bigpaluka

perfect

Thanks

We are investigating booking Viking cruise to Norway and Iceland.  Any idea the general cost of optional excursions? 

Thanks, we board for same cruise in 2 weeks, we are also signed up for small group portofino tour, I hope we don't have as poor an experience.

I suggest taking train to St Margret and tour there and then hop on the city bus to Portofino or you can take the ferry if it is running to Portofino for 7eu. This will leave you more time in both towns and a chance to enjoy them.

Both are great Italian Rivera towns and are not to be missed.

just the city tour in Cartagena-most popular on Princess list-you could see the ship the entire time we were on buses....just walk and save the money.

Be sure and see the "new" roman theater they have uncovered and have a nice lunch downtown

Just got back from our 7 night western med cruise on the Royal, here is a little review

We stayed in D728, Premium Aft-room was very nice and roomy and balcony was way larger than others, very pleased with room and the value. However the soot problem has not gone away, nothing too bad, but it is still there.

First stop was Cartagena-we use Princess excursion here-not a good tour, guide was alright, but a lot of walking and we had some mobility challenged guest with us. She lost track of them a couple of times. We should have done this on our own, everything is super compact there. we were in a group of 45-50 and very slow. I gave them a 2/10 on this excursion

Gibraltar-we used Top of the Rock tours for this excursion and we certainly got our moneys worth here. We were first to all the stops and he parked us pretty much right at the sites. Did way more than the Princess excursions and did not have to hike up some very steep hills like the Princess guys did, since their large buses could not get there. Give them a 10/10 on this excursion

Marseille used a private group Provence Connections here-8 person group and once again saw every thing we wanted and got in and out pretty quick. Our guide was super knowledgeable and took us some extra spots. Give them a 9.5/10 for this excursion

Genoa-we used Princess for small group tour (paid extra) to Portofino, Rapallo and St Margaret---suppose to be small group, but we had 22 on the bus (not a small group in my mind) for first section of tour and then it was a total "cluster" after that. The ferry was not running so they stuck us on public buses packed like sardines. Princess warned us about the ferry not running but sure did not make it clear about the packed slow buses. We spent more time waiting on buses than actually at the sites. Portofino, Rapallo and St M were all great sites, but Princess and their contractor need to make it clear on the total mess on getting to Portofino. Felt sorry for the guides-they did the best they could with what they had to work with. Princess made no apologies. Rest assured we will go private excursions all the way in the future

Florence-used Nicolli Limos for this excursion with a group of 8, visited 2 small wineries and had unbelievable tastings and small lunches. Sergio our guide took us to great places and kept us on time. We also visited Pisa for a quick photo stop. we give this tour a 10/10 also.

Food of ship was good, as mentioned Horizon buffet is much improved. Alfredo's was excellent and well as our dinner at Sabatini's . Crew was on top of all our needs. Used ATD and had no issues getting a table for 2 around 6:15p.

All in all-Cruise was great-Princess excursions not so great

we also used SPB tours-only way to go. saw twice as much as Princess Excursions

we went in early July and pool was really open only one day. high 60's low 70's. Sun really never set.

Try Bourbon Cream from Buffalo Trace-you will forget Bailey's or any other Irish cream.

yes, sent in new pictures and forms and got new passport back in 2 weeks....really quick. we sent ours in just after the first of the year.

Getting off ship in Livorno. Any one got a shuttle-paid car to Florence? Recommend anyone?

Been on a few Princess cruises and some decks have larger balconies. Usually Caribe deck. Does the Royal have decks with larger balconies?

We will be on the Barcelona to Rome cruise, but would like to get off at the Florence stop and not continue on to Rome. Has anyone ever done this? Is it a problem?

Cruising in about 3 weeks, what is the water level like now?

Leaving out of Budapest

Got mine on Thursday, we are on the first cruise of the season on 3-28-16.

will post when we return

did this a few years back

Black Forest excursion was quite a drive, others were fairly short drives. Cologne and Koblenz docked right in town, Kinderdijk was right next to the windmills.

we didn't do any optional tours, quite busy with the free ones.

if you have time do a few pre days in Lucerne-you won't regret it.

Thanks for the responses-Looks like we are leaning toward CK

will post when we return our thoughts on our excursions

have 3 choices in Linz with Ama, has anyone been on these and thoughts? All look good to us. we have researched and would love to do them all, but I guess we have to pick one. we are on the first sailing of the year, leaving 3-28-16. we have 2 pre days in Budapest and 4 post days in Munich.

first option is a visit to the Austrian Lake District, the scenic Salzkammergut region, The second option is an excursion to the Czech town of Cesky Krumlov, . The third choice is an excursion to Salzburg

Just booked AmaSonata Budapest to Munich for this summer! Yay! The stars aligned to enable us to go.

we are on the first cruise of the season on AmaSonata March 28th. we will review when we return. 2 pre-days in Budapest and 4 post cruise days in Munich.

wondering if anyone has ever had a cabin upgrade on a River Cruise? Been on several ocean cruises and received upgrades on some. we are on the first cruise of the season on the Danube with AMA in late March and ship might be less than full.

We're doing the same trip in April. We're staying at the Blu and flying out of Zurich. Did you take the train to Zurich? If so, did you buy your tickets when you got there or before you left the US?

buy tickets right at the station-no need to buy early, plenty of seats.

Train station in Zurich airport-direct train to Lucerne every 15-20 minutes.

we did it with 8 people and a lot of luggage. Did have to go up and down one set of stairs. Lucerne train station close to several hotels, walked to our hotel the Blu. we then took a car service to Basel for our river cruise from the Blu.

we did Lucerne on our own. Would highly recommend at least 2 days there.

there are lots of car services that can take you to Basel and the dock. That is what our group of 8 did and was not that expensive.

we did this on our own

Car service from Basel to Lucerne-easy 70 minutes or so

Train from Lucerne to Zurich-train station in right in airport. about 70 minutes or so for this. It was direct service, but had a few stops.

You will love Lucerne-one of the most peaceful places we have traveled.

If they put you up at the BLU in Lucerne, it is very close to train station.

most of the forum will probably agree-their air schedule will probably have more connections and longer lay-overs than if you did it yourself.

we do not use any of the cruise line airfare offers-we like to control our schedule and seats.

we went from Basel to Amsterdam mid-October and weather was great-had one day of drizzle. Even went to top of Alps in Lucerne one morning. Great time to go.

we have option of Munich or Prague post cruise on AMA. We usually do our own thing, but decided to let cruise line handle this time.

Munich seems a little more industrial, but has the castles.

Prague a little farther from Danube, but seems to be more older buildings and history.

What is the consensus on best place-we will have 2 1/2 days.

Haven't sailed AMA before-reviews are outstanding-any thoughts on how they perform?

Sailing early April

we love shoulder season (this might be on the collarbone). we will be prepared. I believe the first cruise of the season for that particular cruise.