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marylizcat

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Posts posted by marylizcat

    Northern lights question..........................

    in Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

    Posted

    Land based Northern Lights tours are usually more successful than water based tours as buses/jeeps/etc are more "nimble" and can chase faster and to different places than a ship can get to.

    Yes, that is why the ships offer evening excursions led by the local experts, who can take you to the spot which is most likely to have clear skies and the best chance of seeing the lights. The ships usually stay in Tromso for one night and Alta for two nights, to maximise the chances.

     

    Of course, if you go and stay in Alta for a week, your chances are even better. However, I think it would get a little boring in the daytime!

    Riviera cruise from Rome to Barcelona

    in Oceania Cruises

    Posted

    We found Toulon not to be a great port to visit, basically is a large French city that is a major naval port, it is not really a tourist spot. If I went again I would probably do a tour. We were docked in the centre of the town, but sometimes they have to use the cruise port which is about 5 miles out. You can check on the Toulon Port website to find which you are in.

    We actually liked Toulon. We did the little land train tour, which was interesting. Then pottered around the old quarter. Maybe not an amazing, wonderful place, but very pleasant.

    Northern lights question..........................

    in Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

    Posted

    The ‘British’ cruise lines, P&O, Fred Olsen and ‘Cruise & Maritime’ all offer Northern Lights cruises in winter. We did one with P&O and were very happy with it, especially since we did see the lights. You cannot count on it! It was in March, which is a good compromise time of year, since in mid-winter there is little daylight as you go farther north.

     

    Hurtigruten is, as mentioned above, a Norwegian ferry line which these days offers cruises along the Norwegian coastline. I am sure they can be booked through a US office, as can the British ones. If you cannot locate their agents in the US, try emailing the companies to ask them.

     

     

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    Riviera cruise from Rome to Barcelona

    in Oceania Cruises

    Posted

    Hello all.

     

    We are currently sailing on the Riviera from Rome to Barcelona and I wanted to share some experience in real time.

     

    Some background: we ar a couple in our early fifties from Canada. We sailed previously on Celebrity, RCI, Princess, HAL, Cunard, Costa and Carnival. This is our first Oceania cruise.

     

    Things we liked so far:

     

    Embarkation was very smooth and quick. Literally few minutes we wee on board.

     

    The size of the ship is perfect. Not too big and not too small. No lines, not crowded.

     

    Food is outstanding. Definitely few levels above Celebrity or Princess.

     

    Service is excellent. Very efficient and quick. Room is cleaned very fast. When we go for breakfast and come back after half an hour, it is already clean.

     

    No formal nights which is perfect for us. At the same time people dress up nicely, you won't see short on dinner or evening show. Very relaxed atmosphere.

     

    Open seating at dinner. You can select if you want separate table or share with someone (perfect for those who want to meet new people).

     

    No lines at all. Never an issue to find a table at buffet or at the pool.

     

    Free soft drinks, soda, water and specialty coffee and tea.

     

    Free internet (more about it later).

     

     

    Things we didn't like (or liked less than Princess or Celebrity):

     

    Entertainment is good but not as good as on most big ships.

     

    No activities at all during the day (maybe related to the fact that there ar no sea days).

     

    Basic free internet is very slow, almost useless. If you want to be able to do anything, you need to upgrade. Upgrade is $10/day which is reasonable, but the speed is still pretty low. Not the worst I experienced at sea, but one of the worst.

     

    The inside stateroom that we booked is very small. Which is not a big deal, but the shower is ridiculous. Really uncomfortable. This the biggest issue on this cruise so far.

     

     

    So far we visited Florence, Pisa and La Spezia. Florence was amazing, the rest very nice as well. We asked to change coup,e tours, no issues, even after we missed the deadline today for tomorrow tour. I like the flexibility. Also booked three speciality restaurants, asked to change all three reservations. No problem. Really like the customer service so far.

     

    Today Calvi was cancelled due to safety. Sailing to Monte Carlo now.

     

    I will continue to update the post as we have new impressions. Feel free to ask questions.

     

     

     

    Well, count yourself lucky that your cabin gets cleaned so early! I got the impression when we were on Riviera in August for 18 days, that the cabin stewardess had far too many cabins to clean. We left the cabin early every day and most days came back on board about 12.30-1 for lunch, to find her still servicing our cabin, which was obviously a bit of a nuisance. The same thing in the evening. When we came back between dinner and the show, there she was again! Not a problem we have encountered on the mainstream lines, so can only assume Oceania gives their crew more cabins to deal with. And we always left the card out to show we were gone. Didn’t like to complain in case we got her in trouble and she was a lovely lady.

     

     

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    Advice about balcony cabin on Oceana

    in P&O Cruises ( UK )

    Posted

    We booked one on Lido deck because it was so handily positioned. Straight out on deck or up one flight of stairs to the buffet. Liked it so much we booked it again the next time!

     

    However be warned that the balcony is small and metal style. The bathroom is the tiniest you have ever seen. The cabin is pretty small too. Keep your expectations fairly low. We still had great cruises.

     

     

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    HOHO Rome

    in Italy Ports

    Posted

    I think it works best if you start at Termini railway station. That is the beginning of the route. We started at the Vatican because we did the Rome on your Own excursion. When the bus got to Termini it sat there for absolutely ages before setting off again. We found it worked quite well apart from that.

     

    The next time we went to Rome, we just walked around and then got a taxi back from the furthest point at the end of the day.

     

     

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    Drinks Packages

    in Oceania Cruises

    Posted

    If you are wanting the drinks package, you should do the sums. I think you will find it better value to take the drinks package instead of onboard credit and then just pay the 20 dollars per day to upgrade to the premium package. You can ask your agent to swap it over. Then upgrade on board.

     

     

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    • Like 1

    Baltic Cruise = Excursion Costs

    in P&O Cruises ( UK )

    Posted

    In St Petersburg, many people including us book with local operators such as SPB Tours and Alla. They provide visa-waiver tours with fewer people and lower prices than the cruise lines. If you google them, you will see their prices for two day tours.

     

    Copenhagen does not really need an excursion unless there is something fairly unique that you want to do. The hop on hop off bus works well. Likewise Stockholm can be done independently with hoho buses and boats.

     

     

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