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bluestocking7

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Posts posted by bluestocking7

  1. On 11/28/2023 at 6:48 PM, janetcbl said:

    We asked our cabin attendant when he introduced himself, as well as our request to exchange the soft drinks and liquor for bottles of wine. It was accomplished during the time we ate lunch, arranged for some onboard activities, enjoyed a cup of coffee, and wandered around the ship a bit.

    Thank you!  I'll be sure to do this as soon as the cabin attendant comes by.

  2. Does anyone know how you arrange to have dinner with someone not in your cabin?  My friend and I each have our own cabins, and we made OO and UU reservations for the same date and time.  BUt there was no option to state we wanted to eat together or join a sharing table.  I suppose the odds are good that they would put two solos together.  

  3. Flew JFK to Istanbul then transfer to Ankara.  Business class, with lots of room and sumptuous meals. 

     

    While in Ankara there was a coup against Erdogan and the borders were closed and all flights were cancelled.  We did manage to fly out and back to Istanbul the next day and on to Bishkek, also Turkish.  Barely remember the flights as we were just grateful to get out of the country.  A couple of weeks later we flew back home Ashgabat-Istanbul-JFK, which was excellent.  OTOH my son flew economy Istanbul to JFK and was in a middle seat and miserably crowded.  

  4. I'm on the Jan 5 Serenity Miami-Miami Caribbean cruise and see that excursions can be booked no earlier than 60 days before the cruise.  Can you see what's on offer beforehand?  And is booking exactly 60 days before?  On OC I remember being able to book a lot further out.  

  5. 21 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:


    Many solos are booked in other than the solo cabins. I have 2 future cruises booked as a solo, neither in a solo cabin. According to Reflections posted, there are solo tables once in each of the specialty restaurants and a solo table every evening at either 6 or 7:30 at Waterside. 

    Very useful information, thanks!  So if I understand this right, once per cruise there's a solo table in Umi Uma and the new Italian restaurant, but every night there's a solo table in Waterside, but the time alternates between 6 pm and 7:30 pm.  Do you have to sign up for all of these in advance?  

  6. We disembarked MS Joy in Vilshofen this morning and boarded buses for Prague.

    On the way the Tauck guide explained that our tour had always terminated in Regensburg--until 2018 when low water meant they never made it that far.  So ever since they have terminated in Vilshofen, where they have a good docking position.

    She also explained that back in the '80s, a lock upstream from Vilshofen was in fact proposed.  But opposition from environmental groups put an end to that.  I have no idea if she's right or not.

  7. I spoke to the Tauck rep in Budapest today and she was confident we would be able to board in Budapest.  The cruise terminates in Vilshofen, so we don't have to worry about water levels beyond that.  She made the point that Tauck cruises have fewer passengers than other lines like Viking, so are able to sail in lower water.  Our particular cruise has only 53 passengers, since more than a dozen cancelled in the past couple of weeks for various reasons (low water, war in Ukraine, who knows?)

  8. I spoke to a Tauck rep in Budapest today and asked her about Tauck ships and water levels--since we were able to get through the Rhine Gorge in late July on MS Inspire when other ships were not.  

     

    She said that it comes down to passenger load.  Tauck has fewer people on board than typical ships, less ballast water, so rides higher in the water even though the ships are the same length.  

     

    We did go through the Gorge slowly though--took an extra hour, we were told.  

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  9. 4 hours ago, schoonslawn said:

    Fluctuating water levels have affected the August 30 departure from Budapest on the River Duchess :

    Due to fluctuating water levels on the Danube, the River Duchess will not be in Budapest for embarkation on August 30, 2022. It is therefore necessary to begin the program with one night at a hotel. Uniworld has secured hotel rooms at the luxurious, 5-star Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest: Erzsébet tér 7-8, 1051 Budapest, Hungary; phone: +36 1 429 3777 "

     

    We start our trip September 14 (Amsterdam to Budapest) when the River Duchess arrives in Amsterdam on that date.

     

    I noticed the Uniworld desk next to Tauck's at the reception at the Kempinski this morning (august 29). So they are already on site here.  We are supposed to embark Tauck's MS Joy in Budapest on Aug 31.

  10. BBC News has a report today on the Rhine.  One of their reporters stands on a rocky former riverbed in Bingen, with (I think) the Mouse Tower behind her, saying you can now wade out to the island the tower is on.  You can however seen a barge sailing by.  She doesn't discuss cruise ships but makes the point that some of Germany's coal-fired power plants are on the river and rely on coal being shipped in.  

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