*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

Thoie

Jesper wrote: »

Hi Those,
Which cruise have you taken from Barcelona and would you recommend it? IM if prefer.
Thanks

I've never actually departed from Barcelona, just arrived there

The last two were a transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona (Allure of the Seas with just one stop in Malaga), and the Explorer of the Seas from Southampton to Barcelona (from there she was continuing on for another 54 days to Sydney - desperately wanted to stow away!). Explorer was 8 days, stopped at Vigo, Lisbon, Cádiz and Gibraltar on the way.

Barcelona is definitely handy for disembarking and getting to the airport (or into the city if you want to stay a few extra days). Instead of the warehouse setup for collecting your luggage, they have belts, and your departure "number" is above the belt, which makes luggage a doddle to find. There's a pretty steep escalator down from where you disembark to the luggage collection place (I presume there are lifts somewhere as well), and once you collect your luggage it's a flat run out to buses/taxis outside. They're good for having trollies available too.

Thoie

Jesper wrote: »

When you get a drinks package you MUST get it for every day of cruise.

Just to clarify - you must get the drink package for every remaining day of the cruise (on Royal Caribbean at least). So if you buy in advance, you take it for the full cruise. But, for example, if you were on an 8 day cruise, you could buy your own drinks one at a time for the first 4 days, then buy the package for the remaining 4 days. I think there has to be at least 4 days remaining to buy a package. This can work in your favour if the first few days you're off the ship in port all day long, but then have a few sea days at the end.

SEORG

Hi Folks,

Can anyone recommend travel insurance that includes cruises. I'm a bit lost on this.

Thanks.

Thoie

SEORG wrote: »

Hi Folks,

Can anyone recommend travel insurance that includes cruises. I'm a bit lost on this.

Thanks.

I have this crowd bookmarked to buy in the next few weeks: http://www.insuremyholiday.ie/multi-trip-travel-insurance/

Haven't used them yet. They have "add-ons" - one of which is cruise cover. Here's their page about cruise cover:
http://www.insuremyholiday.ie/cruise-travel-insurance/

Parchment

My other half has twisted my arm and convinced me to go on a cruise. I cant say im crazy about the idea but we will visit some great places that he wouldnt otherwise go to.

Any tips for first time cruisers?

lubie76

We done our first cruise last year in the Carribbean in the Celebrity Reflection. It was a beautiful ship and very much centred on musical entertainment good food and drink. We done the dining package for a small additional price and we had a choice of 5 dinners in the upgraded restaurants which would be 5 star standard. The normal restaurants food is also of very good quality and they are plentiful but we are foodie type people so we liked the fine dining option. They send around a timetable of activities every morning so you can choose how you would like to spend your day- ship activities, onshore excursions etc.

I think it depends on what you are looking for. royal Carribbean are more family orientated with a lot of kids activities etc. Norwegian cruise more party type cruise so worth speaking to a travel agent to let them know your preferences.

If you are doing the all inclusive options it is going to be a lot more expensive than your run of the mill week in Spain but to get to wake up to different places every day and have all the luxuries of the ship too is well worth it in my opinion.

We are thinking of doing a Med cruise in September so researching ourselves at the moment. There is a mega cruise thread here on boards also if you search and there is plenty of useful information there.

coylemj

Parchment wrote: »

Any tips for first time cruisers?

There is a thread called 'cruising megathread' with 574 posts, it's on the first page of this forum.

Link....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056848146

schemingbohemia

Parchment wrote: »

My other half has twisted my arm and convinced me to go on a cruise. I cant say im crazy about the idea but we will visit some great places that he wouldnt otherwise go to.

Any tips for first time cruisers?

Where are you going?

We did an Alaskan cruise last year on honeymoon and it was amazing. I really didn't think i'd enjoy it as much as I did.
Because it was honeymoon we went all out and had a balcony and upgraded meals (we were Celebrity cruises and went Aquaclass), the ships are so big it never felt packed (apart from first day when they do the evacuation drill).
Having the balcony meant you could just have your own space looking out at the scenery and keeping an eye out for whales, bliss.
Anything specific you're looking for?

Thoie

Thoie wrote: »

I have this crowd bookmarked to buy in the next few weeks: http://www.insuremyholiday.ie/multi-trip-travel-insurance/

Haven't used them yet. They have "add-ons" - one of which is cruise cover. Here's their page about cruise cover:
http://www.insuremyholiday.ie/cruise-travel-insurance/

Hmm, hold off on using this crowd. Just went to retrieve my quote and purchase the insurance.

Problem 1: the credit card payment page isn't actually secure.
Problem 2: a pop-up appeared telling me that the payment vendor (worldnet I think) will store my card details for future use - no way to say "no"
Problem 3: there's a tick box (pre-ticked) on the page to store CC details, but it's greyed out, and you can't untick it
Problem 4: it's impossible to find a phone number for them on the website. The claims phone number is through a 3rd party it seems.

Update: After 15 minutes on the phone, I've finally got a number from someone: 1890 904904. Now on hold to talk to someone and see what the story is.

Not terribly impressed so far.

Gamebred

Anyone sailed on Oasis of the seas? thinking of going to the Caribeen in Nov.

hdowney

Thoie. I would like to pick your brains so to speak.

I am now moving October 2017s cruise to September 2018 (NCL changed the itinarary to a 3rd plan, and we don't like it anymore!)
anyway
Looking at going on RCI's Indy for a 14night Med Highlights from Southampton, end of September 2018.
Here's where I want to pick your brains.
On the IE/UK site they currently have a book by 1st May and get 30% off the fare, plus up to $400 OBC per cabin (for an Interior/Oceanview it would be $100 OBC per cabin). Not a bad deal, but of course bookings on IE/UK sites do NOT have refundable deposits (which sucks somewhat with the NCL booking but I'll just lump it).
So I am considering booking through a US TA possibly (thus availing of the refundable deposit).

So my questions are thus, do you think it would be more worthwhile to book through a US TA?
What kind of possible perks are available when booking through a US TA?
If you recommend going with the US TA can you recommend someone?

Cheers

Also thanks for the heads up about the insurance folk. That's a pretty crappy experience.

Peppa Pig

hdowney wrote: »

On the IE/UK site they currently have a book by 1st May and get 30% off the fare, plus up to $400 OBC per cabin (for an Interior/Oceanview it would be $100 OBC per cabin).

Make sure you compare the exchange rate. RCCL seem to have a crap exchange rate on the euro site. I checked the prices on .co.uk and .ie sites,then rang RCCL to book direct and requested to be charged in sterling. Cost about €4500, when I asked for a quote in STG. It was about €5000 using their euro prices.

hdowney

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Make sure you compare the exchange rate. RCCL seem to have a crap exchange rate on the euro site. I checked the prices on .co.uk and .ie sites,then rang RCCL to book direct and requested to be charged in sterling. Cost about €4500, when I asked for a quote in STG. It was about €5000 using their euro prices.

cripes. thats quite a jump. off to compare the uk price now so

coylemj

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Make sure you compare the exchange rate. RCCL seem to have a crap exchange rate on the euro site. I checked the prices on .co.uk and .ie sites,then rang RCCL to book direct and requested to be charged in sterling. Cost about €4500, when I asked for a quote in STG. It was about €5000 using their euro prices.

Regardless of what product or service you are buying, when using a credit card you should always pay a vendor in his own currency. This applies to all UK/US hotels, Amazon UK, everyone.

No vendor can match the exchange rate that you will get from your own credit card, they are shifting billions of euros, US dollars, sterling every day and their rate is always the best that a consumer can get so you should never accept a quote in euros from a vendor in a non-Euro country, you will always get screwed.

coylemj

I'm doing a Baltic cruise with RC this May it includes a stop (roughly 08:00-17:30) in St. Petersburg. Would appreciate advice from other cruisers as to what's on offer in terms of typical excursions to the city. Obviously the Hermitage will be a 'must see' attraction, just wondering what else is worth doing or seeing when ashore from a cruise ship. I expect every excursion will include some free time in the city so general advice about what to do and not do (e.g. scams to watch out for) when strolling around independent of the tour guide appreciated.

Peppa Pig

coylemj wrote: »

Regardless of what product or service you are buying, when using a credit card you should always pay a vendor in his own currency. This applies to all UK/US hotels, Amazon UK, everyone.

Absolutely, I always do.
Just found it weird that,using today's bank exchange rate, converting dollars from the US site and Sterling from the UK give the same euro price, but taking the euro price from the Irish site is much dearer. Looks like they have matched the UK rate but not the euro rate.
I was the same last year when I got prices.

hdowney

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Absolutely, I always do.
Just found it weird that,using today's bank exchange rate, converting dollars from the US site and Sterling from the UK give the same euro price, but taking the euro price from the Irish site is much dearer. Looks like they have matched the UK rate but not the euro rate.
I was the same last year when I got prices.

I priced that same cruise on the IE and U.K. Sites and it actually came out the same for me. Which was interesting. I deffo won't let a company use their exchange rate. I don't let Amazon and won't let a cruise company.

Thoie

hdowney wrote: »

So my questions are thus, do you think it would be more worthwhile to book through a US TA?
What kind of possible perks are available when booking through a US TA?
If you recommend going with the US TA can you recommend someone?

Cheers

Also thanks for the heads up about the insurance folk. That's a pretty crappy experience.

Difficult one to know. I used a US TA 3 years running. Never got much more than about $50 in OBC (except this year, but that was because I'd booked on board), though I keep hearing of people who get a few hundred in OBC. The first two years I got huge price drops, but I did have to notify the travel agent to get her to apply the price drops. Other people seem to have agents who constantly monitor prices and drop them for them.

This year my upcoming cruise didn't drop in price at all until after final payment, when it dropped a lot. You don't get the new price after final payment. My travel agent did offer me $50 OBC on a future booking (not sure why). So basically there's no guarantee of price drops, and I'd advise using something like cruisefish to automatically notify you of any drops.

For a personal reasons, after my next cruise, I won't be cruising for a couple of years I think the next one I'll book might be directly with the cruise line, but I'd be waiting for one of those 30% off deals on their site.

Benefits of a US TA: Refundable deposit (but deposit is usually a lot higher - maybe $400 instead of $100 per person), potential price drops, a chance of free OBC.

Downsides: the time difference, having to check US sites to see what the current price is (they can't match the EU prices), the US rarely/never does offers for drink packages etc (though I read recently that the UK site is stopping this soon).

Summary - it's a bit pot luck as to which is the best option. I was lucky for 2 years, unlucky this year. Don't count on price drops - make sure you're happy to pay whatever the original cost is, and take price drops as a piece of good luck.

If you want the details of my US travel agent let me know and I'll PM you.

Thoie

Gamebred wrote: »

Anyone sailed on Oasis of the seas? thinking of going to the Caribeen in Nov.

I've been on her sister ship the Allure, which was lovely. There's loads of things on there I never even got to try out in a 2 week trip. I never even got around to trying the doughnuts on the boardwalk

They're beautiful ships, and the central park is lovely, but I'm not rushing back to that class of ship. They're bigger than the Freedom class, but I really like the Independence. It may just be familiarity, but I found the split down the middle of the Allure made things a little awkward to navigate. That doesn't seem to bother anyone else though. The outside promenade is the jogging track, and it felt quite enclosed compared to the Freedom class. On the other hand, the aqua theatre shows are amazing, and if you're interested in the specialty restaurants, there are more choices iirc. I think on the smaller ships (which still aren't small) there's more of a feeling of being at sea - you can see the sea from lots of places. On the Oasis class they're more inward looking, so it really depends on what you fancy.

hdowney

Thanks for all the information Thoie. Am trying to weigh up all the information and decide between € or $

jhegarty

Did you try using http://cruisecompete.com/ ?

MrsMcSteamy

Hi heading off in 4 weeks on a med cruise. Heading to Palermo, Cagliari, Palma De Mallorca, Valencia, Marseille, Genoa and then back to rome to head home. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on something we should do or likewise something we should avoid. I enjoy going to a place and coming away with knowing a bit more about it, so anything historical be great too. thanks in advance.

Thoie

MrsMcSteamy wrote: »

Hi heading off in 4 weeks on a med cruise. Heading to Palermo, Cagliari, Palma De Mallorca, Valencia, Marseille, Genoa and then back to rome to head home. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on something we should do or likewise something we should avoid. I enjoy going to a place and coming away with knowing a bit more about it, so anything historical be great too. thanks in advance.

For Mallorca, take a look at my suggestion on the last page and see what you think.

Parchment

Hi All - my other half convinced me to book a cruise. I am very much against the idea but we will visit some interesting places so hopefully it will be enjoyable.

We are flying to Hong Kong and then will visit, China (obviously), Japan and Vietnam.

I have a question :
-The company we booked with were kind of iffy about where we would need visas for if we didnt go with an official shore excursion (which we wont be doing). We will do our own thing - should i clarify the need for visas through the cruise line (Royal Caribbean), the booking agent or the relevant embassies?

Nicolleok8

Hi! Hoping someone can help me here! My mother is due to go on an MSC cruise that leaves from Civitavecchia in Rome she will be flying into Ciampino via Ryanair however I can't see any organise shuttle services from Ciampino to Civitavecchia port. Has anyone done a cruise from Rome? could you recommend any private companies a lot of them want to be prepaid which suits me but just in case they did not show up etc.
Any advice would be great thanks in advance!

RoYoBo

We used this company http://www.civitavecchiacabservice.com/ last time we cruised from Civitavecchia - no money up front and they were reliable and efficient. We did find another couple in advance to share the journey with us though, which cuts the price considerably.

If she's travelling on her own, the cost is a bit steep. It is possible to take a bus shuttle into Rome Termini and then a train to Civitavecchia - we did this on the way back and it was a lot cheaper but a bit more stressful and time consuming. The train for Civitavecchia is quite a long walk from the bus shuttle point.

coylemj

Parchment wrote: »

-The company we booked with were kind of iffy about where we would need visas for if we didnt go with an official shore excursion (which we wont be doing). We will do our own thing - should i clarify the need for visas through the cruise line (Royal Caribbean), the booking agent or the relevant embassies?

Check on the relevant embassy websites, do not rely on what some phone jockey tells you. If the country has no embassy in Ireland, check their UK embassy.

For travel in multiple Asian countries, I would make sure that there is 3 or even 6 months remaining on the passport, a lot of Gulf and Asian countries have this ridiculous rule that you cannot enter the country unless there are several months remaining on your passport.

discombobulate

Anyone recommend a cruise for October where weather will be reliable for a honeymoon. Looking at 7-10 days preferably not from Europe and with flights included where possible

Gamebred

discombobulate wrote: »

Anyone recommend a cruise for October where weather will be reliable for a honeymoon. Looking at 7-10 days preferably not from Europe and with flights included where possible

Caribeen season, im looking at october myself on oasis of the seas.

joebre

Looking back on this thread, I see that some have used US Travel Agents or maybe booking through an US Site.
I was looking at MSC US and saw different offers from that on MSC Ireland. For example, there was Buy One, Get One Free.
There are also many on line agents on Cruise Critic.
What are peoples recommendations for buying on-line, compared through travel agents based in Ireland ?