hard time getting past your implied need to be entertained etc Then I found an interesting read from the New York Post, "Millennials need to put away the juice boxes and grow up". 

 

I'm sure that sounded a lot more worldly and sophisticated in your head, rather than "I like throwing away money for no reason".

Don't know about you, but my money on a cruise goes towards an enjoyable vacation. The cruise lines are hardly doing me a favor by granting me the privilege of cruising; they're providing a service that I pay money for, and if a specific itinerary doesn't offer as much value as another one, why would I pick the former over the latter?

Now if I were to lower myself into the mud pit of generational mudslinging, I could point out how the Boomers turned American dynamism into stagnation, inequality, and bipartisan fiasco...but that's neither here nor there. Instead I'll simply point out that the NY Post article seems to treat the Boomers' formative experience of railing against their parents' lack of understanding about drugs and premarital sex and rock and roll, as well as their later divorce rates, as somehow less worthy of contempt compared to what's ultimately merely some perceived immaturity caused in large part by the vividness fallacy.

18 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

I don't the cruise line to do anything to amuse me on a sea day.

Then what do you expect from the cruise line? A mere three square meals and a cot?

Welp, looks like it's holding steady for the past 2 days. Just went in on 100 shares in my Roth so I can enjoy delicious tax free dividends and eventual onboard credit.

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We used both :).  The cruise agent was not able to further reduce the price of the cruise, but tossed in over $700 in OBC.  The 5% comes off the best price.  MSC sometimes runs a 10% off sale so that is also the best time to book (assuming you can wait for a sale).  But there can be some difficult decision making if booking the Yacht Club since those cabins are often in very high demand.  In fact, we booked a MSC cruise over 18 months in advance and grabbed the last available YC cabin.  

 

Hank

So just so I'm understanding correctly, it's 5% off whatever price paid, regardless of whether it's booked directly or through a third party vendor? If you book third party, do you need to then contact MSC for this or is it automatic as long as your loyalty ID is provided?

1 hour ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Mostly gets rough after LA.  We haven't had much issue to San Diego or Long Beach.  Good thing is it's northbound so you have already been on the ship a few days.  Luckily we had been on the ship 15 days before the closet doors and drawers started sliding in/out.  So we just rolled over and went to sleep.    

So if I'm understanding correctly:

Going southbound from Bay all the way to Cabo is fine.

Going from Cabo to LA is fine.

Going from LA further north is chop?