Quasar1011

Somehow a page got ripped out of my passport. My wife taped it back in. Is this going to be a problem for my next cruise?

Prior to our transatlantic cruise departing from Rome (CIVITAVECCHIA) in early November, we are going to spend a week in Frankfurt... Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

What are you looking to do in Frankfurt? I lived there for 3 years. Lots of things to do in the city, plus a good base for things to do in the surrounding area!

We just liked the idea of using the prevalent currency in each country to sort of enhance our experience in that country.

Agreed! :) Especially since some of the Danish coins have little holes in them.

Hello, I have a cruise booked next year that departs from Copenhagen. I am thinking of taking a day before the cruise, and visiting Malmö. What is the best way to get there, and what is good to see in Malmö?

Finland, Estonia and Germany use the euro (€). Russia, Sweden and Denmark use their own currencies. Today's exchange rate was €1 = $1.38

When we go back there was a craft market with various things – handmade and they typical tourist things (magnets, postcards, keyrings)

Are there any places to buy men's polo shirts in the ports? Maybe with logos, flags or colours of the various countries?

Well, here is one tropical weather model for the next 8 days, showing areas of rainfall:

https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/wxmap_cgi/cgi-bin/wxmap_loop.cgi?&area=gfs_troplant&prod=prp&dtg=2014020412&set=Tropical

Temperatures? Looks like highs in the 70s and lows in the 60s, at least for Cozumel:

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Weather.aspx?location=MXQR0074

What is the quietest hotel in Copenhagen? I plan to fly in from Los Angeles 2-3 days before the cruise, and will need to sleep to get rid of the jet lag!

They were over packed with no seating at all. Then we decided to go to the visitors center at the Meleflores Locks since this fell through and there were the boats in the locks. Again it was easy to see they were packed. My belief is that he over booked and then since we were the only ones at our hotel he did not want to come and get us and thought he could get away with this.

I managed to get on the ferry, Pacific Queen, through My Friend Mario on March 10th. Our driver paid for our tickets at the dock. The ferry company has its own website here: http://www.pmatours.net/pacific-queen/full-transit-tour.htm It lists a full transit at $165, and a partial at $115 per person. How these 2 companies are connected is unclear. I too didn't have a fully satisfactory experience, as Mario's driver did not show up at Fuerte Amador to drive us back to our hotel, like he told he would do.

While we were in the first lock, there was another ferry that entered with us, so there are at least 2 ferries that do these transits.

We booked several things with Mario. Our airport - hotel transfer went smoothly. However, we booked a partial transit tour for an 8:30 AM pick-up from our hotel. He called at 8:35 to say that their boat was broken (not his fault) and he was trying to rebook us with a different company. He said he would call back in 20 minutes. We waited over an hour and he never called. We tried to call the number he gave and it wasn't working.

I had a similar experience. After a smooth transit of the canal, we were bused back to Fuerte Amador. Mario's driver was supposed to meet us there. He did not show up. We tried 4 different phone numbers to reach them, but none of them were working.

Had a fabulous tour with our new guide and fired Mario for our hotel-ship transfer.

We kept our hotel-ship transfer. Our new driver apologized for the mixup the previous night. She then gave us $10 off our transfer.

Not pleased at all with the customer service.

If you go with My Friend Mario, I'd strongly recommend that you get a working telephone number for them, in case something happens with your pickup.

Well there is more than 1 set of locks. You'll have to figure out if you have the time to visit the Gatun Locks, near Colon; or the Miraflores locks near Panama City. There's also the smaller Pedro Miguel locks.

Which city are you staying in on that Saturday night?

Tripadvisor lists her website:

http://tourincartagena.com/

From her website:

Marelvy Peña-Hall is completely fluent in English, French and Spanish. In her work as a tour guide she combines the intimate knowledge of a native of Cartagena who is steeped in the city’s centuries-old traditions with an easy familiarity with North American and European people, society and culture, having traveled and lived in both the U.S. and France.

After completing her studies in languages at the Colegio Mayor de Bolívar, Marelvy polished her skills in French by working and studying in France for a period of two years. Marelvy’s chief interests along with the study of languages are in the arts – in particular, dance – and in education. At the age of 13 she began a career spanning two decades of performing the folkloric dances of Colombia, especially those of the Caribbean coast. Upon returning to Cartagena from France she began teaching French at the university level and at this time married the North American-born painter, John Timothy Hall, so that for the past twenty years her study of English has been constant as well. They and their two children, Sheila and Theo, live by the sea just outside of the Old Walled City.

After ten years Marelvy retired from teaching and went into guidework while at the same time dedicating herself to the homeschooling of her bilingual children and, in collaboration with her husband, to the writing of an extensive and innovative bilingual dictionary. A look at the preliminary edition of this recently completed work will be coming soon here. The final edition will be published later this year.

 

 

Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, is the second oldest city established by Europeans in South America (after Santa Marta which lies 300 kilometeres further up the coast). For centuries it was known as the gateway to South America and certainly, in terms of tasting the Latin American sensibility, it still is. What was to become Spain’s most important port on the Caribbean Sea was founded 476 years ago by Pedro de Heredia on the site of a village called Calamarí (which meant 'crab') whose inhabitants, the Mocanaes, were part of the Carib tribe. Today Cartagena is a major modern port and an increasingly popularly venue for international tourism. The Old City was declared world heritage by the United Nations in 1984.

31 :) but leave for Panama in 29 days :cool:

My last cruise didn't even have the ship's pin for the VIP cruisers. I would have bought one in their gift shop if they'd sell them.

Exactly! I'd have paid for a ship's pin as well last time- except NCL didn't sell any. :(

An Italian Priest said he was going for 'a week of contemplation and prayer'. It was then discovered he was on a cruise on the Concordia.

 

He's going to have some explaining to do :eek:

Hey, even the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked. :rolleyes:

Okay, I looked on Wikipedia, and Panama hats originated in Ecuador. Still, I'd like to pick one up in Panama. Can I get an authentic hat from a street vendor? How much will they likely cost, and should I haggle the price down?

I've read the boards, but have not seen recent postings about My Friend Mario tours. His tour from Colon that goes to the Miraflores locks and Panama City sounds more interesting than the ship tours. But I'd like recent feedback. We are doing a full transit, so not considering the ferry tour through the canal.

I have a full transit booked with Mario on March 10th. I will try to remember to post a review here when I get back.

I think the Costa Concordia magnet is now harder/more expensive to get... :(

I was somewhat disappointed when completing my Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Star in May 2010, that NCL did not offer or sell ship pins. Now on the NCL website, under Latitudes Rewards> Tier Benefits, it says, "Ship Pin (will be delivered onboard starting January 2012)". This is for all tiers, even bronze. Is this new, or did I not get one last time because it was my first cruise with NCL?