Louise22

We're booked next fall on Tauck, Amsterdam - Budapest, and there is one time when men are asked to wear jackets. That's the special "gala" evening in a Viennese palace. Fair enough I guess, although my husband is not pleased.

Just got home from the cruise with the "gala" evening in the palace. I would not worry at all about taking a jacket. I saw men wearing either and honestly, it is so crowded in the space no one will notice anyway.

Yes - anything will fit in anymore. All I cruise are expedition ships anymore and things are much more casual. Particularly, I think, with luggage restrictions. I cruised twice last year on expedition ships and for some reason was invited to the captain's table each time with different companies - one English and one U.S. I felt perfectly comfortable wearing white slacks and a fancy blouse with dressier type sandals. Would wear black slacks in a colder climate.

Although I haven't used them for land tours, I have used their taxi transport airport to hotel in South Vietnam, Russia and other places. A really first rate service with someone always waiting with a sign for me and great vehicles. I wouldn't hesitate to use them for a land tour.

Take a look at Travel Dynamics. They have some great looking Greek Island cruises. :)

We are booked on the Tauck Budapest to Prague westbound cruise in May. I just noticed yesterday that all the cruises in May are filled for all the westbound and eastbound except there is limited space May 27th westbound.

I didn't realize how long ago but it is 5 years since I did that particular cruise. It was on the same ship that Silversea uses now but with the companies who leased it previously. I have expedition cruised in that area of the world for 10 years on the same ship plus one cruise on the Orion.

I am sure you will have the most wonderful trip. :)

Posting above about missing Yap brought back so many amazing memories.

Iwa Island where we watched the people fish in a very unique manner. In the morning they would collect spider webs from the jungle and roll them together. They were used as lures floating on the water and held by kites.

Snorkeling in the Trobriand Islands in the pouring rain and being greeted so warmly by the people.

Approaching Rabuul we could see ash from the volcano rising 30,000 feet. During our tour we went to view the volcano from an observation point and it began to rain lightly. We turned to mud when the ash got wet. Back to the ship and we were hosed down on the dock. The ash even seeped into our cabins.

Our turn away from Yap resulted in 2 days at sea. One of the days in the ocean was as smooth as glass. Not a fish or bird to be seen and no land either. I felt like I was in the "twilight zone".

Snorkeling along side the underwater cliff in Palau and not knowing how deep the water was underneath. And, the jelly fish lake.

I did look back to see what our refund for missing Yap was and for each person it was $3,500 travel credit or $2,100 cash. Truly, the trip couldn't have been more amazing and I would have been happy with no refund.

I was on an expedition ship a few years ago in which the main part of the trip was Yap and Palau. The immigration officials in Yap kept missing the meetings to allow entry. We continued on without stopping although the captain did offer one of the island chiefs a monetary benefit if he allowed us to dive and snorkel off shore. He refused. The company offered us a choice of a credit of thousands of dollars to be used for a future cruise or cash.

You might try http://www.smallshipcruises.com. We did a small ship cruise of the upper Amazon years ago with International Expeditions and it was excellent. That is truly the only way to experience the Amazon if you are interested in wildlife, the indigenous peoples and the amazing scenery.

This person also posted the same complaints on another website. It is too bad that in their opinion so much went wrong - river cruising is just not for them evidently.

Your boat docks at 5:30am and your flight leaves at 7:55am? You will never make it unless you are walking next door from the boat to the plane. You could possibly not even make that if unloading is delayed at all.

The ship is the old Clipper Odyssey. Don't know what the refitting will be but you could try and find some info on websites for the Odyssey. It was leased by Zegrahm for 5 years and previously by Intrav. I have cruised for over 10 years on the ship mostly all over the South Pacific. It is a favorite of mine.

We did an Amazon cruise on one of the very small ships about 11 years ago with International Expeditions. It was in the fall and the water was low. In some places the banks were very high with villages overlooking the river. But, from what I understood, when the snow melts in the Andes and reaches that area, the river level becomes very high and there are no banks with the water going right into the forests. I would think that this would not be an optimal time to go. It was a wonderful trip and I would do it again to see the wonderful wildlife and the people doing their normal daily activities.

Hi, sable1 - I believe that since you were on the Aranui it is a newer version - Aranui 3. It went into service about 6 years ago.

It has been four years since I was on the Aranui and if all is the same I would highly recommend the cruise. The suites and deluxe cabins are extremely nice. I had a very large suite with a balcony. A word of caution if you really desire a balcony some are so small you cannot sit on them. I did find that most of the time it was so hot you couldn't sit outside. I didn't like the food much but then I am a picky eater and not much into fish. I am not sure whether it has changed but most of the passengers were French. We did have a great group of English-speaking passengers and had a blast together. The lectures were not that great but personally I didn't miss that aspect of the trip. Tours were great. I would do it again.

I did a Lindblad Polaris trip this past spring to the Galapagos. Added on was Peru and Machu Picchu. Actually, I have become addicted to solo sailing on small expedition ships. In the past four years I have sailed Fiji to Vanuatu to New Caledonia in the South Pacific plus Brunei to Bali with visits to Komodo Island and Sulawesi (terrific snorkeling) and just recently Vietnam. The Mediterranean with stops at Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, Malta and Sicily. Antarctica and Iceland last year and before that Alaska to Siberia. A cruise around the Marquesa Islands on the freighter Aranui two years ago. My husband passed away so that is why I have been venturing off on my own. At first I was very nervous but really all I have to do on my own is to get on the plane. Once I have reached where I am going everything is taken care of for me. I don't mean to be bragging but I really do have a blast with the people on the small ships. Everyone is there for the adventure and the informality.

Just happened upon this post. Yes, I was on the ship last October. It was a wonderful trip. All our shore excursions were very well arranged to give a selection of activities. I had a cabin with a balcony overlooking the swimming pool. A lovely large room but if I were to chose again I would select a balcony cabin on either side of the ship. Be careful with what you get though as a few passengers were upset with what they thought would be a balcony and was only a door opening with a gate across. The food was good but there was not much selection - if you didn't care for what was being served, it was a bit hard to communicate. The ship was full on my trip with about 50 English-speaking to 150 mostly French-speaking. Because of the ship being full, the dining times had to be divided. Although the Aranui is new, I found the workmanship in the construction of the ship a bit lacking. Don't let this influence you though - I think I might be a bit picky. I loved arriving at each location and seeing the freight being loaded and unloaded. A very enjoyable trip.