sunshine nana

I appreciate the comments from the OP on the Persian room chair hogs. It is not acceptable for the staff to ignore the hogging or to tell passengers to move others' belongings. We too have been on NCL, in both a balcony and a suite and there is a big difference if you are in a suite.Even though we were in a suite, we still had poor service and food in the MDR and from the concierge.

We have also been on 5 Princess cruises and we have had mechanical problems that caused a 3 hour power outage, lateness to ports, long lines for tenders and return to ship and chair hogs. In St. Petersburg, we were kept on board until all Princess excursions had left.

Our one Celebrity cruise was better than any other cruise because we were in a suite and had wonderful food and service at dinner plus other perks, but we paid a lot more than what we paid on Princess or NCL. We have loved all of our cruises. I have priced Disney and it is even higher priced.

We have cruised on Celebrity, Princess and NCL in mini-suites or suites mostly and have loved all our cruises in Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal. Last June we took a bus tour of WWII from Paris to Austria because a bus with a guide was the only way to see all that we saw.

We want to return to Nuremberg and also see Vienna, Budapest and Prague. The ads for river cruises look great, BUT I am reading about "rafting" where many boats are tied together in ports meaning you cannot open the drapes or use the balcony because you are tight up against another boat. Also, the tours even though they are included do not sound too great. Another problem seems to be canceled stops with too much or too little river water. All this with a price quite a bit higher than a nice suite on the ocean.

I'm asking for advice from those who love ocean cruising who have also tried river cruises. Is it worth the extra money? Will we enjoy it?

I'm thinking maybe a train pass or another bus tour would be better. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. DH is a train buff and we have taken many train trips in the US and Canada. I took a 30 day trip around Europe in the early 70's and found it fun, but I was a lot younger! We took a WWII bus trip last June from Paris to the eagles' nest with stops in Germany and Belgium. We want to go back to some of the places and thought a river cruise on the Danube would be good. I have done more research and I'm not sure I would enjoy the boats as much as our ocean cruises while paying a lot more. Now I am considering a train trip. It would involve a lot more research on my part, but I have time.

Could we manage a train trip and still get to Budapest, Nuremberg, Vienna and Prague, staying in moderate hotels and eating moderate meals for less than the $1000 per day price of the river cruises? Could we find tours in each city on our own? Do they still sell the train passes for all of Europe? How much are they? Thanks for any help.

I enjoyed your review. We have been on 10 ocean cruises and one bus trip in Europe. We take the trips to see and learn, but we also enjoy our time on the balcony to relax. We aren't sure if we should take a river cruise or a DYI train trip to see the ports you saw. It seems that the river cruises are way more expensive than our ocean cruises even though we book a mini-suite (Princess) or a suite (NCL or Celebrity). The tv ads look wonderful for the river cruises, but now I am learning about "rafting" which would not take away from relaxing on the balcony. What do you think? Do most people pay the over $500 per person per night, or do most get a better deal? Thanks for the help from any and all.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites last Feb. and the supposed "trolley" did not run because it was "off season". It was the worst Embassy we have stayed at. We took a taxi to the ship.

We had 2 poor butlers. One did a little, the other zero. It's too bad. Try Celebrity for a really great experience!

We have been on 8 cruises, 4 with Princess, 3 NCL and 1 Celebrity. I really prefer not to be called or emailed after I have made the reservation, but I agree that being on hold for 30 min. or more is not acceptable. On the other hand, the experience on board Celebrity was great. We have loved all our cruises, but NCL's MDR went downhill in both food and service. Princess has been good, but the itineraries have gotten old, so we tried Celebrity and now have 2 more booked. I think you will like the line. Advice: keep reading CC and read the reviews, most everyone is happy with Celebrity.

When we flew into London and Rome there were women who arrived at the baggage claim and expected someone from Princess to be there to help them. There was no one. DH helped them get their bags off the baggage circle and put them on a cart to wheel outside to the bus. So much for a smooth transfer. We paid the same fee for the transfer, so what if we arrived a day or two ahead? It worked for us and could for anyone.

We stayed at the Embassy last year in Feb. and were very disappointed in the Manager's cocktail hour compared to other Embassy Suites we have been at in New Orleans, Memphis and other cities. The food was chips and salsa and the drinks were restricted to one brand of beer and one wine. Also, unless you are in a room away from the atrium, it is very noisy. We had been warned on Trip Advisor and our room was quiet.Also, the restaurants nearby were order at the counter type. There was a nearby wine store. The trolley that runs by was not in service because of the time of year. All in all, a disappointment.

We did what caribil said. We arrived a day early, stayed at an airport hotel so we could check right in and took the tube into London for the day. We told Princess we were arriving the following day at T4 and just got on the bus with everyone else. Why does Princess need to know what or when your flight is? We did the same thing in Rome. Worked great to just wheel bags to the hotel from the airport and back the next day for the transfer.

Thank-you. I'll try that.

Thanks again for the new replies. I called the customer service number on the back of the card and the first woman did not know if I could use the points on a discounted price,so she passed to a second woman who also did not know. She then connected me to Celebrity and I was on the dreaded "hold" for 10 more minutes with no once picking up the phone. I gave up after 25 total minutes, no answer to my question. I will use what points I have for OBC, but not use the card for many more purchases if I cannot get an answer.After our next cruise, the card will be canceled for lack of customer service. Too bad for Celebrity because I'm sure they would rather have me pay them for my cruises with their card than pay the fee to my other card.

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone else read all the fine print? I will call customer service today and try to get the rewards added as OBC. I will get the same number of points from my other credit card as I would have for the Celebrity card, so I am not out anything. I will report back on my conversation with customer service.

I got a new Celebrity credit card and received $100 in rewards after using it once and WAS planning to pay our final payment with it this week. Then I read all the fine print after clicking on the icon on the Celebrity page. It said that rewards could NOT be given if we had received any special booking price such as military etc. Doesn't everyone on CC get something special? I quickly switched and used another credit card since we had gotten a "special" price. Is the card useless? What about 123? We have that on our cruise next spring.Does that mean we won't be able to get any reward? If that is true, I might as well cancel the card.Please respond if you have been able to use the rewards. Thanks

We had a flight delay from Buffalo in June due to a lightening storm. When it finally let up and they started rebooking those of us in the airport, the ones who had bought from priceline or expedia instead of thru the airline were put at the end of the line to get seats. We had bought directly, so we made it to the wedding in Minn., but got there at midnight, missing the rehearsal dinner.Others never made it.

Yes! Take it with you (the wipes). We spilled ours and had to buy a new one at 5X the price at home! This was on the golf at midnight excursion which was fun.

We were told we were not allowed to self-disembark from the Gem in Venice and then sat on our aft balcony and watched many people do it! There are a lot of stairs, but if you can handle the luggage, go ahead and do it.

Thanks to all for the great advice!

We are booked in C752 on the Grand because we like the aft balcony. Are you saying the side cabins (C742 and 743 as well as E 728 and 729) have balconies that run from the side to the aft? It's looks like maybe that is true looking at the diagrams. Thanks

Thanks for the tip on Fort Clatsop. I did not know it was a place we could visit. I watched the Lewis and Clark tape three times each year with my 7th graders and would love to see it! This cruise is for me as DH is a train buff and we taking via from Vancouver to Toronto on the way home (not at all like a cruise ship!!!).

Thanks for the advice to not stay near the via station. As we have points with Hilton/Hampton, I have considered the Hampton. Has anyone stayed there pre or post cruise? How far is it from the port? Thanks again.

Thanks for the pool answers. We will not be going to Alaska but to

Astoria and Victoria, so it should be warm enough some days to swim.

We are flying in the night before our cruise and will stay near the port, but after, we are taking via train home. Since it does not go everyday, we will stay one night post-cruise. Does anyone know of a good hotel near the via station? I can't find any on the map. Thanks

We booked the Grand for next May. Was there a covered pool? Was it warm? Thanks.

We have sailed both lines, but not the CB ship. No one has mentioned one thing we really like about Princess: mini-suites. They have more room than any of the Celebrity balcony cabins without paying the high price of a suite. Also, I like the self-laundry as I don't mind doing a load or two to cut down on luggage.Also, we think Princess has more variety of entertainment.