pauon

13 hours ago, Sailnsurf said:

Pauon,

We emigrated from SA to Australia in 1985 but have returned from time to time to visit family and friends including my brother who lives in the Cape, so perhaps I can give you a South African perspective.

I agree with Harters #14 above but I strongly recommend a trip via the Stellenbosch region to the Franschoek (French Corner) valley with a visit to one or more of the really good and beautiful wineries en route. The French Huguenots settled inthe valley in the late 1600s - hence the name.The view from the top of the pass exiting the valley is exceptional. There are so many beautiful places in the World which cannot truly be compared but this is my favourite place. A route back via the coast would be well worthwhile. I am sure there will be day tours covering all of this.

The beauty of the Cape is well known and I would say that you would appreciate lengthening your pre-cruise stay for as long as possible. I do not have experience of current hotel prices but with the weakness of the Rand ( I remember when it used to be stronger than the US$) you will find restaurants, many of which are very good, to be very inexpensive and you will generally get very good value with most things. 

 

I have no doubt you will enjoy your time in CT. But I would add that you will be better to do organised tours for any activity involving some travel.

Thank you for that perspective.  It it sounds like you miss it and we can't wait to see it.

17 hours ago, boerneDQ said:

We also did an O Overland trip on this cruise where we left the ship in Richard’s Bay and return in Durban. It was to the Phinda Game Preserve and was Fabulous!!!!

We will be looking for this one !

1 hour ago, Acrusa said:

We have done pre and post excursion with O in the last 15 years 

You should look up cruises that O is doing in  2024 and 2025 to Cape Town they will list all the pre and post excursions with prices 

thank you !  I could not see them in our booking, so we logged out and could see them!  I hope I don't need to do another post to get feedback, hahahaha !

6 hours ago, boerneDQ said:

We did a pre-cruise excursion with O in Capetown in 2017 or 2018.  It included a game drive in a wildlife preserve one day and a wine country tour/tasting/lunch the other day.  Gave us a good taste of what we would see and do on the cruise.

Thank you !  We found the same tour, by exiting our booking. Would you do it again?  Was it worth it?  Can you tell me how many people were on it?  Thanks in advance !

We will be cruising on the Nautica and the trip starts in Cape Town Africa in 2026.  Has anyone done a pre-trip 3-4 Oceania pre-cruise though the company?  Not sure if they offer one or should I plan it on my own.  Rather go through them if it is offered.  Thanks in advance and happy sailing !

34 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

Check out HAL. They have some fantastic Transpacifics.  

Thanks.  They do and we did look.  We are in an S1 on the Grand and similar on HAL was over 10 grand more than Princess.  The room on HAL was better... but that is a lot more.

Can't wait to see what happens; we had a GREAT cabin.  Fingers crossed they figure this out.

Us too, 30 day LA to Sydney, canceled !  

17 hours ago, TxShenanigans said:

Im going on Island Princess 8/25 in my first suite (special treat to me) since I usually dont book above a mini-suite the above posters said you get specialty dining on embarkation day.  How do you book this in advance?  When I go on the Princess app to book it tries charging me.

We only book full suites and have never had a problem getting the time we wanted on the sail away date.  When we get on board we call or go and make the reservation at the specialty dining of our choice.  We have never been told the time we wanted was not available.  Happy Cruizin !

ok

We only book the suites and if we put out our laundry as we go to dinner, it usually comes back the next night.  It is usually in the room when we return from dinner or the show the following night after turndown service.  Princess recommends 3 days, but ours has never taken that long.

As suite guests, we send ours out everyday as we leave the cabin for dinner.  Super easy and usually comes back the next evening when we return from dinner.  

DW uses them for Christmas Ornaments on our tree.  Kinda fun taking them out each year.  Just add a hook, nothing else to do.

It shows sunset at 2300 and sunrise at  0300 when we are there.  Dusk is fine too.

Looking to see the Iceland Volcano's at night in July.  Anyone done this?  Thinking helicopter is the best way but can't find one that flies at night.  Looking for advice on how to see it at night.

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Interesting that you mention Windstar.  The Star Breeze was anchored alongside us in Bora Bora and also disembarked in Papeete the same day we did.  Its homeport is now Papeete.  The ship held roughly half of the passengers than the Nautica did.  When we were at the Intercontinental Hotel after disembarking we talked to a lot of folks who were on that ship and to a one they all raved about Windstar.  The praises continued from those we talked to at the airport.  If we ever decide to return to that area we may look into Windstar.

We love windstar, but seem to always come back to Princess !  

Great review and mirrors our experience as well.  We found "O" lacking in the same areas.  We found the passengers a little full of themselves too.  One and done for us.  We have sailed a lot on Princess, HAL (1), Oceania (1), and Windstar (4).  Oceania is the only one that left a bad taste during and after the cruise.  

New to NCL and in 2026 flying from Salt Lake to  Mauritius.  Return to Salt lake from Cape Town.  Price for two was $1,900 with the BOGO Promotion.  I keep reading about "air deviation" all over the NCL Boards.  Does that just mean fly in a day or two early?  If so, we requested to fly in 2 days early with the NCL Consultant.  I would guess that would suffice?

On 3/12/2023 at 7:15 AM, terry&mike said:

You'll likely be porting in San Antonio, Chile, the airport in Santiago is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from the port, if there is no traffic. For an international flight from Chile, the recommended arrival time at the airport is usually 2.5-3 hours, although I do think you could do it with 2 hours. 

So, in backing up your time, be at the airport no later than 9a for sure, depart the port no later than 7:30a. You'll need to allow some time to process through port Customs and Immigration, so maybe off ship by 7a, maybe even 6:30a? You'll need to do self disembark (carry your own luggage), and have private transfers ready and waiting.

What time are you scheduled to arrive in port? You should be able to disembark approximately an hour after that time. 

And finally, South America generally runs at a slower pace, so some extra time and patience may be needed for the different lines of departing the pier, and checking in at the airport. 

Thank you !

We will be on the Sapphire Princess for a South America cruise in January.  Is an 11 AM flight to early?  Normally we would go later, but slim pickens on flights and high prices.  How far is the cruise dock to the airport?  Any suggestions would be wonderful!  Avid travelers and cruises and have never tried to cut it that close.  Thanks in advance.

5 hours ago, racephoto said:

How did this work out? I’m booked on an itinerary doing the same thing in July.  I was super excited by the idea of an overnight stay in Stockholm, but not so much if we’re going to be anchored out and all I can do at night is sit there and look at the city. I got the impression that they’re not going to run tenders at night, and I actually can’t even really argue with that logic.

It worked out great for us.  One night we were moored (and yes, the tenders don't run ate at night).  The next night they moved us to the dock.  Really central and lots to do.

We are leaving in a couple days and thanks to all of you, we have some new and really great ideas for this new age of cruising.

"The U.S. has announced that travelers who enter the U.S. by air no longer have to be covid tested prior to their departure. This will be effective as of Sunday, June 12. Therefore we at Viking will now stop our onboard testing procedures," said Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen in a Facebook post.

Can't do without our piping hot tea !  Gonna ask the min we get on if there is not one in the room in Southhampton.  Wondering if it is standard to just automatically add them in cabins for UK citizens.

Thanks !  Looks like there is a  lot to do in the area.