NoWhiners

We were there in July, here's what I did. I wore crocs for water landings and changed into a sneaker once we were on land. I don't think we had to do that--the trails were mostly well-maintained and ok for crocs. I did notice that most of our guides wore crocs. If you want to change shoes once you're on land, bring a small towel to dry/wipe your feet. Also, there are no places to sit when you change shoes, so you'll have to do it all sitting on the beach. Sometimes there is a rock or old tree stump you can use, but not always. If you are used to walking in crocs all the time, you could probably use them on the trails with no issues. Lots of people wore hiking boots but I think they weren't required. Maybe it depends on your feet--some people need the extra support from a hiking boot. But whatever you do, wear something with a nice 'grippy' bottom. The lava rocks are slippery! Have fun, you will love it there.

I'm sure it varies. Isn't April when there is still some rain and many of the animals are breeding? Maybe that's why. It may also depend on which island and food availability. We were there in early July, which is the dry season. I know turtles are common but I wouldn't want the youngsters to go expecting to see lots of turtles and then not see them. I'm just suggesting that expectations should be managed so the kids are ready for anything.

Just a quick note. We didn't snorkel but talked to people who did. They saw 1 turtle. You never know what will happen but it might be a good idea to start preparing the grands for this possibility. Lure of the ocean would always win for me too! They will give you a thumb drive that has a ton of pix before you disembark. Many are their stock pix of the Galapagos and they mix in pix of all the excursions/groups for your cruise. There are definitely turtles in some of them. Have a great time--and give that CC a rest 🙂

We saw the Galapagos from the Flora in early July. yes, it was bit pricey but everything was included and done for us--the first time we have ever left everything to anyone else! It was terrific. Everything was so nice, organized, and fun. I can't say enough good things about this cruise, crew and the Flora. We did the Macchu Picchu extension after and it was spectacular. The hotels, transportation and especially the Hiram Bingham train back from M-P were all first class. Also, we had a few youngsters on the ship with us--one middle schooler and a few teens. From what I saw, they all seemed to be enjoying the cruise, especially the middle-schooler. The crew all gave her a lot of extra attention 🙂

I just thought of this--any restaurants you can recommend on the way back from either of those places? Nothing overly exclusive, but representative of real Italian cooking? Just a stretch goal, if you see (or anyone else) see this 🙂 Thanks.

Great, thanks. We don't have any mobility issues and if it's flat, all the better. They both seemed sort of far away on Google maps, but I probably wasn't using the most direct route. Thanks again.

I'm not the OP but I was hoping you could say more about this? We are staying at Hotel Navona, right down the street from Piazza Navona. I have been staring at maps, wondering if we could walk to the Vatican and how long that might take? Same question for the Colosseum. They look sort of close on maps but maybe not? Thanks for any help.

Hmm, this is quite a conundrum. Yes, I could carry my passport on the chance I am stopped and asked for it. Does Italy need the fine money that bad that they will harass tourists who are doing nothing but trying to see sights? 😉 Yes, I understand that it's a requirement but it seems like a lot of annoyance for little actual gain. I guess I will go over to the Italy board and check it out <sigh>. It never gets easier, does it? 🙂

Nice to know a little of Collingwood's history. But winning the GF should quiet a lot of haters!

It was on TV here. I tried to stay awake but fell asleep after the 1Q. I think I missed a good game. I didn't realize Collingwood had such a great history of GF wins. Good on 'em 😉 Now the long wait for next season...

I checked the scores this morning. A close one between Collingwood and the Giants. I don't think it was shown here, which is a little odd since these games usually are. Or maybe I never saw it in the listings--too early in the morning. I'll go with Brisbane and hope we get to see the game here! Another season comes to an end. And no more Buddy 😮 Go Swans!

Well, that was way before I ever even knew about Aussie footy but it always sad to see sports stars pass on. My sympathies to all of you who knew/remember him. ML

We have an expression here in the US--close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. A bit graphic, but you get the point 😆 Ten-year-olds might paraphrase to "Losers! If you don't finish 1st, you're a loser" But it's still disappointing the Swans didn't win 😞

Oh nooo. I was hoping they would win at least this game. I guess we'll wait for next year. The NFL started their season last night--unexpected win by the Lions. The season always has surprises and this was a big one. Who are the favorites for the GF???

Totally shabby--they have omitted the fact that some Plus packages were paid at the "wrong" price, leaving the implication that if you have Plus you're all set. We know that isn't true. I was willing to "upgrade" to 1 of the new packages but when I tried to do it online at Princess' site and by clicking the "upgrade" link, it charged me the total for a new package. This despite the fact that there was special note attached to the link that said "you may already have this included". I expected to be charged the difference between my existing package and the new one (a couple hundred dollars) not the full up cost of the new package (1K+) 😲 And then, just to further annoy me, it took almost 3 weeks for them to fix the glitch that wouldn't let me remove the package from my cart. It is a sad state of affairs when Princess can't even write simple software that every online business uses for e-commerce. I wonder if Princess will win the race to the bottom--but Celebrity has a pretty good lead right now 😆

I love it--a pax boycott of Alfredo's 😉 Now they will have to add some other BS fee somewhere to make up for this. In the end, wouldn't it be better if they just added $100 to cruise fares and not annoy loyal cruisers???

Me too--at least a couple of months. I think Princess uses pax as their beta test team and waits for us to complain before they fix anything. Until recently, you couldn't remove stuff from your Cart--took them quite a while to fix that. It is truly amazing that Princess can't maintain their software for simple common things.

That's funny, we were just taking about using cards, like the good old days! Did they get the cards at the terminal or did they have to do it at GS? I would guess terminal, otherwise they couldn't board. Princess sure has made a previously easy thing hard, with all their "improvements". Reminds me of Disney...

Yes, I know, but it isn't the same ship but b2b.

Possibly this is true but I thought ours included the free shipping. I have to admit, there have been so many changes to the names of the packages, I may have lost track 😉 I would have been fine with picking the Medallions up at the port, and I was going to do that for the 2nd cruise, but when I went to checkin, the software lumped both of my cruises in together, so I had to pick one option for both cruises. I wonder if I can call or chat and get them to change it to just pickup at the port? (We are doing 2 cruises out of Rome, and board the 2nd one the day we disembark the first one). Now I can stop worrying about checking in and start worrying about whether we will get Medallions for the 2nd cruise 😁 Of course, I got an email that said 'all is well' but Princess seems incapable of doing so many things these days, I have my doubts. 🤞

Hi all I just checked in for 2 cruises we are taking in November and December. We have the Plus50 package (I'll upgrade when we board) and we're supposed to get free shipping of the Medallions. I know this has been a continuing problem and that many people are being told to ask for a credit when they board. Has anyone been able to fix this by calling Princess and having the charge reversed? I don't want to wait in a huge line at GS to get a credit for something I shouldn't have been charged for in the first place. Plus, it's ridiculous that Princess still has this problem, months after it was first identified. I'm just trying to decide if I want to invest any time in calling Princess to get this resolved or if the answer will be "get a credit after you board". Anyone have any experience is getting this fixed before you board? Thanks for any help.

LOL! I wouldn't expect you to risk Rob's ire 😉 Welcome to the Swans fan club! Let's hope they don't let us down. Seems like the money men are against us 🙁 I hope we get to see the game. Go Swans!

All those close games finally caught up to the Swans. Maybe they're tired?? 😆 I wonder if they can beat Carlton??? Any odds out yet? Go Swans!

Thanks for posting this. As soon as I saw it, I went in to my booking and was able to Remove the 2 bev packages we didn't want. I'm glad they fixed this but it should never have been a problem.

Yes, it was fun to see how enthusiastic the Aussie fans were with the team. Let's hope this is the beginning of a long run at WC events.