BAYA

I'm following this thread and hoping someone who has recently toured in Lisbon by tuk-tuk will add their experience. Did you book in advance via email? How much did they charge you? I assume one also tips at the end of the tour? Please add any and all info you will share. A friend and I will be in Lisbon in May 2024 for 2 days pre-cruise. We're thinking of doing a tuk-tuk tour on our arrival day to get an orientation/overview of the city. I've been to Lisbon pre-cruise in 2019 but we didn't do a tuk-tuk tour. This will be my friend's first visit to Lisbon. TIA!

I can only report on my own experience last year when I contracted COVID on a river cruise and had to spend an extra week in Amsterdam before flying back to the US. I brought 7-day pill boxes for three weeks for a planned 2-week trip. The pill boxes had mixed prescription pills and supplements (vitamins, probiotics, etc.) in them. I also brought a printed list of all of my medications. It wasn't practical to bring the original bottles with me. I had no problem with customs and security carrying them in my carry-on bag in both directions. I ran out of one of my prescriptions overseas and wished I had a printout of the prescription from my doctor with me, but my doctors typically transmit the prescriptions electronically to pharmacy and don't hand out printed prescriptions unless one makes a special request.

I just finished many hours of research looking for a moderately priced hotel for May 2024 pre-cruise. I narrowed it down to about 5 hotels and ended up booking Hotel Marques de Pombal directly with the property. I stayed at a more expensive but terrific hotel, NH Collection Lisboa Liberdade, in 2019 but we wanted a better priced option since we are booked for 3 nights. Anyway, here are the results of my research. The area of Avenida da Liberdade is flat and beautiful. [I hope the copy-paste works!] $ 740.00

I bought Mary-Jane style water shoes from Lands End years ago and I like them a lot.

Thanks @azbirdmom. I heard about the new homeport yesterday on YouTube and went to the princess site to try to book and found nothing there yet. I will have to be patient and wait until May 24th I guess. I sailed on Coral Princess to Alaska in 2003. Ready to try Princess again when she sails from my closest port!

I haven't done so yet but I probably will next February. The point of the cruise for me is to try out an Oasis-class ship and I don't care about the ports at all. In fact, as much as many cruises adore Coco Cay, my sister and I never get off the ship there. We tried it twice several years ago and had our fill. In contrast, I just cruised to Labadee and was not enthusiastic about getting off there. My only visit had been 10 years or so ago and there wasn't much happening. I got off the ship in Labadee last month and was pleasantly surprised by the beach I went to.

Shrimp cocktail in the MDR on a Celebrity ship. I was the only one in my party of 5 who had it at dinner. I felt better by the next night. I avoided shrimp cocktails on cruises for several years. On Jewel of the Seas last month I waited until the third night and after no one at our table of 8 had any bad reactions (many of them ate the shrimp) I went back to ordering it for a couple of nights and all was fine. At a restaurant in FLL the night before a cruise I had a salad as my entree and was the only one in my party of 5 that got really ill. Since then I will never eat a salad before cruising just in case it might make me sick enough to miss the cruise.

I love Another Broken Egg and out-of-town guests I've taken there all enjoyed it. Been to a few of their locations.

I would love to hear about your experience on an Albatros Expeditions cruise. I am looking at booking one through EF Go Ahead but information about Albatros is scarce on cruise critic. They are debuting a new ship this year. TIA!

I am a past Grand Circle cruiser in 2007 and I had an excellent experience. They used the Celebrity Constellation for a Scandinavia and Russia trip. I am concerned to hear mixed things about OAT, since I am considering using them for my first ever solo trip. I hope the land trip, if I eventually book it, doesn't get cancelled or kick me off because someone wants my slot. Horrible business practice if they do that.

Same here. I even tried a totally different browser and website (this time a warehouse store travel site) with the same results.

My brother and I got it too. We're in two different states but booked together on an upcoming March cruise. So bizarre.🤣 Someone in IT fat-fingered something!

I'm interested in the answer on this too. When I booked with my HAL consultant I specifically asked whether Club Orange was refundable along with the rest of my cruise deposit and she said YES it is refundable. I hope she was correct (just in case . . .).

I'm cruising solo too. After paying the $435 for CO ($15 * 29) I came out ahead by $1045. I agree with whomever said "do the math"😊.

Once again I learned something valuable on CC! Thanks to all who provided info on this thread, I just booked a 29-day cruise with Club Orange added by my "personal cruise consultant" at HAL, and I got a V category veranda cabin with a price savings of $1045! I wasn't familiar with Club Orange until I read this thread and I am really looking forward to the perks!

In cabin TV will be pretty useless for news based on my experience. Pretty useless in general for entertainment unless you want to spend money renting movies. I always load up my phone and tablet with audiobooks and podcasts that I want to listen to. I also bring some liquid laundry detergent for light in-cabin washing. I've never been on a ship with guest laundry facilities but if your has it then that's an option for you. Your roll call will show you various activities that your fellow cruisers have organized. Can be slot pulls, cabin crawls, board games, etc. I love the camaraderie one gets on longer cruises by participating in the roll call.

Thanks for sharing that great link. My brother and I have been to San Juan a few times and we were trying to find something we hadn't done before. The map by @AlohaLivininspired me to try putting together a coffee tour of San Juan. My brother is a total coffee geek. Muchas gracias!

You were lucky, Len! Happy Thanksgiving.

Probably much more crowded. Voyager out of Boston in October was packed. Lines were the worst I ever experienced at the Windjammer. Waited 30 minutes for a dinner table even with a reservation in MDR.

I will also be on Jewel in March. Curious to hear how they’re managing anytime dining because on Voyager it was very poorly managed. Just got off of Voyager Cruise in October. I did a transatlantic on Jewel in 2008 and it was fabulous. Also did a Canada New England cruise on Jewel in 2012. Looking forward to being back on her because it’s a beautiful ship.

Posting in case this spares someone angst. If reserving an Uber to pick you up after disembarking in Boston tell them to pick you up in front of the Dunkin Donuts on Drydock Avenue. That’s where dozens of us were told to schlep our bags this Sunday. Ubers weren’t allowed to pick up right in front of the terminal. It’s about a 3 block walk. I saw several people missing their drivers and vice-versa. It’s a real mess there. Antiquated terminal and streets unable to deal with huge crowds. Suggestion: look up the Boston Design Center on Google maps and then see the Dunkin across the street on Drydock Avenue. That’s where we were sent by terminal staff on October 16th. Hope this helps someone.

In case it will help others, I was able to book a 5 hour tour for Oct. 14th out of Saint John using Shore Excursions Group. A fellow roll caller on a Caribbean cruise I'm taking in Nov. 2023 gave me the tip. I just love the helpfulness of fellow cruisers!

Thanks @milolii. Alex had availability when I checked yesterday but we have to book the whole van. At $585USD it's too pricey for us.

The HopOnHopOff site won't come up in my browser. In any case, I'll take your word that they are closed for the season. Looks like we'll be winging it for Saint John.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!