EmsMom

We were on the same cruise and also enjoyed it very much. Here are a couple of answers to previous questions: yea there were kids in the indoor pool and they are allowed to be there. The yoga classes were around 8 or 9 in the morning and they had Pilates on the alternate days. They were offered on sea days. They also had Zumba twice a day on sea days as well as line dancing a couple of times. All were great exercise. We noticed a fe complainers as well....but I didn't let them ruin our fabulous trip.

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We have booked a full suite for ourselves on the Coral Princess and 3 mini suites for our kids and grandkids. If we want to always eat dinner together what happens to our special suite dining benefits? Can we bring them as guests or will they have to pay?

Thank you.....that is helpful. Guess I'll call Princess since I've yet to hear back from my TA after several requests.

It is my understanding that we can get a credit for my husband being a veteran. Does anyone know what I need to submit and where to submit it? I thought it was $100 cruise credit. Is that correct?

We are going to be in Limon in December and have booked a tour with SYL Travel that takes us to the Jaguar Sanctuary and the Tortuguero Canals. They also include the banana plantation but as you mentioned it will be closed. We have not used them before but they get really good reviews on Trip Advisor and you don't have to pay in advance.

We travel everywhere (sometimes up to six weeks) with one carryon each and a backpack. That way our luggage is always with us when we arrive and if we have to make a quick change of flights, we are able to do so quickly and easily. I always feel like we have plenty of clothes and I don''t think anyone ever really notices anyways. When we went to Alaska, it was early in the season and cold and rainy.....I used a water proof (not water resistant) jacket with long underwear and a turtle neck underneath. I was fine. I didn't think to take gloves and wished I had as my hands were cold. The way I pack is I take about six tops and six bottoms that are mix and match. That way I have 36 different outfits which is more than plenty. For formal nights I wear a long black skirt (wrinkle proof) and a couple of thin fancy tops....I would really only need one but often take two. I wear my jacket and biggest shoes on the plane and I use compression bags to give myself more room on the suitcase. I only take one set of workout clothes and one bathing suit. I often just rinse out my clothes in the sink in the sink and hang them in the shower to dry....or we use the ship's laundry service. Doing it myself isn't to save money---I just don't like dirty clothes and it's easy enough to rinse them out. As far as shoes, I take a pair of flip flops, a pair of shoes I can wear in the gym or for walking and a pair to wear with my dressy clothes. My husband carries his navy sports coat on the plane and takes a windbreaker (he doesn't get as cold as I do) and he wears the sports coat with navy pants on formal night. We also know that if we ever need anything, we can buy it on shore or on the ship. Alaska is amazing.....hope you enjoy your trip.

We are taking our children and grandchildren on a 10 night Panama Canal cruise next December. My TA says that we can only get tables for 8 in the dining room which would mean that 4 of us would have to sit at a different table which kind of defeats the purpose of taking a family cruise. Has anyone had any experience with taking a large group and how did you handle the dining limitations? We are also in a suite but the others have mini suites. Lastly, on Princess do you have to pay for the excursions when you sign up for them or do you pay when you are on board? This is our second Princess cruise but we did private excursions on or other cruise.

I am trying to book two mini suites, one interior, and one S-5 suite for the 12/8/16 Coral Princess Panama Canal sailing. I can't get the cabins I need and the price has gone up in the last few days that I've been working on putting the trip together. I guess I can only hope that this sale will apply to our sailing. Does Princess give any discount for past cruisers? We have taken one Princess cruise in the past. We usually cruise Oceania but since we are taking grandchildren for our 50th anniversary trip, we thought Princess would be a better fit and thought the Panama Canal would be really interesting for them. I had no idea we would have trouble getting cabins this far out!!

Our cruises in French Polynesia have been our favorite cruises ever. The first cruise we rented a car on Tahiti and drove around Tahiti and Tahiti Iti a few times. We enjoyed it the first time but once was enough. Pre cruise we spent three nights in Moorea in an overwater bungalow at the Hilton. It was amazing and memorable. If you have the time and money, it is so worth it. There is a lot to do there both in the water and on the land. Last time we went we stayed at a very eclectic hotel which I found on Trip Advisor called Fenua oe Mataieo (maybe not spelled correctly). It was also an amazing experience. You can rent a car on Moorea and tour on your own or you can go on various tours. It is very easy, inexpensive and fast to get to Moorea from Tahiti via ferry. Our second hotel had kayaks we could use so we kayaked, hiked, snorkeled and ate as they had wonderful food. Again, it was memorable and amazing. We used Patricks and Reef Discovery on Bora Bora which were both excellent. The motu picnics and snorkeling are really fun. Hope you enjoy your trip......I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

We used my Priority Pass at the Lima Airport last May. I have free Priority Pass through my Platinum AMEX card but I had to pay about $25 for my husband to go in. We arrived at the airport very early because of an early connection from the Amazon and even thought it wasn't the best lounge I've ever been in, it was sure better than sitting in the airport general seating area. One thing that was a problem for us was that we weren't in a place where we could print a boarding pass before we arrived so we didn't have one when we arrived at the airport. The Delta counter didn't open until 3 hours before the flight and we were there about 6 hours before the flight. The lady at the information counter said we couldn't use our iPhone boarding passes so we were unable to pass through security to get to the lounge. Luckily, I asked another agent if we could use the boarding passes on our phones and she said that would be fine so we were able to pass through security and go directly to the lounge. I can't speak for the lounge in Buenos Aires but the Lima lounge was okay and we had drinks, light snacks and comfortable chairs.

We sailed on the Ryndam last year from Barcelona to Dover and thoroughly enjoyed it. We thought the crew, the food, the itinerary and the service were great. We had our 11 year old grandson with us and he loved it....especially the Club Hal which was excellent. There was a nice mix of people and ages. We had a balcony cabin which was an adequate size for the three of us. The price was about 1/3 the cost of a comparable Oceania cruise with the same itinerary. It was really a great deal because the third passenger was free. This was our third HAL cruise. We wouldn't have taken our grandson on Oceania as they have no kid's program and there isn't much for kids to do on board. This year we took our third Oceania cruise. We were on the Mariner sailing from Tahiti to Lima and had a concierge level cabin. It too was an excellent cruise and we totally enjoyed it. Our next cruise in on the Oceania Nautica from Cape Town to Singapore which we chose for the itinerary. For us, we are happy on either of these lines. O is a little more upscale and the food a little fancier and better but being that we aren't big foodies, it isn't an issue. We don't use the excursions on either of them but the O excursions are ridiculously priced in my opinion. One of our priorities is the itinerary so if they had the exact same itinerary, I would probably go with HAL if price was a consideration. We have not used O air but I know you can upgrade to business class if you pay extra. If you don't use their air, you get a credit but in my experience, the credit does not cover the cost of buying your own ticket so unless you are using points, you might be better off using O air. You can get an air deviation if you want to go earlier or stay longer but usually there is a fee for that. So bottom line, for us, we would be happy with either of these cruise lines. The determining factor for us would be itinerary, whether we are taking kids, and the price.

Next month will be my first sailing on an O class ship and I'm wondering if I should blow some of my OBC by inviting members of our Roll Call to dinner in Privee one night. I have two main concerns: (1) I know the food comes from Polo and Toscana but does it count as one of your specialty restaurant reservations? (2) Do you feel as though you are in a fishbowl with other passengers gawking at you through the windows? Looking forward to advice from those who have tried it. Many thanks.

We went to a dinner in Privee on our recent cruise that was organized by someone we met on Cruise Critic. There were 10 of us to split the cost. The really nice thing about it was that the shape of the table was very conducive to conversation and we could hear and see everyone so we could talk within the entire group at once. It was a really nice and interesting group of people and we enjoyed it immensely. I ordered the sea bass from Toscana which I didn't like at all and I sent it back. It was no problem and it was most likely a matter of personal preference that I didn't like it. I was expecting Chilean Sea Bass like they had in Red Ginger and it was completely different. Everyone else seemed happy with their food. No gawkers through the windows and the service was excellent. We did talk to a couple who ate in Privee a different night and they weren't thrilled with the food.....well it is the same food you can get in Polo or Toscana so if you are only interested in the food, then I guess it wouldn't be worth it. For us, it was about the ambiance and the company. The room was beautiful (even though it's not my personal taste in décor) and we would happily do it again. For us it was worth the extra money

I checked online and it looked like $25 was reasonable. It was a 15-20 minute ride as there was a lot if traffic. We thought it was $25 well spent. It was safe and dependable.

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We had also heard that it wasn't safe to just hail a taxi outside of the port so we booked with a company called taxidatum.com. They were recommended on TripAdvisor. I made the arrangement online and they were very responsive as far as getting the taxi set up. We went from the port directly to the airport for $25. The driver was right outside the port with a sign and was a really nice man with a nice car. We were really happy with their service. We met others who were using them as well to drive them around Lima. We took the ship's shuttle to the port entrance where the taxis are. The taxis can't come into the port where the ship docks, however, I did notice that there were some tours that were able to pick up inside the port.

We just did an Oceania cruise from which we disembarked in Lima. From there, we went directly to the airport and got a flight to Cusco where we spent two nights touring Cusco and The Sacred Valley. Then we took the train to Aguas Calientes where we spent the night and the next day we went up to Machu Picchu. We took the train back to Cusco late that afternoon where we spent another night. In addition we then spent 3 nights at an Amazon Jungle lodge. For seven nights, we spent $4536 for the two of us together. This didn't include the price of the flights we took to Cusco, to the jungle and back to Lima from the jungle. It included all meals at the jungle camp and breakfasts in Cusco and breakfast and dinner in Aguas Calientes, all transportation (except for flights), private guides and drivers. We thought it was a really good value and the tour company did a great job. The guides were really good and the drivers were safe and careful. I don't know what the cost of the Princess tour is but I know the O tour was really expensive...as are all of their excursions. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley are really amazing and worth the time, money and effort to get there!

What is the best way to get from the port to the airport in Lima? We have an 11:45 flight so need to get there quickly and easily. Do the taxis come into the port and will there be enough of them to get one quickly?

We stayed at the Marina last spring and found it to be an excellent location and enjoyed our stay there...We had our grandson with us and had three beds and there was still plenty of room for sitting and having our breakfast. We also had a nice view of the marina and enjoyed walking around down there. We felt very safe in Barcelona, however, we carried all of our money and credit cards in our money belts and therefore felt that we were in no danger of being pickpocketed....better be safe than sorry. There were plenty of great restaurants nearby and we were able to walk everywhere. We actually walked to the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell but it is a long walk (but a pretty walk). Also walked up to Montjuic which was a nice walk as well.

One word of warning on hair blowers, flat irons and curling irons....unless it has dual voltage, even with a converter and adaptor you have a high risk of burning it up upon plugging it in. I have witnessed this happening several times and had it happen to me as well. Now I have a dual voltage flat iron and hair blower (I bought them on Amazon and the description will say it has dual voltage). Most cell phones already have dual voltage so no problem there. If you get appliances with dual voltage, all you will need is a plug adaptor. Sometimes the hotels will furnish them if you ask but I have found it easier to just bring my own. I bought a set of various adaptors at a specialty store that carries travel items.

The Marian View is not a hotel with all of the hotel amenities but we totally enjoyed our stay there and found Paddy to be very helpful in answering our questions about the area.

We used Spain Day Tours and thought they did a great job. There were several of us in a group that we organized on the ship and they picked us up at the ship and then on to Santiago. What I really liked about this tour was that the guide took us on a tour and told us about everything but then we had some time to explore on our own which we really appreciated. We also used this company for our tour of the Alhambra.

Sorry---we were on the Ryndam....not the Nautica.....but the rest of the review is correct....

We had an upsell on the Nautica from an Oceanview to a Spa Verandah cabin. I really didn't care if it was a spa cabin but we were happy to get the balcony so we took it as it was a good deal for us. I would never pay extra for just being in a spa cabin because there was nothing extra that was worth anything in my estimation. The amenities are as mentioned above and it is almost laughable that HAL would try to make these appear to be premium cabins with extra amenities. We loved the cruise and the cabin was just fine but the spa amenities were pretty worthless as far as we were concerned. The little fountain just took up counter space. If they would offer spa passes or vouchers for fitness classes, that might make these cabin more desirable and worth the extra fare.

Zoom is worth every penny you will pay him...His tour is really comprehensive and he is also very knowledgeable and speaks excellent English. The coffee at the top of the Rex Hotel was an incredible experience and the trip to the Mekong Delta was one of our all time favorite tours. Zoom warned us about the war museum and said we would probably find it offensive....We went anyways because they had one of the planes like the one my husband crewed for during the war. Zoom was right...it was offensive and after we looked at the planes we were ready to leave. That was the only part of the two day tour that we didn't like but Zoom had warned us about it. You can't go wrong with Zoom!!

We used Tong in Bangkok and understand your frustration as we had the same problem with her lack of response. When she finally did respond and organized our tours and our airport pickups, she did a great job. Our flight got in around midnight so we wanted a pickup from the airport to our hotel. It went without a hitch. She also arranged our transportation from the hotel back to the airport for our flight to Cambodia and once again arranged for a pickup when we got back to Bangkok. We had another lady as our guide and we were very pleased with the quality of the guide. We paid at the end of the two day tours and everything was as we had agreed to via email. I mentioned our communication issues with Tong to our guide and she said that Tong was just very busy but she agreed that it would be better if Tong would be more responsive to emails.

We used Zoom in Saigon and were more than pleased. We were there for two days and he did an awesome job of taking us where we wanted to go and making it very comfortable. He had a good understanding of what we wanted in a tour. We spent one day in Saigon and the other day at the Mekong Delta. We used Tong in Bangkok (but she wasn't our actual guide) and we were very pleased with our two day tour there as well. In Nha Trang and Hanoi, we used Mrs. Ha. We had no problems whatsoever getting back to the ship on time and there were never any worries as we always had plenty of time. We had a two day stopover in Halong Bay so we went into Hanoi on the first day and then took a junk ride in Halong Bay the second day. The ride to Hanoi was over three hours, the traffic was terrible and the road was worse.....very bumpy. Unfortunately, the day we were there was rainy and chilly which didn't help either. We felt pretty rushed since we only had about 4 hours there because we had to turn around and come back. None of us felt it had been worth it. That being said, the people that did overnights in Hanoi had a much better experience and really liked Hanoi. The junk ride was lovely....we stopped at two caves and rode around for several hours in Halong Bay. We loved Southeast Asia and consider it one of our favorite cruises.

We were on the Pride last March from Bangkok to Hong Kong. Most of the passengers were in the 50-60s age group I think. I don't remember many really old people and there were certainly some that were younger. The ship's entertainment group was younger and a lot of fun. We totally enjoyed meeting many fascinating people of all ages....a guy that had wrtten lyrics for songs we knew, a research physician, the concert pianist (who was on the younger side) and his newly wed wife. We are in our early 60s and active and young at heart and we loved every minute of this cruise and the people we met. I wish I would have been fortunate enough to have been able to sail Seabourne when I was in my 30s and 40s!!

I think that having a good driver in Vietnam is really important....the traffic is a mess. We used Zoom (who is an excellent guide) and his driver was excellent, thankfully. We saw other drivers in Vietnam that weren't so great...some of the ship's excursion drivers were passing into oncoming traffic....the passengers weren't very happy. The other drivers we had were also excellent (as were the guides).....Tong in Bangkok and Mrs. Ha in Da Nang and Hanoi.