Arkansas cruisers

We, too, used the GPSmyCity website to select and map out Dubai attractions as a Custom Walk, and then used the Big Bus Dubai website and found that the Big Bus could take us to most of the attractions we wanted to see. 

We had a wonderful tour with Bumpiing   in 2016.
We went back to Dominica in December, 2023, and I asked our tour guide about Levi. He said Mr. Bumpiing was doing other things now, and there was no indication that he was unhappy.

On this visit to Dominica, we went to the Roseau Cruise Pier area and arranged a three hour shared minivan tour with Glenford Baron. It was a rainy day, so we didn’t walk to Trafalgar Falls, but just went to the Trafalgar Falls viewpoint, then hung out at the River Rock Café during the rain. We also visited the Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs, the Morne Bruce Garrison viewpoint, drove around Roseau and then went to the Dominica Museum and the Old Market Square and Craft Market.

I did not hear of any tours going jumping into Titou Gorge.  I heard of some people going tubing on the river, and some people going for the champagne snorkeling with mixed opinions regarding the tiny bubbles, rocks, and no coral.

On 9/24/2023 at 3:13 PM, mackfam said:

Just starting to do research for a possible South American cruise for winter 2025. Currently looking at the Sapphire Princess or HAL Oosterdam both of which seem to have similar itineraries going from Buenos Aries to Santiago or vice versa. I realize that there are probably great options available on the more exclusive premium lines but sticking with the mainstream lines for price reasons.

 

Looking for any recommendations regarding ship, direction of travel, best month, must see ports. We are an active couple who will be in our early 60’s at the time of travel. We enjoy outdoorsy type activities such as hiking and biking, as well as cultural type excursions. We have cruised on all the mainstream cruise lines and realize that HAL often attracts an older demographic. 

 

 

We went around the horn on the Celebrity Eclipse from San Antonio to Buenos Aires in January 2019. We actually flew into Santiago Chile, and then flew over to Easter Island for three days of touring with Eastern Island Travel prior to the cruise. That was an exceptional bucket list pre-cruise adventure! 

On 9/11/2023 at 10:43 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @Arkansas cruisers first, I feel your pain on FE and getting change notifications that don't align w/airline website - sorry you're dealing with it.

FE gets blocks of seats, so they may not have access to all the flights you see on the airline website.

Yes, if you have FE flights and you're beyond final payment, you are really stuck w/o incurring additional fees. However, there is a very small window after final payment before you're locked; it's about 10 days. When you log into FE details the date will show in top right corner. If there's no date, you're locked in.

You should call again AND send and email to Reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com requesting they change the flight.

I recently had an issue w/2 flights, similar to you, I kept getting flight change notices. FE would change the flights back, I could see them on the AA website then I'd get another change notice.

The last time I called in, I was told there was nothing they could do and there was no supervisor I could talk with; they told me to email Reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com. Two days later, on a Saturday, I received a phone call from them. At the end of my call, I had an email confirming the original flights, I could see them in FE and by that night I was able to see them in AA website.

When I sent the email, I copied the Mariners desk for additional visibility. 

FE may not be able to get the original flights or something w/more realistic connection time, but it is worth both the call and email. Your concern about a very tight connection time is valid.

I'm pulling for you - please let us know how it works out.

Thank you very much for your encouragement. I did call and talk to a representative at FE. Even though my preferred flight with the more generous layover time was already ticketed, she claims that FE changed me back to the short-layover flight because FE was aware of a high cancellation rate with my preferred flight. (The AA website version I used said the cancellation and on-time rates were not available). She told me that there would probably be another change in three weeks. 
 Does that sound like a legitimate excuse?

I also asked about FE’s policy on the earliest flight permitted on the day of disembarkation for FLL.  HAL’s Grand Voyage rep said 3 hours after arrival, but the FE rep said 4 hours after arrival. Pretty ironic, since FE changed me to a 11:15 AM FLL flight after the ship’s 7 AM Fort Lauderdale arrival.

We carry our own luggage off using self debarkation, and take a taxi to the FLL airport, so I think we should be OK if we remain booked for the 11:15 flight, correct?

Please help me understand if my problem is a Flight Ease problem or an American Airlines problem.

I booked flights through Flight Ease in March. Since then, I have received 4 flight change notification emails from HAL, informing me that my flights have been changed so that I have what  I consider insufficient layover times. In August, after receiving a notification that my return flight was changed, leaving me with only a 47 minute connection time in DFW, I called Flight Ease and got a very nice representative who, after about one hour on the telephone, was able to change me back to my comfortable three hour layover. However, today I received notification that my flights had been switched back to the flights with the 47 minute connection time!
In looking at the American Airlines website, there is still availability on my preferred flight.

Any ideas of what is going on?

Does Flight Ease only have access to certain AA flight segments? 

Unfortunately, it is past the full pay day, so I think it is too late for me to book my air independently.
Thanks for your insight.

not looking forward to spending another hour on the phone with Flight Ease tomorrow…

On 2/18/2023 at 10:59 AM, blue_water said:

I would contact AC, he can coordinate multiple vans for your tour if he still has availability for your day. Contact him now if interested as he is very popular with both land vacationers and day visitors…

 

If not available the ladies at the information center can help you locate drivers…

 

http://www.info-res.com/actaxibvi/

https://www.bvitourism.com/acs-taxi-service

 

 

Bluewater, do you know if AC Smith is still in business? I emailed him August 6, at his Hotmail address, and have not heard back from him. Is that to be expected?

Thank you for all of your advice. You have been very, very helpful.

On 1/13/2023 at 4:01 PM, Catboatcouple said:

Did you go on your HAL trip?   I hope you had a great time.

What excursions did you take in the South Pacific (and did you enjoy them)?  What would you have done differently

We have an Oceania 42 day Sydney to Los Angeles in March 2024...and hope to learn from those that have recently gone...thanks in advance.

Kateg43 at hotmail dot com

  We had a very active Cruise Critic Roll Call--see if you can still find it under Holland America/Zuiderdam  "October 3 - November 17, 2022 - 45-Day Tales of the South Pacific".    See if you can find posts from CC Member "blueM."  He created a spreadsheet with all of the tours, though there were some last minute changes once we boarded. Hopefully you can still access the spreadsheet via a link in his Signature.  

All of the tours that we took were great. There should be up to date Trip Advisor reviews for most of the vendors. 

Happy Planning!

On 1/10/2023 at 3:23 PM, babjlb said:

We are sailing on the Celebrity Flora in February.  When we went to the initial presentation on a Celebrity Cruise about the Galapagos they said Scuba Diving was available through a third party and could be booked with them ahead of time.  Now that I am trying to book the Celebrity Galapagos phone desk said I have to make arrangements independently and the only option is to forgo the ship's tour on the full day we are in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz. I have done extensive searching on the Cruise Critic boards and can't seem to find anyone that has done this.  Any experiences? Looking for potential operators and if it is worth it. Thanks!

 

We cruised the Galapagos in 2018 on the Celebrity Xpedition, and I understand that things might have changed since then. We, too, are SCUBA divers, but found that everything we wanted to see, such as turtles, sea lions, sharks and penguins, was no deeper than 20 feet, so the ship’s deep water snorkeling excursions were perfect.

We were so pleased with the way that Celebrity organized the itinerary. Each evening’s enrichment lecture highlighted the unique features of the upcoming port (s) and described the next day’s activities.Their “free” shore excursions were divided into different categories, based on physical abilities, and everyone signed up for the next day’s morning and afternoon excursions following the lecture. Often times the ship would move to a different port during our lunch break, and some days the ship offered three excursions.

We became friendly with a few other active, water-loving cruisers, and signed up together for the deepwater snorkels and other active excursions.

I would not want to miss a day of Celebrity-organized activities and meals, and add in the stress of booking, gearing up and paying for another vendor,  just to dive 20 feet deeper. Plus, if you miss the the ship’s excursion in Santa Cruz, you might miss the pink flamingos, and you will miss the opportunity to share those memories with your fellow cruisers on the last day’s slideshow!

Do be warned that the water is cold year round. Celebrity provided fins and full wetsuits, but I took a sharkskin top, a lycra hood and socks to wear underneath, and my own mask, snorkel, and de-fog. If I were going again, I would also take a rash guard top, tights and a neoprene hood. Be sure to take your gear and go early to the wetsuit fitting appointment, to make sure that you find a wetsuit and fins that will be comfortable for the week. 
Hope this is helpful. Enjoy!

Has anyone had any experience with Untouched Tours in Lautoka or Suva, in the Fiji islands?

They have a wonderful Facebook group, but I cannot find any reviews from people who have toured with them.

Thank you for your help.

Does anyone have any recommendations for vendors for a half day, preferably morning, kayaking excursion on the Faaroa River from the port in Raiatea in November 2022?

The cruise ship’s excursion is sold out, and even though we are on the waitlist, I would like to search for an alternative. 
Thanks, in advance, for your help!

Thanks so much for your well written and informative travelogue.

Is there a page of the When  and Where that shows the times for the various  food service venues ? Did I miss it?

 Thanks!

Shareholders OBC for HAL gratuities?

I just read the fine print on the Shareholders Credit benefit page for sailings through July 31, 2023, that states "credit cannot be used for...gratuities charged to your on board account."

Is this something new?  Pre -covid, I think we were able to use it for gratuities on Carnival cruises....

We booked the HAL Have it All promotion, so already have Wi-Fi, drinks, specialty dining and excursions.

Any suggestions for use of this Shareholders OBC if we cannot use it for gratuities?  I assume it is non-refundable.

Thanks!

On 3/9/2020 at 1:53 PM, 4spring said:

Thanks Arkansas cruisers for your in depth directions to Lucaya Beach.  We are cruising next week (mid March) & are looking for something low key.  Good to know that its easy to walk around.  was the water warm enough to swim in?  

On February 26, the water was rough and not warm enough to swim in, although there was one brave guy body surfing, wearing  a rash guard.

We visited Freeport on February 26, 2020. It was our first visit back to Freeport since 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, and we were pleased to see that there was still plenty to see and do during our day on Grand Bahama Island from our cruise ship.  We visited both the Port Lucaya Marketplace, and the Lucaya Beach.

 After disembarking the ship, we walked through the Freeport Port Market where are we found a uniformed taxi dispatcher and requested a taxi van ride for the 20-minute trip to Port Lucaya Marketplace.  We paid $12 USD roundtrip per person in cash on arrival to the taxi drop off location in the Port Lucaya Marketplace, and received a voucher for our return trip to the port. 

 We went to the beach first, by walking right on Sea Horse Road, toward the new Wendy’s restaurant, then across the street to the aqua blue and white Police Station, then turning left at the sign that said Beach Access (Sea Horse Lane), by the World Central Kitchen sign. We walked down the Public Beach Access sidewalk and entered the beach area. There were independent vendors renting beach chairs and selling beverages there, and farther to the left. We walked to the left, past the beach in front of the still-closed resorts including the Grand Lucayan Resort, and went as far as the jetty by the Lighthouse Pointe section of the Grand Lucayan Resort.  

Some of the people in our taxi van went directly to the Lighthouse Pointe Resort for a day pass, and seemed to enjoy having access to their beach chairs, pool, snack bar, etc. (The LIghthouse Pointe website has an email address to inquire about day passes.) But we brought our own towels and drinks, and enjoyed a no-frills windy day exploring the beautiful, groomed white sand beach.

 When we were done on the beach, we walked back to the Marketplace via the Public Beach Access sidewalk and walked around the Port Lucayan Marina and lagoon (Bell Channel Bay), and visited the Visitor Center and the market shops.  The Marketplace appears about 70% occupied, with lots of cute bars, restaurants and shops, music in the Count Basie Square bandstand, and several sets of free restrooms. Back at the taxi stand, we showed our voucher to a uniformed taxi dispatcher and were directed to a taxi van for our ride back to the Port. 

All in all, it was a fun, active ~ 5-mile walking day that allowed us to see more attractions at our own pace and a lower price than the ship’s shore excursion.

20 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

You're very welcome!  I can't take too much credit, though - another poster had procured the info and posted it.  I just reposted it.  I hope it is still accurate and doesn't send you on a wild goose chase once onboard.  Good luck and have a great cruise on the Pride!

Thanks!

I just like to make sure that we don’t book a stateroom near the laundry rooms, and the Carnival  PVP was unable to give me that information.

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

I found this posted in another thread, circa 2015:

 

Carnival Pride Self-Service Laundry

 

I don't know if they are still in those locations but I suspect most, if not all of them, are.

ShakyBeef, thank you so much for the information!

Does anyone know where the laundry rooms are on the Carnival Pride?

Thank you!

We did not find that taxis were a problem when we disembarked in BA this past winter. There was a desk where you could sign up for a taxi by the number of people. it was on the port property. Of course you could go off property and probably get something cheaper but I didn't want to do that. You can also hire a private car to pick you up and drop you off where you needed to be

Thank you, Valley Girl.Good to know about the desk. Do you know if taxis take US dollars and or credit cards?

I have enjoyed your blog!

...And best way to get to the bike shop?

There are at least three Buenos Aires bike tour agencies that are highly rated on TripAdvisor and offer similar tours, but none seem to offer cruise port pick up. My concern is getting from the ship to the bike shop. One of the vendors recommended Uber or a taxi. We had not planned on using a smart phone so I think that Uber is not an option. I have heard that taxis can be a problem.

Any recommendations?

We will be on the Celebrity Eclipse January 2019. Thank you!

Have you seen this thread? There are wonderful reviews of the Xpedition cruise with the Machu Picchu extension.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55949783#post55949783

Hi Barb and Fred! It is nice to “see” you again! O-H I-O! We are booked for the Jan 6, 2019 Celebrity Eclipse sailing, which goes to the same ports but on the reverse itinerary. We have decided that it should be worth the long ride from Puerto Madryn (surely it will shorter than our ride to Beijing!), and are planning to see penguins at Punta Tombo with Sentir Patagonia.

Cheers!

Nancy (and Charlie)

We will be on Celebrity Infinity for 28 days. So excited. I get to check another thing off my list. The Panama Canal.

We recently returned from a fantastic Panama Canal cruise on the Celebrity Infinity. If your sailing still has Bill Fall as the Enrichment speaker, I would recommend you attend all of his lectures. They are fantastic!

Our favorite viewpoints for the crossing were the Constellation Lounge on deck 11, and the open areas on deck 4.

We pre-booked a shore excursion from Colon with My Friend Mario / Almiza, and really enjoyed and would recommend visiting the Agua Clara Expansion Locks visitor center on that tour, too!

Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone for the interesting discussion of the Cuba Cruise details. Our full payment is not due until next month for our February 2017 Cuba cruise, so I have to be patient and assume that all of my questions regarding P2P details will be answered then..:)

Arkansas cruisers, go to the "Cruise Lines A-O" boards and look under Celestyal Cruises. There is a very recent post by (I think) LauraS with a link to another post by someone who just sailed on this ship for the 2nd time. It's called something like "Just Back From the Celestyal Crystal: Hits & Misses". (I may be a bit off on the title, but the post is not hard to find.) Recent refurbishments are discussed as well as some possible future ones.

 

Also, you should look on the roll call boards under "All Other Cruise Lines" and there are several different roll calls on various dates for this ship. If there isn't one for your date, just start one yourself.

MLB, thanks for the helpful information. Right now it does not appear that anyone has started a rollcall for the February 24, 2017 sailing .I will wait a few weeks....

Thanks also to everyone for the good and helpful discussion about insurance. We have an annual travel insurance policy, but now I think that I will purchase Celestyal's policy for direct payment of any unexpected medical expenses.

Nancy

Hello, all!

We are booked on the Feb 24, 2017 sailing out of Montego Bay. Does this forum serve as the Roll Call for all of the Celestyal Crystal Cuba Cruises, or has Cruise Critic now set up Roll Calls for Celestyal?

:confused:

Regarding Montego Bay hotels, we saw that Toby’s Resort was highly rated on Trip Advisor, so were leaning towards staying there as a low cost option for the night before the cruise. Does anyone have any feedback on that plan?:confused:

I read that the Crystal was going into dry dock before she starts her winter Cuba itineraries. Has anyone heard what they are planning to do?:confused:

Thanks to everyone for such helpful information! We are sooo looking forward to seeing Cuba for the first time!:D

Nancy