ScubaNPcruiser

Thank you, enjoying your review. Will be on Princess for the first time in February and experienced Holland/Celebrity/Royal Caribbean and Carnival in the past so looking forward to new adventures on Princess. 

Thanks for resurrecting this thread as it has been an interesting read!  Plan to transfer my Alaska 2024 cruise to a TA after I do some more research on our next cruise in February. The February cruise was booked through a large agency and the TA has not been too impressive. I usually do all the bookings for hotels, shuttles, airfare, excursions, etc but was interested if he had some deals on hotels, shuttles, etc but found him hard to reach so I ended up booking myself for better deals than he eventually quoted. 

Thank you soo much your review as it was excellent! Haven't cruised HAL since 2001 as first cruise but loved it then. Our daughters were teenagers at the time and loved it also. Now headed to Alaska on NA in 2024. A ways off but still loved reading about your experience. Happy cruising! 

What a great review!! Wish I had met you on board. I would have loved to get some pointers on posting pictures. We loved our cruise and the ports were very breathtaking. Maybe we'll meet on another cruise. I enjoyed your review and pictures. Keep it up!

Thanks, Shan

Just returned from 12 days Serenade of the Seas out of Barcelona. Excellent trip!! Used Rome in Limo for 3 ports, Florence Rome and Naples. Florence was Laura, who was good and very accommodating. The other drivers were Salvadore and Raffaelle who were both excellent. I would use RIL again in a heartbeat. It was sooo easy. Off the ship early for our time and they are already there with a sign with my name. We had set tours and made some adjustments along the way. It's hard to say who was our favorite but either Salvadore or Raffaelle get our votes. All drivers are from the city you are visiting. In Rome there were 3 big events occurring that shut down the inner roads of the city. No problem, because Salvadore knew all the side streets and took us to all the set places and extra sites. He made it seem like a breeze, which we knew it wasn't. Others on our cruise arrived late for departure and missed some sights from other tours due to the events. The restaurants were excellent, especially in Rome. I still dream about the pasta, bruschetta and wine. Ahhh. Excellent, excellent company.

It was Sunday in Rome so we didn't need a guide for the Vatican. In Naples we had a guide for Pompeii, which is definitely worth it! Also saw Sorrento and Positano. In Florence we mainly stayed in Florence and skipped Pisa. Fee is definitely worth it. Yes. we also tipped as we thought they went above and beyond. Only comment is use Rick Steves for his walking tour commentaries for the churches and sites. I forgot to bring mind and missed the extra information. They drive you and explain history along the way but not in the sights.

2005

 

2011

 

Look at the bottle neck part....a lot smaller.

He said it was 60 ft per year for many years.

 

Found this....

656 feet lost on its east side in 2004 and 269 feet lost on its west side in 2005 -

I started reading this thread as we will be on Serenade next May, also I love to see pics of Alaska. Ohh Mendenhall glacier shrinking is sad to me! The waterfall used to be a part of the glacier when I was a kid. We hiked up to the edge of the glacier and that was about 50 yards from the visito's center. Your photo shows it has receded since 2010 when I was back for my 30th high school reunion. Thanks for the pics!

Thanks El for posting on the Spain port site also. We will be on Serenade RCC next May with similar ports. VERY helpful. I agree you can really gather a wealth of knowledge on CC. Thanks for the comprehensive review. My DH and I same age so fun to read your perspective. Happy cruising!