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Our tour included the drive up to the church, visit of the church. Then we either walked down the stairs or took the bus (we walked). After that we did tour the museum. We had an hour of free time in Lamego where we also visited the cathedral. For some exercise we climed up the stairs again and bought some souvenirs in the church shop and then down again to meet our bus. The Mateus Palace is very impressive from outside and inside. The gardens are regarded as the best of Portugal. And you have that postcard picture of the palace mirroring in the artifical lake. So a mix of history, culture and gardening. steamboats

Decide on your own - Lamego and Mateus. If I could do only one I´d go for Mateus. steamboats

We had the pleasure to explore the new A-Rosa Sena for two nights on the way from Cologne to Amsterdam (yes, the regluar cruise is 7 nights and a Cologne roundtrip). As we did not go on the whole cruise the focus is on the ship itself. All parts of my review regarding the ship are already online (use any kind of automatic translation for the text but there are tons of photos anyway). I will add a short review of the trip itself but that´s still in the making (or my job for this weekend). The ship is bilingual - German and English. All brochures or information onboard is available in both languages. At the welcome onboard reception the captain asked whether there are English speaking guests onboard. In that case he would have held his speech in both languages, He was "lucky" as all 250 guests (including 38 kids) were German speaking. steamboats

It definitely isn´t... A cruise ship is sort of private like a shop or a hotel or any other building. You need the permission of the owner to take videos for publishing (Hausrecht). And for privacy reasons you´re not allowed to show other people without their consent (as long as they can be recognized). Like the example in the fitness studio - no way in Germany! You can´t show people on the threadmill in a video online. BTW, another point... Celebrity ships are registered in Malta, EU. So Maltese and European laws set in and not US law (unless the ship is in a US port). steamboats

No, I never said it´s not commercial but it´s not published for everyone. @MobiusHky thanks for the link. The headline would be the thing here in Europe. As long as the person can´t be recognized you can publish it. BTW we differ between taking footage (video or photo) and publishing it. So taking the video for your private vacation summary is totally o.k. as long as you only show it to your family and friends. But it´s not o.k. to publish it online. Those examples of the viral videos would even be legal to publish as there´s a public interest in publishing them. But there won´t be any legal interest publishing a video of people laying next to the pool and enjoying their vacay. And even the US laws are stricter when it comes to show any minors in your pictures (which is more or less not to avoid on a cruise ship). steamboats

Sorry, for the misunderstanding. If the cruise line is taking video material they want to publish (like use it in a video about a christening) they need your consent and then you will find a note in the daily program telling you that throughout the cruise video material is taken and if you don't want to be in the final product you should let them know. When they only use the material for a Cruise video shown onboard and for your private memory then they don't need to ask you. That's private use and no commercial use. The influencers/content creators are publishing their material and therefore it's no private use anymore but commercial (which doesn't mean you have to earn money with it - it's sufficent that you publish it in a way everyone can watch it). steamboats

As I just said those were not published but just shown onboard and you were able to purchase them. When you've purchased the video you did not get the right to show them in public or put them online in any way. steamboats

@davekathy the videos of your cruise X did show or even sell you were only shown onboard and never published in a way the whole world could watch them (like on YouTube). We're talking about videos which are published by influencers/content creators. For publishing you need the consent of the people appearing in them. steamboats

As long as you only take them for private use you don't need anything. steamboats

It's no problem taking photos for private use. But private use does not mean you are allowed to publish the video in YouTube or any other public platform. I've gotten many of those notes usually hidden somewhere in the daily program. And those influencers and content creators are publishing their material which is no private use anymore. Photos or videos of minors are an absolute no go. steamboats

@Charles4515 the last time I had this note was in the Christening Cruise of the Norwegian Prima. So it's not just in Germany 😉. And once more a cruise ship is not the public. DH is a cruise journalist and even when we are on a private cruise we do inform the cruise line that we are onboard and do take photos. Usually the cruise lines are even more strict when you take video. Legally you do need the consent of every person in a video or a photo. steamboats

Actually you´re not in the public on a cruise ship and therefore anyone taking videos needs your consent. Taking a video you also need a consent of the cruise line. When the cruise line is taking videos you get a note telling you that you have to report at the reception if you don´t want to be in that video. steamboats

I read from passengers of the A-Rosa ship there that they couldn´t go through the lock due to a strike. So your SIL was correct. Sorry, can´t help you with the Bordeaux cruise. steamboats

You may want to take a light jacket with you. There´s a constant temperature of 16/17°C (61/62°F) and a humidity of 95% down there. steamboats

It's US law... Not a rule by RCI. In Europe it's not required to have an empty ship. That's also why you can find interporting in Europe. As for the Oasis Class ships in the Med (Symphony in 2023) the main turnover port is Barcelona but you can interport in Civitavecchia (meaning start and end your cruise there). steamboats

It´s not offered for US departures as the ship has to be empty prior to the boarding of the next passengers. It used to be available in Europe and the sticker was 35 or 39 Dollar. But it never reappeared since the ships started again after the Covid-19 break. steamboats

I loved the changing scenery and nature on the Columbia river cruise - from rain forest to desert. And I do love local museums or national parks. Anyway your experiences are with one itinerary only. I have cruise the whole Mississippi river, the Ohio river, the Illinois river, the Cumberland river and the Tennessee river plus the Columbia / Willamette / Snake rivers. It´s definitely different from river cruises in Europe as there the cities are close to the river and one after the other. It´s more nature and smaller towns and American history on US cruises. Yes, US river cruises are more expensive... But that´s mainly because you have to have US crew (and unions) onboard. In Europe you have a lot of Eastern European crew onboard who does earn much less than a German crew member (for example). It´s the same as on land... different wages in different countries. You can´t hire "cheap" non US crew due to legal reasons (Passenger Vessels Services Act). That´s basically why US river cruises are much more expensive and less luxurious than European river cruises. You definitely can have a great time onboard. Don´t set your expectations too high and prepare yourself on what to expect or not and you will be positively surprised! steamboats

I wouldn´t say "stay away" and "not up to par to European river cruises" but for the German market European river cruises are not that a high end product and way cheaper. You have to be aware that Uniworld is a luxury river cruise line. It can´t be compared to ACL or AQV. Both are not that high end luxury. But you definitely will have a great cruise! There are only 3 companies on the Mississippi river system - ACL, AQV and Viking. steamboats

Wonder of the Seas already has that mini casino called Golden Room (see here). At least on Wonder there is no bar in the Golden Room. Just sort of a buffet. But there it was planned as a VIP casino for the China business. It then was used as smoking casino. But I´m pretty sure that they do serve you drinks in there. steamboats

Definitely a much better article! steamboats

It´s not a regular dry dock. Cruises starting April 17th til May 3rd are cancelled. steamboats

Yes, I know of people who used this service, although I think 6 Euro (one way) is sort of robbery compared to the 2.50 Euro (one way) the former Largo della Pace - Train Station bus was. I think the BIRG ticket is still 12 Euro and that´s a day ticket for the train to Rome plus public transportation there. steamboats aka Carmen

The first LNG ship was the AIDAnova which was running the Canary islands and later the Med out of Palma de Mallorca... Meanwhile we have AIDAcosma, Costa Smeralda, Costa Toscana, Iona, Arvia, Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and MSC World Europa. AIDAcosma and MSC World Europa were doing the Arabian gulf cruises this winter. Yes, the infrastructure for bunkering LNG was available in Europe first and not just in the Carribean ;-). steamboats

@Coral I totally agree with you regarding the ship´s layout and that as a regular passenger you might not see everything if not specifically searching for it. But this is a professional travel writer and she should prepare herself prior to the cruise and check the deck plans and in case the way to a certain area is not obvious I´d ask for it. But the article sounded more like "oh, what a loveley surprise, there´s a full bathroom in my cabin". steamboats

Gee, I can't delete the quote in my cell phone. Unfortunately I can't join the VIVA TWO christening tomorrow as I'm busy with another appointment. But we are checking out the A-ROSA Sena in a week (just for 2 nights). steamboats