espmass

Just back last night from our Island princess cruise. In Cartagena I had arranged to take a tour through Dora. It was wonderful. Her cost depends on the number of people. We had the maximum of 10 (located on our roll call) so the cost was $65 per person. I think that's pretty close to what the ship's excursion would have cost but it was much nicer with a group of 10 where we had personal attention and could hear everything our guide was saying as opposed to being herded around with a group of 25 or more people. The van easily held the 10 of us comfortably and the much needed air conditioning worked great. They were waiting for us right at the end of the dock as they told us they would be. Our guide was JC and he was as pleasant as can be. We saw everything we wanted to see from the streets to the monastery to the dungeons to the fort and then some. We did not climb the fort since nobody other than me wanted to, so instead JC took us to see more of the city and we walked around quite a bit. Cartagena is a beautiful city with a lot to see and we all felt totally safe and secure on the tour. I highly recommend Dora's tours to anyone going. She can be contacted at dora@cartagenatour.com

Thanks. Now I need to know if they take coins, tokens that you buy, or a swipe of the sea pass card.

With the latest changes to the Island, can someone please confirm that they still have self serve laundry on each floor? Also, do they take coins, tokens, or the card swipe? Thanks so much.

Thank you so much SpokaneDan. That's exactly what I was trying to find for the Rainforest and somehow couldn't get that page on the same web site. Must be me! Which guide did you use? We plan to use Jorge Ramirez Morales who has good reviews but he doesn't include entry fees. I did get a quote of the canal boat ride for $20.

Yes, the guide told us to get the current price on the sites' websites but they weren't clear.

I hope it's OK to post this question here as I rarely get current info on the port boards and our roll call is not active. I have a private guide scheduled for a tour in Costa Rica but his fee does not include the admission tickets to the Veragua Rainforest and tram ride or the Tortugera Canal boat ride. The web sites aren't very clear. Does anyone have any current info regarding these fees? Thanks so much for any help.

Does anyone have current information regarding the entry fees for the Veragua Rainforest and Tram ride and also the Tortuguero Canal Boat tour? We have a private tour arranged with a guide but it does not include entry tickets and I have been getting a lot of conflicting information regarding prices. Thank you for any info.

Thanks for the responses. I honestly hadn't thought about the guarantee cabins.

I'm on the Island Princess 3/4/16. When checking cabin availability (for possibility of switching cabins) I see this cruise is very empty with loads of cabins of all types still available. The roll call has only a handful of passengers registered. It's not all that far off now. It's doubtful that I'd change our plans since we're going with a few others, but out of curiosity, does anyone find this a bit odd? Should I be concerned that there is a reason? Thanks.

Thanks. It's good to hear your favorable comments about the Island. I have been following the thread concerning how ugly this ship is and how much people don't like it and their comments have had me worried about my upcoming 3/4 cruise on the Island. Those comments plus so many empty cabins still available for my cruise plus only 4-5 people on our roll call have had me kind of nervous about my cruise. Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far.

Sorry if this is a dumb question. I was browsing the excursions on my upcoming cruise. I noticed for every excursion in every port that there are 20 openings available. Does that mean that not one single person has purchased one single excursion in any port? Kind of unlikely isn't it? The cruise is 3/4 so it's not all that far off. Also kind of unlikely that there are only 20 spaces available on an excursion when there are busses involved, isn't it?

Thanks.

Is there a way to contact a roll call member directly without having their e mail address (ie through Cruise Critic)? I had posted info about a private tour I was considering booking and two had replied they'd like to join us which, of course, makes the price cheaper. Now they haven't checked back in for awhile so I haven't been able to notify them that I am ready to book the tour and want them to join us. Also, I have never booked like this with people I have never met from the board. With no deposit required by the tour director, how do we know these people will show up? We don't want to get to the port and find the tour will cost us twice the price because the others don't show up. Any advice on this matter will be a big help. Thanks for all help and info.

Thanks. For anyone interested in this topic, I posted it on the regular Princess board also and there are loads of replies.

Thank you everyone. As always, a lot of really good thoughts and opinions from your experiences. Gives me plenty to consider before making my choice of excursion for this port.

Thanks. That's something we were thinking about. Even though the private tour guide comes highly recommended on Cruise Critic, there's a feeling of safety with the ship sponsored tour.

No answers on port thread so hoping someone can answer me here. We're considering either the ship excursion or a private tour at a port (Cartagena) on an upcoming cruise. The tours are basically the same and close in price. The benefit of the ship excursion is knowing they would hold the ship for us if there were any problems. The obvious benefit of the private tour is it would be smaller so more personalized. Are there any other benefits of each that we should consider? Normally on Caribbean islands we just grab cabs and ask for a tour but we don't feel comfortable doing that in this port. Thanks for any advice.

For our stop in Cartagena we're deciding between the ship's excursion and a private tour by a well known guide. Both excursions are pretty similar in time and in sights they will show us and the prices aren't much different. The benefit of the ship's excursion is knowing that the ship has it insured so that we wouldn't get left behind if late. The biggest benefit of the private excursion is that there are far less guests so it's more personalized. Any other big differences we should consider in our decision? Thanks.

Usually when I book a cruise I spend weeks/months afterwards reading all the questions and comments about my booked cruise. It gets me more and more excited about my future cruise. There seems to be very few CURRENT threads regarding this ship, let alone this date. Plenty of cabins still available. Even stranger, only 4-5 people registered on the roll call. Does anyone else find that odd? Should I worry??

I haven't been on Princess for several years. Last time on it though, Sabatinis was a place where you ordered your entrée and then they served a sample of just about everything on the menu in a something like 14 course meal. I assume it's no longer like that?

Just off the Summit today and can confirm the fitness center opens at 6AM although the doors were always open earlier. Wild ride home yesterday through a storm. I'm still rocking.

The very far off forecast for the two days we're docked in Bermuda on the Summit next week are for all day wind and rain. Yes, I realize the forecast can change and I sure hope it does change. If it doesn't change, what is there to do in Bermuda in the rain? Thanks.

The food tour was the best money we ever spent on a tour. It was wonderful. We took the 3PM one and the food was more than enough to fill us up so that we didn't bother with dinner that night. They also do it at 10AM. Along the way our guide, Carmen, stopped to tell us about sights we passed. We saw things we had passed many times while in San Juan but didn't know about them. We went to 6 different places having everything from frozen ices to sandwiches to pina coladas. Since you're going two days early be sure to take this tour and be sure to reserve it early as it fills up.

Thanks. They won't have hand luggage and do not want to check onto the ship or go onboard. As long as they can drop their luggage off and leave they'll be happy.

I haven't been on the Summit since Canyon Ranch took over, but the 5 other times I was on it the gym always opened at 6AM. I'm on again this coming weekend and I'll be very disappointed if it doesn't open until 8. I'm also an early bird and like to get my workout in, have breakfast, and get off the ship early.

I always board when I get to the pier so I don't know the answer to this question posed by a friend. They are sailing from San Juan (Pan Am Pier) and want to go into Old San Juan before checking onto the ship. Can they drop their luggage with a porter at the pier as long as they have the luggage tags on the luggage or do they have to also check onto the ship at the same time? A further question is if they are with others who are going to the ship, can the others check their luggage with a porter for them so that they could go directly to Old San Juan from the airport? Thanks!