SuiteTraveler

4 minutes ago, Coral said:

Looks like I can book.

I guess it was just a brief computer outtage as I can now see 2024 cruises now!  It gave me a scare as I was thinking of booking Riverside as well!

2 hours ago, GetOnTheWater said:

What does this mean for Riverside Luxury Cruises who acquired the Crystal ships. They have launched the Mozart and Ravel and were set to launch the Bach next year. Does them now leasing the Bach to Uniworld mean they are having problems? I had been planning to book a trip with Riverside next year.

That's a good question. I was just on their website and tried to look at June 2024 cruises and it wouldn't let me.  I don't know what is going on?

13 hours ago, baileycat122 said:

If you were on the 9/25 - 10/04 sailing I was on it too! We loved it. Food & entertainment were great. Our cabin steward was friendly and attentive. We found the Observation Lounge too busy during the day, but it was always quiet in the evenings. Maltings was quiet for a pre-dinner drink. We were so lucky to have such great weather after the wet start in NYC.

We were one cruise before you, but ours was absolutely wonderful, too!  We did a shore excursion called Tastes and Traditions of Newfoundland and just loved it!  Also did Alexander Graham Bell museum, lobster lunch and Anne and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia - all of these were fantastic!  And the ship was just great, especially the crew in The Haven who made our trip very special! They have really come together as a team to offer a very elevated experience - better than any other The Haven crew we have had! We enjoyed Maltings and also the wine bar as well as The Haven bar.  We were also lucky enough to get upgraded to a Platinum Suite at the New York Hard Rock when our cruise was postponed by a day due to the hurricane (it was gorgeous) and upgraded at Chateau Frontenac to the Celine Dion suite (absolutely fantastic with probably the best view in Quebec!)  

We've loved all of our NCL cruises, but the latest one on NCL Joy from New York to Quebec was probably the best of all!  

This includes information on what airlines are doing as well: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/Destinations/articles/Cruise-Lines-Tour-Companies-and-Airlines-Cancel-Change-Israel-Travel

Here is what has been going on so far and I'm sure more changes will be made: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/10/09/cruises-cancel-stops-israel-palestine/71122715007/

Hello, I'm just curious as to the average age on Viking Ocean?  Can anyone provide insight, please?

Last year we were on a Princess New England/Canada cruise and there was unfortunately a hurricane coming up the East Coast, so our Captain skipped Newport and Bar Harbor. He was doing the right thing for the ship and all aboard and we didn't mind him skipping ports since we had a whole week on land planned after the cruise anyway, so we were not really going to miss much.  From that standpoint it was easy to manage the skipped ports as the ship cancelled their own excursions and refunded them.  So what I would say is whatever you choose to do, just be aware, a hurricane could come along and ports could be skipped.  Its is easy to get a taxi at the Port of Boston.  We took a taxi from the Port of Boston to the train station and the train to Salem on one cruise. The train arrives adjacent to the tourist area in Salem and its is very walkable so we really enjoyed our visit there and the train runs frequently, so it was easy to get back to Boston and take a taxi back to our ship.  For Bar Harbor - it is very small and there are restaurants and shops adjacent to where the tender arrives, so you can just walk around or take a tour and then walk around.  We went shopping on our own, had a lobster and blueberry pie lunch at a restaurant, then went on our ship tour of Acadia National Park in the afternoon where we had blueberry lemonade and saw all the key points of interest in the park.  It was all great!  Portland is another town you can walk around.  You can print a map off the internet and plan your day or just let it happen as you experience it!  Very quaint and artsy!

Dial 7 is fantastic!  Easy to find and when we came back, and disembarked, they were right there waiting for us!  We had no wait going to the airport!  Loved it and their vehicles were super nice - big black SUV's!

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is a great hotel to stay at for a cruise out of Brooklyn and is only 2.3 miles from the port - very quick 16 minute drive.  You can walk around safely in the evening and go over to The River Cafe (reservations required) for dinner if you want or eat dinner at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.  Or you can arrange to have the hotel take you in their electric car to any nearby restaurant.  Use Valet parking or request a designated spot in their parking garage if you prefer when you make your reservation.  Dumbo rooms have a view of Dumbo.  Liberty rooms have a view of the water and Statue of Liberty and Bridge rooms have a view of the Brooklyn Bridge.  The bar on the roof has a fabulous view of the entire Manhattan Skyline!  Highly recommended!

Because Galveston is so far from the Houston airports, you are best off either taking the cruise line's transfer or a private transport such as https://www.aaalimotx.com/quick-quote?gclid=CjwKCAjw79iaBhAJEiwAPYwoCNjGV_IbDYtKXmR8i6WkLcUV5l-nxl75Sgd--2RTRExKq1A1HSSPzBoCAK4QAvD_BwE

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I have had acid reflux for years, but amazingly, never on a ship!  I agree with bring the wedge pillow, Pepto Bismol liquid and gas relief chews (just in case) but your mom may not need any of these at all on the ship.  

Just now, SuiteTraveler said:

Look around at online travel agencies and you should see better prices than on NCL's website. For example, just perusing and the Sept 1 sailing is cheaper than late August.  But, these cruises do tend to sell out, so if you wait, you may be SOL.  

I also want to point out some of these are tender ports and they do get cancelled from time to time. I just went in late September and we missed 3 of the ports: Newport, Bar Harbor and Halifax.  2 were because of rough seas making tendering dangerous, 1 was because of the hurricane.  We didn't mind but you might.

Just now, SuiteTraveler said:

 

2 hours ago, disneynan said:

Has anyone had good luck with last minute bookings? I’m looking at NCL Boston - Canada for August 2023 and the prices are high! Thinking about waiting until the last month to book as I can’t imagine this is a popular cruise and schools will be in session during my travel dates. Has anyone had luck - good or bad - doing this?

Look around at online travel agencies and you should see better prices than on NCL's website. For example, just perusing and the Sept 1 sailing is cheaper than late August.  But, these cruises do tend to sell out, so if you wait, you may be SOL.

On 10/23/2022 at 12:49 AM, dazadelaide said:

Hi all, has anyone have any experience in booking a TUI river cruise if you dont live in Europe.

We live in Australia and cant seem to get any T A here that is able to book a TUI cruise.

I have e-mailed TUI but they have never answered so I am thinking that it might not be possible.

so if anyone has done this or knows if it is able to be done please pass on any info you can.

Thanks

Daz

I'm in the US and went on the TUI website and I was easily able to book a TUI cruise.  I assumed you would fly into London Gatwick and then TUI would take it from there.  Why not just book direct on their site?  Then book your flights to London Gatwick - you could even book a night at the airport hotel between to make sure you have plenty of time to get to London Gatwick and time to adjust to the time change. 

1 hour ago, Wings55 said:

Well, hello neighbor!! I hope you're enjoying the rain today. 🌧️

Do keep us posted on what you decide for your river cruise. While I have my favorites, we have enjoyed every river cruise we've taken. 

Paul

We have a yard full of Halloween animatronics, so not too sure how it will go with the rain. If we had known, we would have put tarps on everything.  At least it was all unplugged.  We have loved our river cruises, though!  River cruising is awesome!

One other thing I wanted to mention to you, is that on a river cruise, you should come back from a day of touring thinking that the next day couldn't possibly get any better, but it will be!  It was that way for us on both Crystal and Uniworld.  River cruising is just amazing, but like I said, nothing like an ocean cruise!  In fact, I think it is way, way, better!

flyboyswife, I think you need to understand that a river cruise bears little resemblance to an ocean cruise with the exception that you are touring in various countries with your hotel moving along with you.  With a river cruise, you are on tours daily from morning and often through the afternoon.  Most people don't go on tours on their own because the river ship may move from where it was docked in the morning to some location that is convenient for picking up guests after touring - for example, on our last river cruise, we left the ship in one city - Bratislava, Slovakia after lunch and went touring via bus, then arrived at the ship around 5pm in Budapest, Hungary!  In addition to daytime tours, there are often optional tours and evening dinner's or shows at some outside location - all for the people on your river cruise only!  It is a lot of fun!  The ships are small, so entertainment onboard is typically a combo or a local performer specially brought onboard. The rivers are narrow and most ships don't have real balconies - they tend to have French balconies or a small alcove that has 2 chairs on it.  Even if you have a balcony, you may not spend much time on it at all because you are off the ship all day or on the river cruising day, you will likely be topside where there will be a party as you cruise some area.  So...if you go with the idea that this will be a completely new and different experience, that would be best.  As to the lines, we've been on Uniworld and Crystal (which went bankrupt during Covid, sadly.) Uniworld's ships are very plush and decorated in Old World style specific to the area in which the ship is cruising with marble bathrooms.  They have suites which are really lavishly furnished and each suite is custom designed with antiques and fine original art (not large suites, but large enough and larger bathrooms that are lovely) and there is a "balcony" sunroom type area which is lovely but we barely used it.  Our home is  Old World style and furnished in a similar manner, so we felt very comfortable with this decor and liked that it matched the area in which we were cruising.  Uniworld's cabins below suites are furnished less originally with each category being identical - so more like an upscale hotel room.   I think our suite had 3 TV's. One for the bed, one in the mirror and one on the "balcony/sunroom."  You get butler service - although we could not find much for them to do.  Still they gave us our choice of various items and brought daily snacks which were much appreciated.  They do try to match the food and wine to the area in which you are cruising, so don't expect American food at all.  They do have some plainer items for those who want them.  I found the food overall quite good - similar to what you would get in an upscale country club, but specific to whatever place we had toured that day.   Uniworld also has special food and wine cruises at various times.  On all river cruises, everything is planned in advance for you, you don't need to do anything to plan other than your flights and pre/post hotels (unless you have the cruise line plan that for you, too). There will be a meeting on the first day where they will explain the touring options to you then each morning, after breakfast (always a buffet) you grab your headset and head out on a tour unless it is the day they are cruising some part of the river, in which case you go up top to see the area you are cruising as it is very scenic.  On all river cruises, attire is smart casual.  There may be one dressy night where you dress as you would for a nice restaurant but you don't need to bring cocktail or formal attire for these cruises at all.  Your husband can wear trousers with a collared shirt most of the time.  Bring a sports coat for the dressier night and if you are going to a Michelin starred restaurant.  You might look at the July 30, 2023 SS Maria Theresa on Uniworld - they have suites available which have the balcony/atrium and are quite upscale. It's a fairly new ship and I LOVE this one in particular!  So very beautiful!  And I also loved our Danube cruise!  I could do that over and over and over again!  And best of all this starts in Budapest, which is a place well worth spending extra time and it ends in Passau, from which you could go to Prague.  So a really great cruise and I think, if you are like us and don't know a lot about this area of Europe, you will be wowed!

On 10/21/2022 at 10:26 AM, Wings55 said:

@SuiteTraveler I have always been interested in Tauck but have yet to book one of their offerings. We have sailed with Ama, Scenic and Uniworld In my opinion Scenic is the winner when it comes to excursions, wine and being truly, 'all inclusive'. Uniworld is a great option, but they do charge for some excursions, and they don't have the 'extras' offered by Scenic. We liked our AMA cruises too but I didn't think they were offered a true luxury experience. Good luck with your search and I hope you find the perfect cruise line for your tastes and expectations

Paul

Paul, 

Thank you for your opinion on these, it is helpful!  I see you are from McKinney - we are in Frisco!

On 10/19/2022 at 1:59 PM, Canal archive said:

Scenic try for faster paced, medium paced and slow as I’m a bit oh a photographer I always choose the slower paced tour.

My husband's hobby is photography.  This might be especially good for him.

On 10/19/2022 at 6:20 AM, beesKate said:

I just finished a Uniworld cruise and although they still provide a great product, I would not recommend them as being top of the line.  Perhaps the eastern europe itinerary made a difference, but our tour groups were huge (25-30 people), I don't think the menu options were as extensive or superior as on previous cruises.  If the (mostly) all-inclusive alcohol is important, they are a great value, but I don't think they can really consider themselves all-inclusive (although they still proudly advertise that).  I'm still gathering my thoughts on a review and post.  I suggest looking at AMA Waterways.  I think they were able to ride out the Covid downturn better where I think it was evident Uniworld was cutting corners on some of their offerings.  

Thank you for suggesting AMA Waterways.  I'll definitely check them out!

On 10/18/2022 at 9:14 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

Tauck and Uniworld are definitely in the same league at the top of the heap.  Tauck is a tour company known for their excellent excursions and logistics and they’ve taken that expertise to the rivers.  Service is excellent on both lines.  In my experience food on Tauck is superior to Uniworld but neither is what I would call gourmet.  They both serve wines of the region but Tauck does a slightly better job.  Onboard entertainment is also superior on Tauck and I prefer their more modern decor to Uniworld’s British tea room or French parlour style. I just completed Tauck’s Douro cruise and their new ship Andorinha is the most beautiful river ship I’ve ever seen.

 

You may also consider Scenic and Ama. They might be close to the same level of luxury as Uniworld and Tauck but others will have to chime in because I’ve never sailed with either.

Thank you for this great suggestion!  I will definitely look into Tauck - not just for river but land as well!

I considered Crystal and Uniworld direct competitors, but, now that Crystal is gone are there others as well or others which are better than these two lines?  Looking for:  All inclusive (except perhaps a shore excursion or two), gourmet food and wine that is from the region in which the ship is traveling, elegant staterooms and public rooms (style doesn't matter to me as long as they are newish and well furnished) and good service.  What river lines should I consider now?

On 3/21/2022 at 11:43 AM, MissP22 said:

Unfortunately the food isn't as good on the Enchanted as it was on the Regal or Royal. We've tried it 2 times and went back to the DR .

I noticed the same thing with the specialty restaurants on Enchanted, food was just not as good as on other Princess ships we've sailed.  Service was also off track.  Not sure why.  However MDR food and service on Enchanted was excellent.

12 hours ago, geoherb said:

I wish I could have eaten lunch in the dining room after embarking in Brooklyn in August. But I was stuck at LaGuardia waiting for a shuttle bus for more than five hours. When I did make it to the terminal, there wasn't a discernible line for priority boarding. After I asked, a representative let me get in a shorter line. She was directing everyone else to a longer one.

 

They did not have a table set up to declare wine--or at least I did not see one and no one mentioned that I had an extra bottle in my backpack at security. I was willing to pay the corkage fee if asked. I did not have a drinks package on this cruise. I did not pay attention to the availability of wines. I have noticed that the revised bar menus have dumbed down the wine list for people with Plus. They now just list varietals for the Plus list. The Premier list includes the winemaker. 

You have much more patience than me!  Long before 5 hours passed I would have taken a taxi to the pier.