spuds

We had a lovely day in the Chania area with Chania Adventures. They picked us up at the port of Souda and we explored the region. Went to the small town of Vouves to see one of the oldest olive trees, learned about olive oil production in Crete, then had a small walk through one of the gorges and visited the Milia Mountain EcoLodge where we had a wonderful lunch.

On the way back we stopped at St John the Hermit Cave/Church and because our cruise was leaving later in the evening our guide took us to Chania Harbour and we walked around the town, after that he returned us back to the port of Souda.

It was one of the highlights of our 3 week vacation. If you want to see a bit more then just the Chania town I would highly recommend it.

Just curious, can you hear the sounds or feel any vibrations in 7009 or 7008 when the evening show is going on?

I don't think we were in the room at that time... we were still out for dinner or in the lounge.

Hello all.

we have booked tickets for Park Guell (our entry time is 10.30 a.m.).

Our plan is to be off the ship for 10 a.m. and get a taxi to the Park.

Is that enough time?

also can we walk to Sagrada Familia from there after we have finished at the park?

thanks in advance

Gilly

I think 30 minutes should be good for taking a taxi to the Parc. We walked from Parc Guell to La Sagrada and it was about a 35 minute walk... downhill which is a good thing. We stopped for a bite to eat about half way... would not recommend where we stopped. There seemed to be nicer restaurants along a pedestrian street close to La Sagrada. Do you have tickets for La Sagrada - ?? I would recommend getting tickets for that also.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much. We leave on Wednesday and have cabin 7008 which I think is same as yours, just on the other side of the ship. I too spent a lot of time poring over various cabins and hoping I made a good choice. You gave me reassurance!

Our friends were in 7008! Same cabin with excellent balcony! You will love it!

We had a car and stayed just outside of Bellagio (Borgo Le Terrazze) it is a wonderful hotel. They do offer a shuttle service to Bellagio so once you get there you just need to park the car and do not need to worry about driving around after that. The views are amazing! The rooms are wonderful and the service is very good! Next time we are in Lake Como we would definitely stay there again.. very good value for dollar.

We did the ferry to Varenna and hiked up to the castle and one day we rented a small boat in Bellagio and toured around Lake Como.. that was one of the highlights from our trip! They are small 48 hp boats (do not need a license) and we felt very safe.

Enjoy!

What a coincidence. We board Riviera in a few hours and will be in......7009. Thanks very much for posting.

 

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Hope you enjoy your cruise and the balcony! :)

We recently sailed the Riviera and stayed in cabin 7009. Prior to booking this suite I searched and searched to find pictures of the balcony and could not find anything. I could find pictures of the extended balconies at the aft but nothing at the forward (facing aft). If you considering the Riviera and like a nice balcony (like we do) then I would not hesitate to stay in this cabin.

The interior room is nice but the balcony is excellent! You can see your neighbours if you are standing or sitting towards the rail but we never found that a problem and if you sit closer towards the door you are in complete privacy. You have a beautiful view towards the aft with very little wind... it was perfect and I would personally choose this over a PH suite (as we love our balcony's when cruising).

I will be in Livorno last week of August. Thinking of doing https://italytoursharing.com/livorno-port/cinque-terre-pisa. I am not very fit so a little afraid of the hiking with the extreme hot weather and afraid to miss the ship.

You do not have to hike... the trains run frequently between towns and there is the ferry (weather permitting). But I do understand going with a tour company for a peace of mind and probably a more relaxing day.

We are using the above company for an excursion in Sorrento.

Another 'share excursions' company is this one:

http://www.shareashoreexcursioninitaly.com/login

We are using them for the Civitavecchia port with some fellow cruisers and I know some people are using this company for a trip to Cinque Terre from Livorno. If you can get a full van it's pretty reasonable.

When are you going - ?? We are doing this in a couple of weeks! I will post our experience when we get back.

Our ship is in port from 8:00 to 8:00 so it's a bit of a longer day. We are renting a car from Hertz (Sifra) car rentals, they apparently bring the vehicle right to the port. My DH is very comfortable driving in Italy. I heard that parking can be a challenge once there so we I have reserved a parking spot at the La Spezia train station (1 day parking = 18.00 Euros)... I hope I booked it OK... most of the instructions were in Italian. We are going to take the train from there and visit a few of the towns either by train, hike, and/or ferry... this will depend on weather of course.

I did do a search on this forum and there were a lot of good posts with recommendations when I was planning.

The restaurant was Drole L'Endroit.

Thank you! Just looked it up... it looks very good!

Does your invoice come on O letterhead?

Does it have the itinerary listed on one of the pages?

The invoice is on the TA letterhead... it does have the itinerary on the 1st page.

I also just received the Final Cruise Vacation Summary yesterday... it provides the Embarkation port information, my TA contact info, specialty dining reservations, etc... and does have the OBC that was given to the TA because they included us in a 'group booking'.

It does not have the OLife choice perk of the free internet and additional OBC... my TA hand wrote that in... but once again just to be sure I phoned Oceania directly and they confirmed everything.

I did not see it on my invoice... I did book with a TA but just to be sure I phoned Oceania directly and they confirmed the OBC amounts.

Phew! Good to hear that you did receive your tickets.

Trip planning is fun... but can also be very stressful. I recently reserved a parking spot at La Spezia train station (we are driving to Cinque Terre for our port day in Livorno)... most of the reservation instructions were in Italian so I was working between doing the reservation and google translate trying to understand what it was saying. They charged me the correct amount... so hopefully I got it right :).

I received an e-mail that was titled Purchase summary by Basilica de la Sagrada Familia... with that e-mail I received a pdf attachment... it did not have any names but it does have 4 separate pages with a reservation code, ticket #, and it does have a bar code that I assume will be scanned at the entrance. I have printed those out and will bringing them with me.

We have purchase confirmation receipts and reservation #s for our Top Views tour of the Sagrada Familia that we booked yesterday for 8 people. Reviewing info on the website, it appears that individual tickets are required for admission, but we have not been emailed them as of +24 hours later. For those who have ordered their tickets via the Sagrada Familia website, what is your experience as to the process? Thanks!

I booked mine a couple of weeks ago and received an e-mail shortly after. Did you write down your confirmation code - ?? You can try to send them an e-mail if you have that... or maybe the name you booked under would be good enough - ?? and as mentioned checking your spam/junk folder is a good idea.

We then traveled to Catherine's home town of Aix-En-Provence. Catherine gave us the option of purchasing some charcuterie for lunch in Cassis or eating in Aix. She took us to one of her favorite restaurants in Aix which was frequented by locals. Lunch was wonderful. We saw the sights of Aix including the Cathedral and the Cours Mirabeau.

Afloat, do you remember what restaurant you had lunch at in Aix-en-Provence - ??

Perfect! Thanks for the information, this is very helpful.

Hello,

On the Riviera in August (departing 11:00 pm from Barcelona) and I am just trying to plan our embarkation day. Just wondering if anyone might know approximately what time the muster drill would be - ??

Thanks!

That may not work

Better if only one of you makes the reservation for both or call Oceania to book them

Thanks... that is what I meant. One of us will make the reservation and reference both booking #'s at the same time.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. We are both in category B so our reservation time has not opened up yet. If we want to be sure of eating together we will probably try to book at the same time (referencing both booking numbers).

We often travel at the Veranda B1-4 levels. This means that room service breakfast offerings are limited to continental. However, we have ordered from the appetizer room service menu, specifically the Mediterranean Vegetable Frittata and the Sliced Salmon Gravlax. Supplement with tea and coffee, pastry if you are so inclined, and that is a lovely breakfast of satisfying portions.

Thanks KatieBelle, those sound like great breakfast alternatives!

We will be travelling with another couple on our first Oceania cruise in August. We can reserve at table at the specialty restaurants in early July. We want to dine with our friends so wondering if each couple should reserve a table for 2 people early July and then change to a table of 4 once on board ?? We are not early diners... if we start around 7:30 - 8:00 that would be great!

We would appreciate your recommendations.

Thank you buchman67 and 2Fltravelers for the info on the espadrilles shop... looking forward to going there.

A few years ago we used Roberto Mirabile for private guide service in Sicily! It was excellent! Highly recommend... I did a review on TripAdvisor.

Hello Londontowner,

I just checked and there is a concert during the time we are there also. Barelona Guiter Trio & Dance a tribute to Paco de Lucia. Do you have a recommendation on what the best seats would be for this type of concert - ??

Thanks!