tdeyette

11 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

It was amazing! This year I was tempted to go back but instead had a girls trip planned to Scotland/Ireland (which of course is not happening 😪).

I hear you, my wife and I had a May trip planned to cruise the Greek islands then meet up with her sister and brother in-law in Italy for a week. All the plans were coming together so nice! 😞

Also following, we did this cruise in 2018, had a great time and I'm sure you did as well.

Brings back great memories.

I know the terms and conditions are always changing but in general to use 2 Cruise Next certs does the booking typically have to be 6 months or more in advance? For example we are considering a thanksgiving booking that is more like 3 months from now. Would they only allow 1 or could you use 2 (with current rules?)

We used Yankee Trails from Albany to NJ for our Anthem of the seas Cruise to Bermuda (it was May However)

We parked in their lot (right next to the bus terminal and office). This was included at no extra charge.

It seems like someone that came back had a dead battery in their car. They immediately called their maintenance department, jump started the car and they were on their way.

We would certainly consider them for any NY or NJ cruise in the future.

We also liked the Anthem, The covered adult pool and hot tubs in the front of the ship are awesome and I'm sure it would be a great spot in cold weather. It is a large ship but the only time we felt crowded was when the muster drill ended and everyone was heading towards the elevators.

We did not have any kids with us (although my wife might call me a kid at times) but we partake of the bumper cars. That Whole area seems like it would be great for kids to hang out. Bumper cars (I think there was roller skating), basket ball, foosball, air hockey, ping pong, Nintendo and they even had a place to eat there.... not to  mention the rock climbing, flo-rider and i-fly nearby, you might not see your kids for the entire cruise 🙂

anyway, enjoy your cruise....

We were on Vision a few years ago and tendered in Villefranche, we were not the only ship there that day.

From what I remember, the ship used local tenders that were able to hold more people. We had a private excursion and did not experience any delays or problems. 

Same with Kotor

I do not recall a 2 hour wait at either port of call...

Slightly different but not I guess.

Once we were vacationing in Hawaii and arrived at our room a little early. Our room maid was still cleaning our room. We had a great conversation with her and asked for some recommendation for a local spot to eat. She recommended a place that was in a strip mall small and not a place we would have found or likely stopped at. 

The food was great,  the atmosphere was unique and the people very friendly. My wife asked about how to make Poi. The cook came out and told us step by step how to make it and what to avoid. It was a very memorable experience. 

Point is, do not be afraid to ask the locals... 

It seems like this thread has turned in to a Products recommendation thread. Not saying this is bad but actually a good research tool for people looking for information or recommendations. 

For General info, I will throw my hat into the ring.

On our recent trip to Europe I went through the same thoughts and research. Our trip started and ended in Barcelona. Once cannot emphasize enough to use common since, be aware of your surroundings,  avoid very crowded situations etc. That said, we did not experience any issues or problems and had a wonderful time. Cannot wait to go back!

I'll list Some of the things I purchased for the trip below. I can say these are well made and I have used them several times since on other trips we have taken:

Backpack:

https://www.pacsafe.com/metrosafe-ls450-anti-theft-25l-backpack/30435.html?dwvar_30435_color=123&cgid=daypacks#start=1

Pants, both convertible and standard styles:

https://www.clothingarts.com/collections/adventure_travel_pickpocket_proof_pants/products/pickpocket_proof_convertible_travel_pants

I am no way affiliated with either company just a satisfied customer.

Clothing arts is a small company that often sees back orders on there products. You can sometimes find them sold at other travel companies so shop around. The pants are expensive but very well made and have multi level securities built in. The convertible pants worked well in Europe. I could use them full length while visiting churches, then zip off the legs turning them into shorts for the rest of the day while sight seeing. I have used them on multiple vacations and they have become a must pack item when we travel.

Anyway, for those doing research. These are some of the items I use and can recommend.

Hello Staceylyle

It has been a year since our MED cruise and already we are dreaming of going back!

If you have not already done so, join your cruises roll call. Here you can share ideas and join tours with fellow passengers.

We ended up joining 3 tours in Italy with fellow cruisers using Joe Banana tours and we could not have been happier.

We met some great people and really had fun.

Our ship stopped in Salerno Italy (for Naples) and we took Joe Banana's tour called SAL003.

• We drove to Sorrento, stopping at a lemoncello factory by request and then had free time in Sorrento for shopping and gelato.
• we then drove the Amalfi coast stopping for photo opportunities where possible. 
• we stopped in Positano where we walked down the narrow streets to the beach at the bottom. My wife put her feet in the ocean (we did not really have time for a swim). 
• After we had a wonder full family style lunch in a hill top restaurant overlooking Positano.
• After we drove to Pompeii for a guided tour. I believe we were there for 2 hours (our guide said we only saw perhaps a 6th of the site). Pompeii was amazing.

we then drove back to the ship tired and enriched.... 🙂

I may have forgotten some of the details in between but these are some of the highlights

Enjoy your cruise

We were on the Crown in FEB 2019 and they had some "free style" water color painting opportunities set up in the main piazza area. Wife and sister in-law went thinking it was a class. It was actually set up with supplies and anyone was welcome to paint. They had a great time and painted whatever came to mind. Some people painted scenes from photos they had taken while on shore. 

Ellie,

It is not permissable to mention specific tour agencies but take a look at the "find a cruise" button at the top of the forum page. If you enter the cruise info and Celestyal cruises you will come up with a recomended cruise critic company. This shows avaliable rooms and I believe you can select rooms you want.

I have never used this company so cannot comment on how well they are to work with. 

good luck and enjoy your cruise

On 3/4/2019 at 11:32 AM, cruiseesl said:

Friends and I are booked on the June 3 2019 Aegean Cruise on Celestyal Crystal.  I have been to the website many times to "manage the booking."  The website is posing a challenge to me. I know that there are 3 included excursions on this cruise:  One on Santorini (Oia), one on Crete (Palace of Knossos) and one for Kusadasi (Ephesus).  I have been to Ephesus before, and so for Ephesus I want to sign up instead for the non-included Celestyal excursion that includes the Terrace Houses. I see the excursions for the other port stops--how do I sign up, and also, how can I tell if the excursions are offered in the mornings or the afternoons?  There does not seem to be a forum or roll call for Celestyal. Thank you

Cruiseesl,  

When you come back from your Celestyal cruise could you come back to this board and give us a brief comment on your cruise and if you enjoyed it?

We have family that is interesting in visiting England and Wales in May/June 2020, we may join them for a week. Then since we are in Europe, my wife and I are contemplating adding a cruise on Celestyal. There is not a lot of information out there but from what I have read it sounds like a great option for seeing the Greek islands.

Enjoy your cruise

Hello NayaSantaFe,

As others have stated, do not miss the watching the sail in and out of port. Beautiful scenery. Depending on the time of year you are going you might get different views (afternoon vs evening)

When we got off the ship in Kotor I remember there being MANY tour operators aggressively looking for your business. 

That said, we had prearranged a boat tour using Miki Tour and travel. We were there in early June, and the boat was not really full... you might have been able to purchase tickets on that day. This 2.5 hr tour took you out to Our lady of the rocks church then a short trip to Perst. We just walked around Perst a little and purchased some gifts for folks back home but there were also places where you could get a drink near the water. You are arriving at 2:00 and I'm not sure if they have tours after that time, you might want to check with them. (I believe there are other boat tours as well)

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g295381-d11463429-Kotor_Boat_Tour-Kotor_Kotor_Municipality.html

once we were back onto Kotor we wandered around in the walled old city. Cool narrow streets with plenty of shops and places to get a bite to eat or drink. We wandered around, shopped, took pictures of the cats (the cats of Kotor are a big thing I guess). Then had a glass of wine and meat/cheese platter at the Old Winery.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g295381-d4594058-Reviews-Old_Winery-Kotor_Kotor_Municipality.html

Of course we had to get a Gelato on the way back to the ship.

Also, for the adventurous, out the back of the walled town is a climbing path where one could hike up to an old church we did not do this but I'm sure you could get some great views of the town and ship.

Lastly, check out Toms Port Guides for ideas if you have not already done so. These free guides have some great information

https://www.tomsportguides.com/mediterranean-cruises.html

we had a great time as a DYI stop in Kotor.  

I have had some luck searching the boards for specific excursion numbers like princess excursion STT-760

Also like to look at tripadvisor as someone else mentioned

That said, We just got back from our cruise and did the above mentioned snorkel so I can give you my thoughts on this one. These are my opinions and yours may vary 🙂

The fast cat is a large powered catamaran with inside and outside seating. On our trip the group from Princess was combined with a group from Carnival that was also docked at Havensight (we all got along just fine). The catamaran was docked a short walking distance away. The tour operators/guides are both informative and funny.

Trip out to turtle cove was a bit choppy and the fast cat would hit the waves splashing water into the boat. (tip: if you do not want to get wet, sit inside and not near the front "window or doorway". I sat in-line with this door and got drenched with waves much to the delight of the people I was traveling with (i did not mind))

Equipment is provided if you did not bring your own. They have standard snorkel masks (none with prescription lenses). After a short ride we stopped at turtle cove and started snorkeling. There were guides that would go with you or we could snorkel independently. Bottom is primary sandy with some small grasses. We saw several small turtles which were eating the grass on the bottom. Also saw a small ray. Near shore you can see rocks, corals and some fish. (I took some pictures but more on that later)

After about 30-45 mins or so we got back on for the short trip to water island / honeymoon beach. At this time the bottomless rum punch came out. The guides were ever present with punch in-case you wanted more.  It was nice to have the beach break as some people in our group do not snorkel. 

The boat was backed up close to shore and guest were free to leave. I believe we had about 1.25 hours of free time to swim, snorkel, sun worship etc. The beach was beautiful. There was a food stand where you could order something to eat or drink (I forgot to add the catamaran guides had set up a "swim up bar" for more rum punch on the back of the boat.) (TIP: we ordered some fish tacos, line did not look long but it took most of the time we were there to get our food. Not their fault... just that they were super busy and we did not realize they were a bit backed up, you might want to ask about how long it will take prior to ordering??)

Food was good, rum punch plentiful, nice beach for swimming (a little pebbly so water shoes might be nice)

As a side note, I lost my camera on this beach somewhere😞 .... a blue Cannon D10... it was about 10 years old but still worked great to take under water photos. I had not taken a lot of photos on it so I'm not bummed too bad.... I did have a photo of my address on the image card so maybe some day at least the card will return. 

Over all, I think this was a fun time with a mix of things to do. The best snorkeling? no... that would be in Bonaire, but we enjoyed our day. 

On 1/31/2019 at 12:08 AM, Astro Flyer said:

The 15% gratuity is added when purchasing the wine package & is based on the package’s cost & not on the individual cost of each bottle of wine. 

 

For example the 7 bottle gold package costs $217 & the gratuity added when purchasing the package would be $32.55.

 

Our recent experience on the Crown:

We recently sailed on the Crown (10 days - 2/15 to 2/25) and purchased the wine package. We had to ask several times for the card and did manage to get it in the main dining room at dinner on night 2. The card was exactly as shown here by Astro Flyer. Choice between silver and gold, 7, 10 & 12 bottle pkg. we purchased the 10 bottle gold package. There were a few nights that we had to choose a different bottle of wine as they did not have my choice in stock. It's nice that they have these packages for folks that like to have wine with their dinner.

We tried it once.... and were turned down....

however we tried to get a reservation for 6, one could not eat shrimp, one cannot eat chocolate or red wine.....

maybe it would be easier with just the wife and I as we can eat anything 🙂

We often eat here when we stay at Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale prior to our cruises.

It looks like their website says they are closed for renovations. 

Just curious if they have re-opened yet.

Cruising next week and thought we might go there.

Thanks for the update gme105 ... much appreciated 👍

Thanks Av8tor...

we will be stopping 2/16.... appreciate the update

Great to hear, we will be stopping 2/16 and we were wondering the status 

Thanks for the update

Not OP but we will be using Stan in a few weeks.

I contacted him at this address: **grainger.stan@gmail.com (remove the **)

also see TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147296-d13443001-Reviews-JnJ_Tours-St_George_s_Saint_George_Parish_Grenada.html

and his website:

http://www.jnjtours.com/

Good Luck

When we were there we took the princess excursion called Outback Dominican adventure with lunch. The folks in our group really enjoyed this tour. One of the highlights was stopping at a local school to see the kids... they were very enthusiastic and swarmed some of the ladies in our group for a photo op. 

It was a nice way to see some of the island. 

Our Kid-Away,

I have recently contacted Peppers through this e-mail address:

askpepper@pepperscottage.com

web address http://sweetdominica.com/

Considering their Peppers choice for our Feb 2019 cruise

Thanks for the update Nitnoi. I have an e-mail in with Peppers to check on avalibility.

Just bumping this up for any updated from recent visitors.

We have been to the Screw Spa on a past tour and enjoyed our visit.

Going back to Dominica Feb 2019 and would like to visit the spa.