laverendrye

Yes there is free wifi in both VIA One and Economy classes 

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Somewhat agree....For my cruise from Quebec this October it was a real challenge. I looked at many options but some had just so much involved it wasn't worth it in the long run for us.

 

I booked with Air Canada and was happy until a few days ago when a change was made for my connection in Toronto to Quebec...my business class seat (section) disappeared. Worked it out but still not happy.

It’s not entirely Air Canada’s fault. It’s all part of the fallout from the Boeing 737MAX fiasco. Air Canada has a fleet of 24 of them and is having to switch equipment and in some cases cancel flights, as do other airlines, while the 737MAX is grounded. I had a seating change 3 days ago, and not for the better, for a flight tomorrow, and a flight for January 2020 completely changed earlier this spring.  And I wouldn’t bet on the 737MAX being back in service by October or even next winter. 

I haven’t stayed there for some years but it is an excellent hotel centrally located in downtown Montréal overlooking Place du Canada. 

5 hours ago, Rnause1950 said:

We will be cruising with Uniworld Paris to Normandy in August.

 

is a dinner jacket for men necessary for any dinner?  I know they say men may want to bring a jacket for the captains dinner, but we are trying to manage luggage weight restrictions and do not wish to pack a jacket unless absolutely necessary.

 

Thanks for any help.

If by dinner jacket you mean a tuxedo, then absolutely not. If you mean a sports coat or blazer, then it is not really necessary.  I nearly always travel to Europe with a blazer, but that's my preference. Sometimes I'll wear a tie, but usually not. On river cruises, I've never felt overdressed wearing it, but one wouldn't be out of place without one.  I've done 5 Uniworld cruises as well as others on Emerald and Viking and I would say that the standard of dress on Uniworld is higher than on the others. "Smart casual" is generally the rule, and shorts are not allowed at dinner in the dining room.  

3 hours ago, oceans52 said:

Cruise ended today. In total we went under 42 bridges and through 70+ locks. The last few were amazing, lifting the ship 25 metres. 

The ship Emerald Destiny should never have been used on this river. Or at least not with paying passengers. The staff know this. The cruise director yesterday said it was great that the weather had been brilliant. But must have forgotten that from Wednesday till this morning we could NOT use the sundeck. Apart for 50 minutes. Have heard that Emerald won't be doing this part of the river till September. So please be warned that the reason the sundeck is completely closed for half the week is not because of river levels, but that  Emerald should not use the Destiny.

 

Emerald Destiny is identical to Emerald Dawn, Star, Sky and Sun, which is the fleet Emerald uses for the Rhine, Main, Danube and Moselle. If Destiny is unsuitable for the Main, then these other ships are as well. I somehow doubt that this is the case.

There’s one Uber app which can be used wherever Uber operates. In Canada you will be charged in Canadian dollars and your credit card company will convert it to US dollars including, where applicable, the foreign currency fees. 

<<Coral, as far getting a boat ship form "Czechoslovakia" I am taking a guess that the boat was built in Děčín in Czechia which is on the Labe river - that's the Czech name for the Elbe.>>

Nine ships of the Kuibyshev class were built for the Volga Shipping Company between 1978 and 1983 in Komárno Czechoslovakia (since 1993, Komárno, Slovakia), and are now operated by Vodohod.  

Two ships of the Anton Chekhov Class (the other is the Lev Tolstoy) were built in 1978-79 at Korneuburg, Austria.

As both shipping works are on the Danube and the ships were built before the Rhein-Main canal was opened, I assume that they went to Russia via the Danube and Black Sea.

I also assume that the 28 Dimitriy Furmanov class ships built at Boizenburg on the Elbe would have proceeded to Russia by way of the Elbe and Baltic.

3 hours ago, Coral said:

So the Russian ships? The one I was on was built in Austria in 1979.

The vast majority of the cruise ships on the St. Petersburg-Moscow run were built in the DDR.  Some were built in Czechoslovakia and two in Austria.

Of course the mainline ocean cruise travel the St Lawrence. Québec City is a port of call or terminus for many lines and Holland America and Oceana among others visit Montréal. For fjords I assume you are thinking of the Saguenay fjord (rather than Norway) and quite a few St Lawrence cruises also do the Saguenay. It might be a bit harder to find a cruise that includes St John’s and the St Lawrence but I’m sure that there are one or two. 

5 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

What are your ports?

What are his interests?

Not going to be much in the way of "thrills" in a place like Boston other than Codzilla, but there is something for everyone here.

 

We really enjoyed the Tidal Bore in Newfoundland.  Lots of white water and wetsuits were needed

Tidal bore in Newfoundland?  I’m not aware of any there. You must mean New Brunswick or Nova Scotia as these occur on the Bay of Fundy where the tides are the highest in the world. 

Thanks, Keith, that sounds more likely. 

1 hour ago, Pepper0074 said:

We will be on a cruise that ends in Quebec in September of this year. There are four of us including two "older" ladies so this is very similar to what we are thinking of doing. My husband's initial research has show that it will be just over $400.00 for an SUV from Quebec City to Albany. For us it appears to be the most economical option. 

That sounds like a good deal

20 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

This has been a great day for us.

 

We loved Budapest.

 

We walked the Pest.  We walked the Buda.  I went  back out in the afternoon and ran the Pest.

 

For those of you  who are long time Crystal Cruisers  you may remember Josef  Widmar who was Maitre d' on the Ocean Vessels.  Guess what?  We saw him after nine years.

 

 

This is a lovely city.  We were advised to stay in the  main area and not venture more than three blocks from the main area.

 

We went to the market.  Fantastic.

 

 

We walked by and visited several interesting places.

 

 

 

Tomorrows blog will have lots more photos and narrative.

Tonight was a buffet dinner and many will be going out for a concert.  At 10:30 PM we will leave where we are docked for scenic cruising to see the lights all  lit up win Buda and Pest.

 

 

This is the white wine that we have enjoyed the past couple of days before dinner.  It includes Chardonnay and Riesling. Very nice wine from Vienna.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

I’m enjoying your posts and photos of Budapest. However, I’m puzzled by your guide’s remarks that you should stay within 3 blocks of the main area. I’m not sure what the limits of the main area may be, but I’ve found Budapest a very safe city, except perhaps for pickpockets, and have never felt in any danger there. Was he warning of possible muggings?  Or is there another reason to avoid certain areas of the city? It’s been a few years since I was last there so perhaps things have changed in the meantime. 

It’s possible, but you may have some difficulty finding a one-way rental to the US and the drop-off charges may be considerable. Still, for 5 people it’s worth searching for one. 

Getting to Québec City from the US by rail is really not practical unless you have lots of time to spare. Amtrak service from NYC to Montreal takes 11 hours and arrives in Montreal after the last train for Québec, so you would need to spend overnight in Montreal. Even if you were to fly to Plattsburgh just south of Montreal, the train takes nearly 4 hours. 

A car rental is possible, but I think you might find the drop-off fees to be very high indeed and more than the cost of flying directly to Québec 

Québec City is not well served by international flights, but one option you might try is to fly to Montreal and then take the train to Québec There is direct Via Rail service from Dorval, where Montreal airport is located, to Québec City.  Via Rail provides a free shuttle service between the terminal and the Dorval Station.  The Gare du Palais station in Québec is a very short cab ride from the cruise terminal. 

1 hour ago, kent9xxx1 said:

 

When I came back and shared the caviar pics to my friend, he was aghast.  Metal spoon with caviar, the nerve!  

 

My thoughts exactly. I was surprised to see that a line of Crystal’s quality would be using metal spoons for caviar.  

As part of its overall sustainability program, Uniworld is moving to eliminate all single-use plastics from its cruise ships, hence the glass carafe and aluminum water bottles provided in each guest cabin and the water-filling stations.  However, I doubt that at this time they will object to you bringing plastic bottles of water aboard. That may change when they reach this goal as planned in 2022.

Martincath, my late wife grew up in Vancouver when White Spot still had car-hops and every time we were in Vancouver or elsewhere in B.C. with a White Spot she liked to have one of their burgers (with extra sauce) and I’d have the same. Like you, I’m not a great burger eater but I do agree that they are a cut above Macdonalds and the other international chains.  I think that White Spot has reasonably good fast food, though when I eat there it’s usually something other than a burger. 

So, Martincath, the burgers at Campagnolo, do sound like something very special indeed and I’ll have to try them next time I’m in Vancouver. I’m curious to know, however, where you would put the ubiquitous White Spot burgers in your galaxy of Vancouver burgers. 

I don't know what your walking limit would be, but my last time in Québec this past October I had a very nice meal at Apsara, a family-owned Cambodian restaurant, which offers not only Cambodian but also Vietnamese and Thai dishes.  It's on Rue d'Auteuil just inside the walls and I estimate it to be about a 500 meter walk from the Hilton.

Of course, if you want to look further afield, taxis are not expensive.

That should be "lounge" not "long"  Darn spell check!  BTW, I notice thatI can't edit my posts anymore.

I will be in Québec in two weeks time and will be staying at the Hotel Château Bellevue facing the Parc des Gouverneurs.  I haven't stayed there before so I can't comment, but it's a very nice area of the Upper Town. The Bellevue is just across the street from the Château de Pierre.

The daylight hours would only be marginally longer and this is the case with Christmas cruises whether in the Netherlands, or on the Rhine or Danube.  Remember that Basel, for example, is at about the same latitude as Seattle.

As for weather, a Rhine cruise would likely be somewhat better as the upper and middle Rhine valley is not so directly affected by the winds and storms coming off the North Sea as are Belgium and the Netherlands.

I'm not greatly attracted to Christmas Market cruises, but if I were, I think my choice would be one on the Danube.  On the Rhine, there is a wonderful market in Strasbourg, my favourite city in France after Paris.

It really doesn't matter which side your cabin is on.  From Basel to Amsterdam nearly all of your sailing will be at night with the exception of the very scenic Middle Rhine Gorge, and there the sights are on both sides of the river, so you will want to go up to the top deck so that you can see everything.  However, that stretch is only for a few hours.

When the ship is berthed, you will likely be away on tours for most of the day, and as Pontac noted, the ship may be rafted with others, or your cabin may be looking out at the concrete wall of the jetty.

In choosing a cabin, I would be more concerned with noise from above (is it under the long or restaurant or the walking track?).

River cruises from ocean cruises in this respect.

I'm familiar with the area, having visited Belgium and the Netherlands many times over the years both for business and pleasure, including in the winter.

Essentially, the cruise will be on the Scheldt, Maas and Lek rivers along with various connecting canals.

Personally, I wouldn't choose a cruise there at that time of year as it is likely to be mostly cold and wet.  It will also be dark with less than 8 hours daylight  because of the latitude (Amsterdam is further north than Calgary, Canada).

The time to take a cruise on the rivers and canals of the Netherlands and Belgium is April when the tulips, daffodils, and other spring flowers are in bloom.