Hlitner

Just got off the phone with our cruise agent, and it sounds like switching to SM is a no brainer (for us). We had originally booked a 35 day cruise and chose our o-life option as the basic drink package (lunch/dinner). If we change to SM, our cruise price will increase $200...but we will get $1600 in shore excursion credits + the 2nd Internet account. Even though we are not big fans of cruise line excursions, we will manage to find a few excursions to use that credit. Hank

Try Romeinlimo.com. Hank

We tend to favor Cruisemapper.com. That being said, their site does not always have the latest information. In the past few years, too many cruise lines have, to often, announced itinerary changes (sometimes at the last minute) that are not captured in the various sites that try to keep track. Hank

The authorities have tried to enforce some limits and stagger ship arrivals/departures, but the results do not seem to be very good. The water taxis (simply small boats) are privately operated by some locals and march to their own drum (they leave when they please and even cancel when they please). Unless they have recently changed their system, they only provide one-way from the pier at Fira to the small pier at Oia. The last time we did this water taxi (about 2 years ago) their fare included a return bus (from Oia to Fira) which departed on a set schedule. Their bus was a private bus and not part of the island's public bus system. We have long wondered why they do not offer a return boat option (Oia to Fira) but suspect it is because they do not operate on a set schedule. Their philosophy seems to be that the boats sit at Fira until they are adequately full which can be 5 minutes or 2 hours! Once they drop the folks at Oia, they turn around and head back, empty, to Fira. The one recent development is that some of the ship excursions are now including a return tender from Athinios to the ship. We think this is a good idea and if more excursions would operate this way, it would sure help shorten the queues to go down on the cable car. That does not help those of us who dislike excursions (that would be me). By the way, since we are on the Santorini topic I should mention that some DIY folks (including me) have been known to rent a car (pick up at Fira) or what they call "Quads" to get around the island. My only problem with a rental car is parking near Oia...which can be a major challenge. Hank

We have been following this issue (through several sources) since we are booked on a late September Explora Journeys cruise. So, this is what we have learned. These panels/tiles, that are installed in various places on at least 45 cruise ships, failed a recent fire resistance test. What this means for the ships currently sailing is still a question mark. Worst case seems to be that the impacted panels/tiles will need to be replaced at some point in the future. Since several different authorities, ports, flag countries, and insurance companies are involved, it is complicated. The interested parties are currently working their way through the situation and will need to come up with some kind of corrective action plan. With the exception of the Explora I, the necessary correction plan (if any) has yet to be determined. At the moment, the effected ships continue to operate. As to the Explora I, MSC (who wholly owns Explora Journeys) has been saying they intend to start sailing the new ship on August 1...after making "enhancements" to the ship to correct the problem. They have not specifically said what enhancements, but simply say they are working with Fincantieri to get the ship prepared and obtain all the necessary safety certifications. Whether they will have all this done by the end of July is a question...and different folks have heard different answers. Explora Journeys has been very slowly notifying passengers on effected sailings of cancelations. One poster just received an e-mail, today, telling him that his cruise scheduled for next week has been cancelled (he got 7 days notice). Some of the early cruisers (that have already been cancelled) have been told they will get their money returned as well as getting a voucher good for 30% off a future cruise. This is not acceptable to some, since the vouchers have been reported to only be good for 1 year! Explora Journeys only has a single built ship (Explora I) and their 2nd ship (Explora 2) will not be sailing until the 2nd half of 2024. A true mess for the new luxury cruise line. Hank

The entire situation with Santorini sucks (for lack of a better word). That island has become the poster child for "overtourism." At one time it was among our favorite cruise ports, but these days I could care less if we ever returned via cruise (we would fly to Santorini or take a ferry for a several day stay). Many folks are booking excursions out of desperation to avoid the cable car snafu (at least one-way). If you do decide to DIY, than our best advice is to try and get on the earliest tender. Once ashore (the small port below Fira is actually called Skala) you will normally have 4 options. 1. Wait in the queue for the cable car. 2. Take a donkey up the road to Fira. 3. Walk up the road/steps to Fira and 4. Get one of the private water taxis to Oia (they depart from the same area where the tender drops you at Skala). As to taxis, their main parking/staging area in Fira is located just before you get to the bus depot. There are usually some taxis parked in the large lot and they used to charge about 25 Euros to go to Oia. I assume it now costs more! Getting a taxi back from Oia (they usually pick up at the same place as the bus) can be difficult. Sometimes there will be a taxi waiting at Oia, but many times there are no taxis. DO NOT DEPEND ON GETTING A TAXI BACK FROM OIA IF YOU MUST BE SOON BACK AT THE FIRA TENDER PIER! The buses back to Fira (from Oia) are dependable (they can sometimes run a little late) but these buses are first come-first serve and can get completely full! We always suggest that DIYers plan on getting back to Fira at least 2 hours before their last tender and be prepared for a long queue to get the cable car back down to Skala. Here is my important tip. We have never seen a cruise ship leave Santorini when they are aware of folks stuck in the cable car line (trying to get down to the tenders). Most cruise ships will have a crew member at the top station who has a radio (or phone) to communicate with their ship. It is common for ships to delay their departure until they can get all their folks down to the tenders. That being said, there is always a "first time" when a Captain might actually leave on time and strand some passenger :(. Just keep in mind that if there are 1200 folks waiting to get down to the tenders it would take at least 2 hours to move those folks. The alternative is to walk down the donkey trail (and not slip/slide on donkey poo). Hank Most folks will not want to walk up so that leaves the other 3 options. Since you cannot reserve or pre-purchase tickets on the water taxis (to Oia), we think the best option is to deal with the situation as it exists when you get ashore. If the cable car line is not too long (it can move 600 persons per hour) than that is a good option. The water taxi over to Oia is a terrific option if there is one of those boats that will leave shortly after you board (you need to talk with the boat operator about how long until they go). Once at the small port below Oia, the boat operators company usually has a van/mini bus to get you up the hill to Oia (or you could walk). So lets talk about the regional public buses. From Fira, you catch them at the bus depot which is located about a 15 min hike from the top of the cable car. They used to run about once every 40 min (not sure of the current schedule) and they can quickly fill-up. Here is the link to the current island bus schedule: https://santorinibus.com. They do actually try to keep to the schedule and its about a 25-30 minute ride between Fira and Oia. The Oia bus stop is in a parking lot right in front of the town. Finding the bus depot in Fira can be a little tricky for first-timers so you might want to download a map (or pick one up when you get on Santorini). If you are looking at Fira from the sea, the bus station is towards the right side of the town and at the inland side (which is where the main road is located). Walking from the top cable car station to the bus depot will take you through much of Fira and you will see tons of shops and cafes :).

An option used by some is to book a ship excursion that takes them to Oia. Once at Oia. some will leave their excursion (always tell your guide you are leaving) and can than do their own thing (stay as long as you please). From Oia, you can take the regional bus back to the bus terminal in Fira. Otherwise, you can stay with your excursion and go where they go. What you read is correct. There are no ship excursions that go directly from the ship to Oia. The bus ride from Athinios (where you will be tendered) to Oia is usually about 30 minutes (it can be longer if traffic is congested around Oia). Hank

Flight ease can often (not always) offer some amazing deals for international Business/First Class. We have seldom found it worthwhile for domestic flights although domestic first/business class can sometimes yield some savings. We recently (last week) did a last minute booking for a cruise embarking from Lisbon. As soon as I booked (through a cruise agent) and got a SB Booking number, I logged onto SB's site to look for one-way biz class air. There were no decent deals so we quickly booked our flight directly with the airline which was actually slightly less expensive than flex air. Hank

As the risk of getting flamed (anything dress code can cause that on CC) I would offer a recent observation, based on current cruising. While one can certainly wear a tux, or even tails, on a Princess cruise, you will be one of the very few. These days, you are more likely to see men wearing a wife beater top than a tux :(. Even though I own a tux (with all the extras) and enjoy formal dress, I have now stopped taking my tux on Princess and most other lines (Cunard would be about the only exception). In the past 5 years, the number of folks dressing in true formal wear has declined to a very small group. Men are fine just wearing a suit or blazer...or even a nice shirt without a jacket. The reason tux rentals have disappeared (from Princess and most other lines) is that few folks would bother with this service. Hank

Funny that we saw this question. Just last week we booked a cruise that departs from Lisbon later this month. Since our cruise leaves on Monday, we are flying-in to Lisbon on Sunday morning and have been talking about how to spend Sunday afternoon. Having been to the area (many times) we quickly thought of a few ideas and will wait until we get to town to decide, since weather is a major factor. If it is a very hot day, we might just jump on the train and head to Estoril (or nearby Cascais) where we can rent some beach chairs and relax. If the weather is relatively comfortable, we might take a different train to Sintra (very popular with many tourists). The suggestion to simply explore Belam is also a decent idea. And speaking of Belam, the famous Pasteis de Belem is open on Sundays, and their pastries are worth a visit :). Hank

We have rented a car (several times) on Palma and always enjoyed our DIY freedom to go where we want, when we want. without being stuck with 60 or our "friends." We generally rent from CICAR (you can walk to their downtown office from the port) although we suggest checking out the competition. It took us 3 visits to have enough to explore most of the island. Like most places, it is very helpful to have a working cell phone to use as a GPS. Otherwise, you might want to rent a GPS system from the car dealer. Hank

We agree with of what Kazu says. In your situation (and we have oft been in your situation) we strongly suggest you logon to your HAL account and look at the various flight options on Flightease. Take a best guess as to where and when you want to fly home and reserve a "flex" flight on the Flightease site. There will be no due payment until around the time of your final payment, and until that point you can cancel or change the booked flight with zero penalty. If later you decide you want to change you can simply change to a better option or cancel and book your air through other means (such as the airline web sites). Your flightease reservation will show you at what point you enter the penalty period (this can sometimes be about 60 days prior to your cruise). As to when to book a TA flight, we have never found any magic formula. In fact, we need to book a flight from Europe to the USA sometime next May and are now looking at options (it is on a cruise line that does not have a good air program). Hank

I guess a Penguin Suit would always be acceptable in Antarctica 🙂

Thanks for the response. We did our O booking through decent cruise agent who is used to dealing with O (bet she has been pulling out her hair in the last 2 weeks). I will give her a call (this week) and let her sort out the pros/cons of keeping the current booking or switching over to the new system. Regarding the booking, it is a 35 day Vista cruise which is marketed as a single cruise (we have one booking number) although it can also be purchased as a shorter segment. We noticed the $2800 shore excursion credit by simply looking at O's website listing for that particular cruise.

That may or may not be the case on a specific booking. There is a lot of competition here in the USA, and this means different agencies (especially so-called discount cruise agencies) sometimes offer different deals. There are times when an agency will offer pre-paid gratuities and/or generous on board credits (OBCs). On some cruises our perks (tips and OBCs) have been in the thousands of dollars. That is why we have long suggested that wise cruisers "shop around" among multiple high volume reputable cruise agencies. There are also some cruise lines (HAL is one example) that may have restrictions on cruisers, from outside North America, booking with a North American agency. We have an Australian friend who is a very frequent HAL cruiser. Aussies are not normally permitted to book HAL cruises through North American agencies. But our friend simply uses a Canadian address (it belongs to a friend) for his bookings in order to get the much better deals and he has been doing this for many years. Hank

Like many, we have been doing some comparisons between our 35 day Vista booking (under the O-Life program) vs the new Simply More system. When we look at the press releases and O's own web site it talks about a shore excursion credit of $1600 for cruises over 30 days. But, if I do a mock booking on the "O" web site for our specific 35 day voyage it shows a $2800 shore excursion credit. We also looked at another cruise which is 25 days and it shows (on the O web site) an $1800 shore excursion credit. The drink package situation (discussed with no real answers) is also of interest. Since our current booking does include the drink package option, if we wanted to upgrade that package it would cost us $30 per person/day? But with the Simply More booking system, we can find no specific reference to whether the cost to get the upgraded drink package will still be $30 or some other higher price. Since like many who are trying to decide if we should change our booking to the Simply More system, knowing if this impact the drink package upgrade price is valuable info. Anyone have an answer? Hank

While Wiener Schnitzel is veal in the real world, on HAL it is port (a lot cheaper than veal). That being said, when we were on the Westerdam from March-May, it was served more than once and was quite good. I imagine if HAL now puts real veal on the menu there will be some kind of add-on such as $19.95 + 18%. DW, who is my personal chef, often uses thin port cutlets in place of veal. For us it is not so much a matter of cost, but of quality. Where we live, finding high quality veal in our normal supermarket is not going to happen. We would need to go to a decent butcher (which can be found in some of our "farmers markets" or drive some distance to a Wegman's. Hank

Now you are talking my language :). Up front we will confess to not being fans of Milan (I would be happy to never return to that city). But in the interests of full disclosure, DD regularly goes to Milan on business, gets wined and dined by some of the local fashion companies, and likes Milan. Agree with Cruisemom on both Lake Maggiore (Stresa is a good base) and Assisi. We would suggest listening to Cruisemom about how to deal with NOT having a car as we always have a rental or leased car when exploring outside the major cities. Hank

Have tried a few, nothing memorable, no favorite. Consider changing your plans and spending 3 nights in Rome (fabulous restaurants in all price ranges/categories). Hank

The thread makes me smile. We just booked (on Tuesday) a 32 day cruise (from Lisbon to Montreal) that has 25 ports (counting both the embarkation and debarkation cities) We booked this cruise only 3 weeks prior to embarkation and have absolutely no concern about any of those 25 ports, many of which we will visit for the first time. We might consider booking 1 cruise ship excursion, but otherwise will simply deal with things DIY as has been our practice for about 50 years :). We will get around to looking at some of these ports (many are quite unusual) a few days before we get to those places, and will likely come up with some kind of DIY plan. Then again, we have been known to simply walk off a ship in a strange place and play it by ear. Our cruise line is a luxury line and if we were to book their excursions in each port it would likely cost us over $10,000 (just for excursions). Using our usual DIY practice (taking advantage of walking, public transit, trains, and perhaps a rental car) our cost will likely be less than $2000 (much of that for lunches off the ship). Over decades of extensive cruising we have found that some folks always need the assurance of cruise ship excursions, some folks go through a lot of work arranging private tours in many ports (we do this in a few ports) and there are plenty of others who simply deal with each port as it comes. In fact, many times we will alter our plans at the last minute because of weather. So an unexpected hot day might have us find a way to get to a beach. A rainy day might cause us to spend more time in museums. If we are hungry and read about a decent restaurant, we might spend a few hours with a long lunch. And there are some ports (especially in the Caribbean) where we do not even bother getting off the ship! It all comes down to different strokes for different folks and one's level of confidence in doing their own thing and having a spirit of adventure. Hank

We agree and have oft posted here on CC that it is wise to avoid new builds until they are a few months old. We booked a late September Explora 1 when we thought the ship would be sailing by May. So now, perhaps it will be sailing by August which means we would be on the ship when it has only been sailing less than 2 months. And we now wonder will it even be cruising by late September since this last minute cancelation gives us pause. Hank

Funny thing about Seabourn Suite categories. Until a year ago, they used to have categories ranging from V1 - V8. The only difference was location. They decided to collapse the categories to V1-V4 to make life easier. We have always just booked Vi guarantees (we could care less about location on their small ships) and have always been upgraded at least 2 categories (have no clue as to why). But, Seabourn ships are kind of strange in that all the cabins are located in the front half of the ship while all the public rooms are in the rear half. So cabins are never under or over a public room. Seabourn also is somewhat "European" in that they do not even open their MDR until 7pm (7-9) which would not work for the many HAL folks who want to eat dinner at 5 and be in bed by 8. In fact, this is pretty common with the luxury lines who still think of 5 pm as a time to have tea (or cocktails) and not a time for dinner. Hank

Interesting and you also need to consider that those Seabourn fares are truly all-inclusive (except for shore excursions). The inclusions on SB far exceed what you get on HAL...even with their HIA package. I should also add that a comparison could have been done with the lower cost Seabourn V1 category since all the veranda suites (V1-V4) are identical except for location. Hank

We recently booked our first O cruise (disembarking in Italy) and needed one-way air back from Europe. After following posts from O experts (such as Flatbush Flyer) we did not even waste our time trying to get Biz Class air through "O." Their air policies (which seem to be somewhat similar on the other NCLH owned cruise lines) are simply awful...when compared to much of the competition. While O air might make some sense for folks wanting to fly economy and not caring much about their airline, stops, etc. it makes no sense for Biz Class. If "O" fans want a comparison this might be a wake up call. Last year we took a Seabourn cruise from Florida to Monte Carlo. We wanted to spend some time in Europe and ultimately fly home from Prague (a long way from Monte Carlo) about 3 weeks after we disembarked from our Seabourn ship. We simply went on Seabourn's online air booking engine (the same is used by Princess and HAL) and booked a United Biz Class flight (Prague - Munich - Dulles) for $1000 (less than 1/3 of the price if we had booked direct with United). Seabourn does not charge any extra fees, their online (and phone) allows folks to choose their own flights, and one can choose any class of service from Economy to First Class! My question for "O" for which there is no answer is why on earth "O" has such an antiquated air policy. There is no justification for charging an extra fee for custom air, if they simply use an online booking engine (available from several third party companies). "O" recently moved to their Simply More policy with the stated intention of making things easier for agencies and cruisers (certainly open to debate). Why not also make their air easier (without extra fees)? Hank

I was just re-reading this interesting thread and noticed George C's reference to the retreat suits on Celebrity! Since the thread is about "comparisons" I have some thoughts about those suites. No doubt, X does have some terrific suite amenities for those in the "retreat" suites. That being said, part of our equation when comparing cruise lines is "value." Celebrity generally charges more per passenger day, for their retreat suites, than it would cost to cruise on a small ship luxury line (i.e. Seabourn, Silverseas, etc) or the Premium Lines (Oceania, Viking, Azamara, etc). We recently booked a long Seabourn cruise (this is an all-suite luxury line with very high space ratios) for less than $500 per person/day. Seabourn is truly all-inclusive (except for shore excursions) so what you pay for the cruise is generally the total price. You do not pay extra for tips, drinks, alternative restaurants, etc. At $500 per person/day try comparing SB to the lowest price retreat suite on an Edge Class ship (and include drinks, tips, Internet). In all cases, the X pricing is significantly higher and sometimes more than double the cost of Seabourn. We have cruised on X (Elite Plus) and have also cruised on Seabourn (about 100 days) and I can say that in its best day....X is not in the same class. While the actual suite on X might be larger (depending on which category) you will not be drinking French Champagne and eating caviar on X like you would on Seabourn (no extra charge). For us. the X retreat cabins are horribly overpriced when compared to competition. That being said, as long as X can find loyal folks willing to pay the ridiculous prices, why would the cruise line care. Hank