KJMommy04

On 7/14/2023 at 6:20 AM, Hlitner said:

We agree with Marazul, that is a little sad to take kids to a fabulous/interesting part of the world and spend the day doing  what can easily be done with a 4 hour drive of home.  That being said, we are here to serve.  If you must, then do it in Cannes.  When you walk out of the tender pier area, just walk towards your left, always keeping the water on your left side.  You will quickly come to a sandy beach called Plage du Midi.  Along this beach there are some facilities/rentals.  There are also plenty of cafes in the area where you can get a decent lunch or snack.  Why do we know this?  We have spent a few nights at a nearby hotel, and want to that beach on a very hot day.  That being said, this was pre-COVID and I do not know about the state of current beach facilities.

 

Hank

On 7/13/2023 at 8:21 PM, marazul said:

Neither.  Too much to see at either port. Where else are you going?

 

But if you must, there are good beaches right by the tender port at Cannes.  You have to go further afield at Marseille.  But, truly, save the beach day for some less interesting places.

Is renting a car in Marseille a good option? If so, what would you recommend we see? We have rented in Cannes before and are experienced driving in Europe, so getting around shouldn't pose too much of a problem unless there is something specific about driving in that area we aren't aware of. 

2 hours ago, marazul said:

The beach facilities are still fine. 

In case it makes any difference to the OP, all beaches in the south of France are topless.

Oh my...I knew this, but had forgotten. Might be interesting for my 13-year-old son. 

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We agree with Marazul, that is a little sad to take kids to a fabulous/interesting part of the world and spend the day doing  what can easily be done with a 4 hour drive of home.  That being said, we are here to serve.  If you must, then do it in Cannes.  When you walk out of the tender pier area, just walk towards your left, always keeping the water on your left side.  You will quickly come to a sandy beach called Plage du Midi.  Along this beach there are some facilities/rentals.  There are also plenty of cafes in the area where you can get a decent lunch or snack.  Why do we know this?  We have spent a few nights at a nearby hotel, and want to that beach on a very hot day.  That being said, this was pre-COVID and I do not know about the state of current beach facilities.

 

Hank

I actually completely agree with you! I am notorious for giving no rest days when we travel, and my kids know this. (Last summer we spent two weeks in the UK and Ireland and I apparently wore everyone out.😆 ) However, I feel like swimming in the Med is an experience they need to have. Perhaps we can do a half-day tour in Cannes and spend a few hours at the beach in the afternoon. Thank you for your input!

13 hours ago, marazul said:

Neither.  Too much to see at either port. Where else are you going?

 

But if you must, there are good beaches right by the tender port at Cannes.  You have to go further afield at Marseille.  But, truly, save the beach day for some less interesting places.

The only other possibility is Santa Margherita. All other ports we have full day Rome in Limo tours booked. 

I do plan to book a full day private tour in one of France ports. I was hoping to give the kids the "swim in the Med" experience. My first trip to Europe, I never set foot in the Med because we packed every day with site seeing, and I regretted it! But, perhaps we could do a half day tour and spend a couple of hours at the beach afterwards. 

I would like to plan one relaxing beach day for an otherwise heavy sightseeing cruise itinerary next June. Which port, Cannes or Marseille, would you suggest doing a beach day and which beach? Preferably one with chair/umbrella rental. If it matters, it will be my husband and myself, our teenage children and my in-laws. Thank you!

Can anyone recommend a small/private boat tour from Santa Margherita? I am not finding much when I search for this. I would preferably like to see the Cinque Terre (from the water), but not sure if that is an option. Unfortunately, the ferry is not an option for us on the day we will be in port. 

Many thanks!

3 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

I just realized I didn’t blog our final night on the ship! So here goes.

 

We met up with our new cruise friends Pam and Doug at the Martini Bar for our last pre-show/dinner drinks.  I could not resist another Lycheetini (Lychee reminds me of Japan and my daughter who lives there). We took photos, conversed, and then headed to the Equinox Theater for our final production entertainment show “Life.”

All the performers shined in this, but a special shout-out to the dancers; as they gave their best performance in this one (kudos to the choreographer as well!). We had fun picking out our great dance instructors from the week, Kayla, Devon, Jed and Barrett in the cast.

 

After the show, our final dinner in Blu,  Started with the Grilled Tamarind Glaze Quail  (quite nice!) and then my wonderful waiter Calet told me the Grilled RibEye was the way to go for the evening, and he didn’t steer me wrong (never did once!) so it was delicious. Finished the evening off with a biscuit and chocolat mousse creation (not on the menu; they must have run out of the Tiramisu!). We were seated next to another couple we befriended on the cruise, Emily and Ryan, and the dinner conversation was wonderful; they are working with Celebrity on an interesting app that I’ll tell you all about once I’m home!

 

Shout outs to the amazing service we received all week in Blu from our waiter Calet (from Honduras), our assistant waiter Milan (from Serbia) host and hostess (not sure of official titles, Maitre D?) Franco and  Amelia (from Romania)  (so much energy!)  and our Sommelier Dennis.  If you see any of them on a future cruise, please say hello from us!

 

We talked for so long that we had about 10 minutes to change into today’s clothing, stuff last night’s dinner clothing into our luggage, and get the luggage out into the hall. Svetlana (the absolutely best cabin steward we’ve ever had!) was literally waiting, very concerned, outside our door for the luggage!) We got it into the hall with minutes to spare on the 10pm deadline.

 

And then...Silent Disco!  It was battle of the DJs; 3 channels, 60s/70s; 80s/90s and Millennials.  It was fun to switch back and forth on the different channels! You’d see your friends all grooving on a different channel, and switch and join them!  Shout out to the amazing, fun group from Tampa who we danced with last night and who lit up the ship, excursions, everything with their zest for life and travel!

 

Husband turned in, and I closed the casino down. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip (and I knew I wasn’t going to sleep anyway; never do the night before a travel day!) 

Thank you so much for your review and your photos! Perhaps I missed them, but do you have photos of your room? We are considering booking an Aqua Class room on the Equinox and are wondering what the refurbishment meant for the staterooms. Did you feel the staterooms had been refreshed nicely? Thank you! 

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Does your ship itinerary say ONLY "Capri" or does it say something like Capri (Naples) or vice versa?

 

This is a little trick cruise lines play to make you think of the ultimate destination rather than the port. For example, they might say "Athens (Piraeus) or Rome (Civitavecchia) or Florence (Livorno).

 

I would be highly surprised if a large RCCL ship is going to anchor off Capri and tender everyone ashore....

 

EDITED TO ADD:  If you provide the ship and the actual date it may be possible to check various port websites to see what they have listed.

It says "Naples (Capri)" which is why I think Capri is actually the port. 

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I was curious what was going on here, so I did a little poking around on Royal Caribbean's website.  I did not look at every single May cruise in the Mediterranean, but I see several with Capri in the equation.  On the initial screen that you see when searching for cruises, it shows "Naples (Capri)" in the itinerary list.  They also show "Rome (Civitavecchia)" and "Athens (Piraeus)".  So based on what we all know, you would think they are saying that Capri is the docking location for the Naples stop.

 

However, when you drill into the cruise details, they continue to show "Rome (Civitavecchia)" as a stop but they now show "Naples/Capri" as the stop.

 

There are multiple Royal ships set up this way for May 2022 including the new Wonder of the Seas, which is, what, the largest ship in the world?  If I'm not mistaken, I don't think the Oasis class ships tender anywhere.  

 

I suspect the ships will be docking in Naples like usual and you can certainly go to Capri if you choose to do so on an excursion. 

Yes, this is correct. It is the Wonder we will be on. I have been to Naples several times and have never seen it listed as it is for this itinerary "Naples (Capri)." In fact, before we were switched to the Wonder, it was just listed as Naples. 

When I look on the description of the port for this itinerary, it even says "cruise to Naples and head to....."

This change is still so new RCCL hasn't assigned our cabins yet, so after everything is settled, I hope to get some more info from RCCL. 

17 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

If you are going to Capri, you will be tendering.

That is what I assumed, but do the larger ships actually go to Capri or is this something new? 

We are booked on an RCCL cruise sailing this May. It was originally booked for this past May, but was canceled and has since changed ships twice. Our itinerary now shows that instead of docking at Naples, we will be docking (maybe tendering?) at Capri. I always though Capri could only handle the small ships. Does this sound correct? We have a tour booked with RIL from Naples but now I am wondering how this will work logistically if our port is truly Capri. 

45 minutes ago, Mynki said:

Historically Blu was always smart casual. Recently it has changed to Celebrity Chic dress codes. Although it's no longer 'formal' people in Blu do make an effort. 

If youre sailing in Europe or Asia even more so. 

 

He he will be ok with the attire you mention though. 

Thank you!

26 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Most people who dine in blu dress as recommended by celebrity for chic night.  Suggest you consider doing the same

I am aware of Celebrity's recommendations, but their recommendations for chic night leave a wide range of possibilities. The clothing I mentioned falls within those recommendations. My question is meant to hear experiences of those who have dined in Blu and can tell me what they have observed people wearing on chic night. People's experiences hold more weight to me than Celebrity's website. 

We will be sailing in the Med in a couple of weeks, and for the first time, will be in an Aqua Class cabin. Also for the first time, my husband is trying to convince me to leave our formal attire at home. We have always done formal nights to the full extent. If we are not in formal attire in Blu, will we feel out of place? My husband would be in khakis and a collared shirt, and I would wear a more casual dress. Would love opinions from those experienced Aqua Class cruisers. 

Thank you for your review! We will be on this sailing in a couple of weeks. In Dubrovnik, was the bus easy to use? Where are the bus stops in relation to the Pile Gate and the port? Did you need to pay in Kuna?

I am also sailing in a few weeks (Mediterranean). I booked this cruise well over a year ago, soon after the sailing was released. I always book early as it usually gives me the best price. I booked a 2B with a beverage package. Prices dropped significantly about two weeks ago to the point my 2B stateroom was costing $800 less per person ($1600 total) with two perks instead of one. I called my TA and because the Aqua Class staterooms were being offered for less than what I paid for our 2B, Celebrity upgraded me to an Aqua guarantee. I also kept the beverage package. While I always prefer to save money, I'm very excited to try Aqua class and the perks that come with it. So yes, they will not refund money, but if the price drop is significant enough, they might upgrade you. It's always worth it to at least ask. Regardless, I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

We used them summer before last for a transfer from Zeebrugge to Bruges, Belgium. The experience was fine, but it was only a transfer. When I book tours, I always book local companies with smaller vans (8 people max). 

I booked a cruise for this June that disembarks in Civitavecchia specifically so we can visit the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. We will be staying at a hotel by the airport, and it looks like we can take the train from FCO down to Nettuno and walk the remainder. Has anyone done this? Is it actually doable? We have been in Italy before, but have never used the trains, so I am not familiar with how this mode of transportation works. Do I need to book these tickets in advance? Any idea of approximate cost? We are also considering renting a car if taking the train will be too complicated. I'd appreciate any advice. Thank you! 

On 12/22/2018 at 10:15 AM, edinburgher said:

We bought a day ticket for the public bus and went up to a village above Rijeka for views and a short look around, then came back down into town. We used the ticket again to go up to Trsat Castle and the immediate area around it, and once back down we strolled around town. Do not even think about walking up to the castle!

 

The zoned ticket would have taken us further along the coast. Check websites.

 

The visitrijeka website is very helpful and has good info and maps to look at. Start there, also Tripadvisor.

 

We enjoyed our day there.

Do you recall the name of the village above Rijeka you visited?

I'm considering two Eastern Med/Adriatic itineraries for next summer. One has Dubrovnik and Koper and the other Split and Kotor. Which itinerary would you choose and why? We've never been to any Adriatic ports. The highlight of either trip for us will be Venice, so our main reason for choosing either of these itineraries is the same. Thank you!

Does anyone know of a place in Dublin where we can watch Irish dancing, or at least hear live Irish music, during the day? Our ship sails at 5:15pm that evening, so all of the evening pub shows are out.

We will be in Honolulu for 3 days prior to the cruise and we will have a car. If we go to the Dole Plantation would we be able to walk among the trees or just see them from a distance? Thanks for your help.

Yes, you can walk up to them. Just park in the Dole parking lot (free parking) and walk around.

Will you be spending any time on Oahu? If so, there are plenty of the rainbow trees here, and one of the easiest places to see them is in the parking lot of the Dole Plantation. Just another option for you.

I'd suggest renting a car and driving the Road to Hana, so long as neither of you get car sick. The Maui Revealed guidebook is a great resource for all the must see stops along the drive. You do need a full day to do the whole thing, though.

Also, I agree with edmonton2 and their suggestion of the Waihee Ridge trail. If you are into hiking, this is a must-do. You can see many waterfalls from he trail, but the views of the mountains and coastline are what make this an amazing hike. It's one of my favorite hike on any of the Hawaiian islands...and I've done a lot of hiking here!

Kauai is my favorite island! Even two days is not enough to take in all of it's incredible beauty. I see a cruise of the Hawaiian island as giving you a taste of what you need to come back and see for longer periods of time. :)