Born2go

4 minutes ago, capsplace said:

Dumb question but how do you know an offer has expired?  Is it because it’s no longer pending, rejected, or accepted?  

It will actually show expired next to your offer.

Thank you for this review. I was one of the port workers that boarding day and I can attest that some people were rather…distressed.😗

Your experience was similar to mine on the January 14th sailing of the Infinity. Dining also varied from very good to excellent to uneatable. Felt a bit like a roller coaster. 
Did the Tuscan Grill have white tablecloths? They used placemats on the Infinity that I thought took away from the elegance of the evening.

We were on the Infinity in January, Antartica itinerary with many sea days that were really cold. The Solarium had family hours 4-7pm but there were not very many kids and the families that were there were pretty respectful. The place was hopping most of the time because there were so many sea days. Because of the many cold weather sea days, I was a bit more flexible in my “no kid zone” attitude. 
 

I did however, take umbrage of the woman with her long lens camera that OPENED the solarium window (it was windy and freezing outside) to take photos. Not just one quick photo either. She of course was in a winter coat and effectively lowered the temperature of the whole solarium! 
 

Rude people, with or without kids are among us on our cruises. ☹️

We disembarked the Infinity on January 28th. Got to our hotel in Buenos Aires…he tested positive. He masked ALOT and vaxed and boosted. The ship was full, because it was an Antartica cruise there were many sea days in cold weather. 
 

Not really surprised. It’s still with us.
 

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

My post shows the Reflection price at 81 days out , ship is less than 50% full 

How can you tell how full the ship is? Just curious 

On 1/30/2023 at 5:54 PM, Grandmaanne7 said:

Debbie,

 

I'm so sorry you missed the excursion and the runaround you experienced.  It seems very unfair.   I would have been very upset if that had happened to us, too.  I hope the rest of the cruise was far more enjoyable.

 

Anne

Thanks Anne. That was just one small bump…we had a really good cruise otherwise. We ended up having a really wonderful lunch with a couple of beers near the pier.🙂

23 hours ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

I did this excursion and would definitely recommend it even though my experience wasn't the best.  I will try to explain.

 

The office is a lovely 40 minute walk from the pier along the beach.  They are in Bajada 5.  The staff are incredibly great!  They very patiently get each participant into their wetsuits and explain things fully.  The seals are a short boat ride from the office.  We saw dozens of seals, several of which decided to come swim around us.  It was lovely being so close to these wild animals that were so graceful in the water.  There were also penguins, which I am told are sometimes, but not always there.  The water is cold upon entry but not enough to take away from the experience.  I was not even aware of the temperature of the water until after it was almost over and realized that I was not cold at all.

 

Unfortunately, I had my first ever panic attack in the water.  The guide was excellent and talked me through it but I was unable to relax in the water.  I could not manouver or make my body go where I wanted it to go so I just clung to the life saver ring that the guide towed around and enjoyed the experience as best as I could.  I am really glad I did it and everyone else seemed to have no issues at all so it must have been me although my husband, who did not get in the water but stayed in the boat, said that as soon as I entered the water, my wetsuit ballooned out much more than anyone else's in the water and perhaps that was why I had no control and couldn't propel myself.  I am not complaining.  I am an experienced snorkeler and am usually very comfortable in water.  I'm attributing the diminished experience to a mouth full of water when I entered which sparked the attack.  I was extremely pleased with how well it was handled and the care I received.

I was booked with the same operator, Madryn Bueco. I had asked them (way back in October, what would happen if we were late? Answer was “no problem, we will put you on the next boat”. Our start time was 8:30am. We elected to take a taxi. We got off the ship at 7:25am…walked the LONG length of the pier (lines for the shuttle), got a taxi who took us way past Sara Beach (yes, we should have just walked) subsequently we were 25 minutes late. We were in contact with the operator this whole time.

Other boats were all full, they sent us over to another operator but they refused to take us because we were over 65. (We are 67].  The other operator said it would be refunded because of “Heath reasons “ Rats, we were looking forward to this and are both certified divers to boot!  
 

Madryn Buceo refused to refund because “we were late”. Despite their assurances to the contrary, they will not put you on the next boat. When Viator got involved, the operator told Viator that WE had refused the other operator so Viator closed the refund request and we are out $200.🙁

No wonder people stick to ship’s tours. If you do book, make sure they put you on a later boat as Grandmaanne7 (who was on the 10AM boat) and if you are older than 65, clarify before you give them any money.

BTW,  Anne, you SHOULD have complained about the wet suit. It ballooned because it  was not a proper fit for your body type. 

Debbie

So many things affect whether there is going to be a line or not, but in general, the later, the better.

I work at the Tampa terminals and today there are 3 ships bobbing around outside the Skyway Bridge in the Gulf of Mexico, unable to reach the terminals to dock due to fog. (The Constellation, Royal Caribbean Brilliance and the Norwegian Dawn).  
 

I can guarantee there will be lines and many cranky people when embark finally gets underway. Past fog experience tells me these peeps probably won’t even begin to check in until 5-6pm. Uggg, going to be a long day.

On 11/14/2022 at 8:59 PM, Grandmaanne7 said:

e ended up booking through GetYourGuide. We should try to meet up and travel to the office together. BTW, I have snorkeled in Alaska and was not overly cold. My concern is what change of clothes to take? What will the temperature be when we get out of the water? Still need to do some research but so very excited to be doing this!!

Yes, we should meet up and travel to the office together!  (We are in 3100) i think we will need to take a taxi. I will wear a bathing suit under my clothes and wear jeans and a fleece with up underclothes in my bag. Presumably there will be SOMEWHERE to change after? We haven’t snorkeled in any cold water places before but we did jump into the Baltic Sea in Helsinki after heating up in a Finnish Spa. I know, not quite the same😁, but I have the same concerns. 

On 11/5/2022 at 12:43 PM, Grandmaanne7 said:

to my post on the roll call.  We were given the option to pay cash in person rather than pre pay a higher amount.  This is what we will do.  Glad we will be able to share this amazing adventure with others on our cruise.

Anne

Hi Anne…we booked through Viator. Didn’t think about booking direct😕. Looking forward to this, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Debbie

ps we are a tiny bit concerned we will be cold even with wetsuits but not concerned enough to not go!

I think you have made a wise decision. MP is time consuming to get to.

I believe we are on the same sailing (Infinity, January 14). I booked the snorkeling with the sea lions so I haven’t gone yet but this is the response I got from them:

Hello Debra, my name is Mauro from MadrynBuceo. We have just booked you for 25Th January! For those who come in Cruiseship, we ask them that once they get off the ship they have to come to our divecentre as soon as possible. Once you arrive, we will get you on the next excursion trip. This is our location: https://g.page/Nadarconlobos?share
And this our Whatsapp number (we prefer to talk through said medium): +5492804564422
If your cruiseship is unable to dock or the weather conditions do not allows to do excursions, we will refund you!
If you have any more doubts, please contact us again! 

We love snorkeling too! Hope it’s not cold:) 

My sisters and I spent 2 weeks in Peru. If you have only 5 days, you don’t really have time to do Machu Picchu AND the Nazca Lines. (Or really, not much but flying from Lima to Cusco, sightseeing there, touring the Sacred Valley, sightseeing Ollantaytambo,MP)

Besides the awesomeness of Machu Picchu, hands down the Uros floating islands in Lake Titicaca was our favorite.
Bear in mind the altitude of Cusco! If either of you are prone to altitude sickness, limit your time there. MP and the Sacred Valley are lower in altitude.
if you have your heart set on the Hiram Bingham train, I would go through Belmond hotels for a tour and include a stay at the Sanctuary Hotel (a Belmond Hotel) at Machu Picchu. It would be amazing but quite expensive. We had lunch right outside MP gates at the grill and I paid $30 for a hamburger. It is all about location!

I love to answer this question because last year in Tampa this was my job to locate suite guests and expedite them through the checkin line. Terminal 6 is VERY SMALL, and it is challenging. Please, just identify yourself to one of the staff wearing the teal polo shirts and they will direct you, depending on your suite level, to the correct place. The doors didn’t open before 11:00. (This is up to the ship) so if you arrive earlier you will still need to wait.

As the Constellation has not arrived in Tampa for “the season”, we don’t know what changes there will be. Remember last season we were still dealing with checking Covid tests and Vax cards before guests entered the terminal.

Considering canceling our Transatlantic October 30th. So many sea days…

We too were planning a Baltic Cruise in August/September 2019 time frame. After research, we decided the September 7th sailing of the Rotterdam from Amsterdam will be the right balance of weather/crowds for us. Did you look at this sailing?

I would like to field this question because the above responses need to be tweaked:)

I work at Tampa airport for Intercruises which handles all the ground transportation for ALL the cruise lines in Tampa. I get that the cruise lines (that set the transfer prices) are not the least expensive way to get there, but I can tell you, taking the cruise transfers or not, we are the first people you all run to when something goes awry.

The taxi fare from TIA to the any of the Terminals has increased. Both Yellow cab and United Taxi are charging between $28-30.00 (before tip) to get to any of the 3 terminals. Uber has also increased their rates effective immediately (it was in today's newspaper). Taking a taxi is cost effective way in general for 3 or more people. Also, Super-shuttle is an option, especially if you arrive to the airport early (like 10-11AM) Last week it was $11.00 per person for Super-shuttle.

There is a new rental car facility which is accessed by the SKY train and is about 1.5 miles from the main terminal. You drop your car off at the facility, take the elevators upstairs, then board the SKYTrain to the main terminal. Important: when you reach the main terminal, take the elevators to the 1st level (either red or blue side) where you can catch Uber or take a taxi. There are carts for $5.00 in the rental car facility and I would recommend one if you have a bunch of luggage.

On your return to the airport, take the red elevators up to the 3rd level where you will find the entrance to the Marriott.

Have a great cruise.

It would be more of a hassle to take the trolley (streetcar) than it would be to walk. Obviously if you have lots of luggage it would be an issue. There are private shuttle services like Barracuda Travel that also may be willing to just run you over to the next terminal. I don't think a taxi can refuse you, but I would try the private services . Ship to Shore is another private operator at the terminals. (I work for Intercruises in Tampa and familiar with all 3 terminals)

My father and I were in a signature suite 8068 (I think that is the right cabin number) a handicapped accessible stateroom on the Oosterdam. My dad uses a walker and needs a roll in shower and just a bit more space to get around. We had both a roll in shower and a bathtub, a sofa and way too much furniture in the stateroom for him to maneuver around easily, although the room was quite spacious. Closet space was ok, but there was literally no counter space in the bathroom and the toilet was actually IN the room in shower area. Personally, I would not book a handicapped stateroom if I really didn't need one. If not needed, the cons outweigh the pros, in my opinion.

The only restaurant that is within a block or two from Terminal 2 & 3 is Hooters, HOWEVER, by next year, everything around Channelside may be a pile of rubble as big plans for redevelopment of the area move forward.

Many people will drop everyone and their luggage and at port, then 1 person will drop the car at the airport and take the cruise ship shuttle. Carnival is $20.50 for one person, the rest are $21.50-$22.50. It's about a 20-25 minute shuttle ride.

We have a car rental in Skagway while our friends want to take the train one way. We have told them we will either pick them up in Frazier or take them to Frazier so they can take the train back.

They were not going to buy train tickets until we arrive. Is either train direction preferable? Any potential pitfalls to this plan?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Red Roof Inns in the Tampa area include Fairgrounds, Busch Gardens and Brandon. ALL would be a very expensive taxi ride! (Airport to Busch Garden location would probably be at least $60)

Try something like the LaQuinta Inn on Spruce Street. They have free airport shuttle, free breakfast. A taxi from the hotel to port would not be more than $25.

Sheraton Riverwalk would be good also. They have comp transportation from the hotel to Term 3. Taxi from airport to hotel $25.00. Get a room with a balcony overlooking the river.

You probably won't go wrong with either the Sheraton or the Marriott for location.