old biddy

This all sounds very positive, I am beginning to relax about getting our visas in April/May. I can only hope that the London office is as organised as the Manchester one!

LIke you, we don't have our last 3 passports, so good to know that a letter of explanation will suffice.

Initially we had a panic as to where my parents were born, I am no longer able to ask them and I am an only child, but I think and hope I have solved it.

Have you looked at Scenic? We are doing Volgagrad to Moscow next October.

I can't be of any help re your actual question, but I would be very grateful if you will post how you get on with your visa application, as we are on a Russian river cruise next October. Volgagrad to Moscow. The one concern I have over it is the visa application. We will be using London as we live in Suffolk, but any information gratefully received!

I don't think us Brits are paying over the odds. Our price includes air fare and gratuities. We have done 2 cruises so far and have an Alaska one booked for 2019 at a price we consider reasonable.

We did the 10.00 Rodne Pulpit Rock trip and arrived back at 1pm, just as it was supposed to. We too sailed at 2pm so were back on board in plenty of time. I can really recommend it, just be warned it can be quite chilly.

In Eidfjord there are 2 lovely walks you can do independently. Go to the tourist information office very near the ship, they will give you a map which has a yellow walk, takes about 90 mins walking, down the side of the pretty river, to a lake then up into the hills and farmland. You will come across an ancient burial site, it is a lovely way to spend the morning. In the afternoon do the blue walk, about 60mins round the old village, there are various placards around telling you what you can see.

I really recommend it, some real exercise to ensure you will appreciate your dinner later, without feeling guilty!

We arrived in the village in Eidefjord at 7am, so I'm afraid we didn't see the sail in! We sailed out at 7pm and if I'm honest neither of us can call the sail out to mind, we would have been eating at that time. I'm assuming your engine problems have been solved.

In Stockholm we got a Stockholm card, not cheap but we reckoned worth it. Did the Hop on Hop Off boat to the Vassa museum, well worth a visit, then completed the boat trip back to starting point. Then picked up the HoHo bus to cover the land side of the city, again worth it. (all of these included in the Stockholm card, which can be bought from the kiosk near the Opera house, where the shuttle bus drops you).

There isn't anything that I would say 'don't do'. The only question mark in my book, surprisingly, is the Hermitage Museum. Yes it s a magnificent building inside and out, but nearly 4 hours of walking round looking at old master paintings and honestly I had nearly lost the will to live, but that is me personally, others thought it fantastic.

Sorry about delay in posting this, am now back home so ........

Aalborg: I didn't go ashore, not feeling brilliant, it was raining cold and generally miserable! My husband did the included walking tour, said it was OK. Quaint but slightly disjointed town, said I hadn't missed much.

Eidfjord: we went to the tourist information office and picked up a map of local walks. The yellow one takes about 90 mins walking, we took 2hrs due to stopping to admire the scenery down the side of a typical Norwegian river, a lake and up in the hills and through farm land, also came across an ancient burial ground. It was a lovely walk. in the afternoon we did the blue walk, about 1hr, easier, flatter round the old part of the village.

I can thoroughly recommend both.

We are currently on Star. We were in Stavenger 4 days ago. We had booked the 10 am Rodne Pulpit Rock tour, we had a slight concern, as it was due back at 1 pm and we were due to sail at 2 pm. The gentleman at the dock side assured me we would be back at 1 pm on the dot, ......We were.

It is a fabulous trip, just be prepared, it can get very chilly, take layers that can both be put on and taken off.

I think you will find the dock in St Petersburg is the fairly new cruise terminal about 30 mins out from the city. There is very little there, just the terminal and a car park. We were there 4 years ago when it was brand new, it was completely souless!

As for Stockholm, looking at the Stockholm cruise terminal schedule it appears Viking dock in the city at Stadsgarden. If that is the case it is very easy to access the city.

Just to round things off, I have received notification of my refund from Rightpath (ATOL) and it is in full, apart from the credit card fee, which I really didn't expect to get.

So all in all I am one happy bunny!

I have received one refund from ATOL, with no deduction. It was for a fly cruise booked directly with Voyages, using a debit card. I am still waiting for another claim with Swan Hellenic, booked through a travel agent with a Credit card. However in my various discussions with Rightpath, at no time did they mention an admin fee. Perhaps time will tell!

I've now got to the bottom of the situation. I've had a long productive conversation with Rightpath this morning. Any payment made to a travel agent will not be covered by the Credit Card charge back system, the claim has to go through the ATOL system. What has really annoyed me is the information I was given by the bank and the travel agent back in January was wrong. Surely in this day and age they should all have a predetermined protocol which is invoked as needed, All Leisure isn't the first nor will it be the last company to fail.

Well, I thought it was all sorted. How wrong can I be!

I have returned today from a lovely holiday in Mauritius, where we should have been going at the end of the cruise, to find a letter from the bank saying that Thomas Cooks' bank are disputing the charge back on the credit card and so I am going to lose the refund. They are saying that it needs to be claimed from the ATOL system. But I have got a communication from Right Path, saying they do not refund CC payments, paid direct to All Leisure or to a Travel Agent.

Has anybody else had this problem? If so any advice on how to resolve it? I don't see why we should be out of pocket but I am at a bit of a loss how to solve this.

All help gratefully received

I submitted my claim and it was received by right path claims on January 10th (they are the company dealing with ATOL claims). I got acknowledgement in 5 days. I then heard nothing. As they said they aim to pay out within 28 days I decided a phone call was in order. I spoke to a very nice lady who said I hadn't signed box 9. I needed to resubmit the relevant page and she would the be able to progress the claim. Sure enough within a week I had a email confirming all monies would be paid within the next 7-14 days, I got it in 10.

Perhaps a phone call might push things along.

We do seem to have been having to jump through a few hoops to get what is rightfully ours!

Yes it really is true!

Have just received the chargeback on the credit card for the deposit for one cruise and part deposit for the other. The system does work! (and this is from one of the big 4!)

Have already booked land based holiday in Mauritius to replace the lost March cruise.

Probably should add the decor of the ship is very sleek, very scandinavian really inviting. I'm afraid knocks most other smaller ships into a cocked hat. Having said all that it is the itinerary we go for not the ship, hence the reason we had the cruise in March on Voyager and November on Minerva

Likewise we have done Minerva, old Discovery, Voyager, all Fred's ships, including Black Prince, Ocean Majesty( she also is no more!) and Viking Star.

We did a 28 day, Greenland, Iceland, Faroes and Norway cruise on Boudicca. There was a noticeable down grading of the food from previous cruises, repetitious menus, pretentious naming of sauces and dishes, which turned out to be Thousand Island dressing and Iceberg lettuce, just generally very disappointing. The evening entertainment was not as good as previous cruises. Obviously the itinerary was very good which was the saving grace.

I must say the food on Viking is very good, verging on wonderful. There is something going on every evening, no imported entertainment, various in house muscians and singers in various bars round the ship, all very good.

Guess where our preference has gone to?

Viking ocean is an alternative. Only 900 passengers, yes a goodly proportion are from the US, but the ships are amazing. We were on 'Star' last year and loved it, going again in May to St. Petersburg - can't wait! Last cruise with Fred was a huge disappointment so don't think that is an option.

It would be nice if we had been told officially that everything is off. I feel for those who may not use the internet, sorting this out would be even more of a nightmare.

I agree it is all a bit of a nightmare, what is the best way to proceed. I rang the CAA help line yesterday and was told to claim all but the credit card element through the ATOL scheme.

We have also booked a second cruise with Swan Hellenic through a TA who are being completely unhelpful, say they don't know what to do! (if they don't what hope have I!). As that was on a CC I have submitted a claim to the CC company and will have to wait and see the outcome. I was initially told I would have to wait for the TA to sort things out, that may take forever and I want to get an alternative holiday booked, I don't have an endless pot of money to dip into!

We did it from Amsterdam to Budapest 2 years ago, absolutely wondeful!

There is sufficient storage but you do need to be tidy. Rooms on river cruise boats are nowhere near as big as ocean cruises. Everything you need is there, just be tidy!

How long you stay in each port varies. Often there is plenty of time to 'do your own thing'. Just be aware that sometimes due to river/canal conditions depature can be brought forward, so before you go off to 'do your own thing' ask at the desk. We found the staff very friendly and only to willing to help. Unlike an ocean cruise I have never heard of anybody being left behind!

We are about to do our 3rd Scenic cruise, I can't wait!

Do not fear! You will be able to swap once on the boat.

Speak nicely to the Cruise Director and he will do the necessary. I speak from personal experience. 2 years ago we were on Jewels of Europe on Scenic Diamond and were booked to go and see the Vienna Riding School, only to discover the night before in the CD evening chat, that the horses wouldn't be there - the whole purpose of the visit! I spoke to the CD and he immediately swapped us to the trip to Bratislava.

Scenic use their own coaches, generally, and do not fill them to capacity, there is always space.

We are due to go on our 3rd Scenic river cruise in 3 weeks (Gems of the Seine). Apparently our tickets etc were sent yesterday, really looking forward to it.

The compensation being offered is the same as was offered when Boudicca had a fire last year, so no real surprise there.

More concerning is the fact that Boudicca and Black Watch are sister ships of similar age, both have had engine fires in the last twelve months,food for thought me thinks!

Yes, as a past regular user of 'Fred' I can confirm there are 2 self service laundries on board. The detergent is automatically dispensed and you can't stop it. In all there are about 12 machines. It costs £2 per load. The tumble driers are a disaster, will only dry small amounts at a time, but they are free!

The best laundries I have found are on Viking Star absolutely amazing and completely free.