Joanne G.

Boarding and first port A Coruña: Next day – on my way to the ship! I chose the Carnival bus to Dover for convenience. I was aware of the other options – private car (expensive for one person), National Express bus, and the train. The latter two options would have required a taxi ride to the port upon arrival in Dover at the bus or train station and more luggage handling. Not a big deal, but I liked that the Carnival bus dropped us off at the entrance to the terminal. I had turned my big bag over to the bus diver at the coach station and next saw it when in was delivered to my cabin. The convenience was worth the cost to me. And the security of knowing that had there been issues with traffic or the train causing a delay, Carnival would know I was on my way on one of their buses. However, the Carnival bus is not for those who like to board early. My bus (there were more than one) pulled out of the station at noon, and arrived in Dover about 2:30. That didn’t bother me at all. I had just spent 21 days on the Pride in July and didn’t need to be first on board in order to explore the ship. At that late time, I breezed through embarkation, and my cabin was ready. I had a balcony cabin on deck 7. I know the Pride is an older ship, and that shows in some places. But that wasn’t important to me. This cruise was about the ports. The décor was typical of older Carnival ships, not exactly elegant, shall we say. The only Carnival ships I have been on are older ones – Liberty, Freedom, Conquest, Valor, Sunrise, and Splendor. I find the “more-is-more” style of decorating to be amusing, if not exactly my taste. After a very foggy first night, hearing the fog horn every 2 minutes, and then a relaxing sea day, the first port was A Coruña, for which we had to set our clocks an hour ahead. I picked Carnival’s “on your own” excursion to Santiago de Compostela. We had a guide on the bus who shared information on the history and culture of the area. We were dropped off near the tourist information booth (with a public bathroom), close to the main square by the famous cathedral. We had considerable time to explore on our own. I visited the impressive cathedral and strolled nearby streets, browsing shops and people watching. I found the city easy to navigate on my own. It’s particular fascinating to watch the street from where pilgrims who have walked the Camino enter the square and see the cathedral for the first time. You could see the emotion in some of their faces. This area of Spain has a Celtic component to their history. Hence the bagpiper.

Kew Gardens and the boat ride. The building is Kew Palace

Background and pre-cruise: I followed Analog187’s live thread, as I was on the same cruise. It’s always interesting to read other people’s impressions and experiences. I was particularly pleased at his conclusion that despite low expectations, they enjoyed the Carnival onboard experience. Since his port activities were all independent, I decided to share my experiences with Carnival excursions, which I took in every port. Carnival is offering this same itinerary in August, 2024, plus most of the same ports in a reverse itinerary in June, so perhaps my information will help others considering either of these itineraries. Some background – I’ve been on 20+ cruises on all the major U.S.-based lines except Disney, mostly in the Caribbean with my sister, but also Hawaii, the Mediterranean, and Scandinavia with friends. For this cruise, my usual cruise partners weren’t available, so I booked as a solo. Earlier this summer I was solo on the Pride B2B July 9th and July 21st, the cruises that were altered due to the mechanical issue with one of the azipods. That’s another story – well reported at the time. Being back on the Pride was like coming home. I flew to London on the 7th, arriving on the 8th. I stayed at the Belgrave, on Belgrave Road. I picked this hotel for its proximity to Victoria Coach Station, as I had booked the Carnival bus to Dover from there. The hotel was pleasant, attractive, reasonably priced, had functioning air conditioning, and suited my needs for 2 nights. The room was tiny, but that’s not a surprise in expensive London, and as I was solo, I probably got their smallest room. On the day I landed, it was hot, hot, hot in London. Like Caribbean hot! While waiting for my room to be ready, I visited the Sky Garden, which is an indoor public area of plants and trees, with a bar, a café and a fancy restaurant at the top of one of the skyscrapers. It’s a lovely place providing great 360-degree views of the city. Admission is free, but timed entry tickets need to be reserved in advance. They are released a week in advance, and they go quickly. The next day, I had pre-booked a round-trip boat ride from Westminster to Kew Botanical Gardens. It was another day of record-breaking heat, but it was a little cooler on the water. The boat ride was longer than I expected, almost 2 hours, but it was enjoyable to see parts of the city from the river that I hadn’t seen in my walks on previous visits. Like New York and Paris, London is a city of bridges, all unique. The gardens are huge. I only saw a portion of them before my return boat ride, but with the heat, I wouldn’t have lasted longer even if I didn’t have to catch the boat. On the grounds of the gardens is Kew Palace, which had been home to King George III for part of his reign. It was open for visiting at no additional charge. Sky Garden is at the top of this building.

I was worried about that, but the savings on 6 excursions on my 2024 Mediterranean cruise was several hundred dollars. I decided it was worth the risk, as every port had other choices I would have enjoyed besides my first choice. I went one by one, canceled and immediately rebooked, and it went smoothly as I got all of them back. I put the savings towards a one-night post cruise “City Stay” package, normally ridiculously expensive but also significantly reduced during the flash sale.

Theoretically, you could do something on your own in any of those ports, depending on your comfort level with public transportation and/or arranging a tour with a local driver as you get off the ship. But as others have noted, it matters what your interests are and what kind of experience you are looking for. I recently returned from a Baltic cruise on Carnival. It's true that the main parts of Tallinn, for example, are easy to explore on your own, assuming you wouldn't have mobility issues with the hills and cobblestones. If you are reasonably fit, you could even walk to the city center from the dock (assuming you dock at the same place my ship did). My choice was a ship-sponsored walking tour, and I enjoyed learning about the country's history and culture from a local guide. Without the guide, I would have just been looking at old buildings and walls, without knowing the background. Being on your own with a guidebook could provide a similar experience if you are interested in history. What is your preferred way to explore? I think this example could be applied to your other ports. A friend and I had a port stop in Skagen on a cruise in 2019. My recollection is that it is a small town, without much to see nearby. We took a ship's tour to Voergaard Manor House and to the town of Saeby. It was a very enjoyable excursion. There is a waterfront area near Skagen at the tip of the peninsula, which some people like to see and which I believe can be reached by public bus, but I don't have any specific information on that. I suggest checking out what excursions Celebrity offers to see if anything interests you. An appealing activity might be some distance from the port and/or not easily reached by public transportation. A friend and I visited Fredricksborg Castle from Copenhagen on a Princess excursion. And while I took a guided walking tour in Helsinki last month on Carnival, some people I met onboard took an excursion that included feeding reindeer, which they got a big kick out of. Celebrity's current sale on excursions is great! I saved a lot by canceling mine for a 2024 Mediterranean cruise and rebooking at the sale price. The excursions are refundable if you later change your mind. Rick Steves has written a guidebook for Scandanavian cruise ports which may give you some ideas. He pretty much focuses on independent exploration using public transportation. Nothing wrong with that, but he kind of assumes a first-time visitor will be as comfortable with public transportation as he who has spent, by his own description, a third of his life in Europe. Try this site also: www.whatsinport.com Make sure you know find out exactly where your ship will be docking. Often there are multiple docks in a port city, and where your ship will dock will be a factor in how easy it is to plan activities on your own.

I took this transfer in July. There was a big sign at the entrance to the coach station with the information about which bay the Carnival bus was at. The sign and the bay (#1 in my case) were very easy to find. I checked in with a Carnival rep at the bay and was given a colored tag indicating which bus I would be on. There were multiple buses on my embarkation day, and we were called by color when it was time to board our bus. I checked in about 11:10 and was on a bus around noon. There was some seating available in the station while waiting, but not enough for everyone. Restrooms were nearby, but that could vary depending on which bay the bus is at. I believe the big suitcases from passengers on multiple buses were transported by a separate truck and were delivered to the ship so that I didn't have to handle mine at all after turning it over upon boarding the bus until my bag was delivered to my cabin. Make sure your Carnival luggage tags are on. I had a large backpack as my carryon, which I was able to put under the bus and then retrieve upon getting off the bus at the port. Of course, you can carry on items that will fit onto an overhead shelf in the coach or that you can hold at your seat. I thought the process went fairly smoothly and will use it again next week when I am back on the Pride.

A transfer to MIA is not showing for my Magic cruise in April. Transfers with tours ending at MIA or FLL are available, but not the transfer only. However, I purchased it less than a week ago (for $22.99) and got a confirmation, so I assume this is just a temporary glitch.

The merchant has be Carnival. If the merchant is AARP, then I don’t think the Chase promo will work.

I don’t know if it’s the same for every ship and every sailing, but last month on the Pride sailing from Dover, the buffet was open until 3:30.

I had that offer recently on one of my Chase cards, but I missed the fine print that it was good for one time use only. So even though the offer hadn’t expired, after I used it to prepay gratuities on an upcoming cruise, I couldn’t go back the next day and use it for excursions or anything else. Details matter! In hindsight, maybe I should have bought gift cards in the amount needed to get the maximum cash back.

That farewell sounds like fun. I don't think I will change our cabin, but I will make sure we stake out a good place to watch that. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. We are really excited about this trip.

Oh, no! We will be going to Olden, but we are in a starboard cabin. Is it enough of a difference that I should call to see if I can change it?

On any one-way itinerary in a balcony cabin, I think about whether I want morning or afternoon sun on my balcony. On a round trip itinerary, it doesn't matter. I'll get the sun both morning and afternoon over the course of the cruise. There is no way to know or predict how a ship will dock in any given port, so I don't pick a cabin based wanting a certain view while docked. Edited to add: I stand corrected per RoperDK above. I have been on 20+ cruises, but mostly other lines and not enough on Royal to state there isn't any way to know how a particular ship will dock. (Going on the Anthem next year to Norway, so I have started to read this board. 😀)

Thank you all for sharing information and your experiences. Going to Southhampton the day before is something I hadn't thought about. We are two nervous senior ladies, one with some walking difficulties, so anything to reduce overall stress is a good thing for us. What's the situation for managing luggage on the train? Do you have to keep it by your seat, or is there storage areas on the train cars? We will each have a 24" bag, plus our carry-on hand luggage. Thanks again!

A friend and I are booked on a Norway fjords itinerary on the Anthem out of Southhampton next June. We are starting to make our pre-cruise plans. Does Royal offer transportation from London to Southhampton? If so, is it from the airport only? An option from somewhere in central London, such as Victoria coach station as Carnival does, would be great, eliminating the need to return to the airport after spending a few days in London. I have researched public options by bus and train and private transfers, and we are considering those. But our first preference would be Royal transportation, for the security of knowing if we encounter traffic or other delays, Royal would know we are on our way on one of their buses. We are willing to pay for convenience, given the distance between London and the port, but returning to the airport on embarkation day isn't appealing. Thank you for any information.

It might. I received a coupon for a free drink with my welcome letter for the 2nd of my recent B2B cruises, and I was able to use it for a specialty coffee. Of course, this isn't the same as the platinum/diamond party drink perk, but it's worth asking.

I won't dispute that at all, having just done a couple of them. But you do get more time on these "on your own" excursions than you do on the structured excursions that say they include free time, which can be as little as 30 minutes, and you might spend half of that time looking for a bathroom LOL.

I find on longer cruises (I've done 14 and 21 days) I am more able to relax, knowing that I have more time to explore the ship, take part in activities, attend shows, and so forth. If I want to go to bed early or sleep late or take a nap in the afternoon, I worry less about missing something. I get less stressed about a bad weather day as there are more chances for good weather days on a long cruise. There was some repetition of menus and shows, but mine were back-to-back cruises; that's likely different on a single long cruise. On the last day of a longer cruise, I feel ready to go home rather than feeling sad about my vacation ending. I love long cruises, and I hope you love yours!

Thank you. I wasn't the person who requested the information, but a friend and I are looking at hotel options for one night before a cruise next year. This is useful information.

I was on this cruise (and the one before it) and was also very disappointed about missing Scotland. I had a ticket to visit the royal yacht Britannia, which I also missed on a 2020 cruise that was a covid cancelation. I think I need to plan a land vacation to Edinburgh. I enjoyed your pictures and reading how you made the best of the situation. I was onboard during the days of uncertainty, and I felt that those of you waiting to board the July 21 cruise had a much tougher time deciding what to do and making alternative plans on short notice. Thank you for sharing. I hope your next cruise is uneventful!

I am sure that would be possible. Just let the guide know so he or she isn't looking for you!

That sounds worth looking into. I did several walking tours on my recent Pride cruises in Europe, though not in Dublin, and I found them enjoyable and informative for my first visit to a city. Depending on the length of that excursion, you may be able to stay longer in the city and return to the ship on your own by public transportation or a taxi.

I don't know about the tendering process, but I have been to Dublin and have taken the DART to Dun Laoghaire, where the tenders come in. It was a short ride, like 20 minutes or less. On a Carrnival excursion you will be on a bus, but that also should be a short ride, as Google tells me the distance between them is about 6 miles. As for if the Carnival excursion is worth it, that's a tough call. You will be guaranteed a spot on a tender at the time determined by your excursion, but if that is after the tender line has opened for others, as you have said, it's hard to say if the excursion will give you the maximum time in Dublin. I can say that the DART runs frequently, like every 10 minutes, and is easy to use. My uneducated guess is that the stated excursion times of 10:30 to 4:30 could mean only about 4 hours in the city, allowing an hour on either end for loading up a bus, ground transportation, and tendering. Perhaps try to pin down the details with the excursion staff once you are on board. What time do the tenders start running? How long is the tender ride? How frequently do the tenders run? Where in town does the excursion bus drop you off, and how close it that to what you want to see? On your own, you can research the DART and city tram lines in relation to what you want to see. Enjoy Dublin, however you decide to get there.

On the Carnival's main page, go to Explore, then Shore Excursions. Pick the port, and they show up. I am glad you are taking the time to review excursions. I returned last week from B2B Pride cruises in Europe, and there were very few reviews of the excursions as I was making my choices. So, I plan on writing reviews of the ones I took.

I looked at the City Stay options for my solo Med cruise next year September on the Equinox, Barcelona to Rome. The prices are jaw-dropping. I know booking hotels, transportation, and excursions through a cruise line is more expensive that booking those on your own. But for me, the convenience is sometimes worth it, especially in a city that is unfamiliar to me. But the option Barcelona for three nights single occupancy is over $5,000, more than my cruise fare. The two-night package in Rome at the end of the cruise is over $1600. What makes it so expensive? Does "private driver" really mean one person chauffeuring me alone around for two or three days? I guess that would explain the price, but it's hardly what I need or want. Years ago (2005) a friend and I did a Med round trip from Rome on the Galaxy, and we purchased pre- and post-cruise hotel packages through Celebrity that included transportation, but no excursions. I can't remember the price, but it seemed fair to us for the convenience. I would be interested in that type of package again, or even just transportation from Civitavecchia to Rome city center. Does Celebrity not offer any other hotel or transportation options besides the expensive City Stays? Do I need to call and ask, as the OP did for the hotel? If I need to make transportation and hotel arrangements on my own, I am able to do that. But my first choice would be something through Celebrity that was priced at a level I feel comfortable with, which is not the City Stays. Thanks for any information.