Nitemare

I have followed railroad forums for a long time and I have NEVER heard of any traveler not having sufficient room for their luggage.

That being said, if there are 5 of you with 6 bags each, there might be some serious "Tetris-like" maneuvering going on to get it all stacked nicely.

1 hour ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks both. I’m on princess and we leave at 4pm, onboard at 1 but i’m not 100% sure. I won’t know until a week before. Your posts made me switch things up. I will go to isabella gartner and freedom trail the day before. This will give me more time to eat and see sights. Then i will try and cram in the mfa the day i leave. The advantage is i’m only a 5 min uber from hotel or 14 minute walk. Anyways in this way i’m glad i won’t feel as rushed eating.  I know people think i’m crazy to try and do mfa in 1 hour and a 1/2 to 2 hours but i will focus on must sees. I really want to see the monet room. I will leave triple time to uber to the port. Sorry getting off track. Looking forward to eating in boston.

Cramming in the MFA in time to be at the port by 1PM doesn't seem possible to me.  Maybe do the MFA the same day as the Gardner -- they are neighbors in the Fenway neighborhood.  And do the Freedom Trail on departure day.  It's always open, so you can start as early as you can get yourself together

4 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

I just read our “How to use medicine “ section and it plainly states… Follow all instructions closely. That being said the directions states “Take this medication WITH FOOD OR A MILKY DRINK. Before taking the advice of some random person on CC, I would check with my doctor or the pharmacist if not both. Better safe than sorry. 
 

Enjoy your cruise!

I don't think we are disagreeing here

15 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thank you! Even some people from boston on trip advisor said don't get a lobster roll there lol. Does legal seafood have ok chowder? Was thinking of getting the lunch special with new england crab roll and clam chowder. I realize a lot of people prefer sail loft and neptune oyster but my hotel has changed and its not convenient. I was planning to have boston cream pie at the parker house the day i leave but not sure.

The best lobster rolls are in Maine.  But Massachusetts has some EXCELLENT offerings.  Belle Isle is definitely in our Top 5 (and we've had lobster rolls at well over 50 places).  Young's, in Orleans on Cape Cod is also Top 10.

Legal's has excellent chowder, as do many other places.  Legal's is a chain, as someone said, but they also have a bunch of "one offs", like Legal Harborside and Legal C Bar, which are worth trying out.  Even the regular locations are consistently very good.

Just make sure you take them AFTER eating.  Not before.  I was uncomfortable our first three days in Africa after taking them with my regular vitamins, just before eating breakfast.  Moved it to after I ate and zero issues

Not missing a thing.  You get half as much time ashore as you would on a 200 person ship

Newbury used to be the Ritz Carlton, it's one of the pillars of Boston hotels.  The Fairmont is also a Top 10% property in Boston

The Sheraton Boston is rarely that expensive.  I ran a few dates, using the 20th of the month as a "random" check:

12/20 - $161

11/20 - $297

10/14 - $361 (sold out on the 20th)

9/20 - $360

1/20/25 - $161

1 hour ago, dcruisers said:

Would appreciate-Suggestions on hotel to stay 2 days before cruise ( July 2025) with airport shuttle and possibly cruise port shuttle.  TIA

I don't think you will find an airport shuttle from KEF to Reykjavik, it's a 45-60 minute ride.  Use the Flybus or take a taxi (approx $140 for a cab).  I also have not heard of a hotel with a cruise port shuttle, the city is small, a cab won't be expensive or it may be walkable

Hotels with "101" in their address are centrally located, that is the equivalent of a zip code in Iceland.

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

I don't see anything about Connecticut in the post.

Well, I guess now that you have redefined CT as Cruise Terminal, I no longer see anything about Connecticut in the post, either.

2 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

I suspect they're using "BCT" to mean "Bayonne Cruise Terminal", which as we know is not the name of the cruise port in Bayonne.

That makes a ton of sense.  Still not the Connecticut part but I'm at least nodding my head now.

31 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

I'm in Boston twice a month for work and frankly couldn't justify it unless I have the corporate rate I have. As an example tonight the Fairmont Copley Plaza is $736 a night on their website for a standard King room including tax. This is not a 5 star hotel. 

 

The Newbury is $1049 tonight, the Westin Copley is $649, the Sheraton is $686 all in. This is a random Wednesday in September. This doesn't even take into account the truly 5 star options which are all in excess of $1200 a night tonight. 

 

Boston has an obnoxiously high priced hotel market mostly year round. 

Fairmont and Newbury are far from average hotels.  They are wildly upscale and unfair comparisons.

September and October *are* expensive months in Boston, yes.  But not $988 most of the time for the Sheratons/Hiltons of the world, as you just showed.

I'll be staying for 2 weeks for under $300/night in November and I did the same last April.

I'd take the train to/from Boston, or fly from Philly or whatever airport best works for you

Not sure what "BCT" is, but Bayonne is in New Jersey, not Connecticut

16 hours ago, Willwils said:

The Element hotel is next door to Aloft and has free breakfast. They are both Marriott brands. If you only want a 1 night stay I found you might need to book through Trip Advisor or Marriott/Element direct. 

I would never book thru TripAdvisor.  This just adds a third AND fourth party to the transaction, as TA doesn't actually book anything, they use another unknown party to actually make the booking.

Book direct, or use a 3rd party that you already know and trust.

For a 10AM flight I wouldn't add the expense of a hotel night.  Get off the ship at 6AM or so, with a reservation for Flybus or one of the other transfer companies which will get you to KEF in about an hour or so.  Be at the airport 3 hours prior to your flight and enjoy the ride home.

On 9/1/2024 at 4:07 PM, islandwoman said:

Having just returned from a cruise that included 4 shore excursions booked through Get Your Guide, here is my experience:  Two of the tours went off without a hitch and were excellent, just as expected. One of them, to Blarney Castle was much better and less expensive than the ship's tour to the same location.  Those on the ship's tour didn't have enough time allowed to kiss the Blarney Stone. Two of the excursions were changed by the providers, unacceptably, just a bit more than two days ahead of time.  I went online and cancelled those two just short of the cancellation deadline.  My credit card had already been charged, but Get Your Guide refunded the entire payment quickly.   

Comparing costs to ship tours isn't a fair comparison.  Ship tours are ALWAYS crazy expensive.

Nice complaint about GYG on TripAdvisor on the Iceland forum posted last night or early today.  bad excursion, and GYG won't do anything about it.

On 8/29/2024 at 3:09 PM, princeton123211 said:

Unfortunately that's pretty down the middle price wise for a 4 star hotel in Boston a lot of the time. There is a Marriott and Westin in Copley, a Hilton not far away, and another Hilton in Back Bay that might be a little less but will still be most likely on the high side. 

No.  $988 is NOT "down the middle" price for Boston at any time, other than maybe a last minute booking on Marathon Monday

37 minutes ago, red47 said:

Thanks, We've been to Boston before so just looking to lay low and people watch.😊Any suggestions on places that wouldn't be too far from airport? I do remember the traffic there! I appreciate your help with this.

The airport is across the harbor from the cruise terminal and from most of Boston.  There isn't really anything "near" the airport to hang out that is going to be particularly easier to get to the airport from than elsewhere in Boston, so I'd pick a place in town, like Copley Square, as suggested, or near Fanueil Hall or along the waterfront, depending on the weather.  If you want to stay close to the Cruise terminal and only "transfer" once, you could probably walk to the Institute of Contemporary Art along the waterfront, which has tons of seating and great people watching, plus options for a quick meal.

They've been discussing pre-clearance there for at least 6-7 years.  FWIW, clearing Customs in Boston isn't hard if you are arriving in off hours.  We landed mid day from Toronto on Porter and were landside in under 20 minutes, without Global Entry

We went to Westmann via ferry on our last land trip to Iceland, we were staying overnight and had a reservation on the 10AM ferry back to the mainland.  Due to high winds we didn't get off the island until 5PM, and they somehow squoze all (most?) of the cars planning to return onto that 1 ship. Literally door handle to door handle.

17 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Besides Legal Seafoods, any other restaurants you recommended within walking distance of the Hampton Inn & Suites? 
 

Thanks! 

Chickadee is excellent, and is basically next door.

Yankee Lobster for a sort of "shack" experience

My Diner is our favorite diner in Boston, the Galley Diner is good, too.  Both great b'fast options

Row 34 is our favorite seafood restaurant in Boston, we think it's better than Legals and more affordable

75 Liberty is good

Bar Volpe is excellent

We've been to Jokulsarlon on 4 separate days.  Some cloudy, some sunny.  Never seen it foggy, always been able to see from the ocean to the glacier.  We love it!

The price you quoted seems very high but it is likely your cruiseline has booked up all the local operators, but it might be worth seeing if you can do this independently for much less $

Lots of great alternatives for breakfast near the Aloft, which is also much closer to traditional Boston Siteseeing locations.

It also matters what is included in each tour.  There are lots of options on a South Coast tour, fewer on a GC visit

48 minutes ago, Lenbro1944 said:

Will be in Reykjavik on Viking cruise on July 3, 2025. Ship will be in port over night on July 2 and depart 6 pm July 3. Planning our own private day tour on July 3. Either the Golden Circle or the South Coast. If you’ve done either or both what are the pros and cons of each and which might you have liked better.

We've done both multiple times, once with a guide, once on our own.  Both are magnificent and you'll be happy with either one assuming you like incredible natural sights