sofietucker

For anyone on an upcoming cruise: let's all try to keep updated and post what we know here. (We personally won't be there til Sept. and it may have bounced back by then.) Hoping everyone stays safe and secure with little damage.

On our first visit next month, we're doing a walkabout too! THANKS.

You don't *have* to do the cable car! NOR the donkeys (do they still even do that? Lol). When you get to the tender pier at Fira, you can take a water taxi around to the other (non-cliff) side of the island. There will be regular-transportation buses, taxis, etc. to take you to towns, beaches, wineries, sites such as Akrotiri, and "up top" to Oia (at the opposite end of the crescent island from Akrotiri, btw) and to Fira, the town where the cable cars end up. Check out some maps, etc.

Hey there, everyone: faced with an embarrassing amount of OBC (folks keep gifting us, etc.), we are trying to spend a bunch of it on spa services. On other cruise lines (Celebrity for one), we can go to their spa-specific section and peruse detailed, comprehensive menus with prices and open times, sometimes actually making our reservations, long before we board. We even get confirmations (unlike the shorex prebooking experience here...)! At minimum, because they are often at a premium and run out quickly (a sea day, if only one staffer/room has the service, etc.), we carry our preferred services and times, to run to the spa desk upon boarding, to assure getting our spots. the But AZ, while exhorting us to patronize the spa, only has some vague listings of services, with no specifics. They only offer some general spa OBC as part of a package that we can't use. So: does anyone happen to have a copy of the spa menu and prices that you can post? Thanks!!! (I have also asked this question on two live threads, posting here just in case. Will delete the duplicate questions when a reply is posted.)

I would never in a million years think to look there, lol.

In the photo, it appeared to be low on the outer leg of the nightstand?

More dining questions (also on Quest for eastern Med, but not this exact itinerary): Read an Oct '22 review for this ship in which they--not in a suite--were offered both afternoon tea and pre-dinner canapes in their stateroom. Just off the room-service menu, or by special request? Also they said that each evening in the MDR, they were given a buzzer to notify them when their table was ready. (Again, October, so not a holiday cruise when every bed may be filled.) I realize there are no reservations. Should we plan to have to wait to be seated? If so, how long a wait is it usually--long enough to find the nearest bar and hang out until called? Thanks.

Newbies here. So we usually eat at a suite-targeted restaurant on embarkation day--Luminae on Celebrity, Club O on HAL, etc. Sometimes there's a special luncheon for past guests of various sorts, or a specialty restaurant is open for lunch on embarkation day. Oceania didn't offer anything but their general buffet, and that was fine...but kind of hectic. Being that Quest is a much smaller ship, should we expect that there are options besides the Windows Cafe or MDR?

And that's one of the reasons we never buy (any) ship's insurance. Their fine print, translated" "we get everything, you get nothing; we can miss ports and change the itinerary with impunity" (among many other anti-pax policies). I was shocked the first time my TA said, "Oh you're covered for that; we'll submit a claim to Allianz." They have been absolutely brilliant, coming through for us time and again with a wide range of issues--flights, medical, trip cancellation, trip interruption (covering hotels/meals/transport), simple claims processes, rapid refunds, great people. And if we have to cancel/interrupt, it's for any reason, not "can't do it because you're not a blood relative" and such. They cover weather-related, aka "act of God", issues too. (I get no commission, lol).

Our Allianz Global Trip Assist Family Care policies for cruises all have coverage for missed ports, up to $100 per port (earlier I thought it was $100pp; that's when you have separate individual policies).

Taking our first AZ cruise in a couple of months, but based on everything I've read, I think the *smaller* Celebrity ships would be a better fit for you. We cruise them a lot, the Solstice and Millennium classes have a capacity of 2800 and 2K respectively, 3-4 ships in the classes. Solstices have lawns on the top deck. Lots of entertainment and stuff to do--even karaoke and pickleball! A bit more sedate than the other cruise lines (except the VERY sedate HAL, lol), but still plenty of fun. Good food. We're looking for even smaller ships and unusual itineraries; we hope that Az will fulfill our dreams (after 30+ cruises). But Celebrity will always be our go-to.

...Or my favorite, the spa...

Hoping Az is different, but in our experience of other lines, on port days, the shorex desk is pretty much only staffed after sailaway, when we're trying to dress for dinner, etc. (This is a personal gripe of mine, about which nothing can be done.) Since this upcoming cruise has *no* sea days among 9 ports, looks like the drop box will be our new best friend!

Wow.Good to know! Thanks

We have been trying to convert our already-paid-for shorex to OBC. But the rep said that to do that, we must cancel the shorex and then rebook with their *brand new* online system. Fine BUT! She said there's a high likelihood that those are already waitlisted. (PS, very limited options in some ports: EVERYONE wants the sole excursion to Troy, for instance). So if we cancel, it will instantly be reassigned to the first person on the waitlist & then we've lost our spot. To make it work, it must be done on the phone with the rep. BUT she will ONLY work with our TA, not us directly. Or, she said, go stand in line at the shorex desk once aboard and have them do the conversions. Yeah, no. We'll let our fabulous TA make the conversions for us.

Has anyone done anything else in Volos? We've been to Meteora before (stayed in Kalabaka so no long drive).

After I posted this, I realized I'm not in out roll call, lol. Here ya go: https://www.whatsinport.com/index.html We've found the "What's in Port" site has excellent info about independently making your way from the pier to "town," which varies widely from one port to the next. May involve trains, buses, trams, where to get tix, costs, etc. Porto, https://www.whatsinport.com/Leixoes.htm Or: Metro (from cruise terminal to downtown) https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g189180-d9705615-r629122969-Metro_do_Porto-Porto_Porto_District_Northern_Portugal.html Bilbao: https://www.whatsinport.com/Bilbao.htm (Bordeaux? Fuggedaboutit) Lorient: easy 1/2 mile walk to city center St Malo: tender to shore Le Havre: https://www.whatsinport.com/Le-Havre.htm London (Tilbury dock): train or bus into town, 45 minutes: https://www.whatsinport.com/London-City.htm Bruges: https://www.whatsinport.com/Zeebrugge.htm

Looking for nice hotel near the port with elevators. Normally we choose boutiques "up the hill" but an injury means no can do.

Hate to disappoint, but... Found this guy perched next to our suite on Riviera in 2021.

The ducks have been around on cruise ships for a good 20 years... We've encountered a few & now leave them hidden. Earlier than that, there were "duck races" in some waterways in Europe, finally ended due to pollution concerns. Before THAT (1992), a cargo ship lost thousands of ducks at sea that washed up all over the world. This started the craze/ A huge Dutch sculpture went on international tour. https://chrysler.org/exhibition/florentijn-hofmans-rubber-duck/ Now, find duck shops/displays in any European tourist area/airport boutique. Every imaginable theme. https://amsterdamduckstore.com/rubber-duck/amsterdam-rubber-duck/ We did pick up a commemorative one at the gift shop at North Cape (Norway), for the babies...

Horizons separators look like penalty boxes, lol

Point well taken.

Yes. And the problem with not signing up for O's excursions is the possibility that any private tours--always our first choice-- may not accommodate last-minute schedule changes... After they started changing times for next week's cruise, we cancelled some private ones for O's instead (using our free shorex credit) so that at least the scheduling issues will be on them, instead of us to guess at. And we've made other days free, to wander off the ship at will. Have also just reserved some cheap, flexible-all-day transportation. We like to plan! This uncertainty isn't fun for us. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Correct. We've explored this in depth, as we are flying into Istanbul 2 days early before boarding the cruise. We thought, "Great! Less than 72 hrs and on a cruise, no visa needed." But then it turns out that, well, yes, you do, IF you are not boarding a ship directly from the airport nor departing the cruise directly to the airport (both of which we have done in the past & no visas) Now, if you stay in Turkiye* afterwards, one way to acquire that post-cruise visa is at the port during disembarkation, pre-customs--and surely, lines, waiting, etc. (Anyone experience trying to get out of Spain with a covid test administered at the airport?) However, flying in early doesn't take you to the port authorities, and you have to pass through customs WITH your visa. SO: either way, a visa is required, most easily obtained from their website for $50 each. *Thanks for the correct spelling, LHT! And pronounced "Turkey-yay"

Exactly so. It's a very nice space to just hang out, breezy, relaxed and not "inside" but not "outside"...