Mrs Miggins

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad !

Thanks for everyone's input. We did get the water bottles on our last Scenic Rhone river cruise in 2022 and we also got the travel bags. Our July cruise will be our 4th one, but our friends have done 6 and they have the chauffeur service. We live close by and Scenic agreed that we could share their taxi. Also I have noticed they have been advertising this lovely benefit as included lately. They never advertised the back pack etc in the past, it just came as a great extra.

I wonder if anyone can help with a small question. In the past Scenic have offered us a free gift of a backpack or a travel bag. Last year that was discontinued and a £50 per person OBC was offered instead - according to our friends. We are booked on a Bordeaux cruise at the beginning of July. We have done this before and really loved it. However I cannot find any reference to the £50 OBC. It may well have been discontinued but would anyone have any information ?

The DLR Cutty Sark station is a 2 minute walk to The Cutty Sark Experience and the Old Royal Naval College (The Painted Hall and the lovely Chapel ) It is also just across the road to Greenwich Market. The Maritime Museum and the Queens House are just across the main road. A 10 minute uphill walk to the Observatory through lovely Greenwich Park. I would always look at Google Maps street view to see the area properly. However I would agree that if time is limited an Uber taxi might be the easiest option. There is really nothing in Tilbury and I would be very upset about this change.

Thanks for the replies. I am happy to say I have booked the B2B on Onward for this September. However my TA was told that the generous OBC ($650 - for 4 day cruise and $800 for 7 day) has to be used separately. I have only one booking number. Whilst it is lovely to have so much OBC the prices of the shore excursions are huge - so it will disappear quickly. We chose the itinerary because it included many of our favourite ports. We have been to all of them several times and are quite used to getting on a bus or ferry independently. It's difficult to justify the prices when we know using public transport the cost would be just a few euros. However we determined to spend it all. I just hope the onboard shop has improved. We have never been on Onward but have enjoyed all the other ships several times.

Thank you Combine ! I think we met on a Azamara cruise some years ago ! Or perhaps it was during that lovely time when Richard Twynam was in charge in the UK when he arranged such great events. That information is really helpful. The new Azamara lady did get that bit right. Will try one of the larger TA’s tomorrow as well

Yes they are to two cruises - a 4 night and 7 night. I would of course expect different amounts each week. However, after speaking with Azamara my TA has said for the two cruises combined each person would get $250 plus $75 for the B2B. ie a total of $650 for the two cruises. The Azamara representative told me that we would get $650 for the first short cruise and $850 for the second cruise. I did ask her to check twice. This is obviously a substantial difference. I plan to try a couple of other TA's tomorrow, I just wonder if anyone has ever had the actual amount of OBC confirmed after a phone quote or if it can be seen anywhere online.

I am interested in booking a B2B at the end of September 2024 on Onward. I asked my TA for a quote. I also phoned Azamara for a quote. I spoke to a young lady in Kansas who told me she was newly assigned to the UK Desk. The price she gave me was obviously wrong. I asked her to recheck and got a different price, and then eventually at the third request the quote was similar to the on line price. Slightly more than the quote from my TA. However there was a big difference in the OBC offered $650 for the first cruise and $800 for the second. My TA was $650 total for the two cruises including $75 pp for the B2B. All prices should have included the 10% discount offered in an email today for the Azamara Circle. Is there any way to establish what the OBC should really be. The phone call to Kansas was long and confusing. I did ask for confirmation of price and OBC but what I got was a Booking Confirmation (showing nothing paid) showing the price but not giving any OBC details.

You could of course go to both !

For those that like shopping a visit to Le Bon Marche Rive Gauche is wonderful. Not as touristy as Galleries Lafayette - full of exquisite items, plus a fantastic food hall. Close to Les Invalides and Musee Rodin. https://www.lebonmarche.com/en/store/culture/heritage-lebonmarche

I would recommend Azamara. They have more interesting itineraries and the age range is slightly younger. Lovely crew. Usually about 50% from North America, many from the UK and Australia/New Zealand. Excellent food, not quite as formulaic as Viking ie Chefs seem to have more leeway to do their own thing. Would recommend a CC suite which gives many benefits and the price point would seem to be similar to an ordinary balcony room on Viking. The ships are older but well maintained. The Captains seem to have more leeway in terms of changing ports. ie reversing the Mykonos and Santorini stops due to congestion in Santorini. We were disappointed on our last Viking trip to miss Monaco due to weather - every time we have been there with Azamara we have docked - with Viking we tendered (we also docked once with them). We have had a weather issue on Azamara and they immediately re routed to another port. I did speak to the Viking Captain who happened to be getting coffee in the Atrium - he more or less implied it was too much bother. Actually the passengers on Azamara seem to be more cheerful !

Not sure I understand this. Friend is on one of these cruises and apparently ship only sails through the Straits of Gibraltar but does not stop. Actually I think this is a missed opportunity. Many on our Azamara cruise especially enjoyed the WW2 tunnels. One of the many highlights on that cruise was Seville. Absolutely wonderful. We sailed up the Guadalquivir River and docked for an overnight right in the heart of the city.

May 1st - Celtic Sea ? Sounds lovely - however I think they mean The Bay of Biscay which is not quite so glamorous.

There were plans for a permanent Cruise Port to be built in Greenwich. Strong local opposition (due to the environmental impact specifically on air quality) and the high costs involved have stopped that. However the locals do not object to the occasional cruise liner ! Something else to look at in beautiful Greenwich.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"