2ashevillesailors

On 4/7/2023 at 5:31 PM, sfjakey said:

2ashwvillesailor - are you also sailing on the TA - April 13 - 13 days from Tampa to Barcelona?   We are too

We are on Explorer from Miami to Rome April 23, 2023

On 4/7/2023 at 5:31 PM, sfjakey said:

2ashwvillesailor - are you also sailing on the TA - April 13 - 13 days from Tampa to Barcelona?   We are too

We are sailing on RCL Explorer of The Seas April 23rd to Rome.

Just now, 2ashevillesailors said:

I read that the airiport is approx. 8 KM from the port. It said nothing at the port no facilities)  no public transportation there. Need to do Uber or taxi, not sure, but this is what I read. Check expedia for hotels, that should help you some.

On 3/23/2023 at 1:22 PM, sfjakey said:

Still looking for hotel near ship terminal and airport for 2 nights in Brisbane before flight back to SFO. Also, one that will work to see some of the area.  Thanks

I read that the airiport is approx. 8 KM from the port. It said nothing aat the port no public transportation there. Need to do Uber or taxi, not sure, but this is what I read. Check expedia for hotels, that should help you some.

On 4/2/2023 at 8:50 AM, rapister said:

can someone share if

= room slippoers

= bathrobes

 

are provided in the stateroom for the Luminosa?

 

thanks! 

Just call Carnival and they will let you know.

On 3/23/2023 at 1:22 PM, sfjakey said:

Still looking for hotel near ship terminal and airport for 2 nights in Brisbane before flight back to SFO. Also, one that will work to see some of the area.  Thanks

Have you googled Hotels in Brisbane? Also  Expedia.com has hotels listed, seem very nice and reasonable there.

2 minutes ago, 2ashevillesailors said:

Does anyone know when Carnival will start showing tours in Japan, the Phillipines and Indonesia. By now they should have them set up, I am a little bit worried of having any? Their stock has dropped more today, just a little over $10. per share. Mary

On 2/28/2023 at 7:57 AM, aussielozzie18 said:

There is a very small library on the ship with not many books. 

Does anyone know when Carnival will start showing tours in Japan, the Phillipines and Indonesia. By now they should have them set up, I am a little bit worried of having any? Mary

On 2/9/2023 at 12:37 PM, 2ashevillesailors said:

In Seattle be sure to take the underground tour of original buildings. Have never seen anything like it, we really enjoyed it.

Yes, the underground tour is great many original buildings of Seattle.

On 2/11/2023 at 12:09 PM, deentonyo said:

Hi Susan, that’s wonderful! Would you like to do a whale watch in Icy Strait Point? It’s supposed to be spectacular whale viewing. We are going, prices seem somewhat high so maybe a group would help 😊

Hi, this is Mary and Jim for Asheville, NC, if a private whale watching tour is started we would definitely be interested. Just let us know, my email is maryslaughter 67 at g mail dot com

On 2/7/2023 at 10:23 PM, Gaz561 said:

Gday all,

My wife Jane and myself live on the coast between Sydney and Newcastle in Oz.

Flying out of Sydney early September staying in Honolulu for 5-6 days before landing in Seattle. Will then look around there for 5-6 days also before boarding on the 14th.

We have done 4 trips before with Carnival out of Sydney longest being 11 days to South Pacific Islands.

If we can help with any info regarding the east coast of OZ ask away.

Looking forward to saying hi to all and we will probably have a few questions re Seattle and Honolulu as it will be our first time to the US.

Gaz & Jane

In Seattle be sure to take the underground tour of original buildings. Have never seen anything like it, we really enjoyed it.

On 1/30/2023 at 2:02 AM, Lucyloo said:

Thanks Mary and Jim. Looking forward to catching up.

Lucyloo

On 1/30/2023 at 2:02 AM, Lucyloo said:

Thanks Mary and Jim. Looking forward to catching up.

Lucyloo, I see that you live in Australia. Have you been to Brisbane? If so how close is the port to the airport?

47 minutes ago, Rick1951 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

We are three sisters who traveled from Seattle to Sydney last September on the Splendor.  23 days, it was awesome!!  I hope this trip will be just as much fun!

 

Was anyone else on this roll call on that cruise last year?

 

Brenda

Welcome Brenda and Marsha, looking forward to meeting ya'll. This is going to be a great cruise. Mary

On 12/28/2022 at 3:53 PM, 2ashevillesailors said:

How is it near Pikes Market? Have always loved gong there, worried it has gone downhill? Mary

 

Hello Belkin, you stated you have worked in Seattle quite a bit. We are arriving mid day the day before sailing. What is the best way to get to the ddock area? We are staying at Marriott close to where our ship will be. Thanking you in advance Mary and Jim

On 1/18/2023 at 1:15 PM, 2ashevillesailors said:

No you can do it either way. We usually use the same Cruise travel agent now. Finally found one that we really like, actually get a quick responce when we leave a message. Tired of waiting 3 to 5 days for an answer. One company said leave a message and we will try to get back to you in a week to 10 days! I do not call that service. We are very happy with the company we use now. Mary

What we do not like with Carnival you have to let your TA speak with Carnival flight department, not you. I like to go over flight times and seat assignments and talk with the flight department myself. Can not do that with Carnival, they will only talk to the TA if you are using one. Never had this problem with many other cruise lines that we use. They wanted us to fly into Seattle at 8:50pm. We are staying at the port area and did not want to arrive that late, not knowing what it is like near Pikes Market in Seattle. So we booked air on our own.

On another note, is anyone planning on organzing a cabin crawl for our cruise on a sea day? Have never been on a Costa ship, the pictures we have seen, it looks very nice. Mary

On 1/5/2023 at 9:53 PM, MMDown Under said:

Does this mean you need to book your cruise with the cruise line, not a TA?  I had decided if I cruise overseas again I'd book direct with the cruise line for the very reasons you stated.

No you can do it either way. We usually use the same Cruise travel agent now. Finally found one that we really like, actually get a quick responce when we leave a message. Tired of waiting 3 to 5 days for an answer. One company said leave a message and we will try to get back to you in a week to 10 days! I do not call that service. We are very happy with the company we use now. Mary

On 1/15/2023 at 5:50 AM, Lucyloo said:

Hi Folks, we (John and Donna) have just booked this cruise to return home to Brisbane. We haven't cruised with Carnival before, but have two Caribbean cruises back to back from Galveston with Carnival in August. Heading to the states on Grand Princess in April.

Welcome John and Donna to this cruise, it is going to be a great experience. We (Mary and Jim) will have several sea days for relaxing, doing cabin crawl, slot pull or just reading books. We are happy about the ports in Japan, have been looking at tours by Viator, which is part of Trip Advisor (I think). Saw a couple that we like, trying to figure out how to get more information from them. One area of their site, they said if we hae more adults wanting to do the tour the price would be lower. Also have not found info for cruisers. I am thinking that they would pick us up at the cruise port, just trying to verify that is so. I will get back with more information. Mary

On 1/6/2023 at 6:52 AM, Ausgirl101 said:

Booked this cruise yesterday. Looking forward to another transpacific cruise. This one that is including Japan will tick off a few more of the bucket list 🙂 Any questions about Luminosa I may be able to answer as I was on the transpacific last year and also the cruise before to Alaska and the following 4 cruises (B2B2B2B2B2B) I'm also onboard next month for another 11 days.  Sharon

Have you been on the Luminosa? I heard they were re-decorating it after purchasing it from Costa? I have seen pictures, of when it was with Costa and it was very nice. Mary

On 12/28/2022 at 3:53 PM, 2ashevillesailors said:

How is it near Pikes Market? Have always loved gong there, worried it has gone downhill? Mary

 

We have been trying to book a flight with Carnival from Brisbane to Asheville,NC. We are able to book it ourselves which is Brisbane to Sydney, Then Sydney to Dallas Ft Worth then Dallas Ft Worth to Asheville, with no problem. They say that our travel agent Cruises Only has to place the flights with Carnival, not us doing it. We are not allowed to book the flights with them ourselves. Said their system will not take it, can not do a one way ticket. I have never heard such nonsense. We have cruised over 60 times and we haved booked with the cruise line air departments. We have taken many Transpacific and Transatlantic cruises and don one way flights.  Is anyone else having this problem? We want to book with Carnival, since we are getting off of the ship and flying home in Brisbane. If there are any problems then Carnival could handle it.  I don't think I want to get off of the ship 1/2 way around the world and if there are delays, etc. I would have the cruise line handling it.  Mary and Jim

On 10/20/2022 at 12:44 AM, belkin said:

We are most likely going to stay at the Crown Plaza at the airport which I already have booked. We are planning on taking a taxi to port.  I have spent several months working in Seattle over the last couple of years and don't have much desire to see the downtown area as it has really gone downhill in my opinion.

How is it near Pikes Market? Have always loved gong there, worried it has gone downhill? Mary

On 12/12/2022 at 4:39 PM, sfjakey said:

We have finalized our return plans back to San Francisco.  We will be getting off the Luminosa on October 29, 2023 (44 days) and staying in Brisbane for 2 nights.  (Need to find a hotel) On Oct. 31 we have booked a direct non-stop flight from Brisbane to San Francisco  - 13 hours on UAL.  Any suggestion for hotel and tours or things to do qnd see?  Thanks, Safe travels, Frank and Sarah

Frank and Sarah which airline are you using?  Mary and Jim

On 10/19/2022 at 2:27 PM, sfjakey said:

Any suggestion for pre-cruise hotel in Seattle and best way to port from the airport (SEA)? Thanks, Frank

I am thinking a taxi is a good way to get to the port.  Maybe there is a shuttle?

On 9/26/2022 at 11:46 AM, jstrutton said:

Well we booked this cruise as well. We were originally going to do a B2B2B this March/April to include Australia, New Zealand and pacific islands. But we’re now going to cancel those and more than likely add on the 7 night after the luminosa docks in Australia like some are doing here.  
 

Definitely be interested in hearing about potential tours at the various ports since we’ve never been to many of these except for Alaska ports.  
 

But this gives us some planning to do for the next year.  
 

jay & Senay

We are also interested in private tours. Looking forward to sharing information. So far we have not discovered anything, will continue searching, Mary and Jim

On 9/14/2022 at 8:26 PM, sfjakey said:

I think we have of 3 -4 couples who are doing B2B ( TP and Great Barrier Reef) .   I would like to suggest we form a small group and look together to develop  private tours at the different ports, especially for Japan.  There could be some duplication on our parts, but with many eyes and different ideas we should come up with some good ideas/tours. ` We have a year  --  Any comments are welcome.

 

If you are interested add your name and email:

1. Frank and Sarah (SF) sfjakey  - cheerytrekker@yahoo.com   (Shopping is a low priority)

 

Note: You can add what type of tour you prefer and if there are any mobility issues,  so we can find tours that work for the whole group.  Thanks - Safe travels, Frank and Sarah

I might look at Trip Advisor, thinking maybe there will be some tours with them in Japan. Mary and Jim

On 9/5/2022 at 3:57 PM, sfjakey said:

2ashevillesaiors - Hi Jim and Mary:  Thanks for the welcome.  We have been on cruises of equal lengths - around South American and on B2B's.   I will starting doing some research  trying to arrange private tours and form a group and if I can't find anything,  I will use the the ship's tours too.  We have been to Japan before on a TP with Princess.   It was my understanding that this was a NEW SHIP and someone else,  that carnival purchased----- Safe travels, Frank and Sarah

Carnival purchased it from Costa. It is going into dry dock for a re do in October for I think 2 months. We will be anxious to hear from you on private tours. Our email is maryslaughter67@gmail.com if you have any questions. Thanks Mary and Jim