nyfeds

Anyone know how costly wi fi packages are?

Hi

When docked in Venice, does Azamara provide free shuttles into city center/San Marco?

Thanks

9 hours ago, wrtmlt said:

Or you could do it like we are and do both. Decisions are not are strong suit.

Decisions are definitely not our strong suit.  However, I think we shall go with the Quest itinerary, which gives a great overview of Croatia and is not overly Venice heavy, having been there 3 times.  Wish we could do both 😞

Denise

I really appreciate all the great input and lovely photos!  Now to reach a firm decision.  Looks like we can't go wrong with either.

Keep the info coming, please!

Thanks!

Denise

We are looking into booking a cruise with the emphasis on Croatia.  There are several cruise options.  I'd like to receive some insight into which ports in Croatia are must-see.  We currently have a hold on the Journey Oct. 9, 2021 itinerary, but also find the 9 night Amalfi and Dalmation Coast cruise on Quest, October 19, 2021 to be of interest as well.

Thanks!

Denise

It was a pleasure meeting you and your husband, Lyn.

This crossing was a wild weather roller coaster ride.  It was a wonderful itinerary, very ill timed.  We were tremendously disappointed to miss Dublin, which was to be the highlight of this cruise for us.

We have been on 4 crossings, 3 of which had weather issues causing port cancellations.  With that said, we are done with crossings.

We have also been on 3 Oceania cruises.  I do believe we are done with Oceania for a variety of reasons I shall not get into.

Denise

We will be outside to take it all in.  NY sail away is breathtaking

Sailaway out of NYC is stunning!  Don't miss a NY second of it!

Thanks for the replies.  We will await the March 4 meeting and then consider our options.  Unfortunately, we do not have Avios miles to spend.  Will have to check with our credit card if a Flybe refund is in order.  We also take out travel insurance to fall back on, if need be.

Denise

We are booked with Flybe Airlines to transport us from Southampton to Amsterdam.  We are now learning that Flybe is in trouble and may cease to exist.  Does anyone here have any insight into this British airline?

Flybe has warned investors that the airline is finished unless they back a sale to a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Air.

In a statement issued late on Thursday, Flybe says if a sale to the Connect Airways group is not approved the airline would be wound up and shareholders will not receive any money.

The struggling regional operator would be bought by Connect for £2.2m if the proposal is approved at an annual meeting on 4 March.

In the statement, Flybe acknowledged that the offer was "disappointingly low" but emphasised that it was the only rescue plan on the table.

"If the scheme is not approved, the Flybe directors intend to take steps to wind-up the company and shareholders are likely to receive no value for their shares in Flybe," the airline says.

Asking for suggestions and recommendations on car service or taxi from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport to City center hotel.

Thanks!

Denise

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.  We found our transport this morning.

Denise

Thank you for your kind replies.

John, I have contacted West Quay Cars at your recommendation.  Thank you!!

Denise

Hi

We dock in Southampton on Good Friday, April 19, disembarking in the City Cruise Terminal.  Can anyone offer insight into taxi availability to get from the terminal to Southampton Airport?  Any insight or suggestions for ground transport are greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Thank you!

Excellent suggestion, Lynn 🙂

We disembark Marina in Southampton, City Terminal.  I'd appreciate insight into how readily available taxis are to take us to Southampton Airport, rather than LHR.  We disembark on Good Friday, April 19, so there is concern.

Thanks!

Denise

My husband and I experienced very high water levels while taking our AMA Douro River cruise a few years ago.  Our vessel could not get through the locks as the water raged.  We found our Cruise Director, Raquel, to be outstanding in keeping us advised, several times a day of the status of cruising versus bus trips.  AMA was accommodating beyond words.  While we did not have the river cruise we had hoped for, AMA came through for us in every way possible and I sing their praises. Everyone "went with the flow" and we had a great time!  AMA handled everything with grace and excellence. We are taking our next AMA river cruise in April - Tulip Time.  Our 3rd AMA river cruise! Can't wait!

We were towards the front of the line waiting to debark in Miami and had no idea someone was injured.  Some on the line got downright nasty at the delay because they feared missing their flight home.  Lesson learned, don't time your flights so close to debarkation time. They have only themselves to blame cutting it so close.

No internet issues for us.

Overall, and for the most part, with a few exceptions, service was excellent on this TA portion of the cruise.  Riviera is a beautiful, well maintained ship.

40 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I do  not need to hear  every detail  of  where we are   if  we miss ports  I will take  the Captains word  as to why

I am  not  a Master Mariner  but  I do know  that it will take twice or even 3 times as long to go  the same distance  by sea as it does by car

 

 too bad  the weather  ruined your cruise   maybe cruising is not for you

Reading other forums here  there were other cruises  also disrupted by the storms in the Med

We love cruising. Ship does happen, regardless of land or cruise trips.The real issue at hand that we don't appreciate is rude, poor customer service, which was what our real issue was with Reception and Concierge crew.  I am retired from the hospitality industry.  If I would would have treated my guests as so many of us were poorly subjected to on this cruise (and there were many who voiced their displeasure), I would have been fired.

To be balanced, we received some stellar service throughout the ship.  Both the excellent and the horrid were reflected in our cruise evaluations.

51 minutes ago, Shawnino said:

I doubt we'll ever get the whole story, but here's what happened.

 

After Day 2 (Alicante) we were informed by the Captain that Days 5 and 6 port calls (Canaries) would be missed on Miami's orders: storm in N. Atlantic had Miami tell him to cruise South as quickly as possible to avoid storm then proceed West across the Ocean. Captain twice said this was Miami's call, not his, almost as if he disagreed. Day 3 (Malaga) would be a full port day as scheduled, no need to skip, and Day 4 would have been a sea day in any case en route to Canaries.

 

Day 3 saw everyone streaming ashore in Malaga, not least in search of seasick meds. We were told that the seas would still be a bit rough, but by getting South quickly, we'd skirt the worst of it. Seemed reasonable.

 

Here's where it gets odd: Captain comes on Public Address again the evening of Day 6 (which would have been second day of Canaries) and tells us we are... 60 miles SW of Canaries, sailing at 18 kts. Back of the envelope math suggests we missed two port days to pick up a bit less than 3.5 hours' sailing time (60/18 = ...). We had expected to be hundreds of miles away from Canaries but instead we could have made the first port day, truncated the second one, and seemingly been exactly where we were.

 

Either Captain did not follow Miami's orders, or they were changed and pax not informed. Whichever, pax confused/annoyed to not be informed and seemingly miss at least one port day for nothing

 

Evening of Day 7 (we are basically heading due West, and are well west of Canaries now), storm indeed hits Canaries, with a beachfront Tenerife hotel taking particularly the worst of it. (Google it.) Cruise Director gratuitously says "good thing we skipped Canaries" and gets heckled/called out on it in half-full Riviera Lounge: the storm hit Tenerife two days after would have left it, and just where had we beenon our scheduled port day anyway? He had no answer but said that in future our cuurent location would be posted on Room TVs' Channel 8.

 

After the original announcement (Day 2, Alicante) a few of us were hoping that by booting it past Canaries (and gaining, say, 600 mi.?) we could pick up another port elsewhere rather than just have eight straight sea days. Since we only picked up 60 miles, that didn't happen. After eight sea days (including two days of moderate swell, as foretold by Captain) we arrived in San Juan on schedule. The remaining days passed without incident.  

We were on your cruise and the manner in which this was handled was sorely disappointing.  The dismal "response" or lack thereof by Reception and Concierge desks on Riviera were the very worst we have ever encountered in all our years of cruising.  Totally and completely ill-equipped to handle and address anything in a full and professional manner!

In addition, several months before this cruise, Stirrup Cay was changed to Nassau.  A monumental waste of time at this worthless port, IMHO.

We were on a Sirena New England sailing about 2 years ago and missed Bermuda due to an impending hurricane.  O gave us a $500 credit towards another cruise, which we put towards this TA. On this cruise, we missed the Canary Islands completely.  Response from O - ZIP!

Thanks for the clarification.

Denise

Is "free" laundry given only to those with higher Oceania status, length of cruise,

and/or cabin type?

There was a healthy taxi stand without much of a wait when we disembarked on the later side of the disembarkation process. Unfortunately for us, we caught a grumpy driver who was hoping for a fare to Heathrow when we just wanted to get to the train station but we chalk this up to our bad luck.

Thanks for your input. Sorry you had such an experience. We are headed to Southampton Airport, so we may well get the same treatment.

You are welcome.

I hope you have a fantastic Cruise.

Thank you!

Excellent information. Thank you.