Kristelle

So Viking's Grand European Tour is basically same route ( in reverse) and probably most excursions as our Scenic Jewels of Europe one - 14 night Amsterdam to Budapest?

yes, always tricky as the programmer of itineraries to strike right balance of pleasing the most people the most of the time as possible Me personally the excursions are definitely a huge part of the decision - like any non cruise holiday to me - a luxury hotel (in this case a floating one) and fancy food are great, but it has to have things to do and places to go, that's the main point of going somewhere (IMO)

I guess that is subjective - somebody in a recent review mentioned how the all day on ship day was scenic but boring half a day of such balanced with a morning or afternoon excursion would suit me better.

Pontac, yes absolutely. re choosing your itinerary When I was first looking at these cruises and deciding between Scenic and APT (which I think is AMA outside Australia) they are the 2 main players which do packages from Australia, there was one which had a full day on the ship Everything else about them was much the same Was going to go with one which did not - but before I fully made up my mind, the itinerary changed to not have that any more - might of been Scenic as was mentioned upthread that they used to but now stop in Miltenberg. This was back in 2019, am finally doing trip now borders have been opened again post Covid I think perhaps they have stopped doing that and made there be excursions ever y day in response to feedback from passengers - seems best option to me is to give passengers as many options as possible - so if anyone wants to stay on board all day they can - but there is not a day everybody has to

Sorry about these big white spaces, not sure how to stop that on tablet

Well, yes, I guess correct term would be river day rather than sea day - but point remains the same - a day you don't get off the ship. Yes I know you can stay on the ship and not get off any day you want to - but sea ( river) day refers to a day when you can't get off whether you want to or not. Regardless of how scenic the view is, I do not want such a day on my river cruise.

there was some bad set shot kicking from both sides, Sydney worse though edge of seat stuff - and I didnt even care about either team, just wanted to get my tip right 😁

I am doing Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest n September - the itinerary does not show any full cruising days. Which is good as I do not want any.

No. Minor delays only. Once we were delayed for most of a day due to computer breakdown issue. Long day stuck in airport. and also overseas trip we went on in 2019 to Fiji (not a cruise) we were delayed overnight before flying out due to some safety issue with the plane Annoying - but would rather that than airline takes chance on safety with possibly disasterous outcome. We were already in Melbourne by then - ie for our connecting flight. Virgin put us up for the night in hotel and gave us meal voucher for dinner there and we flew out next morning.

and Cruise ships would say that.

I remember him. sorry to hear that. 🥺

well ,not really - since Sydney was rated best on job opportunities - most of which would have nothing to do with the harbour But I still think the list is vague and meaningless.

no I dont agree OP - other than property affordability, it is all totally individual and subjective.

Ok it was an example off top of my head, isnt somewhere I have looked into going There are people n Australia who cruise to Antartica - perhaps that is better example of , for me, where not to go because of weather.

Possible but not likely weather, maybe not - but likely or standard weather in the place is a big factor in when I go where - and some places I wouldnt go at all - for me, for example, super cold places like Alaska or the Antarctic Humidity and heat I can cope with. YMMV

Big difference between constructive criticism, valid complaints, relevant comparisons etc and entitled type complaining and behaviour

not likely thrashing West Coast means much this year.

you might get Lagevrio- at least that is the brand name in Australia - which is different to Paxlovid. I have seen that prescribed many times here Has been prescribed for people who meet the Covid eligibility criteria for anti virals on the basis of a RATS test or a PCR - without the doctor seeing the patient ie as a telehealth consult ( for obvious reasons, we don't want patients with known Covid coming into the surgery) - but you could only get it from a pharmacy Each country is going to have their own system for this. The easiest thing would be to take some with you, if you meet eligibility criteria for such ( those would vary by country too, of course) I dont know whether one can fill a prescription like that in advance for a just in case scenario - have not looked into it since I don't meet our eligibility criteria anyway.

it always amuses me on forums like this when people complain about others over-using electronic devices/the internet/social media etc you know kettle, pot, black.....

I run a small kiosk for our sports club - people have been know to buy a Zooper dooper ( a small frozen ice thing) for their child for 50c and put it on card. Occasionally - more and more occasionally - small places like market stall etc might not take card that was my thought in getting small amount of cash just in case - not for tipping.

I think that is unfair. of course washing hands reduces the risk of spread - but it isnt as simple as everyone who caught it was inferior to me in personal hygiene

yes there are......Not in football maybe but in relevant areas of real life - visiting/working in Aged Care facilities or hospitals or some other medical venues - one has to wear masks and/or do RATS tests.

well, I guess there are ways to filter out sound - like one can photo shop photos. I agree taking videos in places one is not suppossed to, like during movies or shows - is wrong - as is vlogging (or reading a book or anything else) whilst walking around oblivious to others. Like everything - there are right and wrong ways to do things. But taking a video of your own food while sitting at your table and doing a normal volume voice commentary - that seems a right way

World traveller - it is probably possible to use a card exclusively. I would probably get a very small amount of cash for the occasional place you may not be able to buy small things on card. perhaps $40 of each currency just in case?

Yes, good point. I am in regional SA - so regional areas generally slower to change than urban areas - and even so I find I am in the minority using cash.