What is a reasonable facsimile to Oceania?

[Fredalyn]

10 hours ago, Glenndale said:

There is this cruise on a new ship, Spirit of Adventure, which visits Lerwick and stays overnight.

https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/ocean/where-we-go/british-isles-cruises/this-sceptred-isle.aspx?availability=2&duration=1-999&boardbasis=AI

That would have been perfect! I am a teacher and only have very late June and must be back before the first Monday in September. The more than one day in Shetland was to assure us we would actually get there and have long enough to see the puffins and ponies! 

Thank you for finding this one. 

[CintiPam]

On 7/12/2019 at 1:42 PM, Hawaiidan said:

Along those same lines....River cruises... seem to me absurd... you can drive the regions and see 10x as much  and you set the schedule of where and when....

I disagree so often with either your opinions or the way you choose to express them that I am compelled to post that I agree with you on this point, particularly if you are talking about Europe, where the language barrier has abated substantially.  (Plus much less worries about water levels seriously affecting your river cruise.)

 

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by CintiPam

[Hawaiidan]

18 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

I disagree so often with either your opinions or the way you choose to express them that I am compelled to post that I agree with you on this point, particularly if you are talking about Europe, where the language barrier has abated substantially.  (Plus much less worries about water levels seriously affecting your river cruise.)

 

 

Pam....why thank you very kindly for your comments.   I am not shy in calling a spade a spade when I think it so.  and I offer my opinions as my own... no one has to accept them... Your free to choose.

   I just got back from Switzerland France and northern Italy.....Driving across the alps, both Swiss and Italian, exploring small villages driving fantastic mountain roads and  through gorges, like Verdon, across province  up into the Alsace wine country  Rhine to Zurich the ...  10 days,1200 miles  cars, michelin*** dinners, tolls rent a car   quaint inns to 4 star...   cost less than 1500 pp  not counting air. ...  way more satisfying and economic   not to mention seeing the regions not over traveled  by throngs with selfi sticks 

All you need is a credit card, confidence and a map...... People  are scared to travel to foreign places and pay vast sums to have others guide and hold their hand...  The package  bus and river  cruises  are sold to those fearful for the most part of the unknown and not knowing what to do.  .      Glad you agree  

 

[clo]

10 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

People  are scared to travel to foreign places

As I've mentioned we've done a few escorted tours and everyone left us dissatisfied.  Yeah, we learned a lot as this company's guides are incredible but being locked into one schedule/itinerary isn't for us.  At least not yet.

 

And your trip sounds glorious. Thanks for sharing.

[CintiPam]

We are looking forward to our September trip to the WWI battlefields of northeastern France plus Battle of the Bulge, Trier and the Rhine River Gorge.  I am very fortunate to have spouse Mr. Military History as my guide (with very reasonable rates!)

 

Dan, although we will have GPS, I would love Michelin maps for our trip.  Where did you find the local maps you needed?

Edited July 13, 2019 by CintiPam

[pinotlover]

Why are river cruises absurd? Floating along the Douro River in Portugal is fabulous. A lot better sights to be seen than driving the windy twists and hair pin turns ourselves looking at nothing but the center line. Uniworld does great tours, has food typically better than Oceania, and one packs and unpacks once!

 

Did Bucharest to Budapest last fall passing through a multitude of countries not all in the EU or Schengen. It was a wonderful vacation! Glad I wasn’t sitting for hours in a car at those border crossings! Reminded me of the 70s! 

 

Some locales car travel is the best mode, other times ships air river boats are.

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Driving across the alps, both Swiss and Italian, exploring small villages driving fantastic mountain roads and  through gorges, like Verdon, across province  up into the Alsace wine country  Rhine to Zurich the ...  10 days,1200 miles  cars, michelin*** dinners, tolls rent a car   quaint inns to 4 star...   cost less than 1500 pp  not counting air. ...  way more satisfying and economic 

Dan - 10 days in Switzerland/Germany and Italy with 3* Michelin restaurants, 4 star hotels for $1500/pp  - that must be a different Switzerland that I had visited 😀

Sounds more like $1500/day 😀

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by Paulchili

[Mura]

On 6/24/2019 at 2:14 PM, LHT28 said:

SOPWITH

you will find many complaints on several lines about the  office  staff   not knowing much but once onboard the staff seem to have a clue 

Remember most the phone reps work for minimum wage  & have never been on the ships

there is  a high turnover of phone reps on all cruise lines

I don't know about complaints elsewhere because I haven't looked ... BUT ...

 

When we started with Renaissance they didn't permit TAs (other than a favored few which novices such as we were didn't know about).  We were very happy with the phone call to Ren which booked our 3 cruises with them.

 

Then Oceania picked up the first two of their "R" ships and now we could use TAs.  Actually, we'd used one of those "favored few" who shall remain nameless on our last Ren cruise.

 

But it's been a constant complaint that the phone reps really don't know what they are talking about.  I think Lyn's analysis is most likely.  When I have called in to Ren, knowing a specific person to talk to, I've had a positive result.  But that's been few calls and not recently.

 

I'd like it if the cruise line would have their phone reps take at least one cruise but ... I doubt the bottom line would agree.

 

MY bottom line is that I trust my TA and I only call the customer service people if I must.

 

Mura

 

[Mura]

Amazing how these topics morph.  I was replying and then saw that PaulChili had posted something so I looked at his post and then lost my answer here!  It has taken a long time to find the thread although usually when I find the thread I find my beginning message ...not this time, however. (Not blaming you Paul!  I should have waited to check out your post.)

 

We did three Viking river cruises:  Amsterdam-Basel in October 2003, China in May 2008 and Avignon/Paris/Normandy/Paris (a B2B) in 2012.  We haven't returned to river boats since then but that was largely because of the overcrowded situation on the rivers, especially in France!  When you are triple decked in a port and have to climb over the other 1-2 boats to get to land, it's not fun.  On that cruise we also felt that Viking was saving money which affected our enjoyment.  When you have 150 people at dinner with only 5 servers, it takes a VERY long time to finish your meal.

 

But we did enjoy the river cruises.  You don't have to unpack every night (just as with a "real" cruise) and you dock right in town.

 

That is not to say that we didn't also thoroughly enjoy the self-drive trips we've done over the years.  Yes, we had more time to spend if we wanted to stay on.  A number of the ports we visited on the last Viking river boat trip we had visited on our own several years earlier, and I will agree those earlier visits were superior.  Then again, having been there before we didn't mind not having so much time on the Viking trip.

 

Our three days in Normandy in November 2002 were far superior to the half day we had on the river boat!

 

BUT ... just as with ocean cruises where you have one day in port, it can give you an idea of where you could like to return.  And it's so nice not to have to drag luggage in and out of a hotel!

 

Still, based on our French river tour in 2012 we were turned off just because of the "overbuilding" of river boat cruises.  It's not different from an "R" or "O" ship being in a major port with several behemoths ...

 

Mura

[pinotlover]

Mura;

 

comparing Viking River Cruises to Uniworld is like comparing Carnival  to Crystal. Entirely different.Done Viking, never again. I will re emphasize, they are wonderful places to do river boat cruises and other places where we’d only do car.

 

I can’t imagine doing a circumnavigational of Great Britain! What a waste when numerous tour companies will give one far better tours at far lesser prices. We drove ourselves throughput England, Scotland, and Ireland. On a 24 day tour, we packed and unpacked about 20 times, but loved the travel! People meanwhile flock to O’s cruises doing the sail around! Are they equally as stupid as River cruisers?  Each to his own.

 

 

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, Mura said:

....But we did enjoy the river cruises.  You don't have to unpack every night (just as with a "real" cruise) and you dock right in town.

 

That is not to say that we didn't also thoroughly enjoy the self-drive trips we've done over the years.  Yes, we had more time to spend if we wanted to stay on.  

 

BUT ... just as with ocean cruises where you have one day in port, it can give you an idea of where you could like to return.  And it's so nice not to have to drag luggage in and out of a hotel!

 

 

 

Mura

Yes, the luggage issue can be a pain.  Land trips in Europe are eased definitely by the excellent public transportation options, particularly trains and planes.  

 

Regarding one port day leading to longer return visits, that is a great point, Mura.  For example, our Baltic cruise on Marina, with only seven hours total in Berlin (private tour I organized for 18) but fortunately on a Sunday, led us to return for six full days in Berlin followed by easy (and scenic) train transfers first to Dresden and then to Prague, a very satisfying two weeks.  

[clo]

17 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Mura;

 

comparing Viking River Cruises to Uniworld is like comparing Carnival  to Crystal. Entirely different.Done Viking, never again. I will re emphasize, they are wonderful places to do river boat cruises and other places where we’d only do car.

 

I can’t imagine doing a circumnavigational of Great Britain! What a waste when numerous tour companies will give one far better tours at far lesser prices. We drove ourselves throughput England, Scotland, and Ireland. On a 24 day tour, we packed and unpacked about 20 times, but loved the travel! People meanwhile flock to O’s cruises doing the sail around! Are they equally as stupid as River cruisers?  Each to his own.

 

 

We did Ireland on one trip and England, Scotland and Wales on another.  I can't even imagine doing those by ship.  You'd have to lose so much.  I remember sitting in a b&b and my husband found an interesting thing that wasn't on our plan at all.  The Irish National Stud (a horse farm):  https://irishnationalstud.ie/  We had horses at that time so it was great for us.

[clo]

10 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

easy (and scenic) train

We're anticipating European trains.  Europe is so civilized in that regard.

[CintiPam]

3 minutes ago, clo said:

We're anticipating European trains.  Europe is so civilized in that regard.

I highly recommend you consult the wonderful website The Man in Seat Sixty-One when planning any train travel (except local commuter trains) in Europe.  It is a treasure trove of well-written and maintained information, very easy to navigate, including regarding the best amount of time to book ahead if planning train travel for the best fares.  I have saved many hundreds of dollars over the years consulting this website, most recently for my Eurostar ticket in September from Paris to London.

 

Two years ago, when we traveled post-cruise from London to Edinburgh, we knew exactly when to buy the tickets, had an accurate map of each train car, which side of the car on which to book our seats, a video of the highlights of the trip, etc., all thanks to this website.

[DeeniEncinitas]

1 minute ago, CintiPam said:

I highly recommend you consult the wonderful website The Man in Seat Sixty-One when planning any train travel (except local commuter trains) in Europe.  It is a treasure trove of well-written and maintained information, very easy to navigate, including regarding the best amount of time to book ahead if planning train travel for the best fares.  I have saved many hundreds of dollars over the years consulting this website, most recently for my Eurostar ticket in September from Paris to London.

 

Two years ago, when we traveled post-cruise from London to Edinburgh, we knew exactly when to buy the tickets, had an accurate map of each train car, which side of the car on which to book our seats, a video of the highlights of the trip, etc., all thanks to this website.

You beat me to CintiPam!

we have used this website years ago and he does have a wealth of information!

Now we are so accustomed to European rails it is second nature now for us. 

Denise😊

 

[clo]

3 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

The Man in Seat Sixty-One

Wow!  Thank you SO much.  Saved this already.  Can't wait to start digging into it.

[CintiPam]

6 minutes ago, clo said:

Wow!  Thank you SO much.  Saved this already.  Can't wait to start digging into it.

I found out about this website either on this website or on sister website TripAdvisor so I believe in paying it forward.

 

BTW, the London to Edinburgh train leaves from St. Pancras Station, and we watched in amazement the line of about 100 waiting to pay to have their photos taken with wand and scarf at the Harry Potter invented platform sign there.

Edited July 14, 2019 by CintiPam

[Mura]

46 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

Yes, the luggage issue can be a pain.  Land trips in Europe are eased definitely by the excellent public transportation options, particularly trains and planes.  

 

Regarding one port day leading to longer return visits, that is a great point, Mura.  For example, our Baltic cruise on Marina, with only seven hours total in Berlin (private tour I organized for 18) but fortunately on a Sunday, led us to return for six full days in Berlin followed by easy (and scenic) train transfers first to Dresden and then to Prague, a very satisfying two weeks.  

We were doing a land trip to Europe in 1998.  Our plan was to start out in Bern, go with friends to Prague for several days, then go to Berlin to meet my Danish friend for the first time (we met online) for more time.  Everything got turned upside down when our friend broke her ankle and had to cancel the trip with us.  So we started out in Bern, then took the train to Prague.  We spent several days there, then took the train to Berlin where our Danish friend "uninvited" us for our visit with her after Berlin and on top of that was unable to meet us in Berlin because of a family emergency.

 

So we added on time in Berlin (we had a relative living there which helped) and then went BACK to Prague while we tried to change our flight reservations home from Brussels to Paris.  When that worked out we went to Paris without any reservations and ended up having the best time we ever had there.

 

Loved Berlin which was most unexpected, at least to me.  The extra time in Prague was also worth it.  We ended up with a week each in Prague and Berlin, and an unexpected several days in Paris.

 

So, the moral is make lemonade out of lemons ...

 

Couldn't have done this on a cruise!

 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, CintiPam said:

six full days in Berlin followed by easy (and scenic) train transfers first to Dresden and then to Prague,

That is quite the trifecta - three of our favorite cities and each one definitely needing a lot more than a day 😁

[CintiPam]

2 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

That is quite the trifecta - three of our favorite cities and each one definitely needing a lot more than a day 😁

And I have been fortunate to have returned twice more to Berlin for two very different “specialty” visits, once for a week with my fellow art docents (Berlin is a hotbed for contemporary artists) and once for several days at the start of a tour last year, primarily in Poland, with the National World War II Museum.

[Paulchili]

14 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

And I have been fortunate to have returned twice more to Berlin for two very different “specialty” visits, once for a week with my fellow art docents (Berlin is a hotbed for contemporary artists) and once for several days at the start of a tour last year, primarily in Poland, with the National World War II Museum.

Did you have a chance to visit the Green Vaults in Dresden - truly unique collections.

[CintiPam]

13 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Did you have a chance to visit the Green Vaults in Dresden - truly unique collections.

Yes, both vaults plus the excellent military museum in the same buildings on first trip with my spouse when we had two days in Dresden.  (Revisited both on a day trip from Berlin, with a live human expert on that specialty art trip guiding us in the one where that was permitted.)

 

You remind me how fortunate I have been in the last few years with so much travel.  My retinal surgeon believes I should be able to fly again by mid-August.  

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

My retinal surgeon believes I should be able to fly again by mid-August.  

That’s wonderful news - best of luck to you.

[Hawaiidan]

16 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Dan - 10 days in Switzerland/Germany and Italy with 3* Michelin restaurants, 4 star hotels for $1500/pp  - that must be a different Switzerland that I had visited 😀

Sounds more like $1500/day 😀

 

Swiss mt inn  $235 (2,) French inn  $140 (2)  Bastide Moustar M* 350 w dinner( 78) Province, ( Allen  Ducasse)  These are rather for 2.....   I speak good German/ Swiss and crummy French...   Good meals can be had for 12-20E    Michelin * in Kaiserberg  $68.

  You just have to get away from any place that offers bus parking,  near city center or train stations.and has Chinese/ Japanese  restaurant signs......    all on cc  no cash even for toll in italy/france/

Edited July 14, 2019 by Hawaiidan

[Paulchili]

4 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Swiss mt inn  $235 (2,) French inn  $140 (2)  Bastide Moustar M* 350 w dinner( 78) Province,    These are rathe for 2.....   I speak good German/ Swiss and crummy French...   Good meals can be had for 12-20E    Yo just have to get away from any place that offers bus parking,  near city center or train stations.and has Chinese/ Japanese  restaurant signs......    all on cc  no cash even for toll in italy/france/

I am not saying that it can’t be done on a budget - I am saying that it would be very hard to do eating at 3* Michelin restaurants and staying at 4* hotels, as you indicated, in Switzerland & France.