*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

Thoie

Forever21 wrote: »

I’m considering doing royal Caribbean anthem of the seas northern cruise 29th May 2020. Has anyone ever done this & would you recommend it. First time cruising & one in our group is full time wheelchair user.

Wheelchair accessible cabins sell out fast, so if you need one of those, I'd get a deposit down asap. There's only about 30 fully accessible cabins on the ship. They have wider doors, roll in showers, etc.

If they're partially mobile (e.g. can walk a couple of steps) it's probably less important, but if they're 100% wheelchair bound, a lot of the cabins are very tight for cornering etc. In general the ships are very accessible for wheelchairs/limited mobility, including, iirc, a hoist for at least one of the jacuzzis. Staff are always very willing to assist as well.

Forever21

Thoie wrote: »

Wheelchair accessible cabins sell out fast, so if you need one of those, I'd get a deposit down asap. There's only about 30 fully accessible cabins on the ship. They have wider doors, roll in showers, etc.

If they're partially mobile (e.g. can walk a couple of steps) it's probably less important, but if they're 100% wheelchair bound, a lot of the cabins are very tight for cornering etc. In general the ships are very accessible for wheelchairs/limited mobility, including, iirc, a hoist for at least one of the jacuzzis. Staff are always very willing to assist as well.

Booked the cruise today, just paid a deposit of €165 per person so looking forward to it now. Have some serious saving to do. Managed to get the wheelchair cabin & it has a balcony as well, it’s on deck 7 & next to the lifts they said. Wouldn’t have managed without the accessible cabin as son can’t walk but has strong upper body strength . Looking forward to it now.

deisemum

My son and his girlfriend are going on a Caribbean cruise one the MSC Seaside this weekend going from Miami. Has anyone got recommendations of excursions at the following ports please?

San Juan in Puerto Rico,
Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands,
Philipsburg in St. Martins,
Nassau in the Bahamas and back to Miami.

Can they get public transport from the airport to the port?

fitzparker

I did it in march for honeymoon (Different port's except Nassau where we just went to the local beach)

Yes you can get public transport as soon as you walk out, but if not savvy make sure its a yellow cab, stupidly we got into a random car and was charged $35 for a 8 minute drive to an airport hotel.

If they are staying over in Miami book the everglades, it was one of the best things we did.

Thoie

deisemum wrote: »

My son and his girlfriend are going on a Caribbean cruise one the MSC Seaside this weekend going from Miami. Has anyone got recommendations of excursions at the following ports please?

San Juan in Puerto Rico,
Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands,
Philipsburg in St. Martins,
Nassau in the Bahamas and back to Miami.

Can they get public transport from the airport to the port?

In St Maarten I'd highly recommend Bernard's Tours (https://www.bernardstours.com/) - I've done a few myself, and everyone else that I know that's been on them has spoken highly of them as well. I've always booked in advance, but even if you chance your arm on arrival they're very well organised and set up.

Magen's Bay in Charlotte Amalie is nice if you want a beach day.

San Juan is very walkable (quite hilly), there's a tram around Old San Juan as well. The El Yunque rain forest trips are nice too. It all depends on what you enjoy doing - general sightseeing from a bus? Walking? Activities?

munstergirl

deisemum wrote: »

My son and his girlfriend are going on a Caribbean cruise one the MSC Seaside this weekend going from Miami. Has anyone got recommendations of excursions at the following ports please?

San Juan in Puerto Rico,
Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands,
Philipsburg in St. Martins,
Nassau in the Bahamas and back to Miami.

Can they get public transport from the airport to the port?

Charlotte Amalie is St Thomas, lots of shopping near ship, cable car to top of hill view of virgin islnds, short taxi to beach. No need for tour.

San Juan, beautiful old town to wander, old fort near port.

Nassau taxi to paradise island beach. possible to go to atlantis but have to pay.

St Martean taxi or walk to beach not too far. Lots duty free shopping too.

No need for tours in any of the ports.

GenuineFan

We have never hired a boat previously. We are interested in doing a few says on the Shannon next June. There may be 5 of us. Any ideas, suggestions, etc.

Fann Linn

I've done this a fair few times including this year. I normally go Carrick Craft and continue to use same as I find their boats, staff and prices really good. From my own experience I prefer taking the boat from Bellanaleck, Enniskillen and heading north into
Lough Erne. Plenty to see and do from Round Towers, historic homes and castles, WW 2 sea plane base, and not to mention mooring alongside some lovely hotels and golf courses where you can normally avail of the facilities for a small fee.

Heading south from Enniskillen brings you through Carysbridge, Ballyconnell and Belturbet. Nice wandering passage with a few locks which are not manned by Waterway Ireland staff but are operated by way of a smart card. Again nice pubs and islands along the way where ye can either pull in for a meal or just sit alongside and cook yourself.

Pick a boat up in Carrick on Shannon ye can head north to Ballyconnell/Belturbet. Lots of locks to manouvere through although these are manned by WI staff however, from my experience far too much work and as the season gets busier the queues at the locks also increase.

Picking a boat up in Banagher, Offaly, ye can head south to Portumna in Galway and from there onto Lough Derg, and zig zag from Co. Tipp to Co. Clare and all the way south to Killaloe. The most southerly point you can cruise to with a hire boat. Heading north from Banagher you can go to Shannonbridge, Clonmacnoise, Athlone, Hodson Bay and back up to Carrick if time allows.

Some practical advice here, from March to early May and from Sept. there are very reasonable deals available, and sometimes offers such as 7 nights for the price of 5 or 10/8 etc. Similar to a hire car, the boat is provided with a full tank of fuel and you refill what's used on return. Depending on class of boat and company, insurances are required either by swiping a credit card or paying a CDW. If ye sign up their sites on fb or email etc you might also get really cheap offers if you are readily available to actually move the boats from one base to another at the start and finish of the season.

If you require any further info just ask.
Enjoy.

beggars_bush

If you can bring a portable gas BBQ with you then you can have great meals while moored at a scenic spot

Joekers

Looking at heading on our first cruise in July of next year and ideally thinking of the med starting point Venice.

Anyone any recent good or bad experiences or thatcould recommend the best ship or cruise line ?

So much to choose from.

Thoie

Joekers wrote: »

Looking at heading on our first cruise in July of next year and ideally thinking of the med starting point Venice.

Anyone any recent good or bad experiences or thatcould recommend the best ship or cruise line ?

So much to choose from.

"Best" is so subjective. Are you 87 years old and want ballroom dancing on demand? Are you 23 and want to party until 4am? Have you always had a desire to be surrounded by people wearing union jack tshirts 24/7? We need some clues!

Joekers

Late 20's not looking for anything too crazy but definitely not surrounded by 87 year old ballroom dancers.

Looking at just something I suppose as to the traditional holiday we've been going on past few years and said a cruise would be a good alternative as we always tend to go all inclusive. Be nice to see a few different places whilst having the comfort of the ship.

coylemj

Joekers wrote: »

Late 20's not looking for anything too crazy but definitely not surrounded by 87 year old ballroom dancers.

If you've no kids then it would be worth your while to consider September instead, it won't be as hot in the Med. and there will very few kids, just a few toddlers in buggies.

If you really want to go in July, maybe a Baltic cruise? Long hours of daylight and good cities to visit.

Thoie

Joekers wrote: »

Late 20's not looking for anything too crazy but definitely not surrounded by 87 year old ballroom dancers.

Looking at just something I suppose as to the traditional holiday we've been going on past few years and said a cruise would be a good alternative as we always tend to go all inclusive. Be nice to see a few different places whilst having the comfort of the ship.

Any of the mainstream lines would probably suit you - Royal Caribbean, MSC (who have much better prices for drink packages if you like a drink), NCL, Carnival.

Prices of drink packages vary from line to line, but can be quite expensive. If you're big drinkers they may be worth it, but if you just want the odd glass of wine, they're not.

Don't forget that there's a per person daily service charge - usually around $14 - that's an extra $200 per week for a couple. You can pay it in advance, or it will be added to your bill at the end of the cruise.

Pullmantur are relatively cheap, but I've heard from friends that the ships are showing their age. P&O are very "Rule Brittania". Regent Seven Seas, HAL and Seabourn seem to be more expensive/older crowds.

Mollyb60

Joekers wrote: »

Late 20's not looking for anything too crazy but definitely not surrounded by 87 year old ballroom dancers.

Looking at just something I suppose as to the traditional holiday we've been going on past few years and said a cruise would be a good alternative as we always tend to go all inclusive. Be nice to see a few different places whilst having the comfort of the ship.

I'll be sailing on the P&O cruise from Valetta around the eastern Med next September. A 7 night cruise stopping into Venice, Dubrovnik, Split and Rovinj. Haven't sailed on P&O before so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Have sailed on Royal Caribbean before which was pretty good.

Just a note of caution, cruises sell out fast and well in advance. When I booked last month most of the cabins were already gone on most decks. Might be worthwhile having a look at a few of the cruise line websites and see what sort of itineraries you would like. The RC one we did before was around the Greek islands and Sicily sailing out from Rome. That was a really great trip.

coylemj

Thoie wrote: »

P&O are very "Rule Brittania".

+1 they don't get much mention here, probably because their ships are smaller than the main cruise lines but the advice above also applies to Fred Olsen. Even a travel writer for the Daily Telegraph felt that the ambience was 'too British' for her!

Mike3549

We gonna book msc magnifica very shortly. Travel in sept 2020 from venice, visiting bari, dubrovnik, santorini, chania (crete) and corfu in greece. At first the plan was to go there at the end of august, but from the last cruise experience and some research realised that its gonna be too hot 30degs most days and overcrowded. Mind you, we will be traveling with 2 kids, so our options are traveling in summer or in sept when theres still not much happening at schools. I would say june, late sept or early oct would be the best time for you, not too hot, cheaper and no crazy kids running around.

enfant terrible

Hi guys,

Looking to book a cruise to the Mediterranean in April for the parents.

Can anybody tell me what ports are relatively easy to reach from either Shannon, Dublin or Cork airports?

From my research so far Barcelona look fairly easy to get too.

Thanks

batman1

Can anyone recommend a 7 night cruise in March?
First time cruise. Where to go etc?

Looking into a cruise as an alternative to a hotel for a week in the canaries. Would like to just chill with a bit of heat
Couple in mid 30s.

Exiled1

enfant terrible wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to book a cruise to the Mediterranean in April for the parents.

Can anybody tell me what ports are relatively easy to reach from either Shannon, Dublin or Cork airports?

From my research so far Barcelona look fairly easy to get too.

Thanks

Venice might be ok too. Some great cruises from there.

Mike3549

batman1 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a 7 night cruise in March?
First time cruise. Where to go etc?

Looking into a cruise as an alternative to a hotel for a week in the canaries. Would like to just chill with a bit of heat
Couple in mid 30s.

Theres no heat in europe in march. You should look in to caribbean, middle east or repositioning cruises. Eg theres 12 day royal cariibbean allure of the seas departing fort lauderdale, FL and arriving barcelona. March 20, 15 days rio to barcelona with msc seaview. March 18, 22 days dubai to rome civitavecchia with norvegian jade.

MIRMIR82

enfant terrible wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to book a cruise to the Mediterranean in April for the parents.

Can anybody tell me what ports are relatively easy to reach from either Shannon, Dublin or Cork airports?

From my research so far Barcelona look fairly easy to get too.

Thanks

Exiled1 wrote: »

Venice might be ok too. Some great cruises from there.

I would recommend Barcelona myself, only half an hour from airport to cruise port in a taxi. Costs 40 Euro. You are in the city itself there too so you can easily get in to have a look around. Haven't been to Venice, but flights do tend to be expensive to there, but like Exiled said, there are some great cruises from there.

coylemj

MIRMIR82 wrote: »

I would recommend Barcelona myself, only half an hour from airport to cruise port in a taxi. Costs 40 Euro. You are in the city itself there too so you can easily get in to have a look around. Haven't been to Venice, but flights do tend to be expensive to there, but like Exiled said, there are some great cruises from there.

Is that not putting the cart before the horse? You need to select a cruise first, that should be the primary factor in determining which city to fly to.

Barcelona and Genoa are the starting points for 8 day (7 nights) cruises which do a loop around the western Med. Cruises that start form Venice do the Adriatic and Aegean Sea, typically calling at two or three spots in Greece - our (MSC) cruise visited Piraeus (for Athens), Santorini & Corfu.

Not sure about other cruise lines but a quick check on the MSC website reveals that their western Med. cruises do not stop in any arab country - previously they would have included a stop in Morocco or Tunisia but they don't do that anymore, probably since the terrorist shootings in the resort in Tunisia a few years ago. Which means there is now usually one whole day 'at sea' when you don't stop anywhere!

Mike3549

coylemj wrote: »

Is that not putting the cart before the horse? You need to select a cruise first, that should be the primary factor in determining which city to fly to.

This 100%. When we booked our first cruise we had to choose between better itinerary (from venice) or better ship (from barcelona).
Went with cruise from barcelona also the fact that ryanair or aerlingus flies there 3 times a day compared once every 2 days to venice made it easier to choose.

kilkern5

Looking for information on some of the excursions. We are going on our first cruise in April with MSC out of Barcelona. My husband is not able to walk any great distance and the tours that you book with the ship seem to involve walking. Also my fear is that if we try to book them independently than too much walking may be involved also. Can anyone enlighten me if it’s possible to avoid too much walking. One of the reasons we picked a cruise is because we love to travel but walking is an issue for us. He doesn’t require any aid but is limited in how far he can walk.
We will be stopping in Ajaccio, Genoa, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Cannes, Parma de Mallorca.
Thanks for any advice.

coylemj

kilkern5 wrote: »

My husband is not able to walk any great distance and the tours that you book with the ship seem to involve walking. Also my fear is that if we try to book them independently than too much walking may be involved also. Can anyone enlighten me if it’s possible to avoid too much walking.

It depends on the specific tour. The coaches that take you on tours are dedicated to that excursion so in a lot of cases, it will be possible to stay on the bus when it stops to let people off for free time or for an organised walking tour.

But, in bigger cities it's often not possible for the bus to park at the spot where it drops you off so the driver will take it away and come back at the designated pickup time. And the driver may prefer that all passengers disembark. There's no simple answer to your question, you will need to ask on the ship if it will be possible to stay on the bus in respect of each excursion.

For each city, you need to see if there are other options like if the port is a stop for some of the 'hop on, hop off' coaches that do a continuous loop of the city. Or if some of the local taxi companies offer something like a one hour tour of the city.

kilkern5

Thanks for your reply. I suppose ideally it’s easier if we could see each destination in our own way in our own time. The excursions seem to be all or nothing. It would suit us to get the bus into the city and then be left to our own devices but when you pay for a tour it seems crazy to avail of it.

coylemj

kilkern5 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I suppose ideally it’s easier if we could see each destination in our own way in our own time. The excursions seem to be all or nothing. It would suit us to get the bus into the city and then be left to our own devices but when you pay for a tour it seems crazy to avail of it.

But you said your husband can’t walk any distance - how are you going to square that with your desire to ‘see each destination in our own way in our own time’?

Mollyb60

I think your best bet is to contact any company you're looking at booking a tour through and ask about the level of walking required. They may be able to recommend a suitable tour for your husband. There's no way for any of us to know. There are some tours that are literally a bus around the main points so that would likely be most suitable. In some ports there may be a shuttle bus from the port to the town/city centre and back that you could avail of. You'd have to ask the cruise company though. Or you could get a taxi from the port to the town and back.

coylemj

Mollyb60 wrote: »

In some ports there may be a shuttle bus from the port to the town/city centre and back that you could avail of. You'd have to ask the cruise company though.

They will only tell you about the official shuttle to the town which will be a complete rip-off. Experience tells me that you should never ask the cruise company because they only want to sell you official shuttles and excursions. The last thing they want is passengers going independent. If you ask if there is a local bus service, they will pretend not to know, even though the member of staff you're talking to will know if there is. Because that is how she and her mates will be going downtown.

Was on a cruise in the Mediterrean, the cruise company told us the night before that the nearest town to where we were going to dock the next morning was 19 kms away and they wanted €15 for the shuttle round trip. The evening before we docked, they were announcing that tickets for the shuttle were selling out, the implication being that if you didn't buy one there and then, you could be left behind on the boat. We ignored the pressure selling and the next day, we walked 500m to a port information office where they pointed out the bus stop outside from where we got a local bus the 3 kms to the town for €1.50.

Something similar hapened in Dubrovnoik, they wanted €20 for a bus to the old town. When we arrived, there was a line of taxis waiting at the cruise terminal so four of us piled into a taxi (brand new Skoda Octavia) and he brought to us to the old town for €20 all in. We hopped on the official bus for the return trip, nobody asked to see a ticket! Even for two people, a taxi each way was the same price as the official shuttle bus.