novalab

Thank you!  I sent your information on to my friends.  You were very helpful! Much appreciated.🐈

Its been ages since I have been on Cruise Critic.  Boy has the format changed!  I have a question about independent tours to Altun Ha.

I have some dear friends that are cruising the Caribbean for the first time.  They would like to see Mayan ruins so I recommended a

private tour to Altun Ha to them.  It has been several years since I have been to Belize.  We used a private tour company on our

last trip.  I'm out of the loop as it has been quite a few years ago.

Does anyone here have a recommendation as to a reputable tour company specializing in Altun Ha that I can foreward on to them?

A link or website address.  Hopefully that is still ok on CC?  

Many THANKS for any help or advice!!

Judy 

WOW! I just disembarked Mariners Sister ship Explorer last week. Never saw a line like this at Cafe Promenade. I wonder if their pizza ovens were having issues too.

Sorry you had to put up with that.

Sailing on Explorer in a few weeks. Does anyone know what firmness their mattresses are?

Thanks for any information.

Thank you Bob!

I have a change in my flight time leaving Seattle after my Explorer September Pacific coastal cruise. My flight now leaves at 11:10 AM. Am concerned it might be too early to catch.

Does anyone happen to know what time the early self assist option on Explorer lets passengers off the ship?

Thanks for any help or advice!

I'm guessing it boils down to how well you handle stress. Myself, I would go with the flight you have and if I missed it, I would get another flight or spend the night in Seattle and eat at Ruth Chris for a filet.:)

Lol, not a bad idea. But need to get home and ready for another flight on Sunday. I still have time to cancel and rebook if necessary.

Has anyone used the Self Assist off of Explorer after a Seattle Cruise? I have a 11:10am flight out of Seattle after our Sept. Coastal cruise and am concerned about getting to the airport on time. SW Airlines wants us checked in 1 1/2 hours pre flight.

Just wondering if I should change my flight to a later time.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

How much was it last year?

It’s been 14 months since we used the towncar service but if memory serves me right, it was $30 per person plus tip.

Does appear to be a mystery. Guess we’ll find out next month.

Thank you for your replies!

🐾

🐾

Judy

Our Meet and Mingle group on next months Explorer Pacific Coastal would love to know who our Cruise Director will be. Anyone have a clue?

Thanks for any information!

We did this same sailing last year on Explorer. Alaska is so amazing and we plan to return some day.

We will be back on Explorer next month on one of her Pacific Coastals. By any chance, do you remember who your Cruise Director was? Our Meet and Mingle group would love to know.

Thank you!

I see no one has answered you. I did a Google search...there is a phone number you could call, but no true website I could find.

Thank you CruiserBruce. I found a website last year when I did a search. It was a link from the main SeaTac site. Couldn’t find it this time. Will just wait until we get there next month and contact them in baggage claim via their bank of phones. Can’t imagine their fee going up too much over a year ago.

Does anyone happen to know what the current rate is with SeaTacs Stila Towncar service from the airport to downtown Seattle?

We used them last year for our Seattle cruise and would like to use them again in Sept.

Thanks for any information!

Awwww, thank you for posting this. We were on this same cruise a year ago. Loved it so much that we plan on doing it again next year.

Have a great time!!

I’m boarding Rhapsody on Sunday. I wonder if I can bring my dressage horse as a “comfort animal”...can you imagine?

If you bring your dressage horse I’m going to bring my hunter/jumper on my September Pacific Coastal! He’s such a big sweetheart and comfort to me!

But, on a serious note, on my last RCCL cruise last June, we witnessed a ‘comfort dog’ lunge at a passenger as they (the passenger) were exiting the ice skating rink. The woman who owned the dog had him sitting next to her on the aisle seat without a leash or restraint of any kind. We hope that he reported that.

Thank you everyone for all the great advice!! It is very much appreciated.

Our late September cruise (2018) will be stopping in Astoria (Explorer OTS). We would like to rent a car and sight see on our own. For those that have rented a car at this port, how far in advance should we make the rental reservations and which company should we make them with? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! There are only 2 of us so a compact would be fine. I realize our choices are quite limited as to a rental car company in this port. Thanks again!

Would love RCI to return to Mexico and more diverse Pacific Coastal cruises. The Jewel offered a wonderful Pacific Coastal a few seasons back. In addition to an overnight San Francisco stop, we sailed to Monterey and Santa Barbara. Would do that again in a heartbeat!

We had a virtual balcony on our recent Explorer cruise. We didn't hear any noise from the screen. This was our first interior cabin and I was a little apprehensive as I am a bit claustrophobic. Shouldn't have worried. The room had lots of mirrors and the VB screen really helped.

Thank you. We will be flying SW.

You are welcome😊

We might use them instead. How long after you called STILA did they show up? Do they have a fleet of vehicles standing by at the airport?

Is the phone to Stila easily seen at baggage claim?

We will be at Hotel Maxwelll downtown. Do they go to all hotels?

They were pretty quick to pick us up. Less than 10 minutes, so make sure you have all your travelers and luggage before you call. They do have a fleet of vehicles on site.

The phones are easy to spot. We flew in on Alaska Air. SW Air used the same baggage claim area. I am assuming it will be the same set-up no matter what baggage claim area that you will be at to claim your luggage. In the Alaska/SW area, you can't miss the huge sign and bank of phones on your left as you walk into the carousel area. My daughter used this service last year on her cruise and was equally happy with it. I don't think you will have a problem being dropped off at your hotel.

Thank you very much. You've answered our questions. At this point all we can do is try it so we'll know for ourselves. Sure sounds easy, especially the pick up at baggage claim. One more question, when you call I assume they ask you how many people and baggage, so they can tell you what kind of car you need, SUV or town car, correct? And they give you the cost based on where you're going? Sorry, that was 2 questions. I hope they go to all hotels because our hotel is not of Shuttle Express hotel list.

Yes, they did ask how many passengers and luggage. If it had been only 2-3 of us, we would have been picked up by a towncar instead of the SUV. They also asked us about our hotel. Their fees are set fees as I recall. They will tell you that too when you call them from baggage claim. We were really impressed by their service.

Hello!

I read on another website that if you take a taxi to the Pier you will get to the Pier drop off area faster than if you take a shuttle/uber/private car service. The lady mentioned taking Uber and having to wait for an hour in a que before actually getting to be dropped off. It almost doubled her Uber fare.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Unfortunately for us I have been warned by multiple cruisers that Embarkation is a Zoo and expect to wait.

 

Now this is for Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Sea cruise. Maybe other lines have different policies? Drop off procedures? Just wanted to check ahead of time.

 

Thanks!

A

Did the Explorer Alaska cruise this past June. We used Lyft from our hotel to pier 91. We arrived around 10:00. No lines for drop off. Passengers were still disembarking but it did not interfere with our arrival. We did have to wait in the embarkation area in the parking lot for about 45 minutes due to being there so early (most of us sat on our suitcases). When we were cleared to board, we handed over our luggage to the porters and headed for check-in. No lines inside. We were quickly checked in and immediately directed to board. Fastest we've ever been through check-in and on a ship!

Disembarking after the cruise was another story. We used the early self assist at 6:30 and that was a zoo! Had a reservation with the rental car shuttle service. They have a designated waiting area right outside the cruise terminal exit. Problem was, several limos were parked in the shuttle's spaces. Our shuttle driver got pretty firm with them when he informed them that they had to move. Other than that, all went pretty smoothly for us. Just hope it works out the same way next year!

(BTW, our Lyft driver did tell us the week before had been a real nightmare for arriving passengers. He was stuck in the holding parking lot for two hours with his passengers. Our cruise was the first week of June. It appears they had solved whatever issue caused the back-up on the cruise before us:o).

What company are you using for the towncar? I've heard you can call for a towncar from baggage claim on the bank of phones there, but what company are they, how do you know how much it cost?

 

Thank you

We used STILA towncar service from SEATAC to our hotel by the Space Needle this past June. Their fees are regulated by the airport. You can call them from the baggage claim area (after you claim your luggage) and they will pick you up right outside the baggage claim doors. There were 4 of us with lots of luggage so we needed an SUV. I believe our charge was $60. It is less for 2-3 people in one of their towncars ($50?). Service was great and we plan on using them again for our Pacific Coastal next year. If you check SEATAC Airports website, you'll find all their information. Highly recommend.