perkyblue

8 hours ago, Jaydub99 said:

 

We opted to cancel our A to B cruise with Avalon that was scheduled to board tomorrow. We wanted a river cruse and what we envisioned isn’t possible right now. We are generally sticking to the same itinerary except by train as we had booked off work and did not buy air through Avalon. Currently enjoying Amsterdam, we are doing a canal cruise tomorrow and then off to Cologne the next day for the Christmas markets so a train trip is certainly an easy option. BTW, we received our full refund from Avalon within 2 business days. I was expecting much longer so we were pleasantly surprised. Good luck - we’re off to see the windmills!

Yes, it’s nice that the train system makes a plan B land trip fairly easy to put together. I hope you guys have a great time!

10 hours ago, PaulS said:

We just returned Teuday from our Avalon Illumination trip from Budapest to Prague. Five days before we were to leave, we were notified that the ship could not get to Budapest. Consequently, we spent one additional night in Budapest and then went on a bus to Vienna. Before we left Budapest, our cruise director told us that the ship could not get to  Nuremberg and the cruise would end in Passau. Those who had not cancelled before leaving home were offered the opportunity to cancel with a refund for the unused nights. As it was, there were only 57 people on the ship which could hold 168 people. On the way to Vienna, we stopped in Bratislava for a guided tour.

Since our sailing was ending in Passau, the itinerary was slowed down. We stayed in Vienna on Saturday night and Sunday and were offered the optional concert excursion for free. Sunday night we sailed for Dürnstein and were there Monday morning. Monday afternoon we sailed to Melk (do not miss the abbey and church), and Monday night we sailed to Linz, Austria. We stayed in Linz Tuesday and Tuesday night where they ran the tours to Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov. On Wednesday morning we sailed to Passau. It was a beautiful day and the scenery along the way was spectacular. Wednesday afternoon we toured Passau and Thursday we went on a bus to Regensburg. Friday morning we left for Prague by bus. The bus time from Passau to Prague was about the same as it would have been from Nuremberg to Prague.

All in all, we had a great trip. We went to see the towns and cities and were not disappointed. It certainly was not like an ocean cruise with a lot of downtime, but we did not expect it to be. The service on the ship was outstanding. There were only 57 of us and there were about 50 crew members. We were disappointed that we did not get to Nuremberg, but we saw Bratislava and Linz which we did not expect to see.

I hope our experience will give you some idea of what you might expect if the water levels remain low. I’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks so much for the info! I’m leaving in 1 week for this same itinerary on Illumination. I’m glad to hear that despite the disruption, the service was so good and you still had a great trip! I would love a stop in Bratislava on the way to Vienna! Ever the optimist, I’m seeing a good amount of rain in the forecast for Regensburg, so I’m hoping for a miracle that the levels will rise enough before Dec. 4th for us to actually sail through from Vienna to Nuremberg. 🤞🏼😬

Trying to be realistic. Avalon told us on Thursday that we’ll have to bus for most of our Budapest to Nuremberg cruise (cruising only from Vienna to Passau). But I can’t help but get my hopes up. Look at all the rain forecast for Regensburg! Maybe there’s a tiny chance we can actually sail all the way through from Vienna to Nuremberg? (We were scheduled to leave Passau for Regensburg on Dec. 4.) 🤞🏼

1 hour ago, suspaul said:

Thanks perkyblue, Avalon may be optimistic but we’re not.  We see the glass as half full in most regards but with all of the cancellations and disruptions our glass is half empty. I realize this is not just an Avalon issue, they’re not the only ones in this predicament but it seems communication is not forthcoming for most of the cruise companies.  

 

Personally we would not be accepting of cruising for 2 nights and the rest of the time using the ship as a hotel with bus travel cutting down the time in cities visiting being significantly reduced.  

 

Wish they’d just make a decision to cancel the cruise but this is only our opinion, yes it would be disappointing but better than having disgruntled clients.  The future cruise credits being given are not fair, you didn’t receive what you paid for and for some people they will get no use out of a future cruise credit.

 

Sorry, not trying to be negative but we’ve all seen the effects of the drought as it has been disrupting river traffic since summer.

I’m personally glad they didn’t cancel the whole thing altogether for us at this point. With my husband’s job, he can’t change up his vacation days at the last minute, so we are vacationing from Nov. 27-Dec. 10 no matter what, and a bus tour of Europe beats staying home. I am thinking of back-up plans I could make for us keeping our original flights though, because if we lose any more cruising time, I would rather cancel (if they let us) & just plan a land trip by train. Right now, I’m hoping I can put together a Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna-Prague trip if necessary. But if they do end up dropping more ship time & don’t tell us until the last minute, then we’re just stuck. Just gotta wait & see! It’s disappointing for sure, but if a disruption to my European vacation is the biggest problem in my life right now, then I’m still pretty fortunate. One way or another, I’ll be in Europe in less than 2 weeks, which beats Indiana any day!

43 minutes ago, suspaul said:

 

perkyblue, how did you find out about the changes?  We apparently are on the trip following yours, we spend 3 nights in a hotel in Prague (12.4) and board the Illumination on 12.7.  We’ve heard nothing and received our final documents last week outlining the original itinerary, we’re just so torn but until we actually hear from Avalon, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.  Let’s continue hoping for rain.  I hope you and your family enjoy your travels.  

They emailed us Thursday morning. If you haven’t been emailed yet, then maybe they’re optimistic that the conditions will improve.

We were supposed to embark from Budapest (on Illumination) Nov. 30 and sail to Nuremberg (then motor coach to Prague for a couple nights). I guess I should consider us lucky that we’re at least still cruising for half of the original time, from Vienna to Passau. The rest (Regensburg & Nuremberg) will be done by motor coach, and then driving back to Passau to spend the night on the ship. That going to be a LOT of time on the road, but I’m trying to stay optimistic. If any of the rest becomes a motor coach tour, I think we’ll opt to cancel if it’s an option. I’m keeping my fingers crossed though because I have been SO looking forward to this trip! I just hate that this will be my parents’ first experience with river cruising after all the time I spent raving about how awesome it is to sail along the river & watch the scenery from your stateroom. It’s not quite the same watching the scenery from a bus seat. But I know that’s the chance you take when you plan a river cruise. :( 

Thanks for the info! We only have one full day there after our cruise, but we'll plan to drop our stuff off at the hotel then head straight to the Acropolis. And thanks for the tip about the multi-site ticket! That sounds like the best plan since we do want to see as much as possible that day.

Our hotel is in the Plaka area too, fairly close to the Acropolis, so I think we'll be good if most other things are walkable from there. Thanks, Diane!

Thanks so much! :)

Are taxis readily available, affordable, and safe in Athens? I'm trying to decide if we need to arrange for a transfer from the port to our hotel after the cruise, or if it would be easier & cheaper to just grab a taxi. Does anyone know approximately what it would cost to get from the port to a hotel in central Athens?

Also - when we visited Rome, we were able to walk to most of the main sights. (It was a lot of walking, but certainly do-able.) Is Athens the same? Would we be able to walk around on our own to most of the main sights, or is everything more spread out?

I would love to still be able to stop in Istanbul, and I'm glad they didn't just cancel it right away and are waiting & monitoring the situation. Our stop is still over a month away (8/25, same as macandlucy's) and I'm hopeful that things will stabilize enough to safely travel by then. I'm already hugely disappointed that they cancelled Tunisia & Sicily (Those two ports were the primary reason I chose this cruise. I would've cancelled if I didn't have the Sip & Sail promo -- can't give that up! :p ) and replaced them with Cartagena & Gibraltar (been there before, and they're not the most exciting ports, IMO).

Obviously, I don't want to go to Istanbul if we wouldn't be safe there. If they do end up canceling, I hope they're at least able to replace it with another port. I'd be fine seeing Rhodes or anywhere else in Greece instead. As long as they don't just drop it for a sea day, I'll be happy. I love the ship, but I travel to see new places!

Thanks for the hotel recommendation. I just booked a Temple of Zeus view room at Athens Gate! Those of you who have stayed here -- any idea what the cost was for a taxi from the cruise port? I'm trying to decide whether to get a taxi or a private transfer. Thanks! :)

I haven't checked in here in a while. Glad to see some others have joined us! Welcome Amikins & bonvoyagebites! I did not make my birthday goal, but came closer than I expected to after my time off -- I ended up with a total of 42.6 by my birthday, so not bad; I only missed it by 7.4.

And today I made it through 6.2 miles! I think I might actually be able to complete a 10K race this year without chickening out and downgrading back to 5K at the last minute like I did last year. I just need to come up with a plan to keep running once the kids are out of school and home all day. That's what messed me up last summer, and then it was like starting all over again in the fall. But I'm amazed that I ran 10K in 1:04.45 this morning, and I really don't want to go back to being unable to get through more than 5 miles without a walking break, so I'm going to try my best to work in some running during the summer somehow.

I need to come up with a new mileage goal, but I'll need to think about what I can realistically do during the summer. But it's great motivation to get to subtract the miles from the goal total after each run, so I'll have to come up with a new goal since I don't have any races coming up soon.

OMG, I think that was the toughest run I've ever done. The heat, humidity, and hills here are so brutal! I'm glad my parents are moving and that this will be the last time I ever run in Alabama! I somehow managed to finish 5 miles, tackling every major hill in the neighborhood, in 59:45. So here's my updated goal progress--

Miles run: 34

Days remaining: 28

Miles remaining: 16

Miles per day remaining: 0.6

Well, never mind that. I'm the assistant coach for my daughter's softball team, and her games are scheduled for 8 or 8:45 am on Saturdays. So no races for me until softball's over in July because they're all on Saturday mornings. :( I'm still going to try to go out for a run today, but it's so much harder to get motivated when I don't have a race to look forward to.

My screen name came from the two dogs I had at the time I joined CC -- Perky and Blue.

Sorry you're at a difficult spot, but hooray that you have an awesome cruise coming up! Hopefully things will be better soon. And if not, running is always a good release! I'm hoping to fit in a run tomorrow, but even if I can't, I think I'll go ahead and register for the trail race later this month. They're a bit more grueling than a regular race, but it's a lot more fun dashing through the woods than trudging along the road. Even if I'm not as fast as I'd like, it should still be fun.

The trail race was great! I finished in 33:28 and placed 5th in my age group! (There were only 12 in my age group, so it's not that impressive.) I'm thinking of signing up for another one that's a few weeks away, so I'm hoping I can manage to get out for a run this week. It's supposed to be rainy all week, and I'm out of town, so I can't run at the gym, but there are some huge hills here around my parents' house that would be great training for the hills in the trail race. I hope I get a chance to squeeze in a run between downpours!

tdnosnhoj11 (What's the story behind that user name?) - Your cruise is coming up really soon, isn't it? You must be getting so excited!

Miles run: 29

Days remaining: 30

Miles remaining: 21

Miles per day remaining: 0.7

Diet is the hardest part for me too, so I've gotten to the point where I don't really stress about what I eat anymore. I generally try to make healthy choices and keep portions reasonable, but I do better focusing on what I can do (lately running a lot) than what I can't or shouldn't eat. One thing I've found that really does help with it though is not to think of it as "dieting." Instead make small changes to what & how much you eat that you can stick with long term. That's the mentality that finally got me out of the yo-yo dieting cycle that I had been stuck in from high school until my daughter was born.

Good luck with your weight loss goals & welcome to the group! :)

I got in another treadmill 5K (2% incline) today. I made it in 36:54. Not bad after 15 minutes on the stair machine! I'm feeling completely drained right now, but fairly well prepared for Saturday's 5K trail race. I'm actually getting a little nervous for the race, which is weird, since I really only run for fun & stress release. I guess it's just because I haven't done a race since last September. I'm not sure how rough or hilly it's going to be, so my goal is to finish the race in under 40 minutes. Wish me luck! And good luck with your Monday 5K's!

I'm (finally) over half way to my goal!

Miles run: 25.9

Days remaining: 35

Miles remaining: 24.1

Miles per day remaining: 0.7

(Just noticed I got yesterday's miles per day remaining wrong. I was wondering how it had gotten so much worse! My chances of managing an average of 0.7 per day is much better than 1.3 per day!)

Yeah, the trail races are a lot more fun than just the regular road races. I love running through the woods (and sometimes streams!) and leaping over logs and climbing huge hills. It reminds me of when I was a kid running around the woods in Germany. I agree that some of the race fees are insane! I only paid $15 for the one I'm doing on Saturday, and I don't think I've ever paid more than $40 for any race. I like to run, but not enough to spend a fortune on it!

You need to get yourself some new shoes before you wreck your feet or knees! Holes in running shoes are not good!

I ran 5K on the treadmill on Friday (at a 2% incline to challenge myself before the trail race this weekend) and I ran 5.4 miles outside this morning in 59:45 -- my longest run since October and no walking break! I was apparently desperate for a run this morning because I had no clean running pants, and instead of using that as an excuse to stay home and do laundry instead, I pulled out some pants from the laundry pile and re-wore them so I could still go run! And I'm glad I did because I feel so much better after a good long run. (Plus I'll feel better about going out to the happy hour get together tonight that my friend invited me to!) But seriously, I really need to do laundry!

I doubt I'll actually make this goal after taking a month off recently, but it's still fun to keep track--

Miles run: 22.8

Days remaining: 36

Miles remaining: 27.2

Miles per day remaining: 1.3

That's great that you're doing weights too. It's definitely better over all to do weights and cardio. That's not a bad 5K time at all. Way to go! Was it just a run on your own or a race? I'm signed up for a 5K trail race in a couple weeks. I'm really excited because I haven't done a race since September, and I really enjoy the trail races. I just wish it weren't so early in the morning -- I'm going to have to wake up before 7 am on a Saturday! :eek: A few years ago, I would never have believed you if you'd told me that I would EVER wake up early on a weekend to go run, lol!

I'm so excited to pick up my new running shoes once I leave the office today! I found some last weekend that I love, but decided to wait a few days for them to get the purple/black shoes rather than the pink/orange. They're rounded at the front, so they sort of propel you forward. I'm sure I will now be able to run a sub-30 5K (haha).

I ran 5K on the treadmill last week in 35:29, and that was AFTER having my legs obliterated by the personal trainer for 25 minutes! I'm planning to fit in at least another 5K run later this week (with my awesome new shoes!).

Miles run: 14.3

Days remaining: 44

Miles remaining: 35.7

Miles per day remaining: 0.8

The best meal I've had at any cruise port was in Cartagena, Spain. We ordered paella for lunch and it was incredible! Sadly, I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was, and I can't find a picture of it, either. We must have been too excited to dig in to stop and take a photo first, but it was impressive. It had shrimp with the heads still on and some sort of seafood that we couldn't quite recognize (and we are avid seafood eaters)!

We also had the best coffee (or possibly the best drink, period) of my life there. I'm sure someone here will remember the name of it because CC is how I learned to be on the lookout for it. It was strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk and Licor 43. We still have a little Licor 43 left that we brought back with us two years ago. I may have to make myself one of those coffees this weekend!

I haven't run since my last post here over a month ago. (Yikes!) I just could not find the motivation to drag myself to the gym and pound out any more boring treadmill miles. But the weather is gorgeous today, so I was actually able to run outside again where the scenery is always much more interesting. Today I saw a bunny (so cute!), a pacifier hanging from a tree (odd), and a used condom (ewww!). Certainly more interesting than staring at the tv screen or gym wall while on the treadmill!

I hope you're feeling better!! And great job with your miles! My goal is going to be a lot harder to reach after over a month off, but I was pleased to manage 5 miles in 57 min. after only having run 2 5Ks in the past 5 months!

Miles run: 11.2

Days remaining: 52

Miles remaining: 38.8

Miles per day remaining: 0.7

day 26 precruise

 

59,2 kg

 

perfectly fine, since I really was curious as to when that liquid would be restored.

 

Yesterday I had a roll with Thüringer Mett for breakfast, a shake for lunch, a shake for dinner and a glas of red wine to finish the day.

 

I have the feeling it's getting easier to eat less. I think day 26 precruise will finally be the day I stick to shakes only ... plus coffee and wine of course;).

 

Stef

Yes, coffee and wine are essential! What is Thüringer Mett?

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Very proud of my run this morning. I was supposed to be meeting with a personal trainer, but he forgot! I didn't have my music with me since I had expected to be with the trainer the whole time, but I decided to run 5K on the treadmill anyway. I'm not crazy about running on the treadmill, but I especially hate running without my music, so I wasn't expecting to do very well. But I ran the whole thing and shaved 4:14 off my time from last week! I just kept my mind on what I wanted to do after my run, and it was a piece of cake!! Well, not quite, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected!

Hope you have fun at the Mardi Gras party tomorrow!

Miles run: 6.2

Miles remaining: 43.8

Days remaining: 90

Miles per day: 0.5

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