maggie11

Both of these River Cruises are 8 days Paris - Paris.  Viking is on the Viking Skaga and Tauck is Ms Sapphire.  Not a big difference in money.  This is our 1st trip to France, 1st time on a River Cruise - does anyone have any preference between these two???  Any and all help would be appreciated.  We would arrive a couple days early in France and then travel to Venice after for about a 2 week trip total.  Thank you!!!!

I am trying to decide on the 8 day Paris - Paris River Cruises offered by Tauck (Ms. Sapphire) or Viking (Viking Skaga).  This will be our first visit to Paris and would like to extend on our own in Venice.  They are both about the same price - Viking being just a little less.  Any suggestions please???  Thanks!!!

42 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I know you changed lines but when went the priced lowered alot closer to the sail date and was a no brainer to take this cruise. So you never know the RCCL cruise price might come way down. Maybe book  both cruiselines refundable and see where prices go before deciding.

 

Well anyway here is my wife and I review when we went. Not sure but some things in it might give you some ideas for your cruise. We went west to east though.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=7522

 

It is still one of our most favorite cruises ever. Would still like to go through the Panal Canal again in the future.

 

Jimbo😁

42 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I know you changed lines but when went the priced lowered alot closer to the sail date and was a no brainer to take this cruise. So you never know the RCCL cruise price might come way down. Maybe book  both cruiselines refundable and see where prices go before deciding.

 

Well anyway here is my wife and I review when we went. Not sure but some things in it might give you some ideas for your cruise. We went west to east though.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=7522

 

It is still one of our most favorite cruises ever. Would still like to go through the Panal Canal again in the future.

 

Jimbo😁

Terrific review!!!  Thank you so much!!  

7 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

No offense but that cruise is extremely overpriced. Have you looked at other lines? You could do the NCL Sun for their 20 day Panama Canal cruise in May 2020, pretty much the same ports plus more, drink package the whole time, specialty dining included. Same price for 2 in an ocean view for 2 on both lines comparatively speaking. Royal Cruise includes nothing ...... Royal is extremely limited on the PC sailings and very high because of it. Look elsewhere is my friendly money saving advice.  

Thank you so much for opening my eyes to Norwegian!!!  I have canceled the RC and rebooked on NCL - $2000 less including all of the extras!!!!  And 1 night longer!!!  I appreciate your candor!!!!  

On 5/24/2019 at 8:03 PM, tallnthensome said:

We just did the 15 day full transit from a Miami to L.A. in April with our 9 and 11 yearnold daughters. It was a wonderful trip with perfect weather. We did Colombia , Costa Rica, Guatemala,  Cabo, Mazatlan, and Acapulco . It’s something that all devout cruisers should experience. The  Canal and ports on the Pacific side were more unique and a world destination, not like going to Cozumel and Nassau and such. We had some amazing private tours in Cartagena and Costa Rica. We were blessed to have our kids experience it with us and would do it again down the road even though it cost a pretty penny.

What private tours did you use please???

I have been waiting for RC to post fall, 2020 Itineraries for Panama Canal but gave up!!!  So I booked May 2020 on the Serenade of the Seas.  Has anyone done a PC with Royal and i’d Love any and all feedback - especially if you have done it on the Serenade.  Do they open up the bow for better viewing???  What are the excursions that shouldn’t be missed??  And has anyone used outside companies not affiliated with RC???  This is going east to west as the ship is getting in position for Alaska.  I love this itinerary and that’s why we finally pulled the trigger.  It is a long time on a smaller, older ship though.  Thank you in advance!!!

thanks Biker for correcting my error!!!!

Just booked GS 1050 - any feedback here??? Noise?? Location??

How was the suite lounge?? Free alcohol or just appetizers???

We were in an Owner's Suite in June on the Allure - there were four of us. My husband and I - and we were lucky to have our 2 adult sons able to join us. I booked the Suite not sure if there would be 2 or 4 of us and it was amazing!!! Big balcony - plenty of room for all of our luggage. We made great use of the Suite Lounge - complimentary wine, beer and champagne all day - not to mention bottles of water. Always a snack out - we loved it!!! A great perk - we really loved the "sail away" on the Heliport. I RSVPd for us and the guys thought I was crazy but it was a very fun experience. I rebooked for the Anthem of the Seas next year and the same Owner's Suite was $6,000.00 more that 2 Superior Balcony Rooms. I just couldn't pull the trigger. 2 bathrooms instead of 1 - I figured buying the top drink packages for each day would still be a big savings. I am sure we will miss the Suite Lounge!!!!

Thank you - looks like I am not the only waiting for bookings in 2016/2017!

Does anyone have any info regarding the lack of future Panama Canal Cruises with RC??

Thanks!!

We have been off the Allure for 3 weeks now and we had MTD - because of that, we were continuously offered 50% off dinners at the Specialty Restaurants. Cruisers who were not on MTD were offered 20% discount. We got very lucky and ended up with Shakota/Hector in the American Icon DR - they were wonderful!! Everything you want your DR servers to be - Shakota made suggestions and the food was so terrific that we cancelled our reservations at the Specialty Restaurants. Just felt we would spend that $ elsewhere since we were very happy and content in the Amer Icon. We did eat at the Coastal Kitchen one evening and still preferred our friends S/H in the DR. I had a standing reservations with them each evening.

We did the sailaway from the heliport in Mallorca a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing!! Very well done, my family (husband, 2 adult sons) only went to appease me and they were very pleased we went.

We just got off the Allure and brought on 1 bottle of wine and 1 of champagne as per the allowance. We split the bottles between the 2 suitcases and mine got through and delivered with no problem. My husband had to go down at 10PM to claim his suitcase because of the wine. So silly. He asked for a supervisor and they said no problem but he went all day without a change of clothes.

Remember though if you are in a suite and have access to a Suite Lounge, no need to buy beverage packages unless you want a drink wherever you are. We were never bothered by going up to the Suite Lounge for our drinks - complimentary beer, wine and champagne from 11 - 11 and mixed drinks added in from 5:30 - 8:30. Also, this is where I got my soft drinks. We still had the occassional frozen drink or cocktail of the day but boy did this cut our drink tab down.

agree - if you want to be dropped off and picked up by the cathedral - use the shuttle bus, they are located right outside of the terminal.

We just got off of the Allure today and were in an Owner's Suite. The Suite Lounge was amazing. Very open and bright on the 17th deck with a great view. Beer, wine and champagne were available all day and during the evening mixed drinks were also available. On the opposite end at the front of the ship on 17 was a separate sunning area for suite guests. It was also very well done with its own private bar. The only problem was nothing was complimentary at the outside bar. Why go and pay when you could go to the Suite Lounge. We ate dinner here once - it was wonderful but the food in the American Icon was equally wonderful and we LOVED our serving team of Shakota and Hector. We never spent money on food. We loved our week and had no problems with the service or the staff. It was a perfect week for us!!!

Craig,

Thanks for all of your help!! We are boarding on Sunday, June 7th - are there any Sports Bars on the ships?? The NBA Finals will be happening during our week on board and we were wondering if there would be any place to watch the games, even rebroadcasts due to the time difference.

Thanks again and enjoy!!!