Murcia Spain shore excursion not worth it if the cathedral is closed

 I took the Murcia on your own shore excursion via RCL. It was 60cdn for a 4.5 hour tour. As always with RCL on your own tours is just a bus ride to/from the destination. The guide only speaks to tell you when you arrive in Murcia where the Cathedral is and when to get back on the bus at the pickup point.

The cathedral is a five minute walk from where they drop you off. It’s one of two must sees in this town. I had about 10 minutes inside before they said they were closing..no explanation. 

The other place to see is the Casino Real about 5 minutes from the Cathedral. Ask for directions as it’s a side street. It is amazing outside and inside with the arabica tiles, sculptures and art. If you just go to the first floor it’s free. I paid the 5 euros to be able to go upstairs. It’s not worth it, as only one room is open.

The other thing to do is wander the streets for shopping and bakeries. Note I found only one souvenir shop across from casino real. This is not a tourist destination. 

The river that runs through the middle of town has a whale sculpture but the pathway is overgrown.

This excursion is only worth it if the cathedral is open. 

The drive to and from is just the highway with some fields. 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Alicante cruise port..how to have an easy day

 The ship will try to get you to take the port shuttle for 7 euros saying it’s 35 to 40 minutes to the port. It was exactly 4 minutes by bus or a slow 20 minutes walking. Don’t let them rip you off.  To have a pleasant easy day in Alicante below are tips

- go to the town hall first. It’s straight ahead from the ocean museum thru the old gate. It’s free and an interesting building. 

-next before the 10 am opening time go to the castle elevator. It’s across from the beach promenade about a 10 minute walk from the town hall. You will pass by their church which is not open to tourists. If you get there before opening you will have a quick wait for the elevator and it’s free for seniors. It 2.7 euros otherwise. Up at the top the views are great. Note it is the same view regardless of how high you climb. It’s really just remnants of the castle walls that are left. There are free toilets and a shop, and a small kiosk with ice cream.  You can walk back down through a colourful neighborhood but I took the elevator.

- I then walked along the beach promenade and sat on a bench people watching. It’s a very clean beach. If it was warmer water I would have brought a bathing suit.

- the main promenade across from the marina has restaurants and shops. The back streets are full of hotels, shops and restaurants. This is definitely a beach town more so than a cultural Mecca.

- the walk along the marina is scenic with many people with take out lunches having their food on a bench 

- they have set up a large market place with shoes, souvenirs, clothing and lots of junk for sale in the stalls

Then either take the shuttle or walk 20 minutes to the ship.

This is definitely a beach destination.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Malaga Spain walkable to main sites, beach and shopping

 If you love to walk this is the city for you. The ship docks on a lovely promenade. It’s a quick 10 minutes walk to the beach. Below are my recommendations for what to see if you’re not doing a beach day.

Centre Pompidou is your first stop just past the beach and before the main street. You can’t miss the checkered glass. The museum is underground and its 5.5 euros for seniors for the permanent and visitor exhibit. If you love modern art and interesting architecture it’s not to be missed.

Then turn left and walk on the park promenade about 10 minutes to the castle, cathedral and main shopping and restaurant area.  The cathedral had a huge line so I skipped it and I had been to the castle on my last trip here. 

On the way back walk along the waterfront promenade with lots of hand made crafts kiosks, restaurants and shops bak to the ship.

It’s easy to get lost in the maze of streets around the cathedral so just ask a local in the shops or restaurants to point you to the waterfront.

It’s become quite expensive to shop and eat in restaurants here, so a cheap lunch can be had by getting a sandwich or pastries at the bakeries and sit on the shaded benches in one of the parks or promenade.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Royal Caribbean The Key program not worth it unless it’s just a couple of dollars more per day over the internet price

 This is my first time getting the Key on RCL. It was only $32 cdn more than the price for the 16 days of the internet. So here’s my recommendations

- only get the key if you are definitely getting the internet package 

- watch for a sale for it when you book your cruise … RCL does surge pricing so the earlier you book your cruise the better the key and internet price will be

- only book it if the daily rate is $2 or less more than the standard alone internet price per day.

- you get a special lunch day one, free carry on bags to your cabin, special seating area for shows and preferred times for flow rider,etc. also a special breakfast on the last day. The chops grill lunch is 30 dollars value and the special seating area is great at shows as it’s hard to get a good seat on the mega ships

- only do it on the oasis or quantum class ships that are always crowded and over booked. You do not need it on the older and smaller ships

Hope this helps

Marcia

Nassau Bahamas is more cruise passenger friendly. Some tips for walking around on your own

 I have been to Nassau many times. But I began avoiding it as it was not safe or cruise passenger friendly. The last time was about 10 years ago, so when I saw the new port area I was impressed. 

It’s clean, fresh with stalls/stores as you exit. There is a taxi kiosk if you want  to go to paradise island, cable beach etc. farther afield. Use this for safety and a guaranteed fare price.

A straw market building just outside the port fence is still packed with vendors but few selling anything with straw. It’s much cheaper here for t shirts and hats. So within a 5 minute walk you can shop til you drop. However for a little bit of culture walk for 5 minutes up to king street to Christ church. It free and quite beautiful inside. 

walk another 5 minutes up the hill to the government building and turn right at the lights. You will see a sign post with Graycliffe hotel. You can’t miss the street with the colourful umbrellas overhead. There is the hotel with security but they let me walk in and look around. There is also a winery and chocolate factory and shops and restaurants. It’s a cute, safe area, but with the better quality goods more expensive.

I then walked back down to the main shopping street just one street up parallel to the port. It’s a flat area with many different types of shops. It’s worth a bit of window shopping but the best prices are at the straw market… haggle the vendors down to 65% of their first price. 

I spent 3 hours doing this at a slow pace talking to locals, enjoying the church and, graycliffe area. All of the locals I came in contact with were friendly and quite humorous.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Harmony of the Seas…Shabby, in desperate need of repair and crowded

 Harmony of the Seas - one word describes its appearance Shabby. Yes it is due to go into dry dock for amplification but there is no excuse for all the scuffs, peeling paint, and general ugliness of the ship, the cabins, and the chairs.  All the white paint on the ship is a greyish tone with scuff marks and general disrepair everywhere. My first cabin didn’t have hot water for six days in the mornings. The plumbers would come each day and then by the next morning it was cold again. After calling maintenance, customer service and the house keeping supervisor with a desperate letter to the hotel director it was finally fixed. I received a FCC for 20% of the cruise price I paid and they upgraded my cabin. 

The paint around my cabin window has peeled off. And even the mattress topper is no longer a help as the the mattress is caved in on one side. In the new balcony cabin it is very difficult to open the balcony door and I have a ghost in the toilet as it flushes by itself night and day. I had rusty water that required running the water for 10 minutes to get it to clear. 

The hallways smell of pee.

All venues on the promenade are packed with people at all times. You have to get to morning trivia 45 minutes ahead for a seat. It doesn’t help that the weather has been cold on the transatlantic crossing.  

Guests are 90% plus American and the ship caters to them with a huge American flag on the promenade as well as entertainment.

While staff are generally polite and nice, they are prone to lip service versus genuine helpfulness. Only the hotel housekeeper management has been responsive.  They are the shining stars on this ship.

 I know I am painting an awful picture but there are some great things about this ship. Below is my list:

Food has been hot when it’s supposed to be, always fresh and the service in the dining venues excellent except for chops grille where they hurried us thru our meal. The food is repetitive in all venues. As always with RCL on transatlantics they ran out of many fresh fruit.

Windjammer their buffet has not been overly crowded for breakfast as I have gotten a table by the window each day.

My cabins are clean however the first day I needed 6 Lysol wipes as the window and desks needed sanitization.

The shows have many repeat acts from their other ships. Voices, the ice shows, the aqua show all require reservations. Reserve before you board.

The disembarkation was orderly and quick.

Tips:

When Rcl cancels shows in the aqua theatre, they automatically schedule you for another day same time

Rcl changes the time going east to Europe at 2 pm each day.

When I missed the key lunch the first day due to their Rcl shuttle being delayed by over an hour, customer service rescheduled another lunch for me and gave me a choice of venue. It may be better to miss this first day key lunch and go another day.

The park cafe and mini bites are less busy for breakfast and lunch

Exiting and boarding the ship in port has been quick, just bring a picture id. 

Nearing the end of the cruise, the skating and aqua shows are less busy

Passengers have been very friendly and no political discussions, so don’t raise political topics 

Am I enjoying myself? It’s ok but not great.

Hope this helps

Marcia

United Airlines to Houston from Toronto.. it’s risky to go on a same day as a cruise

 I recently took United airlines from Toronto to Houston the same day as my cruise was leaving. Big mistake.  The cruises leave from Galveston which is a 90 minute drives from IAH airport. The only direct flight leaves at 6:10 am on UA. It’s supposed to take 4 hours and get you there at 9 am cst. I arrived at 11:20 am with an unscheduled stop at college town airport for refueling due to a slow down at the airport due to high winds. I am told the high winds are frequent. What I was mad at was UA not having sufficient fuel given this is a regular occurrence. 

I then almost missed the last RCL shuttle at noon but it was delayed to 12:45pm due to other passengers delays.  I arrived at the port at 2:45 pm.

The pilot and flight attendants were great and kept us informed, but I wouldn’t take a chance again by leaving same day.  The RCL emergency hotline stated it was a 30 minute wait time to speak to an agent. Not good either. I was lucky to get aboard as the porters were finishing up so they said take your own luggage. 

I missed the Key lunch but customer service has rescheduled it for me. 

Go a day before. It will cost you about a 40usd for the shuttle from the airport and another $150usd for an airport hotel but it’s probably worth it.

Hope this helps

Marcia