braemar12

Thanks Pontac - was thinking of going round Arles independently, visiting the Van Gogh attractions and the arena. Depending on the time the Carmague tour is, I will go round Arles.

Will be cruising on the Amadeus Provence at the beginning of May.

Any thoughts on the must see attractions of Macon, Chalon sur Saone, Avignon and Chateauneuf du Rhone?

Was thinking of going on to the Carmague from Arles.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Castlecritic - 15 nights.

3 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Braemar12 - I live in Romania and the short answer is Bucharest yes, Constanța no.

Your feedback back up what I was told by someone else. So it appears that Constanta is not worth taking a tour to.

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It is actually a 15 night cruise - it starts off in Passau, on to Vienna, Esztergom, Budapest, then onto new territory for me to Belgrade, Vidin, Olenita/Fetesti (for tours to Bucharest), St Gheorge, Harsov/Festesti (for Constanta), Rousse, Svishtov, Novi Sad, Vukovar, Mohacs, Kalosca and finally onto Budapest, Bratislava, Durnstein. Emmerdorf and back to Passau.

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

I was asked to make a new post on this topic. Hope of interest.

As I very much enjoyed my river cruise in April cruising the Danube between Passau and Budapest, I have taken the plunge and have booked the full Danube cruise on the Amadeus Brilliant which will go from Passau all the way to the Danube Delta and back to Passau. Does anyone have any feedback on must see attractions in Belgrade, Vidin, St Gheorge, Rouse, Svishtov, Novi Sad and Vukovar? Also is it worth going to see Bucharest and Constanta which is offered as an option from one of the Romanian ports?

As I very much enjoyed my river cruise in April cruising the Danube between Passau and Budapest, I have taken the plunge and have booked the full Danube cruise on the Amadeus Brilliant which will go from Passau all the way to the Danube Delta and back to Passau. Does anyone have any feedback on must see attractions in Belgrade, Vidin, St Gheorge, Rouse, Svishtov, Novi Sad and Vukovar? Also is it worth going to see Bucharest and Constanta which is offered as an option from one of the Romanian ports?

Thanks.

I will be cruising onboard the Amadeus Silver iii on the 6th April from Passau to Budapest and back to Passau. We will be calling in at Emmerdorf, Durnstein, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislavia and Linz. Hopefully the water levels will allow safe navigation as my previous cruise on the Amadeus Silver iii on the Main had to be amended due to low water levels on the Rhine and the Danube.

Amadeus River Cruises do not have excursions included within the fare. They are offered as an optional extra.

Does anyone know if Hebridean will be running their European river cruises on Royal Crown next year?

I booked this river cruise using the Amadeus UK brochure. Fred. Olsen Travel are the general sales agent for Amadeus and Fred. chartered Amadeus Princess for a couple of seasons to sail as Brabant. I was originally booked to go on Brabant in 2021 for a cruise from Budapest to Cologne and this cruise will allow me to visit some of the ports that I was supposed to have called at on that cruise.

I will be going on the Amadeus Silver iii next Sunday. It will be interesting to see if she will be in Cologne next Sunday - this cruise is expected to go down the Rhine, to Rudesheim then along the Main/Danube to Miltenberg/Wertheim, Wurzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Passau. Hopefully it will go according to schedule.

On the Hebridean Princess website, mention is made that Hebridean intend to restart cruising in May. Has anyone heard whether Hebridean still intend to restart operations during May or has it been rescheduled?

Also are Hebridean's Norway cruises still going ahead? Fred. Olsen is operating a non-landing Norway cruise ex Rosyth around the same time as when Hebridean Princess would've been cruising to Norway.

Thanks.

Does Hebridean still produce special menu cards for their Gala Dinners?

Enclosed is an example from 2004.

It appears that ownership of ms Amsterdam and ms Rotterdam has been transferred over to Fred. Olsen.

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

The advance of Carnival does worry me as well, though IF they do take on CMV they would presumably use it to sail the "smaller", ships albeit what P&O call mid sized, which would please a lot of P&O customers, but also restrict possible extra passengers for Fred, which was quite probably on the cards.  A P&O Oz ship is going to CMV as Amy Johnson as you probably know and Vasco de Gama already in service.  I feel Marco Polo and Magellan may well be on the way out.

 

We picked up the comment that Fred was to get rid of 2 ships last night, so yes presumably Black Watch and Boudicca.  I will be very happy to see Black Watch go as we hate the deck 5 and below cabins with fixed beds in a L shaped configuration, since one bed has no bedside table.  Annoyingly that was the ship which he has been sailing from Liverpool recently, though at least sailings went from there.  I wonder if anything bigger than Braemar can turn around in Liverpool at present and am not holding my breath for the newly planned cruise terminal either.  Certainly no sign in place at present and would not be surprised if it is, or has been, cancelled for the time being at least.

 

Interesting that Fred has the support of Bonheur for this after various reports regards his difference of opinion with big sister in the past (I was told about that personally by a Fred Captain, so not rumours).    Does anyone know if she is still chair of the Bonheur board?    

Fred. Olsen senior is the Chairman of Bonheur while his daughter Annette is the Managing Director.

It may be the case that Oceana goes to Australia to replace one of the earlier Sun-class cruise ships.

Are the 2021 itineraries now out? Haven't seen them yet on their online website.

Hebridean have announced that they have cancelled this year's Norway cruises. They hope to be back in operation before the end of the year.

In the latest issue of Hebridean Times, it indicated that Hebridean Princess would be going down to the South Coast of England in 2021. There are supposed to be cruises to Ireland, Channel Isles and the north coast of France as well as the South Coast of England. Hebridean would normally release details before the end of May but as yet no details.

Does anyone know when Hebridean plan to release their 2021 itineraries? I was originally told that they would be released during May 2020 but that has now passed.

Thanks.

Does Hebridean Princess' library contain books on the destinations that the ship cruises to? Or is it general fiction books?

Many thanks.

There has been a reshuffle of commands. This should now be correct:

Balmoral

Bent Ivar Gangdal

Lars Kjeldsen

Boudicca

Sten Jenssen

Victor Stoica

Black Watch

Mikael Degerlund

Henrik Mattson

Braemar

Jozo Glavic

Robert Bamberg

I am wondering if the catering standards on Balmoral are due to the previous Executive Chef leaving the ship. I'm not sure who has taken over their duties but wondered if this may be an issue.

We took the Golden Circle tour on our Greenland/Iceland cruise when we called at Reykjavik. From memory a 3 course lunch was served in one of the restaurants in Geysir. There was a soup to begin with, then salmon with potatoes which was served on a large platter for each table and everyone took their share from the platter. There was a dessert. The food was good especially the salmon. If you have a special dietary request you would need to speak to the tours staff onboard prior to the call in Reykjavik to make arrangements.