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We are flying from Canada to Lisbon in January. The plane arrives in Lisbon at 5:30am. I estimate by the time we have cleared custom and picked up our luggage, it will be at least 7am by the time we get to our hotel. We have been to Lisbon before on previous cruises, and have taken the Hop on and off bus, and ship excursion to Sintra and Cascais. However, we have not stayed overnight in the city before. We are looking for a reasonable hotel (under $200 a night) in a strategic location for sightseeing. Keeping in mind that the hotel usually will not let guests check in until 3pm, we have to leave our luggage in the hotel storage and go out and explore the city in early morning until we can check in later in the afternoon. Our flight from Canada to Lisbon is about 8 hours, and when we get to Lisbon in the morning, is really in the middle of the night for our Canadian time, so we will be very tired, since I usually can not fall asleep in the airplane. We hope to find a hotel in a central location so we can walk around to do some sightseeing, or be close to a Hop and off bus stop so we can do that again although we did that last time onshore. In the evening, we wouldn't mind visiting an area where there is some night life with bars and restaurants. Although we are not drinkers and do not plan to party, but just want to see a bit of some lively atmosphere in the city. Then we have a whole day the next day, we should have enough energy after a night of sleep, to maybe catch a train to visit something a bit further away, a castle or another small town nearby? Is there any local tour or taxi company you can suggest to pick us up from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the cruise dock 2 days later. Should we pre-book this service, or is it easy and fast enough just to grab a cab from the airport. Is there a local tour company you can suggest for us to do some sightseeing in the city? What area would you suggest for us to find a hotel that has attractions nearby that we can walk or take other transportation to? Any particular hotel names you can suggest? Thank you in advance.

Here is what is showing on the web site as I was proceeding to book: The wording is as follows: "Free At Sea", Claim Your Free Offers: Open Bar Save up to US$1,400 on all the spirits and cocktails, wines, draft beer, juice and soda for all guests 21 years or older. Gratuities will be added to your booking. Specialty Dining Save up to US$160 and savor free meals at our Specialty Dining venues for Guests 1 & 2. Gratuities will be added to your booking. Subtotal CA$3,243.04 Gov. Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses CA$750.02 Open Bar Gratuities CA$643.24 Specialty Dining Gratuities CA$26.82 Total Due CA$4,663.12 Where it says Open Bar Gratuities for $643.24, I presume it means it covers the prices of the drink package including the gratuities as well?

I am considering booking NCL Sun "Free At Sea" promotion, which includes wifi, shore excursion credit, 1 specialty dinner and "Open Bar". I am still not a 100% sure if there is any extra charges when we order drinks on the ship with our "Free At Sea" promotion. Although I have been told that there should not be any additional charges for either tax or gratuities on the drinks I order, as long as the ship is not in a specific port that has that extra VAT tax requirement. Here is a couple of sentences on the NCL Policy that concerns me: This was on a previous post by another Cruise Critic member. For the "Free At Sea" promotion: "Government taxes, port expenses & fees, discretionary onboard service charges and/or gratuities are additional." "Guests are responsible for 20% gratuities on the retail value of the Unlimited Open Bar Package ($21.80 USD per person per day)" So does it apply to the "Free At Sea" promotion that I am considering choosing, which includes this "open bar", and I am supposed to have paid for the gratuities up front already when I book the cruise? Thank you in advance.

Thanks for your replies. So let say if I am ordering some drinks when we are in port, how would I know if that particular port will incur a tax on for the drinks I order? Would I have to ask the bar staff before I place the order? I would imagine they will not inform each guest that they are about to pay extra tax for the drinks they order when the ship is docked at that particular port, unless you ask?

Considering booking NCL Sun "Free At Sea" promotion, which includes wifi, shore excursion credit, 1 specialty dinner and "Open Bar". I read awhile ago before the Pandemic that you might have to pay either a tax, or extra gratuities on every drink you order, even you have purchased your drink package. Is it true? I asked the NCL agent on the phone and he said that is not the case. So, for the folks who have purchased the "Free At Sea" promo, is there any hidden cost/extra charge every time you order a drink? Also, we enjoy some ballroom dancing in the evening, is there any opportunity to do some ballroom dancing on NCL Sun? What is the live music venue like, I know it depends on what band happens to be on the ship, but wonder if they mainly play high energy music, or do they play an assortment or different genre of music? Thank you in advance.

We are considering the Sapphire Princess to South America in March. It finishes in San Antonio, Chile. We are catching a flight home from Santiago to Canada. Thinking of joining an excursion on disembarkation day with the ship. It's a 8 to 9 hours excursion and they will drop you off at the Santiago airport. In order to join the ship excursion, you need to be on a flight leaving later than 9pm. But our flight leaves at 7:30pm So we are thinking of staying in a hotel and catching a flight home the next day. We are debating if we should book a hotel at the airport that has a free shuttle,. So after Princess drops us off at the airport after the excursion, we can take a free shuttle to the hotel. Since we don't need to be at the airport the next day until around 4:30pm (our flight departs at 7:30pm), we will have at least 4 to 5 hours the next day to do something. So don't know if it's convenient to take some kind of transportation from the airport hotel to Santiago city to spend some more time there, and then back to the airport hotel to collect our luggage from their storage, and take their free shuttle back to the airport. Or, should we book a hotel in Santiago itself. But we would have to get to the hotel in Santiago ourself after the excursion with Princess, because they are not going to drop us off there obviously. Could you please share your experience where you stayed if you did a post cruise visit in Chile. Any hotels you would recommend, we just need a clean place to stay for 1 night, no need for luxury hotels. We are concerned about the transportation issue. Also wonder if there is time to do a hop on and off bus, or hire a local tour company to do some sightseeing for maybe 4 hours before heading back to the airport. Thank you in advance.

We are considering the Sapphire Princess to South America in March. It finishes in San Antonio, Chile. We are catching a flight home from Santiago to Canada. Thinking of joining an excursion on disembarkation day with the ship. It's a 8 to 9 hours excursion and they will drop you off at the Santiago airport. In order to join the ship excursion, you need to be on a flight leaving later than 9pm. But our flight leaves at 7:30pm So we are thinking of staying in a hotel and catching a flight home the next day. We are debating if we should book a hotel at the airport that has a free shuttle,. So after Princess drops us off at the airport after the excursion, we can take a free shuttle to the hotel. Since we don't need to be at the airport the next day until around 4:30pm (our flight departs at 7:30pm), we will have at least 4 to 5 hours the next day to do something. So don't know if it's convenient to take some kind of transportation from the airport hotel to Santiago city to spend some more time there, and then back to the airport hotel to collect our luggage from their storage, and take their free shuttle back to the airport. Or, should we book a hotel in Santiago itself. But we would have to get to the hotel in Santiago ourself after the excursion with Princess, because they are not going to drop us off there obviously. Could you please share your experience where you stayed if you did a post cruise visit in Chile. Any hotels you would recommend, we just need a clean place to stay for 1 night, no need for luxury hotels. We are concerned about the transportation issue. Also wonder if there is time to do a hop on and off bus, or hire a local tour company to do some sightseeing for maybe 4 hours before heading back to the airport. Also, we enjoy doing some ballroom dancing, in the previous Princess ships we have sailed on, there were usually a small amount of ballroom dancing available, how are the music/dancing venues on the Sapphire Princess?

We will be getting off the Celebrity Infinity in March. The ship docks at 5am. Our flight home is at 7:30pm. There are 3 disembarkation excursions offered by the ship but all of them require the flight leaving Santiago after 9pm. So that won't work for us. If we leave the ship and go to the airport right after, we would be sitting around waiting for hours. Is there any local company that we can hire for a private tour for maybe 5 or 6 hours to do some sightseeing until mid afternoon before dropping us at the airport. We have to think about the security of leaving all our luggage in the trunk of the car when we step out of the car to visit a site. Not to mention if something goes wrong, we would be really messed up not getting to the airport on time. Does anyone have any suggestion of how to get a few hours of sightseeing in before going to the Santiago airport to catch our flight. We have never been to Santiago or the Chile coast before so we would like to see at least a bit of it. Staying an extra night is not an option though because the next day the flights available are all very indirect and a lot more expensive. Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

We will be getting off the Celebrity Infinity in March. The ship docks at 5am. Our flight home is at 7:30pm. There are 3 disembarkation excursions offered by the ship but all of them require the flight leaving Santiago after 9pm. So that won't work for us. If we leave the ship and go to the airport right after, we would be sitting around waiting for hours. Is there any local company that we can hire for a private tour for maybe 5 or 6 hours to do some sightseeing until mid afternoon before dropping us at the airport. We have to think about the security of leaving all our luggage in the trunk of the car when we step out of the car to visit a site. Not to mention if something goes wrong, we would be really messed up not getting to the airport on time. Does anyone have any suggestion of how to get a few hours of sightseeing in before going to the Santiago airport to catch our flight. We have never been to Santiago or the Chile coast before so we would like to see at least a bit of it. Staying an extra night is not an option though because the next day the flights available are all very indirect and a lot more expensive. Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

We will be arriving Buenos Aires by plane in March. I figure by the time we check into a hotel, it will be around 4:30pm and we only have a couple of hours of day light left. We are supposed to check into our Celebrity Infinity cruise ship before 3pm. The ship sails at 6:30pm. We plan to check out of our hotel by 9am, leave our luggage there until we are back to pick them up later, and head out to do maybe about 5 hours of sight seeing. Is there enough time to take a hop on and off bus? Other than La Boca area, where is a must see that we can cover within a few hours of time. Is there enough time to do a quick city tour and the boat ride? What district should we be picking a hotel in? We only need a clean hotel to stay for one night, so no need for any luxury hotel. Perhaps somewhere central for sightseeing purpose would do. Is it easy to get a taxi from the airport to a hotel in the center of town? Any info on the transportation, sightseeing, hotel in Buenos Aires are welcome. Thank you in advance.

We will be arriving Buenos Aires by plane in March. I figure by the time we check into a hotel, it will be around 4:30pm and we only have a couple of hours of day light left. We are supposed to check into our Celebrity cruise ship before 3pm. The ship sails at 6:30pm. We plan to check out of our hotel by 9am, leave our luggage there until we are back to pick them up later, and head out to do maybe about 5 hours of sight seeing. Is there enough time to take a hop on and off bus? Other than La Boca area, where is a must see that we can cover within a few hours of time. Is there enough time to do a quick city tour and the boat ride? What district should we be picking a hotel in? We only need a clean hotel to stay for one night, so no need for any luxury hotel. Perhaps somewhere central for sightseeing purpose would do. Is it easy to get a taxi from the airport to a hotel in the center of town? Any info on the transportation, sightseeing, hotel in Buenos Aires are welcome. Thank you in advance.

Thanks everyone for replying my post. We would like try Azamara sometime, so if we don't choose the South America voyage this time, we would consider another journey when it's feasible. It's good to get an impression of what the dance venue is like before we make a decision, as evening entertainment is a very important part of the ship experience for us. Thanks again for all your replies.

We have cruised many times but have not had the pleasure to sail with Azamara yet. We are considering Azamara Pursuit for a 17 day South America cruise this coming January. We enjoy ballroom dancing and wonder if we would have an opportunity to dance much on the Pursuit. We watched some videos on Youtube and have seen the 2 lounges on the ship. The bigger lounge that has a stage with performers in the evening, I wonder after the performances, is the dance floor open for general dancing with a live band playing? How much live music or DJ music do you get in these 2 lounges in the evening for general dancing? Any information on the South America cruise that you have been on, please share it with us. What was the "Azamara Evening" event you had when you did your South America cruise? Thank you very much in advance.

We are considering going on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean with Colon as one of the stops. It is not going through the Panama canal. We have had experience with certain ports where every passengers have to go to a lounge to present their passports when the ship docks. Some local authority would come on the ship and inspect everyone's passport before clearing the ship and letting people onshore. That usually take a long time to process a few thousand passengers. Does anyone know if they do that with Colon? Or the ship have done some kind of "blanket check" with the local authority when it docks in the morning, and you don't need to go through the line up in the lounge to have individual passport check one by one to go through custom before people are let off the ship? Thank you in advance.

We are considering going on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean with Colon as one of the stops. It is not going through the Panama canal. We have had experience with certain ports where every passengers have to go to a lounge to present their passports when the ship docks. Some local authority would come on the ship and inspect everyone's passport before clearing the ship and letting people onshore. That usually take a long time to process a few thousand passengers. Does anyone know if they do that with Colon? Or the ship have done some kind of "blanket check" with the local authority when it docks in the morning, and you don't need to go through the line up in the lounge to have individual passport check one by one to go through custom before people are let off the ship? Thank you in advance.

We have sailed with many other cruise lines but have never sailed with a small ship like Azamara before. We are considering a South America cruise with Azamara Pursuit. We enjoy ballroom dancing and we are always able to do ballroom dancing on the big ships with other cruises we have been on. We can see there is a "Living Room" lounge where there is a dance floor, and we noticed there is a "Cabaret Lounge" where you watch the performances. Just wondering after the nightly performances, is the Cabaret Lounge used for dancing at all with either live band music or music by a DJ? There are 2 overnight stays in the itinerary, wonder if Azamara still have those events that take you off the ship for an evening experience. I heard that they might have stopped that because of Covid and they just bring a local group of performer onboard instead. How is the food, service, entertainment and any information is welcome. Thank you in advance.

Thank you everyone for answering my post. Much appreciated.

Thank you everyone for answering my post. Much appreciated.

Thank you everyone for replying my post. Moe46 mentioned a crown and anchor discount onboard. We are at the Emerald level right now, would we be entitled to some kind of discount for internet? I am still unable to find out what the internet price is if I purchase it onboard. The Royal Caribbean agent on the phone was very vague about the answer. Also, could anyone please enlighten me about this idea of "You can get 15 min of free internet on a mobile device one time per sailing by clicking on the App/Play store link" ? So if we have a cell phone, with no roaming capability, can we still get this 15 min of free internet? Do we have to download some kind of App? Or do we find it within the Royal Caribbean App that is downloaded on our phone already? Thank you.

Could anyone please tell me if it's more expensive to buy the Voom Surf package after we have checked into the ship, compared to buying it on my cruise planner before we embark. It says on the cruise planner there is a 20% discount to buy it now, but I don't know if that is really true. I called Royal Caribbean and the agent couldn't provide me with a price of the Voom Surf package if I wait till I have already checked into the ship. Also, if I don't need it for a few days and only buy it some time during the voyage, would they pro-rate it, for example, if there is only 9 days left from a 14 day cruise, would they just ask me to pay for 9 days but not the whole package price for 14 days, since I didn't use it for the first 5 days? Thank you in advance.

We will be finishing our cruise in Barbados in December. We are considering taking a taxi for the 2 of us from the cruise terminal to the airport. Would like to know how much a taxi ride is in U.S. dollars. If anyone has pre-booked a taxi transfer service and if they would recommend it. Thank you.

We are sailing on the Anthem of the Seas in October. It sails from Southampton to the Carnary Islands. It says on the health protocol that if we are fully vaccinated and have our up to date boaster shot, we will need to provide a negative Covid test result that is done within 3 days of embarking. It also states that the Antigen test could be done at home by yourself, and does not have to be monitored by a professional. You can bring a print out as a proof, or provide a picture of yourself holding the negative test result. I wonder if anyone has done that lately to get onboard of a ship? It seems a bit strange to me that there is nothing in the picture that could definitively prove that you have done the test no more than 3 days from your embarkation date, and also it might not even be a test result that is really yours. I am wondering if I should still spend the money and get my Antigen test done properly at the pharmacy and get an official print out to show them at the pier. I would very much like to save the money and not have to do that, if Royal Caribbean would truly just accept someone showing them a picture of himself holding up a negative test with really no date or any real proof on it to indicate that it is really the test result of that particular individual. I don't want to be denied boarding if I just show them the picture and have someone says that is not acceptable. Although I called Royal and the agent claimed that it is OK. Has anyone just got on to a ship with just showing them a picture of yourself holding a negative test. I mean the little piece of plastic with the red line on it, without any official print out from a pharmacy. Thank you.

We will be flying into the Heathrow airport a day before our cruise starts. Would like to visit Bath. Thinking of hiring a car transfer for the 2 of us. We are flying to Heathrow airport from an overnight flight from Canada, so would not consider taking the train or coach after that. Could anyone suggest a reasonable car transfer company that we can hire to take us from Heathrow airport to a hotel in Bath. And the next day from Bath to Southampton to start our cruise. Any reasonable clean hotels in Bath that is within walking distance to visit the major sites in Bath you can recommend? What are the must see in Bath? Thank you.

We will be flying into the Heathrow airport a day before our cruise starts. Would like to visit Bath. Thinking of hiring a car transfer for the 2 of us. We are flying to Heathrow airport from an overnight flight from Canada, so would not consider taking the train or coach after that. Could anyone suggest a reasonable car transfer company that we can hire to take us from Heathrow airport to a hotel in Bath. And the next day from Bath to Southampton to start our cruise. Any reasonable clean hotels in Bath that is within walking distance to visit the major sites in Bath you can recommend? What are the must see in Bath? Thank you.

We will be flying into the Heathrow airport a day before our cruise starts. Would like to visit Bath. Thinking of hiring a car transfer for the 2 of us. We are flying to Heathrow airport from an overnight flight from Canada, so would not consider taking the train or coach after that. Could anyone suggest a reasonable car transfer company that we can hire to take us from Heathrow airport to a hotel in Bath. And the next day from Bath to Southampton to start our cruise. Any reasonable clean hotels in Bath that is within walking distance to visit the major sites in Bath you can recommend? What are the must see in Bath? Thank you.