Mrs Clooney

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On 8/18/2021 at 3:45 AM, Cruise Raider said:

We were just on the Majestic and did have some soot on our balcony from time to time throughout the cruise.  Our room steward did a great job of keeping it cleaned up, though.  Of note, there was a mat provided near the door to help keep the carpet clean.  We did put it down when we noticed soot out on the balcony so we wouldn't take it inside onto the carpet in the stateroom.  

Would I get that stateroom again ... in a heartbeat!! 

PS ... we were right next to the corner aft suite on the Baja deck so I can only imagine their experience was similar to ours.  

We are booked in B736. Deluxe balcony Aft. Is the balcony covered like some of the lower decks. If so. Does that mean less soot?  

On 2/25/2021 at 3:21 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

With the included shore-ex, you are guaranteed a seat on the bus, or joining a walking tour. You can change tours, or book new tours on board, up to a couple of days before the port. The cut-off time for booking and cancellations is printed in the Viking daily.

 

However, in our experience, the buses were never filled to capacity, as with most shore-ex we took had about 35 in a full size bus. Therefore, even on the pier they can generally accommodate you on an included tour.

 

With optional shore-ex, even if the website shows sold out, the Shore-ex staff on the ship often receive cancellations and can possibly order additional tours.

 

Which long cruise are you considering - the World Cruise or Sydney/Vancouver

 

On Viking, all cabins have balconies and we also found the DV cabin about 50% bigger than a comparible cabin on Princess.

Thanks. We are doing 29 days ( that’s long for us) London to Stockholm. ( Norway mostly) 

have asked these questions at other places ( sorry I got no notification of your answer until now) .. it seems There has been comments about the lack of storage in the Veranda and deluxe Veranda cabins. But I’m sure will be okay.We Will have no trouble getting on excursions, and no trouble with the restaurant situation - so we have been told . We’ve been advised that if you’re walking past one of the specialty restaurants and it’s not full, you can just ask if they can take you in. Most people say that the Viking staff of been very accommodating in these restaurants.

thanks for your reply. 

Hi. I have a long cruise booked in 2023 ... first time ever , I’ve booked the cheapest cabin - it’s a balcony which is bigger than the other cruise lines we’ve sailed with- don’t drink much - so didn’t need one with all the bells and whistles. 
I too am concerned now about being able to get a meal at a decent time - and even get on an included excursion 🤷‍♀️  What if they are all booked out. We won’t know until we board - then abit late to book an excursion with an outside company. Any comments from recent travellers??? 

Those cabins up on level 12 are newer than other cabins. Plus the ship is having a refurb in November apparently- 

On 9/18/2018 at 7:35 AM, Micah's Grandad said:

We have done it four times and really enjoy it. DW has unusual food allergies and they were very accommodating.

What is DW???

Have done Amsterdam to Budapest, Budapest to Bucharest two years ago... but with Uniworld...

that too was excellent, luckily found a two for one deal!! They are very expensive but fully inclusive. 

Emerald was also except drinks only with meals. But just about everyday there was some activity and the often handed the wine around then. ( sometimes too much 😂😂) 

Honestly, the BEST holidays we’ve ever had!!! 

And if you have great people on board with you - makes all the difference... we have new lifelong friends now that we are traveling with again next year. 

Hope yours is wonderful 

Reply

Hi Lene,

 from memory I think we got all of our paperwork and wonderful back packs from our travel agent about a month or three weeks out before the trip. I am pretty sure that I was able to look up the excursions on my  itinerary .  you know of course that the excursions are included but there are sometimes one or two extra that you can do and pay for. We never paid for any ,we just went on the ones that were provided and were extremely happy with those, and were very happy just to walk around the villages and towns ourselves after each excursion .

There must be somewhere online that you can look this up because I remember sending lots of messages to Emerald or Evergreen on their Facebook or messenger page. I too had lots of questions and basically harranged  these people to get all information,  and I have to say that they were very quick and kind in their response considering that I was bombarding them all the time. And I’m glad that I did because I got lots of extra information that I wanted and was amazed that so many of the people that I travelled with had no idea of where they were going, where we were staying  and what to expect. And even what the room looked like .

 ... so I think I said that we did the Portugal and the south of France trip in October, and if you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to ask me. I’m not sure which trip you are doing but if it’s the same as ours happy to give you any information that you want .

Thank you so much. Do the rooms have a tv ( sometimes I like an afternoon rest and watch some tv to send me off to sleep) 

I enjoy cups of teas regularly during the day and wondered if there’s a place to get this? Is it included in the fare or do we have to pay for everything outside of the three main meals? 

Any information would be welcome. Thanks 

I am looking at the 12 night ( 34 stop) trip Bergen to Bergen. In August 2020. 

So im guessing that you get the ship that is going on that date that is best to you. Can you find out what ship you get in advance. ? Is August a good time?  Also assuming the northern lights won’t be there at that time. 

As the cabins look great but small, is there lounges to spend the time in... when you’re not outside admiring the view. Many thanks. K

Probably  Best to read my ships review on both of the ships. But I suppose the highlight points would be ,one the ship is beautiful with very clean minimalistic lines, very nice food that I didn’t have to cook, plenty of wine will be served with lunch and dinner, really lovely Portuguese  staff who are very friendly.

I have to say though that I thought the actual views from the boat would be a little boring but we were totally wrong. It was as good as ,if not slightly better than, the Danube traditional Budapest to Amsterdam cruise .  We enjoyed visiting the wineries even the museum that I thought would be boring and the day trip out to Salamanca. Plus we met some other guests from different countries that were just brilliant and made the trip so wonderful.

 The little pool on top of radiance was a shallow pool ,but perfect for just sitting in and watching Portugal and it’s beautiful wineries and homes and villages slip by..

Plus there was plenty of activities provided on the boat during the day ,some  being quite hilarious.

Enjoy your cruise I’m sure you will

Well Lisbon is a fab place to spend 3 or more days in, surrounded by amazing villages that are worth visiting...

i know the river cruises are expensive , but once paid, we never spent a cent..

i have a long review on the emerald Radiance that cruise critic is taking forever to post ( I know they are busy).. 

ive done cheap ocean cruises and my account at the end was more than my original price for the cruise.. 

im extremely happy with what we got on Emerald..

Hi lois,  it is a shame that you’ve cancelled because I’m sure you would’ve loved it. I have just got back from a river cruise with Emerald waterways on the radiance. We started in Lisbon as well and have a wonderful four days there before going onto Porto and onto the river. Yes most of the excursions involved a short bus trip there was still plenty to look at at the little villages when we docked. Both my husband and I have done Amsterdam to Bucharest  with Uni world which was absolutely fantastic but do you know what we preferred Emerald and the Duroe river it was just really lovely have a rethink because uni world is very expensive we paid Far less With Emerald radiance but enjoyed our time just as much

I have just done a comprehensive review on Emerald Radiance ,plus photos. Should show up now or tomorrow... cannot recommend this trip enough. 

10 hours ago, FuelScience said:

Lois,

I would go ahead and go with the flow. As I mentioned in my review, the most spectacular scenery was on the bus rides to the attractions. The Douro is a short river (154 miles from Porto to Barca de Alva), so if you would be able to see everything without overly oppressive bus rides. I knew about the possible problems when I booked our Douro cruise, but we made it with no high water problems. And things can change quickly. Somewhere on CC there's a post about a Danube cruise where the cruisers were warned of low water at the beginning of the cruise and then before the cruise was over they had problems with high water!!

Hi. We did the Douro on EMERALD RADIANCE in sept. Great trip. No water problems. Loved the scenery, new boat, food, Portuguese staff, and excursions.. thoroughly recommend 

Also... I would stick to the Mid level on river cruises. We had the drop down balcony , just lovely and dried my clothes beautifully... I need a big window or fresh air. Top level... apart from the suites, cabins are the same size as the mid level. But much pricier?? No idea why... because you can get the noise of the early morning joggers , and the clank of the crane as it lifts the gangplank.. save your money. 

All good points about Scenic and Emerald. I’ve done two Emerald ( which shortly I’ll write reviews on) and visited a scenic with my friend who was onboard... the boats were moored next to each other so we had an explore!

we don’t drink much but enjoyed our wines and beers with lunch and dinner. Don’t need a mini bar or sunset drinks ( happy to pay for one if the desire took me)

very happy with emeralds interior, staff, food and in our case, plenty of included excursions and activities.. after years of travelling, I’m accustomed to doing my washing in the shower and I have a very tidy way to get things dry. 

Scenic looked lovely but I wouldn’t pay the thousands extra for it. 

Ive travelled 28 days with UNIWORLD ( 5 star) and I’d still save my money and go Evergreen. 

Just my opinion. You need to do your own research. 

Most bus rides short. Even the longer one to Salamanca goes quickly. ( quicker coming back cause you snooze). Still each port has local stuff to look at. You’ll enjoy it

No stomping. Just drinking. 

We went with Emerald Radiance. Fabulous trip 

Research yes. Always amazed at how many people I meet on holidays ( cruises, river cruises , land content etc) that have NO IDEA about their accommodation, what is included, where the trip stops, excursions and what you see on them etc .. I’m surprised that they had enough brains to find their way to the ship/ airport. 

Thank you. I nice reminder and better photos than mine. I only got back one week ago and have forgotten so much already.  

Hope your health has improved. 

 I have just finished two back to back River cruises with Emerald one in Portugal and one in the south of France .

 When we were with Emerald going on the Douro river we met up with friends who were on the scenic Azure -  

 So we went aboard their boat and had a look around, and they came on to ours and had a look around ,apart  from their bedroom ,which was the same category as ours, Being slightly different in configurations  and a tiny bit bigger there really wasn’t that much difference. Certainly in my mind the difference in price was quite substantial and not enough to warrant the extra price .we are not huge drinkers , so did not require 24 seven included alcohol and were very happy with wine and beer with lunch and dinner . Both of our boats were brand-new and spotless, staffed with wonderful people who couldn’t do enough for you. We did fantastic excursions and our food was wonderful, the wine was free-flowing during the meals- ... so  we did so many interesting things whilst on the boat like cheese tasting, port tasting, tile painting ,making things with cork,  cooking demonstrations so on and so on .  Never a dull moment -  I believe every scenic Cabin  has a butler which they obviously share with other cabins, but my friend said they never really needed the butler so if you’re after a really good holiday at a slightly cheaper price but  a beautiful trip in a beautiful boat then Emerald is the way to go

Just back from a double emerald river cruise. Radiance then Liberte-  happy for any questions. 

Loved the ships/ itineraries and staff

If you want a really good look , as I can’t seem to load my photo here, have a look at PIPPA MADDENS YouTube video of her panoramic ocean view cabins.

Cabin 1860 does have a supporting pole right in front of the mirror. Doesn’t seem to be in the way too much.

Has anyone now sailed on Explorer, in one of these ‘spacious panoramic ocean view’ cabins? (Not the family rooms).

Would be interested to hear and also about Cabin 1860 which the OP started the thread about.

 

Thank you.

Last year it was about 10 euro for the package that included only what was free at lunch and dinner. About 20 euro for the full package.

Thanks. Have been reading some reviews on our cruise ( Douro) and there’s differing answers to this. But the ballpark figure is great. Thanks.

One traveller said the Portuguese wine was foul but no one else was negative.. fingers crossed.

But I will enjoy my cruise, no matter what ... :)