patrickmoran

All cabins on Princess ships have minifridges. You have to upgrade to a minisuite to get a sofa on Princess.

Actually, we had good weather during our cruise. There were some cloudy or foggy days but no rain or snow. It was seasonably cold or slightly better. In vienna, we had a gorgeous sunny warm day. That lead me to shed a couple of layers when I went to Christmas Eve Mass. The stone had not warmed up and it was colder inside than outside. I offered up the discomfort to offset my sins of gluttony while on the cruise!

The cabin size was a personal choice. We get on a cruise as cheap as possible, usually an inside cabin. The ship has bigger cabins and cabins with balconies. It is a matter of one's wants and needs. The cabin worked fine for us. There was little daytime cruising so scenery was not there. With the lounge, which was usually empty, we had plenty of space and views when needed.

We just returned from Viking's Danube Waltz cruise on the Embla. We started in Budapest on December 19 for 2 days pre-cruise with the cruise starting on the 21st. This was our 1st river cruise and really enjoyed it. We had cabin 114 which is a cabin midship on the Main deck. It had a small window head high. The room was snug but had sufficient storage room for everything that we brought. The bathroom was good sized with a roomy shower stall. The room had 3 110 volt outlets and 2 220v outlets. The cabin stewardess took care of the room twice daily.

Food was good to very good. Soups were excellent; meat dishes were very good, especially the lamb and veal. Other appetizers and desserts were hit and miss. The choices were not as broad as on cruiseliner. But you won't starve. The standard wines were fine and served liberally. If you wanted beer or soda, that service was slow and inconsistent. Christmas dinner was feast and way too much food. the Captain's farewell dinner the next night was excellent and lots of food.

Internet service throughtout the ship including our cabin was good for Facebook and emails, etc. Downloads seemed a bit slow. I was susing my tablet and phone.

We booked our air through Viking (free!) and 2 days pre-cruise in Budapest. We stayed at the LeMeriden, excellent location. The flights went fine and Viking reps were there outside Customs to take care of us. We were checked in and had a room right away- about noon. Loved the hotel, great breakfast, nice room, robes and slippers. The main Christmas market was right behind the hotel. We had lunch at a small sandwich/pastry shop around the corner then napped. We tackled the Christmas market where we had dinner - Bluwein and sausage plus pastry log cooked over charcoal. Off to bed.

We got on a HOHO bus the next morning (all 4 companies stop directly across the street from the LeMeriden.) and rode around the city. We got off in the Castle district, walked round, and had Goulash soup for lunch. Back to the hotel.

Viking has a concierge at the hotel and he gave us a list of recommend restaurants. We pciked one and he made the reservation though not really needed. It was a great dinner and pretty reasonably priced. Next day (Saturday) hopped on the HOHO bus (tix good for 2 days) and rode to the stop for the included river cruise, took the 1 hr river cruise then walked up to the Christmas market for lunch. Back to the hotel for 4 pm transfer to the ship. We got our luggage fairly quickly and settled in.

With the cabin being small and nowhere to sit except on the bed, we spent alot of time in the lounge - after tours, after dinner, etc. We liked it and thought it gave you good views.

The next day we went on the included tour- bus ride around the city and waking tour in the Castle district with free time there. The ship sailed that night around 9 pm.

The cruise highlights were the Christmas markets. Vienna's was the best. We had free time there in the afternoon.

Christmas Eve day we were in Vienna. Everything was open until mid to late afternoon. The evening optional concert was offered and we enjoyed that though it was pricey. We stayed later than normal to allow passengers to attend midnight Mass. There is a local Catholic church very close to where the ship docks. The group from the ship arrived an hour early but that turned out not to be necessary. There were plenty of seats. But the church is COLD!!! There are pews that are heated but I did not know that. So your but is hot and the rest of you is cold. I froze all over. There really was not much of a concert before Mass so again going early is not worth it. Stayed up until 2 am so missed Christmas breakfast.

The abbey in Melk was the only thing open on Christmas Day and well worth the stop. The church is spectacular and only rivaled by the cathedral in Passau where we did hear the organ concert.

Salzburg was interesting and had lots of free time. Really enjoyed Passau.

Transfer to Munich was painless. Our flight was at 11:15 am so we did not have to be up at a ridiculous hour. Left the ship at 7:20 am. It was Saturday so traffic was light.

We enjoyed our 1st river cruise and look forward to future ones.

We were also on this cruise. A great resource is Rick Steves book Scandinavia. It lists lots of websites for getting more detailed info on transportation, museum , etc.

We used SPB Tours for 3 cities, St Pete, Berlin, and Tallinn. All were well done with St Pete being the best.

For Berlin, we took a bus from the port to Berlin, a 3 hr drive with a potty break halfway. We met the tour guide in Berlin and drove around the city for 6 hours with many stops. Lunch was at a cafe near the Holocaust Museum (not included in tour price).

In Tallinn, we had a 3 hour guided walking tour which was very informative and fun. Afterwards, I had the elk soup, pastrie and beer for 5 euros - cheap and good! Though many do a walking tour of Tallinn without a guide, I highly recommend it. You get so much more info about the city, life today, and history.

In St. Pete, we did SPB Tours' Deluxe Tour -details on their website. Everyone in our group raved about.

In Oslo, we did the Hop On Hop Off bus which worked well. We toured the Viking Ship Museum and the Fram Museum, the later being my favorite.

In Helsinki, you can walk to the tram station, maybe 10 minutes. Follow the blue line on the pavement. We bought day passes, 7 euros each. We transferred to the #3 Tram and toured the inner city that way. We downloaded an audiotour from Helsinki;s public transit website which was helpful though a little hard to keep in synch with the stops.

We had one those type of minisuites on the Coral for our recent Panama Canal cruise. It worked out great. Great amount of space and comfort. One thing to keep in mind is that you are close to the secret doors which lead to a great viewing area. When viewing the glaciers, there are many areas on the ship to get good views other than a balcony.

We have done Alaska in balcony room and inside rooms and always had a great cruise.

On Carnival, if you want them to store your wine and it is not a wine on their wine list (not necessary to buy it in the MDR), you will be charged the corkage fee. If I take the bottle back to my cabin after they open it, I have never been charged a corkage fee. I have just brought the bottle back to another dinner and they pour it just like regular.

Now I, more often than not, get a corkscrew from the cabin steward (no charge), open the bottle in my cabin, and then carry a glass of wine to dinner. You may have to remind the cabin steward to replenish your wine glasses, but never had a problem with that.

We got off the Celebrity Summit in November to head to the train station. As we left the cruise terminal, a lady directed us to the free bus. I am not sure who (port or Celebrity) provided the bus. It was very convenient. If necessary, I would pay for shuttle service.

We docked in Venice in November. Our hotel was next to the train station. We took the bus from the port (free) to Piazzale Roma. Then we lugged our luggage over the new bridge to the train station. In Venice, the bridges are stairs, not a smooth rolling surface. It was a bit of a chore taking 5 pieces of luggage up to the top. Going down is not as bad.

The other option is to buy tickets for vaporrate (sp?) and jump on at the PR stop and get off at the next stop (~2 minutes).

We have done 9 Carnival, 2 Princess, 1 HAL, 1 RCI, and 1 Celebrity cruises. We have enjoyed them all. Personally I do not find much difference between the cruise lines. We have 2 Carnival cruises booked, primarily on the basis of price and the large outside cabin I can get for an inside cabin price. I am paying $100 pp less for a Jan 2011 cruise than I paid in 2007 for a cruise which is amazing!

I only book these style Cat 1A cabins for my wife and me. They are great value: lowest price on ship, lots more room than an inside plus portholes. I have not been on the Valor yet but have slept on the convertible sofas on other ships in comparable cabins and they all have been quite comfortable. They tend towards being very firm which I like. The noise when docking usually lasts only a few minutes and I tend to just roll over and go back to sleep. You will feel more motion being so far forward but nothing excessive.

We will be in Huatulco in early November. Any suggestions for excursions, beaches, or things to do? any good snorkeling spots? Anything to avoid? Thanks