UKBayern

We are sailing in November, and they already have this system in place, but it causes problems.

The problem comes when you are travelling with a party of 4, and you have 1 classic and 1 premium cabin. The people with the premium cabin can put in a preferred dining time at electronic check-in, and the passengers with the classic cannot. This in itself is really not a problem, but the website goes into overdrive, all the data keep on falling out of the system, whether you opt to select a dining time or not. The combination of the 2 cabins is apparantly not compatible with checking in with 1 booking number. Costa sends us many threatening emails in french and italian (interesting to send that to british/dutch people who live in Germany) that we still haven't entered our data. Costa Belgium and Costa Italy cannot solve this problem.

I would therefor advise everybody not to book 2 different category cabins on Costa. We didn't either, but 1 was upgraded and that is when the frustration started....

I have another consideration which has not been mentioned yet. Salzburg has an airport and is also easy to do by land from Munich or Vienna on another trip. CK is a little harder to get to DIY.

I live in the area and both towns are pretty. However, CK gets my vote.

Oh yes. We just don't want to think what they use to clean the glasses. Ugh. :D

 

Keith

Absolutely right: glasses in hotel rooms, especially in large hotels, are potentially more dangerous infection-wise than the liquids you pour in to them.

We own a small hotel and WE wash the glasses in the machine with professional detergents at temperatures sure to kill off any bugs: but we do know some, even 5-star, establishments where that does not happen, because housekeeping never switches the glasses, just rinses them after which they are dried with a paper towel. Ugh.....

Getting back to Barcelona and water, the only reason we personally found which might induce one to choose bottled water is the chlorinated taste that the tap water has.

In all EU-countries the water is absolutely safe, as safe or even safer than in the US.

Istanbul will make you happy as well; we were lucky enough to have both ports last cruise, and would definitely like to come back there.

By the way, if you do get into Alexandria, Ramses tours overnight: really great! Or tourguide was Eman, a young lady (low 30's who looks about 14) with 2 PhD's in history and egyptology, very very good and informative. She kept adapting our schedule to traffic patterns as well, changing planning on the fly, so we saw much more than would otherwise have been possible.

I have used Mike twice on both my trips to Prague. Since you can leave early, there is no reason he won't be willing to stop in Cesky Krumlov, and even to see the brewery and gigantic town square of Cesky Budejovice (the original Budweiser) after that, which is right on the way to Prague. Mike can also arrange to have his friend, Jiri, meet you there so you can have a local guide to more efficiently see the place. You could be in Prague by 6 PM. Just email Mike to negotiate what it will cost. He has a microphone in his minivan so everyone can hear and is very flexible to meet everyone's needs.

If you have a chance to visit Cesky Krumlov, do! We sometimes go on a daytrip. It is absolutely wonderful.

I have another idea, which is cheap, fairly hassle free and fun. Why not take the direct Intercity train to Regensburg (beautiful Unesco Heritage historical city), spend a night in a hotel or a just few hours (left luggage options at the station) and then take the direct ALEX train to Prague?

Since there are no direct trains, the car is the way to go. It should not be more than 3 hours at most. This compares favorably against the 6,5 hours on the train. The train is a hassle, on very small trains through the Bavarian and Bohemian Forest, changing in the middle of nowhere.

There are no buget airlines on the MUC-PRG route, so that does not help.

We finally booked on AirBerlin, there is only one stop in Germany and than straight to LAX. Price was good $283 + 219 tax for a total of $502/pp. Only problem is we can't pick our seats till check-in as we booked thru Orbitz:rolleyes:

On the Air Berlin-website, it states that you can check in online 30 hours before departure, irrespective of it being a direct booking or through a third party. I don't think air berlin does any pre-booking of seats at all.

Both airlines have an excellent reputation in Europe. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Just look which schedule and price suits you best.

We did an overnight tour with Ramses in October out of Alexandria. We were a party of 4 adults in a large van. The center seats were turned to be consoles to hold our water and cameras. Our guide was Karim and he was the best guide we had the entire B2B trip. He was very funny and really knew Eqypt. Karim must know every camera made as he was able to use all our cameras and take great photos for us.

 

A small group makes it so much easier to see everything. Karim was able to take us to the Museum the first day as he heard it was not too busy and he knew most of the tours were going the next morning. We chatted with his fiancee each day and learned about buying apartments in Alexandria. Karim suprised us with small gifts throughout the trip and made us feel very safe. He would get our tickets to each place as we were getting out of the van and take us right by the lines. He also was able to help us fend off the vendors that were everywhere once we were done shopping.

 

The driver was fabulous and always managed to find the back roads to keep us moving. One large bus from the ship got stuck in heavy traffic and lost almost 2 hours of touring time. He always got us close to the entrances and helped each of us off the van.

 

We will ask for Karim next time we are in Egypt.

Same experience here, only our guide was Eman, a tiny girl, but with a big heart and a fountain of knowledge. She also got us to the top of the lines, fended off vendors and getting us little presents from the shops on our tour.

US dollars or Euros are OK - no need for Egyptian money. We ALWAYS had to tip the restroom people (take your own toilet paper) - they will be in your face for a tip - 1 euro each time was sufficient.

Our guide had a pocket full of Egyptian change, which she handed out every time somebody needed the restroom. In Egypt, you pay the attendant first and they will then hand you the toiletpaper, no need to bring your own.

When paying in dollar or Euro, you have to accept that often a waiter or shop keeper will argue he does not have any change - the perks of not changing money....

The problem with the coffee on Star Princess was that it tasted very bitter, as if it had been overheated or standing too long. It was completely undrinkable. Unfortunately, the paid coffee in the IC was not that much better. Surprisingly, the debarkation breakfast coffee in the Horizon Court was suddenly a lot better. Maybe the turnover speed was much higher.

The staff all know about it, but nobody does anything about it. Complaining does not help either.

I have read on another thread on CC that there are two tour companies with identical names: Ramsestours.com and Ramsestours.net. One is supposed to be very good, and the other one not. The good one only lets you pay at the end of the tour, the other one wants a downpayment. Could it be that the posters on this thread are in fact talking about 2 different companies?

Just another thought.... if you're at De Waag, take a quick 3 or 4 block detour down Sint Antoniesbreestraat (it runs straight south from the plaza where Waag sits.... look for the Chinese grocery). This street has some very peculiar examples of modern Dutch architecture. I'm curious why these buildings wound up on that particular street.

When the Metro was dug, they had to tear down most of the buildings standing on top of it. The Nieuwmarkt (don't want to be picky LairBear, but look at the spelling on your site) area was the scene of large riots at that time. When the Metro was finished, they plonked some really ugly modern buildings down on the site.

Thank you. However, I'm going to Prague, Vienna, Budapest. .

Temperatures in the mentioned area are predicted to be dropping fast, still not below freezing but not too nice either. Take the 'onion' approach, lots of layers so yo can adapt to temperature changes and possible rain without overpacking.

Thank you. I'm thinking of a sweat shirt, a vest, and a rain jacket. I'm hoping that works. From what I see of the present weather and the forecasts, there won't be any t-shirts and shorts days.

Don't know where you are going exactly, but temperatures today and tomorrow are 70°F in the Regensburg-Passau-area: perhaps not shorts-weather, but absolutely no-coat weather!

You can leave your shorts at home in general this time of the year.

I would not take too much... Remember, if you pack too little, there are a lot of wonderful cities on the way with gorgeous shops...

I once read an article by a person who was employed as a piano player on a cruise ship, and his cabin was next to the morgue. Good place if you ask me... neighbors are usually quiet.

The neighbours don't complain about the piano practice either...:rolleyes:

We will be in port on May 30 from 9 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. We would like to see the area around the port, such as Warnemunde, Rostock and and/or any other interesting town, rather than go to Berlin. What would be the best way to approach this? Should we go to Rostock first then visit the closer towns? What would be the best way both from an economic and time standpoint to get around - train, bus, private car, etc. What are the points of interest that we should consider.

 

Thank you for your help.

Why don't you join the roll call? More than 1200 posts with more than 80 people posting. They are sharing tips on all possible ports on there. My parents are on the same cruise and they posted some helpful info they found about taking the train to Schwerin.

Same sob story you get everywhere. We have seen a few of those all over the world. Most are druggies, homeless, you name it. DH just askes if I think they are a franchise:D

If somebody needs help, he needs to go to the police, embassy (not in this case of course), social services, and we will tell them so. Anybody who really needs help would ask locals, because they know their way around, no tourists.

Next time we visit Nassau we may not bother getting off: we've been there 2 times and feel we have seen what there is to see.

We just might see what the ship has to offer while in port.:)

We were in Dubrovnik on our last cruise where they have public toilets at the entrance to the old town. Now remember the Kuna is the official currency and Euros are often accepted too. This group of American ladies turn up and start bitching at the restroom attendant that he does not accept large US$ bills (I think it was 50$). Finally the man gives in and agrees to take 1$ bills, but tells them honestly that it is a lot of trouble and his bank charges a lot of costs to change it and therefore he cannot give them change back. Of course they start whining that he is ripping them off. While standing in line, the ladies complain in a loud voice what a backward country this is (try paying in Kuna in the US?) and that they live in the Middle Ages here and what a load of crap this town is. And the shops are closed on a Sunday too (as if that is the attendants fault?). Then they complain that there is no toilet paper. Just a word of advice: in southern Europe there is no toilet paper in the booth, but there is a roll outside where you come in where you have to take what you need inside. Sometimes the attendant gives you the paper after you pay.

It's worth going up to the castle- doesn't look much from below, but really nice when you get up there, and great views. There is a lift up from right opposite the beach. Just below the castle, there is an "old town" of charming whitewashed houses in stepped streets full of flowers. Near the cathedral are some very good restaurants and food/ confectionary shops. The beach is good, if you walk along the promenade you can check out the "pensioners playground" of keep fit equipment on the beach! A stroll along the shady esplanade is good in the heat- there are restaurants and stalls along the way.

kate

I second all that!