Hoyaheel

I think this sort of question is best asked in a pickleball forum, perhaps not a river cruise forum. Though I agree with above posters - taking a river cruise and wanting to play pickleball in port might not work out well - too many variables at play regarding timing & location.

This pickleball site had a blog post last year listing pickleball/vacation options - there was a tournament in France, and some options in Germany (even along the Rhine)! https://blog.pickleballcentral.com/category/international-pickleball/

6 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Road Scholar is the opposite of a la carte.

Yes, I'm getting that idea 😉

10 hours ago, pacmom said:

gratuities are included with Road Scholar. Pat

It's $1500 pp more for most Road Scholar departures than booking a CE trip directly. Yikes. (no, that's not one of the trips where they provide airfare, either) Considering I'm trying to find a more a la carte approach, that's probably not what I want..... (I'm also leaning toward Dijon and I don't see any RS options there, not this year at least....)

Ps I do all my own travel planning. I hate using a TA, and only do if/when it saves me money 😉 But since it usually at least gets me gratuities paid, I do it...

Thanks Pat! Sounds like great fun! Hope you enjoy - can't wait to hear about it.

Never disparaging how anyone describes their own situation! Just curious as to why some people's choices are criticized when those choices have no impact on random strangers online 😉 It's like the judgments that happen between "light" packers and "heavy" packers (even the words are loaded!) Do what you want!!!! But if someone posts for help to do something a certain way, why bother telling them they're doing it wrong because they're not doing it like you. The internet. Cannot be handled with logic 😉

I know river cruises are a small % of users on CC as it is, with those who've done a barge cruise even smaller - but wondering for those who have done (or who've researched them) - did you book through your TA? We've been thinking about it for this year or next, I asked my TA if she sold croisieurope barges (because they do offer the regular Croisi river cruises) and she says she "thinks" she has access because they do sell the river cruises. She'd check for me if I had a date/itinerary of interest, but I don't yet. Just wondering if this is a general issue with the type of trip (the croisi barges are 22 people - though we've looked at some of the 6/8 as well, I don't think I'd be as happy - we chartered a crewed sailboat a few years ago and I felt awkward with that few people in such a tiny space) Or if it's that I need to find a different TA (at least for this trip).  I've been reading as many reviews as I can find (not too many 😉) but most of the time, people don't note specifics about how they book a trip....Thanks!

I mean, the reality is - we all have different relationships and the most important thing is that it works for the people IN THE RELATIONSHIP. What you call each other, how you break down chores & pleasures etc. Shouldn't matter, shouldn't even be a subject to comment on because it doesn't impact an internet commentator's life....

To get back to OP - bribery. I think bribery works best 🙂 Carrot/stick might work, depending on your relationship 😉 But flat out bribery usually works best for us 🍻

9 hours ago, clo said:

I notice you don't call them "hubby" 🙂

I find that term puerile, so no, I do not use it. I'm also trying to be inclusive - not all women are with men, not all people in relationships are married.

Of the "major" companies operating in Europe, I think Crystal is the ONLY one without France itineraries, and that's due to its current few number of ships. Uniworld, AMA, Avalon, Croisi, Scenic - pretty sure they all offer French options. And I'm sure I've missed a few. Assume by "French" you don't mean the Rhine (though it does include France 😉 because that's what you're doing this year?

4 minutes ago, cruisergrandma said:

 I was not judging. I was speaking only for my grandchildren.

 

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 I am little more hesitant about food on CroisiEurope as they are French and do serve quite a bit of French cuisine. An alternative can be had if the choice at dinner is not to your liking, just wondering if the teenagers will be happy with such an arrangement.

 

I was referring to notamermaid's post that you were responding to. Good to objectively note that it's a French cruise company so one might reasonably expect them to serve French food (I've read complaints that the heavy lunches are too much for some passengers; it's a legitimate concern). I just don't think it's fair to assume that teens and only teens, or only American teens, would have a problem with that. Yours might. That's fair - you know them! But notamermaid and I do not.

OMG, as a teen I would have *loved* French cuisine all the time. As I would have loved a trip where I could read a lot and explore Europe. And I know plenty of adults who'd hate it. So let's not judge based on age 😉

Relationships are about compromise. If you don't want to help each other out (in whatever ways make sense in YOUR relationship) why bother? I'm better at planning - my husband is way better at actually packing. We typically work together (many years of travel together = we've arrived at a pretty good system 😉 to get the job done.

Avalon allows > age 8. We had a family of 5 on our Avalon Mekong cruise. No 3 person cabins (in Europe or Asia) as far as I'm aware.

54 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

 My suggestion is to do your research, find the things you would like to see, get their locations and opening times. Then, when you find out when you have free time, or decide to ditch the included tour, you know what you can do without spending time looking into it.

This is what we did - typically looked up a few breweries or pubs in the towns we were scheduled to visit (husband's input 😉) plus hours/locations of the Christmas markets (my preference) and fit in what we could....

You might know "morning" or "afternoon" from the itinerary in advance - but the specific arrival and departure times might not be known until the last moment (announced the night before, but always subject to change) Heck - docking location also always subject to change....

Just checked with my husband. No beach towels on ANY table near exits while disembarking at ports on Riviera, Dec 2019. So perhaps it varies by ship/staff. (We looked around a LOT because it was our first Oceania cruise. We did discover there are chilled waters in coolers, as well as room temp, so husband and I each could get our preference.)

1 hour ago, Mura said:

Back to a bottle of wine being left on the table in a restaurant (or not):

I believe the question/instruction was to ask for the bottle of WATER to be left at the table, which I did, and which was declined. But I did shame/guilt them into MUCH more frequent water service - that night, at least.

17 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

towels

Have they stopped having the beach towels  at the  exit  near the table of bottled water?

 

On our Riviera 14 day Caribbean cruise, there were no towels on the tables with the water bottles. And I'm not certain the towels are the same as the pool. I wouldn't take towels from there unless directed to do so. 

19 hours ago, Robyn2 said:

Are towels supplied for beach excursions?

I know this has been answered - yes - but wanted to provide more detail. There's typically a note in the newsletter to let your cabin steward know the day before a port if you want beach towels to take off. We received our newsletters quite late the first night before a port so I didn't read that until the morning. Not an issue for us as we weren't planning to go to the beach/need towels, but just so you know - make sure to let the cabin steward know in advance. I assume they'll be waiting in your cabin for you after dinner if you make the request (?again, we didn't ask for any - definitely saw them being carried off the ship though!)

7 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 So that means all his clothes from before the turn of the century still fit.

Yeah, we had some Miami Vice issues to deal with when I started dating husband. Sadly, we started dating in 1998 🤣 He still wants those white jeans back....

12 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

Next time ask the waiter to leave the bottle, or two.

 

They never would....

Oh yes, we had two or three veros in the cabin 😉 I was a bit infamous on the ship as I noted on the survey that the water service in restaurants suffered...It's bad when the wine service is better than for water 😉

I'm basing my response on a Dec 2019 cruise on Riviera. Other threads are discussing portable Vero water bottles, so it's possible some ships have those already, if Oceania rolls out one at a time? So I'd search for a Vero thread for specifics before your departure.

Vero bottle are 1 liter (or 1.25?) and glass, so no, not easily portable and not designed to be taken off the ship. I typically travel with an aluminum bottle that is lightweight. I've read Oceania wants to get rid of the plastic bottles at ports but not sure what their plan is. On an Avalon river cruise on the Mekong, all passengers get an aluminum bottle of their own, and we refilled (from water coolers) on board. But MANY fewer passengers so not a problem to do that.

I did see some passengers who brought their own mugs (for water or coffee) on board, so if that's your choice, you won't be the only one doing it.

If you WANT a reusable water bottle and coffee mug, then yes, you should bring them. They are not provided by Oceania. I brought my own bottle (I always travel with one) and refilled it whenever I needed (Vero water bottles in the cabin).  They do still hand out plastic water bottles to take ashore - I prefer to bring my own. Didn't bring a coffee mug but that's because I only have one cup of coffee a day - just up to Baristas or to the little coffee area in Horizons and I usually drank on-site in a provided ceramic mug.