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Azorean Tours, Gary Travassos, has several shore excursion tours specifically for cruisers. We did tour #7 in September. Price was less than the ship, in a small group - we missed all the masses of people and went places the buses couldn't go. Highly recommend.

On 11/21/2022 at 8:10 PM, LuvtoCruise50 said:

Booked this the first day it was available! This will be our first TA and first time visiting Barcelona. The Venezia looks beautiful and we’re looking forward to this so much!

We booked this the first day as well. Going this direction this time of year is very unusual (except for Cunard), so we wanted to take advantage of it. We've enjoyed past cruises on Costa, and I'm curious to see what Carnival does to incorporate "Italian flair." I think we also *finally* make Diamond status on this cruise, but I have to verify. If so, Woo Hoo!

Thank you for sharing Gone Caribe. We toured with Joey last week. Awesome! Here's my review: Wow, what a great time! Our customized tour with Joey brought us to two fantastic snorkeling spots where we saw sea turtles and all types of fish we had never seen before. En route, we saw many interesting and beautiful sites on the island. Joey had great information to share about all of it. He's very personable and fun to spend time with. Communications with Jessica were timely and informative. This tour was the same price range as our ship's excursion, but we had our own personal guide who kept track of our things, answered all of our questions, and personalized exactly where we wanted to go, allowing us to just relax and enjoy. Highly recommend!

On 10/27/2019 at 9:39 AM, Charles4515 said:

https://www.marineandports.bm/Documents/Ferry/Winter Ferry Schedule 2019.pdf

Thank you!

On 4/28/2018 at 8:36 PM, broadwaybaby123 said:

"Mr. Monk Gets Onboard". Based on the TV show "MONK", our favorite detective goes on a cruise ship out of San Fransisco to Catalina Island.

 

For those that haven't seen the show, it's about a cop-turned-detective named Adrian Monk. He was married to a woman named Trudy, who was murdered 10 years ago. Since that murder, his OCD has returned (all 400+ obsessions and compulsions) and Trudy's case is the only one he's unable to solve.

 

The book series is told through the eyes of his assistant, Natalie. She's now a P.I and a single mom (widowed). With her daughter Julie now in college, Natalie and Monk go into business together. Natalie decides to take the cruise to promote the business and is astonished when Monk (who hates boats and can't swim) decides to tag along. Of course a murder occurs and they're put on the case!

 

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This one was good. More suggestions?

On 9/12/2018 at 11:12 AM, beaucajun said:

There is an airport Super Shuttle. Probably your easiest way is to use the taxi system. Flat rate of $36 for 2 from airport to the Quarter area. About $8-$10 from hotel to terminal and then the same $36 from the terminal back to the airport.

 

You can also use Uber or Lyft for a little less than a cab.

We plan to Uber or Lyft to port from our hotel (park package). Can one get an Uber / Lyft at the port to return to the city? I ask because we've been to other ports where only taxis are available. 

On 1/29/2018 at 10:37 PM, cruisegus said:

Used Karambole Tours in January 2018. To say it was great is an understatement. The guide, Christelle speaks excellent English. The food tastings are various island pastries, fruit and drinks, nice, but the tour doesn't focus on food. Christelle is very knowledgeable about the history and culture of the island. The tour lasts 4+ hours and included the following stops.

Sacre-Coeur de Balata, Replica of a famous monument in Paris

Alma River

Saut Gendarme waterfall

Ruins of the theater in Saint Pierre

Depaz Rhum distillery

Short stop at the grey sand beach (20 minutes)

Christelle was very easy to locate when departing the ship and her van was modern and in good condition. It is a small group tour and she is able to take US Dollars, Euros and credit cards.

 

Highly Recommend this tour. our rate was now at 65euros pp

We pretty much ditto what cruisegus said. We toured with Christelle last month. She was charming, was fluent in English, very knowledgeable about all of the places we went. I like how she played various guessing games while we were driving. For the waterfall, my husband and I didn't want to climb those rickety steps (we were SO tired from two previous days snorkeling). Christelle had virtual reality goggles for those who didn't want to go down to the waterfall. I thought that was cool and a perfect option for those who may be physically unable to experience this stop. The tastings were all delicious. Cost was 65 Euro pp, paid by credit card (she has a portable machine) at the end of the tour. Her communication up front was very effective and it was easy to find her at the port. Well worth the cost. Top notch! 

We were on Preziosa in Aug Sept for 23 days and the dailies said food was complimentary in the Sports Bar but in the event we never ordered there.

 

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Good to know, thanks!

Hello,

 

This is only my 2nd cruise and my 1st on MSC.

 

We are booked on the Divina in Feb 2019. I have a question about dinner time. Would my husband and I be allowed to eat by ourselves (sans any other dining companions) or is it required that you are seated at a table with others for the duration of the trip?

 

Thank you in avance.

We cruised the Divina shortly after the 2016 US election, and I absolutely did not want to sit with any other people at dinner to avoid even the hint of political discussions. On the first day we spoke to the maitre d'. We had to sit at our assigned table for 8 the first night, but they squeezed in a table for 2 for us the remaining 9 nights of the cruise. The first night, only 1 other couple showed up, and they also requested their own table for the rest of the cruise and their request was met (we saw them a few tables over in the dining room). We have the gold card and were in Fantastica experience; not sure if that influenced getting our request met in any way?

On most cruises, we always eat in the dining room, but we skipped it several times on that cruise. The buffet, especially the pizza, was good, in our opinion. The room service (enjoyable with a balcony) has an excellent salad with the best feta cheese (seriously, the cheese on this cruise is amazing!). At that time, one could also order food in the sports bar, which we did 1 or 2 nights. Not sure if it's still the same, but I'll find out next month when we return. :D :)

We really loved sailing on Divina. Hope you enjoy your cruise!!

Just returned from a short cruise out of Long Beach. I brought along Mr. Monk Gets on Board, featuring the detective from the TV series. It was a fun, easy read while cruising, and especially fun because in the book Monk goes to the same ports we were going to.

Interesting side note, this series of books is based on the television show, and this is the only book that comes from a script that was never made into an actual episode - because they couldn't get a cruise ship to let them film on board.

Thank you!

I can't get a clear answer on this. :rolleyes: What time should we plan on arriving at the port for a departure on Costa Deliziosa on December 20? We don't have any special early boarding privileges. TIA for any thoughts / advice.

I enjoyed the Joshua Kinser series of books, Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member and the Brian Bruns Cruise Ship Confidential series of books.

David Weber's Cruise Chronicles: Working on a Cruise Ship. It was basically a collection of his blog posts of working as a musician, but still interesting.

And there is an interesting English bookstore/café in Vedado, owned by a US woman resident/journalist, called Cuba Libro ('libro' is book in Spanish), a play-on-words on that drink name/sentiment.

Cool, love it! Maybe I'll get to visit one day?

I just started streaming this on your recommendation - thanks so much!

 

I am loving it, so interesting, and now I am even more excited to see all of the landmarks, knowing how they came to be and knowing the history of the island.

Like Fidel becoming Fidel because he was illegitimate, and so on.

 

It should be required viewing for any visitor, IMO.

So glad you are enjoying it. I agree it's a great series to watch before going there. I felt so much more informed, especially listening to some of the questions other people asked when we were there a couple of weeks ago. :) Fidel's background was fascinating, from the illegitimacy to the 'entrepreneurial' father to the mistress sent to assassinate him. We drove past the yellow barracks from his first revolutionary attempt, and I knew exactly what it was before the guide said anything. The story I found really unique was about Kennedy asking the French journalist to go broker an agreement with Castro so they could have peace, then Kennedy getting assassinated shortly after, before it could happen. For fun, I enjoyed learning that a Rum & Coke is called a Cuba Libre - I had one at the social club in Santiago de Cuba. Yum! Enjoy your trip!

We just got back from a cruise around Cuba. We stopped at Santiago, Havana, Cienfuegos. We went to 7-8 different cigar shops, some were gov't and others private. We didn't find any of the Cohiba BKE or Montecristo #2, so have an alternative selection.

 

Also some of the shops increased the supposedly set price to make more profit. Check out this site for the set gov't prices of the Cigars, Rum and Coffee. http://yulcigars.blogspot.ca/

 

There was plenty of rum and coffee in stock everywhere.

Thanks for the link to the prices. My husband, who knows next to nothing about cigars, has been researching diligently all week. He has a list of several to pick from, so hopefully he'll find at least one of them. He's been doing so much research on this, that he's been dreaming about cigars for several nights! :')

Not a book, but the Netflix streaming series Cuba Libre is very interesting and worth a watch.

Dunno! Some else posted the menu, can't remember who but thank you to them!

However we are on board next week and have the wifi package so I will do some live posting.

Did I mention we ARE ON BOARD nEXT WEEK whoop woop!

 

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We are on board next week too. I guess we'll find out when we get there! :)

Found it!

Thanks for sharing this! What times of day can one eat at the Sports Bar? We'd love to have some fish and chips.

I actually had that same thought today, wondering what time to actually get to the port. I checked, and it doesn't go to Columbia. Goes to Nassau and Amber Cove.

I found my January dock schedule in VI at vinow dot com slash cruise slash ship-schedule

I volunteered at Chocal as an impact activity with Fathom. It was a fun place to visit ... and chocolate! Not sure how the activities might differ with Princess, but this is what we did:

1) Sorted roasted cacao nibs (pulling out the bad ones)

2) Remove shells from piles of crushed nibs (this was surprisingly challenging)

3) Watched a demonstration of pouring the chocolate into moulds, then each person got to try doing this.

4) Helped with packaging. My group put labels on bags. The other group boxed individual bars into boxes.

We were on the 'shorter' version of the activity (1/2 port day), so we did not do the other activity which is included in the longer version ... planting seeds.

They also served us hot chocolate, and there was plenty of time to purchase chocolate and wine. Drive there was roughly 1/2 hour, so you get to see the countryside too.

Snorkeling isnot realy that great and not from the beaches.

Judt take a cab or blue/white bus to old town. Walk along the Malecon or have a drink/meal at playa los muertes to get a bit of mexican feeling.

Will $$ be okay for transportation or pesos needed? Any idea of the general cost for cab / bus? Thanks for your comments.

Although I haven't been to ROTN, it's done in the early evening at Las Caletas. They were getting ready for it when we left our beach day there. They set hundreds of candles out to light the paths. It's pretty cool.

It sounds like the ROTN excursion will be great! Thanks for your comments.

First time in Mexican Riviera. December. We will be in PV from 9-9. Our Rhythms of the Night excursion begins at 3:15. Looking for ideas for the morning. Would it be warm enough to swim / snorkel in a.m.? Or best to just explore the port? If so, ideas for some local flavor / culture for about 3 hours? Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions.