Wings55

18 hours ago, notamermaid said:

As things are not going too well in France, A-ROSA is still not sailing on the Rhone. But this will come in Autumn. The company may not resume sailing on the Seine this year, however.

 

We saw an A-ROSA ship here on the Seine a few days ago but perhaps it was just in transit without passengers. 

For our own peace of mind we got a PCR test at our local CVS pharmacy before we flew to Paris . That was on Friday, August 12th. Jane got her results the following morning. We are on the AmaLyra right now and I received a voicemail last night, August 23rd, from CVS saying my test was negative. So much for a the 72 hour idea. LOL! 🤦‍♂️

Paul

• I forgot to mention that many people on the AmyLyra are signed up for PCR COVID tests today because they do not have the French Passe Sanitaire and QR code. On Thursday about 2/3 of us will be leavening the AmaLyra and catching a TVR train to Lyon where we'll board the AmaKristina. Each person will need a P.S. or a recent COVID test to board the train. Some say a CDC vaccination card is sufficient but the Ama staff will not guarantee that. They also will not say a test is requireed but are letting people make up their own minds. Thankfully Jane and I have our P.S. codes so we did not need to have noses probed again. Whew!!

@Host Jazzbeau Thankfully no tears today! There were only four of us on the tour and no one took a tumble or strained an muscles. 👍

A good Monday morning to all. 👋

The day visiting the Normandy beaches was a long one due to the bus rides however it was well worth it. The guides did a great job explaining the history of the invasion, the tactics used and the progress of the allied forces as the war progressed. It's a sobering to stand and look out over the thousands and thousands of white crosses representing the sacrifices of so many young men and women. Before we left there was a short program to commemorate all those heroes. A volunteer from the cemetery welcomed us, the anthem was played on the carillon bells followed by a reading. Two Korean vets from our group were chosen to place a flower bouquet at the foot of the statue and taps was played. The program ended after a few moments of silence. There were more than a few damp eyes while we walked back to our bus.  (..and now too.) 

Today Jane and I are biking in Rouen. Depending on how that goes, there may be a few tears today too. 😀

Paul

1 hour ago, sunpsyche said:

Avidly following along as we’re on the AmaMagna next year and all info on the line is so helpful. 

As expected the staff has been exceedingly helpful and will to do anything to make our time on board more comfortable. We have one couple who arrived late due to airline issues. Their luggage didn't arrive with them on Thursday evening and it still hadn't shown up as of last night, Saturday. A few people have loaned them a few items of clothing and the crew has been laundering their things each day. 

5 hours ago, CaroleLee said:

Question- Is there a clothes line in the bathroom to hang up our bathing suits?

 

Yes there is and I plan on using it one of these days. Laundry service is not inexpensive and it's hard to pack for an 18 day vacation without doing a little laundry. 

7 hours ago, Daisi said:

@Wings55, I'm looking forward to your reports as well, have a great cruise, and hopefully when you get home you have time to post pictures.

@Daisi Pictures..? That may exceed my technical skills. Sending texts is a stretch for yours truly. 😉 I will say it's been very cloudy and we got rained on yesterday when we were in Honfluer; not a heavy rain but an umbrella was appreciated. Today we are headed to the Normandy beaches and I hope it stays dry.

3 minutes ago, Pink Cruiser said:

T I'm hoping to pack as light as possible and am wondering if Ama still provides the lovely bath toiletries as they've done so in the past.  Thank you.

On the AmaLyra there are bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in pump bottles in the shower along with a bottle of lotion on the vanity.

2 hours ago, Ritabob said:

Looking forward to your review.  How many passengers on board,  and where are the majority from?  Any stories of really difficult travel hoops?

Enjoy your cruise!

RB 

The ship's capacity is 148 passengers and we have 76 guests on board this week. I haven't heard a break down of countries but it seems like it's mainly the US with a few Canadians too. We did hear of people who were supposed to make connections in Dallas but were rerouted due to bad weather in TX. Two couples didn't land until after we sailed so Ama arranged for a car to take them downstream to meet us. I believe it was close to 9pm before we stopped to let them board. Jane and I were having a drink the lounge when then came in and were served dinner. Needless to say, they were happy to have made it. 

Good morning,

I'm sitting in the lounge with coffee in hand and enjoying going through a lock on the Seine right now. We boarded yesterday around 2pm and watched the other passengers arrive. The ship was ready and waiting with all the staterooms ready before the promised 3pm deadline. As others have stated, masks are required while moving about the ship not not in the lounge or dining room. After the welcome meeting we we assigned our dinner table/table mates. We had met another couple in the lounge and the crew happily rearranged out seating assignments so we could share a table with our new friends. 

I'm not sure how often I'll be checking in but feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer. 

Oh, for those who may not be following my Passe Sanitair complaint thread 😉, it took us eight days to get our coveted QR codes. I would recommend you apply early. Having one makes life easier especially if you plan so spend a few days on your own before/after your cruise. I were stuck with hotel room service and we missed out on the cute Paris bistros. 

Paul 

On 8/18/2021 at 9:36 AM, TFree said:

Glad to hear that it worked out for you, for the short run.  But it is not encouraging that you haven't heard back in a week, despite the fact that they were supposedly giving priority to people, like you, who were in France right now.  I guess we had better apply way in advance of our ocean cruise in October, during which we will have a couple of excursions into France.  

Tom & Judy

Once again I've made a liar out of myself. 😉 The COVID test I took did not come back until our Tours by Local guide volunteered to call the testing lab and 'go to bat' for me. It took some time but they looked up the results and emailed the results to me. I thought I was in the clear but when we got back to the hotel and I attempted to sign into the system the password I was given (name/birthdate) failed. The hotel desk called and after much discussion convinced the lab to fix the password and I FINALLY received a copy of the negative test, but I never got the second email with the QR test. What a waste of time and money.

BUT...... we finally got the official passes yesterday afternoon, the one based on the paperwork we submitted eight days ago. 

Yes, plan to submit the paperwork earlier than you might have but a little patience finally paid off. 

My final report on this topic... I promise! Our Tours by Local guide volunteered to call the testing lab to see if she could track down my test results. The call took quite some time, but in the end they found my file. Eugenie gave them my e-mail address again and within a few minutes I had the necessary paperwork. I'm not sure how long it will remain in effect but it should be ok until Thursday morning before we board the ship. 

I wonder if we will ever hear anything about the paperwork we submitted to the French government one week ago. 

10 hours ago, hihandycap said:

Having worked in France (La Ciotat), rest assured that strikes and burning tires in the street are national pastimes.

Thankfully we have seen absolutely no violence during our stay other than our taxi driver who gave us quite a lecture on the oppressive government mandates. We just nodded and agreed. 😉

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I hope your result comes back negative soon and you can have a great evening out. Then have a splendid day in Versailles. Does Paris feel crowded or is it more restrained? Did you have to book Versailles in advance?

 

notamermaid

 

Well we have had mixed results. Jane received her negative result and coveted QR code around 6pm last night. As of 8AM I haven't heard anything and we're scheduled to leave for Versailles in one hour. I'm not sure if I'll go along for the ride or if I'll do some walking around Paris on my own today. 🤷‍♂️

This is my first visit to Paris so I'm probably not a good judge but I would say it's very quiet. We had no issues during our walking tour yesterday and only once or twice was the a very short line as they looked into our bags or backpacks. The only thing that was busy was the Metro at rush hour. Due to the fact it's holiday season, many of the smaller shops are closed.

Yes our TbL guide, Eugenie, purchased our Versailles tickets last week.

Paul

Good to hear. I think here is Paris they are much more strict with the Passe Sanitaire regulations. We had another COVID test this morning so we could get the needed QR code for our visit to Versailles tomorrow. Dinner other than hotel room service would be nice too. 🙏

We got up early today and visited one of the many COVID testing labs around the city. We were told we would get our test results tonight or early tomorrow. It's now 5:30pm and Jane just got her negative result followed shortly by the much coveted Passe Sanitaire QR code. Hopefully mine will not be far behind. A nice Paris bistro would be preferred over hotel room service this evening. Also it will be need to get into Versailles tomorrow morning. 🤞

This morning after arriving at our hotel I did some more research on the health pass situation. I discovered a site that stated this;

You can get a 48-hour pass sanitaire using the app if you get a negative COVID test in France, but if you’re staying for a while, that could become a hassle.

For those planning on sticking around in France, there is a workaround, at least if you’re in Paris. The Hôtel-Dieu hospital in the 4th arrondissement has set up a small office dedicated to converting American vaccination cards into French health passes. You may have to wait in line for up to an hour, but it’s the only way to do it by the book as of now. 

We took a cab to the hospital where the guard promptly told us 'not possible'. We found another door around the side where a very nice gentleman confirmed they were providing the passes for Americans last week... but not this week. He instructed us to go to the US Embassy where they could help us. We walked over there and were given the same instructions we  submitted from home last week. We have decided that we'll go to the pharmacy tomorrow for a new COVID test. That will give us a 48 hour pass that will cover most of our time in Paris. What happens once we board the AmaLyra on Thursday is anybody's guess.  So far I'm not very impressed with France's handling of their pass system. Good luck to anyone else coming to France in the near future. 🤞

Paul

All's well that ends well. When we got to the airport the young lady at the self service kiosk took one look at my ticket and said, "No big deal, it's only one letter." She had it fixed in about 10 second. Thank you United! 🙂

Once again Ama has me doubting my cruise line choice. As I've mentioned I felt they were very late getting our documents out to us. We missed out on two shore excursion because they were already filled when we got our chance to sign up. 

Today when I attempted to print our United boarding passes Jane's was no problem but I kept getting a message saying I couldn't check in. After a bit more effort the system told me it wasn't possible because the name on my passport does not match the name on the United ticket. Ama issued the ticket with a misspelling of my middle name. 

I called United and they said because the ticket was issued by Ama, they couldn't change it. I called Ama and they said our travel agent has to change it. After pointing out my T/A was closed and it was Ama's error, not the T/A they said they can't 'fix' the ticket at this late date. All then could do was include an addendum to the ticket noting the error. The young lady said United SHOULD accept that as a valid reason to adjust the ticket. 

Right now I don't have much faith in Ama based on their performance so far and I have a feeling there's a reasonable chance I may not be getting on the airplane. 

6 minutes ago, TFree said:

@Wings55 I hope you receive the Passe Sanitaire by the time you arrive, and please let us know when and if you do.  Once received, is it your understanding that it will be accepted in other EU countries as well, to the extent they require proof of vaccination status?  If so that would be a real plus for those (like us) who will be on an ocean cruise.

Tom & Judy

@TFreeOur flight is scheduled to leave tomorrow, 24 hours from now and still no health passes from France. I hope they arrive today but I'd be surprised if a government office is processing paperwork on the weekend. I'm having my doubts about the program right now. If it arrives before we leave I'll try to update this thread.

I have not heard that other EU countries are accepting the passe sanitaire. It could be possible but I haven't seen anything to indicate so. 

@Host Jazzbeau  I agree, I believe you will need the passe sanitaire to access most public venues. If the ship's excursions venture into any of those places I would expect the health pass would be required. Better toe safe than sorry.

We applied two days ago and have not received anything yet. Two days 'til we depart for Paris. 

Paul

3 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

For anyone who has done both a Paris to Normandy itinerary & also a Lyon to Provence itinerary, did you prefer one itinerary to the other? If so, why? 
Hoping for some experienced replies. Please don’t hesitate to include details!

Give me about three weeks and I'll be able to report back on both. 😉

Have you decided on a cruise line or is that part of the discussion at this point? 

Paul

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Wings55 spying your picture are you a Mini fan? Mine at the moment is a Countyrman Mini on steroids.

 

@Canal archive Guilty as charged!! I've driven 'new MINIs' since 2003 and my current daily driver is a loaded, chili red '13 JCW Hardtop. My avatar photo is Matchbox, a 1991 Mini Cooper S I found in Seattle ten years ago. Makes absolutely no sense but, it's RED, it's LOUD and it's a cute as can be. Thank for noticing! 👋

12 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Great! Good customer service from Scenic I find. I should look into that company, also from what Canal archive has told us about her experience.

 

notamermaid

 

Absolutely! We were completely 'wowed' by the level of service and the extras they included throughout the cruise (Budapest to Amsterdam). They aren't the cheapest by any means but we couldn't have been happier and felt we got a great value for the price.