the mice

You might want to open your suitcase and measure the length and width then compare to dimensions of the cubes. Then you can see what sizes will probably work. I found that I couldn't use my largest one, but the medium sizes and the slim ones work well. (hmmm, maybe I should take my own advice - I probably need some more and/or different sizes now...).

I tend to be a very organized packer so I use them for some of my packed items. Also got them from ebags, many years ago. Have some slim ones - both full sized slim ones and half-sized (if they still carry those). Also some square/rectangular ones. I pack undies and socks in the slim ones and they go nicely into that annoying well created by the handles on the bottom of my suitcases. I use the square/rectangular ones for things I might roll (like some resort casual wear items that have some spandex and don't wrinkle) or for tee shirts. SInce we try to travel carryon only, sometimes they don't fit depending on what else I am packing. Some of mine happen to be red, and the others are green. As clothes get dirty, and I'm on a land trip where I might be moving hotels, I shift clean stuff into the green ones, and reserve the red ones for the stuff that needs washing.

But I don't put everything in packing cubes. I just fold most shirts and slacks. Oh, and since packing cubes do add some weight, you need to be aware of that in case you are bumping up near a weight limit for carryon or checked bag.

I also have a couple of small compression bags that you can roll to let the air out - no need for vacuum cleaner to suction out the air. I have used these to pack our packable down jackets flat as pancakes instead of stuffing them into their pocket sacks. I've never used them on anything that would wrinkle.

The survey was pretty lame, I had to shake my head. But these comments have really got me laughing.

I commented that the only thing that would make me consider a verandah upgrade was a bigger bathroom and showers without curtains, and since I didn't see that happening given the footprint of the staterooms....

But maybe if we had some juice, inhaled a soothing fragrance, and meditated with an inspirational quote mantra while we showered, we wouldn't notice the clingy curtain....

I agree that there are more sea days on the Silversea Japan cruise that we have booked. However, the difference is 1. There are 3 sea days on Silversea and 2 on Azamara, so the difference is hardly great. Also, with Silversea there is more time in Tokyo as the ship does not leave Tokyo until 7pm on the day after embarkation. It is true that the ports of call are largely different and one itinerary may be better than the other - but I don't know which.

The debate has prompted me to look more closely into the comparative costs per day. As I originally said, I am comparing costs from the same agent I have booked the Silversea cruise. I am also comparing the cost of a veranda on Azamara (16.3 sq m plus 3.8 sy m balcony) to a Vista on Silversea (no balcony but 31 sq m)

To make a like for like comparison I have to make some assumptions. As the Silversea cruise includes excursions and a pre-cruise and post-cruise I need to add a sensible amount to the Azamara price. Typically, Azamara charge around £300 for hotels, so allow £600 for pre and post cruise. If you also assume £80 per person for excursions (a conservative estimate based on previous experience) that would be 10 excursions x 2 people x £80 = £1600. So I think it is reasonable to assume I need to add £2200 to the Azamara to make a reasonable comparison.

Excluding flight times, we are therefore comparing a 15 day (2 days hotel + 13 days cruise) trip for each line. For Silversea this comes out at £826 per day; for Azamara £1009 per day.

Yes, the price you got is very favorable compared to Azamara. However, I looked at the Silversea cruises for April 16 and April 29 - I assume you are referring to one of these. I count 4 sea days where the Az cruise has only 1 (the inland sea cruising is only the early part of a port day).

Both ships overnight in a port about equidistant from Kyoto, but Silversea departs later on day 2, so that is a plus for you. These cruises sold out so fast on Az. We originally booked the 15 night Circle Japan 2 days after bookings opened end of March 2017, but once I realized, sadly too late in the game, that it would be during Golden Week, switched this January to the 13 night earlier cruise, which had been added later last spring on based on demand. So, we are paying $265 pp more for 2 less nights in a balcony instead of my preferred OV. I assume if I had booked this when it became available, the price would have been less.

Based on the total cost of this one, I am not sure we will do it, since there will be significant additional expenses to consider. Your post gave me something to think about. There may be future opportunities to get a better deal to visit Japan, even if we do a land tour. We travel a lot using miles and points so that can give us some options, too. TBD.

Btw , how do people know a cruise is selling slowly as others here have mentioned?

I start a dummy booking on Azamara and go through each category and see how many staterooms are still available.

Only cruised once on Azamara Journey back in 2009 - got great price drop when markets dropped in 2008 - great value and great cruise. For 3 years after that, did Celebrity cruises to Bermuda and Caribbean, but for the 5 years since then it's been mostly a lot of independent land trips. Then we took Oceania Marina last September from Amsterdam-Lisbon. We enjoyed the ship - great large verandah cabin, bath with both tub and shower, free specialties, O Life with free internet and 3 shorex pp - adding in the gratuities, it was $580/cabin/night. Size of the ship not an issue - on and off the ship was a breeze. Granted, interaction with crew was limited, but service was very nice, as were our fellow passengers. Port intensive (no sea days, some late days), so we didn't mind lack of onboard activities, etc. And we don't drink alcohol, so not a factor for us in picking a cruise.

Now booked on Journey for Baltics in August and Quest for Japan next April, but also Oceania Marina for Spain/Canaries in November.

The Baltic cruise is a slow seller, and I just re-booked after another price drop that I found on a large OTA site - not showing on Azamara. Saved about $1370 from Nights on Us sale, but lost our $100 deposit and $300 OBC for re-booking - still ahead $970.. My TA called it a "secret sale" - say what?? We are in a Cat 4 OV (one of those oversized ones). Price is $592/cabin/night - with no internet (we will get LCV discount).

The Japan cruise - we booked the original Circle cruise 2 days after bookings opened but switched in Jan. to the later added prior cruise to avoid Golden Week in Japan. This meant we lost our Cat 4 OV, and with limited choices, are in a V3. Price is $1024/cabin/night. Still have to add air, excursions, etc. This price hurts.

Oceania - have stateroom with extended verandah, cruise only (no O Life - active roll call with private excursions). Price $520/cabin/night. Have gratuities from TA. Just have to add internet (add $336 if we take it for full cruise-probably won't buy it until 1st sea day).

So, definitely supply and demand at work with Azamara, but the sales pricing games are frustrating. The Oceania prices are certainly very attractive, especially with the dining options, daily afternoon tea. Really liked our cabin on Marina. Have not been on any of the Oceania R ships so cannot compare to Azamara. We don't do a lot of socializing, so the "quietness" of O suits us fine. I look at some cruises I'd be interested to take on Azamara and the prices are more than I want to consider.

As for the OP's comment on the Japan cruise, I looked at the itinerary, and while the price is better, I feel the itinerary is not comparable. Yes, both are 13 nights, but Silversea has more sea days, so a very different cruise. That being said, undecided if we will keep the booking.

Thanks again. I have put my query on the Cruise Air forum and will keep looking. TAP looks a possibility - anyone any recent experience of TAP long haul?

 

 

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Check out this post from blog One Mile At A Time. Ben is an aviation geek, and all he does is fly and review business and first class flights as well as hotels. He just flew TAP business from Lisbon to Newark. While it isn't the flight you are interested in, he has a lot of useful info and tons of photos.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/01/28/tap-air-portugal-business-class-a330-review/

When doing this survey you cannot rate each destination, we were only able to pick one destination from each category (i.e interested, somewhat interested, neutral , somewhat not interested, or not interested) . did you notice this or was it our browser maybe.

 

Yes a Capital intensive cruise would be good.

Same thing happened to me when taking the survey. In the "Other" boxes, I put these comments " why can't I rate each choice in the list? "

Hoping that someone who reads it will realize that the results they are getting are less than representative of true interests and disinterests.

Thank you, looking forward to your photos. Safe travels home!

Marilyn

Thanks for that great photo. Yes, this will be to celebrate my 70th. I figure we will be gone 31 days (retirement is good...). Hoping to fly to Melbourne and do a day trip to the Great Ocean Road, then fly to Sydney for a couple of days prior to the start of the GBR cruise. Celebrity does a 5 day RT to Melbourne prior to our GBR, but doesn't allow for doing the GBR and anything in Melbourne, plus then I'd have to add more days to see Sydney. Of course, this is MY plan....

I have wanted to go to Oz for almost as long as I have been married (currently 32 happy years). In addition to learning to swim and snorkel, I will probably have to learn hypnosis to use on Pete to get him to fly that distance - LOL. Piling up the frequent flier miles right now. I know he's going to love it. Good thing there are a number of sea days to give him some R&R. And I love the Corning Hot Glass shows, it's all good.

Keep on posting. I am loving this.

Happy cruising.

Marilyn

Hi Mahdnc, thanks so much for this blog. We are doing this cruise B2B with New Zealand in October 2019. This will help me not only prepare, but give me info (or ammo?;p) to keep my DH, who is reluctant to go this far or be away so long, onboard with this trip. He loves to snorkel, so will really enjoy that part. Me - I will have to learn to swim and snorkel....

Enjoy your cruise!!

Marilyn

Advert for 50% off for 2nd passenger:

‘cheer on your country at the World Cup,‘

Both sailings are featured, does this mean that they are not selling well?

Saw this thread and decided to read it because we have a Baltics cruise on Journey booked for August, and, since we are not soccer fans, sort of glad I didn't book one of the June cruises. But I am so sorry for what's happened to you.

In regards to this comment, it would seem that Azamara's Baltic cruises for this year are not selling quickly. I was cleaning out some files yesterday and noticed a printout on our August 8 sailing dated early December 2015, which is 2+ years ago. (Didn't book it then but changed to it in Sept 2016 from a 2017 booking). Yet, after all that time, this cruise still has almost half its staterooms available, despite all the promotions offered on it (Nights on Us, this new one, etc). It seems that these 2 "World Cup" cruises have lots of availability as well.

Thanks much!

Happy Holidays!!!

Marilyn

I didn't know there was a roll call for my cruise for some time until I finally realized that the date in Find Your Roll Call is wrong.

That tool lists; Azamara Journey Roll Call - August 11, 2018

If you do finally click on that it will take you to the forum

Azamara Journey Roll Call - 11 Night Romatic Baltic and Golf - August 8, 2018 which is the correct date.

I posted in the Report Bugs and Glitches, and I also used the blue triangle in the 1st post of the forum to report the error, but I am not sure if anyone reads those or who fixes the problem.

And Grandma Cruising, I know you are the moderator, but there's no contact info listed for you so just hoping you read this.

The roll call is pretty quiet but the following cruise, also to the Baltics, is somewhat active, so having the correct date might help others find us who might not realize that a roll call has been started.

Thanks,

Marilyn

Thanks for the suggestions. We have booked at Andersons Boutique Hotel in Copenhagen & the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel in Stockholm. Will let you know what they are like - next year as we are not going until August 2018. At this stage there is no Roll Call for our cruise up.

 

Host Grandma thanks for the tip about the Baltic forum. Lots of information there.

 

If a cruise is departing at 6pm what time would the earliest for boarding be?

 

Cheers

Neliska - I saw this post and wonder if you are on the Azamara Journey August 8, 2018 cruise. If so, there IS a roll call but the Find Your Roll Call tool lists the WRONG date. It lists Azamara Journey August 11, 2018. If you choose that one, it will link you to the roll call.

I am not the roll call starter, but I submitted a request to fix the date in the Glitches forum, and also used the blue exclamation point on the first post of the roll call to report the issue. Hopefully it gets fixed so others can find the roll call.

Marilyn

Oceania already goes to three different ports on the east side plus Palermo on the north. That’s four. Other lines visit Gela, Licata, and Empedocles on the west side opening up different in land opportunities .

Someone posted this on the Azamara forum asking for a circumnavigation of Sicily:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/tour/1421/circumnavigation-of-sicily/itinerary/?search_url_id=6

Ports they used are Siracusa, Licata for Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Trapani, Palermo, Lipari, Messina for Taormina. So between this list and the ones you mention, looks like plenty of ports.

We were in Sicily for 10 days in April, driving. It is wonderful - we loved it! And there is still so much more we didn't get to see. We saw the HAL Prisendam docked in Trapani. We've also been on Azamara back in 2009 and had a stop for Taormina. Highly recommend Sicily.

I remember when Rick Steves got his start with his first shows on Public Broadcasting in the US. He was all about what he calls travel through the back door - independent land tours, using public transport and/or rental car, not a tour, and visiting the main cities but exploring the countrysides, staying in local accomodations. Now he has gone totally mainstream - well, that is good business for him.

He promoted the Cinque Terra as a special place, so much so that it is often over-run with crowds. Now he runs a big bus tour organization.

Somehow I have a problem with someone who produces a guidebook on Italy and doesn't include Sicily, but runs organized bus tours in Sicily. What happened to "through the back door" travel?

Only happy that we visited Venice for 3+ magical days back in May 1993 before cruise ships, and Dubrovnik for 3 days, and done about 2 dozen land trips in various places in Europe, so we got to see a lot of places without the crowds. His guidebooks have some merit, but I find doing my own extensive research always leads to a most enjoyable experience for us.

Don't think this is limited to Azamara. Back in May 2007 we took Windstar's Wind Star from Athens to Istanbul. The cruise prior to ours was a charter for nudists; actually I think it was a gay nudist group charter. Perhaps they prefer the smaller ships, or the size is more suitable to a charter.

I found this out quite by accident sometime after we booked. When I mentioned it to one of the crew, they were quite surprised that I knew about this. In speaking to a couple of the crew, I was told that all the seating surfaces were covered, and that they were given the option of working that particular cruise or not. Those who did stay on said it was a bit uncomfortable for some of them.

We were fine, and didn't worry about "catching" anything - and we didn't. The only downside was realizing that that ship didn't suit us.

Re: Palermo - We were just in Sicily for 10 days in April, doing our own touring and driving. I spent a lot of time planning and got a lot of help from the TripAdvisor forum experts. I would say that the highlights are the Capella Palatina (in Palermo itself) and the Cathedral of Monreale, in the hills above Palermo - both are covered in spectacular mosaics (one of them has a website with 360 views - I don't remember which of the 2). The Puppet Museum near the port is fascinating. There are a number of beautiful churches in the city.

Palermo is gritty and crowded, but we did not feel unsafe. We walked everywhere except to Monreale, but at night only in the area near our hotel which was relatively OK. But once we ended up down deserted streets and it felt uncomfortable in the darkness, so we quickly returned to busier streets. However, we were warned of pickpockets being very active on the bus to Monreale. It was recommended that we hire a driver which we did. Not the cheapest option, but very well worth it terms of convenience.

We had a stop in Livorno on a previous cruise and took the train to Lucca for the day - a wonderful day trip. However, we had previously been to Florence for many days, and Pisa. Florence is too ambitious for day trip sprint, IMHO.

Dubrovnik can easily be done on your own - be sure to walk the walls as others have suggested.

Most of all, have a great time!

We weren't going to consider Azamara again because I didn't think we received good value for our upcoming trip--we're doing it solely for the golf. Based on the current promotion prices for the 2018 golf cruises, they are a much better value. Provided my husband enjoys the golf, Azamara might be back on our radar.

The Aug 8, 2018 11 Night Romantic Baltic Copenhagen-Stockholm cruise on which I got the $2728 price drop for a cat 4 OV is a Perry Golf cruise. We are not golfers, but really love this itinerary, esp. having 3 full days in St. Petersburg instead of the usual 2.

I feel silly asking this, but hearing of those receiving good value from this "sale", I'd like to know: is the price that I see when I go to the cruise I wish to take reflective of the "nights on us" or do I have to finish the booking process to see the final price? The cruise I'm interested in is eligible for the sale, and did have a reduction, but only $870 for two (on a 13 night cruise), or $435PP. Certainly not three nights. I really don't get upset by the marketing strategies, just sometimes not sure if I'm reading them right!

Once I found our cruise in the list, I proceeded through the booking process. Since the stateroom category we were booked in was still available, I was able to select a cabin in that same category. The price displayed was significantly lower than what we had originally booked, so it was the sale price.

We are on the Aug 8, 2018 11 Night Romantic Baltic Copenhagen-Stockholm. Booked a 2017 version of this cruise in Feb 2016 but changed to this one in Sept. 2016 (liked the 2018 itinerary better). This Nights on Us promo reduced the price of our cat 4 OV by $2728 for 2. Total now is $7886 making the price per night for 2 people $717. So, for us, this was definitely a sale. Puts the pricing close to a BOGOHO.

 

Just for the record to an above post. The deal between SPG and Marriott is not a done deal. There is currently a Chinese firm that has offered a $14 Billion cash deal to SPG that beats Marriott's $13.6 Billion cash and stock offer. Everything is still on the table and no final deals have been struck as of COB Friday, that I have read.

Not so - according to multiple sources on Thursday afternoon. This is a quote from the NY Times:

"By Thursday afternoon, Anbang and its partners formally withdrew their $14 billion takeover offer for Starwood, ceding the operator of the Westin and Sheraton chains to Marriott in a puzzling turn of events."

It does remain to be seen how the impending Marriott merger will affect the SPG program and its points to airline miles transfer bonus component, but expectations are that integration will take some time.

The SPG Amex card has no FT fees, but the current signup offer has reverted back to 25,000 points now.

All that being said, many bloggers in the miles and points community contend that

1.) the AMEX Platinum is an excellent card for frequent travelers who can take advantage of the benefits that offset the annual fee as Caviargal enumerated.

(BTW- thank you for that info on the cruise benefit - miles and points bloggers don't cover this aspect - searching CC helped me find this thread)

2.) earning points in transferrable programs (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You points, AMEX membership reward points) is preferable to earning points in one airline because you have more redemption options with multiple airline and hotel partners. This is especially useful as miles and points devaluations (Delta, United, American in the past year alone) are becoming common occurrences.

3.) if you are not earning more than 1.5 cents per mile on your redemptions, you should consider cash back cards, such as the Citi Double Cash card.

 

If anyone can suggest a good Canadian reward card I am very interested too.

You might try following the blog of "Canadian Kilometers" - http://canadiankilometers.boardingarea.com/

I have considered many of the cards and have narrowed the best one for travel and airlines to the BA Visa card which, I believe, has a very aggressive program to seed many miles to new accounts.

 

I do not have the BA Visa (although the huge signup bonus a couple of years ago seemed enticing) because BA is known to have high fees associated with their awards.

Using the Travel Together companion ticket might make sense for a business class flight, but it is not worthwhile to use for economy tickets, due to the high cost of earning it and the associated ticketing fees.

From what I have read on many travel blogs, the best use of BA Avios points is to use them on short-haul flights on Oneworld alliance partners, such as American Airlines. There are many, many miles and points bloggers who have done extensive series on earning and redeeming BA miles - easy Google search.

The best discussions on rewards credit cards can be found on Flyertalk , Boarding Area blogs and Inside Flyer. They are to the miles and points community what Cruise Critic is to cruisers.

Hope this will be of some help.

I've read from a quite a number of sources that the SPG card from AMEX is the best general-purpose card. You can transfer into many airlines' FF programs, and there are bonuses (i.e., if you transfer 20,000 miles into AA, you'll get an additional 5,000 miles bonus). If you google The Points Guy and/or View From A Wing, those two bloggers have various analyses of the different cards.

The miles and points bloggers all seem to promote the SPG Amex as the most valuable points currency, because of the bonus for transferring points to miles. Currently, there is an offer for 35K points for new credit card signups until the end of this month, the highest signup bonus ever offered on this card.

However, you should be aware that SPG (Starwood) is merging with Marriott (expected to close mid-year), so the future of the SPG program is up in the air. This has been covered by various miles and points bloggers, including View from the Wing and The Points Guy.

FYI - Please do be aware that The Points Guy website is owned by Bankrate for several years now, and while they claim that editorial content is not controlled by Bankrate, there has been a substantial increase in credit card affiliate links permeating every post.

You should look at the airlines you are most likely to fly, and determine what alliances they belong to. If it fits your travel plans, you may want to consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, a Visa with no foreign transaction fees and primary rental car insurance, which earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to a number of airlines such as United, British Airways, Korean, and hotel partners such as Hyatt and Marriott.