kbella

Just make sure the gate agent checking you in at LIS knows the “rules”. A Lufthansa agent tried to deny me boarding last week from LJU (Slovenia)to LHR for my transit flight to DFW. I had to dig out the latest UK transit exemptions to prove I did not need a quarantine package for The UK.

When my August 13, 2021 Intensive Croatia cruise was canceled I requested a 100% refund rather than a 125% FCC and I was prepared to wait the 30 to 45 days as noted in my refund request confirmation. I was pleasantly shocked today when the full refund for cruise was credited to my account after only 9 days.  

Crystal canceled my cruise last year and it took 146 days including filing a dispute with the credit card company. 

Good job Azamara!

Received mine yesterday and it was missing 5 cruises all of which were between 2002 and 2006. My husband did not receive anything although he was my roommate on all those missing cruises.

I took an upsale to owners suite on Sirena 6 days prior to sailing. This was the 3rd offer in 3 weeks.

Just checked the UK site is showing this as a special offer with 3 amenities

Thanks, I thought it was probably that.

Hi, when we booked our South American cruise for April 2019 this came with free WiFi and one of the 3 amenities (drinks package, OBC or excursions).

 

When checking the cruise now it comes with Wifi, plus drinks package, plus $600 OBC and free prepaid gratuties.

 

Does Oceania honour this for guests already booked?

 

The price of the cruise is also lower now than when we booked this.

 

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Would you mind sharing where you found this information? I'm booked on April 6 2019 BA to Rio on Sirena and the Oceania US website still shows the original "pick ONE of the listed O life options". I would love to get a better deal if they are offering it.

Thank you Brian. Appreciate all of your tips and information especially on cabin locations.

Loved reading your review! So insightful. We are doing this trip next year and are wondering if you noticed any difference in the port vrs starboard views from the ship especially while docked?

We were on the Star Breeze which had the same hot tub set up on deck 2. There was no bar service during the times we were there but they did offer a cooler on deck with water and assorted soft drinks. It is a bit of a trek to the bar from deck 2 so we always brought beer/wine from our cabin. We had purchased the beverage package and they replenished the mini bar daily.

kbella, what company did you use for your transfers?

We used Rome Limousines also known as Bobs Limos. It had very good ratings on Trip Advisor.

Five years ago we paid 65 euros for a van with 4 people to pick us up from the airport in Rome and take us to the apartment we rented in the Piazza Navona. Granted it was 5 years ago but 160 euros seems high to me.

Agreed. 160 is really high. Last month we paid 47 euro for a private car for 2 people from FCO to our central Rome hotel. From the port to the airport we paid 119 euro for a private car which met us at the port luggage area which is right past the gangway. It was very convenient.

Embarking on the Oct. 26th Windsurf Southern Spain. Hoping someone could suggest what amount of Euros we should bring with us from the States and offer assistance on accessing cash once in Europe or onboard?

We normally pay for everything on a credit or debit card when traveling abroad. However, on our recent cruise ,Sicilian Splendors, we noticed that most "souvenir" and small grocery shops will not charge anything under 15 euros to a card.Maybe it was an Italian thing but it's always best to have some small bill euros when in port. Hopes this helps in planning your trip.

I'm looking at a 10:10 a.m. flight. What do you think??

Personally, I would not chance a flight before 11am. FCO airport security and immigration can be slow. Also, if you are debarking on a weekday, morning traffic into Rome can be quite heavy. Just my opinion.

We have an 11:45 flight and just wanted to make sure we would make it. I can arrange transport to airport now.:):):)

We had an 11:45 flight also and made it with time to spare. Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours!

How soon can you disembark in Civitavecchia?

Passport distribution was scheduled at 7:15am but we received ours at 7:10am and were off the ship by 7:15. Easiest and quickest disembarkation we have ever had. I know that some people were able to disembark earlier with prior permission. Having just sailed from Capri, the ship was already docked when I got coffee at 6am.

Totally agree with two boys on her assessment of this particular cruise. Met lovely people, had some great tours, were served good to exceptional meals and had a large comfortable suite. The crew, from the deck hands to the Captain, were helpful, friendly and approachable.

We bought the beverage package which was very convenient and we probably broke even as the in-suite mini bar is included.

But, if you are looking for formal nights and butler service, Windstar may not be for you.

Thanks for all the info. I have a call into my TA to make sure I understand all my options.

I was quoted $200.

That's interesting, two boys. I was not given a choice of hotels. Is your stay pre or post cruise?

We're staying an extra 4 days pre-cruise(booked on our own) and was hoping to stay in the same hotel as Windstar has us booked. But like you, the reviews make me a little nervous.

Has anyone had recent experience with the hotels used by Windstar for their "2 free nights" hotel promotion? Windstar has booked us into the Ambasciatori Palace but I have read a few negative reviews regarding the rooms assigned to cruise passengers. Any information will be appreciated.

Although we have been frequent visitors to Rome my husband and I have yet to make the 'Scavi tour. Your post reminded me of that and of how far in advance one might need to make reservations.With your post in mind, I was able to secure tickets for our September visit prior to our Windstar cruise.

Thank you again for sharing.

St.lucia newsonline is reporting that 3 people were injured and/or treated for smoke inhalation.

Our prayers go out to all crew and passengers on board.

Foto-Peg, I feel your pain. Between France, Portugal, & Spain we had a combined total of over 3,000. I finally got it culled down to a mere 600 for digital slide shows but saved the rest on a spare hard drive. I have decided that large capacity SD cards are not my friend as I have no will power when it comes to snapping photos.

I think the price of drinks, lunch, etc will vary depending on the country. We found France to be more expensive than Portugal on our August trip.

Hi all, Glad to hear that the Forseti service is as stellar as it was for us. Wanted to mention that we also purchased the Silver drink package and have no regrets. The wines were exquisite and the bar also produces a great martini..so, I think we got our money's worth.