Harters

Cicar and AutoReisen are regularly recommended on the Tripadvisor forum, as being honest, reliable and reasonably priced. The OP doesnt mention how long they are visiting the south for. If just for a day trip, whilst the cruise ship is in port, renting a car may give the required flexibility over the day, assuming there's a rental car office at the port (I don't recall seeing one when we were there last summer - but then I wasnt looking for it). Bear in mind that most European cars have manual gear shift so, if needed, you may need to go more upmarket to get an automatic Other options to get to the south would be taxi (about €125 each way) or bus (€10 approx but probably not that practical for the day).

We sailed on Nautica last summer when there wasnt a separate vegan/veggie menu. We are omnivores so, whilst we'll order vegetarian food, I dont have much recollection as to whether it was vegan. Probably it was - these days restaurants seem to just find it easier to make their vegetarian dishes suitable for vegans as well. As you are flexitarian when travelling, you'll have no problem finding a choice of dishes. This blog is very detailed about the couple's various cruises and always include photos of menus (including speciality restaurants and most days from the GDR). I'm linking to their menu page for a recent Vista cruise which should give you a proper feel for the food (the GDR menus are towards the bottom of the page) https://www.thepreismans.com/vista23_menus.htm

A word of warning (based on our last stay) if you decide to have dinner there. They add a service charge to the bill, as is common in many of our restaurants. However, they also leave an open tip line. It's a disreputable practice that you can only conclude is intended to catch out foreign travellers who may not appreciate that a service charge IS the tip - so end up tipping twice. If they're still doing this, just strike through the line to close it.

I suspect the fact that Vista does not have a Jacques is an indication of the way forward. Although they could find that Ember proves to be generally unpopular and they reimage it as a French restaurant. I've yet to try Ember but I'm looking forward to it.

As mentioned elsewhere, the "information pack", luggage tags, etc, received by Hank have not been available to British customers for some while. We didnt get them for our Nautica cruise last summer, nor had them for this cruise. However, on another thread, fellow Britons have mentioned they have received them for April cruises so it looks like O stopped sending them but has restarted. I wonder if feedback from British travel agents has suggested to O that as, seemingly, we are generally charged more for our cruises than North Americans we should get at least the same level of customer service.

Exactly. It's part of the whole experience for us. I have in mind our forthcoming visit to Cadiz. I've worked out a walking tour round the city centre using gpsmycity.com. We'll stop for a coffee somewhere. And our walk ends near the Plaza de Flores. That immediate area has quite a number of seafood related restaurants and cafes where we intend to search out pescaito frito - the local speciality of fried fish.

Laugh? I nearly pissed myself

Probably a good move appointing two senior insiders, rather than another "big name". FWIW, I'd never heard of Pepin until we took our first Oceania cruise in 2018. Nice that the company has given him what I assume must be an honorary position, so they can still play his name to an American customer base.

I don't use the internet when I'm away from home (as I don't carry a mobile device), so probably won't add to Hank's comments till we're back. We're also on Simply More arrangements. We booked through a well known online travel agency in the UK but, seemingly unlike many North American agents, the booking was not "enhanced" except by a very minimal discount (more rounding down than real discount). The only benefit was that we bought flights through them. These were cheaper than we had been able to find online (and more straightforward arrangements than you'd get from O itself). That also meant that we had bought a "package" so covered by consumer legislation and trade association bonding should the agency or operators go bust. I prefer the SM excursion credit to the previous arrangements. It's allowed us to spend on the excursions we really wanted, rather than the bottom end ones previously on offer if you took that option. And they'll take care of "what to do" in most of the ports (we'll do our own thing in Bermuda and Cadiz). Like Hank, we are currently in "preparation mode" with clothes sorted ready for packing. We fly to London on Sunday, then Miami on Monday. Looking towards a chilled out Tuesday - adapting to local time. And very much looking forward to all those sea days.

There's no longer a physical muster drill. When you check-in online, there's a short video to watch. You just confirm you've watched it. When we boarded Nautica last summer, we were directed to where our muster station was. Reported to the crew member there who ticked us off his list. That's it. I presume time for boarding will be the same for embarkation as it is for other ports - one hour before scheduled departure. My partner follows an O Facebook group where there was a recent mention of folk arriving some 30 minutes before (due to a flight delay IIRC) - the gangplank was already up and they were denied boarding.

Another vote for the Sofitel which, as mentioned, is literally at Terminal 5. We've stayed there before and will be there again in a few days prior to a flight.

Certainly remember your name from years back. Pretty sure you were Cath not C.

CH? Chowhound? If so, then yes. Left when they started banning folk and joined Hungry Onion (and I'm still there). I was/am Harters on both. Do I know you from there?

Absolutely. We'd always try to have lunch ashore - particularly if it's a region we don't know well.

Lovely part of the world. We've had several week long stays in the Rye area. Good base for trips out, with a surprising number of decent restaurants for such a small town.

My current worry, after reading all the comments about lack of sound proofing on Vista. I shall be distraught if my sleep is disturbed. We've got ear plugs and herself has just bought a "white noise" thingy, so fingers crossed.

Next Door. It's owned by the Dunoon Hotel which , erm, it's next door to. We spotted it last time we were in town and thought the menu seemed a "cut above" and worth a try. Hope the tendon sorts itself out soon. John

Actually we had planned an overnight visit a couple of weeks back. Premier Inn at Glan Conwy booked. And we'd booked dinner at a restaurant new to us in Llandudno. But the forecast said it was going to throw it down both days, so we cancelled. We'll get over in a few weeks when we're back from the cruise And, yes, I know the sun shines sometimes. 🙂

V - we used to do that with our NatWest account at the time, paying additional premium for existing conditions. That is until they declined to continue to insure me because of my conditions. We moved to Staysure and then AllClear. Premium was £1400 until we had to add the States and Caribbean for six days , then it doubled. Renewal is just about due and they are offering a 20% discount and we'll able to reduce it further as we won'tneed the States and a couple of medical issues are now resolved. But it'll still be an eye-wateringly big outlay.

Absolutely. We've lost three recent cruises. First was an Alaska cruise that was cancelled at the beginning of Covid (that was for my 70th). Then days before we were due to go on the next one, we caught Covid and werent allowed to board (that was for our 50th anniversary). And the third was the one related to the insurance problem. You get to the point where you just want to give up and have a week in North Wales instead. 😀

We did that a couple of years back. A couple of undiagnosed health issues meant we couldnt get travel insurance at all. Diagnosed now, so can get insurance but it's very, very, expensive. And then it's just about doubled because we're in the States and Caribbean, only for a few day, at the start of a transatlantic cruise. I'm sure that will be our last trip to the States - just becoming unaffordable for us.

To answer the question posed in the title.....No. Two small boutiques and that's it. These photos should give you a sense of them https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/shiptour.php?r=3085

Same in the UK, Greg. But to discuss that would cross what I assume is a "no politics" rule on the forum. I'm fortunate the COPD is still at a relatively early stage so doesnt generally effect me too much. Although when I have a flare-up, it can be limiting. I can only think of a couple of Canadian shows we get here (both of which I like) - Murdoch Mysteries and Cardinal John

On the other hand, I have COPD and have a "rescue pack" (antibiotics and steroids). At an early stage of thinking I've got a chest infection, I use the pack. My self diagnosis is usually correct and the drugs help to prevent a bad flare-up. But the diagnosis isnt always correct which does mean I've taken the drugs pointlessly. Such is life.

I've visited New York and Florida. Both states more than once. In fact, my first visit to the States was to Florida in 1980.