SophieM

Thanks, Pinot! Do you recall the name of the tour company?

We are looking for a tour that would pick us up at the cruise port and then go to Valparaiso before finishing in Santiago. Have any of you done something like that? Thanks!

We are looking for a hotel in Santiago for the end of our cruise next year. We’d appreciate any suggestions either for or against a particular hotel, as well as what area the hotel is in. Thanks very much!

Dang, Karen! There you go cruising without us again. 🤣 Have a wonderful cruise on the beautiful Vista!! One of these days…. Jane & Ed

I tried for the next day, but there was a conflict. And, yes, sailing day is a busy time for the officers.

You’re such a party pooper, ORV. 🤣

I organized a M&G for our transatlantic cruise on the Marina in April. My contact in Miami cleared the date & time with the ship. I furnished the names and cabin numbers to her. We had more than 60 sign up! Once on the ship, I coordinated with the Executive Concierge. Ours was on sailing day at 4:30 p.m., and everyone received a reminder invitation in their cabins. We had a separate, cordoned off area in Horizons with bar service and dry snacks (chips, nuts, etc.) with happy hour drink pricing and no additional charges. I brought name tags with me. Sadly, no officers stopped by, but we did just fine without them.

Many thanks for all the replies so far! They are very helpful.

We are thinking of booking an Amazon cruise in January of ‘25. If you have done one, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks much!

in general, it’s been very good. Husband did send a steak back in Polo, but they were quite happy to redo. I think, though, they’re still bringing on kitchen staff. We really have no major complaints, oh, except for the internet, of course. Semi-patiently waiting for StarLink. I’m sure if we tried hard enough, we could find something to b…h about, but there are enough others on the boards doing that. It’s really been a very nice cruise. Great crew with a number of familiar faces! People seem to be much more interested in socializing, too.

We are currently on the Marina. While I won’t disagree that she could use an update, she is in otherwise great condition, as far as we have seen. We have three more booked on her before the refurb with no hesitation!!

I think weather is a fickle mistress. The day & night before we were to leave home for our cruise on the Marina, all the local weather people were forecasting grapefruit size hail and a strong chance of tornadoes and high winds. Fortunately for us, it went further south and caused devastation and loss of life in southeast Missouri. I continue to believe the captain made the best decision with the information he had at the time.

We also had a similar situation but had not selected OLife to begin with. Our TA checked, and because we had no OLife to begin with, the Ultimate couldn’t be applied. We could have canceled & rebooked, but even with all three “free,” it would have been considerably more expensive.

You said it much better than I, Horseman. Thanks! By the way, I once owned the rear ends of a couple of race horses. That’s about all they were worth, too. 🙂

Good question, and I sure didn’t mean to be snarky. And correction—the Pearl’s itinerary is 7 day, round trip Boston.

If you look at the Pearl’s itinerary, it looks to me to be a simple Bermuda to New York and back. Quite a bit different than ours. I’m not going to second guess the captain.

Gale force winds were forecasted, so the captain canceled the stop. We sail on, which is absolutely ok by us!

I don’t believe so. I tried when we were on in January.

Here is some interesting reading for those who find the reduced and canceled port stops suspicious. It may not change your minds, but it appears it may be an industry-wide issue. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/environmental-health-0

I hear what you all are saying, but, for me anyway, this is quickly becoming a dead horse discussion. Please send your constructive suggestions to O, if you haven’t already.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! You might keep in mind that the Vista will only have been sailing a short time and give some grace to the ship, the crew, the dining venues, and the captain, as he makes his final port decisions.

Wow, Pinot. That seems kind of harsh. Wishing you much happiness on your new cruise line.

Thanks to all who have posted so far. This is really helpful! I am currently thinking two days in Valpo, including the disembarkation day, and then getting to Santiago either the evening of the second day or the following morning and then flying home from Santiago on that third day, late in the evening. Jane

We’ll wave at you in Santiago.

What a good girl! And since I know you were all about seeing a picture of Elvis…