terry&mike

Having a kettle in the hotel or cruise room is a perk we enjoy as well, and we are American. It’s one of the things we enjoy about Cunard ships.

When I read your post, I knew I recognized that name - DJ Tumsambar. I went back and checked my notes, and yep, that is who we booked for our transfers from Pattaya to BKK Airport a few months ago. We booked in advance by communicating with him through WhatsApp, which worked out well. We were visiting Thailand by land (not cruise), and needed a transfer with pick up at 10:30am, from our hotel, the Dusit Thani Pattaya, to BKK Airport, this was on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022; for 2 adults with 1 bag each. The amount quoted for this transfer (just over an hour) was 1200THB (around $33 usd) plus we gave a small tip. DJ contacted us the day before by WhatsApp to let us know that his cousin would actually be doing the transfer, as he had a tour booking, and all worked out fine. If it is a holiday or festival day, or you want someone to take you somewhere and wait for you, then I expect it would cost more, and likely has gone up in the past 11 months, but this will give you an idea of what we were quoted for a basic transfer.

We also did not take anti-malarials. We brought along, and used, a bug repellent cream that worked very well, and had no issues with bugs or bites. The one we use is by Sawyer and is Picaridin Insect Repellent Lotion, it can be found in camping/fishing supply shops, or online, and is rather pricey, but works incredibly well. Hubby enjoys kayak fishing here in Florida and it's his "go to" mosquito repellant.

I'm happy a few of the items were salvagable from that bag, but bummed that the other bag was not retrieved. I hope Cunard does right by you.

While I'm not the original poster, I will post my experiences. We ended an Azamara cruise on September 10 in Chioggia. As DH and I had been to Venice in the past, we took an Azamara bus transfer to the Venice airport, and were able to easily make an 11:15am flight down to Bari, Italy; the cost was $29.85 usd pp, and was well organized. We were traveling with 4 friends who went on to Venice for a few days, and they took the Azamara bus transfer in to Venice; the cost was $26.95 usd pp, and they said it was simple and efficient. We sailed Rome to Venice, and Sibenik was also one of our stops, and we all really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful port, and a beautiful sail in/out. We all had lots of OBC to use on this cruise, so 4 of us did the ship excursion "Primosten & Village Experience", we visited a small seaside town, and then went to a local's home and heard his story, and tasted locally made wine and foods (for us it was enough for a lunch). We arrived back at the port with enough time to take a meandering walk around the walled town of Sibenik, which was wonderful. This you could do on your own, and you could easily stretch into several hours, especially if you are a good walker. Lots of wonderful stone streets winding up through a lovely town, with a castle that you can tour; lots of great looking restaurants, some historic churches, shopping. One of our friends just spent the entire day roaming around Sibenik and enjoying herself in whatever she came across, it was one of her favorite days. The last member of our group went on the ship's excursion out to Krka National Park, with a visit to the park and the waterfall, they very much enjoyed it.

In tracking the ship, it was supposed to be tendered in Santarem today, but it is currently sailing near Obidos (which is past Santarem).

Following.

Ugg. Yep, ruined for sure. So sorry.

This evening/night flight schedule thing has occurred for us in several areas (South America, Africa, Asia), and how I handle it is to make the most of that last day; depending on the area and/or distance to the airport, I generally do one of two things. I either book a private tour with a car and driver and let them know I'll be bringing our luggage along, and that we need to end the tour with an airport drop off. Or, I book a hotel room for one night, bring our luggage over and have the hotel store it for the day (on occasion they have given us our room early), and then go off exploring. We come back some time in the afternoon, and can freshen up and relax in the room, and then head for the airport later that evening. This may be a better idea than trying to arrange an early departure from the ship, as this needs to be cleared with local immigration to ensure they have the staff available to handle the request at the time you need it.

I'm a big fan of Air Asia in that part of the world, but as with any airline you'll find people with the opposite view.

For the Mekong, Scenic does not sell the sailing with pre and post cruise add ons in the traditional way you are thinking - such as, "I booked this sailing, now I'd like to add a 3 day package to Siem Reap". Scenic sells the sailing in different lengths of itineraries from just the 7 day sailing, to a sailing that includes time in Siem Reap, or a sailing that includes time in HCMC, or a version that includes a sailing plus time in both Siem Reap and HCMC, and even a longer version that gives you an additional area of Vietnam. How you booked your trip is what you purchased and received. The Scenic Spirit is of a size that it cannot dock directly in HCMC (only a very few river ships can, the Emerald Harmony is one that can). As to Siem Reap, it is not located on the Mekong River, and all river ships will bus their guests between Siem Reap and the docked location of the ship, which is often Kampong Cham. All of this can be found in print material, and on the Scenic web site, and in your final travel documents. It is not different for US passengers versus any other passengers. It sounds as if you did not read any of the materials before booking or before traveling, or relied on a travel agent who did not communicate the details of what you booked to you thoroughly. I sailed Scenic Spirt in January of this year, I booked the "Temple Discovery and Luxury Mekong Cruise 7 night" itinerary, which starts with 3 nights in Siem Reap, then sails 7 nights from Cambodia to HCMC. I received that exact itinerary, spent 3 nights in Siem Reap with touring, and was bussed from Siem Reap to the port a few hours away (by the way, there is a nice touring stop along the way) to meet the ship, and then bussed from the port to HCMC at the end. I'm sorry you were disapointed, but some basic research or reading of materials would have provided you with what to expect on your trip.

If it helps, we sailed Onward last month, and I had a regular Gel manicure onboard on September 8. The total cost, including a $10 fee for removing gel polish, at check out was $105.02 usd.

Absolutely, but only if you feel like sharing after you examine the contents and see how you feel. I am sensitive that although my curiosity is peaked by this, these are your things and this mess of a situation is your reality.

I love seeing some forward movement in this. Hopeful as well.... Would I be asking for too much in hoping that you will be sharing photos of the condition of your luggage and items when you receive them?

Admittedly, Scenic has always had a less than stellar administrative side. Their home office communication, and pre and post cruise service and responses leave a lot to be desired. This has been the case going far back before Covid. But to counter that, the Scenic onboard experience, from cabins to staff to tours to care to food and beverages, is the top in the river cruising market. It is unfortunate that you had an incident while sailing, that impeded the ship's ability to continue to sail, and now you are stuck dealing with the administrative side of Scenic, which is their weak point. Two things to keep in mind, you lost some of your sailing time which was swapped for time on a bus, but you did not lose your accomodations, service, food & beverages, care, and touring, which are most of the value of the product. The second thing, is that you mention they communicated with your travel agent rather than directly with you. There are agreements in place that when a guest books through a travel agent (in the US, not sure about other countries), the travel agent becomes the representative of the guest and the cruise line should communicate through this avenue. I'm sorry you were disapointed, but hope you found a way to enjoy this lovely area of France, and the other benefits of the Scenic product. Travel is a bumpy road for sure, so I'm always of the mind to make the best of whatever situation occurs as I realize how fortunate I am to be out seeing the world. Wishing you future Happy Travels on whatever line you choose.

I am so hopeful for you, and the others, caught in this mess. I can only imagine how I would feel in this situation, and I think you are handling it well. I appreciate you letting us follow along.

My husband and I loved our experience with the Scenic Spirit and sailing the Mekong. If you'd like to read my post about our trip, here is a link:

I am following this, and have the highest hopes that your things will be returned to you and that some of it will be salvageable. Please keep us posted. We did Fast Track (self disembark) on September 29 from QM2 in NY. We walked through the luggage holding area at approximately 7:10am. When we walked through, they had just begun making the beginnings of 2 rows of luggage lined up, about mid-way down the warehouse, directly next to the walkway to Immigration. There were several folks working on the floor lining up the luggage, and at least one forklift in the area. I don't recall seeing any excitement or anything unusual at this time, but I also wasn't paying a great deal of attention, just walking on through. Wishing you the best outcome possible in this unfortunate situation.

We sailed Onward September 3-10. Before we boarded, hubby's loyalty level was correct, but I had been unable to get mine corrected. Onboard, my loyalty level was correct, and I received the benefits/discounts for my correct level. When I returned home, I could see that my points were still 0. I called and had a long conversation. My new loyalty number that was assigned during the data migration will be my loyalty number going forward (my old number will not be reinstated). I had to provide my past booking numbers and cabin categories for my previous sailings, which I did. By the end of the call, I had my previous amount of points corrected, and was promised that the points from the recent cruise in September would be posted in approximately 3 weeks. I have a 22 night sailing in November, and that has my new loyalty number attached to the booking. I'll keep an eye out to ensure that all gets posted.

I agree with this assessment. I purchased the Ultimate Package for a cruise we have coming up in November with my credit card. I was able to immediately use the $700 Shore Ex OBC from the package, plus $300 OBC already on the booking, to buy shore excursions totaling $1003. I settled the additional $3 on my cc.

Yes, Jose'! I had forgotten his name. So kind and helpful. We really enjoyed them both.

The wifi only worked in our room if we went and stood, or sat, up against the door. In the public areas, it worked very well. We were given a flyer that stated Starlink was available in public areas of the ship currently, and will be available in the rooms at a later date (December, I think?). We purchased the Premium internet plan. The waiter we liked was named Agung, and he works in traditional dining on deck 2, tables #314 and that area. As we had been mis-assigned to Anytime, we worked out with the traditional matre'd to come down to deck 2 at 6:25pm and see if someone didn't show up for Agung's section from the 6pm traditional seating.

Good tip - thank you. We'll be on Quest in November for 22 days, so will do this.

Below is a brief review of our sailing on Queen Mary 2, September 20-29, 2023, 9 nights, from Hamburg to Southampton and on to New York. This was part of a 5 week trip that began in Milan, Italy at the end of August, and included a 7 night sailing on the Azamara Onward from Rome to Venice. We were in cabin 5114, which is an Interior cabin with a window overlooking the multi-story lobby. We had noticed these windows last time we sailed, and were curious to try one. We did not use the window option much, keeping it mostly closed, but I did watch the Guest Chorus perform one afternoon from the room. With the cabin being on deck 5 and in the center of the ship, there is very little movement here, well placed when the ship gets in some rough seas. The cabin was in very good condition, and we found that we had plenty of storage for our belongings. Our sailing was a special "Festival of Food & Wine" themed sailing, and had some very good speakers onboard on these topics. The entertainment onboard was quite good, especially an afternoon show from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company. We noticed a definate decline in service from our last sailing (August 2022). Things like repeatedly having to ask to have our water glasses refilled, pouring our own wine multiple occasions. On a formal night, I ordered filet mignon cooked medium rare, it came out as quite well done, I cut into it and it was dark brown, and showed the waiter who then showed me the little wood stick on the plate that said "medium rare". I then pointed out that even though the stick said that, the steak was obviously very well done. He took it back, and it came out 15 minutes later, and it was then medium to medium well (brown inside); I went ahead and ate it, as DH was nearly done with his main course by then. Another time, when I ordered my breakfast, then DH ordered his, I asked the waiter if I could add a bagel to my order, and was chastized for not ordering my bagel at the time I placed my order. It felt to us that the dining staff were tremendously overworked, and had lost the joy for what they were doing. The previously experienced personality and attentiveness of the dining staff were missing on this sailing. We had booked into traditional 6pm dinner seating, but when boarded had been allocated to Anytime dining. About 6 nights into the cruise we found a waiter who provided good service and was personable, and then we just kept showing up and requesting his section for the last few nights, and things improved greatly. The food was all good to very good, but we both found that many items tended to be overcooked. The lamb was almost always a good choice when on offer. We purchased the 6 bottle Captain's Collection wine package for $310.00, and found some good choices. After having sailed on Azamara 2 weeks before this sailing, the lower caliber of service on QM2 was very evident to us. We still very much enjoyed the speakers, entertainment, meals, and classic style of QM2. I don't think we will sail them for a port visiting itinerary, but when it comes to crossing the Atlantic, this will still be our "go to" ship.

Below is a review of our sailing on the Onward, September 3-10, 2023, Rome to Venice. Sorry this is a bit late, but we have just returned home; our sailing was part of a longer 5 week trip. We started in Milan for a few days, took the train up to Lake Como area, and then took the train to Rome 2 days before boarding, and met up with some friends. On the morning of the sailing we used the wonderful RomeCabs to head out to the ship. We dropped our luggage with the ship at 11:30am, and went for a walk and lunch in Civitavecchia. We returned at 1:30pm and boarded directly with no lines. Our ports were Rome, Sorrento, Amalfi, sea day, Kotor Montenegro, Dubrovnik Croatia, Sibenik Croatia, ending in Venice. I had previously visited all of these destinations with the exception of Sibenik, but liked them all enough for another visit. We were traveling with 2 other couples, and as an agent, I had handled their bookings. Before sailing, there were quite a few issues of errors on all our accounts that had to be fixed, resulting in many hours and lots of frustration on my part. My clients were mostly unaware of the issues, as I did not want them to doubt the product as they were all new to Azamara. I had brought along all the documentation, and after boarding we went directly to the service desk to ensure that all was straight on the accounts onboard. There were a couple of issues that needed some sorting, but it all worked out okay (not going to say perfect, but good enough). I do recommend having the documentation with you. A lady being assisted next to us at the counter did not have her documentation and she was in disagreement as to what OBC her booking should have, when asked for her documentation she did not have it and became very frustrated. DH and I stopped by the first bar that had no guests, which happened to be Mosaic Cafe', to upgrade to the Ultimate drink package. It was upgraded on an iPad type device, and when given the device to sign the amount was for the full amount (no loyalty discount), I was told the loyalty discount would come off later, and it did. There were buttons across the bottom to add an optional gratuity in the amounts of 0, 15%, 18%, 20%. I clicked 0, and signed. Bartender then filled out another order for my husband's drink upgrade and presented it to him, and pointed out the tip buttons at the bottom and "explained" to my husband, "if you'd like to add gratuity", to which my husband clicked 0 and signed. No worries on this, and feel free to tip if you like, but I mention it as in the past I was not presented with an option to tip on upgrading a drink package. The Ultimate drink package covered us in everything we were interested in - nicer wines including Whispering Angel, Atlas Bar, hubby's Scotch. There was one inconsistency which made no sense, in regards to port. On night 1, we both ordered a port after dinner and were served it with no issues. On night 3, DH ordered a port (about $12) and was told it was not covered on the Ultimate drinks package, he then asked for the port that would be covered on the drinks package and was told there was no port that was covered on the package. I pointed out that there is an $8 port on the menu, and surely that should be covered on the Ultimate package, and was told no, it was not. I asked for the Sommelier, so that I could double check this info, and hubby was then served the port "as a gift". We never were able to check on if this info was correct or not, and never ordered the port again as there were plenty of options to keep us happy without a hassle. All of the food was good to very good, and the filet mignon that was on the menu one night in the main dining room was excellent. The crew were outstanding, being very friendly and helpful in every venue. We had Verandah cabin 7044, and it was serviced beautifully by Francisco. There were 567 passengers onboard for this sailing, with 323 being from the U.S. The captain was Captain Carl, and he was a good communicator and personable. We took 2 ship tours, to use up our OBC. One was called "Capri and Positano on Your Own", and was supposed to depart from our port of Sorrento, but we were ported in Amalfi instead due to high winds - this gave us 2 days in the port of Amalfi, which everyone enjoyed. Once we arrived on the dock for the tour, all of the ferries to Capri were cancelled (due to the high winds), and the tour morphed into a walking tour of Amalfi and Positano, with a 50% refund (or you had the option to fully cancel and get 100% refund). It was a nice tour, and we were glad we stayed with it. The second tour was in Sibenik, Croatia, as was "Primosten & Village Experience", which we thoroughly enjoyed, and found it very well done. We still had time after the tour to wander all over beautiful Sibenik. Our Azamazing Evening was in Kotor, Montenegro, and was "Mystical Tales at Synchro Porto Montenegro". We were taken off the ship to the marina, given a glass of local sparkling wine, and presented with an evening of local musicians. It was delightful, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Here is what we did in the other ports, separate from Azamara, in case someone is looking for ideas: Rome - something I refer to as "dinner with Barbara", but is actually called "When in Rome, a glamorous occasion dinner party" bookable through Eatwith.com. I've done this before about 10 years ago, and wanted to bring my friends. Its a fun night of many courses of home cooking and drinks, in a local's apartment in Trastevere. Amalfi - "Classic Lemon Tour" visits a lemon farm in Amalfi town, walkable from the dock in about 20 minutes, bookable at amalfilemonexperience.it Kotor, Montenegro - hiked the "Ladder of Kotor", great hike up the mountain behind Kotor town on a lot of switchback paths, stop for a refreshment at a home along the way. Easy to do on your own, path starts just near old town. Dubrovnik - we spent some time strolling the streets of old town with our friends, then they went to "walk the walls" which is the most popular thing to do here. We had done this in the past, so we took a long stroll out of old town, heading off into the newer resort areas, and along the sea. Interesting tidbit, when DH and I walked the walls of Dubrovnik several years ago, it cost about $5 per person -- it now costs $35 per person to do so. Upon debarking, we used the ship's transfer from Chioggia to the Venice Airport, for $29.85 per person, and were there in plenty of time to make a 11:15am flight from Venice to Bari, Italy. After parting with Azamara, we spent a week touring the Puglia region of Italy, and then made our way back over to Naples where we were able to get to Capri this time. We next flew from Naples to Hamburg and had a couple of days in this enjoyable city, and then boarded the Queen Mary 2 and sailed 9 days Hamburg-Southampton-New York. After being so recently on Azamara, and then boarding QM2, it was very obvious to us that the service on QM2 was not nearly as attentive and pampering as Azamara.