CPT Trips

Flipping a coin . . . Heads Dubrovnik, tails Kotor. Split just barely missed the cut. Walking the walls in Kotor was more strenuous than those in Dubrovnik. The approach to Kotor is spectacular, we were fortunate to have the Captain invite us to the bridge as he and the Pilot provided commentary on the cruise in.

My most recent GCT cruise was pre Covid, so things may have changed. Yeap, the separate beds are an issue for some. Food is so subjective. The crew were all friendly and helpful and the Captain was very accessible. I like the GCT model with Program Directors that always accompany the group, even when there is a local guide. I took the Rhein cruise, which I think is the itinerary River Harmony does. It looks like this year’s itinerary has changed a bit from the one we took. We didn’t do a stop in Breisach, we did overnight in Strasbourg so it was easy spend time at the Market. I remember that there was a home hosted “kaffeeklatch” at one of the stops and a private choral concert at another. Also we were fortunate that one of our Program Directors observed that there was a Christmas choral concert at the Speyer Dom on our evincing there. We were able to attend this public event, and iirc, the ship’s schedule was modified to accommodate our attendance. [edit . . . Kaffeeklatch is on this year’s itinerary. They are having these home hosted visits currently; in the early days post-Covid they were not.] As memory serves, we usually (maybe always) had a tour with a local guide in the morning and also an opportunity to visit the Christmas Market later in the day. Typically, the Program Directors set up free time experiences daily for those who wanted something to do with an escort. On more than one occasion we skipped returning to the ship for a lunch on our own, eating in town in order to maximize our free time. If you know someone that has traveled previously with OAT/GCT hit them up for a referral and save a few $$. If you don’t know anyone, feel free to ask me. 😉👍

@sharkster77. You might find the stories of The Albrecht brothers (ALDI North and ALDI South) and the Dassler brothers (Puma and Adidas) interesting. There are a host of other family business feuds you can find with a web search.

@sharkster77 some of “the rest of the story.” Grand Circle started in the late 1950s, as part of AARP, and was bought by Alan Lewis in ‘85. It later acquired OAT in the early 90s some 15 years after OAT was founded. In the late ‘00s a private equity firm took a majority stake in the GCT companies. Vantage was founded in ‘83 by Henry Lewis, Alan’s brother, and was a totally separate company. Neither company worked together until they bought the Paul Gauguin in 2005(?). That venture led to lawsuits against each other. After Alan died late last year, Harriet Lewis became the chair of GCT corporation, Brian FitzGerald is CEO.

Just a heads up. The website converts the time from London local time to Eastern Standard Time, six hour difference. It should be five hours as we are on Daylight Saving Time.

I’ll second that the original Renaissance ships are delightful. The 98 pax M/V Corinthian, originally the Renaissance Four, is now used by OAT/GCT on some interesting itineraries.

Can you share where, and what medication? Any tips on where and how to double check?

Five in the Americas

Many other insurers also cover supplier default in some of their policies. It’s clearly displayed on the popular brokerage cites. Just keep in mind there are typically several qualifiers for coverage based on when the insurance is purchased.

“Vantage Travel, a Boston company that has canceled at least four cruises since April 1, appears to have at least temporarily diverted a fifth, as a ship that was supposed to leave Boston Thursday docked in Gloucester for most of the day, according to the online cruise tracking website cruisemapper.com. The Ocean Explorer was supposed to take aboard as many as 160 passengers in Boston on Thursday for an 11-day cruise to Montreal, according to a temporary website set up by Vantage after a “data systems incident” last week took down its regular website and call center. Whether the Ocean Explorer ever made it to Boston, and whether it took passengers on board on Thursday in either Boston or Gloucester, was unclear. The vessel was sighted in Provincetown on Wednesday, according to a Globe reader who passed along the information in an e-mail. Cruisemapper.com showed it going directly to Gloucester from Provincetown.”

Do you have one of these?

Ah Berlin, great memories of my three years there back in the 1970s with the Army. If you have any interest in the-post war/pre-unification history of Berlin, consider a stop at https://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/. It’s in the former Army movie theater and the housing area for US military.

Belize City is bad port experience but the diving/snorkeling is spectacular.

Don’t forget this step. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Rotterdam-Cruise-Terminal/Rotterdam-Centraal-Station Public transit with luggage can be challenging if you don’t pack light.

Here’s a potential stop for family cruises with kids. Neiderrhein near the border with Netherlands, a never commissioned nuclear power plant. https://jalopnik.com/this-german-amusement-park-is-inside-a-nuclear-power-pl-1845349306?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew And a special event for the scooter crowd . . . https://scooternova.com/2023/01/30/scooternova-in-wunderland-2023/

This is an interesting bridge.

I just read this article about a series of linked cruises. https://www.afar.com/magazine/american-cruise-lines-unveils-longest-ever-u-s-river-cruise?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=041023LongestEverUSCruiseLaunch&utm_content=Final&utm_term=Daily Wander Newsletter

Perhaps not the ship, but there’s a very good chance that the concierge and/or cruise director will have it.

@pontac Merci!

It did when we left port. ETA: Oi! Sorry to make you stand on your head. How can I fix this?

Belgium = beer+chocolate, a winning formula! Hope you enjoy your trip.

Rather than a baseball cap or a toque unless it’s either wicked hot or arctic cold, I prefer this look for travel.

Interesting that the discussion turned to Roebling. His wire rope manufacturing facility combined with the steel mill and company town his family built were the primary reasons that the lift bridge I posted above was required rather than a lower clearance bridge. Both of those received their raw materials via ship.

You call that scary? Buy that engineer a new slide rule.

It might be a good idea to install WhatsApp on your phone if you don’t have international calling.