mcondition

Thanks I will contact them to proceed.

Hello, 

I am considering a 7-day cruise from Piraeus, Greece to Haifa, Israel, on August.

I noted at the listing 

"Inclusive Economy Class Air plus complimentary transfers between airport and ship"

I do not need this service. I live near to departure port (live in Athens) and prefer to make my own arrangements at Haifa.

As the price is already on the high side for 7 days, starting from EUR 5300, do you know if it is possible to exclude the Economy Class Air plus complimentary transfers between airport and ship, and have a reduction in the cost? Thank you. 

On 3/21/2022 at 7:18 PM, ciaoYacht said:

Thanks for the replies so far.  We are in port every day, and none are tender ports.  Here is the schedule:

 

May 28, 2022 Barcelona, Spain
May 29, 2022 Palamos, Spain
May 30, 2022 Sete, France
May 31, 2022 Monte Carlo, Monaco
Jun 1, 2022 Toulon, France
Jun 2, 2022 Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Jun 3, 2022 Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy
Jun 4, 2022 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

 

Was hoping to use the marina but it doesn't seem likely.

So I was on a 2018 cruise on board Encore for one week Barcelona-Rome (Civitavecchia) 

SB changed some ports of call, my schedule was

Aug 18, Barcelona

Aug 19, Mahon, Menorca, Spain

Aug 20, Marseille, FR  

Aug 21, St Tropez Fr

Aug 22, Ajaccio, Corsica

Aug 23, Monte Carlo

Aug 24, Portovenere, Italy 

Aug 25, Civitavecchia, Rome

From these ports I really liked visiting Marseille and St. Tropez that SB removed from schedule, regardless the warm weather and early ship's departure. 

Provided that sails out of war risk areas, has a cruise ship ever been hit by torpedo or force boarded by commandos from an enemy war ship?

I agree with most of the comments. Firstly its not considered fine dinning as is a restaurant with michelin star but I think it doesn't try to be one. Especially with these huge steaks. Moreover I have eaten better meat even at non michelin star awarded restaurants and indeed the main courses were oversalted. It was described to us as the old school American dining experience, but there are better quality American steaks in Mykonos, lol. 

Last summer during covid at Ovation, we could dine there daily if we wanted but visited only once and bought a bottle of special red wine that the sommelier let us taste first. 

I live in Greece and here the ministry of health has reduced the number of quarantine days to 5 for the vaccinated who got the infection, provided they are asymptomatic. In my opinion this didn't help much, as some of them, even asymptomatic, still transmitting the virus leading (with the help of omicron) to 10 times more cases than August!!!

Hi WNcruiser, do you know approximately the number of passengers? Is Ovation like half full?

I have cruised starboard side with sister ship Encore Barcelona to Rome (Civitavecchia I think). It is excellent short cruise and starboard side is my preference. Some excellent views of the ports of call.

Regarding the deck level, since the ship doesn't cross the ocean, I guess Mediterranean slow cruising won't bring any serious sea sickness but my general rule is my cabin to be surrounded by cabins only, i.e. cabin above, below and next to. Starboard side at 7th or 8th deck is my pref.

10 hours ago, cece50 said:

We too marvel at the virus’ ability to not infect a person sitting at a bar or a table for hours while onboard a cruise ship; but just that quick second a person passes another on the way to the table or in a hallway is deemed dangerous.  

Hi, please try to understand the reason behind this rule: when people roaming all around the ship without mask and some are infected, they may passed it to an unknown number of unmasked passengers while socializing or queuingat the bar. This is not the case in a restaurant however; if proper use of masks provides protection, then only the passengers in the table of the infected will be quarantined, as they were the only ones unmasked around the infected. 

For optimum protection mask should be worn properly from all, i.e. covering chin, mouth and nose. If a big number of passengers wear masks repeatedly under the nose, the protection would be less than optimum and could also be unfair to the those wearing masks properly. 

So my opinion is that mandatory face mask rule also needs and proper mask wearing gentle enforcement, in order to be effective.

So what is the reason for the railing at lower decks and no railing at upper?

I believe this would always be a recommendation, as it is widely accepted that the vast majority of covid infections are via air droplets, hence the helpfulness of the masks. 

On 11/19/2021 at 8:22 PM, robertmartha said:

If we cruise in 2022 - definitely will be close to home ...  Alaska or Canada/NE...maybe the Caribbean would be the furthest. As much as I would love to go across the pond next year - since I am still working I could not risk getting stuck/quarantined overseas...that's why even the Caribbean is a maybe!

Have to believe the pricing on US cruises is going to reflect this sentiment as well....notice none of these sailings are includ in their latest BF promotion 😏

this reflects my cruising planning exactly. On July I took a half hour taxi from home to the Ovation's embarking dock. Piraeus as starting port is so convenient and since most ships sail half capacity I can literally book just 3 weeks before departing, as I did last June, booked online for July. I would love to travel to distant exotic and tropical areas but it is so difficult to prepare 6 or more months ahead for me, not only for covid situation but also for family structure, kids in high school etc.

Fortunately for med cruises, ships can call Greece & Italy after Turkish ports and there are some very attractive cruises for spring 2022 with SB Encore not Ovation this time. Or alternatively SilverSea that I haven't tried and want to sail to compare by myself. It is so nice to cruise Dardanelles, I have crossed with commercial ships and found it amazing.

Austria announced (further to 3 weeks lockdown) that from February vaccination will be mandatory to all population. Greek PM confirmed will revoke green pass to those over 60 after 7 months of second shot. Most European countries set similar rules between 6-10 months from 2nd shot, but unfortunately nothing unified again, each one with its own rules, but there are quite similar. 

@sfvoyage thanks for the informative post. Only regarding seated customers in restaurants, most EU countries allow only vaccinated customers inside restaurants. So only vaccinated will have their masks removed and provided vaccinated and not moving around without masks they are considered risk to infect other customers apart from their own table.

its not possible the smoke to travel down and then forward while at sea, it just goes up and backwards and the dividers between balconies make it impossible to bother you in port apart from cabin 921 being too far from smoking area.

I suppose smoke could bother you in the balcony only if coming from a neighbouring cabin.

I want to add that after you complete online the fridge beverages preferences SB saves them for future voyages

On 10/31/2021 at 12:59 PM, Cruise Puss said:

 

We loved being on the ship because we love being on the ocean.

 

We spent quite a lot of the time in our cabin (because of all of the restrictions) and sitting on our balcony watching the ocean was absolutely wonderful.  However, it is not enough for us to do it again until all these restrictions disappear. 😊

If you include in these restrictions preboarding testing, PLF check on landing, mandatory mask use during flight, I believe they won't disappear any time soon. If you love the watching the Ocean from a balcony, better try to adapt.

But, on the other hand, if you believe that covid pandemic will be over soon, like a year or so, then it maybe worth the wait.

It seems SB handled it pretty well. Greek health authorities imposed disembarkation possibly due to concern that a positive case may start developing heavy symptoms and hospitalization may needed while at sea. 

Espresso capsule coffee cannot be compared to freshly brewed coffee beans. If room service brings fresh espresso within 5 or 10 minutes, its worth the wait to drink real coffee. I got a super-auto coffee machine home and my friends love it. Previously I used nespresso system.

Barcelona is hot on July but not so crowded. Hot like you can't walk for more than an hour during midday and makes sense only to visit a beach or an air-conditioned space. On August temp is the same or couple degrees lower but it is very crowded (pre covid at least).  

7 hours ago, SLSD said:

Did you read about the current cases of Covid on Ovation?  

I have not read it too. Can you point me please?

BTW we have new interesting Greek regulations. Cruise ships sailing from Kusadasi and Galata ports are now accepted to call Greek ports so SB could make the schedule more exiting. The could drop the Cyprus call as where departure was at 2 PM anyway, Patmos, Spetses and add 2 or more Turkey ports. 

Athens is trying to expand in the cruise sector and this season's experiment with the new rules and making Piraeus departing port for many lines has gone pretty well so far.

I agree that some of the ports of call are not so interested but also SB's "strict" schedule to depart at afternoon, doesn't allow to night visits. For example we sailed afternoon from St Tropez and Monaco and this didn't allow us to visit casino, bars etc. The summer heat also makes noon visits to interesting areas painful. 

On 9/30/2021 at 3:17 AM, shyla100 said:

I will check them out thank you and great tip about the clock,  as I suffer with jetlag when travelling.

Has any one done this trip in July?

I cruised Barcelona to Rome on August and it was very hot everywhere. I think temp July=August

And this TA has to be domestic or I can use a London TA? Is there any advantage if I meet TA in person?