cruisePAC

Thank you!  I'll check there. 

We were planning on booking a cruise to Iceland in 2025.  In 2024, RC has two cruises to Iceland (Iceland & Scotland and Iceland & Ireland), both departing from Amsterdam.  I don't see a cruise to Iceland in 2025.  Am I missing it?  Is Royal Caribbean not planning to have cruises to Iceland in 2025?

Thanks for your help. 

CruiseTT.com is another site that you could look at for this information. 

Quick question: 

Please remind me, on a 7-night sailing, which nights are typically formal nights?

Thanks for your help!

Thank you!  We are also looking at this option of booking the train independently of the cruiseline. 

In June 2020, we'll be going on a Royal Caribbean Southbound Alaska cruise.  We fly into Anchorage the day prior and plan to take the train from Anchorage to Seward and then board the ship.  In 2012, we did the same cruise and the same train transfer.  Today, I called Royal Caribbean to book the train and was told the following:
1. Only cruise passengers who arrive into Anchorage on the day of the cruise can take the train from Anchorage Airport to Seward.  All other cruise passengers must take the train from the Egan Center on 5th Ave. (We were hoping to board the train at the airport as we had done previously)

2. There is one train that picks up passengers first at the Egan Center, then at the Anchorage Airport.

3.  Some train cars have windows on the sides and ceiling, some have windows only on the sides.  

Can anyone confirm the information or provide more information about the train and the stops that it makes?  Thanks in advance for your help! 

Thank you! 

In 2012, we took an Alaskan Cruise from Seward to Vancouver on Royal Caribbean.  We then flew from Vancouver back to our home in Texas.  At that time, we filled out the Customs Declaration Form and went through the customs process in the Vancouver Airport.  In June 2020, we are taking the same cruise and again disembarking in Vancouver.  I'm currently looking for flights and have found a couple return flights with a short layover.  If we still go through customs in Vancouver, these flights will be feasible.  But, if we will have to go through customs upon returning to the USA, the layover time may not be long enough.  

Can anyone who has recently been in this situation tell me about their experience?  

Thanks in advance!  Happy Cruising!

Thanks, Bob. Can I use the elevators during self-disembarkation?

What are the details to know about self-disembarkation?

On our last cruise, we put our luggage outside our stateroom door. When we arrived in the terminal the next morning, only 1 of our 2 pieces of luggage was there. We filled out a form at the pier and have filed a claim with RC Customer Relations. The process has been a headache and our luggage has yet to be found. In an effort to avoid this frustration in the future, I'm considering self-disembarkation and would like to know more about it. I once read something about self-embarkation - is this possible as well?

Thanks in advance for your experienced advice.

How was the ship? We have been on Brilliance and Serenade, but from what we have read Vision is out dated.

Also, how long did it take to get off the ship in Edinburgh? We have a 9:30 tour, but with the ship being tendered instead of docked, my wife is a little stressed about making it on time.

I like Vision of the Seas. It was one of the smaller ships that we've sailed on, but it never felt too small and it was nice that the venues were all a few minutes away from one another. Prior to cruising, I had heard that the ship was dated and in need of refurbishment. I didn't notice that. The staterooms, including bathrooms, appeared fairly new.

Tendering in Edinburgh was not optimal. It took about 30 minutes to get from ship to shore. Excursions booked through the ship were able to get off the ship first. For all other passengers, they began handing out tender tickets early in the morning. If you're not on a ship excursion, then I'd recommend getting tender tickets as soon as they start handing them out to ensure that you're one of the first off the ship after the ship excursion passengers. I wish I could remember the exact times that these events occurred, but I can't. Based off announcements made in the days following our time in Edinburgh, it was clear that the ship staff was well aware that tendering in Edinburgh was less than desirable for the passengers. Hopefully, they have taken some actions to make future tendering in that city runs more smoothly.

quick question. we're doing a 12 day British Isles in Aug. Cruise is AMS to AMS with all stops in EU countries. I'm assuming that since we don't leave the EU on the cruise there will be no customs to go through on return to the AMS port and that we can walk off directly the ship to a cab.. I'm concerned since we have a rather tight (4 HR) connect to Schiphol for the flight back to the US.

We had to show/get our passports stamped multiple times:

When we arrived to Schipol from USA, when we went through customs.

Just before boarding the cruise ship in Amsterdam

Upon arriving in Dover, in the cruise terminal.

Dublin also required this - the ship collected our passports 2 days prior to arriving in Dublin and returned them the day after we left Dublin. There was a large green stamp from them.

When we disembarked the ship in Amsterdam.

Multiple times in Schipol Airport.

We had a flight that departed Schipol for Houston at about 11am. We disembarked the ship at about 7:15am, caught a cab by 8am. We got to the airport, through the airline check-in area and through passport control with time to spare to sit down and have a small breakfast before catching our flight.

I am going through the same experience, except different disembarkation port (Southhampton). How did you finally get a resolution from these guys? It's been over 3 weeks for me and every time I call I am told the person assigned my case is working with their Lost and Found to try and locate my bag. At my wits end - I just want this to be over!!

DH and I are also currently going through the same experience. When we returned to Amsterdam from our British Isles cruise on June 3rd, we disembarked the ship and looked through the "group 3" luggage in the cruise terminal. One piece of luggage was there, the other was not. After searching for 30 minutes, we needed to depart for the airport. We filled out a form and made our way to the airport. I called RC when we returned home that evening and made a claim. Since then, we haven't received a call from RC, but we've called RC three times. Each time, it's recommended that we talk with the representative with whom we initially made the claim, but no one knows when she'll be working again. The representative on the phone isn't able to give us much information about our claim.

Has anyone else been in this situation? If our luggage isn't found, what are the next steps?

This incident makes me think about self-disembarkation in the future. What are the drawbacks to this?

Thanks for your information.

Welcome home!

 

I have a question though - 28Euros for the taxi? That seems really high from everything I'm seeing on the Ireland taxi website. I thought it'd be about 10-19Euros to the Guinness Factory which is farther away. Is that round-trip maybe? Or for a lot of people?

 

What did you do in Dover? The Castle?

My memory could have failed me on that detail, but I thought that was the cost of the cab ride.

In Dover, we went to Dover Castle. We took a cab from the cruise port - it was 4 GBP. There was a shuttle, but it was more expensive. We purchased tickets and walked around the grounds, including the castle, the tunnels, and the underground hospital. We had lunch at one of the cafes. We spent about 5 hours there. Afterwards, we walked down the hill to White Horse Inn. We were told that it was oldest pub in the area. After people swim the English Channel, they go to this pub and write their name on the wall. After a few drinks and using their free wifi, we took a cab back to the ship.

Absolutely agree with Bob!

 

The OP of the thread was lucky to catch a good couple of weeks of pleasant weather.

 

I'm in north west England, nearest cruise port is Liverpool, and yesterday where I am it didn't stop raining all day long. That combined with a cold wind made the day very unpleasant. The day before wasn't much better.

 

 

Please come prepared for cool, rainy weather, as well as dry, warmer weather. Layers essential! I'd hate for anyone to have a British Isles cruise spoiled because they weren't prepared for our weather here.

Today it's cool and breezy, currently 56 F at 12 o'clock midday. Next week we're expecting it to be fairly dry, day time highs in the mid 60s F.

I agree - we lucked out with the weather for sure! :)

What is the easiest way to get to Edinburgh from cruise terminal.

Originally, our ship was scheduled to be docked at the cruise terminal. A few months before embarkation, it changed to being tendered and arriving in Newhaven. We chose to take the city bus to the Royal Mile. It cost 1.60 GBP and you need exact change. You can purchase for multiple people in your group - just tell the driver the number of tickets you need and drop in your money. You can also buy a day pass for 4.00 GBP. The ride was about 30 minutes long. Buses run every 10 minutes (less frequently at night, which is midnight to 5am). You can also go to the Lothian Bus website for more information.

Directions from Newhaven Port to Royal Mile: Once off the tender, walk to the end of the pier. You will pass restaurants on your left. The bus stop is on the same side as the harbor, across from an old church and Port O'Leith Motor Boat Company. Take the #16 bus from Pier Place to Princes Street. Bus reads "Colinton".

Directions from Royal Mile to Newhaven Port: Bus #10, 11, and 16 all drop off near Newhaven. To catch the #16 bus, you'll need to go to George Street, one street up from Princes Street. The bus reads "Silverknowes Place". When we read the bus map at stop, Pier Place wasn't listed as a stop. We confirmed with the driver before getting on the bus. The stops you'll see before Pier Place are: Lindsay Road, Annfield, Fishmarket Square, then Pier Place.

Hello,

Thank you so much for this post. I might have more than one question.

Was the temperature warm enough for use of the pool on board? Will there be a fair amount of sun for laying by the pool?

Was the temp in most ports "shorts" worthy?

Thanks

Dawn

We live in Texas, and didn't consider the temperatures adequate for using the outdoor pool. Of course, there are always people near the pool on a sunny day. We even saw someone bundled up, laying in the sun. I grew up in upstate NY, so I can understand that, for some, this weather may have been a welcomed break from the cold winter months.

As far as it being "shorts" weather - my husband wore shorts a few days. I tend to be more cold natured, so I was comfortable in pants and a long-sleeve or short-sleeve shirt.

How was your weather at each port. Do we need raincoats and umbrellas?

 

 

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Prior to departing, the weather forecast predicted 50s/low 60s with chance of rain nearly every day. We packed accordingly. We were pleasantly surprised to have some days in the 70s. It rained for a short time only two days while we were there. I would advise packing a raincoat/poncho and umbrella. Rain is common in this area and those items are small and lightweight.

What did you do in Dublin ?

 

 

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We were docked in Dublin and the cruise port is Industrial. We took a cab to near Grafton Street, which cost about 28 euro. I say "near" because there is a lot of construction in this area and our cab driver informed us that it's been going on for the past 3 years and is scheduled to be finished in the next 6 months or so. They are building more metro lines, which he wasn't happy about since this would take customers from him. So, we got out of the cab "near" Grafton Street. We walked along this street which has shops, cafes, restaurants (including a McDonalds and 2 Burger Kings!) before our tour of Trinity College Library and Book of Kells. We purchased our tickets online and were able to skip the line of about 20 people who hadn't pre-purchased tickets. It was impressive and informative. I'm glad we were able to see this and would highly recommend it. We spent about a 60-90 minutes there. By that time it was lunch and we found a pub to relax, eat, and people watch. After that, we moseyed along Grafton Street and cross streets, stopping at shops, an antique shop, and a couple pubs. We had planned to go to St. Stephen's Green, but never made it down that far. We then hailed a cab that took us back to the ship. Another couple that cruised with us (our "cruise buddies") went to the Guinness Tour and Temple Bar.

We were just on a 12-night cruise on a different ship. We had expected 3 formal nights, since that had been our experience on past 12-nighters. However, there were 2 formal nights this time.

We were just on Vision and Chris (unsure of last name) from England is the Activities Director now.

I am doing a similar cruise on Celebrity. What type of excursion did you do in St. Peter Port?

Since St. Peter Port was our last port of call, we kept it simple and decided to walk around town. While planning the cruise, nothing really "jumped out" at us as an activity to do there. I had considered Annette Henry Tours, but after contacting her, I learned that I needed to create my own tour group, which I wasn't interested in doing.

We tendered to the port, which took about 10-15 minutes. The town is located right at the port and there are people there handing out detailed maps. Within walking distance, there are many shops, cafes, and restaurants lining the winding streets. Other than the castle, no other major attractions are within walking distance. Unlike some of the other ports, this one wasn't real intense, but rather more relaxing, which was enjoyable for the end of the cruise.

We recently returned from our 12-night British Isles cruise. We departed on May 22 and returned on June 3. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas and visited the following ports: Amsterdam, Dover, Edinburgh, Invergorden/Inverness/Loch Ness, Greenock/Glasgow, Dublin, and St. Peter Port.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the ship or the ports of call. Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!

I can answer a few of these for you:

- Glasgow: The port is Greenock and from this point to Glasgow is 22 miles.

- Invergordon: It's about a 45 minute ride from this port to Inverness.

- Edinburgh: The port is Newhaven. If you take the #16 bus from Pier Place (Newhaven Port) to Princes Street (Royal Mile), it's about 3 miles and the bus runs about every 10 -15 minutes.

This is very helpful!

I looked at the bus website - fare is 1.60 per person one-way, correct change needed.