Pink15 Posted June 4, 2023 #51 Share Posted June 4, 2023 The Gatwick people leave the ship today at noon, they are the last off, it's currently 7 am and we have yet to dock, so I would say no chance. The trip from the ship is an all day one, think it goes at 9 am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted June 4, 2023 #52 Share Posted June 4, 2023 13 hours ago, Jim The Scot said: Cant say I,m happy that the itinerary has been reversed for the sake of a few hours more in NY.Instead of what should have been 2 sea days on tracking the ship its now over 3 days. Port Canaveral to NY = 1 day 16hrs and NY to Charleston =1 day 12hrs Yes it feels as though we have had a lot of time at sea this week. The itinery was changed due to the currents, we wouldn't have made it from Bahamas to Port Canareval in the original time battling against the flow. In my opinion, Freeport was a waste anyway, but you only get to say that in retrospect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIX70 Posted June 4, 2023 #53 Share Posted June 4, 2023 5 minutes ago, Pink15 said: The Gatwick people leave the ship today at noon, they are the last off, it's currently 7 am and we have yet to dock, so I would say no chance. The trip from the ship is an all day one, think it goes at 9 am. I was afraid of that. OK, looks like we'll have to play it by ear. Thanks Pink15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramwold Posted June 4, 2023 #54 Share Posted June 4, 2023 hi NIX70, we go in September for the 2 week cruise and we have booked the Cape Canaveral space centre, it is a 7 hour long trip so we do it on the middle Sunday ( change over day ) as we will be in port all day long. I cant see Marella doing the space centre trip for departing passengers, also it is a very popular trip and it is most likely booked up when you looked. The ask the shorex team is if they have cancellations. Its no help i know. Enjoy the cruise and let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted June 4, 2023 #55 Share Posted June 4, 2023 4 hours ago, Pink15 said: Yes it feels as though we have had a lot of time at sea this week. The itinery was changed due to the currents, we wouldn't have made it from Bahamas to Port Canareval in the original time battling against the flow. In my opinion, Freeport was a waste anyway, but you only get to say that in retrospect. Thanks for that Pink15 More importantly what was your thoughts on the cruise overall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted June 5, 2023 #56 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Hi Jim, am home now after the overnight flight and missing it already! cruise was fab, everybody seems to have had a good time. Food & drink plentiful, weather warm (some rain on sea day out of NY but not much). Everything well organised, staff as friendly as ever. I would say about 75% full first week but more last week (half term). I had been to NY before and love it so did my own thing there, but it did seem a bit of a slog there and back. We were only in Freeport for 4 hours, nothing there. Key West straight off ship into town. Miami you need to do a trip as it is vast. Charleston nice. Grand Turk & Dom Rep you can walk straight off ship into resort but need a trip to go further. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted June 5, 2023 #57 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Hi Pink Wasn,t expecting a response so quick as I posted when you hadn,t quite docked in PC so thanks for the wee quick update and glad you had a fab time and nice to hear positive feedback. We watched Discovery sail in and out of PC and NY and it got the impression the ship wasn,t at capacity as there wasn,t many on the decks. Will be quite happy if our cruise isn,t capacity,nothing worse than scrambling to find a lounger or somewhere to sit,especially on the sea days We were intially down for the two week cruise but changed to one week then a week in Orlando so only doing Charleston,Freeport and NY Mrs JTS has been to NY twice but I haven,t and its always been on my to do list so looking forward to it We have an excursion booked for our first day and was hoping to do our thing on the second day.How far from the port to main attractions,walkable or uber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannamead17 Posted June 5, 2023 #58 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Hi Pink. I noticed there are no excursions bookable for Freeport I emailed tui who assured me excursions would be available from the 3rd June which they are not. What did you do in Freeport? Doesn't seem an awful lot to do particularly in 4 hours? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted June 5, 2023 #59 Share Posted June 5, 2023 15 minutes ago, Mannamead17 said: Hi Pink. I noticed there are no excursions bookable for Freeport I emailed tui who assured me excursions would be available from the 3rd June which they are not. What did you do in Freeport? Doesn't seem an awful lot to do particularly in 4 hours? Cheers There is very little to do in Freeport, a small port side market. There are excursions to some gardens, and also a bigger market. I think Freeport is in the less pretty part of the Bahamas. Maybe they are having to rearrange the itinery for this one as well which is delaying things? If you have booked something and they change the day then they just roll it over to the new day. Even if things are full online they seem to be doing their best to put on another bus/a new trip an hour later so is worth checking as soon as you board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted June 5, 2023 #60 Share Posted June 5, 2023 3 hours ago, Jim The Scot said: Hi Pink Wasn,t expecting a response so quick as I posted when you hadn,t quite docked in PC so thanks for the wee quick update and glad you had a fab time and nice to hear positive feedback. We watched Discovery sail in and out of PC and NY and it got the impression the ship wasn,t at capacity as there wasn,t many on the decks. Will be quite happy if our cruise isn,t capacity,nothing worse than scrambling to find a lounger or somewhere to sit,especially on the sea days We were intially down for the two week cruise but changed to one week then a week in Orlando so only doing Charleston,Freeport and NY Mrs JTS has been to NY twice but I haven,t and its always been on my to do list so looking forward to it We have an excursion booked for our first day and was hoping to do our thing on the second day.How far from the port to main attractions,walkable or uber? Its approx a 20/25 minute walk to Times Square from Manhattan Cruise Terminal, 50th Street/12th Avenue, pretty flat walk, not too bad but the second day I was there it was hot! I was over near Grand Central and hobbling quite badly so got a yellow cab, it was about 2pm and traffic was average NY bad, cost including tip was $30, First night i had gone to a show and wasn't going to walk back in the dark, was going to Uber but a yellow cab pulled up to drop someone off so I got in, fare was $13, gave him $20, Uber is supposed to be cheaper but i thought that was reasonable. The yellow cabs are all on meter which you can see, think the flat charge is about $5 as soon as you get in , then 80c per minute, make sure you are on a street where the traffic is going towards the cruise terminal otherwise it will spend 5 minutes getting round the block! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannamead17 Posted June 5, 2023 #61 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Thanks Pink. Nothing booked as yet, even Viator don't have a great deal of trips particularly if we are not there all day. Just have to wait and see or try the markets if all else fails. Thanks for the reply Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted June 5, 2023 #62 Share Posted June 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Pink15 said: Its approx a 20/25 minute walk to Times Square from Manhattan Cruise Terminal, 50th Street/12th Avenue, pretty flat walk, not too bad but the second day I was there it was hot! I was over near Grand Central and hobbling quite badly so got a yellow cab, it was about 2pm and traffic was average NY bad, cost including tip was $30, First night i had gone to a show and wasn't going to walk back in the dark, was going to Uber but a yellow cab pulled up to drop someone off so I got in, fare was $13, gave him $20, Uber is supposed to be cheaper but i thought that was reasonable. The yellow cabs are all on meter which you can see, think the flat charge is about $5 as soon as you get in , then 80c per minute, make sure you are on a street where the traffic is going towards the cruise terminal otherwise it will spend 5 minutes getting round the block! Thanks again Pink I have mobility issues so a walk of that distance is out so if we decide to do anything on our second day it will need to be a yellow cab or uber Just done a uber price estimator $30/$33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted June 5, 2023 #63 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Just a note for the less mobile - to get off the ship in Miami & Port Canareval is a bit of a hike, lots of zig zag air bridges etc, assume these are to cope with the bigger ships. One lady I was on a trip with was upset as she thought we had all been waiting for her to get to the coach as she was a slow walker, if she had been told how far it was she would have left the meeting place earlier than the group and she would have felt better taking her time getting through the terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted June 10, 2023 #64 Share Posted June 10, 2023 Itininary has now been changed for future cruises on TUI website and now showing Freeport as 1st port of call and Charleston last as opposed to the other way around 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheera07 Posted June 10, 2023 #65 Share Posted June 10, 2023 Has anyone done the Harbour lights cruise ? Is it dark enough to see the skyline lit up ? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyjayneq Posted July 1, 2023 #66 Share Posted July 1, 2023 American Drean and Sunshine State and Sands. Particularly for Jim the Scot and Scotstravellers. On the flight from Glasgow what meals did you get, was there a breakfast or a lunch? How long was the transfer time? can I ask what excursions were offered and what were your impressions, good and bad. any info would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted July 2, 2023 #67 Share Posted July 2, 2023 I flew from Birmingham. Outbound there was a hot meal choice of beef or chicken. Later there was sandwiches. Inbound, can't remember the hot meal (obviously not great!), with a breakfast toastie thing later. I'm not a fan of airplane meals so only poked at them! Transfer was 45-50 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyjayneq Posted July 2, 2023 #68 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Hi Pink 15, thanks for that, good to know we’re getting something, the flight is at 7:45 am so bearing in mind we’re supposed to be there 3 hours beforehand and we have a 3 &3/4 hour drive first I think we’ll be in need of food! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hookedoncruising! Posted July 2, 2023 #69 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Oh my goodness! Thats a long drive. Have you never thought of booking into a hotel with parking for the night before? Its sometimes not much dearer than paying for parking,and you would feel much better going for a long flight. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyjayneq Posted July 2, 2023 #70 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Hookedoncruising, yes that’s something we’re looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hookedoncruising! Posted July 2, 2023 #71 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Glad to hear it 👍🏻 You would feel so much better not having the stress of driving such a distance beforehand, and could chill out the night before. Hope you manage to find something🤞 Enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink15 Posted July 2, 2023 #72 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Sounds like you will need sleep as much as food 🤗 As I said, I'm really not a fan of airplane food, I usually grab a meal deal from Boots etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted July 2, 2023 #73 Share Posted July 2, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Hookedoncruising! said: Oh my goodness! Thats a long drive. Have you never thought of booking into a hotel with parking for the night before? Its sometimes not much dearer than paying for parking,and you would feel much better going for a long flight. Just a thought. Normally we stay overnight and we have a much shorter 1hr 30 mins drive but not this time.For the hotel we ,ve always stayed in plus parking they,re wanting £250 where for valet parking only we paid £119..Ironically if staying overnight at the hotel I,d need to drive my car to exactly the same car park in the morning we have booked Although a hot complimentary breakfast is included with overnight stay, but with having the early flight we would miss out on that so it would be basically £130 for a bed We,ll get breakfast in the lounge at airport which comes as a benefit of PE Having said all that,if I was in ladyjayneq shoes I,d be forking out for an overnight stay Edited July 2, 2023 by Jim The Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyjayneq Posted July 2, 2023 #74 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Jim the Scot, we may go down the hotel route, just wish that we could get flights from Aberdeen. It was bad enough getting any flights from Aberdeen when we lived near Dyce but now we're in Morayshire so even further away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim The Scot Posted July 2, 2023 #75 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Yeah the flight situ ain,t great from up your way I wished we had been able to get a flight from Edinburgh for this cruise which is only 25/30 min drive for us but generally no big issue for us for flights as we mainly do the Med which are Edinburgh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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