cuterlmt

We are sailing on 3/1, and it doesn't look like ours has changed. Yet....

we did two for our stateroom, so I'm sure you can do more than one. Our came back the next day before dinner. 

I'm going to suggest a different hotel. We stayed at Santa Chiara - took the airport bus to PRoma, and walked less than 10 minutes to hotel, with no bridges to cross. The water bus station is right there as is the people mover which takes you to the cruise port. It was perfect location and a decent breakfast buffet included with the room. Do NOT stay at the annex. 

we're back from our trip - still trying to figure out the new boards..... I said I would come back and report on Santa Chiara. It was fabulous!!! gorgeous room, great location, very easy to get to. Much easier than I expected. Very short walk from the airport bus. And very close to the water bus, and other transportation. The breakfast buffet was great. I loved it. So glad I read about it here and on the europeforvisitors website! I would stay there again. 

we are staying at Hotel Santa Chiara starting next Tuesday for our cruise on the 21st. I will let you know how it is when we return. I got what I thought was a wonderful rate by combining our air and 4 days hotel with a suite room in the main hotel with free breakfast and wifi at the Santa Chiara. There is a great youtube video showing how to get to the hotel from the airport bus which makes it look very easy.

You will have to pay an administrative fee of $20 per day per person, and port fees and taxes. Also, DSC (gratuity). I know that some times they have deals for free gratuity, or free port fees and taxes, although I think those freebies are few and far between.

We chose the specialty dining package because you get a free drink card to use in the casino (when it's open) and we really don't drink much. The gratuity on the dining package was pretty minimal - maybe $14 per person?

When we were planning, I looked at the brochures and online, and then called and talked with the CAS rep to get as much info as I could before I booked. Then I called a couple days later after we made our decisions.

Good luck! We loved our two week cruise (we had two land based certificates so we did back to back cruises). We had planned to go anyway. We did opt to stay in an inside cabin, even though we've had balcony cabins before. And we loved it! We had an inside sideways cabin. Try to find one of those if you stick with an inside cabin. It was HUGE.

We did a back to back cruise on the NCL Sun, August/September, and had everything pre-paid - DSC, etc., and had $170 OBC, so just put down $100 cash. We got the $100 cash the morning we finished the cruise, and are waiting for a check refund for the rest. So two of us, one room, two weeks, and only needed $100 deposit.

Have a wonderful trip!

I would also suggest looking at tripadvisor - they have great reviews to help out. Have a wonderful trip!

Personally, there is no such thing as glacier overkill. My favorite was Hubbard Glacier, oh, and Mendenhall..... I was sad we missed Exit Glacier. Oh and I loved Glacier bay. No such thing as glacier overkill.

I have a question about settling your on board account on a 14 day cruise. Do they settle your account at the end of the 14 days or do they do two charges at 7 days and 14 days?

Is it back to back cruises? or one 14 day cruise? That probably makes a difference for the answer.

we were on 2 seven day cruises, and they accepted the $100 cash, no question, even though the website says different. If you get close to the amount you have in OBC plus the cash, I have read that they will freeze your account until you give them more. But I really think you'll be ok with a smaller amount. I had pre-purchased $170 in OBC, and pre-paid our DSC for both cruises. When I gave them the cash at guest services, they had our OBC amount available so they had that when I checked in.

Be aware though that they would only give me the cash amount we had given them upon embarkation ($100) and would not give us the rest of the OBC, but said they would mail a check to us.

when we embarked a few weeks ago, I had $170 in OBC saved up, and gave them $100 cash for our account. We did a back to back, and only spent about $50 of it, so they gave me $100 cash back at the end, and are hopefully sending a check for the remainder. I was surprised that it was so easy, and they didn't give me a hard time about the $100. But we had pre-paid all of our gratuities, so it was no problem.

I highly recommend the YWCA. Book it through the hotel though - it's cheaper than going through an agency and the YWCA sees more of the money to use in their social work. You can't walk to the pier, but the cab is about $8-10 CAD. And it's close to public transportation.

I really wanted to do Teppanyaki twice on a back to back cruise recently. We had to wait to make reservations on the ship because we could not do it online. So we ended up booking it the first night. While I loved the show (really cute, no fire, but singing and some knife skills, and they were funny), the food was not fabulous. I had steak and shrimp and it just lacked some flavor. So did the rice. Hubby had scallops and shrimp, and even though he had asked that they overcook the scallops, they did not. He went ahead and ate a couple and they were underdone, and he believes he became ill that night because of it.

We loved LeBistro and Cagney's both, although LeBistro (surprisingly) had a better filet of beef, and we liked it better. We did not do Moderno.

So I'd probably those two, LeBistro and Cagney's, and just not do Teppanyaki again. We did La Cucina week two, with LeBistro and Cagney's, and were pleased.

Good luck - you probably really can't go wrong with whatever choice you make!

Hi there,

I don't know what your interests are, but I'll tell you what we did a few weeks ago, just for some insight and someone's personal experience. We had never been to Seattle or Vancouver, and I wanted to see both, but did a lot of research and got to see both! And do some things in both.

We flew into Seattle because they had a non-stop flight from our home city that left at a reasonable hour (855am) and was a reasonable price. We got into Seattle about 1030 am, and took a shuttle to the Amtrak station to dump our luggage. The evening train leaves Seattle to Vancouver about 650pm.

We spent the remaining time walking in Seattle, going to the Skyview Observatory in Columbia Tower, and to Pike Place Market to have dinner before getting on the train.

We enjoyed the train trip North. I assume the South trip would be pleasant as well. We are train lovers though, so it may be something you might not enjoy.

We decided to spend a few days in Vancouver after our cruise, and fly out of Vancouver. Just based on all the things I wanted to do in Vancouver, I thought we could use that time wiser in Vancouver, even though we really didn't in the end.

The flight out of Vancouver was a one stop flight, with a quick change of planes at LAX (which was a horrible end to our trip, but I won't get into that here unless someone is interested). We got through customs, immigration, etc. just fine very quickly. So although they recommend being there at least 2 hours early, we were there 4 hours early, but couldn't even check in until 3 hours early. So a lot of wasted time in the airport. Depending on where you stay, you'll be able to do some things after you get off the ship and the morning you leave.

What I found is that it was cheaper in Vancouver, obviously because of the value of the Canadian dollar. It was really a neat stop - with lots of neat things to do. There were a LOT of homeless in Seattle, and while we were only bothered by one person, it was a little disconcerting walking in some areas. We found the folks in Vancouver to be much nicer, friendlier, and a lot less homeless, but again, it could have been where we went. We were able to get a room at the YWCA Hotel in Vancouver, which was pretty decent, for a great rate. I did not see any hotels in Seattle that were similar.

We truly enjoyed our time in Vancouver, and would love to go back. I felt safe ALL the time there, and found it pretty easy to get around - not as hilly as Seattle.

Good luck on whatever you choose! The westcoast boards and Vancouver boards are great. There are a lot of friendly, helpful people who will give you a huge amount of suggestions, and great information.

It also seems like most people like the cream mushroom soup at Le Bistro. Is it really that tasty? What kinds of entree is good at Le Bistro for someone who cannot have seafood (food allergies)? Thanks.

The cream of mushroom soup is just decadent. They give you a bunch of roasted (I think) mushrooms at the bottom of the bowl and then pour the soup over it. So even though the soup itself is very creamy, you get the meat of the mushrooms. So great.

I loved the filet of beef there. It was very good as were the sides with it. I thought it was better than the beef at Cagney's.

if you do a search on the west coast thread, or the Canada thread, you'll find a huge list of things to do in Vancouver. I wish we had done more. My hubby was nervous to do anything on our flying day and sailing day, so we didn't do much more. But I know the Vancouverites have lots of great suggestions.

We really loved Vancouver and the people.

we used a taxi to the airport - it was about $30 CAD if I remember correctly. We weren't sure what time we wanted to leave having fun in Vancouver so I didn't plan a shuttle or anything, which may have been cheaper. I have heard they don't have Uber or Lyft in Vancouver at least at this time.

The only place I saw the escargot offered was at LeBistro, which is an upcharge restaurant.

I was very happy we did the dining as our "freebie" as our meals in the MDR were fine, but usually not exceptional. At the specialty restaurants, they were exceptional.

I was also disappointed at how many things were missing from the MDR menus, just based on menus I had read over and over again before our trip. I had planned not to eat at the buffet at all, but ended up there, mostly for lunch, because the lunch menu was so limited.

This is good to hear! Which ship?

The NCL Sun. Love love love that ship!

That was my favorite too! But not on the new menu. Replaced with brownie ice cream sundae. Sooooo sad.

 

 

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They still had the ice cream sandwich a couple weeks ago! It was divine.

I loved the mushroom soup at LeBistro and the Filet.

The samosa and lamb curry from the MDR.

The egg salad from the buffet.

Cagney's Ribeye and crab cake appetizer.

Lots and lots of good food.

Oh yeah, and lunch dessert, the white chocolate mousse. I can't remember what it was called, but it was so good - with little mini-malted milk balls!

You got a free casino drink card??

 

 

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If you book through Casinos at Sea (CAS), you normally get a free drink card.

I tip $1 a drink, including for soda and water.

If I recall correctly, it was Ketchikan. Dolly's on Creek Street. When we were there last week, I saw the sign on the outside of the building, that they rent poles and equipment. We did not confirm with them.

Oh and hotel to ship, we did get a taxi. It was only about $8 CAD. Same with back from ship to hotel. And from the train station (we got there the night before) to the hotel, again about $8 CAD.

We thought about doing the train, but it seemed to complicated and I really did not want to drag luggage.

the only times we used a taxi was to get from the ship to hotel (1-1/2 hour wait!!) and hotel to airport.

Otherwise we walked or took buses or the train. The hotel we stayed at had a button to push to call a cab and they got there within a few minutes - by the time we got the luggage outside, they were there.

If you can, you should try to do alternative transportation from the ship to your hotel. The wait was awful! I know people have talked about going up to Pan Pacific to get a taxi quicker. Or maybe you can get a shuttle ride or something that you arrange beforehand. I didn't hear any particular reason why the wait was so long, and it was only a 2 ship day.