dkata

I can't say enough good things about our tour with Dora The Explorer in Cartagena, Columbia. 

First, the cost per person was cheaper than a ship's excursion to almost the same places. The group size is small, but on our tour, we were the only ones and we got a private tour with a guide and driver, who were both excellent! 

The ship tour used a large bus with 50-60 people and the bus couldn't drive the narrow roads up to the church on the hill. but our small van could. The admission to the church was included and we had great views of the city. Then they drove us to the old town and we took a walking tour. The guide was excellent and informative and because it was just us two, she was flexible and we did a detour to find a geocache at Plaza Bolivar.

There were no problems getting us back to the port with ample time.  We really enjoyed our tour with Dora and we recommend them for a tour of Cartagena.

I can't say enough good things about our tour with Dora The Explorer in Cartagena, Columbia. 

First, the cost per person was cheaper than a ship's excursion to almost the same places. The group size is small, but on our tour, we were the only ones and we got a private tour with a guide and driver, who were both excellent! 

The ship tour used a large bus with 50-60 people and the bus couldn't drive the narrow roads up to the church on the hill. but our small van could. The admission to the church was included and we had great views of the city. Then they drove us to the old town and we took a walking tour. The guide was excellent and informative and because it was just us two, she was flexible and we did a detour to find a geocache at Plaza Bolivar.

There were no problems getting us back to the port with ample time.  We really enjoyed our tour with Dora and we recommend them for a tour of Cartagena.

We took your advice and booked Dora the explorer for a Cartagena tour. What a great tour! we also recommend dora.

The cost was reasonable at $80 per person, payable in cash at the end of the tour. we found it to be cheaper than a ship excursion to almost the same places. The tour was advertised as a small group tour, so we were expecting other people, but they were waiting for us at the end of the dock and told us we were the only ones and we had a private tour. They walked us to the waiting air conditioned van and with a guide and driver took us to spots where a big bus (used by the ship's excursions) couldn't get too- the church on the top of the hill, where we had great views of the city. Then we drove down to the old town and toured the old town by foot. Since it was just us, the guide was flexible and detoured to a park for me to find a geocache!. The tour was fun and informative and they got us back to the ship with ample time to spare. We highly recommend Dora the Explorer.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I am going to be in Key West Florida on 1/28/24 after a cruise. I would like recommendations for a nice bar/restaurant/place to watch the NFC Championship Game starting at 6:30 pm on Fox on that day.  Hopefully, West Coast Friendly and not an Eagles roost.

Thank you in advance.

Thank you all that replied. I do pub trivia every week and I have also done many cruise ship trivia activities. It's all good to me. I look forward to our cruise and participating in the ship's trivia activities.

The review of the Viking Mars on this website:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/viking-ocean/viking-mars/activities

States:

" Notably, activities like trivia or "name that tune" contests are not offered onboard Viking Mars."

Is this true? It's hard to believe that a sailing with 10 of 17 days at sea,(we are on the Panama Canal cruise on 1/3/24) wouldn't have this activity.

We have sailed on a viking river cruise in Europe and even those small ships had some type of trivia activity.

As you may guess, I like the trivia contest activities.

Please tell me the above review is wrong...

Anybody have actual experience taking the Viking River Cruise 2 hour tour of Vienna? Does it just drive around showing you the sites?

There is a Lippanzer Horse Riding School Performance (Not a Training show, but an actual performance) on the Sunday the boat is in Vienna and we are thinking of skipping the included tour and doing the performance on our own.

Thank you in advance for any information or insight.

Anna,

When you exit the luggage tent, you turn right and walk about 600 feet. The ride shares pick up on the curb behind the taxi's.  near a blue sign that says berth 92. There were signs and cruise personnel who were directing where to go for ride shares

I just want to report back on my Uber experience from LAX to San Pedro on 2/14/2020. Despite all the doom and gloom news I've read about here on the forum, my experience using Uber from LAX to a San Pedro Hotel was easy, efficient and inexpensive. I'd use Uber again at LAX. If you are an experienced uber user (as I am) there are some different procedures at LAX, so note the differences. If you are new to UBER, here's information that might help you decide to use Uber rather pay more for a taxi.

First, I landed at Terminal 1, so after exiting terminal one with my luggage, I turned left and walked 3 minutes (about 500 feet) to the LAX-it lot where the ride shares, taxi's and some shuttles converge. If you are in another terminal, take the free shuttle  to the lot.

Once, there, I opened my Uber app and typed in my destination to get a price and a car/driver.

Here's where the Uber app at LAX differs from requesting a car/driver in other areas: When you request a ride and get a price range and confirm, the app gives you a 6 digit PIN number and you are told to go get in line at either lanes 2, 3 or 4. There are good signs showing which lanes uber uses and there is uber staff to direct you. One staff member told to go to lane 4 as that had the shortest line.

Once in the lane, I got in the line. I was 7th in line. An uber usher, directed the person at the front of the line to the uber car that is in the front of the line. The next person was directed to go to the second car, the third person to the third car and so on.There were 5 uber cars all lined up waiting for passengers. They filled up and left with their passengers in less than a minute. After those 5 cars departed,  5 more cars pulled up. . I was directed to the next available  car in the line. The driver got out, put my luggage in his trunk and I got in.

Here's where it differs: I gave the driver the 6 digit PIN number that was issued to me when I confirmed my ride.. The Uber driver entered the PIN number into his phone, and  the rider/driver connection was made and the driver saw my destination and the map route on his smart phone and drove off.

So total walking time from Terminal One: 3 minutes, Time to enter destination on app,: 1 minute, One minute to walk to Lane 4 and 2-3 minutes to get into a car, load the luggage, and give the driver my PIN number.

My cost in the mid-afternoon from LAX to San Pedro Crown Plaza hotel was $37.15 plus a tip.

My experience at LAX using Uber was quick, efficient, organized and a decent price. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again at LAX.

The return trip from the ship at San Pedro to LAX was not as efficient or quick due to the normal procedure of looking for you car/driver and waiving them down as they approach. Lots of other people doing the same thing, but it all worked in the end. Return ride was $30.00 and tip.

Hope this post  gives some real world information to those trying to figure out how to get from LAX to the cruise terminal.

I also recommend staying near the Piazzale di Roma for convenience. We stayed at the Hotel Olimpia and recommend it.

On 11/25/2019 at 10:49 AM, hideout said:

Cruising out of Athens Greece on MSC and need affordable (under $200) hotel one night pre-cruise, and advice on how to get to port and return port to airport. Advice appreciated

Pre-cruise, We stayed at the Hotel Hera and recommend it. The Rick Steves tours all stay here. Great location within a short walking distance to the Acropolis entrances and to the Plaka. We booked a transfer with Welcome Pickups to take us from the hotel to the port dock. We also booked Welcome pickups to pick us up at the Athens airport to take us to the hotel. We'd use them again.

After the cruise, we booked a private tour/transfer service with Michael's Tours to pick us with our luggage from the ship around 830 am.  We did a day trip to Corinth before the service dropped us off at the Athens airport - Sofitel hotel around 4 pm (we had a very early flight the next day). Well worth the expenses.

3 hours ago, jennyumaa said:

 

One hour line in the off-season? That's a lot! How long would it take to walk?

25-35 minutes or longer depending on how fast you walk and how hot it is and how much donkey dung you need to avoid.

When we were there, another couple from our ship, decided to walk down at the same time we got in line, and maybe they beat us to the bottom by 10-15 minutes, but we were both on the same tender back to the ship.

The first quote in Sippican's post is mine, so I won't repeat my experience on what we did.

But a couple of notes, most tours leave mid- morning (10-11) from Paihia, which gives you ample time to take the ship tender's to the dock and then the free shuttle bus to Paihaia. The tour got back around 3 pm, so that gave us about an hour to walk around the town before catching the shuttle bus back to the tender dock.  Because of that schedule we didn't have ample time to visit the Waiting treaty grounds nor did we feel like paying the AUD$50 admission price.

We booked a 4-6 hour private tour with Vicky of Santorini Skyline travel and she customized the tour to what we wanted to see. We told. her we didn't want to stop at the winery.

You will have to take the tender from the ship  to  the dock below Fira and then the cable car to the top of Fira. We arranged to meet Vicky at 9am. So we were on the first or second tender from the ship (for the DIY passengers)

Vicky's tour company met us outside the cable car terminal with a sign and walked us over to where the car was parked.

She took us first to Oia to avoid the crowds, then to Akrotiri ruins and then around the island to Red Beach and Black Beach where we had lunch. Then she dropped us off in Fira, where we had time to walk the pedestrian path with shops  in Fira to the cable car terminal.

There isn't any way to avoid the cable car back down to the tender dock, unless you want to walk. It took about an hour in line to get back down.

The cost was  worth the private tour. Since Vicky knew the shortcuts, she saved us time. We didn't have to figure out how to use the bus to get from Oia to Fira, the Fira to Akirotiri and back to Fira.

If you have a large group or family  the price becomes cost-effective. 

The company advertises on Trip Advisor but we just emailed her at santoriniskylinetravel@gmail.com and inquired.

4 hours ago, WisRiver said:

is Uber reliable in Sydney? ...  We will arrive in Sydney on Holland America so we dock at White Bay.  Will Uber/Lyft be our best choices for ground transport to the CBD?

We used an Uber from White Bay to the CBD. no problems at all. Cost us AUD$20 to our Hyde Park  area hotel.

We also used Uber from the airport to our hotel in Darling Harbor and then from our Hyde Park hotel back to the airport.

No problems. I can't say if it's the best choice, but it was a good choice for us.

Please let us know how it went. I am also considering this Day pass for February. How did you get there? How much did cost? What was provided? Details please. Thanks!!!!

We did the Jacobite Dinner package in August and recommend it. Pricey but a great experience.  The price also varies depending on which section you want to sit in for the show. We were in Section 13, on the side in the middle about 10 rows up . Wherever you sit will be a great view.

For our Saturday 7:15 performance, we met at 4 pm at the entrance of the esplanade (yes, you have to walk up to it). You are given a wrist band. From there you are escorted (walk) up to the top of the castle to the Queen Anne room where the dinner is, and that is a steep walk. (They may have had a golf cart for those who needed assistance. You'll have to check.) You sit in tables of 8. I think there were pre-assigned seats, so if you want to sit with other people you know, you book at the same time. After dinner, they escort and walk the group down from the Queen Anne room through the gauntlet of bagpiper groups playing Scotland the Brave, to your seats. A really memorable experience!  You can rent seat cushions, and I think blankets were available to rent.

When the performance is over, you exit towards the Royal Mile (you have to walk downhill) and the area is crowded with fringe festival tourists and a line of people waiting for the 10:30 show.

Three hotels that are mentioned regularly that are near the People Mover and Piazzale Roma (the bus area)  are Hotel Olimpia, Hotel Arlecchino and Hotel Santa Chiara.

We stayed in the Hotel Olimpia and loved it!. We'd stay there again in a heart beat.

Just in case you won't take my word for it......

https://visitpearlharbor.org/faqs/much-baggage-storage-pearl-harbor/

NO BAGS that exceed 1.5" x 2.5" x 5.5" are admitted at Pearl Harbor Visitors Center. That size is practically all purses.You will be directed to the bag storage shack to the right side just past the bathrooms The fee is $5 per bag.

We are SF Bay Area based and We had to make the same decision for our Mexican Riviera cruise next February. 

We decided to fly down to LA on SouthWest and depart from San Pedro rather than SF. We did the calculations and it was cheaper for us to do that. We also felt the extra 2-3 days from SF to LA was not worth it, time wise.  We can only play so many games of trivia on the ship.

So it all depends on what you expect to do on the ship for the 2 extra days and whether you want your cruise to be about the Mexican Riviera and not the time it takes to get there, plus the cost.

Also, i recommend the shaka app for maui. Download  it to your iphone or android phone before your trip. Bring a charging cable. The app gives turn by turn instructions and info about where to stop to see good waterfalls, where to eat, where the restrooms are. 

We got the timed tickets on the nps website and paid the nominal fee plus the fee for the narrated headset. Earliest tix were 1pm. We got there at 1030, to see the free museum and use our headsets. When went to retrieve our 1:00 pm tix, the desk attendant told me to exchange my tixs for an earlier time of 11:00, which they were handing out for free. No refund on the reserved tix, though.  So we had a half hour to wait. After the boat ride, we used our headsets to visit the free musuems. So it just depends on the crowd that day.

I just visited the Arizona memorial last week. Don’t take an overpriced tour. The main site is free as is the boat ride out and around the memorial. Its still closed to the public, so the boat ride out to see it, is the best that you will get.

take the #42 bus from downtown waikiki or take an uber or taxi