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I was in Oban in September. i had arranged for a private excursion as Oban, I believe, is close to the highlands. From memory, we drove to Glen Coe and explored the local area. It is incredibly beautiful; wild, fierce, hilly. The weather during our excursion was terrible, but we still had a wonderful time. Glen Coe is historical and the site of a massacre and important Scottish battles. i remember our driver/guide took us to a local restaurant and we had a fabulous meal. Sorry I do not remember details. Suffice to say, Oban has a lot to offer, especially traveling north and west.

Mine came via “my account” and my TA.

I have stayed at the Hilton at Schiphol and used the walkway humping one piece of luggage, a handbag and a briefcase. It was a haul, but not soooo difficult, and I am old. I did a dry run (without luggage) once I checked into the hotel, to get my bearings. I would suggest you follow up with travelberlin’s webpage.

Twin sister and I sailed SB in September and the app was a daily nuisance. I had to go to guest services to have it “fixed” several times and ended up ignoring the app. It was very annoying, yet SB touts it as an all purpose and valuable tool and source of information.

Ray and Ann: I am on your cruise and have a Crystal private transfer to FCO and a (now) 12:25 pm Delta flight to Atlanta. There have been two departure changes so far, so who knows. My only advice is to allow yourselves plenty, and I mean plenty, of time to get through FCO. Last time I departed from Rome, May of 2023, I was shocked at how busy, crowded and chaotic this airport was. But first, before FCO, we have two blissful weeks on Symphony! Nancy

Amex may have been ‘burned’ by OC as they refunded, within months, funds from four booked (Covid) cruises. With minimum fuss and no hysterics on my part. I was amazed. And I did not book through their cruise program.

There is a link to private excursions online, for every day, on the excursion reservations pages. Hope that is clear. look to reserve shore excursions and you will see the link on the upper left side of the page.

I just today finalized three private shore excursions with Crystal folks. Two walking tours and one all day with car. The woman I emailed was fabulous and made helpful suggestions and even restaurant recommendations. I suppose you can request a range. Your $100. comes off the top of the excursion price if you book. while there are obviously many factors determining the cost of each excursion, I was pleasantly surprised at how (relatively) inexpensive mine were…

Hooray! I booked myself into Athens Capital Hotel for two nights prior to my April cruise before knowing it was Crystal’s choice. I am an Accor member. i have not been to Athens for almost 20 years and once stayed at the Marriott about a mile away from Parliament Square and three times hubby and I stayed at the (then) brand new Hilton just past the Benaki Museum. And Goulandris Museum. Both properties were very good.

For domestic traffic and Canada, there are many direct flights into LaGuardia (LGA), which is closer to Manhattan than EWR and JFK airports.

Hi all, I too am on the Athens to Rome cruise next April/May. I cannot wait! Post Covid and before NC, I experienced a very disappointing cruise on a competing “luxury line” and was consequently so happy to book on NC. My last OC was late 2019 and I am eager to get back on board Symphony.