Obilix

We're doing a cruise from Amsterdam to St Petersburg next August, and I've been checking out a couple of days pre cruise hotel accomodation so we can be fresh for the cruise.

Someone on a roll call thread suggested Movenpick as a near cruise terminal hotel, but I was suprised to find the cost per night was about AU $500 for a basic double room, and most similar establishments in the area charged about as much.

Would it be cheaper to stay say 5 - 10 kilometres out of town and just taxi in on the day, or is that a realistic rate for a 3 - 4 star establishment anywhere in Amsterdam? Would Amsterdam traffic be an issue from out of town?

I know the cost is what it is, and when in Rome, and all that, but, if can save a few meaningful dollars.....

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Poor old Clive.

He's lost his money, he's lost his reputation, he's lost the credibility he had with his dudded Queensland refinery workers, and he's apparently lost touch with his Nephew, who has disappeared overseas rather than make himself available for court appearances.

On the plus side, he hasn't lost any weight.

So we have booked a cruise and paid.

The travel agent tells us a few weeks later that if we pay an extra $700 we will receive a further $1600 in onboard credit.

It's a reputable TA so we accepted and paid.

But I've been thinking about it since, and I'm a little confused as to why. It's not an incentive, as we've paid, so why on earth effectively give away $900?

Am I missing something?

Not being smart, but if it's a Carnival Spirit cruise coming up, it;s likely to be a fairly short cruise, so why can't you or your other half have the bunk bed, and the child sleep on the single/double?

A little inconvenient or uncomfortable perhaps, but hey, it's a holiday, and sleep can be caught up on during the day.

I live near Fremantle, and travel overseas from the Perth International terminal once or twice a year.

I have never had to wait more than a minute for a taxi day or night.

Approx cost to Fremantle not more than $70AUD.

Cheaper transport modes are available, but are less convenient and less prompt.

I lost a toothbrush once. It was my favorite. Looked everywhere. Finally I had to settle for one of those cheap ones hotels will give you when you forget something. A week later I found it, and the Dryer. It was in with my dirty laundry, but it got cleaned, so I was reunited!

 

 

(lost and found was no help whatsoever)

You expect lost and found to scavenge through your dirty laundry in search of your toothbrush?

Now that's service, if you can get it!

It was intended to be appreciative of his attitude, whilst not condoning the offence he admitted to.

I'm sorry if you took it otherwise.

I admire your candour and acceptance of responsibility, if not your judgment at first instance.

The Amalfi Coast and Sorrento will be a 5 - 6 hour drive more or less. You could probably fit Pompeii in on the same day, and both are a must even if you never go to Naples again. Capri is also an option, or Mount Vesuvius or Herculaneum I have my concerns about you walking the streets of Naples without the language and without making yourself a target for tourist crime.

But the traffic can be horrendous. This is one place that a ship excursion is preferable over a land booked one (which is considerably cheaper). If you miss your boarding time going to Amalfi/Sorrento your are in trouble if you haven't booked on the ship, and it's possible the bus will be delayed in its return.

Does not concern us. We do not know all of the facts. So why bother commenting?

Because we can?

Maybe the Captains wife and kids wanted to come on board and the ship was full, so he conspired with the disembarkation crew to set up an incident to free up a suitable cabin, and the Chans were the selected bunnies ....

Come on folks, strap your tinfoil hats on, and come along for the ride!

Or Singapore airlines, with a stopover in Singapore.

There are worse places to transit or stopover than Singapore.

MasterCard is as widely accepted as Visa in Australia, and also in my experience, in most of Asia.

American Express is not well regarded by traders due to what they consider are its excessive fee structure.

Since Trump became your President.

We can't be too careful, and need to be forewarned if he ever attempts to visit here.

I think you've got more to fear from a drunken, aggressive fare paying passenger than a stowaway, who's more intent on being unnoticed until he gets to the next port than to wreak havoc and be caught.

The stowaway is more likely to snaffle the left over burger bun you leave outside your state room door than to punch out your lights.

Thanks, rukkian.

These initials confuse. I logged onto this thread because I thought it was a new disease, like norovirus, that I should beware of!

What's an FCC?

Having read this thread, I'm satisfied it is a genuine post by the thread starter.

I know my opinion stands for diddly squat, but the initial post looked to me like a commercial for Disney. I have never sailed on Disney but I have sailed on other lines, and I feel that those I have been on have done as much as they could to promote cleanliness and sanitary conditions on board, and I didn't see why Disney should be presented as the best example.

Having read the thread through, I understand Christina's concerns, and am pleased others have addressed them.

There are a lot of misunderstandings on these fora, and frequent flame wars, so I guess it's important that we state the reasons for our inquiries first up, so that people like me don't grasp the wrong end of the pineapple!

You get a list of daily activities each day, by newsletter and or on the television.. There is always a wide variety, and it is seldom that nothing takes your interest, in which unlikely event you can have a lie down in your cabin, go to the pool, go to the bar, read, go shopping, or just vege out. You are on holiday!!

Only a few activities require pre booking. It is your choice to do everything, anything or nothing.

Yes, you chose the time slot you want to dine, and you attend at that time. If you don't chose, turn up and you will be fed during dining room sittings as soon as a table is available. Or you can eat anywhere else they provide food on the ship. In speciality restaurants, you usually pay something extra.

Go with the flow. Any pre conceptions and concerns you have will be blown away, and any "problems" easily resolved one way or the other, as long as you are reasonable in your expectations.

I have cruised on a few different lines, though not yours, and nothing much changes.

Enjoy!

Be kind to these fragile people and their Emotional Support Dogs.

Offer to exercise the dogs for their owners.

Then play fetch on the promenade deck, making sure your ball or stick lands in the water.

If that doesn't work, then .... well ...... you guys have the Constitutional right to bear arms, don't you?

Oh, and some of us are just tight arsed bastards.

I'm Australian, and tipping is not part of our culture.

Part of this is due to our Labour laws, which by and large provide for a reasonably fair wage (wait staff in Australia earn $22 - $25 AUD per hour{$17 -20 US} plus some penalty loadings), partly that as a society, due to our distance (historically) from everywhere else, we have grown to be self sufficient and independent, and partly that we are (or believe we are) egalitarian, and expect service and assistance, just as we extend it to others within our work places, as part of our jobs.

Generalities, I know, and I am in no way attempting to aggrandize myself or my country men and women, but it is a fact that in every day life in Australia we just do not tip or expect to be tipped.

Only in Top End restaurants and flea bite tourist traps is there any expectation of a tip, and even there it is seldom pushed.

On my first over seas trip I was aware of the requirement to tip individually (no pre -paid gratuities) and, honestly, the prospect of having to tip mortified me. It coloured my enjoyment of the trip and embarrassed me, as, I assumed, I was embarrassing and demeaning the recipient.

However, adopting the When in Rome principle, I did tip the recommended 15% or thereabouts and came to realise that tipping or not tipping was a mind set, and by necessity or custom, the recipients accepted and expected it as a normal part of their employment.

I'm a lot more experienced traveller and cruiser now, and would not think of not tipping, except in Australia or New Zealand.

End of rant.

I hope it helps you not to think less of my country men (and Kiwis) in our approach to tipping. We've been culturally deprived!

Why are you Americans so unkind?

(Ducks head to avoid incoming missiles.)

And at the end of each season they have a World Series against Ireland. The Irish play with a soccer ball which has no resemblance to an Australian Rules oblong ball, but the Aussies don't seem to notice or care.

The Irish game, characteristically of the Irish, is extremely physical, having its roots in curling, whereas in Aussie Rules robust tackling and unnecessary bodily contact is forbidden, and heavily penalized.

For example, should an Australian player, in the heat of the game, approach an Umpire, and say to him "you're doing an exceptionally good job old chap", and pat him on the back, he could be subject to a life long suspension.

This game is called a "hybrid" game, I don't know why, but I suspect its because half the Aussies who are prepared to play it are of Irish descent, and half the Irish who do so are descended from marooned sailors from the Spanish Armada.

Or it may be because they interchange the rules to confuse each other, and therefore make the game more interesting, in a Keystone Cop-esque kind of way.

Some authorities however claim the proper description of the game is a "mongrel". This suggestion suffers from the dichotomy that the name mongrel in Australia is used exclusively to refer to an Umpire, and in Ireland to refer to an Englishman.

There could be a lot of confusion unless the umpire was of English descent, which fortuitously is quite likely in Australia.

Enjoy your visit here, but for the sake of your sanity, stay away from Aussie Rules.

Oh, and its the only sport in the world where you get a point for missing ....