AlwaysReadyToSail

Check out Google Fi.  You can get it for just a single month if you like and it has always had great coverage when traveling abroad for me. Porting over a number is super quick and easy, or get a new number and forward your calls to it. https://g.co/fi/r/3A1C33

On Equinox two weeks ago, I feel like I saw the option for some movies on demand. But I didn't really check out if they were pay per view or free.  I don't recall seeing DVD Players.  They did however have movies on the lawn daily as well as in celebrity central cinema.   Our TV mostly stayed on the nav station, and at night Food Network or HGTV/Travel Chanel ( I can't recall if they had both or not). Overall there were not a ton of options but I wasn't disappointed in what they had. I try to be in the room as little as possible anyways. 

I have had the CSR for a couple of years now and I love it. I have used the auto rental insurance and had to file a claim when I returned with a large chip in the windshield in Iceland. The process was a bit lengthy, but ultimately it was resolved and fully covered.   I have received direct benefits far greater than the annual fee of the card.   I will say that even if you are not "playing the game" you may want to look into getting an additional card at a later date to maximize your rewards with Chase such as on of the Ink or Freedom cards.   If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them for you to the best of my ability.    

Yes that is the type, mostly out of curiosity, but SO was tossing around the idea for when in port. We wouldn't dare try using them on the ship.  I'll be on Celebrity, we will likely leave them at home as I don't know that we would get enough use out of them to warrant taking up the space in the cabin.  Thanks for the responses. 

Has anyone ever brought along an e-scooter...the type you see everyone riding around the cities now.

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Also interested.

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For Caribbean cruises (typically a week to ten days), has anyone purchased local SIM card(s)? If so, do you use them year after year, or one and done? Any tips/suggestions? I have pre-paid cell service that doesn't allow roaming and an unlocked phone.

Another suggestion for Google Fi here, I am already a Google Fi customer and that works perfectly for me. I don't have to purchase anything "extra" nor use a different number than my own. Data is charged at their normal price, unlimited texting, and non-wifi calls are 10¢/min. However I'll usually use Hangouts or Whatsapp for those if I am the one making the call.

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I'll second some things others have said. See if you already have a cc that has no FTF. If you don't then I am a fan of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (does have annual fee, but for me the benefits have always covered this expense and more), but there are SEVERAL no FTF cards out there to choose from; many that don't have an annual fee. I also bring along my Charles Schwab Investor Checking debit card in case I need cash, they refund ATM fees and have no foreign transaction fee or conversion fees. ALWAYS make purchases/withdraw money in the currency of the location you are in.

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Still crickets??? I'd like to know as well.

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As I've mentioned we have a checking account with USAA (husband former military) and they rebate us up to US$15/mo for any ATM fees.  I think I've read that there are other banks that do that.  That's  all we use that account for.  

I will second what many others have said.  A no foreign transaction fee credit card (there are plenty out there, just google) is the best way to go, followed by an ATM.  I have used Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account Debit for no foreign transaction or conversion fees and free ATM with reimbursement as my way to get out cash when needed.  It has worked flawlessly and is extremely easy.  I just take it out as I need it, so that I don't have to fool with converting what I don't use back to USD.  In recent years credit card is so widely accepted there are many places having cash was not even necessary.  But it's always great to know that I can get it out if needed just as easy abroad as I can here at home.  I'll also second what others have said about making sure  that it's charged in local currency is going to be your cheaper route. 

ATM with Charles Schwab Investor Checking account. No foreign transaction fee, will refund any ATM fees. It's worked flawlessly for me for years. I can't recommend it enough. Also note that if you are taking euros out of an ATM and it asks if you want them to convert it from USD to Euros for you say no.

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Anyone have a suggestion for where we can park our EV and hopefully have full charge upon arrival? My home airport has an off-site provider that offers free EV charging while you are away so that you return with a full battery, this service has been amazing so I was hoping to find something similar at the Port since we are driving this time around.

Thanks!!

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Cabin number.. 4012 Oceanview

Ship ..Journey

Month/ year sailed ..November 2014

Balcony Size ..None. Smaller square window than picture window, but larger than porthole.

Choose Again?.. No

Any Noise?.. Yes. Had noise every morning as we were porting. Noise from both thrusters, and anchor were loud enough to wake us up. Occasionally heard noise from above and the connecting room beside us.

Bed location?...Left side

Cabin Location?... forward, not too far from elevators/lift, easy to get to entertainment areas, dining in aft was still not a far walk though. Easy to get on and off ship as the gagnway was usually just one flight of stairs/elevator up or down.

Other?...Had an armchair instead of couch, was a connecting room. Also smelled strong odor of sewage a few times and regularly smelled cigarette smoke.

We did it two years ago. It was very easy and a nice train ride. I live in a very rural area, so just the thought of public transport was a little bit intimidating to me initially but overall we didn't have any problems. On our ship there were plenty of people taking the train to Taormina, so we mostly followed the crowd.

Word of advice, don't take the latest train back and give yourself a little extra time for the return. We took the latest possible train back and barely made it back on the ship...I think we were the last ones on. The train was running a little late by that time and we were really stressed out. Had we planned accordingly and left extra flex time we would have been fine, but in hindsight we should have taken the earlier train.

All in all I would take public transport again. Much cheaper, nice scenic ride, and much more enjoyable than a ship tour.

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My parents tried an iron once and it didn't make it. I've always brought my steamer with no issue. Hopefully it makes it on my next cruise.

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Okay, so I'm sure this has probably been asked and answered before. I did a search and my first few hits didn't result in a clear answer, so rather than sifting through thousands of threads I'm just going to go ahead and ask.

We booked an inside guarantee cabin for the Nov 6 -2014 Med Favorites cruise. We are showing that our cabin had not yet been assigned (Xpress pass and cruise details show " Stateroom: Na, Guarantee "). I assumed that the lack of a stateroom meant we were not assigned one yet.

When I look on the Azamara website it is showing that all inside cabins and outside cabins are sold out, and only verandah and suites remain. Would this indicate that it is likely we will be assigned a verandah? I'm completely happy with an inside...but it would be pretty awesome to get an upgrade.

Being just over a month out, I'm getting excited and antsy.

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Is this similar to serval mesh?

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It sounds a little overkill, but I've found one of the best ways to make sure everyone has similar expectations is to set a meeting to discuss the cruise.

I'm a planner, so I like to research all of my ports ahead of time. Generally I'll present what the options are for out port days and we will plan ahead of time which days we will share tours, which days are on our own etc. we always plan a few days on our own. (this is also good for days where possibly husbands are interested in other things than the wives. Once the men went in a godfather tour in Sicily while the women made it a shopping day...everyone was happy). Some days we may have left TBD, but at least everyone had a chance to voice what their primary interests were.

Once we had a general plan for port days we decided when to meet on those days, where, and how payment was to be given (we mainly did private tours). We had a general "let's meet for dinner" every night unless we informed the other party that we wouldn't be attending. We always got breakfast on our own, and generally did ship activities alone. We would look over the next days activities and discuss anything we may want to do as a group then. We made it clear ahead of time that we needed alone time, and they would probably enjoy it too. We let them ask as many questions as they could possibly have about cruising.

Another cruise I did with a couple was a mess. We didn't discuss things in enough detail ahead of time and had a few times that led to major disappointment and frustration.

Good luck and I hope your trip goes well. All in all. Make things as clear as possible before you leave and try to stay on the same page. Good communication with the other couple about expectations is a key factor.

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I have been motion sick on cruises before, but I'm not quite as sensitive to it as some others are (my mom gets sick on every cruise as soon as we hit the first bump). I can generally feel seasickness coming on and for me popping a ginger pill or two will settle everything down just fine. Due to my mother ALWAYS. Getting sick we usually bring the entire medicine cabinet, ginger pills and peppermint have always seemed to do the trick for me and then I don't end up feeling groggy or drugged.

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We were there in mid/late October. As a female I found that most days I preferred jeans or longer pants, and a thin short sleeve or sleeveless t-shirt with a cardigan. Some days I just ended up wearing the t-shirt and others I opted for the extra light layer. We were usually walking quite a bit so that kept us pretty warm. I'm glad I kept my clothing simple. It allowed me to mix and match according to the day and accessorize to jazz it up.

On the ship I made sure to bring a sweatshirt (as I do on all cruises. I find common areas tend to stay cool). The evenings would be a little cool but a shawl or cardigan worked great to add to my dinner attire. I never needed a jacket. I did however need a rain jacket. I got one that can scrunch down into its pocket. It fit in my larger purse so I always took it ashore. It was great for a light rain we had in Athens and a rainy day in Naples.

As people have suggested, layers. But don't overpack. I found packing for the med to be much like packing for home in the fall. A few short sleeves. A few long sleeves. Nothing too heavy and nothing too light. It was nice that I only needed one swimsuit (for on the ship hot tub) and one pair of shorts (other than some I brought to sleep in).

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My current bag has held up well and so far I have no complaints (well maybe one...it's a little heavier than some) but still not near the heaviest out there. I bought the whole set L, M, S bag and backpack but I find myself always going with the medium bag as I can't fit more in it than the airlines allow (weight or size). The large makes it too easy for me to overpack and the small is a little too large for a carry on for some airlines. But I also bought them before things were so strict.

I have the High Sierra wheeled duffel with backpack straps. I've taken the medium bag on no fewer than 30 flights, several car trips, and lugged it around walking and public transportation in cities like New York and Europe. I love that it is expandable and has compartments that make sense. It has a harder back and sides and the top is a thick durable material. There are plenty of handles so it's always easy to grab the bag. One of my favorite things about it are the backpack straps. These have come in handy when I've been on rough or changing surfaces, tight spaces, and when going up and down stairs.

So far this bag has survived several brutal voyages and is holding up better than my sister's samsonite luggage that has only been used around 5 times. I don't know when this bag will finally kick the bucket but it still seems to have a good amount of life in it.

Good luck.

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I did a similar itenary last October, most of it went well. Here is my feedback on the places you mentioned:

Santorini- We did a ship excursion because we were tendered and wanted to make sure we could get to Oia and do the wine thing and back to the port. If I was doing this again, I would have done it on my own or just taken a taxi to Oia. Oia was nice and I'm glad I got to see it, but doing it on a ship tour was not the best way to go IMO. The winery part was nice and relaxing, but again felt too commercial cookie cutter or something.

Ephesus- We used a private tour that had good reviews on these boards (we used Ephesus Deluxe and were very pleased). If you want to go to Ephesus then def do private tour. Ship tours were crowded and moved slow, we were able to go at our own pace and make adjustments to our itenary as we saw fit. You could probably have a good time just enjoying the beaches of Izmir, via cab as well. Check the boards on here for more info and ideas.

Athens: We took the train to the city center and then went to the acropolis and plaka etc on our own. I would do it the same way again. Went at our own pace and really enjoyed the day, and still got to see everything we wanted to see. I enjoyed taking public transport but my parents were not as adventerous so they took a HOHO bus outside the port. It took them around to the main sites and they really enjoyed it. It also probably saved them a good amout of walking, but I don't know that they saw as much or had as genuine of an experience of Athens from comparing our stories. I'd not bother with a planned tour here or excursion, it's easy to do on your own and cheap. Doing the acropolis on our own was also a better route to go, download an audio guide if you want before you leave or just read up on things and experience it on your own. The people in groups looked miserable and moved SOOOOO slow, plus the guides were constantly yelling over one another. I wouldn't have had a good time on one of these guided tours.

Mykonos: Def just walk it. No need to get a tour or excurion here. Walk through the winding streets, up to the windmills, and just take it easy.

Naples: We did a private tour which was fantastic. We planned to go see Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii and then back to Naples. The weather wasn't great so our guide suggested that we alter our plans to see pompeii and then go to sorrento and along the amalfi coast then back to Naples. This was fantastic. Sorrento and Amalfi coast towns were a pleasure. The cloud cover was thick the entire day with periods of rain so it was great that we had the ability to alter our plans, as we wouldn't have had a view at all from Vesuvius and the treck up would have been a soggy one all for nothing. People who did the ship's excursion didn't have the option to alter their plans like we did and said they wasted their time and money by going up. Pompeii was also pretty great, once again we were very glad we were on a private tour so we were not being guided like cattle. I would really recommend a private driver along the Amalfi coast and Sorrento, or even taking a cab to sorrento to just hang out for the day. We were not in Naples too long but I think our time was better spent in Sorrento. Check the message boards here for more suggestions as well.

Overall I was not impressed with the ship excursions I took, or even the ones I saw. I was very impressed with the private tours we took, they were cheaper and less wasted time. We did jam pack our days on a few days, but you could easily do less when you are doing a private tour or just wanderng around on your own. The message boards here were fantastic in helping me plan.