Mexfolkart

Last evening, after 6 pm we received two emails from Oceania..

The first was that due to the political unrest our stop in Tangier, Morocco

was being cancelled on our upcoming (Nov 6)  Nautica trip to the Canary Islands and being replaced with Cadiz Spain (a nice enough substitute)

THEN a few minutes later we also got this...that for our Riviera trip Dec 19-29 Mid East Meandering, they were deleting four of our eight stops and replacing them with more time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and an extra day in Doha, Qatar and Sir Bani Yas.  We also have the pretrip with 3 extra days in Dubai and we are flying in a day early  (on Qatar Airways) so we won't be exhausted thus we now have SEVEN days in Dubai and three in Abu Dhabi. Having been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi five times already we were taking this cruise for the "other" ports. Our TA called first thing this am to a completely uninterested Amanda who offered nothing.

However, we are completely confused how if Tangier, Morocco is NOT deemed safe, how can Qatar and Dubai be deemed SAFE? Plus you others have to come THROUGH the Suez Canal to even get TO Dubai.

We are holding our course here but certainly hope they do re-offer the Future Cruise Credit so we can ALL have lovely cruises with our Oceania ships and not be put at risk.

Any one else on our segment of the Riviera cruise feel the same?

Yes, this is what is so infuriating for the Trip Advisor website..they put all the tours into the Viator group and there are no separate small tour companies to deal with. I had always used Rendezvous Provence but understand they are no longer in business for Marseille area..anyone have a good recommendation?

On 6/14/2020 at 3:40 PM, notentirelynormal said:

I totally agree and that is why I hate doing searches for tour guides.  I get put on the Viator website and not the actual guide.  I try to find the guide that is operating the tour but that is such a huge challenge and why I ask on here for names.  So far I have never gone wrong using a CC recommendation.

Our Dec 1st cruise just got cancelled too..SO disappointed..felt certain that if cruising opened up late summer surely by December we would get our cruise..same deal and ports you had  Loved that itinerary..those ports must be very saddened also..

This will be our third cruise on the Eurodam so we obviously like her. We have been on many other HAL ships.

Carol..just noticed..I have been on the old Queen of Bermuda!!!!! Fun ship when I was little!! Those would have been my first "cruises""

We sail Dec 2 as a surprise for my husband's birthday and we would be glad to get somethings for your kids..please reply directly to our email:

Sherry at akersellis dot com we did this for our kids about 5 years ago..what a hit!!

Sherry

I believe that the Oberai Mena House is now the new name of the hotel we stayed in before. This hotel is right at the Pyramids and we sat there having lunch looking at a pyramid, and from our room balcony could see a pyramid..

spectacular!! Another time we were right on the Nile with our room facing the Nile traffic...it just depends which you prefer. If we only had one night there we would choose the pyramid view!!

Sherry

We absolutely could not cruise if it weren't for the Internet. We try to get an unlimited package. We use it 99.9% for work. We use it every morning and every evening. We never go to a place in port..those times are for our "vacation times" We cannot be without it. We have been able to take very long cruises with Oceania as their internet works in our rooms and we have made many "deals" in unusual places! On HAL we have had major problems..rarely can we use the internet in our rooms. This does affect the length of trips we can take. Last 2 trips on HAL we couldn't even print our air boarding passes!! We hope the Oosterdam is better this year!

Its a serious problem for us when it does not work and is "out" more than "on"!

I wish HAL would get a better program and also have their internet also accept Internet Explorer instead of only Chrome.

Sherry & Kimber

What is FCD?

And we have had some credit that went unused that was applied back to our credit cards..is that still allowed?

Sherry

For Taormina...we took the ships walking tour and had a ride TO Taormina. We opted to stay longer..such a pretty place..and then went to go back to the ship and they had a big elevator outside the Taormina gate that would take you down right where the taxis were parked...so we just KNEW that if we did that we could get a taxi at a much better price! HA! There were no taxis and after about a 20 minute wait we took the elevator back up and got a taxi back down!!! Plenty of taxis at the entrance to town! Enjoy! Sherry

Port Master..we will be there on a Sunday..is anything open? We are not interested in going to a beach. We were there 2 years ago and enjoyed walking around downtown but we assume all that will be closed on Sunday.

Thanks for any info..

Sherry

Thank you, Danish Viking! Eurodam disembarks at 7am that day so hopefully we are one of the first off for taxis!

Is one of the harbour boat tours better than the other?

And, is there a Ho/Ho bus tour as well in CPH?

Thank you,

Sherry & Kimber

We are arriving on May 8 also on the Eurodam and needing a taxi. Where is Osterport? Do we shuttle there and then get a taxi? It is not easy for us getting around with luggage. Can we just pay the taxi with DKK or do we need "tickets"? We are going to our hotel downtown.

Thank you,

Sherry

I yelled "Pickpockets" on a bus in Lisbon as they tried to pick my husbands

front pocket after he paid the bus fare and put his wallet back!! They scattered so fast!! The guy was right there with her and she was going to pass it off to him on the ground! I SCREAMED it! They got nothing.

Sherry

We rented one on our recent Maasdam cruise and it kept my ice pack nice and cold in the ice compartment. I also would put some water in there sometimes during the day and every now and then it would be frozen when we came back! Yes, $2 a day..

Sherry

We just returned from a cruise on the Maasdam which we loved, HOWEVER, we had MAJOR internet problems..first 3 days with NO internet, then sporadic internet and it took forever to even log in..we know it is slower than home but this was ridiculous..one time 29 minutes..we were told that they were putting a technician on board the day we got back and that although it would not help us this trip it would be fine later trips. NOW..we have an upcoming trip booked on the Eurodam in April/May. When we travel we have to work..every day at least a little either real early or later in the day...we just read a review that the Eurodam had major internet problems. Does anyone know about other areas besides the Caribbean? We will be in Europe.We can't take this upcoming cruise if we don't have decent internet. We know its expensive but that is a price we have to pay for cruising..but when we need it we MUST have it. HELP!

Thanks a lot,

Sherry

We were just on the Maasdam there while the Nieuw Ansterdam was also

there. We booked one online (suggest you keep checking that) If you don't get one go to the beach and go off to the left and just camp on chairs under a tree.

There was another couple there the same time we were and they saw ours and wanted one (we were in first tender) they were told none were available.

Since we wanted to explore first we ended up offering ours to them for the first part of the morning.

We did like having it and I would just keep checking to see if anyone cancels or when they get on board decide to book a cabana with friends they meet.

Sherry

Back to the original questions on this blog..

I usually prefer private tours and very often arrange them myself. I have never had anyone tell me afterwards that they were disappointed in one of my tours. I prefer to keep the tours to 6-8 people as that way we are more flexible. I like input from the participants as to what is most important for them to see and try to include that in any tour. Ships tours can't do that.

Small private tours take a shorter time for bathroom breaks, eating and just getting in and out of the van or the venue. (plus any shopping someone does do!) Its also much easier to have quality time with the guide.

I research each tour very thoroughly before committing. I recently cancelled a tour because a tour operator was being too confining for this particular tour.

I always keep in mind that I am not just SENDING 6 people out on any tour..they are going WITH me and count on my expertise for their one chance to see the sights. In return I expect everyone to always be on time and be polite.

We do also take ships tours..to unique places, far away places or if it seems it will be a smallish group. It is very disheartening to plan a ships tour on your one day in "Gorgeousland" and find out the day before that it was cancelled because of not enough participants.

Happy touring, all....Sherry (and Kimber)

Thank you! Just what we wanted to know but didn't know where to find it!

Best,

Sherry & Kimber

What is the current policy of bringing wine onboard for in-room consumption?

At the beginning of the cruise or from a port?

Thank you. We have two upcoming cruises!

Kimber and Sherry

Great news!! Love O and the smaller ships!!!Sherry & Kimber

Castlerigg...

I second the recommendation of CruiseMom42 to go to the Gulbenkian!

The Gulbenkian is one of my favorite museums in the world..it is a little gem

filled with amazing things from his private collection that he wanted to give back to Portugal! An amazing Turner, a fabulous Lalique jewelery collection,

Turkish tiles, silver table services..a little of everything and only the best!

We go every trip to Lisbon!

Go!!

Sherry

Where are the Clamshells located? We don't want to have to walk too far.

Thanks,

Sherry

We booked a clamshell for the two of us..where are the clamshells located?

We don't want to have to walk too far!

Thank you,

Sherry

We have never been either..we have booked a Clamshell..is a Cabana better?

Thanks, Sherry & Kimber