cruisemuse13

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My suspicion: YYZ-AMS on KL, AMS-FCO on KL, MAD-AMS on UX and AMS-YYZ on KL. Correct? Quote

Yes, FlyerTalker, that is correct.

Quote Yep, it's a form of "rebate" that should be a part of the purchasing decision. But so many ignore it. Especially on TATL and TPAC trips, you can really pile them on. Still remember one Asian roundtrip where, with status and promotional bonuses, I earned over 55k miles - while booked in coach (no class of service bonus). It pays to be aware. Quote

I signed up last night for 2 different loyalty programs so I am glad you brought the benefits to my attention.

QuoteYou're welcome. Feel free to ask for anything else.

It is always nice to count on the friendly advice found on CruiseCritic.

I personally like AMS. Huge, but very manageable. Signage is fantastic, shopping diverse, plus you can make a museum stop while in the airport.

 

Not quite sure you have #2 down pat. Air Europa (UX) does not fly AMS-FCO, so I think you have a KL to KL connect at AMS on the outbound. Maybe KL to Alitalia (AZ). They do fly MAD-AMS, so you have it right for the return.

 

Flew UX in April. Quite satisfactory for a short hop. KL is efficient, with a number of different paid seating upgrade (within the coach cabin) options - be sure to read their website for details on what you get for free and what you need to pay for.

 

One other issue to consider....which alliance, if any, do you want to earn miles in? You can get Star with AC/LH or SkyTeam with KL/UX, and with over 9200 miles earned for this round trip, it's nothing to sneeze at. At a 2 cent metric, that's a value of $180+, and even at 1.5 cents, that's $135+ in value.

 

Finally, have you checked out the equipment offerings for the long-haul? Sometimes, the aircraft configuration can swing a decision.

For the return flight I am flying from Madrid to Toronto, so that is why it is on Air Europa.

The Air Canada plane does have the rows 2 seats, by 3 seats, by 2 seats which is nice to get the 2 seats together. All of the other flights are rows of 3 seats.

And I usually just fly once a year, so have not given the airmiles much thought since I didn't know they would add up to much, Obviously, I have been making a mistake and will definitely join for this trip.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Munich will be better than Amsterdam, in terms of ease of use, and it is smaller. But Amsterdam is pretty user friendly.

 

If you are in coach, Lufthansa and Air Canada won't be much different.

 

Haven't been on Aer Lingus for a very long time, due to a bad previous experience. Hopefully they have improved.

 

Just did Rome-Toronto in Business on Air Canada. Pretty nice.

I should have mentioned that I am flying economy.

Past years I have been able to get a direct flight from Toronto to Rome on AC but that has been in October, not November. Business class must be nice:)

After much pondering of the possible scenarios, for our November cruise, we have finally decided to fly from Toronto to Rome, then at the end of the cruise take the train to Madrid, and fly home to Toronto from there. I have narrowed our flight choices down to 3 options. All three options have a connecting flight each way, and the price is very similar.

So the difference boils down to the airline, and the connecting airport. My choices are

1. Air Canada,for the intercontinental flight, and Lufthansa for the regional flight, both connecting in Munich.

2. KLM for the intercontinental, and Air Europa for the regional, connecting in Amsterdam

3. Aer Lingus, with the intercontinental flight on a Boeing 757 leased from Air Contractors, and the Dublin to Europe flight by Aer lingus Airbus A320

Any thoughts about the airline, or Munich vs Amsterdam vs Munich, that would make one route preferable? Or I may just flip a coin :o ( I did eliminate British Airways because I prefer not to connect in Heathrow...long story)

Thank you for any suggestions.

We didn't make any reservations for a set time...we would just walk into the MDR and ask for a table for 2....we usually were seated right away and we usually ate around 7:30.

The reply about making reservations was in response to a specific query about the specialty restaurants.

 

Are there tables for two in the specialty restaurants?

Yes, you can reserve a table for 2.

I am really looking forward to your review, especially your photos of Florence.

And I am interested in your comparisons to Celebrity. We enjoy Celebrity for Caribbean cruises, when the ship is part of the "destination". For cruising in Europe, with a port intensive itinerary, we prefer Azamara because the smaller ship can access smaller ports so no need to tender; they stay later in port so no need to rush back to the ship: and fewer passengers mean no need to lineup: and we like the open seating for dinner and flexible schedule.

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

thank you for posting. Your information and pictures are very helpful. I hope you have time to post more!

Thanks all:

I will def try the shower in the spa.

I will surely order room service at least once to enjoy on my balcony.

And I always do long reviews (and include photos when I can) after the vacation. Writing it helps me to remember it all. (and tips I provide are a way to pay it forward for all the information I got off these boards).

Enjoy your holiday! With your positive attitude I am sure you will have a good time.

According to the Azamara website, your cruise is sold out in all categories except suites. I can see why, since the itinerary is very appealing. I am looking forward to your review since all the ports are new to me and ones I hope to visit in the future.

Bon voyage!

I have experienced the Eurostar situation on several occasions--check out of France and into the UK, sort of. But in my situation, no one ever checked me 'in' to Italy, or any Schengen member country for that matter. When you disembark in Civitavecchia, you just walk off the ship, collect your luggage, and walk away! Seems like SOMETHING should happen. . .

We had a similar experience, but we did arrive by plane. We were on a cruise to and from Rome. We had a direct flight to Rome and did go thru "passport control" where there they had a quick glance at our passport and sent us on our way.

On the way home we had to change planes in Frankfurt, so had to go thru passport control. The German officials looked all thru our passports and asked us how we got there and where was our passport stamp. We said we did go thru passport control at the airport in Rome. The Germans muttered something about the Italians, then said they would NOT stamp our passports to exit because it "would make no sense". and advised us that next time we should make sure our passports were stamped. Live and learn.:o

The only confusion about drinks I saw was shall we have an alcoholic beverage or wait until G & T time ;)

 

This was the daily discussion dilemma, the wait staff always waited patiently for the conclusion. Which was usually a glass of diet coke with one ice cube please:eek:

 

I have posted a review, they are a bit thin on the ground given the numbers that post on here and have sailed recently.

 

Yvonne

I just read your review. It sounds like you had a delightful trip. Thank you for sharing.

Plenty of AVE trains there today!

select 'ida'

origin - Malaga Maria Zambrana

destino = Madrid(*) (which is for 'all stations') or else Madrid -Puerta de Atocha.

I have tried a slightly different link to the website, and found the menu for Timetables, which does show me the trains that day. The first few times, I was entering the start and stop locations, the date, and clicking on Buy tickets, and that would give me the message about no direct trains.

Thank you for your help.

https://venta.renfe.com/vol/inicioCompra.do choose English by selecting 'welcome' at top of page.

 

I am only showing the 11:05 train not open for sale yet. The 8AM is open not reduced, 9AM has real good deal on the P+ first class with seat selection and 20% change fee if needed for just 46.55 per passenger, 11:05 not open, 14:05 normal price, 15:00 with good discount .... an so on with about 8 more trains.

Thank you so much, I have been able to get the page with the timetables for Malaga to Madrid.:) Is Preferente first class? is that better than Tourista Plus? Would you recommend purchasing tickets online, or for the Challenged Planner (that would be Me) would you recommend ordering the tickets over the phone to be sure I got the right tickets? I do want something with an assigned seat and place for our luggage.

With that amount of luggage I would look at trains to Madrid as airline baggage charges are going to be too high.

After looking at a multitude of options, we have decided to forgo visiting Portugal on this trip. And we have reduced the number of days we will have post-cruise, so the plan now is to take the high speed train from Malaga to Madrid, and fly home from there.

I have checked the website, http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html, suggested by VMax1700. When I check for a train from Malaga to Madrid on November 16, 2014, it says there are no trains available. Is this because it is a Sunday, or is November too distant to have the schedules availabe? Any advice about figuring out a train schedule would be much appreciated.

by Jaddy In October we took the high speed train from Malaga to Madrid and then flew home after spending 5 days in Madrid. The high speed train was a blast. 185 mph. Stable so you could walk around. We had first class tickets and they served a decent lunch with wine. 2 and a half hours (that's with 3 stops) to travel half the north south distance of Spain. I think the fare was $85 pp but my recollection may be incorrect. Highly recommended!!!

If you decide to take the AVE train, then make sure you book in advance to get the best prices http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

After considering a multitude of options, we have decided to leave visiting Portugal for another trip. We have had to decrease the number of days we will be away, so to simplify planning we are planning to try the suggestion of the high speed train to Madrid, and fly home from there.

I have looked at the link you have kindly provided, but when I enter information for traveling from Malaga to Madrid on November 16th, I get a message saying there are no direct trains available. And when I try to figure out an alternative, I am getting no where. Is this because it is a Sunday, or is November too far distant to have the timetable? Any advice appreciated.

Wacktle, thank you for the update. It is nice to hear that the change of plans ended up being a positive experience. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

I have searched and searched on different websites ..all Im really looking for is clean room 2beds with a bathroom no sharing ....and a breakfast included ......h yeah elevator because there is no wy I can carry cases up stairs ..preferably around max 100$ a night ....The ones i found are closer to 250-300$ a night ...big ouch

Please recommend good places ....or appartments ...anything .im open ....

A few hotels in centre I was warned were bedbug infested ...yuck even 3star ones

I am a light skeeper so quiet is a plus

 

Thanks

:eek:Oh, my. I am looking for a hotel as well. Where did you find out about the bedbugs?!

Last time we stayed at the Albergo del Senato, which was wonderful. The location was perfect. But this time I am looking for something still central, but a bit more reasonably priced for just 2 nights.

brucedodge, Thank you for sharing. It is encouraging to get some positive reviews.

Does Celebrity still provide Port Guides in your cabin, the night before each port?

I have read mixed comments on other threads where some cruisers did not get any information onboard. I wonder if this is a new cutback/policy or if it was just the stateroom attendant .

My husband and I are not really art lovers, and as I get older, my attention span is waning. But we loved the Borghese Gallery. The timed tickets limit the crowd so you can actually get close to the artwork instead of constantly trying to look thru a herd of people.

We also used the audioguide which was a definite asset. The information was informative, included interesting backstories , and the person speaking had a pleasant conversational tone.

Yes the robes are bulky and heavy, but that is fine with me. I am short but do not mind the length. the substantial size of the robe gives me peace of mind when I step out in the morning onto a windy balcony. No fear of accidentally flashing anyone on the flying bridge:p

Also, the large size can accommodate a large range of body types, so a "one size fits all, or most".

You should check out tomsportguides dot com for his Monaco port guide. Everything is walkable (and there are elevators) but a busride is 2 eur or a day pass for 5 eur

I totally agree with this posting. We used the information from Tom's port guides to find the elevators in the parking garage to easily get to the top of the hill by the Aquarium, the gardens, and the Palace.

We visited the tourism office on the pier, when we first left the ship, and they gave us a map, and told us which bus to take to get to the botanical garden, and then back to the casino. So when we finished visiting the old town around the Palace, we got a day pass and took the local bus. The buses were clean, not busy, stops were well marked, and it was only a few euros each for an all day pass. We found the local bus much cheaper than the HOHO bus and easily went where we wanted.

So , in retrospect, Monaco/Monte Carlo was one of the easiest and cheapest ports to navigate. I hope you have a good time too.

Thank you all for the many helpful suggestions. It sounds like I have many good alternatives.

And Jaddy, the high speed train to Madrid sounds tempting. In some ways it would be nice to skip the driving part.

Gardylou, the idea about having time in Istanbul is an excellent suggestion, but I don't think I will have enough days to add that to the mix. And I have so many variables right now that I am floundering abit and need to start focusing my plans. But, I will keep that in mind for future trips.

Twickenham, you are correct, I am cruising from Rome to Malaga, so will be flying from Toronto, to Rome, and returning to Toronto from????

Before, I always started and ended my cruise in a major city, like Rome, or Barcelona, so just added on days at the port. This is the first time I am looking at travelling outside of the port and struggling with deciding what I should do. So thank you all for your advice and patience in responding.

Looking at car rental prices, it seems like the one-way drop charge between Spain and Portugal is pretty steep.

 

However you might consider renting a car in Spain and returning it to Spain, while exploring a little of Portugal in the interim. I'd focus on the Alentejo area of eastern Portugal, which is likely to be comfortable in November. This is a very beautiful rural region, with wide open roads, whitewashed villages, castles on hilltops, storks in olive trees. A few years ago we stayed at the Horta da Moura country inn near the historic village of Monsaraz, and had a terrific time.

/QUOTE]

 

I looked at the links you provided and that region of Portugal looks wonderfull. Thank you for your suggestions.