LindaAndBillTravel

We were on the March 16th sailing and everything seemed to have cleared up by then 

12 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

Usually 30 minutes 

Thanks!

How far in advance of sailing time does Azamara require passengers to be back onboard when docked in ports?

I recommend taking one of the free walking tours of the Gothic area. You’ll get much more out of it. 

Check WelcomePickups.com. We used them in Greece for this and it looks like they off service in Lisbon too

Thanks all. We do have what seems like an obscene amount of OBC we need to find a way to spend. Our other option would be to book the existing DIY excursion and get a taxi or Uber back instead of joining the return bus. 

23 minutes ago, uktog said:

The concierge can indeed make arrangements for you onshore.  The cost of what they source will be high but it would be a nice way to blow OBC. 

Thank you for the quick response. Do you think there would be any difficulty with this port being 2 days after embarkation? I'm not sure how much time is needed to make this kind of arrangement

I've read posts on this board that say you can use OBC for private transfers at the end of your cruise by talking to the concierge to arrange this. This has me wondering if you can use OBC for a private transfer during the cruise. Specifically, we would be interested in a private transfer from Cadiz to Seville and back. There is a 7 hour DIY excursion, but given we are in port 12 hours, we would like a bit more time in Seville than the group excursion allows. And we have a lot of OBC. Has anyone ever been able to arrange this?

3 hours ago, BluebonnetTexan said:

Biggest question I have for @CCWineLover and any others on recent Iceland cruises is whether you’ve needed any ISK cash for bathrooms or anything else where a credit card wasn’t accepted? 

We only came across one bathroom that required payment and the only option was credit card. Iceland is very close to a cashless society. 

Viking is already not requiring vaccination. We just returned from sailing on Saturn, departing May 23, and no proof of vaccination was ever asking for. And many people had COVID by the end of our cruise from what I gathered.

Having just returned from the May 23rd Iceland/Greenland sailing on Saturn where 5 of 9 ports where cancelled, I would vote 100% for renting a car and driving the ring road. We had a car for a couple of days ahead of the cruise and found driving in Iceland to be very easy.

Thank you for the quick response! Hope you all are having a great time :D:D:D:D:D:D

Thanks. It's been absolutely wonderful! You're going to love it.

Hi there,

 

Thank you for the insightful reviews, my wife and I have been reading them over and over again! We set sail on September 15th. We had a question regarding the ScubaPro gear. Do they provide "Cruiser Diving Vest" or any similar snorkeling life vest.

 

Thank you,

 

Vinny

Onboard right now. They do have snorkeling life vests.

The water can be very cold (around 68F one day) so I recommend bringing a long sleeve rash guard and swimming tights if you have them. You'll be a bit warmer, and have protection from the sun. And don't let the water temp deter you. Swimming with sea lions and penguins is worth it!

If anyone has any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to get you answers.

Hopefully the OP is just having too good of a time to bother with a live trip report and will get back with us when her cruise is over.

Hi Linda and Bill. Yes. My partner and I are on that trip. I'm trying to doing so legwork on what can be expected as this cruise is very different from our usual vacation plans. The Galapagos and then Peru afterwards was too tempting and has been on both our bucket lists.

Spree75 - Peru too! I'm jealous. I'd be happy to "meet" and chat pre-cruise via email if you'd like. You can reach me at JAEGERLR at gmail dot com.

Love the posts. Thanks for doing this. We will taking this cruise in 1.5 months and I am so excited.

Spree75 - Are you on the September 1st sailing? We will be on that cruise.

We were onboard Oasis when William and Kate got married. They showed all the coverage on the big screen in the aqua theater, but that was it.

Kennedy Space Center is close by. IMO, it has been vastly improved in recent years by the addition of Atlantis and the new Heros and Legends exhibits.

I would not do Santorini. While a beautiful place, it is also the most crowded cruise port that I have ever been in.

In Monte Carlo, the palace or garden would both be lovely. You could also go to the town of Eze that day. It would be a lovely backdrop for a proposal.

Or pretty much anywhere in Rome.

When we returned for another visit last January we spent the day with a lovely local couple who conducted a cooking school and lunch at their mountaintop home. It was a delightful and delicious way to spend the port day and changed my thoughts completely.

Can you provide contact info for the cooking school?

Thanks in advance!

Can someone tell me what kind of D+ coupon is offered for internet onboard? I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to pre-purchase VOOM at a supposed 30% discount.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all.

 

I reserved and paid for the Windstar Pride cruise out of Athens on June 16th. I am more than a little concerned. Has anything been done to the ship other than to repair the tear in the hull? Why did the accident happen in the first place?

 

I need to buy my plane tickets now, as the fares are going way up in the next two days. Has WS been any better at dealing with what sound like valid complaints and issues.

 

Last question. What would people with far more extensive cruising experience do? Cancel or go?

My understanding is that the Star Pride had an extensive refurbishment during the time period it was not sailing. It had been due to be refurbed sometime soon anyway, but they apparently decided to move that up and combine it with the repairs.

As to why the accident happened, we were never told. It seemed to be bridge staff error. I'm sure that captain must be long gone from the company. While I would fault Windstar for a number of things that happened the day of the accident, they did get everyone off the ship safely and kept us feed and well hydrated while we were stranded in some pretty extreme heat and humidity. We were bored, frustrated, and knew we were being lied to about some pretty stupid stuff, but ultimately we were safe.

Windstar recently replaced a lot of its upper management. After that happened, their guest relation manager seemed to get a lot better at her communication and things finally all got resolved for us. Hopefully this is a sign that things on the back office side of the operation are getting the attention they sorely needed. Things onboard the ship prior to the accident had been fine, and we would have sailed with Windstar again had it not been for the customer relations fiasco following the accident.

As for whether to go on your cruise or not, it seems that you would lose a significant amount of money on the cruise fare if you canceled now, so I would go and enjoy. If you are in cabin 110, please check to see if there is a Kindle in the nightstand. My contact info should be on a sticker on the back. :)

Did WS give you any reason for why the belongings won't be returned?

None, but we did finally receive a check from them for the full amount we had claimed.

We just returned from Greece and had no problems at all.

Another little zinger from WS via our TA. We can only apply part of our credit to our cruise coming up later this summer. While the amount due after our deposit, was a bit more than the credit, WS has declared that we can't apply it to Port Fees or Taxes, so we have about $500 left that we'll need to use for a later cruise.

 

We were already previously not allowed to use to the credit toward our deposit since you can't book a cruise without a deposit and you can't apply a credit until the cruise is booked. Anyone spot a little Catch-22 here?

Have you read the terms and conditions on the credit? I remember the part about the deposit, but don't recall any language in there about taxes and port fees. Since the credit amount we received included the amount paid in taxes and port fees, I would full well expect to be able to use it to cover taxes and port fees on a subsequent cruise.

We are at 4 1/2 months since Star Pride ran aground, and while we were finally told that our belongings were never going to be returned, we still have not received the promised compensation. I hope the new executives are able to turn some things around with their guest relations, but we don't plan on giving them another penny to find out. So if what was supposed to be a complimentary cruise to make amends for the accident would turn into hundreds per person in deposits and taxes and port fees, you can count us out.