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Even though you are planning to visit St. Bart's in March, you might want to check on the conditions of the beaches there before you visit. A friend of mine who works on the Regent Seven Seas Navigator had a port call there yesterday and mentioned that the island was not in very good shape. Most of the palm trees on the island were shredded during Hurricane Irma and palm fronds are just starting to regrow. The beaches are in pretty rough shape and many buildings still are in need of repair. Compared to how the island looked in May when the Navigator last stopped there, I was told that the island looked "sad."

Thank you EnricM for all the useful information you provide. We are heading to Barcelona in a few weeks and look forward to your updates. Although we can find news about the situation in Catalonia on the internet, most of it is political. Therefore, we appreciate you taking the time and effort to keep us informed about topics that are especially relevant to tourists. Wishing you all the best.

Based on our experience it looks like Oceania always uses the port code although with Olife air you'll fly to the nearest major airport. For example when we sailed from Southampton we flew to Heathrow and when we sailed from Monte Carlo we flew to Nice.

We just returned from the Millennium's Sept. 24, 2017 cruise around Japan and the ship was in good shape and we had the smoothest, quietest cruise that we can recall. We had an ocean view cabin on deck 2 and the only problem we encountered was a toilet that would not flush consistently. From the first day, the pressure in the toilet seemed poor and almost every other day we had to call to have the plumber come and get the toilet to flush. The staff on the ship was friendly and efficient. Food is subjective and we are not fans of the buffet, but the aqua spa cafe was a nice alternative at lunch and the food in the main dining room was good - we didn't have to worry about being hungry. Entertainment is subjective as well and we felt that both the production shows and featured performers were good. We feel that the Millennium provided a very good cruise experience for its cost.

Thank you for your insightful and enjoyable blog. From my home in the Houston area, I looked forward to reading your reports as a respite from the stress of Hurricane Harvey. Wishing you all the best. Cheers!

The port of Galveston remains closed. Portions of the Houston area have had about 2 feet of rain and the rain continues. There are tornado warnings in the western suburbs of Houston. Currently Hobby airport is closed and Bush (IAH) has delays and cancellations. Many roads are flooded - creeks and bayous have overflowed their banks - emergency services are reporting 100's of high water rescues. Harris County government is telling everyone to stay off the streets. Just reporting on current conditions - stay safe.

For anyone interested in checking the official status of the port of Galveston, go to the website homeport.uscg.mil and then click on the "PortDirectory" tab and select "Houston-Galveston."

Currently the port condition is ZULU. Port Condition ZULU officially suspends operations and closing ports to incoming and outgoing vessel traffic until otherwise directed by the US Coast Guard Captain of the Port.

So for those thinking of heading to Galveston, it might be useful to check the port status before heading out.

We just returned from a 12 day cruise on the Nautica. As others have mentioned, you won't find the big production shows like you have on ships with 1000's of passengers, but we find the entertainment on Oceania enjoyable. The Nautica's entertainment staff is small - 4 singers and 2 dancers so the production shows are more of a cabaret style and the cast performs well. The shows are at 9:30 p.m. On the Nautica there were 4 entertainment staff production shows and guest performers the other nights. One of the guest performers was Phillip Browne, who starred in West End shows and he was excellent.

On Oceania, the entertainment staff works with the cruise director and help run the games and activities during the day. Therefore, you actually get to know the performers and they're not just people on the stage.

Even during port days there were activities during the day. As others mentioned, although you might enjoy the entertainment, the food and suites are a major part of the cruise experience.

I'm not a youngster anymore, so my idea of lots going on might be different than others, but here's what a typical day from 4 p.m. on is like. At 4 p.m. there is tea in Horizons with a string quartet playing. At 4:30 or 5:15 there is trivia in the Nautica lounge run by the cruise director - it's a good time to have some fun and meet other passengers. At 5 p.m. there is a happy hour with 2-for-1 drinks in Horizons and Martinis. Also on some days at 5:15 the entertainers sing in Horizons during happy hour.

Dinner starts at 6:30 in the various restaurants on the ship and depending on how many courses you want to eat and how leisurely you want to be, you can easily spend 2 hours with your meal. Also remember that Oceania's dinner buffet is probably better than the meals served on other cruise lines, so if you want to eat at your own pace you can go to the buffet and have excellent sushi, lobster tails, shrimp, steak, etc. with a good selection of sides. In addition, in the buffet there are waiters that help carry plates to the table and get beverages for you.

At 8:30 there is trivia in Horizons run by the entertainment staff and then it's showtime in the Nautica lounge at 9:30 p.m. After the show there was usually some type of theme party in Horizons starting at 10:30 with a band and entertainment by the singers and cruise director. The casino is also open in the evenings and there is a singer/pianist in Martinis as well. Bottom line - IMO there's plenty to do on an Oceania cruise.

Thank you for your prompt responses.

I will be in Liverpool on June 8, 2017 on the Oceania Nautica. Since that date is an election day in the UK, I was wondering if anyone knows if that will effect opening hours of museums, etc. in Liverpool and if it effects public transit schedules?

Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to post about your wonderful cruise. We'll be boarding the Nautica on June 1 and are looking forward to the cruise. We also agree with your philosophy - life is short, make the best of it. Wishing all good things to you and Jeff.

I have never noticed any organized running activities on Celebrity. When I head off for a run when we're in port, I run by myself. In addition, depending on the port going for a run can be a problem if you have to take a shuttle to get out of the port area. Only occasionally have I seen anyone else get off the ship for a run.

Although Sintra has many interesting sights to see, with the short time you have in Lisbon, the ride there is probably not worth the effort. From the port you need to get to the train station and then catch the train to Sintra. Being realistic, even if you were able to get off the ship promptly, you likely would not get to Sintra until 2 p.m. Once there you would have maybe 2.5 hours to look around before you had to catch a train back to Lisbon so you would not feel rushed getting back to the ship. For my perspective, I think time could be used more efficiently by touring around Lisbon - lots to see and it would be less hectic.

As "pete_coach" mentioned there are a number of train stops in Rome so make sure you get off at the stop closest to the attractions you are interested in seeing. The Vatican station is the first one in Rome and if memory serves me correctly, if you stay on the train until the Termini station, you'll be riding another 25-30 minutes because of the way the train loops around Rome. Also at the tourist office at the port entrance you can buy a combo ticket for the train and metro in Rome and the price is not much different than the train ticket.

For "mek" and others considering a Disney cruise, we find announcing families as you board corny as well. So, what we do is make up a family name. Last year on the Magic trans-Atlantic we were the "Frankensteen" family.

Thanks "JVilleGal" for the links you posted in response #25. I was not aware that some countries require a certain number of empty pages in your passport - good to know as a passport gets used.

As other respondents stated, the requirement for time remaining on your passport depends on where you are visiting - the country you are going to makes the rules. For everyone going on a Mediterranean or Baltic cruise this summer and flying into a European Union country that is a member of the Schengen accord, be aware that the visa rule for those countries specifies that "your passport should be valid at least 6 months beyond the period of your stay." It's been my experience that when flying from the US to a Schengen country, the airline checks your passport before you board the flight to make sure that you comply with the time requirement. How strictly each country applies the rule, I don't know, but unless you're a risk taker and feeling lucky, it's prudent to have at least the specified remaining time on your passport.

:D For those who need to renew their passports this year, I don't know if we were just lucky, but we received our new passports 16 days after we mailed the old ones to the office that processes the renewals. We used the regular renewal service and sent our passports out on February 21 and received the new passports in the mail on March 9. We hope that others get the same surprisingly good service that we did. Cheers!

We booked a SA cruise where the price dropped $1400 per person. We contacted our TA and were upgraded to a higher category room, but that cabin with the lowered price was still more than we originally paid. We had to be proactive to get the upgrade, Celebrity was not just offering upgrades to those who booked at higher prices. As another person responded, we could have cancelled our reservation, paid the penalty and rebooked the same room and would have had some money back. However, we were happy to get an upgrade from an inside room to a veranda for an Antarctic cruise.

I sail on both Oceania and Celebrity and enjoy both lines. Granted there are some differences between cruise lines, but if you like the itinerary and the price is right give the Infinity a try.

I sailed on an Infinity cruise through the Panama Canal in April 2016 and will be sailing on its Antarctica cruise in February 2017. The Infinity is in good shape, service was very good, cabins are nice, food is good, and there are bigger production shows. Although the number of passengers on the Infinity is about twice the amount on Oceania's Riviera, the ship never seemed crowded.

To the original poster - As you have a young son, have you considered a TA on Disney? Previously we've sailed a TA on HAL and decided to give Disney a try last month on Disney Magic's 11-night Barcelona to NYC cruise. We're in our 60's and didn't have any children with us and we were amazed at the amount of activities for both adults and children that were available everyday.

We were on a 14-day NCL Alaska cruise (out and back from Vancouver) and decided to book Disney at the last minute (about 3 weeks before the cruise was leaving) as the price was reasonable. The ship was only about 2/3 full - 1800 passengers including 180 children. It looks like the kids were having a great time as the various kids clubs were open with 50 counselors and only 180 kids. There were all types of opportunities for passengers to take pictures with a wide range of Disney and other characters like Spiderman. Disney really knows how to put on big production shows and they were all well done - great costumes and staging. In addition there is a large movie theater showing multiple Disney films each day, in room TV with lots of Disney channels for the kids and multiple movie channels for the adults, and deck parties like Frozen at sea and Pirates night with fireworks. Disney even has lifeguards at all the pools and slides. The itinerary was good as well - leave Barcelona then 3 days at sea, a port day in the Azores, 3 days at sea then 2 port days in Nova Scotia, and finally 1 sea day before arrival in NYC. Disney was more expensive than a TA with NCL, but for a child and even adults who are mildly fans of Disney films and characters, it was a memorable and fun experience.

On the Aug 29 southbound cruise, Rock You Tonight was on the last night of the cruise.

We had a veranda guaranty on the Riviera this June and received our cabin assignment the morning before the cruise.

We were on the Riviera for a 7 night cruise at the end of June 2016. The World Beat show was two nights before the cruise ended. The officers were introduced at the captain's cocktail party, which I think was the third day of the cruise.

An airport bus runs from BCN to a few locations in Barcelona. However, if you have a lot of luggage, the bus is not a good option - you would still need to get from the pier to Placa Catalunya or one of the other bus stops. As another person mentioned, a car/van service is probably your best option.

Congratulations on the progress you are making with your recovery and I applaud your ambition on seeing as much as you can by foot. Take care that you don't do too much walking as you tour day after day so your energy doesn't fade too much.

Taking a cab to Sagrada Familia is a good idea. However, the Gothic quarter is not that close to Sagrada Familia, so to save a lot of walking I would suggest taking the metro to either the Catalunya or Liceu station which are on Las Ramblas and not that far from the cathedral. Also just off Las Ramblas is a large market (la bouqueria) where there are inexpensive places to eat and stands where they sell all sorts of things. In addition souvenirs are readily available along Las Ramblas.

Barcelona is a fascinating city - I'll be heading back there in September to get on a trans-Atlantic cruise back to the USA. Wishing you all the best!