katmu

There is another on your own tour for both Fira and Oia, also for 4 hours. I’ve posted the description down below. @mapleleaves That winter video was one of the ones I watched. I still think it looks interesting, and I’m ok with grabbing a bite at a local eatery or heading into a grocery if I need to. This knee surgery is my 7th on this knee since 2018 when I had a bad accident. This surgery will be 2 different arthroscopic procedures. Surgery #8 is going to be the TKR, most likely done at Mayo due to the ongoing issues. Oia and Fira on your own: Enjoy both Oia and Fira independently on this convenient tour that offers tender service to Oia, at the northern tip of Santorini. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, then hop aboard a 20-minute boat transfer directly from the ship, avoiding queuing at the cable car and having to take a bus across the island. Once at the picturesque port of Ammoudi, take a very quick shuttle ride to the lovely village of Oia. Here, you can stroll the narrow, cobblestone lanes and view the brilliantly whitewashed buildings, shops, sun-bathed cafés and blue-domed churches. Then, meet the coaches that will take you on to Fira. Perched on the edge of a dramatic cliff, the island's capital is brimming with galleries, museums and cultural attractions as well as a shopping center and a variety of dining venues. Cable car tickets will be provided for guests to descend at their leisure at the conclusion of this wonderful day.

It’s 4 hours. Which seems a bit odd to me as the ship is scheduled to be in Santorini from 7 am to 6 pm. I was nervous to try the cable car especially as it’s the day after Kusadasi. I would love to see Oia but I didn’t know how long it would take to get there. Thank you for the information on the steps.

Hello- I will be visiting Santorini on my Princess cruise in February. As I’m going to be 6 months out from knee surgery, I’ve booked the Fira on your Own excursion to cut down on some of the steps. I’ve watched enough videos of Fira, and Santorini to know that there are still going to be many steps in town. I know that many of the hotels and tourist restaurants will be closed but it sounds like some places that are geared more towards residents should still be open. I’m wondering if anyone has visited in the offseason and can give me some advice on what sights might be open. I’m mostly hoping to grab a bite to eat, wander around Fira and enjoy the views. I know that it can be quite windy in February and temperatures might only be around 50 F. This is the description of the excursion I’ve booked: Explore the charming town of Fira at your own pace on this delightful four-hour adventure made easy now that you have the option to avoid the lines of the Fira cable car and ride in comfort to this hilltop enclave. At a specific time, a strict minimum number of guests will meet the motorcoach transportation at the pier and be shuttled directly to a drop-off spot near the entrance to the pedestrian streets of Fira. Once in Fira, you are free to enjoy its splendors at your leisure. The island's capital boasts a stunning combination of Cycladic and Venetian architecture and outstanding views of the submerged volcano. Explore a number of galleries, museums and cultural attractions as well as a large shopping center and a variety of dining venues, which line the cobbled streets that ribbon their way through town. At the designated time, meet the shuttle and return to the ship.

I mistyped. You are correct now that I think about it. My last cruise on the Sky in 2019 had a string trio not a quartet. That was an earlier cruise. I’m nervous that my next cruise on the Sun Princess may have none as they seem to be touting a new entertainment lineup. My company has a few contractors currently in Ukraine but they were with us, already at the start of the war. We have not been able to recruit anyone new. I do wonder if the war has made it difficult to recruit performers. I am planning to do another cruise in Europe in 2025. I may need to look for a line that still has some classical music onboard.

I have a few different types of hoodies - sweatshirt type, a merino wool one. This stretch fleece one from LL Bean is my absolute favorite as it’s shaped, has thumbholes, and 2 zipped pockets. It’s a good midweight so I get a lot of wear out of it most of the year here. I have it in the heather charcoal color. I save the heavy sweatshirts for January and February.

Asking you to be specific was not a personal attack. I am sorry if you took it that way. Others are also posting from personal experience as well. This thread started because many of us are upset about the cutbacks related to the end of the relationship with Lincoln Center. I for one would be satisfied with a string quartet similar to the one on my last Princess cruise.

Are we thinking the Voyager off-season cruises will be bound for Haifa? If they also include a stop in Istanbul I am sold. I’m really pleased that more lines are starting to offer off-season cruises. It’s 100% my preferred time for the Mediterranean.

Could you be specific about which posts and posters you are referring to?

You should be able to book the Scavi tour up to 6 months in advance. They are going to need the full name of everyone in your group.

I’m another person who has no interest in the ship-within-a-ship concept. I generally book for the itinerary and the dates, as I’m somewhat limited with when I can sail currently due to my job. I have 2 cruises in the first half of 2024 booked after not having cruised since 2019. The first will be on the new Sun Princess, booked mostly as the dates and itinerary worked for me. I am a little nervous about the amount of suite dedicated space but it’s a pretty port intensive itinerary so I’m sure I’ll manage just fine. The 2nd cruise is a multi-generational Alaska cruise on HAL. This one I really want to be special not in an over the top way, but because I’m not sure if all three generations will be able to travel together again. Given everything the cruise lines have been through since the pandemic, and with CCL’s debt load in particular I’m not expecting the same experience from 5 or 10 years ago. I think it is possible to attract younger cruisers, while not forgetting your loyal customer base. Because other lines are jumping on a particular bandwagon doesn’t mean that HAL should automatically follow suit. HAL needs to find their competitive advantage. I think there is a market for the things that HAL has done well in the past - unique itineraries, strong music offerings, adult oriented, midsize ships, traditional. HAL does need to work on their marketing strategy IMO.

I am definitely planning to have non-drowsy dramamine along for the 7.5 hour cruise. One of the YouTube videos I watched of the same cruise was one a day when waves were probably 6 feet during a portion of the cruise. On others the waters weren’t as rough. I still think it’s worth it.

I am neither “confused” nor “drastic” but since you obviously know what I mean better than I do from thousands of miles away, I’m done with trying to be helpful on this thread.

It sounds like she has closed and reloaded the app multiple times already and is still having issues. Deleting and reloading an app is not “drastic” says an IT manager with 30 years of experience.

For Princess, I would delete the app and reinstall it and see if that fixes your issue. I had a similar issue with the Princess app. For cruise critic, how are you navigating to the site? On your phone or computer? And with what browser - Chrome, Safari, etc.?

The TravelPro was finally delivered today. I’m going to do a test pack of that and the backpacks this week. I was hoping to go to one of the older areas of town that have brick streets to test out the bag. We’ll see though as I’m now having arthroscopic knee surgery next week.

We’re driving from Talkeetna to Seward, not all the way from Denali but yes I’m still allowing 6 hours.

Thank you for the trip report. I’m really enjoying your writing style and all of the details are helpful for planning our multi-generational cruise on the NA for next year. We are going to be doing a DIY land tour, mostly because I wanted to make sure we spent a few days near Kenai Fjords.

Yes, I booked over the phone for our dates in May.

I was able to book our Seward hotel and Kenai tour with Major Marine. They are actually going to offer the 7.5 hour tour for the date I wanted so I’m happy about that.

Yes, I was originally planning to go straight to Seward but both boys ranked seeing Denali, the mountain, as their #1 so I’ve been trying to tweak the itinerary. I still think we may make another trip at some point hopefully after my knee replacement but we wanted to travel next year with my mom while she is still able. I watched some videos of that Ketchikan fishing excursion and I think it looks like something the boys will really like. They grew up fishing in Northern Minnesota every summer. I’ve been following the Blue Bus situation for this year, so I’m definitely keeping an eye on it for next year. I’ll have a backup plan just in case. The permit situation must be tough for the vendors, and people who have cruises yet this summer and fall.

I’ve been following this thread closely as I’m working on our plans for next May. I’m struggling a little with how best to fit in Kenai and how much time to allocate for there. The trip will be my mom, my 2 adult sons and myself. I am having arthroscopic knee surgery in 2 weeks and my 7th knee surgery overall. I will be needing a TKR in the next few years. I mention that because as much as I used to like to hike, long hikes are going to be out for this trip. The boys both want to see Denali so that’s the reason for prioritizing the flightseeing trip. I’m also trying to get as much time at Kenai Fjords as we can fit in. These are my tentative plans so far but 5/21 Tues Fly to Anchorage from MSP. Flight arrives 9pm. Pick up car at airport. Overnight Anchorage. 5/22 Weds drive to Talkeetna Flightseeing tour to Denali. Overnight Talkeetna 5/23 Thurs backup option for Denali Flightseeing. Jet boat tour. Drive to Seward late afternoon. Overnight Seward. 5/24 Fri Major Marine 6 hour tour afternoon. Overnight Seward 5/25 Sat Kenai Fjords in morning. Walk to Exit Glacier viewing. How far will depend on my knee. Drive back to Anchorage, stop at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way. Drop off car. Overnight Anchorage. 5/26 Sun Train or shuttle to Whittier for cruise 5/27 Mon Hubbard Glacier 5/28 Tues Glacier Bay 5/29 Weds Skagway 7 am - 8 pm Looking to book White pass railway, Yukon a& Dog sled adventure. HAL hasn’t opened up our cruise for excursions yet. 5/30 Thurs Juneau 8 am - 5 pm Planning to take the Blue bus up to Mendenhall Glacier and also try to do the tram on our own. 5/31 Fri Ketchikan 11 am - 7 pm Alaska Fishing & Wilderness Dining. 6/1 Sat Inside Passage 6/2 Sun Vancouver Flying home to MSP in the afternoon. $100 Military OBC as one son is a veteran. 1 flight was booked with a credit, and 2 flights with miles so only 1 was cash. I’m also buying AARP gift cards to pay for the cruise. I’m trying to save where I can to offset some of the more expensive excursions.

Wow, yes I was not serious. I don’t think i want to look either. 😳 The good news from this morning was that no one was injured.

Perhaps we need the cruise line equivalent of Carfax to look up a ship’s accident history.😂

Here’s the details on HAL’s website: Military OBC First Responders OBC

I noticed the same thing on my sailing. The Plus and Premier are backwards. I’m waiting for my CFP to get back to me as I’m thinking this is a website glitch.