T.O.cruisers

On 1/16/2024 at 5:07 PM, realnice46 said:

Not sure if I’m allowed to ask this question, the roll calls seem to be so dead so I’m assuming people are connecting in other ways. I don’t do Facebook, twitter etc, but thinking I may have to start to keep up with rolls calls. Which seem to be most popular

I agree. My roll call on CC is dead. There is a Facebook group for the sailing that is quite a bit more active. 

Good to know. I've been wondering about this too as I have a car rental and sunset dinner reservations in Aruba and a golf cart rental in Bonaire. Thank you all for your comments.

Now, if only I can get a definitive answer about sand fleas at dusk on Eagle Beach.

I will be having a sunset dinner on Eagle Beach at Passions on the Beach. I'm trying to find out if there are sand fleas that are active at this time. I've been bitten in Jamaica and it wasn't a fun experience. TIA

7 hours ago, fsjosh said:

I contacted them, and apparently they've stopped renting chairs. Something about local authorities restricting them. There's another farther up palm that stopped renting them too. Sounds like the hotels pushed them out. 

 

Good to know. Thanks for the heads-up.

There is a chair rental place on Palm Beach between the Riu and the Hilton. It's right beside the restaurant on the beach. I rented a chair for $20 for the day.  I think they had umbrellas also. That was last year. It's a beautiful beach and I'm looking forward to going there again in January for the day.

Have a great week. I'm on 12/19. So excited.

We went from a sailaway oceanview to a Family Balcony Club Suite for $350CDN on Encore. I think I did good.

I have free air to New York. I'd like to fly in a couple days earlier. My cruise isn't until January 2021. When should I be contacting NCL regarding the flights?

I have used Shared Shuttle.it many times. Pickup at train stations, FCO, to the port, from the port. Always on time and very courteous. Highly recommend. 

5 hours ago, Ine said:

T.O. cruisers can you tell me what your time schedule was? Picking up the car at what time and what time were you back in town or on board please?

Ine, we picked up the car just outside the port terminal in a parking lot at about 1:30pm. We were back in Palma just after 8pm.

Roger b, thank you so much for all your recommendations and patience while I sorted out my day in Palma. We took your advise and rented from Arash car rental. I have to say he has quite a niche there in leaving the cars in a parking lot with a lock box. What can be easier? It all worked out great. Drove out to Valldemossa and along the winding roads to Port de Soller and Soller. Such a beautiful ride. Took the quick ride back through the tunnel with enough time to drive around Palma. Roger, you're amazing. Thank you again.

3 hours ago, Weby72 said:

Hi all.

Has anyone either done a DIY trip from Genoa to Portofino, or planned one?

Don't fancy paying the MSC price (expensive for a family of 4) and wondered if there's a better/more cost-effective way to do this.

Thanks in advance.

We have planned to do this when on the Seaview later this month. I have already purchased return train tickets to/from Santa Margherita. Our plan is to walk to Portofino (about an hour) and spend a few hours before we hopefully (depending on the weather) take the ferry back to Santa Margherita. I guess we'll take the bus back if the ferry isn't running due to the weather.

On 3/13/2019 at 6:04 PM, nmcruzr said:

We have used AP Tours - wonderful company, great tour guides and a good variety of tours at a reasonable price!  The gastronomic tour we took with them was amazing.  We will be using them again this summer.

https://www.aptours.it/

I've used AP Tours twice and would certainly use them again. They really are wonderful.

16 hours ago, SirWolf said:

Yes, as per description in the onboard daily news the MSC for Me wristband is required for chat & locator. You need to link the wristbands in the app. I could not link our YC wristbands. I guess a individual ID is printed on the MSC for Me wristband but I have not seen one.

I know for the wristband there is a charge. If it works it might be worth it.

2 hours ago, SirWolf said:

just off Bellissima...  the latest version of MSC for Me app includes Family & Friends Locator but requires the purchase of MSC for Me wristband (unfortunately YC wristband does not support this feature). You need smartphone, MSC for Me app and MSC for Me wristband to use all features of the app including chat & locator. MSC for Me app worked well for me (making show reservations, checking account/statement, interactive map, checking events). The app does not require a internet package.

SirWolf, is the wristband required for chat? I don't need to keep track of kids. I'm with a large group of adults so it's mostly for chat.

52 minutes ago, ikea logistics said:

the msc for me app is according to the latest update able to do this but no ones tried it yet

Thanks. I found some reviews regarding the app and it doesn't sound so promising. It's great in theory but not worth much if it doesn't work. I used to bring a walkie talkie on the ships and for the most part they worked; might have to consider it again.

I'm on Seaview next month with a group and wondering if MSC has an app for use on the ship that will allow us to use our smartphones to text with each other for no charge.

On 4/15/2019 at 5:54 PM, GastroGnome said:

There are a range of ticket options.  The ones with the 30 minute intro don't go on sale until 2 weeks before.

 

But - in a quirk probably unique to Holland ( as a fellow European it would not have occurred to me until I saw in on several internet posts.) 2 weeks before does not mean 14 days before.  It means the Monday of that week two weeks earlier.  So tickets for a Saturday - for example - are actually on sale 2 weeks and 6 days earlier....

 

That probably accounts for the confusion.

 

 

I was able to buy my tickets for the house along with the introduction program two months before. We were three sisters each on our own computer before 7am Toronto time. Finally when the tickets were available and one of my sisters got on the site, the only available time for the intro was early in the morning. We had no choice and we purchased the 9:30 intro with entry to the house following. Then I got on the site and later times were available for the time we actually wanted so I bought them. Although there are no exchanges or refunds, my sister was able to explain our situation and she got refunded for the earlier time. 

12 hours ago, wheezedr said:

That is precisely what we did. Wonderful day with nice lunch in Portofino.  My one concern about the method is that part of the walkway from Santa M to Portofino was reportedly closed for repairs.  For the OP who is planning a boat journey all the way there should be no problem.

I read somewhere that the road is now open so I'm sticking with my plan. Glad you had a good day.

8 hours ago, Shellylee said:

 We are looking to get to Portofino on our own from the Genoa port.  How easy is it to get to the train station and which train should we take? Also we were thinking of taking the boat from Santa Margarita to Portofino and maybe up to Camogli  and then get back on the train to Port Genoa.  Does this seem reasonable for a day trip to see the most before the ship leaves at 9 PM? Would appreciate any information anyone could suggest. 

 

Thanks,

Michelle from California 

Hi Michelle

The train station is about a 10 minute walk from the port. I have bought my return train tickets to Santa Margherita and back to Genoa. We are planning to walk from Santa Margherita to Portofino and then return by ferry to get the train back to Genoa. 

www.trainline.com

3 hours ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Hi

 

Looking for information from anyone who has done this. Looking to take a private water taxi from Marco Polo airport to the cruise terminal. Date of travel would be Oct 10th and arrival time of flight would be around 9 am.

1) What was the cost?

2) Did you purchase prior or at the airport?

3) Did they take you through the Grand Canal?

4) Did they drop you off at the P. Roma stop or take you into into the cruise terminal (avoiding the people mover).

5) Suggestions on company to use

6) Was it worth the cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

I took the water taxi from the airport to my hotel. I remember it being a very long walk with our luggage to get to the taxi from the terminal building. Been there, done that. Would not repeat. Taxi is much easier and probably cheaper.

14 hours ago, KCcruisin07 said:

Thank you! Any tips for driving there? My husband is used to metropolitan areas in the US like Orange County, etc.

 

 

 

Last time we drove from Cannes to Monaco and Monte Carlo, Eze Village and Nice. The only problem we had back in 2012 was our tablet ran out of battery just outside Cannes and so we lost our directions and  had to go by landmarks to find our way back. We managed to return the car and get on the second last tender. It was a great day. Driving and parking was easy. The manual transmission was iffy for us but OK. Coming from Toronto, we're very used to traffic. It's was so great that we didn't think twice about renting again. 

I think the train is about 40 minutes.

KCcruisin07, we rented from Mistral. They were highly recommended back in 2012 when we went to Cannes and it was perfect. We could walk from the port to get the car. 

Good luck

Marsha

Roger, I've already confirmed the car with your buddy Arash for pickup at the port. What are your thoughts on the Old Road to Soller, with all the curves?