cloverose
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Posts posted by cloverose
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2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:
I believe that US passengers (as well as those from Ireland and UK) have water and coffee after lunch and dinner in the MDRs included in their fare.
Thank you! We are Americans from SC. We will have to eat that peanut butter pie!
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15 minutes ago, Beamafar said:
Thank you for following along (despite me going off-topic now and again LOL).
I thank you also! We are sailing the Armonia the end of March, our first MSC cruise. My question is if water and or coffee is offered during dinner without a drink package.
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On 2/5/2019 at 2:00 AM, DaveNetMan said:
Hi folks! Longtime cruisers but we just booked our first ever MSC cruise (Armonia) for April. This will also be our first time visiting Cuba. I read alot on the MSC website, and I just wanted to confirm I understood 2 things...
1. My wife and I are not alcohol drinkers, and we usually get the unlimited soda packages on other cruiselines. MSC website shows their unlimited soda package is over $200 ($29/day)!! This seems extremely high, I could swear Carnival was like $50 for the week. Am I reading this correctly? Why do expensive?
2. We were excited about visiting Cuba for the first time, but I'm just now reading about the requirements, which I didn't know about upfront. The MSC website says passengers cannot just walk off the ship and walk around on their own, they can only walk off the ship if they have a tour booked, is that correct? I ask because we were debating whether to book a city tour or not, as we usually just walk around on our own. I also read that a Visa is required for all guest, which is $75 per person, is that true too? Because that's an extra $150 expense.
Thanks in advance
Dave & Chris
davenetman
We were in Cuba on Carnival in August. We loved it so much we are trying MSC for the first time the end of March to go back. You cannot get around the visa if you want to see Cuba. The documentation can be as simple as pictures and receipts. It is very doubtful we will be audited by the US government. We did private tours both days. The best was to Vinales Valley with cubaamongcubans.com. Their guide Adrian was so good we are using him both days this trip to see different places. Check out their offerings and send a message to them if you are interested. They will respond quickly. The pricing for just the two of us with a guide, driver, and vintage car was less than the cruise line bus tour. The tour company we used for Havana was Cubaoutings.com. Mary, our guide was good also. Both companies had been recommended to us by friends who had used them earlier. We did not book the Tropicana and will not this time because it is very late by the time you get back to the ship. We are leaving earlier than originally posted the next afternoon and would rather tour. I have read MSC will have local musicians and entertainers onboard the evening we are ported. Enjoy your cruise!
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On 1/25/2019 at 8:43 PM, ATSEAMYLIFE said:
Another point I always notice when we visit the "City" is the downtown area is nothing but high rises. So when it might be comfy sitting in the sun by the water down by the pier. It is chilly in the shadow of the buildings with wind blowing down the "canyon." I always take a sweatshirt and light jacket even in the summer. Best thing is CA weather is very predictable so 48 hours out you will know exactly what to expect.
Thanks for your suggestions!
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10 minutes ago, trophy_23 said:
Our cruises were chilly in the morning and evening and out on promenade deck in the breeze. We did spend some time at the outdoor pool on board and it was comfortable. In San Francisco it was beautiful, t-shirt and shorts weather, butgot cool on the bay ferry and when the fog rolled in. Bring layers is the best advice! Have a great time.
Thank you for your pointers! This was exactly what I needed!
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On 1/2/2019 at 8:49 PM, trophy_23 said:
We have done pacific coastals the last 3 years in Sep/Oct and they were some of the calmest cruises I have been on. Can’t really predict. Book the itinerary you like and hope for the best!
From your experience, how chilly will the weather be for tours on the San Francisco Bay or in open hop on-off buses? We will be cruising from Vancouver to LA the first week in October and are wondering what to pack.
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On 10/22/2018 at 9:59 PM, Cruisin Kay D said:
Our Princess cruise from San Pedro ends on a Saturday morning. Our flight on Southwest leaves from LAX at 6 PM. The ship is offering an LA tour leaving about 8-8:30 AM & ending at LAX at 1 PM.....which means we have toooo much time to wait at LAX. (I am sure we are not the only ones having late flights, since there are so many red-eyes from LAX.)
I would like to find us a tour that leaves ship more like 9 or 9:30 and drops us at LAX about 2:30 or 3 PM.
Anyone have any ideas where I could find such a tour?
OR anyone have any suggestions what to do at LAX Terminal 1 for 4 hours other than sit in a restaurant/bar or waiting area?
Try Sunseekers Tours. They were recommended by a hotel in San Pedro. If you go to their website, they offer a tour of LA from the port back to the port or port area hotel and also a tour from the port to the airport. We are getting off an NCL cruise in San Pedro and beginning a Carnival cruise the next day that is leaving from San Pedro. We made reservations online. It looks like a good way to see LA and not worry about luggage or check in time. I won’t be doing this until October, so I hope it is a good tour. We are from SC and have never seen the California coast, so we want to do as much as we can.
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On 1/22/2019 at 4:31 PM, lmfinney said:
I think it's only 2. It's a good idea to bring a power strip.
Thank you all!
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How many 110 outlets are in the cabin that will charge American electronics?
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There are a few places and buildings in or near Havana we did not see because we asked our guide (Mary of Cubaoutings.com) to take us to Fusterlandia on the day we toured Havana. I would recommend Fusterlandia if you have not already chosen it. The tile art was interesting, fun, and worth the trip. Plus we saw some interesting buildings along the way to Fusterlandia in our vintage convertible. Mary was fine and worked hard to show us a good tour, but we really bonded with our Vinales guide, Adrian, (cubaamomgcubans.com). We will use him for both days this time if we can work out the schedule.
Adrian has suggested Matanzas highlights and then Varadero as new places. That is in the opposite direction from Vinales. We have not decided for sure. Our ship does not dock the first day until 10. It took better than an hour to get through security and exchange money the last time, so perhaps we’ll finish the places around Havana that day, then Matanzas and Varadero the next day.
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On 1/3/2019 at 1:40 PM, Cauzneffct said:
That’s annoying. We’re likely going to book private excursions (except Tulum for the same logistical reasons you mentioned), but I was surprised by the dearth of MSC options for Havana and Roatan. I guess it makes sense to hold open some slots for people to book on board, but I don’t get the benefit of keeping whole excursions hidden from pre-booking.
We used Cubaamongcubans.com in Havana for Vinales Valley in August on Carnival. They are excellent. If you go to their website and message, they will get back to you quickly. Our guide was Adrian. We loved Cuba so much we are going back on Armonia, sailing March 25th. We are using cubaamongcubans again both days. That sailing has a stop in Roatan also. We have contacted Cleve's Tours and Adventures there for the culture island tour of Roatan. They have good reviews on Trip Advisor. As this our first MSC cruise and first visit to Roatan, I have no idea how MSC excursions or Cleve's are, but we always book private tours with good ratings when we feel we can safely and are not so far from the port that we are worried about time.
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On 1/6/2019 at 11:36 AM, FTLcruisers said:
I thought we could convert CUCs back so...basically if we convert too much money, we're stuck with the CUCs???
No, you are not stuck! When we were there in August, we converted our leftover CUCs to American dollars in the same area we originally got the CUCs before we got back on the ship to depart.
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On 1/12/2019 at 2:47 PM, abbeytravelstheworld said:
We will have our ten month old with us so we have decided to stick with the show onboard! Since our cruise is two back to back we get 4 free excursions. I’m thinking the same that we’ll do one on the first day and to speed up customs and then maybe organise our own with Blexie. I’m really hoping there is a Vinales option.
We took a wonderful trip to Vinales with the private company, cubaamongcubans.com. Check out their website and send a message. They will respond quickly. Adrian, our guide was so personable and knowledgeable! It was one of the best tours we have ever taken. We are going back on the Armonia in March and have already contacted Adrian for new tours the days we are there.
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We used cubaamongcubans.com to go to Vinales from the Carnival Paradise in August. Adrian was our guide. If you go to that website and send an email, owner Randy will get back to you quickly. It was the highlight of our trip! I have a review of the cruise on Cruise Critic and a review of cubaamongcubans on Trip Advisor. It was one of the best shore tours we have ever done. We are going back to Cuba on MSC Armonia the end of March and have already messaged Adrian to take us to new places the two days we are there. Cuba was one of our favorite cruise destinations and a relatively easy trip to the port from SC. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did and anticipate to do again!
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We cruised to Cuba from Tampa on Carnival last August. We liked it so much we are going back on Armonia the end of March. As it will be our first MSC cruise, I can not help you there; however, I highly recommend doing private tours through Cubaamongcubans.com. Adrian was our guide for Vinales Valley from Havana. It was wonderful and reasonably priced. If you contact them via their website, they will explain all their options. Their reviews on Trip Advisor are great. We are going to use them again when we go back to see other parts of Cuba. I hope you enjoy your trip!
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On 11/21/2018 at 5:20 AM, lizp said:
Haven’t been yet! Will report back in a couple weeks.
Thank you, Liz. Hope you enjoyed Santa Marta and will share your day with us.
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Thank you, BirdTravels! You answered my question! We will fly in a day early!
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Does boarding begin that early in Vancouver when the ship does not embark until 11:59 pm.? We are flying from the east coast and do not know whether to come in a day early or not.
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Where do NCL ships port in Los Angeles, San Pedro or Long Beach?
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From one KC to another. Lol
We were off to Bermuda on NCL Escape while you were doing Cuba . I wouldn’t like to do Sky again, but hubby is looking at Carnival to get to Cuba.
Did you feel safe, welcome? Besides your trip into the countryside with gangstas....lol.... I haven’t started researching, but we love beaches and dancing, and I would own a classic car if I could.....With AC :cool:
Are there people pushing thier wares on you like Jamaica?
Love staying in Negril but would never go there on a ship.
Thanks!
I am on this page because we just booked our first NCL Cruise on Joy next October because it ports in LA the day before Carnival Legend leaves LA for our Panama Canal cruise. We just cruised Carnival to Cuba from Tampa August 18. We loved it so much I wrote my first review. We had wonderful private tours! Check it out if you wish—Paradise Havana-Style. I need to do lots of reading to be ready for all the differences between cruise lines but am excited to try something new!
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I am the same way! Boy do my Amazon purchases go way up near a cruise! May I ask what fan was suggested? I recently bought one that is a USB fan, but would love to know what was suggested. Thanks!
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but we bought Opolar necklace USB fans from Amazon for a cruise to Cuba in August. Hands free and helped with the heat.
Booked NCL Joy 5-day Vancouver to Los Angeles for October 6-11, 2019. We have a Carnival Panama Canal leaving from Los Angeles on the 12th, so thought it would be a great time to try NCL. I would love any pointers for first time NCL cruisers!
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Thank you for the kind words and resurrecting my review. :D
Actually it comes at a coincidental time as we will be heading out on another Panama Canal cruise this coming November on Vision and I planned to report again. Especially since I noticed many of the pictures have disappeared from this review. Check back with us in November. :)
I certainly will! We have awhile to wait until it is our turn!
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Thanks Bill,
Since we were on board I never did look up the links to all the cameras. :oThanks for the reference.
And once again I want to say thank you to all of the people that posted webcam pictures during my cruise. That really made the experience complete. :)
Thank you for your wonderful review! We are cruising Carnival Legend Los Angeles to Tampa in October 2019 and are just beginning to plan. I was remiss in not thanking you for your Hawaii review that I reread several times while planning our trip there. I learned so much from your review that we put to use when we did Hawaii in April. We even ate macadamia nut pancakes at your breakfast spot near your hotel because of your review and attended the Old Lahaina Luau after your pictures and commentary. Our cruise was Carnival Legend Honolulu to Vancouver but we spent land time in both Maui and Waikiki Beachwalk prior to the cruise. I will be looking for your other reviews for future possibilities! You write and photograph so well! Best wishes to you and lovely Marie!
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Notes from Armonia Miami-Havana Jan 2019
in MSC Cruises
Posted
That is interesting! I looked at my booking on the website and that is not showing. We booked through an on-line travel agency and the page is not even showing a pricing breakdown. It is something expected by US cruisers, but we will adapt if we must!