D&K travel

18 hours ago, Stickman505 said:

Hi Karen - I hope you have as much fun on your next Tahiti trip as you did on Marina!😀

I hope so too! When we eventually get there. We are booked on 3 cruises (reversing itineraries) in hopes that one of them will work.

I imagine that with the recent blast of winter you had, you are wishing that you were sitting in those nice warm waters of Tahiti.

4 hours ago, zoncom said:

Any idea on his pricing. I also posted to him with no reply. Tkank you.

The 3/4 day tour, which I have been on and are booking again, is $130pp.

Here is the website for more information, as there are a variety of tours and prices.

https://maohinuiborabora.com/bora-bora-cruise-excursion/

I thought that there are likely others like myself that have emailed Patrick's, trying to set up a tour for once we are cruising again, and have been concerned about the lack of reply.

I have been in communication with the person who books the tours and she is having computer issues that have been compounded by Covid 19. She ended up being isolated in the USA and is with seniors that are immune-compromised, which has kept her and the non-functioning computer house bound. She will be back to being able to look at the bookings ASAP but expect to be kept waiting for a while. She will have a lot of catching up to do.

We arrived in Budapest yesterday with 2 days of thunder, lightening and rain. The rain held off so that we had an incredible nighttime cruise viewing the lights of Budapest. Scenic docks directly across from the parliament buildings and that's a fantastic view to have with our meals.

Needing to take 3 ships from Amsterdam wasn't great and tour guides were commenting on how that had never happened before. BUT we made it and overall it was a great cruise. The river levels are looking promising for the cruises coming up soon.

Apparently the Scenic Jasper sailed from Vienna to Budapest yesterday so it looks promising for us on Scenic Pearl tomorrow night.

Megpat - Were you able to sail into Budapest?

We are in Passau and hoping for the best.

Karen,

Do you mean you’ve changed ships ?

Yes. We are now on the Amber. So far we have had a Scenic tour of the Opal and the Ruby. The Ruby is the same configuration as the Pearl, which we were booked on. The Opal and Amber are newer and the same configuration. Some differences are slight but we prefer what we are currently on.

We are getting on the scenic Amber tomorrow in Passau. Since this is our 3rd ship, I have my fingers crossed that she will make it to Budapest. It's nice to hear that the Jasper made it.

We are on the pear from Amsterdam to Budapest and have just been told that we may have to change to the ruby on the 25th due to low water in the Rhine. We may also need to change again due to low water on the Danube. We did a rain dance today.

I'm not sure how the Opal turned into a pear. 🤔

The ships are having to take turns traveling in the deeper part of the river and that is slowing us down. We docked north of Cologne and were bussed for 1 hour into Cologne. Then the ship met us there. We went a little further down the river and then were bussed (again 1 hour) to Markham castle for a medieval dinner. But we had a 25 minute drive back to the ship at Andernach. Today we are being bussed to Rudesheim (1.5 hours) and then again the same time back. As you can see, a lot of bussing.

We are on the pear from Amsterdam to Budapest and have just been told that we may have to change to the ruby on the 25th due to low water in the Rhine. We may also need to change again due to low water on the Danube. We did a rain dance today.

We leave on Monday on Scenic. It's suppose to be the Pearl but I'm guessing that it won't be. We haven't heard anything from Scenic yet about changes. I'll post if or when I do.

For our Scenic cruise, we were given this link in order to find the location of any Scenic ship. Perhaps there is a similar one available for Viking.

www.anyoverip.de/scenic

We are booked on Scenic Pearl for Aug. 20. It was suppose to be in Budapest yesterday, leaving for Amsterdam. According to cruisemapper, it was nowhere near Budapest. I suspect that we are in for some changes on our 2 week cruise and longer and more bus rides than planned for.

It's nice to have this thread for updates from others already doing their cruise. Thank you!

I am SO glad that I posted here. Thanks for the advice.

I checked and we are the only ship in port.

I'm leaning towards doing the overnight trip which includes a 2 hour jeep ride in the Wadi Rum. I'll have to see if there are others interested in joining us to make it more worthwhile.

Maybe someone will video some of the AzAmazing Night and share it with us. :)

Thank you for your prompt response and your feedback.

I know that everyone has a different take on events but it's still nice to get different viewpoints.

Time will tell what we decide to do, probably within the next month in order to book a tour.

I'm looking for some information from anyone who has taken part in an AzAmazing Night offered in Aqaba for the Wadi Rum. (offered Nov. 2017)

I don't know if it has been offered on a previous cruise but if it has, I'd appreciate some kind of feedback that will assist me in deciding whether to miss the evening in favour for an overnight in Petra.

This is the description of the evening.

AzAmazing Evening - Music and Dance of the Wadi Rum Bedouin - AQ22

Explore the exotic culture of the Zelabia Bedouin during this marvelous performance of music and dance in the heart of the desert. The Wadi Rum is a vast, silent landscape of desert, dotted with yellow and red rocks, sculpted by wind and time into enchanting silhouettes. While this region is sometimes called the Valley of the Moon — wadi means valley in Arabic — the etymological history of the name likely refers to the topography of a valley surrounded by high rock formations. Today, the Zelabia Bedouin live nomadically throughout the valley in tents of goat hair just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. In a desert camp constructed especially to meet visitors, relax upon traditional Bedouin cushions under the starry night sky. Watch in wonder as the Bedouin perform traditional music and dances in the mystical ambience of the night.

Highlights:

-Enjoy the music and dance of the Zelabia Bedouin, passed down for thousands of years.

-Journey into the mystical desert of the Wadi Rum for a night of starry skies and fresh air.

We are disembarking Silhouette tomorrow. The captain leaves for three months after the next voyage. I doubt that he will be back on Silhouette. I'm guessing he will be moving to the edge project.

Thanks for the fast response.

I hope that you had a good and healthy cruise. We were recently (March) on the Infinity and the Star Princess and both were having issues that needed them to be sanitized.

Captain DIMITRIOS KAFETZIS is in countdown mode to his vacation.

Do you know when this vacation starts? We will be on the Silhouette in June and would love a repeat cruise with Captain Dimitrios.

Poor Infinity!

It was being "sanitized" after its trip to the Antarctic Feb. 14th and before going around the Horn. It's an on-going problem for many ships. The Star Princess was going through the same problems on its cruise around the Horn and north.

roaming kiwi58 and the others have basically said it all. Here's my 2 cents.

I highly recommend using Kuoda Travel. They are based out of Cusco. I have used them twice, 2 years ago for a 12 day tour and again this past April. Ask for Jesus.

For April. I coordinated 3 groups for tours after a cruise. There were 13, 4 and 8 in the groups and they spent 3, 4 and 5 nights in the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco area. We started in Sacred Valley and then spent a night at Machu Picchu before taking the train to Cusco. We liked Cusco, especially watching the Plaza from an upper balcony of a restaurant and so we had 2 nights there. It is possible to spend one night after the train ride, tour the next day and then fly to Lima for an international flight home. Those flights tend to be quite late at night.

Our prices ranged from $1800 to $2500, for 4 and 5 star hotels. I wouldn't recommend any lower as their hotels may be rated differently than what we are use to in North America. I would also recommend booking at least 6 months out as the hotels are smaller and book up faster.

If you want to talk to me directly, email dksmithtravel at gmail dot com

I highly recommend using Kuoda Travel. They are based out of Cusco. I have used them twice, 2 years ago for a 12 day tour and again this past April. Ask for Jesus.

For April. I coordinated 3 groups for tours after a cruise. There were 13, 4 and 8 in the groups and they spent 3, 4 and 5 nights in the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco area. We started in Sacred Valley and then spent a night at Machu Picchu before taking the train to Cusco. We liked Cusco, especially watching the Plaza from an upper balcony of a restaurant and so we had 2 nights there. It is possible to spend one night after the train ride, tour the next day and then fly to Lima for an international flight home. Those flights tend to be quite late at night.

Our prices ranged from $1800 to $2500, for 4 and 5 star hotels. I wouldn't recommend any lower as their hotels may be rated differently than what we are use to in North America. I would also recommend booking at least 6 months out as the hotels are smaller and book up faster.

If you want to talk to me directly, email dksmithtravel at gmail dot com

I had problems reaching them as well. I emailed near the end of May and in July and didn't received a response until Aug. Then, no problems getting multiple responses.

It may be due to a change of seasonal activity. Who knows! It's all part of traveling and dealing with other cultures.

We've been to Machu Picchu twice. 2 years ago in May and again this past April. Both times we used Kuoda Travel for our tours. Kuoda is based in Cusco and we rave about their service.

I haven't been on an excursion from the ship but I spoke to several that did the 3 night one that Oceania offered after our cruise. In a word, they described it as RUSHED. I coordinated the tours for groups of 13, 4 and 8, spending 3, 4 and 5 nights in the Sacred Valley/MP/Cusco area. Two years ago, we spent 12 nights in Peru. It's worth seeing and especially being able to spend more time enjoying it for less money than what is offered by the various cruises. Also, altitude sickness can be a factor and feeling sick but needing to force yourself to travel is not the way to appreciate the sites.

FYI - I know of a couple that just canceled their cruises and intend on going to MP etc. this coming April/May. If that is of interest to anyone, I can put you in touch with them.

However the new point system works, it should be interesting when we do find out.

We've been on a variety of 1, 2 and 3 point cruises. The one that "bugged" us the most was the Galapagos cruise. It was such an expensive week cruise and we only got one point. (and no bag at all - I was hoping for one of the leather handle ones) Maybe the new system will handle some things differently.

I guess we wait and learn.