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Thank you for the fun review!! 

I was on the same cruise and it brought back fun memories!!!

Thankfully I didn't have Rene!!  Also, after seeing the maze to get to Wal-Mart (it used to be so simple) - I decided I didn't really need to go!!

On 1/4/2020 at 2:07 AM, serenity27 said:

We just returned yesterday in San Pedro on the Emerald and disembarkation was delayed 1-2 hours for everyone. 

That's interesting.  I just disembarked from the same cruise and didn't find that we were delayed at all.

We were given an 8:00 disembarkation time, and at 8:00 on the dot, we were able to disembark. 

I wonder if the fact that we were on a Princess debark tour had anything to do with it, or if a delay happened after that time?

Yes, I've been trying since this morning and am still getting the technical difficulties message.

Hoping it is up soon!

I heard the colder the cruise, the older the cruise (hence the lack of night time energy on the Pacific Coastal cruise).

That's a great quote!! I'd never heard it before - but makes perfect sense!! One of my more recent Carnival Cruises was to Alaska, and the cruise director commented many times on how there was no one out and about after 9:00 pm!!!

I choose Princess more often than not, but my idea of a great night is curling up with their cozy blankets and watching the Movies Under the Stars!!

Happy Cruising!

Thank you so much for this great review!

I'm sailing this itinerary next year and am excited to see the variety of things to see in the ports!

Thanks for sharing!

Charlene

I haven't sailed solo on Carnival, but I have on other lines and ate in all the specialty restaurants! I never felt awkward (but I also tend to eat out at restaurants on my own at home).

I found the staff to be quite accommodating, even asking where I would be most comfortable in the restaurant - my only request was no table in the middle of the room!!

Have a wonderful time and enjoy every minute!

When I took that train to Berlin, we also booked the 12:30 slot for the Reichstag. It gave us time to do a slow stroll from where we were dropped off to the building.

Wonderful time!!

Have fun :)

I used it once ... it worked perfectly - just like it would in North America.

I ordered it from a restaurant where there was free wi-fi, which avoided data charges.

I have flown in once on the day of a European Cruise - also due to necessity. While everything worked out, I was a bundle of nerves until setting foot on the ship!!

Our flight was delayed departing by one hour, then we circled Heathrow for quite a while and by the time we made it through immigration, we were nearly 3 hours later than we should have been.

When we exited, the lovely Princess Staff was waiting and directed us to a spot to wait for a few minutes. A gentleman than came to get us and led us to our private town car! I commented to him that I thought we would be on a large bus with others! He told me that we would have, it we had been on time! Leaving the airport was hectic ... the traffic towards Southampton was atrocious - which made me more nervous. After about one hour in the car, he let me know we were doing fine and would make it with no problems ... and then commented that I looked a bit nervous and wondered if we should stop at the chemist! I thought it was quite sweet that he was worried.

We arrived and walked right on to the ship ... no wait, because it was no quite close to sailing ... we went straight to our room and our suitcases had made it there before us.

Would I do it again ... no. However, Princess made it as easy as they possibly could given our delays!

Happy sailing - I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Thanks for the great start to your review!! I just booked this cruise for next year and can't wait to read more!!

I also used Barcelona Day Tours. They had a variety of options for tours and were very easy to work with. If I ever start/end a cruise in Barcelona again, I will happily use them once more!

Friends have recommended Stof & Stil in Copenhagen ... I will be going in May and hope to pick up some beautiful European fabrics!

Wonderful review!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful families vacation!!

I'm doing this same itinerary in October and am very excited to get a preview!!

I look forward to the rest :)

Congratulations on your wedding! You both had stunning dresses!!

I loved your review ... I've never tried NCL, but may have to on a future solo adventure!!

Awesome review Kim!

Your reviews are always so fun - they are what gave me the confidence to go on my first solo cruise last year!!

Now I can't wait to plan my next one!

I see that your travel blog is going to go "live" this month - I've bookmarked it already and can't wait to read all your adventures!!

I saw many taxis when I was at Port Everglades last week!

On my cruise in September, one of the cruise staff mentioned that they had the cross-stitch arts and crafts project, but it was up to the person who was leading the event what they brought out.

I would have loved to try it!

Bermuda is my idea of heaven!!

I would go again in a Heartbeat!!!

Go and Have fun!!!

I have cruised both and agree with what the above posters have said.

I will happily sail either (or any other line just to experience them) based on price and itinerary. But when it comes down to it, I usually favour a HAL ship!

In addition to the great points that the others have made, one of my favourite aspects of the line is their Culinary Arts Centre. In addition to the culinary demonstrations, free crafts (I made a cute journal on one cruise, and a nice beaded lanyard on another) I love signing up for their small cooking classes (there is a fee for these, but they are well-worth it in my opinion).

As well, I adore the fact that I can order a hot breakfast to my cabin!!

Great review!

I just booked the Miracle for this September - thank you for providing such a great, detailed review!

I sailed out of NYC to Bermuda on HAL's Veendam a couple of years ago.

I loved that HAL can dock in Hamilton - it makes it very easy to get to the central bus terminal or the ferry dock to go to either end of the island!

I liked the Veendam despite the fact that is is an older ship. The crew was good and I liked the cabin size - I loved that our interior cabin had a couch!

I would go back to Bermuda in a heartbeat! There are great things to see and do for all ages and I felt very safe!

Enjoy your trip - whatever ship you wind up on!!

I would never travel without it!

On my last trip - two days before I was to leave there was a death in the family - my insurance reimbursed me for the cost of the change fees for my flights and the cost of my new tickets because now I was flying out of a different city.

The small (in the long run) cost of insurance is well worth it every time!

I've found some of the are more willing to play around than others! On one cruise we went around just chatting with the photographers to see who had a personality that meshed with ours.

Once we found one, we had a hoot!! Some of the photos were the poses they are "supposed" to do - but we got a lot of interesting poses that weren't your usual cruise ship pictures!

One of my favourites is one of me and my friend in front of that background that is supposed to look like you are standing on the deck - they had us pretending to throw one another overboard! Very fun!

So what did is say on your luggage tags if you didn't have a cabin assigned by the time you printed them out? Just wondered.

The last time I had a guarantee, it wasn't assigned until I got to the pier! The men who take your luggage had a master list of people and cabin numbers along with blank luggage tags to be filled out there.

It worked out very well!

I've had two late sails from Key West in the past!

Once, we missed Grand Cayman due to bad weather, arrived just past sunset to Key West and had an overnight!

The second time, we had been scheduled to leave around 6:00 and for reasons that were never mentioned, as we were getting off the ship, we were told that sail-a-way had been delayed until 1:00 am! Such fun!

Key West is definitely one of my favourite spots to visit - whether by ship, or by land vacation!!