shipscat

We were in Cape Town last January.  We arrived late at night so the next day we took it easy and used the Hop On Hop Off bus (there are 2 routes) which gave us an idea of Cape Town and surrounding areas.  After we got off the cruise, I had arranged for a guide (through Tours by Locals) to pick us up at the cruise terminal and to take us inland to the wine area.  Late afternoon, he dropped us off at the airport.  Everything went smoothly.  Tours by Locals has a few guides to choose from as well as different trips.  We were also able to customize our trip.

For some time my husband has been wanting to take a river cruise from Budapest to Bucharest. What sold us on this Vantage cruise was the pre-cruise tour to Poland, and the fact that friends had been with them and had no problems. Straight off I must say that the pre-cruise, the cruise itself and all Vantage people we met in Europe cannot be faulted. The problem lies with head office. From my reading I knew that Vantage sends pre-cruise information out on line, no problem with that. However, from past experience I know that you for a pre-cruise you definitely need luggage tags. These were meant to be sent with the pre-cruise info, they never came. Two emails later, still no luggage tags. Afternoon we are leaving, I am calling Vantage asking for them to send me a template so that at least I have something Vantage on my cases. By the way, they were required and the Vantage escort in Poland does not have them, as I was told by someone in Boston. All the people I spoke to in Boston were very pleasant and helpful, but not entirely clued in.

Even though we had done our own air, we had paid for transfers at both ends. Arriving in Poland, there was no-one there to meet us. We took a cab to the hotel and found we were not on the list for transfers. I emailed our TA who got in touch with Vantage. They would refund that transfer amount she is told. She made sure there was a record of our transfer at the end of the cruise, and told me to check on-board that such a record existed. I find it did exist, but when we got to the hotel in Bucharest, no such record was found. No problem getting on the shuttle though as I could prove we had paid! We have been back over a month, enough to have two credit card statements, but this past week our TA has had to chase up that refund! Records show there is a refund owing, but that info does not seem to have reached accounting.

The lack of communication between departments is astounding, and reflects poorly on Vantage. However, if you don't encounter administrative problems, the cruise itself is likely to be excellent.

Just wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed reading your posts throughout this world cruise. I am so going to miss my morning read.

Go to the following website: http://passageweather.com/. Click on the area for the British Isles, then scroll down to the 3rd map which shows wave height. You can animate this map to see what the wave height will be in the area for the next 5 days or so. Looks rough to me...I'd take extra time in Dublin!

BTW I refer to this site whenever cruising and it is quite accurate. So when we did a TA out of Lisbon last November with Oceania, I knew the first night out would be choppy, it was. The map showed that the night before had been rough and I learned from people staying on that Oceania had left a port early in order to get into Lisbon earlier so that people disembarking at least got some sleep before leaving the ship.

I don't believe a cruise line drops ports unless it is absolutely necessary.

I had heard Holland America did not let you touch utensils, etc. for the first 2 days. That did not happen on the Holland America I left on Monday after 2 weeks. Wonder if they have changed their policy?

I played mahjongg on the Hawaii cruise 2 years ago, just met up with others wanting to play. There should be sets on board, although sometimes you do have to make sure they are complete. They are kept in the library area and we were able to sign one out for the duration of the trip. There is a book in the same area where you can sign up that you want to play, however the Princess Patter usually lists playing time and location. Not sure if Princess does this automatically or if a passenger needs to ask for it to be mentioned. Anyway, some of the cruise director staff can do this for you. You can play in most public spaces at any time of the day, not just in the designated area, but initially that is where people will first go. Have fun!

Currently CD on Marina is Ray Carr. Unless anything gets changed, he told us he was on the ship until the end of March 2015

Not sure it was called the "Yangtze Experience" but we did a pre-cruise China tour through Princess before joining the Diamond Princess. We are glad that we did it as it gave an excellent overview of China.

Tour guide, Michael - excellent, nothing was too much trouble.

Sightseeing - excellent, will never forget the experience of being on the wall of the old city of Xian when the lights came on, it was magical.

Hotels - 5*, very comfortable, and food very good and varied.

River cruise - fantastic scenery, boat not what we would consider 5* but adequate. Quite happy that I was only on it for 3 days.

Food - love Chinese food, but found what we were offered in restaurants was very bland.

Only ate western food in hotels.

Internal airlines - amazing, full service even on short flights.

Toilets - there are many "squat" toilets, so be prepared. However, most places had one "western" toilet that most of the women lined up for. Take plenty of Kleenex!

It was an intensive tour of getting up early, and sometimes having quite late nights. There was little down time as I recall. By the end of the tour we were all quite happy to be getting on the Diamond even though it was going to be quite a port-intensive cruise.

We were travelling half way round the world, so it made sense to add on this tour. So glad that we did!

Kjets: if you have not played with a card and are Australian, chances are you played the Chinese version. I was introduced to Mahjong in Australia, and it was that version.

American version is quite different, but you should be able to pick it up. You are no meant to copy the American card, but sometimes people bring extras! Hope you get to play!

Have met many interesting people through playing mahjong on board. You could approach the Cruise Director or a member of his staff and ask that mahjong be mentioned in the Patter. Usually they will oblige if the cruise has quite a few sea days. If your ship has a games room, you could wander through on the first sea day to see who is playing or looking to play. The newer ships do not have a games room, a place to play has to be found and the cruise staff will organize this. I have played on deck if weather permits, in a corner of a dining room, and in one of the specialty restaurants. I see you are from Australia, which mahjong do you play? I have always played the American rules which uses a card. Usually there are some Chinese aboard who play their version which does not need a card. The mahjong sets have always been American, but I have seen people adapt them for the game they play.

Caribbean2000

Check out the other thread about the Princess Cays cemetery. Haven't stopped there in a while, but it sounds interesting.