montelco

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I will need to get in touch with them but the City Hall sounds like a great idea.

Air Canada is not the problem (at least not so much). It is their leisure airline Air Canada Rouge. Coming back from Seville last year (on points) I really needed to get home in one day, and my only option was TAP to Lisbon and Rouge home. It was not wonderful even in premium economy. (Since then TAP is now flying Lisbon to Toronto so it might be better.)

What was TAP like? We are flying from Budapest to Lisbon with them soon after our river cruise. How much was the luggage charge? Our travel agent has told us that we will need to pay extra for our luggage. What were their facilities like? Thanks.

Hi,

Where would be the best place in the city to meet up with friends once we disembark? How would we get there from the pier ( We are arriving on the Pacific Princess on the 13th September)? Is it in walking distance ? Would we need Danish Kroner to use a taxi if need be? We are hoping to do a walk off and do Copenhagen on our own with our friends once we meet up with them. Any advice most welcome. Thanks.

Hi, do all cruise ships dock at Nynasham, even smaller ships like the Pacific Princess? If so , how do you get to Stockholm on your own? The way I have read it, it appears that you can take the train which is reasonably close to the cruise terminal and go into the new line or Stockholm Central. Has anyone used the train and bought their tickets while docked? What was the train trip like? We will be there on a Thursday for do it by ourselves after our planned tour on the Wednesday. Would it be an idea to get the tickets on the Wednesday? We are doing an SPB tour. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for all the advice and hints. Does anyone know how long the bus ride is from Passau to Salzburg? I am interested in seeing the sights of Salzburg, including any film locations from the Sound of Music but I know that my husband would get restless in the music sessions because he needs to move around and out and about. Are there any markets in either Linz or Salzburg?

Great pictures. What did you think of Sintra? Was there much to do in the small town below the palaces?

We are doing the Scenic cruise which includes an option of Salzburg with Sound of Music tours. We are interested in seeing Salzburg ,but not doing The Sound of Music tours. Is it possible to have a look around Salzburg on our own without the lunch and music and catch up with the bus later or should we just explore Linz? What is there to see and do in Linz? any advice would be most welcome.:confused:

Glad you found the right Linz as a destination!

 

In Passau, there is a nice river promenade on the Inn side of town. We didn't think the Danube promenade was as picturesque, though it certainly isn't bad. There is a monastery across the Inn that you can climb to - we didn't have time but acwmom did, I think. We climbed up the other side, across the Danube, to Weste Oberhaus which has nice views. You can see the mixing of the different colored waters of the three rivers from here.

 

Plenty to see in the Old Town - the Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, the Rathaus with the markings of past floodwater levels is iconic. "Three Rivers Corner (Dreiflusseeck) park is pretty. Rathausplatz looks like a nice place for lunch. And I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting.

 

Hope that you have a fun time whatever you decide.

Thanks very much for your help. I found your comments and pictures brilliant. Such an adventure. I can now get in touch with our friends in Passau and hopefully arrange a time and place to meet. Your information about the train station was very useful. All the best on your next adventure.

Thank very much for the caveats. :D I will copy all of that down in my Passau section so I remember what to do. I will definitely let the cruise director know and seek further clarification from him. By the sounds of it, it may dock at Lindau. That would make sense. Will try to access your pictures.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

Just discovered from further research that it is doable to get to Linz, Austria from Passau, Germany which is only an hour away by train as opposed to Linz, Germany. Silly me. Should have clarified that first. So now am looking for things to do in Passau. Any ideas? :)

Hi montelco. Sorry for taking so long to answer.

 

Let me make sure I understand your question. You're on Scenic, and your boat only makes a short stop in Passau to let people off who want to visit Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov, then the boat continues on to Linz?

 

And, you're asking if it's worth your while to stay in Passau to explore, then catch a train to Linz to meet back up with your boat?

 

If that's the case, Passau is a nice place to spend some time, and this approach might work for you. There are a few caveats that you'd need to keep in mind. But before I go into lots of detail, I wanted to be sure that I knew what you were asking.

You summed it brilliantly. However, I think I discovered one of your caveats : that ,whereas it may only be an hour or so from Linz by car, by train it is much longer as I have discovered and expensive as well. We would have to rely on the train and the schedule is not good for the cruise. Thanks for your help.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

I have investigated catching the train from Passau to Linz. Unfortunately, it involves going to Koblenz first and then Linz so if you caught the 13:30 train from Passau, you would get into Linz at 20:30 which makes for a very long day not to mention that the cost was about $100(AUD) per person. Can anyone tell me if they got some free time in Salzburg? My husband enjoys the markets not necessarily the music. Thanks.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

We want to spend some time on our stop in Passau instead of going to Salzburg or Cezny Krumlov which we have already seen. What do you suggest we do? We then plan to catch a train to Linz to catch up with our Scenic cruise in September this year which we were advised is not that far away by train. Ang suggestions? Thanks.

My friend stayed at the Singapore YMCA, its a regular hotel but very reasonable, and a good location.

 

http://www.ymcaih.com.sg/

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294265-d310344-Reviews-YMCA_One_Orchard-Singapore.html

We have stayed in Singapore several times and at different hotels but we have decided to stay at the Peninsular -Excelsior Hotel again in the Peninsular tower which is more modern than the Excelsior where we stayed our first time there. It is close to the City Hall MRT and lots of food courts. Singapore is easy to negotiate and we will be organising EZ link cards for travel on the MRt which is very efficient and so easy to use.

I am just back from Amsterdam to Budapest, and have the daily programme right here. The ship arrived in Passau approx. 8am, then sailed again at 10.15am for Linz, arriving there at 5.30pm but not sailing from there until 9.45pm.

 

They are fairly relaxed about people doing their own thing, just as long as you let them know. As someone else suggested, you could leave the ship in Linz and re-join under your own steam in Linz.

 

We stayed onboard that day as we were under the weather, and the trip down the river was very interesting if you do decide to board at 10.15am.

 

I will try and post a photo of the daily programme.

Thank you very much. That sounds interesting. Now I have a few options. I would be interested in seeing the daily programme. Much appreciated. :)

Why not contact your friends in Passau and visit them. Then they could either drive you to Linz, lovely drive along the Danube it's 85 Km and takes about 1.25 hours (via autobahn its 120km 1.5 hours). Or take the train, direct (no changing), Intercity take an hour, regional train takes 1. hours.

Thank you! What a fantastic idea! We are in Passau on a Wednesday so I would assume that the trains run frequently throughout the day to Linz. Do you know how often? My grandfather lived in Vilshofen near Passau but I remember sitting on top of a hill in Passau looking down at the rivers as he treated us to an ice cream and fizzy drink. I would like to toast to his memory there and meet our friends.:)

The busses left Passau at 8 AM, went to Salzburg for a walking tour and free time, got back on bus and went to lunch with a Sound of Music show (which was good), then back on bus to Linz. the ship arrived in Linz around 5:30 PM and left at 10 PM. We did not do anything in Linz, by the time we got there on the bus it was time to clean up and get ready for dinner.

Hi, thanks for that. It looks like there is no point contacting our friends since we would not be able to spend any time with them. We have been to Cesky Krumlov and it is a beautiful destination. The castle part is lovely ,but you are not permitted to take photos which I found so frustrating because the ballroom is unique. The doors were locked by the guide after each room was looked at before we entered the other rom which was the first time we had experienced this. Nevertheless is worth seeing and a walk along the ramparts gave you beautiful views. We visited from Prague and it was several hours away. We did get stopped on our way there by police who checked everyone's IDs and anyone who didn't have photo ID like their passports or drivers licence were fined. That held us up for an hour and these fines were then hand written. We always carry a laminated colour photocopy of our passport photo page and it was accepted.

This is from our cruise, this was on Sept 2, 2016 stop

Arrived at 8 AM in Passau, busses left for Salzburg then the Sound of Music lunch.

Ship left Passau at 10:30 sailing to Linz

How long did it take to go to Linz and what did you do there? It looks like we might have to do the Salzburg trip. Two hours is not long enough to visit. We were hoping to go through the old town of Passau where my grandfather lived.

Hi, just wondering whether anyone has actually stayed in Passau instead of doing excursions further afield? How long does Scenic stay in Passau? One posting I read said that they were only there until around 10 in the morning. Can anyone help with this enquiry? We have some friends in Passau and we were hoping to catch up with them. Thanks.:)

We have read about this place but what would you say were the actual highlights? Thanks. Montelco :)

We recently sailed aboard the Legend of the Seas on a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale. I learned a lot from reading Cruise Critic before we left. However, it was hard to locate specific information about the various port cities. [Alicante, Malaga, Madeira, and Tenerife] So I am doing a mini review with pictures for each port.

 

If you are interested in the review of the entire cruise this is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40658244#post40658244

 

 

Our third stop was at Funchal, the capital of the island of Madeira in the Azores. These islands are part of Portugal. As we approached the pier we could saw that Funchal had lots of white-washed houses with orange tiled roofs. It was very picturesque. We could not wait to get ashore.

So I guess it is Saigon's market that will be the most useful in terms of souvenirs. Thank you for your response.

You will be spoiled for souvenirs in the Ben Thang Markets in Ho Chi Minh City but remember to bargain. They are very persistent and as I walked through the clothes section, I had hands reaching out to me even though I wasn't interested. Just keep smiling and saying no ,thank you. I got some silk embroidery painting for a reasonable price and my husband found some tshirts. It really depends on what you are looking for. Go early in the morning before it becomes too crowded.:)

We have a guide who is taking us to the main sites in Nha Trang. I am wondering if people have found the market worth a trip, what I can buy there, what I should buy there, and if there are other shopping areas that are better. Thank you for any advice you can offer.

From memory the Nha Trang markets are local markets and sell the usual household and clothing items. My husband enjoyed wandering through them but I didn't find much to tempt me. We did see a silk painting embrioidery place which was very interesting and they had a cultural show. when I walked along the beach everyone wanted to sell me postcards, but there is a limit so I just smiled and said no thank you. Have fun. Vietnam is very interesting. I think we did go up to a large Buddha when we were in Nha Trang as well and Fairy Island. :)

Your Hanoi experience would be most appreciated!!!

 

We are on a Costa Cruise which stops for a night at Halong Bay. We have 2 options for tours at this port stop:

 

(1) Land and boat tours right in the Halong Bay area; or

 

(2) Land tours into Hanoi City which is 3.5+ hours away by bus or car.

 

Is the 4-hour trek (in both directions) to Hanoi worth doing? Or, is it better to stay & tour in Halong Bay???

 

Any insight on your Hanoi touring experience?

 

Regards,

 

Zeke and Barbara

I think we are doing a similar trip on the Costa later this year. We have been Hanoi and Halong Bay previously and are looking forward to going back to the Old Quarter in Hanoi which is fascinating even though it will be a long trip there and back. How have your other shore excursions gone? Any problems organising them? Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

We have just booked an amazing trip to Phang Nga Bay at www.simbaseatrips.com for our cruise in April next year.

 

Sebastian, the son of the owners, has been responding to all my emails within 24hours or less of me sending them. Usually way before that.

 

We have made a safe payment of deposit through pay pal and the whole day is ours. They are picking up and dropping off at port.

You can only book direct with them.

 

I read hundreds of reviews on Trip Advisor before we booked and we are so excited with what they have to offer.

 

Take a look and I am sure you will get the same service as I did with your emails.

Regards

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Couls you tell me a little bit more about this trip? What was the cost? When and where do they pick you up? How long is the tour? What is the Trip advisor link?We are travelling on the Super Starship Virgo in about 7 weeks in early October and would like to do something like that. How did you get on to Sebastian etc.? Lots of questions as you can see. Hope you can help out.

Thanks, Trish:)

Hi, we have just booked on Virgo out of Singapore on 18th October. What dates are you travelling? We have been looking to see if there is a "meet and mingle" for Star Cruises but there doesn't seem to be anything on this board.

 

 

 

Diane

Hi Diane,

Not sure if the Virgo has a meet and greet. We are on a cruise a fortnight earlier than you will be. Have been on the Virgo 5 years ago and there were not that many Australians on board like on the Gemini which often has special deals from Perth. Having said that, it was an interesting cruise with lots of different cultures on board. Read the ship newsletter for activities and you may meet people that way or when you walk along the deck. From memory ,the Bella Vista was a great place to have dinner and I remember doing yoga on deck in the early mornings. Looking forward to seeing if these things are still the same. Cheers. Trish :)