OBX-Cruisers

I read on another CC site that the Europe unlimited price is $9/day x the number of days on your cruise and that sounds right from my hazy recollection; we figured the per bag rate was best for us on a 16 day cruise where we needed only 3 bags for the whole trip after a 4 night precruise stay in Rome.

Whoever you spoke to at HAL quoted you the prices for laundry on Caribbean/East and West Coast cruises....Europe is more as others can attest on this CC site.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2223960

On European itineraries the cost for laundry is $30/bag. HAL charges more in Europe and this is what we paid on the Nieuw Amsterdam on last year's TA from Civitecchia to FLL.

It is AMAZING how much we stuffed in that cloth bag by rolling up the clothes.

We are 3 star Mariners on HAL and our last cruise was a 16 day TA

on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

If this is your first HAL cruise, DO NOT be shocked by the WiFi prices once onboard.............these are the same prices we find on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and they are EXPENSIVE for the slow speed on most cruise lines, including HAL. You can choose a plan for a fixed number of minutes or pay around 75 cents/minute....................and expect a lot of minutes just to connect when you are using the terminals during the day when others are on...........remember this happens on ALL lines and not just HAL.

I usually just wait to get to a port and find someplace where the costs are much less. Otherwise ask or follow crew members since THEY know where there are free hotspots........but again those will likely be slow since a few dozen other people (or more) will all be online at the same time.

This is a CC link from last year but it will give you an idea of plans and costs:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6515

We are leaving soon for our very 1st cruise (to Alaska) on the Zaandam starting in Vancouver with a land tour at the end. We arrive very early in Seward (6AM) and take a train from Seward to Anchorage at 6:50 AM.

What size carry on bag do people use that fits easily on the train?

Our itinerary indicates that we can store our carry on at the hospitality center in Anchorage until around check in at 3PM.

Does anyone know what kinds of things to see or do are located near the hospitality center.

Your post is a bit confusing for the following two reasons:

First, the Alaska railroad schedule says that the train from Seward to Anchorage leaves Seward at 6 PM and gets to Anchorage at 10:15 PM..................NOT AM as you indicate

Second, the trip is only 4 hrs, so why would you need anything other than a small bag for incidentals on the train?

If you mean your cruise bags, won't the cruise or land tour company handle those and if not you can check bags on Alaska railroad: https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train/baggage

We have done double Denali and the cruise line handled all our bags and usually transferred them by bus or truck or whatever got them to our booked rooms at each stop.

Wife and I have been on Oasis and Allure and also enjoyed the shows but not the crowds and all the prebooking necessary. We have also been on several Celebrity cruises and will be Elite after our next TA from Barcelona in October. All that said, we have been on ONE Norwegian cruise and I have yet to muster the courage to ever go back on another one......maybe someday in a very weak moment if the price is sooooooo low I can't possibly remember our last experience and book on another one.

If you main criterion is shows, then I would stay with RCL or even forget cruising entirely and book a nice hotel in NYC for less than the daily cost for two people in a cabin and go to some really fine restaurants and shows.

Personally we go on cruises to meet people, have nice meals in Blu and go and see the headliners at the shows and skip most if not all the production shows that are always too loud and too esoteric on most cruise lines.

Others with more fortitude and experience with NCL than we have will likely have better advice on which NCL ship might be tolerable. But with your teens liking the amenities on RCL, then that may be the way to continue in the future with the newer ships and even more goodies for them to try.

It's not too hard to calculate the daily cost of a cruise and realize that these are called perks rather than free amenities when it becomes obvious that YOU are paying significantly higher fares when your itinerary includes these things.

The promotions may "perk" you up and fool you into thinking you are getting something complimentary..........but no, you are paying for these things by a higher fare. Most Celebrity cruises in a Verandah class are now near $200 pp/day or more vs. closer to $125 a few years ago. THAT together with the decrease in staffing, cabin amenities and cruise activities are making cruising on Celebrity AND other cruise lines problematic compared to just flying to a location and travel by train or car with longer stays per location. In fact, our best trip was when the Millenium lost an azipod and our cruise out of Vancouver was cancelled. We still flew to Vancouver, rented a car for $125/week and had a FANTASTIC 1500 mile round trip to Calgary/Ice Fields Parkway/Whistler and several other stops.................all for much less than the cruise cost when food and lodging were added in.

Yup..one night we had a very unoriginal pre recorded sound track.mostly a ripoff of Rocky Horror music.,,..let's do the time warp again!.....dancing and prancing., over costumed and blocked the main staircase for most of the night...

 

Did not return for the second over hyped atrium monstrosity but heard it was equally awful...

 

Bet the singers and dancers could make a better show if left to their own creativity!

It may just be my personal opinion/preference, but I think the Atrium is a TERRIBLE place to have such "entertainment" when that same area is connected to the Library, Card Room, Coffee Lounge, the new Sushi Bar, Martini Bar and Internet Cafe.

To compromise so many passenger enjoyment areas with loud and often unbearable performances is a large negative for Celebrity ships when compared to other cruise lines..............IMHO

For our last cruises in the past few years we have just skipped the production shows because of the incredibly unbearable sound levels................and I am hard of hearing!

WHY do the cruise lines think that patrons should have to use earplugs to attend these performances?

With all the comments on the new shows, we (or more likely just me) will go to the shows on our October TA on the Equinox, sit in back and leave if/when appropriate.

Been there done that, and was also totally flabbergasted by the one way fares to Europe last October................THEN, I checked with HAL and got a fare to Italy for $600 pp where it was over $2000 pp on my own..........same experience this year with Celebrity for our TA from Barcelona, even cheaper this time.

Let the cruise lines do the booking, they have special agreements for these one way fares

Carnevale:

"The volume of music makes the Queen's Lounge and all of the shops in that area places to avoid"

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam TA last October and found that the volume of the blues band in the Queen's Lounge was unbearable [AND I am hard of hearing]. I could only listen to that band by sitting well outside the room and down the corridor. Of course many rave about that same group and I guarantee that their hearing will NOT be improved by that experience.

I cannot imagine how intolerable the stuffing of 3 music venues in this same general area will be........but your description is a good start to helping me think the Konigsdam is not for me either.

WHAT is HAL thinking???

This year we are doing a TA on Celebrity Equinox that we have been on before and consider superior to most HAL ships............more expensive though for the experience

Hello,

We've narrowed our list of options to the following and would like your opinions on which three you would choose. Our preference is to be near HOHO stops, great restaurants and entertainment (shopping, music, bars). We will have 1 pre-cruise night and 2 post cruise nights & open to staying at different hotels for each visit. Thank you so much!

 

- Royal Ramblas

- Olivia Plaza

- Pulitzer

- Hotel Granvia

- H10 Metropolitan

- Avenida Palace

- Hotel Catalonia

- Hotel Regina

There are at least 3 other threads on hotels in Barcelona that we found very helpful.

Although we ended up booking the Yurbban Trafalgar because of its location near Placa Catalunya and high ratings on Trip Advisor, the Jazz or one of the H10 Hotels would have been my second choice based on the VERY helpful comments from our fellow CC contributors on those threads.

The answer to your question is very specific to your list but a good answer may already exist if you scroll down to many comments in the existing threads.

Diane.............great information with the details that will really come in handy for our trip also.

One question: Did you really mean that ONE ticket could be used by multiple people or that the individual tickets in the T10 booklet could be use by more than one person? Your description implies that one ticket could be used by two people and that was not our experience in Italy last year.

I thought that each person needed their own validated ticket and that ticket could come from the same T10 booklet rather than separate booklets of the 10 tickets.

For your party of 6, you may want to reserve a private van. That could be cheaper than 3 cabs and keep everyone together during the transport. Just search airport transportation Barcelona on Google or whatever search program you use.

Thank you also Bob. That is the amount I was expecting and it will likely be our best alternative. We are at the Yurbban Trafalgar which is probably exactly the same distance from the Placa as the Jazz.

Thank you Mary Kay for your REALLY fast reply.

Your example is very helpful as wife also has a 28 inch bag, my large bag is 22" and the other two we have are small enough to carry on the plane so should be no problem with the cab from your description.

Do you happen to remember what the fare will be from the airport........will be planning to get some Euros to have for our first days in town.

We have not flown into Barcelona before and will need to travel from the airport to our hotel near the Placa Catalunya. The issue is that we will have 2 large and 2 smaller bags and the Aerobus could be a big hassle, especially getting bags on/off and to our hotel approx. 3-4 blocks from the final bus stop (wife mobility somewhat limited).

However, I also see that online rates for cabs usually specify 3 "medium" bags as a limit. Seems to be an issue both from the airport or if we got a cab at the bus stop for the short trip to the hotel.

All suggestions from people who have been there and done that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Any idea if you can buy these T10 tickets at the airport ? I understand you can use them to travel

from the airport but haven't been able to find out if they are sold there .

Hawkeye.. already gave good suggestions and here is a link with more information on the use and purchase of T10 tickets

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/faq/transport/t10/barcelona-t10-airport.html

We only have one day in Barcelona, the places we would like to visit are Park Guell, Camp Nou, Sagrada Famillia and the magic fountain.

 

We will be disembarking our ship, and plan to go to our hotel and leave our luggage. The hotel is Novotel Avenida diagonal.

 

I planned originally to use the HOHO bus but im worried about the time it takes to get around and queues.

 

I will definitely be using the metro to get to Park Guell as one of the party has some mobiliity issues and it looks easier by metro.

 

The T10 tickets, I have read the info online but Im finding it quite confusing. There are four of us so does that mean we would have two journeys x 4 people and then be left with two on the ticket. How does it work exactly?

We were in Barcelona last year and used the HoHo bus. When we go back this year we will get T10 tickets.

The HoHo bus is good for an overview of the city but to visit the places you listed the Metro will be better and that is what we plan to do. From what I read you get 10 tickets to ride the Metro for 10 Euros.....each ticket is good for about an hour I think but you can check online; I think you also have to validate the tickets somehow as we did in Naples last year when we got on the tram or train and just put the ticket into the validating machine.....an unvalidated ticket is NOT valid and you could get fined for not validating we found in Naples. Ask locals they will tell you even if they just use hand signals.

One book of tickets can be shared and each person does not need their own book. Others that have used the Metro will have much more specific instructions I'm sure.

If you haven't booked your hotel yet you may want to do that soon. I checked out the Hotel Continental in October when we will be there and it was fully booked for the 4 nights we would need. Also, a single night over a weekend that was available was $1100/night (?!!?) Priceline (weekdays were open and more like <$150/night)......weekends will be the killer it appears.

Good hotels for stays >1-2 days in Rome sell out 5-6 months in advance for bookings in October we found out last year and the same is apparently true of Barcelona, especially when stays are over a weekend.

For Paris I have to second SKF's suggestion about the Musee d' Orsay that I consider to be the most beautiful museum we have ever visited http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html Scroll down in the site for this link to the history of the museum. The sculpture gallery on the old main floor of what was the train station is awesome. I like impressionist paintings and this museum has a compact and fantastic display. In comparison, I think that the Louvre is too big, too overwhelming and it would take several days to see vs. your time frame in Paris.

Do be careful in Paris on the Metro in particular. I have traveled a lot and that was the first time I was ever almost pick pocketed as a group of around 5-6 young girls surrounded me and started jostling/bumping/and apparently fingering my pockets. Wallet was NOT in my pants and inside my shirt pocket underneath a sweater so they got nothing. Now I have a wallet that attaches to my belt and is inside my pants and not in a pocket; worked well last yea

The Sagrada Familia is spectacular from the outside and apparently unbelievable on the inside...........we were there last year and only got to see the outside on our one day there on a cruise. We liked Barcelona SO MUCH in our one day trip I just had to go back for more days this year.

We WILL see the inside of the church this year. This year we are going to spend 4 nights in Barcelona before our cruise on the Equinox leaving on Oct. 25th and will devote one morning or afternoon at Parc Guell that we only saw in passing last year on the Hop on Hop Off Bus (that did take us up Montjuic for a really nice view).

Book your tickets for Sagrada Familia online as suggested by others and I read that the audio tour is well worth it as well as the elevator to one of the two towers. FYI: I have read that Passion tower has an elevator up AND down; Nativity tower only has elevator up and you walk down.

Two thumbs up for Spain Day tours on our trips from Malaga and Cadiz last year to Alhambra and Alcazar. They break into smaller groups when you arrive at the site and their English is perfect

Normally Spanish hotels will send items to the laundry for you, but I have never stayed in one that has a self service laundry machine.

We will be staying in the Yurbban Trafalgar near Placa Catalunya in October and I read reviews on CC that it has laundry facilities and they are free to use.........and they supply soap.........hard to believe and we will see for ourselves. The YT hotel is two years old and gets great reviews on TA.

Has anyone had any experience staying at either the the Hotel Jazz or the Yurbban Trafalgar Hotel? I'm looking to book one or the other after our Med. cruise. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Both hotels are good and this was a hard decision for me also. Look at my post to OKCRoyalTraveler for a site that will help you decide.

We have not been to Barcelona, but planning a cruise in October. We are booked at the Yurbban Trafalger Hotel. It was a good choice for us, since we are staying four days prior to our cruise in October. We needed laundry facilities, which not all hotels have and air conditioning. We also liked the added plus of the Wine Hour each night. The breakfast had really good reviews and overall Booking gave it a 9+ rating. I did a lot of research on hotels. Someone said the taxi was 12 euros to the port also. But, it is till six months off, so we are still open to other suggestions. Good luck on your hunting.

Sounds EXACTLY like what we are doing and what I would have said. We are on the Celebrity Equinox Transatlantic cruise about the same time as you are going to be there.

I found a site with pictures of the Yurbban that convinced me to change my booking to from refundable to prepaid. This hotel is only 2 years old and only one block from the Metro stop. Check out (http://www.oyster.com/barcelona/hotels) by typing in the Yurbban Trafalgar in the search box.

I canceled my refundable booking which was more expensive, added the breakfast and the total cost was less than what I had booked on a popular hotel booking site ( Final cost now locked in from currency change = $~890 USD for the 4 nights in a double, queen bed room).

HINT: the Yurbban is offering a 10% early booking discount on their website that the booking site was not!!

ALSO, I read in CC reviews that the laundry facilities in the Yurbban are FREE!! and they supply soap....unbelievable, huh???

We just came back from Barcelona and visited la Sagrada Familia and took many pictures of the outside of La Pedrera. My husband has some problems walking long distances and for that reason we did not attempt Parc Guell and the steep climb.

 

We are looking at a return visit. If we go, perhaps we could take a cab to the Parc with a timed ticket. My question is will there be cabs available to take us back down and perhaps on to another site?

 

Pat

I found these instructions posted on the internet and this is what we will do:

Take the metro to Lesseps station, then walk on the main road (Travessera de Dalt) and keep on the look out for signs for a LEFT turn, towards the Park, as that route has escalators to go up. The main route doesn't, and most tourists struggle with the steep walk up. You will come to the side entrance, which is better as you can avoid the swarm of people at the main entrance.

Another Poster Suggested an Alternative:

Best way is definitely backwards - i.e. go to Vallcarca, and take the escalators up to the back of the park. You start with the best view and then assure yourself of seeing (almost) the whole park, and effectively save the best till last. It's much easier walking downhill than arriving at the gates.

I also found instructions for a new and "secret route to Parc Guell" that sounds complicated but intriguing: http://blog.orangemonkeytours.com/en/2011/02/15/wat-is-de-beste-route-naar-park-guell/