CaribbeanBound

The question as to whether or not to do the upgrade from classic to premium, really depends on your need for higher priced drinks and how many you drink.  If you're only drinking a couple of upgraded drinks per day, then you have $12/day ($9.99 +20% tip) to use as a comparable upgrade kitty.

Totally agree.  No need to pay for transfer and no reason it would be a better option.  You can also take the Silverline bus (5 min walk from pier) to Airport or to T-line and take T to airport; or take a ferry to airport.

We were in Santorini in 2018 (so prices herein reflect that time).  Santorini was the only port where every ship has to tender. And not only must you tender into the small port, you then need to find a way to the top of the 700-foot cliff that greets you upon arrival. Of course, once you're up there, you also have to find a way down. You have four choices:

• Ride the cable car (€6 pp, one-way, 3 minutes after you've boarded). There are only two sets of cars (one going each direction) with six cars per set, each seating six passengers. Upside: quickest option, and they offer great views. Downside: can be scary, and the lines are known to reach over two hours (especially coming back down in the afternoon) since they can only service about 600 passengers in each direction per hour.
• Walk the 588 steps (Free, about 15 to 25 minutes). I understand it's not as bad as it sounds as long as you watch your step and take it slow. There are lots of opportunities to rest. Upside: cost, exercise, and great photo opportunities. Downside: you're taking the exact same route as the donkeys, so you need to avoid the donkeys and their droppings.
• Ride the donkeys (€5 pp, one-way, 10 to 15 minutes). There are dozens of healthy-looking donkeys and mules that allow you to ride in the old traditional way. Upside: it might be better than standing in a long line, or walking. Downside: can be frightening, uncomfortable, and you'll smell like the donkey you rode in on. (Our ship's cruise director vehemently discouraged passengers from riding the donkeys).
• Take speedboat to Oia and bus back to Fira. (~€25 pp, one-way, over 60 minutes). Upside: avoids all of the above. Downside: might only be one way, takes a long time, is costly, and you still have to get down. This is really only a good option if all you want to do is visit Oia and Fira.

According to the ship's officers, the heaviest tender time was expected to be between 8:30 am and 11:00 am. We avoided prime time and simply went straight to Deck 2 at 7:00 am when the ship was cleared and caught the first tender to shore. From there we waited about 5 minutes to board the cable car.
 

Once up top we explored a little then met our tour guide. We joined a fellow traveler's tour that he set up in advance with Santorini Tours. It was a private 6-hour Santorini sightseeing tour in an air-conditioned minibus with a driver and a tour guide for only €42.50 pp (plus tip) for the 12 of us. Our guide provided us a lot of good information about the island and its history. She took us to lots of picturesque lookouts and photo opportunities.
 

We started in Fira and in no particular order, we enjoyed stunning caldera views from the cliff-terraced villages of Imerovigli and Oia; visited the Prophet Ilias Monastery at Santorini’s highest view point; saw the famous blue dome churches; visited the old towns of Emporio, Megalochori, and Pyrgos; and saw both Red Beach and Black Beach. We covered the island pretty thoroughly. By mid-afternoon the group was hungry and opted to enjoy lunch at Forty One which is located on the black sand beach --- instead of doing a wine tasting (€10 pp); and we ran out of time to check out the Akrotiri excavations (€12 pp).

We have an Inside Cabin.  AQ is also the highest moveup category available to us on our sailing.  Starting price was over $350 pp.

Thank you

Thank you.  

My main concern with Element Boston Seaport vs Fairfield Inn - Boston Cambridge is that the Element is 10-15 minute walk to a bus or T-line, whereas Fairfield Inn - Boston Cambridge is 5 minutes from the Lochmere green T station.

Is your recommendation based on easy walk to port or something else?  We're going to be in Boston for 5 days and I value easy access to T.

Agree, I also prefer to book direct.  And I look for smaller sized tours.

I don't fault Viator acting as a middleman/marketing agent.

1. They advertise the tour.  If you hadn't seen the tour on their site, you might not have known it existed.

2.  If they sell a tour, they are entitled to a commission.  

Cruise ships basically do the same thing, only they add a much higher commission and sometimes book the entire operator's tour or tours for the day.  With either the cruise ship or Viator, the local tour company will ultimately benefit (just to a potentially smaller degree).

The good news is Viator doesn't change the name of the tours, so a quick Google search can help you locate the actual tour operator if you wish to book direct.

Thank you. 

Also looking at these two for the same relative price as Element Boston Seaport:

Fairfield Inn - Boston Cambridge

Residence Inn - Boston Cambridge

It's overstated.  We were there in late January.  Erosion? yes.  Gone?  No way!

Anyone ever stay at Element Boston Seaport District?  Price is right for a 5-day pre-cruise stay.  Concerned about multiple block walks to bus and metro, and online reviews are very mixed but with an overall decent rating.

Ship leaves port at the designated departure time.  Check your itinerary.

On 7/13/2023 at 1:27 PM, DanaDanes said:

 "You can get into your stateroom and leave clothes there"

I didn't realize that Celebrity was a "clothing-optional" ship!

5 hours ago, davekathy said:

Looking forward to another 'burger at the Mast Grill on our October Eclipse cruise. Cooked and made my way. 

Good luck with that.  (You were kidding, right?)

Diapers for the hot tub.

(Just kidding).

Typically, a 3-5-7 day Caribbean cruise during a school holiday will have the potential to host a lot more kids than a cruise almost anywhere else and/or cruises of longer than 7 days.

Really interested in outcome achieved by OP.  Please post when you get an answer.

We've taken two of these bus tours in different cities, including Boston.  One we didn't book ahead of time.  We walked off the boat and into the area where these were boarding and the driver hooked us on a deal.  Don't recall the price and don't recall if it was a better deal than the ship offered (though you can bet it wasn't pricier).

Essentially:

• You throw all your luggage into the back of a large tour van and then wait for the van to fill.  (It was a long wait, and probably the only bummer of the deal).  I'm guessing our van held 20-28 people in 2x2 seating.
• You're on a city tour in an air-conditioned van (though I would confirm it's blowing cold before buying in). It was comfortable for us.
• There are typically two runs to the airport depending upon when you and the rest of the passengers need to catch flights.  If you're on a later flight, they will dump some people off at the airport then resume the tour and then dump the rest of the passengers off at the airport a little later.
• As an option to spend time tooling around the city, we found it preferrable to sitting around the airport.  
• Yes, I would book this option again since it didn't cost me too much more than transportation to the airport without the tour.

Polynesian center (PCC) is an excellent multiple-hour experience and it's located about as far away to the North-Northeast part of the island as you can get.  Agree, take the cruise excursion on this one, primarily because you can leave the worries to them.

I read about it before we went on the cruise.  It's a AAA-gem attraction. 

It is a long way by bus, and very much worthwhile.  We went in 2009.  Here are complete instructions, info, and what to expect: https://www.lavasurfer.com/info/constellation.html

THAT is a very common occurrence.  That last two times we visited we were not able to get out to the memorial itself.

Can't understand why BBQ has been mentioned and Lewis isn't mentioned.  By far the best Brisket and Beef Ribs this side of Houston!  I drive 4.5 hours each way twice a year just to eat lunch there!  Yes, the other restaurants mentioned are worthy (though we have had mixed results at Fleet Landing).

Tickets are free but they charge you $1pp non-refundable reservation fee.

To my knowledge there are no snorkel sites near downtown Honolulu.  For that matter, the closest good beach is Ala Moana.  Hanauma Bay is an excellent choice if you can make it work.  Hiking Diamond Head is really fun and getting there at opening is the right choice.

Did I miss it, or are we really 138 replies into this thread without the picture requested by the OP?

The government site for the National Map can be found at AirNow.gov.

That area, currently, is quite good.  Haven't seen a site that models the air currents.