maryann ns

If going on your own, you need to allow lots of time to get back to your ship.

In Italy public transportation trips are pre-announced so you should not be caught by a strike. The trains are very reliable.

Get Rick Steves books (though I disagree with his Rome advice) and also check out http://www.tomsportguides.com/

I also agree to not over plan. Part of the experience should just be strolling around, stopping for gelato, etc. Engage your kids in noticing things that are different than home and wondering why that would be so.

For sure Pompeii will interest your children. They perhaps can see the new movie coming out and see all the factual errors in it.

You have to make such arrangements on your roll call.

Choosing between a day in Rome and a day in Florence is not easy. There are weeks and weeks worth of things to see in both places.

With limited time for Florence, your best bet is to take a private tour. Driverinrome is an excellent company I have used.

If money is an issue, then get Rick Steves guidebook, take the train to Florence and plan your own day.

I would explain the problem to the rental company. They may allow you to cancel if the ship does not dock in this port.

Otherwise you may not want to pre-book.

Buy enough tram tokens to cover your number of trips. We were two people with two days making one round trip each day, thus we bought eight tokens. You can buy them later but this saved time.

Rick Steves book is great for touring Istanbul on your own.

Of course taking the train and a taxi will cost way less.

So it is only a lobster roll for lunch. That could be great, but it could be terrible. Fresh mussels are great. I would look into the tour I posted above and compare.

You are unlikely to see whales in those waters by the way.

Where would you do the kayaking? Would the lobster be cooked live or would it be precooked and cold?

Here is a possible alternative company with good reviews on Trip Advisor; http://www.greatearthexpeditions.com/adventure-tours/kayaking-hiking-tour.html

Here is information I have gathered from previous posts in the past few years.

Halifax is a great port to do on your own. It has a fantastic waterfront walk with lots of shops and restaurants and tours.

You can just walk around the downtown area, perhaps getting to Citadel Hill and the Public Gardens as well as the Maritime Museum which is on the waterfront.

It is also a great port for renting a car and going to Peggy's Cove and/or Lunenburg.

I have included links with information about walking, renting a car, and about taking tours via taxi, van or tour bus.

http://destinationhalifax.com/visitors/things-to-do-in-halifax

http://www.halifaxseaport.com/pdfs/H..._July%2012.pdf

http://cruisehalifax.ca/

www.TomsPortGuides.com

[/url]

http://www.destinationhalifax.com/uploads/assetsfile/Hfx%20M&C%20Planner%202009-Halifax%20Map.pdf

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k4804493-Trip_Report_Cruise_docked_in_Halifax-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html#36133733

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1863077

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1840164

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1769976&page=6

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1769976&page=6

Google map for trip from port to Peggy’s Cove and on to Lunenburg:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Pier+21,+Marginal+Road,+Halifax,+NS&daddr=Peggys+Cove,+NS+to:Ryer+Lobsters+Ltd,+8494+Peggys+Cove+Rd,+French+Village,+Nova+Scotia+to:Acadian+Maple+Products,+13578+Peggys+Cove+Rd,+Upper+Tantallon,+NS+to:Mahone+Bay,+NS+to:Lunenburg,+NS+to:44.5168501,-64.0489175+to:Pier+21,+Marginal+Road,+Halifax,+NS&hl=en&sll=44.543904,-63.993204&sspn=0.496232,1.352692&geocode=FTEgqQId6BE2_CFVp72x1xDZPykRcw6ozCNaSzFVp72x1xDZPw%3BFernpgIdRLIw_CnlsFTY6QJaSzFmhYBMEgaDaw%3BFZY_pwIdkG4w_CEbh68G1JJIPCkFAoVWsfNZSzEbh68G1JJIPA%3BFdDlqQId1zox_CGR9FkdRhFhGilt6OciLo1ZSzGR9FkdRhFhGg%3BFcI9pgIdPJsp_Cn7Y_qvyl9XSzGf5BZFz_TFyg%3BFa0jpQIdjZIq_ClD0a4gwVtXSzHrTTCtT3o5Vg%3BFfJFpwId67Au_CmJONXkDvtZSzETqkT-bRjO6w%3BFTEgqQId6BE2_CFVp72x1xDZPykRcw6ozCNaSzFVp72x1xDZPw&oq=halifax+pi&mra=dpe&mrsp=6&sz=10&via=6&t=m&z=10

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1866729

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1863077

halifax.ca/rec/documents/HfxWaterfront.pdf

http://www.halifaxpublicgardens.ca/

museum.gov.ns.ca/mmanew/en/home/default.aspx

http://www.pier21.ca/home/

www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/visit.aspx

http://visitors.halifax.ca/tours.shtml?getSearch=38

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1669831

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1735436

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1849629

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1705545

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k3084504-l22416942-Halifax_Private_Tours-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html#22416942

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1209935

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g154976-d1875137-r134031076-Great_E_A_R_T_H_Expeditions-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html#REVIEWS

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k4060735-Excellent_taxi_tour_from_cruise_port_to_Peggy_s_Cove-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html#29710608

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k4927342-Excellent_Taxi_Tour_Halifax_and_Peggys_Cove-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1492801

Car Rental (from previous posts)

CAR RENTAL

Enterprise and/or National are in the Via rail station in front of Cruise port they are open 9-1 Sundays for Cruise ship passengers 423-0227

 

Thrifty's is open on Sundays in the Westin Hotel beside Via station.

982-3474

 

Budget is open 8-4 on Hollis St. at least 4 blocks good 15 min walk but will pick up at Pier if you have reservation just call as soon as you get in.492-7542

 

Avis is also open on Grafton if you have reservation will also come and pick you up. tel #492-2847 Note if calling out of province AREA CODE is 902

We just rented through Alamo which shared the office with National. Literally a 2 minute walk across the street to the VIA Train Station. An added bonus is that there is free internet in the train station. Our car was parked outside the station and we returned it to the exact same place. Easiest car rental that we ever had on or off of a ship.

We just returned. I had prebooked our car rental through Thrifty's in the Westin Hotel right across the street from the port. I had originally tried booking with other rental companies but none of the others were open on the recent holiday Monday. Turned out to be very fortunate as Thrifty's was so convenient to the port and price was the standard going rate. There is a gas station at the grocery store next door to the Westin Hotel so it only took us minutes to refuel before turning the car back in at the front door of the Westin at the end of our day. They provided us with driving maps and routes to Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove. Easy drive; just wished the weather had been a little more cooperative as we didn't spend much time out of the car (raining and gusty). If you are driving out to Peggy's Cove and love lobster, you have to stop at Ryer's Lobster Pound a few minutes West of Peggy's Cove...the best, freshest and cheapest lobster I have ever had...and I have had lots! ...

Enterprise at Scotia Square will pick you up. Updated info as of Sept. 2013

In fact it might be less expensive to get a dual voltage hair dryer than a converter. All chargers for computers and cameras, etc. seem to be dual voltage. So then you just need a tiny adaptor plug.

There is no public bus, but you can easily rent a car. Some companies, including Enterprise and Budget, will pick you up at the pier.

Here are a few links to get you started.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1840164

http://www.tomsportguides.com/SydneyNS-10-05-2011.pdf

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Sydney,+NS+B1P+1A1&daddr=Baddeck,+NS+to:Iona,+NS+to:Christmas+Island,+NS+to:Destination+Cape+Breton+Association,+Sydney+Marine+Terminal,+Sydney,+NS+B1P+1A1&hl=en&sll=46.14825,-60.203319&sspn=0.00721,0.021136&geocode=FSgcwAIdzmNp_CmTkRO0KuVnSzF_0zNYc7qlyA%3BFc1tvwIdDPVg_CnPkSNJLGJdSzHz0SeXSM56XA%3BFZJPvQIdijBg_Cl3_U_XX2hdSzG-umoFiqZDow%3BFRVTvQIdPNpg_CmLNVmJ_mddSzHgrABkv7cAyg%3BFeQpwAIdzF5p_CGQbhrxmTgVbg&mra=ls&t=m&z=10

Rome in Limo has been very popular with users on this forum. They obviously do a great job. However there are other companies. a group of us had several tranfers and tours with Driver in Rome. They were excellent. For our tour of Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este, Roberto took us to a couple other interesting places. He also took us to a grocery store and helped us choose wine to take on the ship.

Remo conducted our tour of Rome at Night, including singing and playing the accordian. He is a hoot.

Here is a possible route: https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,+Marginal+Road,+Halifax,+NS&daddr=Acadian+Maple+Products,+Peggys+Cove+Road,+Upper+Tantallon,+NS+to:Peggys+Cove,+NS+to:Ryers+Lobster+Retail,+Indian+Harbour,+NS+to:Fairview+Lawn+Cemetery,+Windsor+Street,+West+End,+NS+to:Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,+Marginal+Road,+Halifax,+NS&hl=en&ll=44.597802,-63.752975&spn=0.286022,0.676346&sll=44.596929,-63.753036&sspn=0.286026,0.676346&geocode=FYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw%3BFdDlqQId1zox_CGR9FkdRhFhGilt6OciLo1ZSzGR9FkdRhFhGg%3BFernpgIdRLIw_CnlsFTY6QJaSzFmhYBMEgaDaw%3BFa8_pwIdL24w_CEmWIfX9onkGik9iQnauPlZSzEmWIfX9onkGg%3BFeB4qQIdyTY1_CE8FWVznwZQWymXfOBtCSFaSzE8FWVznwZQWw%3BFYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw&oq=+acadian&mra=ls&t=m&z=11

If you want great fresh lobster check out Ryers.

We took a tour to Villa D'Este and a tour of Rome at night, as well as arranging a group pick up at the airport, all with Driver in Rome. They were excellent. The drivers are great fun and speak good English.

They have had these dinners longer than that. We attended one in 2009 and another in 2011. They were called wine connoisseur dinners and we learned of them from a sommelier.

Sorry, double post!

I agree with UKtog. Be sure to get your hotel to talk to the taxi driver and confirm where you are going and the approximate price.

Some of the drivers are skilled scam artists.

I answered on your other thread that Korcula is great to walk around yourself. We stayed there overnight. When we arrived in the afternoon there were three cruise ships and the town was busy. They left in the early evening and the town was magical without them. I hope there are not so many ships when you are there.

The vast majority of the passengers were English speaking (US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK, etc.). Announcements were made only in English.

This was true on Azamara in 2011.

Korcula is a wonderful, historic little town. You can easily walk around on your own. Be sure to check out the museum display on Marco Polo who apparently came from here. At the time, Korcula was part of Venice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kor%C4%8Dula_(town)

We spent over two weeks in China travelling on our own.

It seems that in their culture it is not so unacceptable to point and stare. We are old and white and were stared at a lot, especially on the subway in Shanghai.

When we were on the great wall a man saw me with my walking stick and went out of his way to find someone who could speak English to ask how old I was.

The old smoking area in the Looking Glass Lounge was not separated from the lounge. If you entered on the Port side you had to walk right by the area. Having cigar smoke there would be one way a very bad thing.

We were never bothered by the smoking area on the pool deck and you can avoid walking there. However, we never noticed the smell of cigars which I agree would not be pleasant at all, so perhaps the policy will need to be looked at.

Azamara's smoking policy is an important reason we have sailed with them.

I don't have the answer, but look here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1653563

Check out this thread which should be of some help: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1653563

We went to places we would never get to via a car vacation.

This statement has me curious as the common port stops for a Canada/New England cruise are not out of the way or hard to drive to.

We toured Nagasaki and Busan on our own and I have written about them here. If you go back to the main Ports of Call - Asia page and use the search feature, you can find previous threads.

Here is one: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1852396&