auldlassie

Thanks for all the info Roothy123, I'll check all of your links.

Much appreciated!

Hi, to the OP I'd say please check the internet -easy to google tipping in europe and read some sites there. Most are consistent.

What you will read there is generally a little more generous than some posters here would have you believe.

Yes, we do tip ports, taxis etc as well as restaurants. Not leaving a tip would normally indicate you are not happy with the service. Restaurants can be complicated re service and cover charges, so read the websites. It is, of course, always nicer to be generous than mean, if you can afford to be so and luckily, most of us here on cruisecritic can.

If someone told me to go on an NCL cruise, I'd pay them $1k just to be allowed not to go and stay home. There you are. Horses for courses.

I'd just like to offer a counter-view to Despegue's comment, and the one that I know is prevalent.

YES WE DO TIP IN EUROPE. Even the Scots like me! :eek: :D

We tip for taxis, porters, restaurants, hotel bellmen etc. Unless the service is awful, then we do not tip at all. No tip at all normally means you are an unhappy customer.

NB - Restaurants are complicated -Service might be included (we still normally tip but small amounts) or might not, cover charge might be added, or might not. That varies from country to country and affects the amount of the tip. Google "tipping in Europe". Plenty of websites to read and compare and all show we DO tip.

Taxi tips in Europe are surprisingly consistent from country to country -around 10%.

PSULion is absolutely correct. Just did this on Riviera (told it was not possible to do before getting on ship). Did it at reception desk on boarding, before we went to lunch. They need to change your key cards to show the upgraded package, so best to do this before you might find yourself wanting to purchase drinks not included in standard package.

I hope no one would actually be suggesting that any cruiser should not book the first night in the specialty restaurants just because the staff are tired!!

Jings, that really stretches credulity! No excuses please. Even if the standard of service that night is not as polished or as "stellar" as it might be on other nights, it should still quite clearly be of a good enough standard that there are no problems for any diner. Same applies for all other restaurants on the ship too.

Everyone as paid to book there ANY night/s of their cruise. If reservations are often difficult to secure, then all the more necessity for some to take advantage of a night with fewer bookings.

Oceania runs a cruise line. If they employ sufficient staff, as they should, and that staff work to the standard that they should, there is no excuse for "tiredness" affecting the quality of service on disembarkcation/embarkcation day.

Is it too late to cancel your transfer and re-arrange privately? If you can do that, arrange to stay on the ship until a later time, close to 9am. That should give you enough time to have a good breakfast on the ship, as the food in both NCE terminals - including the premium lounges - is, almost without exception, dismal.

I travel a lot through Nice airport, but only with BA or Easyjet and am always able to check in bags more than 2 hours before, at either terminal, but as other posters report they couldn't, perhaps it depends on the airline?

Never tried to check them in nearly as early as you might be trying to do though.

One thing is for sure, if French airport officialdom tells you you cannot do something, there is little point in arguing, even if it seems rather arbitrary. Try smiling, even pleading, as there is a small chance that might work, but be prepared to do it their way in the end. Take a good book to read in case you have to wait.:(

I'll second the recommendation for Romecabs. Booked online. Faultless service 10 days ago. Mercedes saloon, ship to central Rome hotel -2 people and lots of luggage, 130 euros.

Not long back from Riviera cruise and the menu in Toscana was different on the two nights I ate there. Most of the menu exactly the same, but a few dishes different. I am certain about that, as I ate a particular pasta dish on the first night which I wanted to choose again on the second, but it was not offered.

The menu in Jacques, where I also ate on 2 nights, was exactly same both nights. Even the special "dessert of the day", crepes suzette, (not printed, just explained by the waiter) was the same! ;)

Just reading news reports breaking of two explosions and gunfire at Istanbul airport. Still not known what is really going on. Are any Seabourn cruises currently in the area? I know there has been discussion about Seabourn still cruising to Istanbul recently.

Hungary uses Euros. You will need 50cent or 1coins for public bathrooms (if there is an attendant in the bathroom they can change your 1 Euro coins for 2 x 50cents at the time). Depending on your travel plans, you might also need euros maybe notes in 5 or 10s to tip taxi drivers, bellmen or even leave tips in restaurants etc. as not all small family restaurants might take credit cards.

Please do not give dollars. Ask yourself if you would find it helpful to be given any small payment in euros or yen or other currency when you were in the USA? It is both hugely inconvenient and expensive for the recipient to change small amounts. Banks often have minimum amounts they will change which your tip will not meet anyway.

Hope you enjoy your cruising in all currencies and all destinations!:)

Lioncub, I am also allergic to idiots. Sorry, couldn't resist.:D

Hmm, if anyone has a crystal ball that can provide the answers to this, please run it past the UK government, the Bank of England, the EU council and the EMF a.s.a.p. please, just for starters, as none of them seem to have a clue what might happen. Any pointers, even this specialised, would surely be appreciated.;)

To SKP946,

I don't seriously think Seabourn will make any concessions on these things now, but I think you are bang on with your suggestions. Both of those improvements would be my top 2 also. As for the "clothes drying space" give us the bath space as a good sized shower and you could fit a large clothes drying space in the shower footprint! Doh! I find it hard to credit that anyone would put clothes drying space before showering.:rolleyes: The facts of worldwide holiday accommodation clearly do not bear that out.

I believe the newest Oceania ship - Sirena - has large showers instead of baths. Not sure if every cabin. Probably not. Agree it would seem prudent to have a proportion of rooms as baths for those who prefer that option. Personally, I hope this will be the way forward in cruise ship design.

A quick search on cruise critic boards, let alone the wider web, would also show frequent complaints about the small sized showers on many lines. I bang my elbows when washing my hair. Relatively simple to check on the web for the average sized shower in luxury hotels compared to these - these are small.

Enclosed smoking areas are effective in my experience also. Most smokers really don't worry sufficiently if they get cancer or give it to others passively, so I find it hard to get too worked up if they smell of smoke.:eek: To non-smokers, they usually do anyway. At least, in an enclosed smoking room

1. whilst they are smoking I will have no interaction with them

2. they are less likely to cause me harm, just nuisance.

To all who post "smokers are fun" and "just find a well ventilated space to enjoy their company" type comments, I have 2 problems with that.

1. "The blooming obvious". Smokers are no more or less fun than non-smokers per se -there is no evidence for that whatsoever. Like "fat people are happy" and "blondes have more fun", it is just too glib. Especially in a thread about a serious problem.

2. " The blooming oblivious". What if you have a genuine health issue with other people's smoke? Does that just not occur to some people, smokers or non-smokers? Do smokers just not care about their own cancer risk? Have they never watched a family member, friend or colleague suffer from cancer? I guess if they are reckless enough to ignore their own risk, they can even more easily just close their eyes and ears to the passive smoking evidence. Or they just don't give 2 hoots about other people anyway? I can't really think of anything else a Seabourn customer is allowed to do on the ship that can harm or endanger other customers, except smoking.

I truly have a very real allergy to cigarette smoke. My symptoms are clearly apparent well within a minute. My husband has asthma which again becomes a clear problem in the presence of smoke. In the OB or even near deck areas where someone is smoking, or on our veranda if there is a smoker on theirs nearby, we cannot stay there without becoming unwell. If there is an area of the ship with smokers in our company, close enough to talk to, it is just impossible for it to be to be "well ventilated" enough for us to stick around and not get sick. No matter how smart, how funny, how gorgeous, how kind, how captivating, how whatever their company might be, we have to move on. Believe me, I wish it were otherwise, then not only could I presumably experience the company of a wider group of my fellow cruisers but I could enjoy all of the areas of the ship that I had, after all, paid to use.

Having suffered neighbouring veranda smokers and OB smokers (our favourite bar :() on 2 Seabourn cruises, we now cruise on other lines. We loved Seabourn in so many ways and would very much like to spend our hard-earned there again, but until the policy is altered, we will not.

Really? I am totally sceptical of that. I would have expected some cross over at the very least, not the total opposite.

Happy to agree Oceania not a luxury line, as Seabourn is, but just off Oceania Riviera at the weekend and I can assure Emperor Norton that the cruise he described is completely unrecognisable in comparison to the cruise I have just had, where passengers generally behaved well and I didn't see any of the awful behaviours he described.

Hello,

I'd like to organise a private water taxi to take us to the airport on disembarking the ship, not the public vaperetto bus. I know Venice well as a hotel/airport/hotel watertaxi user, but have never cruised/disembarked there or been to the port area. Can anyone tell me the routine for the watertaxi from the cruise ship and all the facts I need to know? Where is the nearest taxi dock located in relation to the ships?, is it only one watertaxi company who operate at that dock?, how do we get from ship to water taxi with luggage? etc etc.

Very grateful for any info from those who have done this,

thank you.

Just off Riviera in the Med and agree with dasi11 that most folks dressed smartly for dinner. I didn't see any "distressed" jeans anywhere in the GDR or specialty restaurants, but saw both men and women in smart dark jeans, navy or black, there at dinner. (BTW the jeans I saw were worn with smart shoes at dinner, not with trainers.) They looked absolutely fine in my opinion and I honestly didn't see anyone looking aghast at them either. If the jeans just look like monotone fabric, then what does it matter if the fabric is denim? I have a feeling this is better understood and accepted in Europe than the USA, as denim is worn everywhere in the top restaurants or hotels in Mediterranean resorts, yes, even at dinner.

I wore my smart jeans several times, with dressy evening tops and my husband wore his with long-sleeved shirts. We never felt in the least bit out of place doing so and no-one else made us feel it was inappropriate. The dress code allows it and, as another poster has rightly said, the sky doesn't fall in if you do, precisely because most of us seem to have a healthy perspective on such superficial things.

I did however see diners wearing outfits that I think would raise eyebrows for many on this thread, way more than wearing jeans seems to do. One family group of 7, 6 of them women from age 20 to 50s, was particularly memorable. All of the women turned up in spandex, spangly ultra-short minidresses that barely covered where they touched. The kind of thing called "clubwear" on ebay, that teenage girls buy when their parents aren't paying attention. Elaborate hair and make-up. Stripper heels. Very Kar-trash-ian. Heads turned. Some folk laughed. Actually, quite a few laughed. I saw this group twice more at dinner looking just the same, although perhaps they swapped the frocks around as "One size fits all". :D

Did it put me off my dinner or offend me in some way? Goodness no. It was briefly amusing. No more, no less. I am sure they thought they looked fabulous and had certainly put some effort into their ensembles, even if their choice was somewhat unusual on Riviera!

What was important for me was the fact that once seated, they were not in the least loud at the table, so their presence didn't affect any other person's dining - other than to raise a quick smile (or eyebrow) as they initially walked by. Loud, shouty, ill-mannered diners (whether adults or children) who impose their loudness or bad behaviour on others in the restaurant -now that IS something to take issue with and something that happened several times on our cruise. So let's not forget to judge the book by its content, not its cover. And enjoy your cruising dinners everyone, which I hope you find relaxing, happy and in well behaved company :)

Members of staff now have confirmed that the cabin is quarantined due to a gastric and vomiting virus - their words - and the tapes are to validate the occupants remain in their cabin. They were clearly a bit uncomfortable telling me this and I did not press them for any further details should they have had any.

I did report that when I went out to a later than usual dinner last night, the tapes were broken and when I returned, still unbroken. They looked very concerned by this and made a note of it. The door tapes are currently sealed, as they should be.

The cleaners cart has been stationed just by the quarantined cabin all day so far, but on my recent visit down stairs to the on board shops I did not notice any extra cleaning. I have not yet visited any other public areas today.

It seems this quarantine is being treated as an isolated incident and I hope the next few days bear that out.

Since I noticed the red tapes on the door yesterday I have only been out of my cabin once to go to dinner. This morning still in my cabin watching a movie and enjoying a late champagne breakfast, as it is our only sea day.

I will ask my housekeeper, but I think she will not say, as it would probably be too indiscreet to do so.

There was no washing down of the restaurant I ate at last night, but I doubt there would be if only 1cabin has an issue.

As I said, I have been pretty much a cabin monkey since I saw the tapes on the door.

If I learn more I will post, but really just wanted to know possible reasons for the tape. I assume it is most likely a quarantine situation.

To these who seem to think the possibility of Norovirus or any other infectious situation should be kept secret or never mentioned, I am sorry to say I think that is a childish attitude. Just don't read the thread and your ignorance will still be bliss.:rolleyes: Personally, as someone currently on the ship, I think I have every right to ask the question I did and post the information as I have done.

Currently one week into my first Oceania cruise and have not felt the need to see any shows whatsoever. I stay pretty busy every day with excursions ashore or activities on board, until it is time to enjoy my well cooked and highly enjoyable dinners (none of which have taken anywhere near 3 hours) then either head back to my room to read or watch a movie, or have a drink and a lively chat in a bar with some of my fellow travellers on the ship whom I have met during the cruise.

No idea of the shows on board and far less care as these are never, on any line, important to me. Have I failed in the eyes of some posters?

If so, my apologies - I will try to care ;)

Oceania working beautifully for me so far. Also, for what it is worth, I honestly have not spoken to anyone so far, at any point during any day, who cares about seeing the shows. They seem to be in a minority to me, given my own experience here.

Currently on Riviera and wifi terribly slow. Some sites just do not load at all, others which do are really slow. I log on to the ship's wifi on my iPad and my husband (who is less patient) logs on to any in port wifi on his phone and he is always much more successful in down loading any websites or emails than I am. I am told the wifi here will be upgraded at end June, not before.

On Riviera just now and noticed a neighbouring cabin (which is occupied) is now sealed with red tape across the door. This was used previously for those quanrantined/identified with Norovirus. Is this used for other reasons and , if so, what?

Having a great cruise and sorry to think there might be a problem for anyone on board, but concerned as to possible reasons.

Hard to believe there is a thread about this. I thought everyone knew their purpose.