klrcruises

7 hours ago, CRUIS4ME said:

We used Rome Cabs to pick us up at FCO and drive us to Civi.  They were on time, sign with our name, helped tow our  luggage to van, and drove us right to the steps of our hotel…Museum Guest House.   We spent two nights there since we needed the antigen test which was easy to get done.  Took a cab from guest house to ship so no schlepping of bags.   

Where did you stay in Civitavecchia?  Do you think it is feasible to get the antigen test done on a Monday morning and board the ship around noon?

22 hours ago, roupa said:

Thoughts /opinions of this shore excursion from Rijika from anybody been there.  6 hour excursion to villages of Krk and Vrbink.  Stop in Vrbnik ncludes tasting of wine with ham, cheese and bread.

This sounds interesting.... what tour company are you looking at?  how long will you be in the port of Rijeka?

Has anyone rented e-bikes or been on an e-bike tour while in any of the Croatian ports?  I am looking for a 2 to 3 hour guided or self guided tour........ anyone have recommendations?

On 4/4/2019 at 6:19 AM, DanL said:

WE are doing this https://splitculinary.com/

This looks great!  Thanks for the recommendation!

Has anyone used Click Airport Transfers in Venice?  Any recommendations regarding private transfers from the port to the airport in Venice.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. We are planning to do a Azamara Croatia cruise fall 2019.

I am looking at an oct 2019 Croatia cruise on the Journey! Are you looking at the same one? It looks fabulous!!

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Glad you found a good solution to fit your travel pattern. And now we have a new issue that is kicking around the boards that might apply to you...since it sounds like you do travel a lot (like us). Some folks are really pushing the relatively new Chase Saphhire Preferred Reserve card. Like the AMEX Platinum, this is an expensive card that is only for those that can justify the cost. It also requires an excellent credit rating. But that card provides a $10,000 cancellation policy as part of its annual benefits. So some folks are thinking that having that card plus an annual travel med policy might be a good combination for those of us who do a lot of travel. The only negative is that the card is expensive (about $450 a year) and $10,000 is a nice benefit but does not cover the really expensive trips. But for those of us who already pay for AMEX Platinum...there is a good case to switch to the Chase card.

 

Hank

Hi Hank! I have learned so much from reading your posts! I happen to have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card. It also has a $10000 per person cancellation insurance benefit ($20000 per trip) with $40000 annual benefit. the cost of this card is $95 per year. I will pass on trip cancellation insurance because I can cover most of the cost with the cc insurance. I will definitely supplement insurance with medical and evacuation insurance. What type of medical and evacuation insurance (limits) do you buy? Not sure how to determine what we will need for these services in foreign countries.

We do not buy insurance to cover the cost of our trip as our credit card insurances generally cover the cost. However, we do buy it for the medical evacuation part when we are overseas. We put in the least amount you can cover and then buy $1M in evacuation. It also includes extra medical etc. Ends up costing less than $200 for both of us. After hearing of people who had heart attacks etc and the costs incurred we want to be able to be flown wherever we want/need to be treated.

Hi findacruise! After reviewing the benefits of my credit card, I think I have adequate coverage..... doesn't cover everything but pretty close. Where do you purchase your med evacuation coverage? are you also purchasing medical insurance coverage?

Hi again. First, if you are in a "concierge" suite or above, a pre-cruise night at a hotel is included so you would fly in to the embarkation port the day before your cruise. As RachelG mentioned, Regent will pick you up at the airport and transport you to the hotel. The following day you will be taken to the ship. If you are in a lower category suite Regent assumes you will arrive the same day as embarkation and will pick you up from the airport and take you directly to the ship. (Note: The last sentence is what I believe is the policy for lower categories - someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Okay - deviation. This is basically allowing you to select your own flights/times as long as the carrier has a contract with Regent. And, as mentioned, you can do this 270 days prior to your cruise. Our TA works with Regent a lot and gives me a good idea of which airlines Regent is likely to approve. When the 270 day mark is approaching, we send two or three flight choices to our TA - they contact Regent and most of the time we get our first choice. If Regent does not approve your flight choices, you do not pay the $175/person. Alternatively, if you do not use a TA, (really hope you use one for the benefits), you can call Regent Air yourself and work out flight details with them.

 

It may sound like a lot of work but once it's done the rest is a piece of cake!

 

ellbon: One reason you might want to get to the ship when boarding begins is so that you could enjoy a leisurely lunch before going to your suite at 2:30 p.m. Many times the buses do not leave the hotel until 1:00 or 1:30 p.m. The issue we have had with staying at the hotel longer is that the check-out time is at noon (some hotels are going to an even earlier check-out time ) and we ended up storage our luggage at the hotel and finding a place to eat. We prefer getting to the ship and let Regent handle our luggage. OTOH, there may be savings by booking your own hotel and flights. Each situation is different.

Hi travelcat2! You have some great info in your response. Can you email me so I can ask you some specific questions??? my email is rransom291 at aol dot com Thanks!!

Hallo, the OP hasnt said if the reservation is for a suite or not, which makes a difference in the brand of toiletries provided.

What toiletries are provided in a sky suite?

Hi Lottie,

 

I've recommended clearing the cookies and cache on several occasions. I'm unsure if this is a specific Azamara issue, or something related to our PC's... but from my experience, Azamara's website (and Celebrity's for that matter) tends to get comments like the OP's. It's happened to me as well. Clearing the cookies and cache has worked for me.

 

If nothing else, it's worth a try ! Good luck to the OP.

Success! Thank you so much Host Andy! I was even successful in adding my upcoming reservation to MyAzamara!

Since we booked our 2017 TA on Quest over 2 months ago I have been trying to create a My Azamara account (to look at shore excursions, etc.) and have had no luck. I called and the CS agent said, "Oh, their working on the website. It should be up and running in a couple of weeks. Try again then." That was a month ago. Anyone have a similar situation or better luck?

I have also tried to set up a MyAzamara account .... With no luck! I too called CS....... The response I received was that I should not waste my time trying to set up an account because it isn't working and they don't know when it will be working! If anyone is able to set up an account please post here to let us know how you were successful! Thanks!

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We did private walking tours for all 3 of these ports (did not go to Oslo) -

 

Copenhagen - Guided Tours Copenhagen (Grand Tour)

 

Tallinn - Traveler Tours (2 hours)

 

Helsinki - Happy Guides Helsinki (Tram & Rail Sightseeing)

Do you recommend the Helsinki tour? This is the only port I don't have anything planned out.

Someone was kind enough to post the cruise compass for each day the 4 day cruise on the Indy..... I saw it yesterday and cannot find it for the life of me today. Individual cruise compass dailies were posted via drop box..... can anyone help me find it?? I just want to make sure dinner reservations don't conflict with the show times! Thanks!!

Was going to report that Ricky Matthews is on board the Indy, but it looks like Ricky himself beat me to it. The Day 1 cruise compass lists Leigh as the cruise director and I haven't been online in the last couple of days so I was surprised when Ricky was introduced tonight.

How is Ricky ????

We are arriving on the Indy on Monday April 18... It looks like the only other RCCL ship arriving the same day is the Serenade. We are looking for a fast get away to the airport. I understand the best place to disembark is Terminal 18.. How are terminal assignments made?? Does anyone know if the Indy ever uses Terminal 18??

I'll third the Rick Steves book. It has a lot of great info.

 

I felt like Stockholm was very easy to get around. We went back into town after a ship excursion and had no problems. It is a bit of a ride, but our ship (DCL) had free shuttles.

 

Yes, the port in Copenhagen for us was very far from the tourist part of town. The cruise departed from Copenhagen, though, so we stayed several days prior. It is a very easy town to get around once you get to the tourist areas. I'd also highly recommend the free walking tour that starts at city hall square.

 

We did a private food tour of Tallinn. It was wonderful and not expensive. I know that's not what you asked about, but it was WAY cheaper than any ship excursion, we learned so much about Estonia and it's history, and had a 5 course meal scattered around interesting parts of the city. We could not have done that on our own, or even known where/what to order when it came to food. We had several local traditional foods.

Who did you use for private food tour?

Yes definitely look at choice air. I booked my flights jfk to vce through choice air.......both one way tickets. I saved over $300 pp doing it that way. Flying on delta........I am taking the cruise on the 24th. Flight is the most expensive part of the trip!!

I originally booked the 8/24 cruise out of Venice for $1699 for a balcony 2D, got upgraded to a 2C because of CC. Plus perks available from 123 go promos (pick 2 for european sailings). Price has been reduced to $999 got price reduction, kept upgraded room and all perks! Airfare is very high though from the states.....the only non stops from JFK to VCE are $1795 pp. Wow! Somewhere in these posts I read to go to Choice Air and book the flights one way each way.........did that yesterday was able to get same flights (same seats) for $1500 pp! The people who helped me at Choice Air were great!

Give me a break! What's the worst that can happen, I miss my cruise? In the past, I've booked four one way tickets, on transatlantics, with choice air. I've saved about $8,000 p.p. based on the price I saw when I changed seats. On my upcoming transatlantic, on the Silohuette, I paid a litlle over $1,000 p.p. That still leaves me $7,000 p.p. ahead. I think I can live with that.

I am thinking i might book the one ways...... I have never used choice air...it is a non stop flight and i have one day leeway if something happens to the flight .....I at least have some time to scramble! Not worried if something happens on the trip back!! Is choice air user friendly? At what point do you book your seat assignments?? Thanks for your input

Please help me out here.......I must be missing something! Looking at choice air I see booking one way fare from JFK to Venice and one way fare from Venice to Jfk is close to $300 less than booking it round trip?? Does anyone see a problem booking each flight separately? Based on round trip, airfare from choice air and delta are the same........

Thanks to the cc price drop page, we also saved $1200! Yahoooo!

Yes it does look very nice! My concern is navigating through Venice with luggage. We only bring one piece of luggage each, so we are not laden with luggage. I don't view a water taxi as an adventure so 40 euro per minute sounds steep. Have you navigated through Venice?? Cruised out of Venice??

Has anyone stayed in the Ai Reali Hotel in Venice? Any tips on getting there from the airport ? Tips on getting to the dock where you board the Celebrity Silhouette?