Nana4x

I have searched Grand Pineapple and Veranda Resort. Neither web site shows how you can book a day pass.

Were the passes purchased on site the day you arrived? OR did you purchase in advance from an agency and not the hotel?

If you can provide website that allows me to book in advance that would be great.

Thank You

Which cruise line was this with?

So far in my career, I have worked through 14 dry docks, 8 of them in the past 10 years.

Dry docks are always difficult.

But in recent years, the bean counters have become more involved. They don't like us sitting there with no revenues coming in.

So dry docks have become shorter - but the work involved has become more extensive. Something has to give in this situation. The easiest solution is to start the renovations during the last voyage before the dry dock. Contractors come aboard and start tearing things apart during the cruise. Many passengers complain. They are given some sort of compensation and an apology.

Then after the dry dock, renovations are typically not entirely completed. It is far too expensive to keep the ship in the dry dock long enough to finish, so we go back into service with the contractors still working. Many passengers complain. They are given some sort of compensation and an apology.

 

On a dry dock last year, my ship went back into service with 11 more days of work to complete. Entire areas of the ship were closed to passengers, and some venues could not be opened. Many passengers were quite upset about this. When the ship's management reported the many problems to our bosses in Miami, the answer was simple. "Buy them off". We gave many refunds, comped many dinners in specialty restaurants, and gifted many bottles of wine. Quite a few passengers claimed they would never cruise with us again.

mers."The response from Miami: "Remaining in dry dock long enough to properly finish the work would have cost us an additional $10 million in costs and lost revenues. Refunding cruise fares and losing a percentage of our loyal customers will cost us less than $1 million. This exercise has saved us over $9 million. We can easily replace the lost custo Case closed.

Bobbi,

 

I just wrote. Hope the old address I had for you is still good!

 

Mura

You are a dear I just replied to your email.

Mura my PC crashed and I lost all my email contacts.

If you have me in your contact list will you please email me. Have a question I would like to ask you.

BTW this new format is not making me happy.

Regards,

Bobbi Guerra

Mura-

We've discussed those towels.

The ones with "Oceania Cruises" monogrammed on them.

 

Jim

We got the monogrammed towels when we booked a private cabana on Regatta for our 18 day Miami to Lima cruise a few years back. The cabanas were taken out shortly thereafter

We paid the extra $20 pp per day for our January 21, 2017 Miami to Miami cruise.

We and several other cruisers were disappointed in the upgraded wine options.

There was no Pignot Grigio by the glass available. Toward the end of the cruise we were offered a bottle of this wine for $50 plus tip while dining in the Italian specialty venue. The next day the food and beverage manager heard my disappointment and got me the bottle to enjoy a glass. Someone mentioned that the prior cruise consumed a very large quantity of wine .. restocking of wine 🍷 Was ordered but one shipment was not loaded.

Dined there for lunch the day we boarded Equinox Jan 2016.

Slow service awful food. I opened my crepe .. The meat was technicolor. I did not eat it. The manager was supposed to call to talk to me about it. Several days later we connected. She apologized and Said she put a credit for $20 on our account. I said my husband enjoyed his meal. Well not completely enjoyed it was passable. Next day I looked at our account she charged us for hubbys meal. Oh well.

I know it seems like a long time away, but can anybody tell me when itineraries for 2016 are likely to be published? There is a cruise I would like to take in early 2015 but it's already booked solid and I don't want to be wait listed as it prevents me making other plans. But I would book it now for 2016 if only Oceania would take my money!

Our TA is taking early bookings. General bookings start Sept 17, 2014 looks like all the way to April 2016 will be open for booking soon.

Hi Cole,

Could you post the link to the review once it goes live.

Thanks in advance.

It appears that the blog being requested may not be for the cruise from Amsterdam to Basel as neither of those port cities are mentioned in the above. I have not read it in a long time with a quick glance it appears that it is for a Christmas Market cruise.

We are interested in Amsterdam to Basel for Sept 2015. If I find any reviews of value I will let you know. Please do the same for those so inclined.

No sure Lori is reading this thread.

Someone sent it to me Here it is.

BREISACH, GERMANY

This morning, we docked in Breisach am Rhein, our last stop before disembarking the ship in Basel tomorrow morning. Breisach is another small town but our tour for the day, again leaving too early in my mind, was about an hour away to a small tourist area in the heart of the Black Forest. Our local guide, who was on the bus with us, told us how lucky we were with the weather and soon enough we saw why. As the bus began to chug up the steep, narrow mountain roads between positively lovely little towns, the heavily snow-covered trees on the mountainsides that slowly were revealed with each bend in the road became absolutely breathtaking. The tall, narrow pines' branches drooped down like a basset hound's face with their heavy covering of snow and ranks upon ranks of them covered the mountainsides, with long, glistening valleys and meadows of pure, undisturbed white with the occasional chalet, town or tiny chapel huddled beneath them or nestled into little hollows, chimneys puffing woodsmoke into the frosty air. A smokey mist was clinging and winding through the hollows and valleys, wreathing around the tops of the mountains - our guide told us the local people said that the mountain witches were cooking when the mist was about. I think I took about 100 or so pictures, it was so lovely - as much as I normally dislike the cold, I love, love LOVE winter landscapes and this was something to beat anything I have ever seen before.

An all to short 45 minutes or so through the mountains brought us to the tourist area, where there were two main, large shops selling all manner of things german and Christmas, including a huge selection of handmade cuckoo clocks and glass ornaments. There was a Best Western chalet-style hotel and a restaurant serving REAL black forest cake, not the pitiful stuff we get at home. Another local guide offered to take anyone interested for a brief walk on the local hiking path through the forest - while Cliff, Gini and Rog stayed in the gift shops to keep warm, I trooped outside with about 15 others to do the walk. Just twenty yards up the path was a tiny but icy hill, which made the guide declare it too dangerous to continue and warned that anyone who wanted to keep going were on their own. Now, I am far too stupid to back down from a challenge and off I went, up the small, icy path on the hill and on the one of the most amazing experiences I have ever experienced. I was all alone, far into the wood, trudging through the 10 or so inches of snow that covered the path and every tree and branch on the mountain. A noisy, bubbling briskly-flowing stream burbled and flowed, icy cold and clear ever to the side of me - that and the sound of the occasional bird were my only companions as I hiked over footbridges, up hills and staircases and past crystal flowing waterfalls high up into the forest. A huge, rocky outcropping overhung the path at one point and long, perfectly formed diamond clear icicles covered every crevice where water had dripped down, prisms reflecting every speck of light they could glean from the cloudy skies. How beautiful it was, I will never be able to adequately describe - just the sound of the brook and my breath, steaming out in front of me and the crunch of the snow beneath my feet, gazing about me in amazed wonder and absolute delight in the natural beauty all about me. I did not want to miss my return bus ride but before I reluctantly turned back, I stood for a long moment, just drinking in the sites all about me, and reflecting on myself, alone and a mere speck, in all of that tree-stuffed, cotton crystal snowy magnificence. God has already been so good to me but I would still ask just one more favour - that the memory of that magic walk remain, unstained and pure in my mind as long as possible, until either I or the Black Forests of beautiful Germany are no more.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Another early morning as we breakfasted at 8:15 and on to the buses by 8:30. We were still in Germany, docked at Kiel, so a short 15 minutes later, we crossed the bridge border and into what is self proclaimed by the French as the Capital City of Christmas. Not totally true, perhaps, but boy, they gave it a damn good try - the city is Amazing. It's huge and very typically French - but as Germany is so close the influence creeps in and thus the area is also called Allsace, for the various nationalities that make their home there. Many of the buildings, many floored and colourful with gorgeous architecture are very reminiscent of Paris, as is the magnificent cathedral in the centre. Now THIS one was a jaw dropper - as were many of the churches we saw in France on previous trips, not only huge, ornate and magnificently carved on the exterior, it is ornamented on the inside with beautifully wrought statuary, huge and ornate paintings, painstakingly worked floor mosaics, you name it. There were a couple of special things inside this cathedral - a monster, 40 or so foot high clock that was made in the fashion of a giant cuckoo clock, complete with carved figures whirling, angels turning hourglasses, and other figures parading serenely past the central clock face as the hour strikes and different figures ringing bells, including and impish-looking devil who chimes away the hour. Another nice feature and evidently just for Christmas was a display of twelve huge and very old tapestries, depicting the life of the the Virgin Mary, hanging alongside the central naive. These tapestries, originally worked in the 1400's, are evidently on loan from the Paris Notre Dam and it was a real treat to see them.

Strasbourg also boasts the biggest Christmas market in the EU (again, so they say) and, I have to admit, it is huge and fantastic. It started to snow fairly heavily as we left the church and it was a falling crystal fairyland about us as we walked the narrow cobbled streets to the first and largest market - the shopkeepers in Europe really go all out on decorating their individual shop fronts and the elaborate, beautiful displays were made all the nicer by seeing them in the falling snow. We located the big market by the huge green tinsel gates and the hot chestnut seller, his roaster quite whimsical in the shape of a small train engine car puffing fragrant smoke into the air as he roasted the sweet chestnuts. We saw a lot of different things at this market but unfortunately, the prices were also quite a bit higher so we confined our spending impulses to things edible. I had a wonderful, piping hot baguette covered with cheese, mushrooms and cured ham pieces, we had some freshly made and still warm candied almonds and of course more amaretto chocolate in yet another collectible mug. The main christmas market took over an hour just to quickly browse through and there were several others still to see. I was delighted to be able to trot out my very rusty French and was actually able to converse a bit with the stall vendors, who thought I WAS French and chattered at me like magpies in their beautiful language.

After the Christmas markets had been duly examined and admired, we headed back to our drop off point to catch a shuttle back to the ship. I got my "snow legs" after about three days and the cold, crisp air and heavily falling snow were exhilarating to me but my companions were cold, tired and stiff, so we made an early day of it. After returning to the ship, I wandered out again alone into the small town on the German side where we were docked, finding a lovely downtown area and a small but sweet looking little Christmas market to keep me busy for an hour or two.

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY

We continue our Christmas river journey through Europe and are still in Germany. Today we visited a city that I have wanted to see for quite a long time. My father was a big opera fan and passed his love of the beautiful art to me - one of our favorite movies was The Student Prince, about a German Prince who moonlights as a student at a very famous university, falling in love with a local girl and being forced to give her up to take the crown when his father suddenly dies. The setting as well as the music comes from the place where we were docked today - Heidelberg!

My first impression of the town was how absolutely gorgeous it was - sitting alongside the river with its very narrow, twisted streets slowly winding their way up the hill towards the great Heidelberg castle, forever dominating the scene as it overlooks and guards the town. Although we were docked close by, a short bus trip was necessary to get us to the heart of the city and after arriving we commenced our tour. The castle was first on the agenda and we learned quite a lot about the city's history as we stood out in the frosty air, a few random snowflakes whirling down upon our faces and salting our hair. Like many of the old buildings in the towns we have seen, the castle was built over a fairly long period of time by several different nobles and rulers, the most romantic in this case being a prince for his french wife to appease her as she did not find the town so much to her liking. The end result of all this piecemeal building means the castle has sections with differing styles of architecture; roman, greco-roman, gothic, neo-classical, you name it and you can find it somewhere inside. Despite the wildly differing architectural styles, the castle, made almost entirely of lovely local red sandstone, is quite beautiful and has stood almost unscathed over the centuries as even the WWII American bombers were reluctant to harm it because it was such a beautiful structure, as well as an excellent landmark.

There is a large balcony area with an stunningly fabulous view of the town spread out far below, roofs glistening with crusty frost as if encased in a snow globe - the huge cathedral at the centre and the town spreading out around it with the serpent like flow of the river close alongside, breached with some lovely and ancient stone bridges leading to the old style homes on the opposite shore. The castle boasts a huge wine cellar and there are several wood barrels that would make our friend Dave, who brews beer, quite green with envy - one held the equivalent of 40 thousand gallons of wine and the other more than four times that amount. Evidently, taxes used to be paid not in money but in wine - and of course you did not pay your tax with your best wine but whatever swill that you could persuade the tax man to accept. These tribute wines, be they red, white, sweet or dry, were all poured together into these huge casks. Now everyone knows what happens when wine is exposed to air - it gets sour, turns into vinegar - so I cannot even imagine the horrible taste of what came out of those gargantuan casks after a while. Thus the heavy spices the nobility used to make the wine palatable - and you had little choice of what to drink as the water was usually polluted or contaminated with bacteria, milk was too expensive and much to Cliff's dismay they did not have Pepsi, so the awful wine or cloudy, bitter beer was drunk - quite liberally - by most, morning, noon and night. There is a local legend about one conspicuous fellow, who imbibed more than most, dropping dead after drinking a glass of water on a dare - either the sheer shock to his system or poisoning by a rival, no one is sure of the reason.

After our castle visit and history lesson, we were let loose in the centre of town to explore. We first visited the huge cathedral - it has changed religious hands quite a few times over the centuries depending on the personal sway of the ruling party at the time and the current flavour is Protestant. The church is rather plain inside compared to some we have seen but of magnificent size and grandeur for all that. There is a smaller but lovelier catholic church a few streets away which we took a look at before turning our attention to the christmas markets. A light snow began to drift down upon our upturned faces as we started to shop, delighting Gini and making us feel like we in the midst of a true Christmas German fairy tale. Now we were starting to see much of the same merchandise we have become used to but it was great fun to browse among the stalls after we killed our appetites with some of the incredible potato pancakes made at many stalls in the market - hearty and fried crisp on the outside, served smoking hot with a generous dollop of cold, fine-textured applesauce on an edible wafer plate, a better meal on a cold, snowy afternoon in Germany we could not imagine. We washed them down with yet more amaretto chocolate - All of us prefer this concoction to the gluhwein and as it comes in the same Christmas mug with the town's name on it, we have consumed quite a bit of it. I also had promised myself a toast to my dad, who had always wanted to see Heidelberg and as I hefted my dad's favourite, a cold draft beer, towards the heavens I could only hope that he was up there smiling down at me as I downed the frosty brew and thought about him and our mutual love for this place that I was lucky enough to be able to see.

After we returned to our buses and back to the ship, we sailed off to the next stop on the German part of our itinerary, Speyer. Speyer has been billed as a small town but when we walked the short distance for our ship to the main areas, we found it to be quite a bit bigger than we anticipated and very lovely. The main street with its dozens of various types of shops stretched for what seemed to be miles and the christmas market was large, cheerful and beautifully decorated with santas, animated reindeer and colored lights galore everywhere you looked. Pretty much shopped out at this point, we returned to the ship after a quick walk through - but only after snagging a freshly-made crepe with banana and neutella, heaven on a paper plate and yet another chocolate and amaretto. Cliff seems to be addicted to the stuff, although he swears he is just trying to ward off the cold air.

KOBLENZ, GERMANY

The next day, we docked early in Koblenz, which lies at the intersection of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. A small town for Germany, it still boasts a population of over 100K and we were greeted in the early dawn light by badly stained but extremely huge and imposing statue of Emperor Whilhelm (unfortunately, not Klink) seated on and even more enormous horse, set up on a grimy pedestal at the junction of the rivers. Here a short walk brought us to buses and we motored a quick 15 minutes to Braubach, where a visit to the Marksburg Castle awaited. Marksburg Castle is one of the very few remaining castles in Germany that completely excaped obliteration in WWII and two families still live in it today. Now, castles in books are very romantic places - Kings, in carved thrones or dining on great joints of meat, knights in full armor on horseback striding to and fro, damsels in tall, pointed hats peeping out of mullioned windows, that sort of thing. In reality, castles are dank, dark places, cold stone and uncomfortable, small dark rooms, even if there are a lot of them. Original furnishings in the castle gave us a glimpse of what life must have been like back in the castle heyday - huge fireplaces in draughty rooms, primitive kitchens with heavy wood tables, heavy cloth bed hangings surrounding a small bed - not for romance but to keep the heat in and keep the spiders and other insects running rampant in the room from falling on your head as you slept. Life back then, even if these relatively grand surroundings, was hard and most of your day was evidently spent working in one capacity or another - makes me feel very soft and weak as a modern woman with every possible convenience at my fingertips.

After our castle visit, we cruised the rest of the day away down the Rhine valley and viewed dozens more castles and castle ruins parked up on the hillsides. Feuding brother castles, the famous Lorelie rock, we saw them all in the cold, sometimes rainy air. Eventually we made our way to our berth for the night, Rudesheim. A short stroll into town found a charming little waterside christmas market, with more stalls as well as dozens of welcoming shops winding up and down the crazy, narrow winding cobbled streets and culminating all together into the square with its brightly decorated biergartens and a huge, bigger than life nativity in a stable, with a small waterfall in front. Hoarding our purchases close and fuelled with hot Amaretto chocolate to keep away the chill, we slowly strolled our way back to our ship savouring the experience in the lovely little town and gazing up towards the beautiful and luckily starry skies.

COLOGNE, GERMANY

Tuesday, we arrived in one of Germany's biggest cities and historically one of the most important, Cologne. Cologne was pretty much bombed out of existence during WWII and, being rebuilt in a haphazard and sometimes hodgepodge manner, is not as "German" looking as some of the towns you might see in the country but it is none the less German in its people or customs.

We started our day early, meeting a guide outside our dock at about 9:30 AM and heading to the old town for some history before hitting some of Cologne's 4 christmas markets. The history lessons were fascinating - Cologne was an important shipping point and goods trading port way back to the Roman Empire. One of the most fascinating (to my mind, at least) of the artefacts that we saw was a fragment of a genuine ancient roman road. It was only a few yards long, very rough with big cobblestones set far apart - I can't imagine how horses and people in a hurry and not watching their step managed not to break legs or ankles just trying to walk over it. Evidenty every time the building department tries to build anything in Cologne and begins to dig, another fragment of a ruin is spotted and digging immediately ceases, then the archaeological society comes in and commences to find what they can. Needless to say, that process can take years and it explains why the Cologne subway, which was started decades ago still is not finished and has no projected completion point, at least for the next several years.

We finished our tour at the magnificent Cologne Cathedral. Also as typical, this cathedral took decades to complete, running out of money a few times before finally getting a rich benefactor and finally finishing construction in the 18th century, some six hundred years after its start. The cathedral is truly fantastic - impossibly high, domed ceilings, typical of European churches with soaring, graceful stone arches supporting the entire structure and tall, narrow, profusely and brilliantly coloured stained glass windows depicting various scenes from scripture. Individual niches in the stone walls revealed stone statue tableau, saints and great historical figures as well as grand, imposing tombs of more saints and rich church benefactors. Those without enough money to be buried in their own above ground tomb but with enough to buy a spot in church were buried in the floors themselves, or stacked like cordwood along the walls in poorly sealed niches which, shall we say, "perfumed" the air, giving literal meaning to the term "stinking rich". No wonder they burn so much insense...The crown jewel of this church is the gold and jewel-encrusted box allegedly containing the remains of the three magi who brought gifts to the Christ child. How true this is is in doubt as our guide told us, as every town wanted a holy relic to bring pilgrims (and thus pilgrim dollars) to their towns. The saints' remains with the heaviest draw power were often claimed in numerous places and stolen and shuffled from one town to the next, so it is never a sure bet determining where the actual remains reside.

After touring the church, we were free to explore the town on our own and, as our ship did not depart until 11:30PM, we had plenty of time to spend our euros. So we hit the Christmas markets that we had heard so much about and were not disappointed. Little magical temporary mini-villages bordered by fragrant, jewel-white light lit fir trees and containing dozens and dozens of heavily and creatively decorated merchant tents, these holiday fairylands were a paradise of german delights, food, drink and fun. Hand-made ornaments, special scented soaps, spices of all kinds, hand-carved nativity scenes, liquors and dozens of other kinds of merchandise beaconed to us as we toured the fragrant lanes between the gaily-festooned tents. Beer and brats, streudels and crepes, gluhwein, cedar-smoked salmon, oysters and mushrooms - if you had a culinary desire, it could most likely be found here. We quickly filled bags with treasures of all sorts from two of the markets before returning to the ship for a rest and second outing down to the Chocolate museum where everything and anything choclate could be found before hitting another gaily-decorated Christmas market right beside it.

The weather was cold - maybe if you were a polar bear, it would have been tolerable but as it was, we tenderfoot Floridians were cold and stiff and as we visited this last market, the winds-swept rain began and drove itself into our faces and even under our ever-present umbrellas, so we headed back to the ship. An hour or so later, a thawed-out Cliff and I returned to the Catherdral market to see how it looked at night. A children's choir now claimed the centre stage, filling the crisp, clean air with sweet Christmas harmonies and adding to the general atmosphere of gay merriment. The huge fir tree in the centre was resplendent with white lights and a huge net of them extended from the top of the tree out for about 20 yards in all directions, forming a brilliant, twinkling tent ceiling overtop of the cheery red canvas ceilings of the various merchants. The beer and gluhwein flowed and the happy, chattering crowd moved in a snakelike line between the aisles or paused to sip the sweet hot mulled wine at the little tables placed here and there, lit by old fashioned brass and glass candled lanterns, all set in the hulking protective shadow of the huge cathedral.

KINDERJIK, HOLLAND

This morning we arrived early in Kinderjik, another Dutch city. Kinderjik is a very small town - but boasts the largest collection of the remaining thousand or so Dutch windmills. As we prepared to go out for our tour of the windmills, it once again began to rain - but this quickly turned to large flakes of snow, driven by a strong wind so it was almost but not quite going sideways. I packed as many layers as I could fit under by coat and out we trundled, a long line of Michelin men with umbrellas turned to try and deflect the wind-driven snow. It wasn't a long walk to tour a windmill up close and hear a talk by a woodworker but it was rather treacherous, with the wind blowing snow into our faces despite the umbrella and the icy slush which made for slippery conditions underfoot. Eventually arriving at the site, the windmills were fascinating - they once were the only way the Dutch were able to live in these below sea level, very marshy areas because they use wind, not to grind grain or make electricity, but to pump water - draining and moving it from the land to the canals and eventually to the river and to the sea, making it possible for the Dutch people to reclaim large swaths of swamp and make arable, build-able land. The windmills have now been replaced by electric pumping stations - large and impressive, with numerous heavy screws turning and pulling up more than four times the water volume that a single windmill could per minute but definitely not as picturesque or romantic. Families actually lived in the windmills when they were first built, to run and repair them as needed and the tradition still continues today, with the millers having their own secret language to each other, conveyed by how the blades of the windmill are placed in front of the tower where the blades are attached. Some of those early windmills were made of stone, but that was problematic as these heavy structures quickly sank into the marshy ground and resembled the leaning tower of Pisa, needing to be frequently shorn up - more were made of wood or reeds, which made them cold, drafty places to live and were also prone to fire. These days, the families who live in the have all of the modern conveniences but are still obligated to run the windmills periodically, to keep the structure in good repair and intact as a living remnant of much earlier times and for people today to learn about them and see how the country had once so depended on these towering, intriguing structures built solely for the purpose of moving water from one place to another.

In my previous post Nov 30 I mentioned that I booked Viking for Paris to Normandy (sailing with my daughter) based on cost and a slightly larger cabin.

I compared the tours with three companies and thought I would book with AMA over Viking. My daughter said she would be happy to be away from her busy life and spend time with me and that the tours were not as important to her. Since I have been to Paris and Normandy already I opted for the lesser priced Viking cruise. I am sure it will be very nice.

For Viking we made full payment in October of 2013 for a June 2014 cruise.

For Uniworld our booking fee was $200 per person on July 24, 2013 with full payment due due June 13, 2014 for a Sept. 18, 2014 cruise.

We had an early booking discount of $150 pp plus a $150 per person discount for being past passengers.

We also use a TA that gives us a rather nice discount on the brochure prices.

That said we are also booked on Uniworld Sept 2015 on the Duro River.

Uniworld just makes me feel like I am on a luxury ship and their attention to detail makes the experience a great one. DH and I just had a conversation and agreed that we would pay more to be on Uniworld as the differnce of say $500 per person is not that great compared to the ever increasing airfare and the experience we expect to have in the dining rooms and on the tours.

The all inclusive tips, tips, tips is a blessing for us and I imagine the tour leaders and bus drivers on land as I have noted passengers who do not tip these folks. Wine and beer had been included and might I add the wines at dinner on Uniworld last Aug were very good. It is nice to know that I might have a martini if I so choose but having them included will not find me over indulging. For some cruisers this is a real benefit as they like to have a drink while cruising and before or after dinner. To them I say "chin chin" and enjoy.

Taucks over the top special events are great and well worth the price difference. If I recall the ship we sailed on with Tauck was not as appealing as that of Uniworld. Everyone has different expectations and pocket books.

At this age we have a bit less time (like in years left on this earth) and a bit more money than when we were younger. So our motto is just do it - at least for now.

but now tend to stick to more luxury river lines,like AMA,Scenic,.

 

The food on river cruises is usually GOOD,but not GREAT.Really go for itinerary,cabins,and total experience.

 

Went on Uniworld to Portugal,and loved it. The scenery is great,loved the small ports, but (sadly)food only so so.But this was a few yrs.back,hope its improved. Ship could have used a little updating,maybe their new now?

 

Taking Scenic in June from Budapest to Bucharest(with ext.to Black Sea).

 

Re.O on Black Sea, interesting to hear the differing views.;)

I do believe that Uniworld has a new ship on the Duro she is the Queen Isabella.

From her photos she is a beauty.

Black Sea July 2013 according to our friends was very good.

and really enjoyed it.Lots of nice ports,but do spend extra time in Montreal.

 

Not sure why Black Sea cruise on O would be different,,perhaps staff changes.Sad to hear.

 

Re.river cruise.Also look at AMA or Scenic for more luxury.Good to alternate ,that s what we do also,every 6 mos.one or other.

 

SO many choice,so little time..to complete my bucket list.;)

Hi Alexandra,

Do you mean that you alternate river cruise lines each time you travel?

We have been on Tauck ...tour and special events were exceptional. Food not so good IMHO.

Did Italy with Uniworld .. Loved the cabin, ship decor, food, lounge and restaurant and alternate dining location. Food and wine were very good.

June 2014 will to Paris with my daughter then Sept back on Uniworld in Portugal.

and interesting that 2015 has already almost booked up.Now thinking of 2016,whew,did NOT know it was so popular.

Passing on Black Sea till terrorist probs.not in news,as much.

Now if those on this yrs.cruise would post,right?

The 2015 summer cruises will not be on line to book till March.

AFIK only the 180 day around the world and other long 30 + day Grand Voyage segments are currently open for booking.

Will decide between Canana to NY or Black Sea on Oceania and a river cruise on Uniworld once the summer 2015 cruises come on line.

Have already booked an advance cruise on board last week and can transfer it one time to a new booking.

So many cruises that we would like to do it is hard to decide.

Currently planning on doing this one in 2016, unless we work it in next year. Already doing AU and NZ in 2015 so probably the latter one. In 2013, they had an Istanbul to Istanbul that we considered doing a BtB with Athens to Istanbul. Trip sold out before we could get it booked. With the current schedule that is not an option. Be interesting to see what the future lineup holds. I've heard nothing but great reports on the 2013 cruise. There was quite abit of disgruntlement on the 2012 cruise, which held me back in booking 2013, but it looks as if O got those problems worked out.

Hi,

What date and ship for AU? What problems were reported for Black Sea in 2012?

Can't wait for the rest of summer 2015 to come out. We always book as soon as possible to get our preferred cabin location.

Hoping we will have no problems today with the NE storm as we are to fly thu ATL for our Caribbean cruise today.

Friends of ours had one on a recent 21 day, warm weather cruise on Regatta. They spent every sea day (many of those) in the Cabana and loved it and the service from their server. Many of the other cabanas were also booked for the entire cruise. On the day we transited the Panama Canal, every Cabana person except one opened their curtains and allowed others to come in for pictures, etc. Big caveat though - the blue window shadings really messed with the photo opportunities.

We booked a cabana for an 18 day Miami to Lima cruise with six sea days.

Loved the cabana it did take the new servers 2 days to figure out their service routines .. Having a phone helped. Funny that the crew closed the drapes the day we went thru the canal. We had an end cabana only one other couple booked for the whole cruise. All were full for the cabal transit.

I agrees with Mura that it is inconvenient for folks who want photos. The side rails were full on this deck and Horizions was too.

Had to cancel this cruise in 2013.

Eagerly waiting for summer 2015 to open.

I made arrangements for small group private tours and the couples that went said all were great.

Will book again with the same companies.

Asking our TA to get group space so we can get Grats and other benefits.

I am perfectly healthy--just want to see the schedules for the last half of 2015.

 

 

Hi Rachel see you on Wed on board Rivieria.

I hope to book the Black Sea for summer 2015. Had to cancel this last July.

Have all the contacts for small private tous.

 

What destination are you looking for?

Had him on an 18 day cruise Miami to Lima.

We dubbed him the phantom CD. Never really went out of his was like David. Or Dottie. We had 50 plus at a meet and greet and he never came over to say Hi.

Spotted him at the bar that night ... Generally that is where we noticed him at the bars.

At our shows he did not take the stage ( on the nights we went) did his announcing from the booth.

Roy was fine,

we had him as asst. CD. Not sure the daily shows need comedy and wigs just give the information in a lively manner. That's all I need.

4vettes ~ I e-mailed you the blog.

 

We just returned from the Rinda - went S to N. Itinerary is slightly different going the other way.

 

We had the most fabulous time ever!! Ship is wonderful; staff the best; guides fantastic; but the CMs made it magical!!! We both agreed that even without the markets it'd be a wonderful trip - there would be more time to see the cities!!! I'd return any time of the year!!!!

 

Any specific questions ask away!!!!

Peg,

Would you please share

the blog information with me.

I am planning on doing Basel to Amsterdam for our next river cruise.

Email is herbalsoaplady AT comcast DOT net

Thank You

On its way! Thanks for asking!:)

We are wanting to book Basel to Amsterdam would like very much if you could share your blog with us.

herbalsoaplady AT comcast DOT net

Regards,

Bobbi

Hi,

We sailed Budapest to Prague on Tauck ... first class all the way.

Some over the top shore events like the dinner in Budapest and the cocktail party/classic entertainment and dinner at a palace in Vienna.

Our next river cruise was on Uniworld this past August in Venice.

Very good .. with small cabins. Food and tours were fine. The best part IMHO was the 5 day extension to Florence and Rome. Worth every penny.

Our TA always manages to give us a great discount (around 10%) no matter what line we book on.

I am booked with my daughter on Viking for next June. Bigger cabin than Uniworld. Since we will be in twin beds the extra sq. feet will come in handy. Also did a spread sheet and compared itineraries and costs.

Chose Viking as it was less $. Considering what I had to pay to fly on Delta to Paris saving a few hundred $ was a no brainer.

I think we will have a good time no matter which line we chose.

Looking to book Amsterdam to Basel for 2015. If I like Viking enough we may well book with them if they are less costly.

Hi GlobeMan,

Finally a review on the Queen Isabella. Had to search long and hard to find this.

We are booked in a Cat 1 considering an upgrade to a Jr. Suite if there are any open.

We were on the River Countess this past August the cabins are smaller than on Isabella. We did find then completely adequte with plently of storage and a nice bathroom. Half window was not to my liking in Cat. 2. The window might have nice views but it was a pain to raise and lower the curtain with the chain. I prefer drapes that I can part to peek out or fully open depending on my state of undress (grin).

Sorry to hear about the water problems. We had the reverse not enough water in the Po to allow for cruising. We had a not so nice long ride on the bus to Padua. If this happens on the Duro next year I would skip Salamanca as we have been there a long time ago. Hopefully the CD could help us to arrange an alternate on our own.

What cabin were you in? Just wondering if the Jr. Suites hear noise from folks on the sun deck in the evening.

We used Rony Jan 2013 .

Nice enough fella. We had wanted to see the cameo factory and told him that in our emails. One would have thought that he knew their hours of operation. When we got there they had just closed.

While we stopped to buy some wine Rony kinda took off. We waited outside the store for him. IMHO he should have advised he was going off and given us a time to meet up. Just 4 of us and Rony was well paid. I expected better.