drakestravels

MSC Ocean Cay Shipwreck Snorkeling

Highly recommend this tour if interested in snorkeling. Beware is sells out in advance so book it soon if interested. Great time and give you about an hour in the water with a 2 hour duration - 15-20 min boat ride to remote island from Ocean Cay. All gear provided as part of the tour. You can also bring you own. 

Ocean Cay Snorkeling Youtube video

A port stop - via tender at Phuket Thailand. DIY taxi you hire for the entire day and rode to Patong City Beach. Highly recommend hiring a "day taxi" to do whatever you want and easily available once you get off the tender.

Didn't plan any tours and did the DIY shopping at a nearby mall. Recommend since close to ship and good deals. Great experience and would love to go back. Tons of taxis as soon as you leave the ship and easy return also. There's also currency exchange before you leave the cruise terminal.

Didn't plan any tours and did the DIY shopping at a nearby mall. Recommend since close to ship and good deals. Great experience and would love to go back. Tons of taxis as soon as you leave the ship and easy return also. There's also currency exchange before you leave the cruise terminal.

I stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station. Great location and walkable. Anything walkable to cruise port will be in a a good central location since ships dock right at the center of town.

A stop while on the Diamond Princess

Sailed on the Diamond Princess around Japan and Korea - Enjoy!

Wasn't there on a cruise stop but noticed when we left in the afternoon there was longer lines. We arrived at opening and highly recommend. Even if on a cruise try to get there asap. Lots of tour buses later

It depends how much you read into things. It's big and there is a lot to see outside of the building also and walking. For the building itself 1:45 could work if you pace yourself. If you want to see the nomadic and other outside areas you'll need more time.

Going to Amsterdam and want to see a real working windmill? I was disappointed when I was there for a day and learned all the morning tours for the next day were booked. I figured for an organized tour with transportation, translation, and help with food it was worth the 70-80 euros per person. I figured instead I would just walk around town the next morning and see what the city offered versus making the trip outside of downtown to Zaanse Schans.

Since I was staying next to Amsterdam Central Station and where the cruise ships parked, I knew public transportation had to offer some options. I did some quick research and learned I could take a public bus directly to Zaanse Schans for 10 euros round trip with buses running every 15 minutes. Amsterdam Central Station is a just an easy 10 walk from the cruise ships or trolleys could get your there in a few minutes. Once at Central station, a train was also an option and slightly faster but required a 15 minute walk from the station to Zaanse Schans versus the bus which dropped you just a couple minutes away. So the overall duration was the same but walk or ride was the choice which you should consider local weather conditions also.

TIP - Highly recommend arriving if possible just prior to 9am. All the tour buses (hundreds if not thousands of folks) start arriving around 915-930am. We arrived at 845 and had a great experience with the place being empty and even help local folks open and start a wind mill before it opened to the public (see video). Certainly an unforgettable experience.

While Windmills have a per person admission fee (around 5 euros) all other sites like the local cheese factory and wooden shoe museum/factory and demo were free. We were sitting next to folks in organized tours from downtown and cruise ships during the wooden shoe demo that likely paid 80 euros per person compared to our 10 euros (per adult and children 1 euro). In addition we could go at our own pace and set our own agenda.

The public bus ride back was great and nonstop (around 25 minutes). The bus trip going made a couple of stops but no changes were required so transit time going was about 35 minutes. You can buy your fare at the main station prior to leaving however child fares must be purchased when boarding.

Highly recommend seeing Zaanse Schans and DIY! Save money and time and have more flexibility. Check out the video of what Zaanse Schans offers. See Holland outside of the city and still have some time to walk around Amsterdam.

Like most cruisers I have a fascination with the Titanic. The "Titanic Belfast Experience" I think is the best exhibit and world's largest dedicated to the Titanic. Highly recommend for anyone stopping in Belfast. The museum offers a greater focus on the construction of the ship and conditions in Belfast when the ship was built. There's even a ride inside the museum simulating the work conditions at the shipyard. The museum itself is built on the site where the Titanic was built a developing area in Belfast known at the "Titanic District". There is a lot to see and do in this area. There's even the SS Nomadic which is the only surviving White Star Line vessel which was used as a tender to the Titanic in France prior to the transatlantic crossing.

Like most cruisers I have a fascination with the Titanic. The "Titanic Belfast Experience" I think is the best exhibit and world's largest dedicated to the Titanic. Highly recommend for anyone stopping in Belfast. The museum offers a greater focus on the construction of the ship and conditions in Belfast when the ship was built. There's even a ride inside the museum simulating the work conditions at the shipyard. The museum itself is built on the site where the Titanic was built a developing area in Belfast known at the "Titanic District". There is a lot to see and do in this area. There's even the SS Nomadic which is the only surviving White Star Line vessel which was used as a tender to the Titanic in France prior to the transatlantic crossing.

We will be there next week - definitely DIY! We are renting a car for several days and plan to make a day out of Zaanse Schans, Volendam & Marken. Your video was fantastic. I am really excited to see this part of the Netherlands.:D

Thanks for the nice comments - had a great time and sure you will also!

Most of the "street" vendors will require cash. I thought it was interesting that after I exchanged money at the pier, I found out that the frequent shuttle service ($10USD) was booked to the room so cash for that wasn't needed. Most retail and businesses "in" a building took credit cards. If you're going to Japan, I found more cash only places there. In theory if you're not going to buy anything from local vendors, you can likely get buy without any cash but have a few major credit cards in case type not accepted or declined. So it depends on your spending interest but you can get buy with a little cash and use credit cards for major purchases. Of course you're going to get fees each time you convert money so something to think about both ways. We didn't use any public transportation or taxis so can't comment on that. Hope this helps.

Going to Amsterdam and want to see a real working windmill? I was disappointed when I was there for a day and learned all the morning tours for the next day were booked. I figured for an organized tour with transportation, translation, and help with food it was worth the 70-80 euros per person. I figured instead I would just walk around town the next morning and see what the city offered versus making the trip outside of downtown to Zaanse Schans.

Since I was staying next to Amsterdam Central Station and where the cruise ships parked, I knew public transportation had to offer some options. I did some quick research and learned I could take a public bus directly to Zaanse Schans for 10 euros round trip with buses running every 15 minutes. Amsterdam Central Station is a just an easy 10 walk from the cruise ships or trolleys could get your there in a few minutes. Once at Central station, a train was also an option and slightly faster but required a 15 minute walk from the station to Zaanse Schans versus the bus which dropped you just a couple minutes away. So the overall duration was the same but walk or ride was the choice which you should consider local weather conditions also.

TIP - Highly recommend arriving if possible just prior to 9am. All the tour buses (hundreds if not thousands of folks) start arriving around 915-930am. We arrived at 845 and had a great experience with the place being empty and even help local folks open and start a wind mill before it opened to the public (see video). Certainly an unforgettable experience.

While Windmills have a per person admission fee (around 5 euros) all other sites like the local cheese factory and wooden shoe museum/factory and demo were free. We were sitting next to folks in organized tours from downtown and cruise ships during the wooden shoe demo that likely paid 80 euros per person compared to our 10 euros (per adult and children 1 euro). In addition we could go at our own pace and set our own agenda.

The public bus ride back was great and nonstop (around 25 minutes). The bus trip going made a couple of stops but no changes were required so transit time going was about 35 minutes. You can buy your fare at the main station prior to leaving however child fares must be purchased when boarding.

Highly recommend seeing Zaanse Schans and DIY! Save money and time and have more flexibility. Check out the video of what Zaanse Schans offers. See Holland outside of the city and still have some time to walk around Amsterdam. Let me know if you have any questions or if you need any travel tips!

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In June 2018 I went on the Diamond Princess for 5 nights with stops in Busan South Korea and Kagoshima Japan. I posted info and a video link in this forum for Busan DIY and received a lot of feedback and interest and now I'm sharing information and a video from Kagoshima and the Princess organized tour I took to the Kamikaze Peace Museum and Samurai houses and gardens.

Kagoshima is an interesting port since the ship actually docks in a former volcanic crater and next to an active volcano. You actually see volcanic ash on the ground everywhere around the cruise terminal and the nearby volcano is active on a daily basis.

Since the previous stop was South Korea, Japanese Customs has to be cleared prior to boarding the tour buses and a group clearing was organized to expedite the process which required everyone to carry their passport with them. The tour was offered in English or Japanese so ensure you booked the applicable tour if you're thinking about taking this tour.

Chiran is about a 30-40 minute ride away from Kagoshima based on traffic. On the way you will see the country side and green tea farms (no stops just outside the windows). The first stop will be the Kamikaze Peace Museum.

The Kamikaze Peace Museum is actually not a touristy place and you'll see a lot of Japanese folks there. Most of the displays are in Japanese with a few thing in English. Audio guides are available in multiple languages for a small fee. Tour guides are not allowed to lead "tours" in the museum so you will be on your own with the allotted time (around 90 minutes) at this stop. Brief tour information is shared "outside" however inside it is quite and photography is limited in certain areas.

The second stop is also in Chiran just a few minutes away to see Samurai Houses and Gardens. Tour guides explain everything at this stop and lead groups but also offer folks to tour on their own and meet back at the buses at a designated time. One of the Samurai houses offers free green tea also which is generally on of the busier and impressive gardens to tour.

After the two stops above, the buses take guest back to the ship. Overall the tour is listed as a half day tour and I highly recommend the Kamikaze Museum and the Samurai portion was nice. You can probably organize something on your own with other transportation but based on distance and limited English outside of the main city, make sure you do your homework. Didn't see many taxi's out in the country around Chiran.

I attached a couple pictures from cruise terminal as a reference. There is little "at" the cruise port which looks like a man made island. There's a park and few local booths set up in the terminal for misc items and very limited shopping. You'll definitely need ground transportation to explore this port since walking is not an option based on distances to anything besides the local park around the ship.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.

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Here's a couple pics from the ship off each side since I received some questions of which port or dock. Don't know the specific name of terminal but this will provide an idea of location. I saw someone elses video which required them to take a shuttle across the "bridge" and this was not the case when we docked this summer (June 2018).

I took a summer cruise and Busan was a port with a day to spend exploring. I decided not to take an arranged tour and explored on my own to check things out around the main city area which included street markets, shopping and the famous Jagalchi Fish Market. I knew very little prior to arrival and want to share my experience for others that maybe in a similar situation.

I was on the Princess Diamond and transportation shuttles ran on a regular basis to drop off and pick up in the downtown shopping district. There's nothing "at" the cruise port besides a mobile currency exchange and shuttles and you'll need to get some type of transportation to explore. Once dropped off there was plenty of things to see and do to keep you busy for day. We didn't do any temples or shrines and stuck to exploring the local street markets and shopping and walking around the area.

Highly recommend walking around the Jagalchi Fish market area. This is a huge area and you'll be amazed with the different types of seafood and creatures being offered with many places cooking right in front of you. Even if you don't eat or purchase anything, it's a site to see.

Shopping in the area includes a lot of street vendors but there is also a modern mall with the Lotte department store. Both the street vendors and mall offer a lot of food options also.

Overall a good day walking around downtown and seeing the different sites and culture. Obviously would like more than a single day but easy and a lot to explore around town if you choose to do something similar.

I made a video from the day if interested or feel free to reply if you have any questions if you're planning something similar.

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