Hlitner

We all should be able to agree that reviews are somewhat subjective. Experienced cruisers cannot help but compare a cruise to what they know from past cruises. But we have learned to accept both negative and positive reviews, on any cruise line, knowing that each cruiser has different expectations. Since we have yet to cruise on O (it is coming up soon) we cannot know whether to agree/disagree with anything in that review. But we do respect the person who takes the time to post their thoughts even if many may not agree. I ignored the comments about family and old folks (we are seniors) but I found the comments about cuisine quite interesting. Like most going on O for the first time, we have heard (for years) about O having the best cuisine at sea. Many posts, here on CC, have recently given us some reason to wonder if that is true. Looking forward to experiencing for ourselves and we will try to post (live if the Internet connection permits). One issue I do have with the poster is criticizing O (or any line) for the age of the cruisers. That is not the fault of the cruise line (they will accept bookings from anyone) and is actually a criticism of the type of person who chooses to cruise on a ship. It seems that in the past couple of years we have seen more negative reviews because of complaints related to passenger demographics. Tis strange.

what is "ridiculous and absurd?" It is one person's opinion and seems to fit in with many comments (here on CC) about O entertainment and atmosphere.

LOL I was trying to understand why folks suggest hotels close to Narita, since the OP is flying out of Haneda :). And by the way, folks heading to Tokyo might want to consider that Haneda is much more convenient to both Tokyo and the various Tokyo-Yokohama cruise ports. Where to stay? It really depends on the priorities of the OP and the time of their flight out of HND. If I had only one night, and a relatively early flight out of HND (morning or early afternoon) I would probably opt for one of the hotels near HND that gives easy access to the metro/train that could get me into Tokyo. It may not be worth the hassle to trek all the way into Tokyo for a single night, and then need to deal with the traffic and ride out to HND the following morning. On the other hand, if one is willing to deal with the transportation cost/hassles, and prefers to be in Tokyo, then the options are nearly endless since one can arrange a transfer to HND from any hotel. In fact, the last time we were in Tokyo (May) we simply grabbed a taxi from HND to our Shinjuku hotel. While it did cost us more then using a bus transfer or any shared transfer, the convenience and speed made it worthwhile. And consider that Shujinku is relatively far from HND in terms of a Tokyo location. We chose Sinjuku for the simple reason that we wanted to spend a few nights in that particular neighborhood (like most large cities, Tokyo is a city of neighborhoods). And that gets back to the OPs post where they mention being close to the "sights." We would answer that question with a question of our own which is "what sights?" There are many in Tokyo and they are spread around the city. Do you want to be near the Imperial Palace, Asakusa, Ueno, etc. No right or wrong, just personal preference and which sights the OP wants to visit. Also keep in mind that Tokyo has an excellent public transit system (both Metro and Rail) which makes moving around to various sites relatively easy (although it does take time). Hank

Along with the issue of "time in port" which Marzul already mentioned, we also advise folks to pay attention to the days of the week vs the ports. It can really matter. For example, many first-time visitors to Rome want to visit the Vatican Museums (which includes the Sistine Chapel) but that is closed on most Sundays. Many European museums close one day a week (often Monday or Tuesday). One also should try to avoid the major European holidays which can cause transportation nightmares and some closures. We think when it comes to port intensive Med cruises, the itinerary is king and the cruise line/ship is somewhat less important. Consider that you will likely be off the ship, most days, and likely exhausted on many evenings from running around in the various ports. I will echo Marazul's comment about MSC. We love cruising MSC (in their Yacht Club) for a short Caribbean cruise, but avoid the line in Europe because of their short port times and the "ferry boat" atmosphere (they embark/debark passengers at most ports). In the past we have also noticed the many NCL itineraries offer relatively short port times or strange arrival times (such as from 1pm to 8 pm, etc). When booking a European cruise you ideally want the longest possible port days since there are many ports where your actual destination may be more then an hour distant from the port (i.e. Civitavecchia-Rome, Livorno-Florence, Le Havre - Paris, etc). Hank

There are quite a few options depending on "your spirit of adventure" and whether you are willing to go off on your own. The obvious option (that is also among the easiest) is to simply go to Tarquinia and explore some of the Etruscan Tombs and related artifacts. Cruisemom will likely see this thread and jump in with more detailed advice. My personal favorite option would be to go to Ostia Antica (located not far from the airport) and spend a few hours touring the ruins. For whatever reason, this impressive site is often skipped on excursions. Another place that DW and I really enjoy is Tivoli. This is a small town located outside of Rome (unfortunately it is on the far side of Rome from the cruise port) that has a lot of attractions for visitors. In that area you have the Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este (these two places can fill most of a day) and the town of Tivoli is actually a delightful place to browse shops and have lunch. Getting there from Civitavecchia is somewhat of a hassle unless you are willing to pay for a private tour or simply rent a car (what we do) and drive. One can drive to Tivoli without ever going too close to Rome (you simply take the ring road until you reach the proper exit to Tivoli). And we should also mention Orvieto, which is a hill town (North of Rome) quite popular with tour groups and DIYers. l All this, and more, are accessible to those of us who simply rent a car for the day (there are multiple rental car places in Civitavecchia). But one can also look for small group private tours, or spend the bigger bucks and hire your own car/driver for the day (both Romecabs.com and Romeinlimo.com are often recommended here on CC). Hank

Many years ago we lived in Japan for two years (in the USAF) and really enjoyed the company, We have returned, several times, and just this past spring did a 6 week cruise around Japan and over to Alaska. Prior to the cruise we spent 12 days just traveling around Japan (using Tokyo and Kyoto as our bases). I think it might help the OP to talk a little about the situation in Japan., The country was essentially closed for 3 years (due to COVID) and their tourist industry was decimated. When the country started to reopen, many of those in the tourist industry had moved-on to other jobs, tour companies had gone out of business or changed ownership. etc. Then suddenly, within a few months, it seemed like the entire world wanted to visit Japan. Tourism is now booming, hotels are doing well, restaurants are booked, etc. So along come all these cruise ships. They need to contract with land-based tour companies (for their excursions) and the tour companies are still having issues with understaffing, finding qualified folks, etc. On one of our cruise line excursions (in April) the bus driver simply quit (on the spot) and walked away from the port. Fortunately, that company was able to quickly find another driver. We met quite a few folks on our ship who had booked private tours only to be told, a few weeks or days in advance, that their tour was cancelled (lack of personnel). Since DW and I are very independent travelers, the situation in Japan did not present too much of a challenge. Seeing Japan on one's own is actually not very difficult as the country has an amazing public transit system, amazing trains (you can set your watch by their schedule), good signage, and it is also one of the safest countries on earth. If folks cannot get the tour of their choice, do not want to pay the inflated excursion costs, etc. then they might consider doing some pre-trip homework and doing many things on their own (DIY). Want to go to Kyoto from Osaka? Simply take the train (faster then driving) and use public transit (and your feet) once in Kyoto. Want to go to Nara from Yokohama? Just take the train. Want to spend some pre or post cruise time in Japan? Make your plans, book your hotels, and off you go. You can even buy a rail pass (such as those sold by JR) or get yourself a SUICA Card (a pre-loaded card you can use for many subways, buses, etc). While you cannot read the signs written in Kanji, you will also find plenty of English signage and many restaurants have English menus. And if there is no English menu, the restaurant will likely have "food models" that look real..and you can point to what you want :). What makes Japan such a special place are the wonderful people. We know of no place else where everyone is so darn polite and helpful. And the honesty of folks can become almost comical. A 1 yen coin fell out of my pocket on a subway platform. Seconds later a man came up to me to hand back that coin (worth less than a penny). Ride the subways and the cars are all spotless, and folks on the trains are always very quiet (part of the culture). No boom boxes, no loud talking, etc. They even have some subway card that are for "women only" for ladies that do not want to be crowded against strange men during rush hours. DW would tell other ladies that her major problem in Japan was trying to figure out how to use and flush toilets :). Japan has very modern toilets (most have heated seats) that do everything but wash your clothes. Trying to figure out how to simply flush the things can be a challenge :). Hank

Once upon a time, DW and I would book some cruises (primarily with exotic itineraries) several years in advance. One could reasonably expect that a booked cruise would actually happen and the original itinerary (at booking) would be pretty accurate. Now, it has become rare for us to book a cruise more then a few months in advance, and actually get the itinerary we booked. Ports change, port times change, and we can even think of one cruise line that changed the ship! Why is this happening? There are some good reasons such as wars and the need to drastically re-route ships (such as going around Africa rather than sailing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. But we have recently run into other issues that are somewhat sad. For example, a Seabourn cruise (over 40 days) in Europe during the spring of 2025 was all booked until Seabourn decided (after having darn near sold out the various voyages) to charter their ship for a segment in the middle of our voyage. This meant cancelling the entire voyage! Why? Because the cruise line could likely make a few extra dollars by chartering. They could care less that they screwed several hundred of their best paying customers. Other cruise lines do similar things. An upcoming Oceania cruise was revamped to eliminate some ports and reduce the time in other ports. Another Seabourn cruise (for this coming summer) that was supposed to go between Istanbul and Dubrovnik was suddenly (and without any explanation) changed to a round trip from Dubrovnik. All the Turkey ports were replaced with Greek ports. Why? No explanation from the line (who does have other cruises still going to Turkey). Another luxury line, Explora Journeys, published an entire season of Alaskan cruises (and they accepted bookings) until they decided (without any explanation) to repostion that ship to Europe and cancel the entire Alaskan season. We could fill pages with cruise line itinerary changes. Having been an avid cruiser for 50 years, we seldom to never saw this kind of thing until the past few years. Cruise lines now seem to have an attitude that their published itineraries are simply "advisory" and may well change for any reason, at any time, without any explanation. Hank

You have all kinds of options, depending on whether you are willing to spend time schlepping on a ferry to one of the Greek Islands (most are not very close to Pireaus). You could simply stay on the mainland and go to a resort like the Four Seasons Astir Palace. My own preference is to take a ferry some distance to an island like Naxos or Paros. Hank

Monte Carlo has room to dock two ships (depending on their size). We have only tendered into MC when there were several other ships in port and our vessel obviously drew the short straw. Hank

I think Carnival folks call that a "night owl" cabin. These are cabins near/under or around a later night venue. I believe Carnival usually sells those cabins at a discount. But some cruise lines have a habit of putting their most expensive suites in places that are near later night venues. Shame on the marine architect. After cruising for more than 50 years on far more than 70 vessels, a friend once asked us about our quietest cabin. That was easy to answer. It was a very low category inside cabin (on the lowest passenger deck) on the Queen Mary 2. Not only was our cabin quiet. but we could not even hear the fog horn (which sounded every two minutes for nearly 5 days). Those in the most expensive suites did not get a lot of sleep. Hank

Agree with above. I think it is almost criminal how fast many tours move through the Vatican museums and St Peters. One could easily spend most of a day in that area, especially if they manage to obtain a reservation for the Scavi Tour (which goes underneath part of St Peters. Speaking of the Scavi tour, it is seldom included on tours and is something folks should try to book on their own. Many of the online sites try to fool folks into thinking they are the Vatican, but they are simply private companies. Here is the real link to the Vatican's own site: Vatican Museums – Official Website (museivaticani.va) The Scavi Tour also has its own Vatican site which is: Reservations (scavi.va) Lots of good info on these sites.

We agree with Edinburgher. The OP might want to consider that Aix is relatively close to Marseille (about 30 minutes) while Avignon is just over 50 miles distant. Doing both on a 7 hour tour will give you a little time in both locations, which does satisfy folks who prefer short times in many destinations. Those of us who like to "stop and smell the roses" might not be as happy. Personally, DW and I will often spend nearly 2 hours just enjoying lunch :). My issue with a combined Aix and Avignon tour is that they are both relatively large/busy places. If I were taking a group on a tour to Avignon I would probably toss in a visit the Les Baux or perhaps St Remy (especially if it was market day). As to Aix, when we visit that city it is usually for a longer visit and a nice lunch (Aix has many decent eating venues). By the way, I understand that some might say I stress lunch. That is simply because one might consider you are in France, which along with other countries (like Italy and Spain) have a wonderful culture of food/wine. I cannot imagine walking around Old Town Aix and not spending some time eating/drinking. Hard for DW and I to pass up the outdoor cafes or even some of the indoor restaurants. Hank

The OP asks a good question. Having cruised for 50 years (all over the world on many different cruise lines and ships) we think the difference on TAs, Trans pacifics, or other cruises that have lots of consecutive sea days is simply just that..lots of consecutive sea days. In our experience, folks either enjoy sea days or they do not! The folks we meet that dislike sea days do not generally complain about activities or lack thereof, but simply that they prefer to be on cruises that have more ports! DW and I once teased (some other cruisers) that our perfect cruise would be a World Cruise that never stopped at a port. Although that was an exaggeration, it did reflect our love of lazy sea days. Folks that are really into cruise ship activities will generally find plenty to do on a sea day be it a lecture, art auction, dance class, card playing, reading, etc. Those of us who are generally not into organized activities tend to avoid them on sea days or port days. Trivia players (a popular activity on many cruise lines) will generally find more opportunities on sea days. Some cruise lines do a much better job with lunches on sea days. The MDR will normally be open (many ships keep that closed on a port day) and some lines even open some of their alternative restaurants for lunches on sea days. In the final analysis it may come down to the simple question, "why do you cruise?" For some of us, it is to be on a ship! For others it is the ports. Hank

Good advice. We have had that exact situation with the two agencies we still use today. In both cases, our long-time trusted agents had retired. In one case, we were simply handed-off to another agent with whom we had a long telephone discussion (about her experience and travel philosophy) before giving her a few bookings. In the other case, we actually had a telephone conversation with the agency owner and specifically asked for a full-time professional agent who had lots of experience. In both cases, we were very satisfied. If not, we would have likely spoke ot the agency's manager or owner about finding somebody who better met our own requirements. I will add that as long time cruisers (over 50 years) and travelers, we do not require (or want) a lot of so-called hand holding. We simply want an agent, who we trust, that can handle our orders/requests with professionalism and skill. My own preference is to either book with the agenices via their online system (which is then serviced by our agent) or who can work via e-mails. Our two favorite agents are quite busy and also prefer e-mails to phone calls. Using the phone means time on hold, waiting for folks to be in the office, not on the phone, etc. We also appreciate that our agents can handle any cruise line (Ocean or river) since we do many bookings (per year) with various cruise lines. When folks ask us why we use agencies instead of booking direct, we cite several reasons. 1. We save money (usually 7-10% per booking) because of discounts, rebates, OBCs, etc when compared to booking direct. 2. Our agents work for high volume agencies (that are members of very large high volume consortiums) so they have some real clout when dealing with any cruise line. and 3. Our agents have lots of experience and represent us....not the cruise line. Their motivation is to get our future business (which generates substantial commissions) rather than just read a "script" generated by a specific cruise line. Hank

How to find a good/great TA? For us, it has actually been quite simple. On cruises we socialize with shared tables in the MDR and often chat with others in various lounges over cocktails. Invariably, the topic of cruising/travel does get discussed and somebody will usually ask, "how do you book your cruises?" Using the old technique of simply "listening" gets us a lot of valuable TA info, both pro and con. One other thing that has often happened on our HAL cruises. Fellow cruisers give us their business cards and just happen to be cruise/travel agents. We have never booked through any of these folks, many of whom are what used to be called "outside" cruise agents. Most are part time agents, who work for agencies that use just about anyone (to whom they give a portion of their commission). Kind of like the neighbor's kid who used to ring the doorbell and be selling greeting cards. Our own favorite cruise agents (who work for two different agencies) both have a lot of real full-time experience (one now has about 10 years and the other 33 years) along with several industry designations (such as ACC, MCC, CTA, etc) which means they take continuing education courses in the business. Their agencies have been in business for decades, have a real office, full time staff, dedicated customer service folks (who can handle issues if your agent is not available). etc. Hank

We routinely cruise on Seabourn for less than the cost of cruising in one of the lower cost Retreat suites. Hank

FE does is simply an option. Sometimes they have great prices and other times no. Nothing cimplicated. If the fares are not good then simply book elsewhere.

I do "get it" regarding carry-ons. It is always an issue for us, since we do mostly DIY travel.

We know the port quite well and have changed ships (although in other ports). Since you are unlikely to know the various docking locations, in advance, it is difficult to give good advice. The idea of hiring a car/driver for the entire day is certainly possible (we would suggest using Romecabs.com) it will also be very expensive. If the ships would happen to be docked close to each other, we would probably just roll our luggage to the next ship (no need to do it in one trip). Otherwise, you are correct that the taxis you find at the pier will not want to take that kind of short haul. But money does "talk" and a driver might be helpful for 20 (or more) Euros. Once on your cruise you might want to pay a visit to the Guest Relations folks, in Seabourn Square, and ask if they can be of some assistance. Seabourn staff generally have a "can do" attitude and they might be able to arrange something for the transfer. In your situation we would just be concerned with moving the luggage, after which we would leave the port for the day. Lots of DIY options from that port be it going to Rome, Tarquinia, etc. Hank

We honestly never felt ripped-off on EJ (we spent 18 days on the ship) and I would assume that most EJ cruisers are intelligent enough to make their own decisions about rip-offs. Suffice it to say we did not book any ridiculous EJ excursions (we did take one reasonably priced culinary dinner/tour with some onboard chefs). Anyone who pays the EJ price for an airport transfer to MIA apparently has no interest in money or value. Our issues with EJ are about their lack of communications, their attitude towards itineraries (seem to change at a whim), and some other attitude problems onboard. We are not considering any future bookings until they have some time to get their act together. Hank

I would draw a comparison to Seabourn where we paid about $150 (US) for a private car/driver from Monte Carlo to our hotel in Nice. We thought that was a pretty good deal (the car was very nice) and since we had some OBC left over, it made a lot of sense. I imagine that EJ would probably charge at least $500 for that transfer :). Hank

At the moment, Princess and MSC (Yacht Club only) are the only two large ship lines we will cruise. Our recent experience on HAL's Oosterdam really soured us on that line (and we have over 500 days with HAL) and we do not think that Celebrity offers a good value these days. Hank

Yes, we are on that TA (Miami to Trieste). Our friend had a lot of fun driving a Mustang Convertible, and he told me that he was stopped on the long Chesapeake Bay/Bridge (an picturesque place to drive). The policeman did not want to deal with a foreign drivers license, so he was only given a warning (which I assume he ignored). I have driven in your country (many times) and the first half hour is a little frightening as I adjust to driving on the left. When I was young, I lived in Japan for two years (where they also drive on the left side) so have had some experience. But shifting with my left hand still results in some missed shifts :). Hank

We are also on the Vista and will be in Cadiz on a Sunday (that is the 2nd time we have been there on a Sunday). Town is pretty quiet on that day and many of the shops open pretty late (after lunch) or not at all. DW and I enjoy just walking around the town and along the sea on the other side of the peninsula. Depending on how good the lunches on on the Vista, we may just settle for a long lunch on land. No reason for us to trek all the way to Seville (we have previously done this on the train) since that is a city where we have stayed for a few days (actually stayed in a neat little hotel that had its own cooking school). By the way, another good option at this port is to take the train to Jerez where there are some decent Sherry places....some of which may be open for visitors. We might think about that trek, depending on the weather and our mood. Speaking of "Brits" driving in our country, we do have an English friend (who is very active here on CC) who also likes to drive in the US. But he apparently thinks he is the reincarnation of Graham Hill, and had to suffer the humiliation of being pulled over by the police (for speeding...of course). He had a very successful drive from Florida up our East Coast. Hank

A few thoughts. We are fans of Turkish Air business class, but if doing that kind of flight (via Istanbul) we would certainly take advantage of the stop-over opportunity and spend a few days in Istanbul. Otherwise, given that TAP does have non-stop flights between MIA and Lisbon, we would forgo the Turkish Air flights (very weird routing) and simply take the overnight flight directly to Lisbon. No worries about luggage (non-stop flight) and on those overnight flights we generally just take advantage of the lay flat seats and sleep. Easy to book TAP on your own and it might even be less expensive than doing it through SS (something that needs to be checked). Hank