Mrs Miggins

We went to Ravenna with Azamara. We were pleased as we had been lucky enough to visit Venice on many occasions. Had a lovely day and the mosaics were stunning

We had been scheduled to go to the industrial port of Fusina. I do appreciate it is closer to Venice ‘proper’ but it is nothing like Azamara’s description. 

Friends tried Silversea for their first (and last) cruise .

They said it was awful because they were obviously the poorest people onboard. 
English reticence meant they did not want to mention their financial status constantly.

10 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Suites from a small tailors  in Sunningdale who apart from the fuss of choosing the aforementioned suites I was on tie choice duty and yes I believe a gentleman should have just that little Je ne sais quoi, so two suites needed at the very least four ties, silk of course as I have it on good authority no other fabric ties so well.

Liberty’s scarves are to die for.

If it was Mewes of Sunningdale then they are still going strong !

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad !

Thanks for everyone's input.  We did get the water bottles on our last Scenic Rhone river cruise in 2022 and we also got the travel bags.  Our July cruise will be our 4th one, but our friends have done 6 and they have the chauffeur service.  We live close by and Scenic agreed that we could share their taxi.  Also I have noticed they have been advertising this lovely benefit as included lately.  They never advertised the back pack etc in the past, it just came as a great extra.

I wonder if anyone can help with a small question.  In the past Scenic have offered us a free gift of a backpack or a travel bag.  Last year that was discontinued and a £50 per person OBC was offered instead - according to our friends.  We are booked on a Bordeaux cruise at the beginning of July.  We have done this before and really loved it.

However I cannot find any reference to the £50 OBC.   It may well have been discontinued but would anyone have any information ?

The DLR Cutty Sark station is a 2 minute walk to The Cutty Sark Experience and the Old Royal Naval College (The Painted Hall and the lovely Chapel )  It is also just across the road to Greenwich Market. The Maritime Museum and the Queens House are just across the main road.   A 10 minute uphill walk to the Observatory through lovely Greenwich Park.    I would always look at Google Maps street view to see the area properly.  However I would agree that if time is limited an Uber taxi might be the easiest option.  There is really nothing in Tilbury and I would be very upset about this change.  

Thanks for the replies.  I am happy to say I have booked the B2B on Onward for this September.  However my TA was told that the generous OBC ($650 - for 4 day cruise and $800 for 7 day) has to be used separately.   I have only one booking number.  

Whilst it is lovely to have so much OBC the prices of the shore excursions are huge - so it will disappear quickly.  We chose the itinerary because it included many of our favourite ports.  We have been to all of them several times and are quite used to getting on a bus or ferry independently.  It's difficult to justify the prices when we know using public transport the cost would be just a few euros.   However we determined to spend it all.  I just hope the onboard shop has improved.   

We have never been on Onward but have enjoyed all the other ships several times.

Thank you Combine !  I think we met on a Azamara cruise some years ago ! Or perhaps it was during that lovely time when Richard Twynam was in charge in the UK when he arranged such great events.

That information is really helpful. The new Azamara lady did get that bit right.

Will try one of the larger TA’s tomorrow as well

Yes they are to two cruises - a 4 night and 7 night.  I would of course expect different amounts each week.  However, after speaking with Azamara my TA has said for the two cruises combined each person would get $250 plus $75 for the B2B.  ie a total of $650 for the two cruises.  

The Azamara representative told me that we would get $650 for the first short cruise and $850 for the second cruise.  I did ask her to check twice.

This is obviously a substantial difference.  I plan to try a couple of other TA's tomorrow,  I just wonder if anyone has ever had the actual amount of OBC confirmed after a phone quote or if it can be seen anywhere online.

I am interested in booking a B2B at the end of September 2024 on Onward.   I asked my TA for a quote.  I also phoned Azamara for a quote.  I spoke to a young lady in Kansas who told me she was newly assigned to the UK Desk.   The price she gave me was obviously wrong.  I asked her to recheck and got a different price, and then eventually at the third request the quote was similar to the on line price.  Slightly more than the quote from my TA.

However there was a big difference in the OBC offered  $650 for the first cruise and $800 for the second.  My TA was $650 total for the two cruises including $75 pp for the B2B.

All prices should have included the 10% discount offered in an email today for the Azamara Circle.

Is there any way to establish what the OBC should really be.  The phone call to Kansas was long and confusing.  I did ask for confirmation of price and OBC but what I got was a Booking Confirmation (showing nothing paid) showing the price but not giving any OBC details.  

1 hour ago, Hobson1754 said:

Yes, Le Bon Marche is wonderful, however to miss seeing the architecture of Galleria Lafayette (it’s like being inside a wedding cake) & the view from the roof would be a great shame.

You could of course go to both !

For those that like shopping a visit to Le Bon Marche Rive Gauche is wonderful.  Not as touristy as Galleries Lafayette - full of exquisite items, plus a fantastic food hall.  Close to Les Invalides and Musee Rodin.

https://www.lebonmarche.com/en/store/culture/heritage-lebonmarche

8 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

You might want to look at Azamara.  Their ships are the same size as Oceania's R-ships...about 650 px +/-

 I would recommend Azamara.  They have more interesting itineraries and the age range is slightly younger.  Lovely crew.  Usually about 50% from North America, many from the UK and Australia/New Zealand.  Excellent food, not quite as formulaic as Viking ie Chefs seem to have more leeway to do their own thing.  Would recommend a CC suite which gives many benefits and the price point would seem to be similar to an ordinary balcony room on Viking.

The ships are older but well maintained.  

The Captains seem to have more leeway in terms of changing ports.  ie reversing the Mykonos and Santorini stops due to congestion in Santorini.  We were disappointed on our last Viking trip to miss Monaco due to weather - every time we have been there with Azamara we have docked - with Viking we tendered (we also docked once with them).  We have had  a weather issue on Azamara and they immediately re routed to another port.  I did speak to the Viking Captain who happened to be getting coffee in the Atrium - he more or less implied it was too much bother.

Actually the passengers on Azamara seem to be more cheerful ! 

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Viking does not have excursions to Gibraltar. Anyone who wants to go there is going to have look for an independent tour. Heads up, if this is your plan, there might be border issues and you will definitely need to carry your passport with you.

Not sure I understand this.  Friend is on one of these cruises and apparently ship only sails through the Straits of Gibraltar but does not stop.  Actually I think this is a missed opportunity.  Many on our Azamara cruise especially enjoyed the WW2 tunnels.

One of the many highlights on that cruise was Seville.  Absolutely wonderful.  We sailed up the Guadalquivir River and docked for an overnight right in the heart of the city.  

May 1st - Celtic Sea ?  Sounds lovely - however I think they mean The Bay of Biscay which is not quite so glamorous.

There were plans for a permanent Cruise Port to be built in Greenwich.  Strong local opposition (due to the environmental impact specifically on air quality)  and the high costs involved have stopped that.

However the locals do not object to the occasional cruise liner !  Something else to look at in beautiful Greenwich.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

Thanks for this report.  I would recommend Royal Clipper or indeed the other two smaller sailing ships Star Flyer and Star Clipper  operated by Star Clippers.  A really fantastic experience.  We have only sailed in the Mediterranean with them but the sailaways accompanied by Vangelis and a glass of champagne can make grown men or indeed women, cry.  

I really must learn to complain more !

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

For me, it would be a toss up between Ostia and Herculaneum -- both were sea ports but other than that, they were polar opposites. Herculaneum was small, compact and smothered by the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius. Ostia was spread out and and slowly withered away.

 

Our 2026 trip will be with my sister. I know she has been to Italy before (Junior Year Abroad) but I don't know if BIL has. So, it will be their choice what we do the one day that we have. At this point, it is too soon to even think about; who knows what life will bring in the interim.

 

 

Don't think  that you meant Herculaneum from Civitavecchia -  (bearing in mind the thread title) You would visit from Naples or Sorrento  much further south.

If you say which itinerary you are looking at then there are many of goodwill on this board who will give you a good indication of the arrival and departure times.  Another indicator is the length of the published shore excursions. 

27 minutes ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

We just booked our first river cruise with Scenic iso Viking for precisely this reason (actually, among several reason why Scenic came out ahead when comparing to Viking).  They have 3 different dining areas (some with 2 tops, but the MDR doesn't have many 2 tops), PLUS ROOM SERVICE!  So for those nights we're not feeling at all sociable, we can just order room service and eat it on our "balcony" while watching the river slide by.

Scenic is excellent with a much wider range of Nationalities on board.  Sometimes that makes conversations much more interesting.  Friend just back from excellent Viking Douro cruise but of the 94 passengers  6 from the UK, 4 from Australia and 4 Canadians.  All the rest from US.

Eurostar is a train - which will arrive in the centre of Paris at Gare du Nord.  Depends where OP is getting on the cruise of course.  We transferred to Gare de Lyon for our river boat (Scenic) to Lyons the taxi transfer took around 30 minutes.  For Bordeaux it would be Gare Montparnasse and for Paris departure then a taxi to the River Boat normally docked near the Eiffel Tower.  

Dont think they would want to back track to Paris CDG airport just to get a transfer to any of the above.