matamanoa

Southampton is one of the most civilized ports we've sailed out of. Their porters are friendly and never have their hands out for tips as you see in a lot of American ports. They take your bags, say "thank you" and "welcome" and you're on your way. One of the many things that we love about Southampton. Barb

I agree that the Caribbean has a lot going for it for all the reasons you stated above and we will most likely continue to cruise in the Caribbean when we no longer are able to travel further afield in comfort as we age. We only wish that we had discovered cruising to other places when we were younger and had health on our side. At our age, traveling to far flung countries is becoming more difficult as time passes but we'd rather keep exploring new options while we can and rely on the shorter, less expensive trips to the Caribbean when we can no longer venture too far from home. Barb

Why limit yourself to cruising only in the Caribbean. My husband and I are also in our 70s and discovered many years ago that there is so much more to see and do while cruising further abroad. We now regret that we took the same Caribbean cruises for many years in a row and while it was a nice break from cold winters, we finally took a cruise in Europe and that started many years of cruising to different continents and places. Do something different while you are able and you won't have to regret saying that you should have done it while your health and wealth were good.

Sorry for not answering your questions as above but I did just want to say that my husband and I cruised the Caribbean for many years and enjoyed our winter getaways down south. Once we took the plunge to start cruising abroad, we found a whole new world waiting for us and we haven't looked back since. It is a bit more daunting to travel to other areas of the world but don't limit yourself to just the familiar places. We have cruised to countries that we had only dreamed of and yes, there is a lot more to plan but we have met many interesting people and traveled to far away destinations which have been fantastic experiences. So, go for it and enjoy all the new experiences while you can. Best of luck and bon voyage, Barb

The Bay of Biscay was very rough when we went in Oct. too. Barb

Euros

Don't know about the weather in November as we were there in Oct. and it was warm with very little rain. If all you want is shopping and to walk around a town, then you are missing some of the best things to see in the Canaries. We did a full day tour with Up Mountain Madeira which we enjoyed tremendously. We took one Princess tour in Tenerife - the Best of Tenerife and it too was excellent. In Gran Canaria we took an amazing tour with Sky Rebels. In Lanzarote we took a full day tour with Blackstone Treks and in Vigo we did a four hour tour with Cruising Excursions. Each of these day tours was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed each destination. If you would like me to go into more detail about what we saw on each tour, you can e-mail me at brsinger@outlook.com. I didn't go into detail here as it would have read like a novel but trust me, there are fantastic sights to see in the Canaries. I don't know how Covid affected each of the tour companies which we used but I can provide you with e-mail addresses for the companies we used and hopefully they are still in business. Hope this helps. Barb

I hope you all realize that Quebec City is almost a three hour drive from Montreal.

Our first cruise was to Alaska on Royal Caribbean and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Have been cruising for the past 25 years.

Thank you for the patters. Very helpful! Barb

I am wondering if the magicians (husband and wife team from Canada) were the ones doing the show. We saw a magic show recently on the Enchanted and the couple were so boring and there was very little magic in the show's content. They were trying to be funny but really needed to work on their routine.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - don't try to take a flight that early since it will only stress you out. With no other flights available to you that day, you will be stuck trying to make alternative plans. Book a hotel for overnight and fly out the next day. There are any number of factors which could delay your ship getting into port on time, getting off the ship on time and getting to the airport on time to make your flight. Why put yourself through that and be stressed at the end of a wonderful holiday.

There are still some factors that might impede with your getting to the station to catch the earlier train, such as the ship getting back to port later than anticipated and then waiting to get clearance so that passengers can disembark. There are so many things to consider and we have learned from experience not to fly out on the same day as the ship returns to home port. We fly out the following day and have a less stressful end to our holiday. Good luck with your plans - I hope it all works out for you. Barb

Just reporting back that my husband went on the chat line and found out that the excursion we are booked on is sold out and Princess isn't offering a waiting list for this one. Why they wouldn't just label the excursion sold out on the port excursion's site is beyond me but in any case, we now have our answer.

We were not able to find, under any category, a clld notification. I have a feeling that this shore excursion has been taken off the list for that port stop so we'll just keep checking back on our booking to see if we get a refund or notice of cancellation. Our cruise isn't until March of next year so we have plenty of time to straighten this out. Thank you for you input.

Thank you all for your responses.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Thank you buckeye7. I'll watch for a credit to our shipboard account closer to the time of the cruise.Barb

We have signed up for a Princess shore excursion on an upcoming cruise and have received confirmation that we are booked. However, upon going back into that port's list of shore excursions offered, we no longer see the one we have signed up for. Does anyone have an idea of why the excursion no longer appears. I have seen excursions in the past that have said "sold out" but never had one disappear from the offerings. The planned excursion isn't until next year so I'm sure if I call Princess now to explain the situation, they probably would not have an answer for me. Just wondering if anyone has experienced this before. TIA Barb

That's true of their job in general but at portside, they take your bags from the trunk of the car and put them onto a trolley that will deliver the bags into the ship. That trolley is no more than two to three feet from where they were taken from your vehicle or taxi. And their hands are out! They get very grumpy if you try to deal with your bags by yourself. Barb

I have always hated the way the longshoremen at Port Everglades have their hands out, expecting money for moving your bags a couple of feet. Very annoying but in the past we have gone along with the norm of tipping a dollar or two per bag. One of the most civilized ports we have come across is Southampton, UK where they take your bags and thank you for coming. Very refreshing! Barb

I guess it depends on where you are cruising. In Australia and New Zealand, there was absolutely no way you could take an opened beverage off the ship to carry on land with you, especially if it was a drink such as coffee, tea, lattes, etc., which had milk in them.

We often re fare when we see a price drop but Princess will no longer just adjust the fare without canceling the old booking and giving you a new booking number. It's more of a hassle but we do it anyway.

Thanks for the reply. Barb

Would anyone be able to suggest how to get from the spot where the cruise ship tenders drop off passengers to either Temae Beach or Ta'ahiamanu Beach. Is it a far taxi ride to either and approx how much would a taxi cost? Any other form of transportation - public bus? We are in port from 8-5. Any help would be appreciated. TIA Barb