Mareblu

8 hours ago, Kristelle said:

Prague? 

Not Prague.  Rosie has it correctly.

7 hours ago, RosieCanberra said:

Looks like Tallin, Estonia. 

Correct, Rosie.  Beautiful city.  Your turn…

Yes to both above posts.  We never select the “non refundable” option, and opt to pay at the hotel.  We're also careful to advise our bank of overseas travel in advance

7 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

Krakow, Poland? 

No, not Poland, but closer.

Actually,  correction:  it’s really closer to north.  Sorry.  Just checked.  

Not Austria…further west/north west

Couldn’t agree more.  We’ve consistently used Booking.com for years.  Easy to control your account, too.  Lately, we’ve actually used this platform for transfers, too. On occasions, though, the room/suite we really liked was not available through Booking.com, so we’ve gone direct to the hotel’s website.  With this platform, you can choose to pay on arrival, usually.

Not Cologne, but I love 711, my Grandma’s favourite ❤️

Wow, thanks.  We loved our Hawaiian adventures. Looking for images….

Byodo-in Temple, Oahu, seems familiar, and I missed it!

Hawaii

Japan?

A couple at the next table in Toscana (Sirena) 18 months ago graciously shared a spectacular birthday cake with all in the restaurant who accepted.  It arrived at their table accompanied by 5-6 singing waiters.

Caviar:  sustenance of the gods for us.  Enjoyed it immensely in QGrills on QE during a marvellous Cunard experience a year ago.  We’ve sailed twice with Seabourn, and absolutely loved it.  Oceania is also wonderful, and in April we embark Oceana’s new Vista for three weeks, followed by two weeks on Queen Anne in May for her maiden circumnavigation of the British Isles, and her naming ceremony in Liverpool.  It will be truly interesting to compare two new vessels.

👏 and goodnight

Yaaaay!  Our Canberra girl👏

Distressingly, not right now😔

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

I have used Meriton, Adina, Quest, Oaks, Metro, APX and Sebel apartments over the years, I just pick which one suits my budget and location required best.

These are currently  ranging from around $1050 to $ 1700 for the 4 nights in a standard studio or 1 bedroom apartment.

Good suggestions

Beat me to it!  Just opened this thread while I’m watching Tillies.  Still 0-0😔

4 hours ago, thebsinmiss said:

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,

 

As the safety and security of our guests and crew are our top priorities, we have taken the decision to amend our published 2024 itineraries that were scheduled to sail in the Holy Land region. The itinerary changes reflect a thoughtful realignment of our sailings with a focus on the peace of mind of our guests and crew as well as presenting an amazing and enriching guest destination experience.

 

On your sailing, we are replacing calls in the Holy Land region as listed below with the new ports highlighted in bold. Your reservation number and accommodations remain unchanged and there is no action required on your part. The updated itinerary now features an additional selection of historically significant and culturally rich destinations in Croatia and Italy. A few featured highlights, emblematic of the destinations on the voyage, are below.

 

This is the wording in the Oceania email dated Nov/07/23 signed by Carlos Ortega

The ports removed were izmir Turkey and Istanbul Turkey which apparently are part of Holy Land region. 

Exactly the wording for the notification of replacing our Kusadasi stop, and our overnight in Istanbul on our Rome-Trieste Grand Mediterranean Tour on Vista in April.  We received the email in December, from memory.  Turkish stops are being replaced with Santorini, Crete and Kopor.  We've spent considerable time in Turkey, including the Cappadocia region, and would have loved to return.  Our friends travelling with us have never been, so are very disappointed to miss Ephesus (from Kusadasi) and of course, Istanbul.  They have also never been to the Greek Isles, so are thrilled with the replacements. We love the Turkish people, and their culture, but I must admit to a sense of relief, after reading many articles about unrest, particularly in Istanbul.  President Erdogan does seem to delight in inflammatory speech, and although I don't think he enjoys universal support, the fact that an American vessel is visiting, with its many western passengers strolling the streets, is enough for niggling concern during these terrible days.  

We have also used several private carriers in the past, choosing after a Google search.  All have been very satisfactory.  This time (June this year) we have booked a large people carrier (up to 6 people, and 6 suitcases) through Booking.com. after disembarking our Cunard cruise in Southampton. Only for the two of us, but we need the larger vehicle because we are travelling for over two months, and have an array of luggage.  We have also used Booking.com for transfers from Fiumicino Airport to Civitavecchia to our hotel before embarkation of our prior Oceania cruise in April, and the same for our transfer from Trieste to our Venice Airport hotel at the end of the Oceania cruise, before flying to Edinburgh.  We find Booking.com's format familiar, and easy to cancel or make changes.  The Southampton carrier they use is Talixo.  

Oh, great news😀

Looks a lot like St Petersburg.

A stretch of the Bosphorus, Istanbul?  Random guess.