loge23

Good job, Pontac! Loved the pix.

That Batailley must have been wonderful - always just a little bit better when one is enjoying a Bordeaux in its' native habitat.

Odd that many onboard were not wine aficionados. On our Forseti cruise a few years ago, the ship was probably at least 80% full with wine fans. Many had joined us on the Loire valley pre-cruise tour, so by the time we boarded we had already bonded. As you know, the wines onboard were appropriate for the place - none better than your icon pix.

We didn't make the Cognac trip either - too much coach we thought at the time, but everyone who did go were very happy with the tour. Maybe next time. 

Happy cruising and good living to you and Mrs. P!

On 9/6/2022 at 11:43 AM, pontac said:

Cruise Day Minus 1 – 16AUG22 Tuesday - Travel

 

Travel from home to Heathrow airport was included. Scenic had booked a 09:00 departure to Paris where we had to connect with another Air France flight to Bordeaux. The driver came for a 05:00 departure, and the motorway that early was fast moving. Despite all the bad news in the media, we quickly checked in and passed through security, getting into the departure hall by 06:10 and had an early breakfast.

 

The plane was late departing (due to late inbound arrival), and there was a very long line at Charles De Gaulle airport for immigration and we thought we’d miss the connection. But even though we had to queue again for security we just managed to get to the departure gate by ‘gate-closed’ time.

 

But the incoming plane hadn’t arrived so we had to wait. However our plan to grab a quick lunch at CDG was not possible. Air France fed us with a biscuit (cookie) and paper cup of water.

 

The good news was our hold luggage was booked through to Bordeaux. At Bordeaux we saw no customs officers and easily met the Scenic rep. There was one other Scenic couple on that flight so we were quickly taken to a people carrier for the 30 minute drive to the Intercontinental Bordeaux Grand Hotel where we were to spend the night

.

Why Scenic had booked an indirect flight when there are non-stop flights to Bordeaux from London I don’t know, neither do I know why they flew us out a day early.

 

We were aggrieved with Scenic for putting us through the stress of making a tight connection, and making our journey so much longer.

 

The hotel was very nice; the room was well equipped and quiet. The hotel is centrally located, opposite the Grand Théâtre, adjacent to the pedestrianised Rue St Christiane, the longest shopping street in Europe, and a very short walk to the river.

 

We had dinner in Le Noailles, a brasserie we’d been to before that’s two minutes walk from the hotel. There, after a long and stressful day we had a good meal and an excellent bottle of wine, the fifth growth Ch Batailley 2007, followed tarte tatin and a glass of Sauternes.

Yum!

Who is the "My" in "Dine My Way" anyway? Padgett??

We booked our reservations (silly btw - "booking" dining reservations on a cruise ship) last night for our upcoming 26 night cruise one night at a time. This is progress??! And only on one's mobile device?

I kept saying to my wife that this would have been so much easier if one could do this on a PC, but no - that make too much sense. So you have your most loyal customers, many of whom are relatively new to this type of tech, having to book their DR times on their phones/pads -no guarantee of the same table and shuttled to different DR's for "My" preferred time. 

No wonder why there is so many dissatisfied Princess cruisers these days. Have to hope the onboard experience bears at least in some semblance to what we know and used to love about Princess.

On 7/9/2022 at 2:04 PM, isosika said:

I'm not a big fan of what's happening to Princess under John Padgett, so if we don't like what we get in November, we can always cancel the other cruises and see what's available.

That's where we're at as well.

We have another booking for next July after our upcoming month-long Regal cruise. We really want to get a sense of what's going on before - or if - we switch the July one out. 

We do cruise from time to time on other lines and just from that we see that Princess has been kind of stagnating, if not regressing. We're long-time Princess fans, but not fanatics - we just preferred the Princess way of cruising. Loyalty is for marriages and dogs, not stuff that we pay for. 

Someone mentioned the Princess itineraries and that is a main draw for us. They still do have very good cruise itineraries, particularly combined ones. 

To be fair, Sir Richard owns the venture, while Mr. Padgett is essentially a corporate yes man. 

On 8/26/2022 at 10:13 PM, LoriAB said:

I absolutely fell in love with that region, and I want to return with my significant other.

Not sure if you meant taking a river cruise from Paris to Normandy, but if so I would definitely recommend doing this trip on your own. The river cruises to Normandy really don't cruise much - it's a short distance and there's very little scenery from the boat, unlike the Rhine or Danube cruises.

If you fly into CDG, you can rent a car (get one with GPS). It's a pretty short drive from there to Giverny or Rouen, where you can regroup for a night or two. From there, it's an equally short trip to Bayeux, in the heart of the Normandy beaches area. Brittany and the lovely town of Honfleur are also easily reachable by car (albeit in opposite directions). You'll also have much more time to explore while you're on your own. There are excellent guided tours if you wish from Bayeux to the landing beaches - and plenty of yummy places to eat when you return to Bayeux. Don't forget to see the awesome Bayeux Tapestry exhibit in town - it's a highlight!  

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

You need to use at least what they have for water if cannot get a Riedel.

That's what we always used to do if we couldn't get a Vines glass to "borrow" (so silly really).

The "wine glass" they used to use in the DRs was ridiculous - an insult to the grapes!

On our Enchanted cruise in Feb. they had replaced all the wine glasses in the DRs with actually wine glasses - not sure of their brand (it wasn't Riedel), but they were a vast improvement over the former bud vases they had. 

4 hours ago, Princess Fi said:

First time Princess cruise September 17 out of Vancouver. We have Premier package as I am a wine drinker. We have sailed Celebrity many times and usually have Premium drink package. Question on wine glasses on Princess as all glassware on Celebrity is Riedel. When having better wine the glassware is a huge difference. What glassware does Princess use? Is it different in Vines?

The glasses in the Vines are (or used to be - haven't been on in awhile) Riedels. On our last Princess cruise (Feb '22) we were happy to see that they changed out the awful stemmed water glasses for wine that were used in the DR's to nice, proper wine glasses. 

Sorry to say though, if you are used to Celebrity's wine program, you may be disappointed on Princess.

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The Moselle has a beautiful landscape and some say they overall prefer that river to the Rhine.

Indeed! The Rhine is all about castles, the Moselle is about steeply raked vineyards and lush landscapes. Both are wonderful but the Moselle is country, the Rhine is town. 

Should be delightful weather, perhaps a bit damp, but so, so much better than summer! Summers in Europe are becoming unbearable.

23 minutes ago, kapsgp said:

The Vines on the Regal is a full liquor bar. Most Vines are just a wine bar.

Yes, as was the Royal's as well. 

41 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We didn't go to Vines on the other ships so we never missed it on the Enchanted and we still found a place to have our drinks. 

 

What was wrong with relocating the Sea View bar?

It makes for easier access for the people walking by and they seem to have made the bar a little larger with more counter space for people to sit.

 

It is a bigger bar, but in my opinion, poorly placed. It was the Sea View bar, now it's the elevator or pool view bar. I found the placement obstructive of the normal traffic flow in that area. Just an opinion.

I recall your earlier spreadsheet and used it well!

You continue to be a "go-to" for credible wine/spirits info on the line, and it is much appreciated!

No Vines Bar on the Enchanted and the Retreat Pool area has been radically changed for the worst - it looks like a late afterthought by the designers when someone asked "Isn't there supposed to be a pool there?" The Sea View bar, as noted, is gone - moved actually to smack in the middle of the deck. Again, a poor design decision. We did enjoy Take Five somewhat and considered that an improvement over the little-used Club Six. But again, poor design - a wide walkway from the theatre to the mid-ship area cuts through it, rendering the performers on one side and the audience seating on the other. Nice if you like to watch parades go by. 

The Bistro Sur La Mer was just awful in every way on our February cruise, hopefully they figured it out by now.

Needless to say, the Enchanted was a big disappointment to our tastes. I noted while on it that the designers were seemingly given cut-outs of all the interior features and then blindfolded. Kind of like the old color-forms game or pin-the-venue-on-the ship. 

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

 

I know the mould, the blueprint and the financial aspects are for 135m ships but if you want to gain plus points with customers not wanting ship swaps there is much to gain by going smaller. And we are getting more informed, aren't we? We know so much more than we did before the drought shock of 2018 hit us here on CC and on the rivers.

 

Wonder what you folks, especially in the US, think?

 

notamermaid

 

This will ultimately be a operational decision. If the river conditions warrant, then the ships will become smaller. The current Viking fleet was built for the market - more people are river cruising, thus longer ships. The river cruise industry has been exploding in the last decade, 2020 notwithstanding. It can use a bit of a cool down period. We did an independent land tour on the Rhine and Moselle in the late 90's. There weren't any commercial river cruise ships as I recall - it was all the KD ships, day cruising. Then Viking brought KD, and their docks, and that changed everything. 

It's difficult to predict the weather conditions going forward, but if the trend towards drier conditions continues, it will bring the river cruise industry to a screeching halt (although not quite as dire as the CNN article, imo). Personally, I'm hoping for snowy winters and plenty of spring rain, but I'm being optimistic. 

Hotels will vary. We sailed in this past July - the hotel in Zurich was the Sheridan West Zurich, a tram ride away from the old city center, but in a nice "locals only" section of town. 

In Paris, we stayed at the Pullman Montparnasse. Also a nice hotel in a little-travelled tourist section of town, but easy access to the Metro/cabs/etc. You could also walk to many good bistros and the Montparnasse Tower which locals say is the best views of the city (because you can't see the Tower itself!).

I would expect chilly weather then though. 

2 hours ago, jeno said:

Do you receive it as a perk or just pay the Plus price instead of the Basic (no frills) price? Or do you pay the no frills price and get the Plus thrown in for free? 

We booked it as complete with the (then) "premium" package, gratuities, and wifi. The premium package became the plus package when they added the premier package to the mix. 

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

If you have got a couple of minutes - perhaps you could describe who leaves the boat with you, i.e. hotel staff or just the cruise director, and what happens to your luggage, like is it going in your transfer coach or separate?

 

On our recent Viking Hild/Herja swap the cruise director and three (3) wait staff (one staffer for each of the four buses) came along. Once we re-packed, the luggage was put in the hall and the next time we seen it was in our identical room on the Herja. The luggage is trucked, separately, to the alternate ship. 

We're used to getting the (now) Plus package as a perk from the TA. I suppose we'll keep that for our Nov. cruise and just pay the difference for upgrades from all of the OBC we'll have. Imo, the premium package is too expensive for what's being offered. 

Thank you, Notamermaid!

Koblenz was indeed as beautiful as remembered. Sailing on the Moselle was just lovely. Arrived in Trier this AM, the end of our river portion. 

Full review forthcoming in the ship review section under our original ship, the Hild.

Arrived in Koblenz today (7/22). Scheduled to sail to Trier tomorrow on the Viking Herja. 

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Loge23,

Well that is odd.  MarineTraffic.com and VesselFinder.live both show that Viking Hlin started this  cruise in Amsterdam, making it through the Rhein gorge to Speyer and now headed for Strasbourg and Basel.  So you started your cruise in Basel on Hlin two days ago?  If so the AIS sites are misidentifying the ship, as well the Viking website which said Hlin was sailing from Amsterdam on July 17.    

Yes, we started in Basel on 7/18.

Aboard the Hiln.

Yesterday, we sailed up to the port for Speyer, spent the very hot day, and then promptly turned around and high-tailed it back to Strasbourg. The Captain announced that low water in the Rhine, from Speyer to Koblenz was too risky to make the trip. 

We'll be bussed up to Koblenz on Saturday, where we will continue along the Moselle in another Viking vessel.

They shuffle between 2 or 3 hotels in each hotel port. We're on the Hild presently going from the Alps to Paris. In Geneva, we stayed at the beautiful Mandarin Oriental. In Zermott, the hotel was the chic Schweitzerhof - note that this hotel is not air-conditioned and the room holds the heat from the day quite well until the cool night air comes in around 1 or 2 am. Further complicating things is the smoke from their giant bbq grille in the restaurant which finds its way into your open windows. Yuck. 

In Zurich, it was the Sheraton in Zurich West - a short tram ride (8sf rt for a 24 hr pass) from the city center. Nice hotel tbough.

In Paris, which we haven't reached yet, we're booked into the Pullman Montparnasse.

Happy travelling! It's a wonderful trip so far!

notamermaid (I don't believe you, I think you are most certainly a mermaid!)

Anyway, regardless of your aquatic status, can you let us know how the Rhine & Moselle levels are faring these days? I think the boat swaps I've been reading about apply to the Danube and/or Main, but we're travelling from Basel to Trier next week, thus my interest in this topic.

And vielen dank for your fine commentary on this site!

50 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

And Canadians. 

Of course! My apologies for that unintentional omission!