MauiGOOT

Thanks everyone... I figured it might be 'hogwash', but you want to realize what you may be up against. You don't want to expose yourself unnecessarily if you are in a known area for danger. Goodness... Olympians robbed at gunpoint in Rio? I know, opportunistic and it can happen anywhere. I was worried that personal safety might be a real challenge in Colombia so I went to the best source.... fellow Cruise Critics who have had recent experiences! Thanks for setting the record straight and for allaying my fears! ;)

Aloha! Just curious if those of you who have had more recent experiences could help with thoughts on the current safety in Cartagena Colombia... I recently got an email from Cruise Safely Newsletter that puts the port as one of the world's most dangerous cruise ports. The article said there are roadblocks frequently set up with the express interest in robbing or kidnapping travelers :eek: http://cruisesafely.com/worlds-dange...9990-280870165

We be on a Panama Canal trip which will include a stop in Cartagena. We will usually do ship's excursions in more questionable areas, and this sounds like definitely one of those. We will take precautions and not bring more valuables on shore than what we are willing to lose, but is it even worth it? We are currently scheduled for the half day 'Cartagena Highlights' excursion from 8:30 am- 1:30 pm. Should we take a pass and enjoy Cartagena from the ship instead? What were your recent impressions? :confused:

This the first time for us to be in any of these areas, but the other ports seem benign compared to Cartagena. Thanks for any help!

We have signed up for the Historic America Land tour prior the New York to New York 7 day cruise. I have a couple of basic questions that I haven't seen addressed anywhere else... could those of you who have experienced this land tour please respond?

1) What is the dress code for the land tour? Is there ever a time that 'smart casual' would not work? In other words, are there required dressy times?

2) How did you manage laundry? Or is there any opportunity for laundry at all? We pack very lightly with only carry on luggage, so 7 days of laundry will bring us down to not much left!!

3) Anything you wished you would have known about or that came as a surprise to you?

4) Anything else you would pass on to a first-time land tour guest? (Obviously, realizing the need to be on time is high on that list! ;))

Thanks so much!

Lis

I hope this thread isn't 'dead' :). We're considering the Historic Americas Land tour for next year. Just curious about dress code. Is 'smart casual' ok, or are there times for anything more dressy (and if so, would that be mandatory?). Also, what did you do about laundry? We travel very light, with only a carry on each, so rely on laundry periodically. I'm thinking on a 7 day trip, we'd need to get some done by the 3rd or 4th day and then the rest can wait until we board the ship. Thank you for all the great details above!

Has anyone gone on a Princess-sponsored land tour to or from Toronto to or from Quebec City? We're considering a 2017 cruise from New York to Quebec City with the land tour to Toronto following it. I can't seem to find any reviews within the last year or two. There was one in 2011 who posted on Cruise Critic and said they wished they would have stayed at home, but so many times a bad experience is circumstantial.;) Would love to hear more about the land tour, please. I called Princess and all they could tell me is that they sell out every year. Number of people? Types of accommodations? Issues with passengers being timely? Overall value? Recommendations? If you were to choose again, would you go with the tour or do it in part on your own?

Thank you!

Thank you! I'll head over to the Princess Board.:o

Lis

Has anyone gone on a Princess-sponsored land tour to or from Toronto to or from Quebec City? We're considering a 2017 cruise from New York to Quebec City with the land tour to Toronto following it. I can't seem to find any reviews within the last year or two. There was one in 2011 who posted on Cruise Critic and said they wished they would have stayed at home, but so many times a bad experience is circumstantial. Would love to hear more about the land tour, please!:)

Thanks to both of you, MMDown Under and Kiwi Kruzer... the info was very helpful. I think we'll try to CityCat route. Really appreciate the photo too!

~Lis

We arrive in Brisbane next week on the 28th of August. We'll spend a couple of days in town before heading to Portside Terminal to catch a cruise ship. Happens to be that the Bridge to Bridge run is on that day which promises road closures and headaches to reach the ship by taxi.

We are considering CityCat to Brett's Wharf. We travel light, only carry on luggage size, but will have that luggage with us. Is it reasonable to consider walking from the CityCat terminal to the cruise ship? We see the Riverside walkway on Bing/Google Map, but obviously we won't have our cruise card yet. How do we get to registration walking?:confused: Thanks for any help!

Aloha Friends! Mahalo (thank you) so much for your quick responses. Looks like we're going to have to upgrade and go with the OS. We like to dine in the suite and the table/chairs is pretty important for us. This trip is for our 2016 cruise, so we've got plenty of time to fine tune!:)

By the way, Mike, how did you enjoy the OS on Ruby? Anything we need to know?

Lis

Can anyone confirm that there is currently an actual dining room table and chairs in the Owners suites and/or Penthouse suites on Aloha Deck of Ruby Princess? I've seen a January 2014 youtube of A752 and there is definitely a dining table with 4 chairs. We are currently booked for A751, a PH, so I called Princess to see if A751 also had the dining area or if I needed to change suites in order to have the inside dining table. The reservations agent said according to their info, there is no dining room table in any of the suites on Ruby. :confused: (I realize there is an outdoor table/chairs). Thanks!

Husband and I will be arriving in Melbourne a few days prior to our Princess Cruise on December 11, 2014. We want to go to Phillip Island and stay there prior to the cruise. We arrive at the airport late, so we plan to spend the 1st night near the airport and then shuttle back to the airport to pick up a rental car the next morning.

My question is... where should we return the rental car? We'll be returning from Phillip Island on embarkation day. Does it make sense to return the car to the airport? Or, is there a closer spot to the cruise dock that is fairly easy to navigate to? We have not chosen a car rental agency yet (suggestions?), have never driven in Australia before, are in our 60's, travel lightly (just 2 small pieces of 'carry-on' luggage plus a bag). If there is not a place to return the car close by or if it is wiser to just return it back to the airport, how would you suggest we get from the airport to the ship?

Thanks for any help!

On a 28 day LA-HI-Samoa-Tahiti-LA cruise, we had issues with TV reception .... we spent about a week apparently out of range for the TV satellites.

But we had internet access the whole trip ... at least, every time I went online I was able to access it, and that was every day of the cruise. Slow, of course, but available.

We're heading from Tahiti to Honolulu in April ... people have confirmed slow speed with on board connectivity in general, that generally where there are no people there are no satellites, and even that beyond Hawaii is troublesome.... but no one has come right out to confirm that there are satellites for Internet on that trip before this reply. If Flamomo got on line every day, that would imply Internet capability between Tahiti and Hawaii, right? Thanks!

Lis

Not looking for Pelligrino or Perrier.... just plain old carbonated water (not soda water or tonic water). Princess doesn't have seltzer water??

How about regular water? Can you safely drink on board water from their tanks, or must you get bottled water... and how much does that cost? Is that included in the drink card? Is there an 'unlimited' water card (priced per day of the cruise, I suspect), or are you only allowed so many?

We've never used on-board Internet because we have always cruised near ports so could take advantage of internet cafes or free wi-fi as available on land. We'll be taking the cruise On Pacific Princess from Tahiti to Honolulu in April, so no land nearby for about 5 days. I run a business and have to check email periodically. We are a cruise away from getting a complimentary internet package.... so it sounds as though we'll need to purchase some minutes.

Princess offers internet packages for pre-sale... has anyone done this? Is it a better deal than waiting? It seems to me there is a special offering the first day on board for an internet package, but I can't remember any details. On their website, they want about 41 cents per minute (plus the $3.95 activation fee) if you buy 240 minutes by purchasing ahead of time.

Is the satellite service between Tahiti and Hawaii really slow? Is internet speed also dependent on size of ship, due to sheer volume of people attempting to use it? Pacific is a small ship with only about 600 passengers.

We plan to bring our own laptop and I know how to conserve minutes by preparing email off line, for instance, but how long does the average connection and normal email download take? Anyone know? :confused:

Thanks for any help!

~Lis