BAYA

Looking for ideas for first time visitors I'll be cruising with. I've been here twice but family hasn't been. Royal cancelled our ship's excursion yesterday and all private tour companies I contacted are fully booked. Looking for suggestions, please. Prefer not to rent a car and drive ourselves. We're arriving on Oct. 14th, 2022 in Saint John on Voyager of the Seas. TIA!

Another post in this forum recommended a tour guide and when I just checked his web site I saw Guavate and eating roast pig described in one of his tours. Here's the link https://www.tourwithellis.com/rainforest-tours

Ditto. Had great lobster roll there in 2019 and had first gone there in 2012. Get the combo of chowder, lobster roll, blueberry pie. YUM!

We were booked on the April 3 Eastern Caribbean sailing that HAL just cancelled to replace it with this new TA itinerary. SOOO annoyed. All they are offering us in apology is $100 OBC but it must be used on a Caribbean sailing in Winter/Spring 2023. There is no other Rotterdam 7-day sailing in the timeframe and we really wanted this ship. I'll probably take my cruise money to another cruise line.

I first encountered Maude Lewis's art on a cruise stop in Halifax in 2012. If you are curious about her life there are books about her but I also enjoyed a theatrical film about her starring Sally Hawkins as Maude and Ethan Hawke as her husband. The film is called Maudie.

Agree wholeheartedly. We did that tour with Paul in September 2019.

This web site might be useful if you really want to walk on the ocean floor. https://www.discoversaintjohn.com/fundy-tide-watch

I was just able to take advantage of the non-expiring FCC issued from my March 2020 Cruise with Confidence cancellation. Due to the original expiration date we had booked a cruise for last December. Royal cancelled all of their Mariner sailings and everybody had to rebook. Anyway, we rebooked and sailed in January 2022 but didn't use up the FCC. I was able to call Royal and apply the unused FCC balance to a booking for October 2022, but in addition, my sister was allowed to transfer her FCC to me, since I'll be in a solo cabin in October. So glad to be able to use that remaining $277 rather than lose it.

My sister uses the app called Find Me Gluten Free (or similar name). We had a good lunch in Portland at a sandwich shop that offered GF options. Turned out the owner's wife had to avoid gluten.

Not a regret regarding taking the cruise itself (I've done two transatlantics, not solo), but on the 2019 TA I wished I had bought the internet package. I ended up paying $25 for a single day when I needed to reach my family about an approaching hurricane (approaching them not me! 😊). I also had lots of problems trying to listen to my audiobooks from Libby and Hoopla because even though they were downloaded to my device the apps seemed to require the ability to ping their servers. I needed WiFi for them. Coincidentally, I am questioning whether I will go ahead and do a solo transatlantic this fall because my travel companion has backed out. I've never cruised solo before. We had booked separate cabins so there isn't an issue with cabin cost for me. My friend always wants a private accommodation (hotel, cabin). I'll be following this thread to see what others tell you. Good luck!

Our embarkation date was April 5 from Basel and we arrived in Amsterdam on April 11th. We had the included canal cruise that morning and the optional Keukenhof excursion after lunch. I learned that the gardens are only open about 8 weeks every Spring. They were gorgeous. I felt that we were given plenty of time to enjoy them (the excursion was 5 hours including travel time). Although it was a weekday the gardens were packed with locals and tourists alike. There were many tours available from Amsterdam to Keukenhof in the brochure provided by our post-cruise hotel. So if you chose to not take an excursion from Avalon there are options for sure. I felt the Avalon price of 57USD was good.

Any mask was ok. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been off CC for a while.