At7Seas

13 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Personally, we prefer a single quality and comfortable experience over two cheaper experiences.

Okay, I’m not BVILady. But I for my part would describe it as two quality and comfortable experiences instead of one single cruise with perhaps a few marginal better aspects.

8 hours ago, islandwoman said:

So if I read this correctly, Viking's OBC and the cost of flights accounted for the small differential in the two (Princess and Viking) World Cruise daily costs?

Allow me a word about OBC. No single item on a cruise is for free. You pay for it the one or other way. Giving such an amount OBC as for example Viking does makes the fare significantly more expensive. It is no free money, but money you already gave to Viking. And you will spend it, because otherwise it is lost. Just one example. The majority of my excursions I booked individually, in most cases not just by financial reasons. This would be largely prohibited if I would still have a massive OBC waiting to be spent. I doubt that I would have more profit from this massive OBC than Viking.

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Don't believe everything you read in the media.

I shouldn’t believe the media or the Italian courts that got to the same conclusion again and again in all decisions taken during long trials? I should believe you that an accident with dozens of fatalities couldn’t happen with a Viking ship because of their safety culture? An accident as the one when the Viking Sigyn, while turning, overran the Hableány, which sunk in no time? The trial is still ongoing, but at least the port authorities declared the manoeuvre had not their permission and the captain declared not having seen the other ship. But I should not believe the media and the 28 dead tourists are still alive.

16 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

I am well aware that some cruise lines do actually operate with safety as the # 1 priority, others only if it doesn't cost money. ... The pax on Costa Concordia were certainly impacted by that cruise line's procedures and Bridge culture.

Bad example! Sailing illegally so close to the islands rocky coast had not the slightest bit to do with the costs of safety. It was simply a captain showing off. And it changed Costa significantly.

1 hour ago, BVILady said:

I just do not understand how you come up with the endprice being the same to what you spend on Viking and what I would have spend on Costa.

This discussion we had earlier and it only worked out with a Princess cruise under very specific circumstances. One of the needed circumstances was an included business class flight with Viking that regarding the price mentioned earlier must have been intercontinental. For our cruise on the Deliziosa a business class flight was available from Vancouver to Venice and retour for about that mentioned amount. I just booked the international trains from Venice back home and the price was 115.40 € in the best available seat. Already by this simple fact the so cheap Viking story doesn’t work out for me. I only can agree with your statement regarding the included Viking excursions I saw. Even on our cruise I won’t be on all of the 15 included excursions, because I want to do something I like better. Two of the included excursions I already did not too long ago and don’t want to repeat so soon. BVILady, I am completely with you regarding food on Costa, there is regarding the quality no need to buy any other food aboard. I just decided for variation in style to visit the more experimental restaurant that offers dinners designed by Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze and Ángel León and the sushi restaurant. This definitely doesn’t ruin the grand total, nor do the extra water bottles I ordered for taking on excursions. For me a huge cabin is not really important. I sleep there, I use the bathroom and store my belongings. It just must be a quiet location. As my lounge I use public spaces, there the flow of cappuccini is better as well. And the Deliziosa is very well maintained. I come out of the constructions and real estate sector, people always complained “do you really have to see everything?” Yes! BVILady, in the end you simply stated that you knew spending US$ 60,000 better than in a perhaps slightly better cruise on Viking, you booked the next world cruise the following year and still have much left for other spendings.

13 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

Everyone's different; Oceania met all my criteria and was an experience I'll never forget. And that was important to me because I am just a middle income single person who saved for 30 yrs to take that journey and I'll never be able to afford it again. But my pictures and memories are precious since this was a once in a lifetime experience for me. 

Sure, everybody is different. And I have no doubt that Oceania offers principally a good product, whether it fits to everybody has been questioned initially by islandwoman already when starting this discussion from her point of view. For you it was obviously exactly a good cruise. I absolute believe that your memories and pictures are precious to you, so are the highlights of my journeys. I was simply advocating spending reasonably regarding a quote that was four times higher. I don’t think a lot of people really needn’t care what they are doing financially - and saying this I also think that everybody who actually does or did a world cruise is already quite privileged.

Sounds like a dormitory in the air. I go for the ship, the time involved is also part of life quality!

39 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Gottcha.  I'm on the Island Princess and my cruise countdown is the same. That's why I asked.

 

Have a wonderful adventure!

Same plans, different ships. Enjoy your cruise!

1 hour ago, BVILady said:

I am 74 now, holding my fingers crossed that I will manage to do so a few more years.

I’ve a bit to go until being 74 and I hope that I’ll be fit enough travelling extensively when reaching that age as well. Since I surprisingly can’t spend a single Euro twice I pay for my world cruise out of my income, not out of my savings. Otherwise the savings will be gone some day and don’t produce income any more - and I can’t do another world cruise when I’ll be 74…

Costa doesn’t have an own taxi service, but partnered with a company that offers transfers. I checked the prices for my last cruise. I wasn’t impressed and I took a regular taxi. But to your question: this service is designed as transfer service to the port on embarkation day or back after disembarkation, so exactly what you are looking for. Not in transit ports means during the cruise you can’t order a taxi for sightseeing through this service.

6 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

I did the Oceania world cruise (161 days), then stayed on the ship for the next 3 cruises (another 31 days); total of 192 continuous days. It was amazing, especially being on a smallish ship. Highly recommend Oceania!

I had a quote for Oceania when planning my own world cruise and it was four times more expensive than the world cruise I actually booked. Are 18 days more (in 2024) and having a few more add-ons really worth this difference? Not for me. For me this is not a once in a lifetime experience. As long as I am fit enough I want to do comparable intense journeys every year, be it as world cruise or otherwise.

9 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Island Princess?

No, Costa Deliziosa

@Heidi, yes, I wrote about repositioning cruises. I am completely with you that there is a clear definition of repositioning. @cruisermsoon and @mchell810: most cruises sold under the name grand voyage are repositioning cruises. Most, not all. I can’t remember that I booked ever a cruise under the name repositioning, while I was on many. In fact there are not a lot of cruises circumventing Africa for example. There are much more ships sailing during Southern summer in South Africa and in Northern summer somewhere in the Northern hemisphere. Including repositioning these ships and selling these cruises as grand voyage. How good the itinerary is, whether it follows an interesting route, is a completely different question. Just as with every cruise.
 
There is not only one cruise line, although the examples for world cruises cruisermsoon mentioned are from one cruise line only. Perhaps this limitation leads to some distortion. However, even these data show that the price argument is not valid. Most examples are within +/- 10% the world cruise prices, one grand voyage example is cheaper, two are significantly more expensive. And now let’s lift the limit to Azamara. All examples are per day much more expensive than my own world cruise. Why should I from the pure financial point of view go along European coasts only when I can go for the total price on a full world cruise?
 
You may be attached to a single cruise line, that is your right. Just as people may do every year the same seven day cruise again and again, because they like it so much. But both are not the only way of cruising. I am completely with @SargassoPirate regarding the definition of a world cruise and the possibility of substitution. Of course there are valid reasons not to do a world cruise. For example if you simply don’t want. But also if you can’t leave your home for a long time by various reasons. Or you don’t have the money.
 
Would I even think about the suggestion of @cruisermsoon to divide a world cruise into two segments and completing it the other year? As long as I am able to do it completely? Definitely not! What would I do after sailing exactly this example with the world cruise segment from Greece to Australia? Searching a repositioning cruise to return to Europe comfortably. The other year I will do another great thing, not completing what I destroyed the year before.

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

I certainly don't panic about getting the required Visas...

Oh, there are enough people in panic, even if you aren’t. And companies make abuse of it by selling overpriced services. And of course cruise lines use it as argument for selling their cruises. I admit that China can be challenging. I am absolutely not aware about Canadian passport holders, but I know that pre covid some short time visits during a cruise or for (dis)embarking were possible without prearranged visa for a number of nationals. For longer visits ashore you are in all cases right. Except Hong Kong (passport only required) China is not on my cruise, so I am not up to date. Shouldn’t be a surprise as this cruise was designed in 2022 when China was still completely closed for tourism without any sign of change. I also have to file for my Sri Lanka ETA when I am already aboard, this should not be a problem as cruise lines are aware about these deadlines. India states that they resumed e-visa for citizens of 165 countries. Not for Canadians? What did you do (not personally of course, but as country)? In March 2023 Egypt stamped a 72 hour transit visa for free into my passport when I visited during a cruise. And for many tourists visa on arrival or alternatively e-visa are available for other stays up to four weeks. I have a list of countries that require generally a face check for visa and if still up to date 28 countries are on this list. It starts with Afghanistan and from top of the list I don’t have the impression that this would be my bucket list of countries with perhaps the exception of Bhutan, which has strict limits in numbers of tourists of course. But I have no ambitions in visiting Eritrea or Libya, North Korea or Syria. The list ends as tourist friendly as it started with Yemen.

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

you also need to compare the total costs, specifically the included benefits

I couldn’t agree more. The grand total is very important. But this also includes the question whether included things are really needed or whether these are as expensive or complicated as it seems.

People always panic about visa. I don’t know why. In these days for Western citizens and some Eastern as Japan or Singapore in the very most cases there is no longer travelling to consulates or embassies needed. In theory I need to arrange visa or ETAs for seven countries. One country (South Korea) has suspended the ETA procedure until the end of 2024 for most countries and only the passport is needed. From the rest half the countries has special visa waivers for cruise guests, including Papua New Guinea, where normally quite a documentation about a booked holiday is required. And the other half has a simple online procedure. Total fee is 40 US$, all together less than an hour involved for filling forms and scanning documents.
 
I booked for two suitcases (maximum weight 32 kg per piece) luggage transport from my home address to my cabin for 176,28 €. Sending these bags back home it will be cheaper, because the amount mentioned includes a holiday surcharge.
 
Never forget that everything included is a gift, but is reflected in the price. In the very end all these items are included to earn money with.

Well, not only the price can be the same easily, at least when we look at the price per night. Grand voyages are in most cases simply the repositioning of the ship. For example between Caribbean and Mediterranean before the different seasons start. A transatlantic can’t be done without a row of sea days. Crossing each and every ocean can’t. I did several crossings, this year from South Africa to Italy with 18 days at sea out of 30, this was 60% of the time. Longest time between two ports was five days on Indian Ocean and Red Sea. On my upcoming world cruise 64 days at sea are planned out of 126 - or 50.8% of the time. Longest time in a row also will be five days, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.
 
Whether time aboard a ship is long or not depends mainly on perception. The grand voyage from Cape Town to Venice was way too long, because it was on a completely run down ship with bad food and terrible service. In such a case getting off the ship is a great relief. I did longer cruises than these 30 days before and felt at the end that I could have stayed longer.
 
Are world cruises uninspired? Those cruises doing every single week of the year the ever-same round in the Med definitely are uninspired. Some world cruises I personally regard as being too short and rushing around the globe, which also results in relatively more sea days. But these few don’t constitute a rule. I’ll set my feet with the exception of Antarctica onto all continents, combine indigenous South American culture with visiting Japan, snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef and enjoy the Canal Grande. At least I am inspired!
 
What you definitely miss out on repositioning cruises is the Magellan feeling - circumventing the globe. It’s not only the same ship and the same cabin (I regard it as great advantage not to carry around my luggage), I’ll stay in the same hotel before and after the cruise.
 
And there is another huge advantage: I don’t need to go on a long haul flight. The lesser the time I am pressed into narrow rows the better for my legs. Even better, I can go very comfortable by train to the port and the highest seat category remains cheaper than the cheapest flight and since there is no direct flight available for me the time involved is about the same.
 
I think you compare here apples with oranges. Both can be tasty, but are not the same.

I consider doing a live report here on Cruise Critic from my world cruise to fill the sea days. Still 46 days to go…

Pedestrian access to Savona port is easy, walking can be done from the West (pedestrian bridge) or the South (NH Hotel). There is an own gate, which I marked in Google below. GPS 44.309432, 8.487605

If you look at Street View the pedestrian gate is closed.

20 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Thank you. 

 

Flights to Genoa are not showing yet for June 2024. Will this be an option to Savona?

 

Sure, flying to Genoa is an option. Just that it is a small regional airport and in opposite to Milan and even Nice you have only a very few direct international flights. So you need to have luck getting a direct flight. If you need to change plane in Rome you might end up paying more for travelling longer compared to taking the train from Milan, distance between Genoa and Milan is just about 150 km.

22 hours ago, framboesa said:

hello! My parents will cruise aboard Costa Diadema, short cruise, departing from Marseille to Lisbon.

I have a couple questions:

- Is the indoor pool heated?

- What are normally the theme nights?

 

Thank you

You never know what themes will be. On my last Costa cruise there was surprisingly no Italian evening for example. I looked at the programs and besides the casual evenings we had

• Black and red
• Gala
• Black and white with a bit of red
• Folkloristic
• Extravagant
• Elegant (twice)
• White
• Colourful / carnival
• Neon

The indoor pool I always experienced well tempered for swimming, but never as hot.

4 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

 

Who are you sailing with  At7Seas ?

I am booked on Costa Deliziosa.

1 hour ago, BVILady said:

I do cruise with Costa a lot but their single-supplement for the 2025 World Cruise has reached 100 % now

Yes, Costa world cruises have some own rules indeed. The basic prices are pretty stable, while on short cruises prices tend to go up or down, just based on demand - or lack of demand. Our common 2024 world cruise edition was about a year to sail when it was sold out. And short before the single supplement went also up from 50% to 100%. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2025 cruise will be marked as “sold” as well. Economically pretty easy, if the demand is high enough they prefer to fill the cabins with two guests.

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The difference in fares is quickly equalised when you add the following to the Princess fare

 - Port taxes - $2,500

 - OBC - $5,750

 - Business flights - $12,000

Booking in Europe means all taxes must be included. Customer’s rights. Bookings with Costa’s German branch require even the service charge being included in the fare. I booked with the Dutch Costa office, since there the full beverage package was included during a sale. After adding the service charge I will be at exactly the German price, but have the better conditions.
 
I live on about 660 km distance from Venice (on the street). I won’t even fly, since there are no direct flights and I’ll take the train to Venice. Same total time from home to hotel, but easier. And I book for the longest part of the distance business seats in a ÖBB Railjet, they are like first class seats in a plane. ÖBB charges me 168.30 € one way to Venice, relative expensive regarding the high demand during the holidays. Back I might go for 116.50 € already. Even the water taxi transfer within Venice is more expensive. Business class return flights would start for my travel dates at 520.11 €, but with very uncomfortable long stops. No way to save 12,000 US$. On the other side business flight tickets are not falling down from the Viking sky, they are financed through selling cruise tickets. And I with 520 € would simply co-finance the one who flies for 12,000 US$. I am a social human being, but this goes a bit too far.

18 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I believe I may have seen that.  Does Viking require 'early' fare payment?

And as European I have to pay my cruise 30 days in advance.

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

It's difficult to fully appreciate your comparison/analysis without knowing which cruise line/ship you're sailing on.  We have to have a lot of faith in your opinion(s) without the benefit of being able to draw any of our own due to lack of basic detail.

Honestly, you can’t challenge either data. My cruise is fully booked since beginning this year and the 2025 edition has also 100% single supplement now, which is a clear sign that not too many cabins are left - and it’s still more than a year to go. Still, the starting price for double occupancy is as today 15,499 € per person. The same happened short before my own cruise was sold out. When I was searching I found quite a number of cruise lines with a comparable price based on double occupancy. Differences started for me as solo cruiser. So who doesn’t want to start the cruise in Europe has alternatives, who doesn’t like Italian food as well. There were shorter and longer world cruises - and still no huge difference broken down to the daily price. But it is no secret, I’ll sail on Costa Deliziosa for 127 days from January 6th, 2024. Much more interesting should be how the question about the additional costs - and how it still beats the price of Azamara so much, while the other statement is that paying inflated prices makes a cruise cheap.