pinotlover

A couple of items up front so as no confusion:

1. the meals on the ships are good;

2. We are foodies and love great food, especially local food of areas visited;

3. As the name applies, we love great wines, particularly those paired with the food.

OK, with that said: we rarely return to the boat when docked in harbor for lunch. We prefer to eat the local specialties along with the local wine or beer, in lieu of the often generic Americanized lunches served on ship. As an example, on our upcoming cruise, we are having lunch at one of the renown vineyards serving a six course meal with each course paired with one of their world class wines. We'll pass on the salad and soup bar on the boat. Does it cost extra, yes, but we didn't fly for 12 hours to be served a lunch we could have in Appleby. Many people like and prefer safe and dependable, and the boat delivers in good quality, it's just not our thing. Same goes for evenings. We're visiting Lyon, on this trip. Lyon is one of the gastronomical centers of the world. We have made reservations for both of the evenings we're docked in Lyon to eat in a couple of their renown restaurants. We'll return to the ship, after touring, to change clothes and set off again for dinner. I'm sure the boat will serve a nice meal, they always do, but we're not talking about a nice meal at Brouchards (for example), we're talking about the exception, why not take advantage of the time and the place?! One has paid a lot of money to get there!

Also, the transports to and from the boat, with lunch thrown end, can be a three hour excursion. We can have a marvelous 1.5-2 hour lunch, eating great local food, and have the extra time to wander around the wonderful towns we are paying to visit, not sitting around waiting on the slowest common denominator.

River cruising allows one to take advantage of many options and capture many great moments. My Advice is to :Throw typical to the wind, and get out and "Seize the Day"! Typical is for the boring, and those lacking imagination!

Does anyone know why both O and Regent only go to Beijing in the dead of winter? Feb and early March is not the time to be going to Northern China or Korea. I've only spoken with a couple of people that have made the O cruise there and both recommended against it. Brutal cold and not enjoyable. One spoke of having their visit to the Great Wall cancelled because of a driving snowstorm! :eek: I've been to Seoul that time of year (business), and know that's not a time of year to visit there either.

So what's up? Why no April & May or Sept/Oct visits to that region? I've heard stories such as : Dockage is cheaper then, or they want to do the area and be long gone before typhoon season arrives, but does anyone know the actual scoop? I like O's ports visits, but not the timing. Is a river cruise, with a Beijing visit, really my only logical option?

Thanks!

To Prague, I have found the nicest way is non stop to Munich and then the high speed train from Munich to Prague. Great scenery, relaxing, and one arrives downtown Prague making transfer to the hotel extremely easy. Time wise can often prove to be of little different.

Bottom Line. Fire the TA! They are the ones that did you end with gross arrogance. I won't even waste time trying to get money back from the TA, in that I wouldn't want to have another conversation with them, ever. You did also take an extremely expensive alternate, with the private car, when the train is easy and comfortable.

You need a new TA. Your TA should have had all this worked out and understood by all parties, long before you got on the first plane. It's what they get paid to do.

Last time over, doing a land tour, we just bought cheap "burner" phones over there with X amount of prepaid minutes. We emailed the number back to my daughter to use, in case of emergency,(otherwise email us only). Seemed to be very simple and convenient. No worries with roaming charges and data downloads. We thought it saved us money over trying to change over our normal phones. Will probably do the same this year in France as we travel around prior and after our river cruise.

Having been to Cluny, I found it a disappointment. What one sees to day is how large the abbey was back in the day, with just a wall left of the old facility. Cute town, but not worth the bucks and van ride to see. I'm floating on down the river and enjoying the Macon and Beaujolais countryside on my Sept cruise. Probably drinking a nice Burgundy (pinot) as I'm doing so! :D

We are looking at China for 2016. I have many questions for you.

1. From reading the online material, it is hard to determine if Uniworld is all inclusive with alcohol while on ship, as they are in Europe.

2. Uniworld seems to spend one less day on the River than Viking, and not go as far downstream. Do you have any idea on what is missed on that river segment?

3. Online, the trip with Lhasa says 3 days on the river, you said 4. Did it spend 3 days and 4 nights, or 4 of both? We are wanting the Tibet trip, with Guilin and Hong Kong at the end as an adder.

4. How many more days, upfront in Beijing do you believe would be necessary to see more of the sights that Uniworld missed?

Thanks!

Sratheden;

The answer to your question is yes, we didn't get on the bus. I could care less what fellow cruisers wear to museums or walking about town in. Each to his own. However, I find it repugnant when some dress, in the matter such as I described in a different post, to knowing go to visit one of the most iconic cathedrals in the world, and a place of ongoing (while we may be there) worship. We got to the cathedral on our own and toured on our own, we're adults. I have no desire to be identified with, nor tour such a facility with, people that show demonstrate absolutely no respect of place nor facility. Color me old fashioned, or on a boat that has sailed, it is what it is. I don't rejoice in the obvious crude behavior/dress some posters here seem to cherish.

We typically fly out of Nashville. That is not a gateway city for O Air, so they always want an upcharge from us for air. Very often that upcharge makes their air more expensive than what I can find for my wife and I.

Mark;

You may well not care, and that seems to be the sentiment of many Americans today. However, some of us still care and don't want to be associated with a tour group, going to one of the most beautiful and iconic cathedrals in Europe (that will have services going on) with multiple members that choose to wear their Portland Trailblazer basketball shorts, with sleeveless shirt with armpit cutouts to midriff; guys wearing their TX A&M cutoff gym shorts and a 15 year old Grateful Dead T shirt, or "ladies" wearing cutoff shorts, with the cutoff near the crack of their ass; etc.; etc. So after that performance, why should anyone care, or notice, if those same people go straight to the bar and drink until dinner and appear for dinner as they have been dressed all day?

I totally understand that many of my fellow Americans don't care, that's why the term "Ugly American" gets properly applied so often. Not caring makes one a facilitator of such poor taste, imo. As I implied before though, complaining about the issue is a waste of time, the only practical option is to find a different cruise line with different standards.

I happen to wholeheartedly agree with you, however many cruisers don't. Viking, for example, has absolutely no dressed code printed or implied. In the past couple of years, I have witnessed that lack of policy taken to its ultimate extreme on their ships. Seems many cruisers book Viking because of that absence of any dress code. I'm on a Viking cruise this September in the South of France, but have booked Uniworld for next year's cruise. Last year, my wife and I skipped a couple of tours because we were embarrassed to get on the bus with the other cruisers because of the way many were dressed. If that is repeated on this September's cruise, it will be our last Viking tour. This is not a battle we can win, as earlier stated, many book Viking, and other lines, because they can dress as ratty as they please. One's best option is to search out cruise lines that have standards that meet their personal desires. Complaining about how Americans dress for tours or dinners aboard is like complaining about American's love affair with throwing litter out of the car window. Find a different cruise line with acceptable standards and book with them.

Only used O's hotels once. Something very major, besides the departure of multiple other cruise ships, was going on in town during that period, and a hotel could not be found within 40 miles of the city. :eek: O, in fact, sold out of their block of rooms and had to stop offering the option. At twice the price, the hotel was still a deal!

O Air most typically buys heavily discounted seats in economy. With many airlines, the cost to upgrade to Premium Economy from an O Air ticket is typically 3-4 times the amount advertised by the airlines for such upgrades.

Some airlines will allow you to move and/or upgrade your tickets earlier than the day of the flight. Many airlines force you to go through O Air, if they purchased the tickets, to make any changes. O Air then uses those moves as money makers.

If you want to use O Air, my recommendation is to get a hard quote from them for exactly what you want and compare that to what you can do on your own. If you choose to go with O Air, pay the full costs of the air fare immediately and demand for the tickets to be purchased and issued at that time.

One has access to the greatest wines in the world, while in Europe, at prices typically far below those seen in the US for those wines. Viking does not charge a corkage fee. My advice, look at your menu for the evening and choose a great wine, while on shore, and enjoy.

I may occasionally pay for a beer or cocktail, onboard ship, but typically I buy great local wines to be enjoyed on ship. I have typically found the "house" wines to be boring and of medium to low quality. Why settle for that in Europe?

If one is using O Air, and doing a deviation, they should pay for the tickets up front and get their flights and seat assignments ASAP. This is especially true if one is wanting to upgrade to Premium Economy (or similar) on the long flights. These seats are limited and often sell out very rapidly, and if one waits for O's normal booking schedule the chances of the seats being sold out is very high.

We booked our flights ourselves to Sidney for our Feb 2015 cruise in March of this year. All P .E. seats of both flights were sold out before month end, were as business/first and economy seats still exist. If one was trying to book the seats through O, on their regular payment, they would not get the upgrades and would be stuck in economy.

I believe our cruise portion is on the Isabel, not the boat mentioned here.

LOL!!

I'm hair challenged, so what I have dries very quickly without a blow dryer. :D

However, my wife is a different story. Not bringing the dryer along only works, if one goes straight to the ship and then straight home. How many of we cruisers do that and not fly in early and/or depart later? ;)

We are doing this cruise next September 3rd. Our Uniworld cruise actually starts in Madrid, where it takes in two days of Madrid and a day in Toledo, before going on to Salamanca, then to the boat. We will fly into Seville, on our own, for a pretour of that area with day trip tours Cadiz and Cordoba. Then take the train to the Alhambra for a couple of days and then on to Madrid to meet Uniworld. Our Uniworld trip ends in Lisbon with a couple days of touring that city and Sintra. We may stay in Lisbon for a day or so extra before flying home.

We will be leaving out of either Nashville or St. Louis. American gives us wonderful connections into Madrid and Seville (they are aligned with Iberian Airlines in oneworld) but horrible connections back out of Lisbon. United currently appears to give the best connections and competitive pricing. We can't actually book flights until late September- early October, after we get back from our Viking/Southern France cruise, so we'll see how schedules look then.

If one pre bought the premium drinks package, for a cruise departing a Spanish port, would that drinks package have to charge the VAT? The sale was made in the US, but goods exchanged hands in Spain.: confused:

I have a wonderful pair of Keen scandals that I wear with both shorts and long pants. They are comfortable and excellent for walking in. I've hiked mountain trails, waded streams, and booked around cobbled stoned streets in them. The straps are leather, so they look fairly sharp. Easy slide on and off for airplane travel. They leave room in the suitcase for a nice pair of dressier shoes to wear to dinner or to other occasions.

Water is safe to drink, in some locals, in all of the EU countries. However, it is not safe to drink everywhere, within all the countries. Better to be safe than sorry. I stick to the beer and wine myself, with a bit of bottled water to keep hydrated.

Live4cruises;

I would be very diligent in watching United, if I wanted a P.E. seat. You are not ticketed and if someone comes asking for a P.E. and offering money, United will sell the seat(s). Then you will be back in economy for the long flight. For this trip, I would go ahead and give Viking the money for the ticket now, and get my seat selection and P.E. upgrade ticketed and locked in now. As posted above, if flights get changed, United will work with you on making the new schedule work. Your only challenge then becomes watching United as they continually try to move you to center section seats from your window and aisle seats. :eek:

The number of P.E. seats can sell out quickly. I'm on a Quantas flight next Feb to Australia for a cruise. There are still business and 1st class seats left on the plane as well as economy seats. All the Premium Economy sold out in early March of this year. Lock your seats in P.E. in NOW!

Ninaks;

9/13 North to South.

I agree with Huffy. We are doing this cruise in Sept. It is going through some of the culinary wonders of the world. Why would anyone want to pack a knapsack with food? :eek:

Outside of Lyon, which is one of the greatest culinary places in the world, many of the visits are only half days and then on down the river. Grab some water as you're leaving and enjoy, with the local wine, of course, which is also some of the world's most renown!:D