Steirisch

I got an email from HAL today with the dates of the new culinary cruises.  Has anyone taken a culinary cruise on HAL before?  Just wondered how much the Chef is in attendance, or is it just for a couple of days?  This particular one with Rudi Sodamin is November 12-19 out of San Diego.

Does the Hyatt Place off 17th offer a shuttle (paid, I'm sure) to the port?  We'll be on HAL in January.

On 6/27/2022 at 8:27 AM, Fergieoy said:

I noticed over the weekend that we now must have a Covid test before we embark Celebrity Equinox and they have some options on the website but you mush have a US credit card but we only have an Irish one and the booking system will not allow me book a test on this date at the port. Would anyone be able to let me know of a reasonably price company in Key West that can test us and it will be acceptable to the cruise company.   

 

thanks in advance 

Fergie  

  You can buy prepaid Visa cards in many denominations ($25, $50, etc.) at many drug stores and grocery stores here.  I wonder if that would work.

 

On 6/27/2022 at 8:27 AM, Fergieoy said:

 

 

Thanks for the help everyone.  My mind is at rest.  

The reason this may be our last cruise is my husband's eyesight is getting worse and worse.  But he does love cruising, so maybe just the feeling of being on the sea will be enough.  Cheers.

Two years ago on Crystal Cruises, my husband sent out his tuxedo to be pressed and they ruined it.  Of course, they reimbursed us for the cost, but now my husband has no tuxedo.  If we do a Queen Mary 2 cruise, is he allowed to wear a dark suit and tie for a formal night, or is that looked down upon?  I can't see him buying another tuxedo beforehand since this will probably be our last cruise.  Any advice will be appreciated.

This was sometime in the 90s, on the Crystal Harmony, I had eaten a bit too much at dinner, so went back to the cabin to change and took a walk around the promenade deck.  It was still a bit light at 11:00 pm and off to the side of the ship I saw a lone beluga whale not too far away.  I was so excited and no one to tell at that moment.  Still one of the highlights of that cruise.

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 4:53 PM, Orlando Vic said:

 

Do you possibly remember the name of the tour company you used?

Hi Vic,  Sorry, I don't remember.  It was arranged by the cruise line.

A couple of years back our cruise stopped in Casablanca for a day and we did the Casablanca/Rabat tour. In Casablanca, the Hassan II Mosque is quite beautiful and built over the water. Then we took a drive through a "wealthy" residential district and then headed off to Rabat. We stopped for a pre-arranged lunch at a hotel and the food was excellent, then went on to see the Royal Palace and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and in the end we walked with our guide through a lovely residential maze of small streets to get an idea of how people live. It was a quite a nice tour and we're glad we saw something of Morocco. The only thing I wish was that I had brought some sort of neck pillow with me because on the bus drive back I was sleepy and my head kept jerking forward. We did drive along the coast on the way back (inland on the highway going to Rabat).

Jayayeff, any word on the Guggenheim or has that been scrapped? We have our tickets for a December visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and looking forward immensely.

My first cruise was on the old Royal Viking Sea back in 1981 or so. Funnily enough, we will be in Mahe, Seychelles on Crystal Symphony on December 1 and the Albatross (the Sea's new name) will be there, as well. Will have to take a photo by the bow with the Albatross name behind.

Bronte2, thanks for this valuable info. It's a shore excursion for us, then. I noticed on our cruise line's shore excursion page that the trip to the Piton goes up to 8000 feet and is not recommended for those with breathing difficulties, so unfortunately I have to give that one a miss. But the Garden of perfumes and spices excursion sounds equally lovely.

Hi all!

 

Very interesting discussion! I wonder when that scene we saw about cheating will be shown. We haven't had much drama this season.;)

What's going to happen to the twins when one leaves? Will the other be able to manage alone?

 

I'm in Canada & after Project Runway, a show about a Canadian woman living in France & cooking comes on. Does it also in the States?

 

Looking forward to Thursday's show which I won't be watching 'til Friday since I'm going to my sister's cottage for a few days.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

Is the cooking show you're referring to called "UpRooted"? We used to get it on Direct TV, but it isn't shown anymore. It was good and I learned a lot from it.

BTW, didn't Zac Posen say last week about the twins helping each other, "This has got to stop" or words to that effect?

We have had good luck with TransMiami. We used them once and found them quite reliable so have used them ever since. They have different sizes of vehicles. They will give you a quote so you can see the cost up front.

If you would like a good overview, you could look into "we hate tourism tours". We have done two tours with them...one to Sintra and one on the Templars (which I don't think they have anymore). They're based in Lisbon. They also have a tour where you can choose the places you want to see. Just google their name and you will come to their website.

That said, I find taxis quite inexpensive in LIsbon, so you can do some of the things listed above via taxi instead of tram, if your budget allows. We also found the Maritime Museum to be quite interesting, along with their collection of boats in an adjacent building. And in that general area is Pasteis de Belem, the marvellous pastries of Belem. You can eat inside or take some to go. If you go up to the Castle, you'll get a lovely view and photos.

One more thing: take a look at Lisbon's official tourist website here:

https://www.visitlisboa.com/see-and-do/sightseeing-and-activities

Enjoy.

For those with access to the Smithsonian Channel, to be broadcast from Wednesday, the series 'Mighty Cruise Ships' will feature the Europa 2:

 

 

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/mighty-cruise-ships/europa-2/1003687/3451005

My husband DVR'd this and I watched it this morning. Looks like an amazing ship. I wonder if they do the surprise ports cruises now and again. Quite expensive and I notice on their website that they don't stay in any one port very long. Few overnights.

As koliviera45 stated, depends on your budget, but if you're ready to splurge, the Burj Al Arab looks like they serve a quite elegant tea...see the following article and scroll down to the second listing (about $168 per person, but oh, that view).

https://lovindubai.com/best-of/six-of-the-best-afternoon-tea-places-in-dubai

I like the DK Eyewitness Guides in general, but sometimes those books are a year or more old. The one for Egypt on amazon.com was published in February 2016, for example. You might want to visit the Egypt Tourism Authority website for more up-to-date information, and a calendar of events. http://www.egypt.travel This is the official website for egypt tourism.

We did Venice the first time with a tour guide. She made things easier than if we had done it ourselves. She would take us into some church or other and then proceed to read to us from a guide book...the same one I had at home, but hers was the Italian language version. But, she did get us on a traghetto, which we wouldn't have done otherwise, and she took us over to Murano (which we probably would have skipped). So having a guide was good for us.

I will also say, if you see something in a shop window that interests you, stop right then and check it out. Chances are you won't find that shop again, even retracing your steps.

Have fun.

I visited the Marius Fabre factory some years ago. Quite informative. You can get a guide who speaks English, but you have to phone and reserve. Here is the visit page:

https://www.marius-fabre.com/en/content/17-visit-of-the-marius-fabre-soap-factory

Not sure if you've sailed yet, but you will get more answers on the Viking Ocean Board. I haven't sailed them yet.

Let me add my thanks to you for keeping the thread alive (and starting it again). As this thread is under "Other cruise lines" I guess many people don't see it. Thanks for all the good pix, too.

We have done a couple of tours over the years with We Hate Tourism Tours in Lisbon. They are fun and at most there will be 6 or 7 people on the tour. We did one a few years ago to Sintra and Cascais, and more recently did the Hills of Lisbon tour. They picked us up from our hotel one time and another, we met at Rossio Square, where all the guests were picked up.

A few years ago we did the British Isles cruise and docked in Belfast with no problems. It was raining on and off all day. Our ship had a shuttle bus from the dock to the center of Belfast. We were told we could exchange money there since we had been using Euros in Dublin, and now must have Pounds Sterling in Belfast. So the bus dropped everyone off at the tourist info office, and of course, they ran out of money. But there was an ATM nearby, so we could get Pounds from that. I don't think any ship would have a problem docking in Belfast. On the rest of that cruise, we were not able to put in at Galway and had to leave Londonderry early because of bad weather.

As far as the Titanic Experience, we chose not to do that. But about a 3-4 minute walk from the Titanic Experience building is the SS Nomadic, which used to be the tender for the Titanic (going from Cherbourg to the Titanic). This was a wonderful visit, for which we had pre-paid tickets (done online), although as it was raining, we were the only ones in line. We just took a taxi there and back (the Nomadic ticket office will be happy to phone for a taxi for you to go back.)

How did you get stuck with arranging tours for everyone? Sounds like a headache for all the time you're putting in...good luck with your arrangements.

Wow! Tons of good info in this thread. My eyes also swell up during cruises due to the excess salt in the food...eye bags throughout the cruise! But a friend recommended dandelion tea, which I took on my last cruise, and drinking it a few times a day helped with the ankles and eye bags. I used Roasted Dandelion Tea from Traditional Medicinals because it's not too bitter.

There are some YouTube videos showing what you will see, and I don't think this will spoil it for you. Apparently, because the tickets cost more to go to the 148th Floor, there are less people and not much, if any waiting. From my research, most people just go to 124/125, which you will also go to after 148.