OhState1

I was on this cruise as well. It was my first and last cruise ever. I'll never hand over control of my vacation like that again. Missing ports and largely terrible tours. Not to mention the naked passenger on his balcony as we all returned to the ship in Le Verdon (actually, that was one of the highlights of the trip. My MIL kept trying to guess the identity of the gent everywhere we went after that!) Much more entertaining than the Jenga, I must admit. 🙂

They took our passports when we embarked. Said they needed them because we end up in the UK. I think we will use an ATM ashore to get the additional euros we need for our tours. I like the idea of using dollars to pay off at least part of our onboard bill. Tonight is the Captain’s reception so free drinks from 6-8. Just need to fit dinner in there sometime.

Our FIL just gave us a not insubstantial amount of US cash to use on board. 1. Do we take it to reception and ask to have it applied to our account? 2. Can we convert it to Euros on board? Is the exchange rate typically decent? We have a private tour vendor we can pay in euros in Bilbao. 3. Or something else you can think of based on your experience. it’s in the safe for now, which doesn’t seem like the best use. First cruise for us, day 1, at sea. Thanks!

There is a passport office in Miami. You can make an appointment within 5 days of travel. I think they issue them on the spot. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies/miami.html

My FIL has injured his back and has to opt our of his previously scheduled shore excursion (too vigorous). All the other shore excursions are booked, so he can't join ours - except our TA says we can book the private vehicle shore excursion. This is in Bilbao, by the way. I am wondering how the guides are with the private vehicle excursions if anyone has any experience. What else should we know before booking that? I've got an email in to Spain Day Tours, but they don't have a full trip yet. We depart on Wednesday, so I hope we can wrap this up before we leave. Thanks!

Lots of discussion in this thread -

We will be on a tour bus returning from Bordeaux to Le Verdon for the last 1.5 hours of the tour in late May. If it’s hot, I hope the transit is air conditioned.

Rookie follow up question: If I have an excursion allegedly returning @ 5:15, will this allow enough time to make our 6:30 booking? It seems reasonable, but I've not cruised before where this might be an issue, so I thought I'd check for some real life experience. Thanks.

Eastern. I believe I read elsewhere that the HQ is in Miami, thus the eastern time zone.

I was able to book tables for 3 couples last night. You need their booking number and first/last names. Select invite others, add their info, then find the restaurant/times available.

Riviera 5/22 - 6/1. Today is 45 days out. We're on the 8th deck. Veranda Stateroom (B1).

Thanks everyone for the guidance. I logged on at 12:01 this morning and secured tables for 6 in all of the specialty restaurants at the time we hoped for, if not the exact dates we wanted. This board helped immensely.

When we toured Ireland (non-cruise) we would eat fairly early, then my husband would take his dad back to the hotel while I stayed out with my MIL for the craic. My husband would return to join us. May have to implement that strategy again, but maybe he’s a difficult person at sea. I’m personally highly intrigued by the surf and turf sandwich at the TC, but swap out the turf for bacon to make a lobster BLT.

I make things like that and my husband ignores it. He can’t deal with Excel. Must be a word doc. I’m stealing that as a template. 🙂

For the sailing regulars here, what times are in most demand? We will have a party of 6 for the specialty restaurants. One of our group tends to have meltdowns if he isn’t in bed early (maybe he’ll be better behaved with others, but when it is just family, not so much). We were hoping to secure 6:30 slots to ensure smooth sailing, so to speak. Would a group table work? Maybe we can induce him to take a nap….