Nov. 15 Riviera Transatlantic Review

[spook1]

is this true for the entire cruise? :confused: Or only for that portion of the cruise that is in spanish ports, or within 12 nautical miles of spain?

 

once the trans-at portion starts, is the vat still assessed??? :eek:

happy hour has a new meaning in these waters...almost a ceremony such as the equator crossing...wait for the bump...ahh we have crossed that dreaded 12 mile limit...i'll drink to that..set 'em up, joe.:d

[umtali]

If not too personal, what does DH stand for? Designated hitter? Dear heart?

Australians refer more formally to DH as Richard Cranium esq..:):)

[d4m]

Could you tell me what the weather was like in Barcelona in November? I hae seen the average temperature, but am curious about your experience this past fall. Will be there for 10 days in November before our TA cruise and want some clue as to clothing! Thanks

[joan24]

This sounds like a silly question, but do the curtains between the bed and sitting area close?It would be great if they did, so I can read without keeping my husband awake. Thanks,

Joan

[CAG]

This sounds like a silly question, but do the curtains between the bed and sitting area close?It would be great if they did, so I can read without keeping my husband awake. Thanks,

Joan

 

They do not close.

[Paulchili]

 

We opted for a regular PH for similar crossing next year--the cabin looks great, wouldn't have even noticed it was narrower than normal!

 

"In real life" the narrower cabin and smaller closet are definitely there and noticeable. However, many people gladly trade that for a larger veranda (not I):D

[orchestrapal]

They do not close.

 

That' s a real bummer.

We are wait listed for an Oceania suite and with this sad information may have to cancel if one does not come through. :(:(

[Love.II.Cruise]

You have posted the best pictures of 7135 I have seen on this site! My concern was the narrower cabin resulting in less walk in closet space vs. the other PH suites. That of course is offset by the veranda. Was there furniture on both sides, the pictures seem to indicate so. We have several sea days of warm weather, in fact the whole cruise is warm weather, and this expanded veranda seems perfect. The pictures you have posted so far are great and bring back fond memories of when we were in Barcelona several years ago.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. Yes, the furniture was on both sides of the veranda. There were two wicker chairs, a small wicker table, two wooden chairs with cushions (like the chairs at the outdoor grill), and two loungers with cushions and towels. I've added another photo taken from the very end of the wrap around portion in the aft.

 

 

Note: the two small wooden chairs were not on the balcony of cabin 7130. I think they were only on our balcony because people before us requested them.

[beachbuddy]

Lovey, Nice cabin!!!!

[Love.II.Cruise]

I have no idea how the VAT works with the drink package. I wish I would have asked someone who had the drink package if it applied to them and if so how they calculated it. We purchased the drink package only for the last week of the cruise, when we were more than 12 nautical miles from Spain.

 

We did think 10% was a bit much, and we were surprised to see this since we've never seen anything like this on any cruise. As someone else suggested, perhaps it is because of the financial situation in Spain. Some countries have "exit" fees when leaving their country.

 

If not too personal, what does DH stand for? Designated hitter? Dear heart?

 

DH = Dear Husband :)

 

 

Tomorrow I must go back to work, and won't be working on this review as quickly. Please be patient. I'll post more this weekend, if not sooner. ;)

[Love.II.Cruise]

This sounds like a silly question, but do the curtains between the bed and sitting area close? It would be great if they did, so I can read without keeping my husband awake. Thanks,

Joan

 

As someone else said, they do not close. But if you look closely in the following picture, there is a flexible led light under the lamp. You can easily direct the light to the book you are reading while in bed. Each side of the bed has these lights... we love them! First time we saw this type of lighting used on a cruise ship was on Regent. Either one of us could easily read in bed while the other slept.

 

[Love.II.Cruise]

Could you tell me what the weather was like in Barcelona in November? I hae seen the average temperature, but am curious about your experience this past fall. Will be there for 10 days in November before our TA cruise and want some clue as to clothing! Thanks

 

The weather was great. We never had to use our rain ponchos, even though a big storm came in on Nov. 13 - you can see how rough the sea was on the beach in my post of that day.

 

I wore my waterproof columbia pants with merrill tennis shoes. Often times I felt the weather only required a long sleeve cotton top and I just carried my jacket along. My DH did the same. Not once did I use my gloves. However, I did lend my gloves to my mother a few times. I would wear layers.

 

Montserrat was chilly, but it is higher elevation.

[TKS]

Could you tell me what the weather was like in Barcelona in November? I hae seen the average temperature, but am curious about your experience this past fall. Will be there for 10 days in November before our TA cruise and want some clue as to clothing! Thanks

 

Sorry for chiming in, but we were in Barcelona in November, 2010 for the Marina's maiden voyage. We had listened carefully to all the CC advice and had read several websites about average temps, etc.

 

When we got to Barcelona the first day was beautiful, the 70 degrees which we had been seeing for their daily highs on the internet. The next day it was about 45 degrees, for the high. That was the day we had scheduled the HoHo, which is NOT heated, and in that humid climate we froze.

 

So from experience I can tell you to plan for the best, but prepare for the worst. A fairly warm coat and even some gloves would have made that one day even more enjoyable than it was. After all, warm or cold, Barcelona is an amazing city! Thanks for the wonderful memories, Love.II.Cruise!

[hondorner]

That' s a real bummer.

We are wait listed for an Oceania suite and with this sad information may have to cancel if one does not come through. :(:(

The curtains to which they are referring are in a penthouse Suite, not an Oceania Suite. The curtains in an Oceania Suite don't close because there are no curtains! It's a true multi-room suite with doors, not curtains.

 

 

If you currently have a Penthouse reserved while you are waiting for the Oceania suite to come open, then I understand your concern if the Oceania suite does not become available. If your other half likes to sit up on the sofa and read while you're trying to sleep (or vice versa), the lack of a curtain that closes could be a problem. There is no comparable reading light at the sofa. While the others are correct that reading in bed would not easily disturb the other, reading on the sofa requires an overhead light that could disturb the other. Likewise, watching TV, although a curtain would not be effective in this case.

 

Your best bet, of course, is the Oceania suite, which has a separate media room with sofa for watching TV or reading or surfing the net without disturbing anyone in the rest of the suite.

[Details39]

Maybe the chairs will still be there when we board on March 4. Thanks again for the pictures.

[klscaz]

The weather was great. We never had to use our rain ponchos, even though a big storm came in on Nov. 13 - you can see how rough the sea was on the beach in my post of that day.

 

I wore my waterproof columbia pants with merrill tennis shoes. Often times I felt the weather only required a long sleeve cotton top and I just carried my jacket along. My DH did the same. Not once did I use my gloves. However, I did lend my gloves to my mother a few times. I would wear layers.

 

 

We were there in Nov. 2009 from the 11th-16th and it was chilly. I wore a nylon windbreaker with a scarf and gloves and was comfortable.

[RuthC]

happy hour has a new meaning in these waters...almost a ceremony such as the equator crossing...wait for the bump...ahh we have crossed that dreaded 12 mile limit...i'll drink to that..set 'em up, joe.:d

Perhaps I am just a bit dull today, but I don't know how this answers my question.

I still do not know if I will be charged the same price for a cocktail in the middle of the Atlantic as I will while we are within Spanish waters.

 

Does anyone know if the Spanish VAT applies throughout the cruise for those people who start the cruise in Barcelona?

[MightyQuinn]

...Does anyone know if the Spanish VAT applies throughout the cruise for those people who start the cruise in Barcelona?

We were on this same transatlantic crossing and VAT was only applied on the first night when leaving Barcelona. We had wine by the glass that evening and were charged an additional 10%. Next night was an extended open bar for the Captain's Reception but we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, no VAT. On the third day, we purchased the House Select Beverage Package and no VAT. We've experienced this extra tax once before, on a HAL cruise to Alaska out of Seattle. We were charged Washington state tax on our early evening cocktails on boarding day but not later when we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner. Go figure.

[Oceans&Rivers]

As someone else said, they do not close. But if you look closely in the following picture, there is a flexible led light under the lamp. You can easily direct the light to the book you are reading while in bed. Each side of the bed has these lights... we love them! First time we saw this type of lighting used on a cruise ship was on Regent. Either one of us could easily read in bed while the other slept.

 

We had them on our 2008 Crystal Symphony cruise, too. I find the little snake LED lights both handy and a little weird-looking. The following picture of the least expensive category cabin on Symphony shows them. (The ship has been remodeled since then and there is a sofa where the chair is shown, as well as fully remodeled headboard and carpets, etc.)

 

[spook1]

Perhaps I am just a bit dull today, but I don't know how this answers my question.

I still do not know if I will be charged the same price for a cocktail in the middle of the Atlantic as I will while we are within Spanish waters.

 

Does anyone know if the Spanish VAT applies throughout the cruise for those people who start the cruise in Barcelona?

 

International waters (the 12 mile limit is generally accepted) belong to no nation, therefore, Spain cannot impose a VAT, which is yet another example of governments passing laws they have no way of inforcing other than the honor system. The fast remedy for this outlandish VAT is for cruise ships to bypass Spanish ports thus denying them port charges and tourists with fat wallets. Then we'd have a vanishing VAT. :)

[Mura]

Unfortunately that's hard to do when the departure port is Barcelona ... unless no one orders drinks until we are 12 miles out ...

 

I've never heard announcements to that effect ... now, of course, Spain needs that money. So I'm assuming when we sail out of BCN next November, we'll still be subject to this surcharge ...

 

How does Spain check Oceania's records to see who ordered what drink when?

 

Just asking ...

 

Fortunately for US we're in a cabin where we won't need to buy a drink, unless that is when we set up the CC party ...

 

Mura

[tallship]

Love II Cruise-

Your review is really making me want to try Oceania...the cabins, the food, ....it all sounds too good.

[joan24]

As someone else said, they do not close. But if you look closely in the following picture, there is a flexible led light under the lamp. You can easily direct the light to the book you are reading while in bed. Each side of the bed has these lights... we love them! First time we saw this type of lighting used on a cruise ship was on Regent. Either one of us could easily read in bed while the other slept.

 

 

Thanks for the information. My Kindle has enough light to read by. I guess I'll leave my paper books home.

Joan

[RuthC]

We were on this same transatlantic crossing and VAT was only applied on the first night when leaving Barcelona. We had wine by the glass that evening and were charged an additional 10%. Next night was an extended open bar for the Captain's Reception but we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, no VAT. On the third day, we purchased the House Select Beverage Package and no VAT. We've experienced this extra tax once before, on a HAL cruise to Alaska out of Seattle. We were charged Washington state tax on our early evening cocktails on boarding day but not later when we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner. Go figure.

Thank you for a clear answer. It was the statements about taxes being charged for the entire cruise, just because Spain was a portion of that cruise, that seemed so wrong to me.

As for the tax when sailing out of Seattle, I do understand that one. When you ordered cocktails, you were still in Washington state waters. By dinner time, you were no longer in the state.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, looking forward to more of it. Thanks for taking the time to post it.