jpalbny

Terry, we have been there twice but only in the dead of winter. Our favorite hotel is l'Auberge Saint-Antoine down by the waterfront in the lower town. Château Frontenac is pretty and nice to walk through but we liked the smaller place. If we ever get back there in the summer we'd like to tour the citadel again (it was 40 below when we were there). Lots of parkland nearby which would be nice to wander and enjoy views of the river. The upper city is nice and there's lots of little shops along Rue d"Aiguillon. But we got to go ice skating too which I guess you'll miss out on this time of year. Out of town a bit visit Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans for a change of pace. Auberge Saint-Antoine has a great restaurant too. Otherwise I don't remember any particular restaurants. Enjoy!

Thanks for the laugh, @Dolcevita Diva!

If there is a time/date that you really want, book it ahead of time. If you are willing to be flexible, wait until you are on board, but you may get off times and you may get shut out of some restaurants. It's a risk. The bow ties will (usually, eventually) appear but the timing is highly variable. On one of our last voyages then never did appear, though! You can usually count on the second night being a formal night.

Yes. Just be aware that there can sometimes be a deadline for booking/canceling (usually 24h prior) so if you're going to change things, don't put it off until the last minute. This is more likely to apply to classic cruises than to expedition cruises, so you should have even more flexibility.

Glad someone appreciates our pal Stumblefoot! I'll let him know.

Me too, Lois. SS press releases are written by professional obfuscators. Or so it seems!

I assumed that's what they were trying to say - 160 on Nova, 60 for the rest of you plebes... I'm still struggling to speak French after 40 years so I understand how things get lost in translation. But yeah, hire a pro!

You'd definitely need a backup camera!

Chef Pia... I still blame her for shrinking all of my clothes. She is a favorite for sure!

My wife and I pack equally light (one carry-on each). So we definitely value suitcase space and don't waste room on stuff that's too fancy. My answer depends a little bit on whether or not this is an "expedition" cruise or not. We've been on two Ponant cruises so far, both "expedition" cruises in warmer climates (Corsica and Indonesia). And I'm a guy so take that with a grain of salt. But I travel with a lady who always asks me what she should bring, so: Any of those dresses could be fine IMO. The very first one might be on the casual side for dinner depending on the itinerary, but would be completely fine during the day and at lunch. You might feel slightly underdressed for a regular dinner but in a tropical climate on an expedition cruse - I bet it would fit in without any trouble. You'd almost certainly feel underdressed for a gala dinner, I think. Chris would probably not go as fancy as option #6, even for a gala. Though #5 isn't really her style, it would not feel out of place. And if you wanted to go with something as fancy as option #6 for the gala - go for it, but you can get away without it if it takes up too much room. Even #4 is probably fancy enough for the gala dinners. Hope that helps some. Don't worry about it too much.

It depends on how far they reach.

Cool! Now we can pack for a whole cruise in just one carry-on!

So many to try; so little time. I've had the Four Pillars gin before (the traditional one, not the Bloody Shiraz). Was nice. Looks like I'm way behind on the others!

What is Capricornia?

It will be, in that case.

Lirio, your post is awesome! I'm glad you finally made it to Milan along with your flip-flops and your extra books. Have a great time!

We will be in Amboise this December. Our hotel is closer to town though. Will try to remember to post some details about restaurants, etc during the trip.

Looks like a wonderful day! Thanks for posting.

Instructions don't always help. In the old days, we had an expression on the farm... "He's so stupid, he couldn't pour p* ss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel!"

Good thing you're not a cat.

@zqtchas, be glad it was only gas...

We have wine checks that hold 6 bottles each. Since we usually travel with just carry-on luggage we have plenty of extra baggage allowance to check wine on the way home. Another alternative is to get something like this: 20 Packs Wine Bottle Travel... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S71QLLM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share They pack flat and take up little room but once blown up they protect the bottles well. Similar concept to what taxatty posted above, but even more compact. Only downside is that they are single-use.

Much easier to buy it ashore, at retail. If you want truly local stuff. That's our MO. For instance, we did a 7-day circumnavigation of Corsica 2 years ago (on Ponant, but the principle still holds). Before we left home, I googled wine shops at each little town we planned to stop at. By the end of the trip I had a nice collection of 12 Corsican wines that I would have never found at home. And I got to chat about local wines with some shopkeepers in places off the beaten path, which was especially fun. But we do this on SS cruises as well. And sometimes we grab a bottle or two from the connoisseur's list and bring that home too. The SS connoisseur's list is going to be higher end stuff that is (sometimes) reasonably priced, but recognizable so that it will appeal to a large segment of passengers over all voyages. But not something hyperlocal and unique to the itinerary.

Well played, Stumblefoot. Well played. Good thing I read your post while I was at work and only drinking coffee. It would have been a shame to waste any wine!

We looked long and hard at that itinerary but didn't end up booking it. We visited Madagascar in 2016 and spent two weeks there on land. Some day we'll go back and finish the Southern half - just not sure if it will be by land or by cruise. Hope you post about your next cruise too!