CRHeel94

Depends on the vendor, but you´re safer with the stack of 20s.

Poas volcano is not open yet, but it sounds like it might be opening in April. There´s been volunteer work these past weeks on trails and facilities.

Try searching for Costa Rica Yacht Club. Its located in Puntarenas and should have some vessels for charter.

Theres an interesting rum tour near Puerto Corinto, 40 minutes away in Chichigalpa.

https://www.tourflordecana.com/Home

We are considering NCL vs Celebrity. Dismayed to read that NCL is Pepsi-only. I know it sounds trivial, but there is a strong preference in the family for Coke. Not a deal breaker, but it will come up in the vote.

I'm wandering if only Pincess has this kind of tours. The itinerary seems to be really good especially for "on their own" travelers:D And just to clear it up, does the guide stay somewhere nearby during the free time?

We just came back from RCI and they had something similar. We met a couple who did a one day tour the first day and than had this "wanderer" set up the next day.

I took three pairs of shorts and only used them on the ship. It was too cold for this boy from the tropics.

One couple gave us a great tip (unfortunately after we left), which I think would work great with a 3 day stop. They did a one day tour to see the main sites and then on the second day they booked a shore excursion that was basically a shuttle to Novsky Prospekt that let them do their own thing. With three days, you could easily book a two day tour and then do something like that to have some flex time to wander around a bit.

Just came back from a couple weeks. We had PIN issues a couple times, usually at machines (luggage locker in Stockholm train station, some automated kiosk in Copenhagen). My card did not work, but my wife's did.

We were on the same cruise and generally enjoyed our time.

Windjammer was very busy for breakfast. Manageable but busy. We did MDR for dinners five nights. The first dinner was kind of chaotic with the second seating, but the other days it was relatively smooth. Service by the waitstaff was very good (service onboard in general was very good).

I don't get why they charge for dinner in Rita's Cantina. I would have to think that the cost of a serving there (tacos, enchiladas, burritos) would be cheaper than a seating in the MDR. I ponied up some cash, but I was in a very small minority...most days it was empty. It's not a bad place to hang out even thoug the cold Baltic doesn't lend itself particularly well.

Entertainment onboard was pretty good. My two teenage sons enjoyed a wide variety of activities. I was a little confounded that the Day at Sea had a relatively light schedule; we were expecting more things to do.

St. Petersburg is a tough nut to crack. We did SPB tours as well and it was a heavy pair of days. One thing that makes it tough is that some of the more interesting sites (Peterhof, Catherine's Palace) are way on the outskirts, so the logistics to get there and back aren't always smooth; you spend about an hour getting there and then getting back which eats up some precious port time. We heard a great tip from one couple. They did a one day tour on the first day to see the main sites in the city and then did a RCI shore excursion which was basically a shuttle to Noversky Prospect which let them do their own thing. Peterhof and Catherine's Palace was nice, but I would have preferred the flexibility of exploring on my own.

We took our two sons (age 10 and 12) on Riviera two years ago to the Western Med. We were part of a larger family group that also had a ten year old and a 15 year old. The trip was for my parents 50 year anniversary; they chose Oceania because of the port intensive itinerary and the fabulous food. I had done some research pre-cruise and was a little apprehensive of the anti-kid vibe (largely from this board and guide books).

Our experience was actually pretty positive. There was maybe a dozen kids onboard. My kids are pretty nerdy...they spent a good deal of free time onboard reading, playing games on their iPads and chatting with their cousins. Don't think they ever got bored by life onboard. I would also say that the kids in our group were well-behaved in public areas and tried to be polite to their fellow passengers (and I would make that same generalization about other kids onboard). My kids love trivia and tried to participate in every contest; we participated with some fellow passengers and they were good about involving my kids. It had been one of their favorite summer experiences.

Yep, there's no pier on Playa Panama. There's also no waves on that beach, so I guess they could bring you pretty close to shore, but you would get your feet wet.

Thank You

 

 

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I believe we're staying there in a couple of weeks. Will chime in.

Guess its time to have that birds and bees chat with our teenage sons again. :cool:

Thanks for posting. Very helpful

That is the only place that makes sense. They have a small marina that could handle tenders. There is a Four Seasons located nearby to the marina.

Cafe Britt has a webpage that ships to the US. They're one of the more popular coffee brands for export.

SJO airport is less than an hour, probably closer to 45 minutes.

LIR is 2-3 hours away.

More flight options from SJO, FWIW. Liberia is a great option if you're headed to beaches in Guanacaste.

Did you happen to take a picture of the Compass for the sea day?

We are doing a pre-cruise stay in Stockholm. Trying to squeeze in Vasa and Gamla Stan in the morning before we dock. We are doing the tram from the hotel to Vasa, and then taking a ferry across the harbor to Gamla Stan before walking back to our hotel. Doesn't look too daunting.

Were the formal nights #2 & 6?

What was the attire the rest of the nights? I want to reassure my wife that young teens can go to MDR in jeans or khakis with dress shirts on the non-formal nights.

We're doing the July 2 Baltic cruise on the Serenade. Very helpful.

There are few options in the Puerto Caldera area. Would not recommend staying there.

I would recommend the Escazu area on the western edge of San Jose . Plenty of hotel options in the area (a couple of Marriotts, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, etc) and good access to tourist attractions in the Central Valley (downtown San Jose, Poas Volcano, Irazu volcano, coffee tours). Escazu also makes for an easy jump to Puerto Calder via highway; the drive is normally about an hour but traffic due to constructions recently bumps that up to 1.5 hour.

There's not much to do in Limon aside from eco-themed tours.

One alternative that you can look into is the beaches at Puerto Viejo, some of the best beaches in Costa Rica. Its a little less than an hour's drive from Limon. There's also some great restaurants owned by some European expats.

We are looking at that June 29th sailing, but I just noticed there's only one day in St. Pete (and two in Stockholm)? Is that right? Reading other reviews sounds like one day is not enough. Did anyone have concerns about that.

All the other options we're looking have flaws though. We really want to try Celbrity.

Do the laundry machines work with US coins? Is there a change machine in the laundromat?