Host Jazzbeau

And how is Google-Fi's privacy protection? [always a weak point for Google]

My point is that it's not just a personal decision. Many locals are very upset with Americans coming to their country and raising expectations about tipping levels. My comment quoted That's exactly the dynamic I'm talking about. "Personal decisions" become expectations.

This is an experiment that I hope succeeds!

Frozen yoghurt is so last year. Azamara should license genuine Carvel soft icecream.

Azamara learned the hard way: when they renovated their R-ship Club Continent suites (equivalent to Oceania PH) they removed the bathtubs in half. And then found that the suites with bathtubs DON'T SELL. On their latest ship, they have removed almost all the bathtubs. So sorry for those few who like bathtubs, but the numbers are in...

We switched from Verizon to T-Mobile in April and have since taken three European cruises: Tulip Time river cruise in Holland and Belgium; Seine river cruise in France; and Baltic cruise from Copenhagen through Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland to Sweden. T-Mobile Magenta Max worked flawlessly in all those areas – so much so that I never used the free onboard wifi because my phone served as a fast hot spot for my computer. Based on other comments about Magenta having slow data speeds, I'd say the small extra cost for Magenta Max is worth every penny.

I don't care whether it's politicians or Oceania – you can't re-write history! They were called 'R-class' by Renaissance to distinguish them from the eight first-generation ships that were 'Renaissance class.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Cruises BTW, six of those first-generation ships are still sailing as cruise ships – and IMHO they are even nicer than the second-generation 'R-ships.' 118 passengers, all spacious outside cabins with bigger bathrooms than the R-ship non-suite cabins. For a recent review on one of these beauties, I humbly offer:

On any cruises we have taken where Covid testing was required at the port, there was no priority for getting tested. But thankfully those days are over anyway...

Weird. I just checked this and every screen shows prices per 'suite.'

I'm sure the refugees totally understand why your disappoint is greater than their basic needs.

This sounds like the stereotype of US tourists ruining it for everybody else by over-tipping. If the staff have come to 'expect' it, 'included' no longer means 'included.'

At last we have something to disagree about. The French do coffee best ... café au lait! [subtly but noticeably better than latte]

Don't know what it would be – boarding an R-ship is so easy that there's no need for priority boarding, or priority tendering, or priority anything. [As opposed to the MSC Yacht Club, which would be unbearable if not for priority everything!]

Rick Steves Venice covers Ravenna and has a guided walk (pp 384-392) that covers all the mosaic and other sites.

Don't what experience you have, but my experience is that AMA and Scenic do a very good job of keeping their – small – tour groups out of each others' way. The – large – Viking groups may be able to hear their guide (thanks to QuietVox) but few of them can see what is being described. The personal touch is ... priceless.

What happened to my vision? Everything is now big and bold and blue – and still harder to read than the Cruise Critic default font.

We used to call it "Two Buck Chuck" – 50% inflation for plonk!

A lot of ships claim a draft of 1.60m, yet Viking stops sailing before any of the others. We're all missing something...

Comparing excursions on Bordeaux and Douro itineraries, Scenic stands head and shoulders above other lines for the range of non-wine-oriented choices. Even though I love wine, I think I would get tired of some other lines' all-wine-all-the-time approach on these cruises.

Noble Caledonia only has a uk site, and a phone number to their London office. All trips are quoted (and charged) in GBP. Published fares include airfare from/to London – but if you want to fly direct you get a credit (not very much, because Noble gets good bulk fares from BA). I don't think Noble does much business with TAs – I was able to book my first trip through one and get a 5% rebate, but after that you get a 5% discount by booking direct so that's what I have done. I usually email them and have a reply first thing the next morning – but to pay I call their London office via Skype (costs pennies per call). My Citi Costco Visa has no foreign transaction fees and gives me back 3% on travel, so with Noble's discount that's almost 8% off list.

After finally getting my April-May river cruise reviews posted, I have now completely caught up by posting the review of my July-August Baltic cruise on Noble Caledonia's Hebridean Sky. Two big similarities to river cruising: the ship only holds 118 passengers and all shore excursions are included in the fare.

Finally caught up: posted my review of our July-August Baltic cruise on Noble Caledonia:

21 Conclusion This was our third or fourth cruise on Noble Caledonia in a year (depending on how you count back-to-backs), and it was just as good as the others – so most of this section is adapted from my blogs of those earlier cruises. We were attracted to Noble Caledonia by their itineraries, small ships, and the interesting and welcoming website: https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk The bottom line is that this cruise again delivered, and Noble Caledonia is highly recommended to anyone who cruises for itinerary. Because Noble Caledonia is little known in the US and on Cruise Critic, I will spend some time on its background and practices. The Noble Caledonia fleet consists of two ships from the beloved Renaissance Cruise Line’s first generation [a decade before the famous ‘R-ships’ now sailing for Azamara and Oceania]. Hebridean Sky and Island Sky hold just 118 passengers (and 70 crew). The ships were built in 1992, but were very advanced for the time so they have held up very well against more modern competition [the Berlitz guide rates them in the top 20 ‘boutique’ ships] – soft furnishings were renewed in 2016 and 2017 but the classic maritime design remains. [Noble Caledonia also charters several other ships for specialized cruises and they offer land tours for a comprehensive calendar of itineraries; we don’t have any experience with these.] Cabins on the ‘Skies’ are quite spacious for the ship size and age, ranging from 226 to 264 sq ft, and are very well laid out with lots of storage. All have ocean views and the top three categories have private verandas. Standard Suites (11) on deck 2 have port holes and small showers. Superior Suites (19) on deck 3 have a picture window and a larger bathroom. Premium Suites (13) on deck 4 have a walk-in closet, but their picture windows look out on the Promenade Deck (and people can see in at night if you don't close the drapes). Corner Sites (2) on deck 4 have two windows, facing front and to the side of the ship. Deluxe Balcony Suites (8) on deck 5 have a veranda with two chairs and a small table. Owner's Balcony Suites (5) on deck 6 have a much larger veranda (with the same furniture). The Hebridean Suite [or Island Suite] (1) on deck 6 has more room everywhere, but the shower has a European-style half-door that always causes a flood for me... I recommend any of the cabins with the provisos detailed above, but especially the Premium Suites (for best value) and the Owner's Balcony Suites (for most luxury – but you must book very early as these go quickly). The Restaurant can hold all passengers in one sitting, plus there is al fresco dining on the Lido deck. The main Loungecan also hold all passengers, and there is a separate Club with a bar and self-service coffee/tea facility, and a Library with comfy chairs [and real books!] There are also zodiacs for tender and expedition excursions, but they weren’t used on this cruise. All Noble’s international cruises include: flights from London to the ship and back (these flights can be waived for a reduction in fare); wine and beer with meals; all gratuities (and we verified with the passengers that no one tips, even for the local tour guides and drivers); and – most importantly – a full roster of shore excursions. A word about shore excursions: we generally avoid ship excursions because we find that they don’t cover enough ground – but when I compared Noble Caledonia’s excursion descriptions to my Rick Steves wish lists, I found that they offered exactly what I wanted to see in each port. Entertainment is mainly lectures about the area you are sailing in and a cocktail pianist– both the lounge and the club have pianos] Food – Breakfast was as good as any cruise we have ever taken – Eggs Benedict and French toast were always freshly prepared and hot, service was attentive and flexible [DW brings her own cereal and just needs a bowl and milk but it’s amazing how hard this is on some cruises – not Noble Caledonia!] Lunch was so good that we were constantly tempted to eat far more than we would at home – appetizer, main, dessert (and the always-full wine glass for me). Dinner was equally good, and without a show to rush off to we were able to linger at the table in conversation with our new friends – this is our favorite way to spend an evening on board. Menus were quite varied, both in terms of protein (including many different types of fish) and cuisine – nothing like the traditional British cuisine we suffered with on our first trip to England 45 years ago! Quality was good, presentation was high-end [I noted with pleasure that the waiters always serve the women at a table first] and when a dish rarely mis-fired they were quick to offer a replacement [they even offered when I had failed to clean my plate just because I wasn’t hungry…] Wine and beer were included at lunch and dinner. Each day there was a red and a white – and you could ask for something else from the rotation; both were poured very generously. [I never had more than one glass – because my first glass never got empty before it was topped up!] The beer selection was more limited, mainly one lager or another and Guinness [although to be fair I never asked at the bar, only in the dining room]. Drinks aren’t included outside meals, but there were cocktails and wine at the welcome and farewell receptions. So all in all it was a very convivial atmosphere! Extras – There are no extras except laundry and the bar. No casino or bingo, no shop on board, no high-end wine for purchase. Service – The waitstaff was as attentive as on any cruise we have done – better than on some ‘luxury’ cruise lines where we could never get a second glass of wine or water. The Maître d’ worked the dining room and made sure any minor problems were addressed immediately. The shore excursions team worked their tails off, rolling with the changes [thankfully fewer on this trip than the first post-Covid cruise [once the itinerary had been adjusted to eliminate Saint Petersburg…] Wi-Fi: there has been an upgrade since our first cruises and now the free chit gives you MBs rather than minutes – but now only the first chit is free [previously you got unlimited frustration…] I’m not sure how well the new system works, because we have switched to T-Mobile cell phone plans and I just used my cell as a hot spot for my computer. This cruise was never out of sight of cell coverage (while I was awake), so T-Mobile was perfect! We were always greeted back on board with chilled [or warm, depending on the ambient temp] hand towels and a flute of some refreshing fruit beverage. And the small ports we visited didn’t have or use passenger terminals, so we never had to brave a security gauntlet – so civilized! There are no special privileges for those in the top cabin categories – everybody is treated as if they are the most important person on board. Fellow passengers – Noble Caledonia has a loyal group of customers, almost entirely British, retired professionals, amazingly well-traveled. We were the only Americans again, and we felt very welcome and fit right in as to age and interests. Itineraries – I said that the initial draw for us to Noble Caledonia was their itineraries, so I should describe this in a little more detail. The Noble Caledonia philosophy is nicely summed up in this quote from one of their recent offerings: “These are perfect sailing waters and in the main we will avoid the larger ports in the region, preferring instead to call into small cities and towns and out of the way places … and our itinerary has been planned to ensure that the balance is just right between exploring ashore, relaxing on board and time at leisure in picturesque ports for individual exploration.” I have gradually pared my short list of cruise lines to a few that offer intriguing itineraries. Noble Caledonia now rises to the top of that group because no other cruise line has such consistently interesting itineraries. Even when they revisit an area they often vary the ports or the shore excursions so that repeat customers will still find it ‘new.’ Value – As we learned in river cruising, small ships are inherently expensive to operate—so it was no surprise that Noble Caledonia fares are high. And they are not a luxury cruise line. But we feel that the high degree of inclusiveness, and especially the quality of the shore excursions and the willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that the experience is all that it can be (even when this requires unplanned expenses) mean that Noble Caledonia delivers very good value. Bottom Line –I rank Noble Caledonia at the top of our short list of cruise lines. Other lines may have newer ships with larger cabins, but the Sky ships have nothing to apologize for and, most importantly, no other cruise line has such intriguing itineraries. As we reach the end of our A-list ‘bucket list’ those itineraries will keep us coming back—as we count ourselves among that group of loyal customers we met on the ship. We recommend Noble Caledonia to anyone who cruises for itinerary! But … be careful what you wish for. In the months prior to this trip Cruise Critic was full of people worrying about catching Covid mid-trip and getting stuck somewhere. Since we’re retired that prospect is less awful for us, because there’s no job to hurry home to. So my response was “if I make it through the trip safely and then test positive the day after I get home, that will be a big Win!” We got home on a Saturday. I started feeling wonky on the Sunday, and tested positive on the Tuesday. We are both triple vaxxed, and my case was on the mild end for Covid: Compared to a cold: no real head congestion and little chest. Compared to flu: aches and fever much less. But there is a general lethargy that lasted at least a week. But I’m not eating my words: this was a big Win and didn’t ruin a great trip!

Our January Caribbean cruise turned into the 'which island will take us today' itinerary – and it was still a great cruise. Go with a flexible attitude and you can find much to enjoy even with ship swaps and bus trips.

I would arrange a private transfer. Ship transfers can be delayed waiting for other passengers. Taxis may be non-existent at the particular time you need them. A pre-arranged transfer removes the agita – and to me that's worth possibly paying a little more.