Itinerary Feedback - Amsterdam to Lisbon

[JVNYC]

I am considering the Marina sailing from Amsterdam to Lisbon on Sept 17, 2019. This is the one itinerary that I haven't done yet and has always interested me. I would prefer this itinerary in the summer....but I prefer the O ships.

 

Wanted to see what you think of this itinerary given this is later in the warm season in September and if the tender ports are usually cancelled due to rough seas.

 

Crystal has a very similar itinerary in late July, 2019 that I'm looking at as well and comparing.

 

Look forward to hear your thoughts.

 

Thanks!

[marylizcat]

You will be crossing the infamous Bay of Biscay which is frequently very rough. However, not always! By later in September, the weather will probably have gone downhill, so do not expect very warm weather at least until you get further south.

 

 

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[Cruise Junky]

We seriously looked at this one but ended up booking the April 19th, Marina cruise instead. London to Barcelona. We liked the fact that we could get more southern spain ports as well as the northern ones. I definitely like your itinerary though, it was a tough choice. I am thinking our timing might be a touch early for the northern ports though.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Cruise Junky

[TxnAquarian]

We did Rouen to Lisbon last June on Silversea, with most of these same ports. We had cold and rain the whole time and one port ( St Jean de Luz) was cancelled. So book whatever date or ship works best for you, as weather is never guaranteed. Regardless, it's a fantastic itinerary!

 

 

Michael

[JVNYC]

We seriously looked at this one but ended up booking the April 19th, Marina cruise instead. London to Barcelona. We liked the fact that we could get more southern spain ports as well as the northern ones. I definitely like your itinerary though, it was a tough choice. I am thinking our timing might be a touch early for the northern ports though.

 

 

I looked at your itinerary as well....another great one. Yes, you're right it is a tough choice. I've never seen this itinerary in April....usually May and then Sept/Oct. Do you think April will be too cool?

[JVNYC]

We did Rouen to Lisbon last June on Silversea, with most of these same ports. We had cold and rain the whole time and one port ( St Jean de Luz) was cancelled. So book whatever date or ship works best for you, as weather is never guaranteed. Regardless, it's a fantastic itinerary!

 

 

Michael

 

Thanks Michael. Wow, I'm sorry to hear that you had such bad weather. You're right, can't guarantee weather....unless it's the summer in the Med which is usually safe! Would you do this itinerary again if you could?

[StanandJim]

Before you do anything, Google "Bay of Biscay".

[Cruise Junky]

I looked at your itinerary as well....another great one. Yes, you're right it is a tough choice. I've never seen this itinerary in April....usually May and then Sept/Oct. Do you think April will be too cool?

 

I think it might be for Guernsey and possibly Bordeaux. This year was ok, but of course past behavior is no indication of future weather.

[JVNYC]

Before you do anything, Google "Bay of Biscay".

 

 

I read it's notoriously unpredictable and can be rough....is that what you're referring to?

[TxnAquarian]

Thanks Michael. Wow, I'm sorry to hear that you had such bad weather. You're right, can't guarantee weather....unless it's the summer in the Med which is usually safe! Would you do this itinerary again if you could?

 

I would do it again in a heartbeat - good weather or bad. The ports are fabulous.

 

Michael

[Cruise Junky]

I would do it again in a heartbeat - good weather or bad. The ports are fabulous.

 

Michael

 

I'm debating between a similar itinerary and a land trip to really get to explore more. Any advice? Did you find you had enough time in port?

[JVNYC]

I'm debating between a similar itinerary and a land trip to really get to explore more. Any advice? Did you find you had enough time in port?

 

I agree with you. You can get to Bordeaux easily now on the high speed train from Paris. And you can get to Rouen easily from Paris as well. Hmmm, maybe a land trip would be better.

[Cruise Junky]

I agree with you. You can get to Bordeaux easily now on the high speed train from Paris. And you can get to Rouen easily from Paris as well. Hmmm, maybe a land trip would be better.

 

We could be doing pretty sweet land trips for the price of that cruise ;) I definitely want to try Oceania though.

 

We had an apartment in Honfleur a couple of years back that was beautiful and I think we paid about 1,000 Euro for 5 nights and did all kinds of touring. Mont St. Michel, Rouen, Giverney, Normandy Beaches, etc. One day I was looking at a river cruise from Paris which included everywhere we had visited and almost choked on the price. Pretty sure our food was better too ;)

[JVNYC]

We could be doing pretty sweet land trips for the price of that cruise ;) I definitely want to try Oceania though.

 

We had an apartment in Honfleur a couple of years back that was beautiful and I think we paid about 1,000 Euro for 5 nights and did all kinds of touring. Mont St. Michel, Rouen, Giverney, Normandy Beaches, etc. One day I was looking at a river cruise from Paris which included everywhere we had visited and almost choked on the price. Pretty sure our food was better too ;)

 

Now you're talking. This cruise is one of the more pricey ones and you can definitely do an amazing land trip for half the price and have more authentic food. Ok....now I'm rethinking this whole thread lol. :)

[Cruise Junky]

Now you're talking. This cruise is one of the more pricey ones and you can definitely do an amazing land trip for half the price and have more authentic food. Ok....now I'm rethinking this whole thread lol. :)

It's a Jacques Pepin cruise so I think there's lots of interest in that that is driving the prices a little higher. All insides and OV's are gone as well as some of the lower priced balcony options.

[TxnAquarian]

I'm debating between a similar itinerary and a land trip to really get to explore more. Any advice? Did you find you had enough time in port?

 

 

The cruise started in Rouen, so we did 3 nights in Paris pre-cruise, plus an overnight in Rouen on the ship. And the cruise ended with an overnight in Lisbon, so we did an extra 3 days after that. For us, we had plenty of time in the ports as they were mostly late night departures. The only drawback was that we only had one day for Bordeaux, and our ship docked 2 hours away. Make sure you have at least one overnight in Bordeaux (I know Crystal does 2 overnights there).

 

Michael

[the mice]

We did this exact cruise, Vineyards & Castles, on almost the same dates last year - well a week later - September 24- October 6, 2017.

Loved this cruise!! We aren't drinkers (so why were we on a wine-focused cruise? lol) but we are walkers, and found much of interest to see and do. Great itinerary. We had traveled in France and Spain on land trips, but these ports for the most part (except for Honfleur, Porto and Lisbon), were places we had not visited. Most of the time we had good weather.

 

Amsterdam: We did 4 days pre-cruise, taking some day trips - we only had a few light showers one afternoon. Otherwise it was sunny. Sailaway was a sunny day/clear evening.

Dover: some clouds, no rain. We took the train to Canterbury for the day.

Honfleur: clear, partly sunny, then very sunny. Rented a car and drove to Giverny, then wandered Honfleur on return. (Note: your itinerary shows port of LeHavre which is across the river from Honfleur making it much further from the WWII battlefields if that is your interest)

Saint-Malo: Did private tour to Mont St. Michel and Dinan - rained only when we arrived in Dinan. Since we were not on an O excursion, even though we got tender tickets within the first 30 seconds of distribution, we weren't called for an hour and 15 minutes).

Brest: Sunny and glorious. Did O excursion to Morlaix and Chateau de Kerjean. Charming guide.

La Rochelle: Sunny, mild. Did a DIY walking tour of town.

Bordeaux (overnight in the heart of the city)- was raining when we arrived, but by the time we disembarked (11am) it was stopping, and then was partly sunny/partly cloudy. We don't drink so weren't going to City du Vin or the chateau wineries - we did a DIY of the city and went off to see the Base Sous-Marine (old German U-boat pens).

Day 2 was some on and off light drizzle with clouds. Did more of our DIY of the city.

Biarritz (Saint Jean-de-Luz) - OK, I admit, I knew nothing about the Bay of Biscay until I just read these posts. That would explain why we missed this port. The swells were too rough for us to tender. I was looking forward to our O excursion to Medieval Bayonne - not happening. So we went directly to Bilbao, arriving at noon. The only replacement excursion offered was to San Sebastian, which we took, since we had tours booked for all remaining days. It was a long bus ride, and not enough time to do San Sebastian justice, but the rain let up by the time we got there. Decent guide, some free time. We made lemonade, but it was a tiring day.

Bilbao: this was now day 2 here. Cloudy but no rain. Took the O excursion to Torre de Loizaga with its fabulous Rolls Royce collection. Then had a walking tour in the Casco Viejo quarter of Bilbao. Another good guide. We opted to remain in the city and made our way to the Guggenheim before getting the shuttle back to the ship.

Ferrol: Gloriously sunny. Did a private excursion to Santiago de Compostela.

Oporto: Gloriously sunny and warm. Did a private excursion to the Douro Valley (we had been in Porto 2 years earlier - delightful city).

Lisbon: Sunny once again. Having been in Lisbon for 5 days 2 years prior, we flew directly home, but we are staying 2 days this November at the end of our Canary Islands cruise. Great city - so much to see and do.

 

You will be spoiled for choice of things to do. Our only complaint? It was our first time on Oceania, and the cruise was port intensive, so we never got to fully enjoy the ship. But the food was wonderful - we tried and enjoyed all the venues. Never did get to the fitness center....why go there when you can go to High Tea, or Baristas? :D:D

 

Oh, there was also a sale for Memorial Day, with a nice price drop. So be on the lookout since that's 2 weeks away.

[Skyrose]

Thanks for the wonderful detail, nice! Was this on an O or an R ship? I'm asking because we're booked on the September 2019 Marina cruise, and a few of us on the roll call have been wondering if Marina will actually dock in the heart of Bordeaux. Thanks, Leslie.

 

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[Skyrose]

Thanks for the wonderful detail, nice! Was this on an O or an R ship? I'm asking because we're booked on the September 2019 Marina cruise, and a few of us on the roll call have been wondering if Marina will actually dock in the heart of Bordeaux. Thanks, Leslie.

 

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Whoops! Meant "mice" not "nice ". Although I'm sure you are nice mice[emoji4]

 

 

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[JVNYC]

We did this exact cruise, Vineyards & Castles, on almost the same dates last year - well a week later - September 24- October 6, 2017.

Loved this cruise!! We aren't drinkers (so why were we on a wine-focused cruise? lol) but we are walkers, and found much of interest to see and do. Great itinerary. We had traveled in France and Spain on land trips, but these ports for the most part (except for Honfleur, Porto and Lisbon), were places we had not visited. Most of the time we had good weather.

 

Amsterdam: We did 4 days pre-cruise, taking some day trips - we only had a few light showers one afternoon. Otherwise it was sunny. Sailaway was a sunny day/clear evening.

Dover: some clouds, no rain. We took the train to Canterbury for the day.

Honfleur: clear, partly sunny, then very sunny. Rented a car and drove to Giverny, then wandered Honfleur on return. (Note: your itinerary shows port of LeHavre which is across the river from Honfleur making it much further from the WWII battlefields if that is your interest)

Saint-Malo: Did private tour to Mont St. Michel and Dinan - rained only when we arrived in Dinan. Since we were not on an O excursion, even though we got tender tickets within the first 30 seconds of distribution, we weren't called for an hour and 15 minutes).

Brest: Sunny and glorious. Did O excursion to Morlaix and Chateau de Kerjean. Charming guide.

La Rochelle: Sunny, mild. Did a DIY walking tour of town.

Bordeaux (overnight in the heart of the city)- was raining when we arrived, but by the time we disembarked (11am) it was stopping, and then was partly sunny/partly cloudy. We don't drink so weren't going to City du Vin or the chateau wineries - we did a DIY of the city and went off to see the Base Sous-Marine (old German U-boat pens).

Day 2 was some on and off light drizzle with clouds. Did more of our DIY of the city.

Biarritz (Saint Jean-de-Luz) - OK, I admit, I knew nothing about the Bay of Biscay until I just read these posts. That would explain why we missed this port. The swells were too rough for us to tender. I was looking forward to our O excursion to Medieval Bayonne - not happening. So we went directly to Bilbao, arriving at noon. The only replacement excursion offered was to San Sebastian, which we took, since we had tours booked for all remaining days. It was a long bus ride, and not enough time to do San Sebastian justice, but the rain let up by the time we got there. Decent guide, some free time. We made lemonade, but it was a tiring day.

Bilbao: this was now day 2 here. Cloudy but no rain. Took the O excursion to Torre de Loizaga with its fabulous Rolls Royce collection. Then had a walking tour in the Casco Viejo quarter of Bilbao. Another good guide. We opted to remain in the city and made our way to the Guggenheim before getting the shuttle back to the ship.

Ferrol: Gloriously sunny. Did a private excursion to Santiago de Compostela.

Oporto: Gloriously sunny and warm. Did a private excursion to the Douro Valley (we had been in Porto 2 years earlier - delightful city).

Lisbon: Sunny once again. Having been in Lisbon for 5 days 2 years prior, we flew directly home, but we are staying 2 days this November at the end of our Canary Islands cruise. Great city - so much to see and do.

 

You will be spoiled for choice of things to do. Our only complaint? It was our first time on Oceania, and the cruise was port intensive, so we never got to fully enjoy the ship. But the food was wonderful - we tried and enjoyed all the venues. Never did get to the fitness center....why go there when you can go to High Tea, or Baristas? :D:D

 

Oh, there was also a sale for Memorial Day, with a nice price drop. So be on the lookout since that's 2 weeks away.

 

 

WOW, thank you for this fantastic detailed post! This is great info and helps a great deal!

[the mice]

whoops! Meant "mice" not "nice ". Although i'm sure you are nice mice[emoji4]

 

:)

:):)

[the mice]

Thanks for the wonderful detail, nice! Was this on an O or an R ship? I'm asking because we're booked on the September 2019 Marina cruise, and a few of us on the roll call have been wondering if Marina will actually dock in the heart of Bordeaux. Thanks, Leslie.

 

Yes, this was on Marina. The only difference in your cruise is that we docked in Honfleur, and yours goes to Le Havre.

Our concern was also about docking in Bordeaux, but my TA was able to confirm the city berth with Oceania. Apparently it is a world of difference to docking in Verdon.

 

Have a great cruise!

Marilyn

[ORV]

I'm going. Other than Amsterdam it's all places I haven't been to.

 

I'm looking forward to it.

[the mice]

I'm going. Other than Amsterdam it's all places I haven't been to.

 

I'm looking forward to it.

We spent 4 days pre-cruise in Amsterdam - this after spending a week based there in April 2014. So much to see and do in Amsterdam itself, and many easy day trips. We still have more to see if we return. So worth adding on extra days here.

 

If anyone is a car lover, a quick trip to The Hague for the Louwman Museum is a must. WOW! is all I can say, and I'm not the car aficionado in this family. Check out the website to see what I mean. And while we were there we had the museum to ourselves - fabulous.

Also in The Hague, there is the Escher Museum - small but fascinating, and the Mauritshuis, again small, but the home of the Girl in the Pearl Earring. What a great day out.

 

Wishing you good weather and a great cruise!

Marilyn

[the mice]

We could be doing pretty sweet land trips for the price of that cruise ;) I definitely want to try Oceania though.

 

We had an apartment in Honfleur a couple of years back that was beautiful and I think we paid about 1,000 Euro for 5 nights and did all kinds of touring. Mont St. Michel, Rouen, Giverney, Normandy Beaches, etc. One day I was looking at a river cruise from Paris which included everywhere we had visited and almost choked on the price. Pretty sure our food was better too ;)

 

My DH is the one who loves cruising - but more to relax (done Bermuda and Caribbean multiple times). This one is really a destination cruise, very port intensive. I personally love land trips, and can usually put together a trip for way less money than a cruise. So traveling this way is a bit of a compromise for both of us.

 

It really depends on your travel style, the trade-offs you want to make, the connections you want to make with the local culture, and where you have been. We don't mind carting our own luggage (now usually carry on only), and are fine with a nice, but not extravagant hotel, and a casual local restaurant. For our land trips, we have often based someplace and take day trips out, maybe going to 2 or 3 cities. That worked well when we were only traveling for about 10-11 days. Now retired and traveling around 18-21 days, we'd need to move around more, train travel being preferable to car rental where feasible. But we recently did 10 days driving in Sicily plus 4 days based in Rome (without car).

 

So we (actually me, Pete just goes along after I twist his arm a few times!) pick our cruise itineraries based on places where cruising makes more sense than a land trip. And then we accept the fact that it won't be cheap. For this cruise, we had a balcony, since the OVs were sold out when we booked, but an OV would have been fine since we were off the ship most of the time. If you were renting a car from France to Portugal, it wouldn't come cheap with the drop charges, anyway.

 

This itinerary let us cover a lot of ground without driving, getting to places we hadn't been. We've done London multiple times, but never got to Dover/Canterbury. We've done Paris twice, plus Mont St. Michel and the WWII beaches, but a camera mishap caused us to miss Honfleur, so that worked out for us this time, and our long port day allowed us to get to Giverny. The west coast of France and north coast of Spain were both new to us. Since our port days were long, I felt we had a reasonable amount of time in each.