marymcgol

We went to the British Colonial Nassau on October 30, using the Resort for a Day pass.  The hotel is located about 10 minutes from the pier, an easy walk.  We arrived around 10:30, checked in, picked up beach towels, and were sitting on the beach by 10:45.  The beach is on the channel leading to the piers so the water is quite calm. 

The beach was less than half full (off season); water was warm and clear.  The only potential negative is noise from a large construction project next door to the hotel.  

Our package included a $40 credit for food and beverages.  Very attentive server brought drinks and lunch to our lounge chairs; we also had the option of eating at the pool/beach bar.  Prices were on the high side, but hey, you're on vacation...also, compared with other resort options, we didn't have to take a taxi to get there.  In short, it was a pleasant, low key day at the beach.

We cruised on Avalon Expression leaving Budapest on October 5. On October 7 we learned boat would not be able to go any further than Passau. Nuremberg was cancelled,  Regensberg was done by bus from Passsu (1 1/2 hours each way), and a day in Linz was added. From Linz, Avalon offered complimentary excursions to Salzburg and Cesky Kremlov. If any one chose to disembark, a pro-rated refund was offered (I don't think anyone took this option). We felt that Avalon handled the situation very well - kept us well informed and tried to minimize inconvenience. We were disappointed to miss Nuremberg, but had a lovely day in Linz. Those taking the post cruise extension to Prague went by bus from Passau- similar travel time as originally scheduled from Nuremberg. While river level was low due to lack of rain, we did have 12 sunny days which made for great cruising and touring!

Today (October 5) we boarded Avalon Expression in Budapest and are scheduled to sail in 1/2 hour I did notice a few other boats tied up as we headed to the dock, but it seems as if river traffic is light

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Not sure where critical points are.

 

 

 

We are going Passau to Budapest.

 

 

 

1. Would I be correct to assume the Passau to Vienna would be fine.

 

 

 

2. And probably all the way to Bratislava fine as well but we would not make it to Budapest and would have to dock/stop something LIKE a 90 minute bus ride from Budapest?

 

 

 

And explanation relative to the Passau to Budapest cruise would be appreciated. THANKS!

We leave tomorrow for a Budapest to Nuremberg cruise. Boat is already on Budapest and we have seen others cruising on the Danube here. I think we will be fine til Passsu, but unless it rains, we probably won't get any further

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Update along the way of our Avalon Expression bus/ship cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest: We're now at Hilton Hotel in Bonn, after two nights at Hotel Jakarta in Amsterdam and bus today, with stop in Cologne. We had heavy rain off and on all day, but I fear we're too far down river to help the water level at critical points on the Rhine or, of course, the Danube. Tomorrow we bus to a town in the Rhine Gorge, where we'll take a three-hour tour on a local steamer to Rudesheim; after touring there, we'll bus to Frankfurt for one night at Marriott. Then bus to Passau -- and our ship! -- after a short tour in Nuremberg. (We'll be aboard the ship a day earlier than the first revised itinerary, by the way.) Avalon has added some extra stops in Upper Austria to make up for missing the entire Main River. Avalon is taking very good care of us. (See my previous post about the financial adjustment.) It's not exactly what we bargained for, but it's hard to complain, unless you either truly hate a few days on a bus or just enjoy complaining.

We will be boarding Avalon Expression on October 5 so are following your trip with great interest. Fingers crossed that you will be cruising from Passau to Budapest!

Love it!

 

 

 

We are on Avalon Expression Oct 3rd Fingers crossed and hoping for the best - all we can do. Everyone always says oh there is NO comparing a river cruise to an ocean cruise. So far, never having done a river cruise, all I can say is the ocean never runs dry! :D

We are also on Avalon Expression October 3rd. This will be our second river cruise - first was an uneventful 3 day cruise on Avalon - kind of an Intro to River Cruising. We are keeping our fingers crossed for major rain over the next 3 weeks - don't want this to turn into a bus trip!

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Unfortunately the emergency@rccl.com e mail address is no longer valid. Any other ideas? Perhaps I should call RCCL directly?

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I believe that is only if you leave the ship for good.

I did send an e mail to that address but so far I have only received an automated reply. I will try the emergency@rccl.com address if I don't get a reply in the next 24 hours. We appreciate the advice from the cruisers on this board!

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We will be cruising in the South Pacific and have a port stop in Tahiti one day, followed by a stop in Moorea the next day. Can we leave the ship in Tahiti and rejoin the next day in Moorea? Would we need to alert guest relations of our plan? Thanks for any guidance.

Another option if you have the time - combine a river cruise with a TA. We have done this several times and taken advantage of good one way airfare thru ChoiceAir.

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We went to Elbow Beach 2 years ago. At that time, we were able to purchase a day pass at the beach level - I believe it just to the left as we came down the stairs. The pass included 2 chairs and an umbrella. We were seated in the "cruise passenger" area, but no real difference than the guest area. We had plush towel covers on our chairs and drink/food service was quick and efficient. We went to Coco Reef the day before and the cost of both resorts was quite comparable. Only real difference was that umbrellas at Coco Reef were on a first come basis so no guarantee of shade; the chairs at Coco Reef were much more spread out; and we had to walk up to pool level for food and drinks

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Well, what a wealth of information! Just read from the beginning. Thanks to all the posters. We are doing the Danube in Oct 2018 on the Expression. I hate wishing away the good weather that is coming, but can't wait. This will be a great cruise. Spending a few days in Zagreb first, then heading to Budapest to join the Avalon group. We went to an Avalon "talk" earlier this week, which we had done before, but found it so much more interesting now that we are booked! Will keep an eye on this thread to keep the excitement and information going over the summer. Happy sailing all!

We are also on the Expression - October 5 sailing from Budapest. Doing 2 days pre-cruise in Budapest with Avalon and 3 days afterwards in Prague. We did a 3 day cruise from Budapest to Vienna two years ago, so there will be some overlap, but there's still so much to see!

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We have forwarded a large suitcase with "cruise clothes" to our hotel in Barcelona prior to 2 different transatlantic cruises. Both times we e mailed our hotel in advance to see if they could hold luggage and it was waiting for us on our arrival (Hotel Jazz and Hotel Acta Atrium Palace ). The company we used also offered delivery to our cruise ship, but it was more expensive and we wanted to make sure we had everything before boarding.

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Glad to hear after what I heard. I wonder if it matters if there are more US citizens than non-US citizens. We are looking into the train with a car service picking us up at Newark Penn station.

We were also on the August Serenade TA. Disembarkation was delayed slightly based on original schedule, however we were still in an Uber on our way home at 9:00am!

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Thanks Ken.

Before our recent Serenade cruise, we purchased a 3 night dining package. We went to Chops the first day and made reservations for nights 2, 6 and 11. When we dined at Chops on the second night we were offered the option of either using the BOGO diamond plus benefit or of using the 1st night of the dining package.

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Looking at these 2 ships for a transatlantic cruise in fall, 2018. We like traditional cruise experience - fixed seating, shows after dinner. Since there will be a number of sea days, cabin is important. We'd like a generous size cabin (at least 200 square feet excluding balcony), a combination tub/shower or an oversized shower stall, and a large balcony. Any recommendations? Aft facing verandah, signature suite? Have to admit the wraparound corner balconies on Oosterdam look very appealing. Thanks for any advice....

With move to more dining options on ships, it often seems that those who like traditional dining experience are forgotten. We like to eat at late seating at a larger table, and we like to dress for dinner. I don't think that formal nights require a tuxedo and gown, but also don't think tee shirts and torn jeans are appropriate. We think the traditional dining experience is a great way to meet new friends, but have noted that often there may be only 1 or 2 couples at a table for 10 or 12. Any recommendations?

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We have the same doubts :(. But perhaps it was just a bad day (last August).

 

 

 

Hank

Hank - we were in Reyjkavik on Thursday- rented from Europcar They had an office at pier, two people staffing it, and a key drop for after hours drop off. Everything was great - seems like they have their act together now! Hertz also has office at pier

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Thanks for the info - we have contacted special needs at RCCL and arranged for an extension cord in our cabin

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My husband uses a CPAP machine while sleeping. We will be on a Radiance class ship later this month and can't remember if there is a plug near the night stand or whether we need to bring an extension cord. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

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This concludes my trip report. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for a great trip report - we are doing the same trip on August 19 - lots of very helpful information and ideas on what to do in each port.

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We rented from Europcar last August (doing it again this coming August) and did not have much difficulty getting away from the port (we do have GPS). We drove to the Golden Circle region from the port, and never had to go into town. But even driving in Reykjavik is not a big deal for those used to driving in small cities. Our only issues were with Europcar. Nobody showed up to open their little office until nearly an hour after we had docked (and several of us telephoned their main office in town). Once two of their staff did show, everything went very slow since they could not access their computer and had to do everything by hand. And when we finally were given keys to our car, it would not start due to a dead battery. We had to wait another 20 minutes for them to bring us another car (from their main office). Many of the other rental car companies do not provide cars at the port....but shuttle their customers to their local office sites.

 

Hank

Hank

We rented a car through Iceland Car Rentals on a prior cruise - great experience- pick up and drop off right at the port - but apparently they have been acquired so we went with Europcar on our upcoming cruise. Your comments are leading me to think we should look for another rental car company - maybe it would be better to take a shuttle to rental car main office. We have also booked with Europcar in Akureyri, but there may not be as many options there. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

We are currently in an aft cabin on deck 9 on a B2B cruise, but we have to change cabins - 2 doors down - for the second leg. We could move to an aft cabin on deck 7 and not have to move between cruises, but are wondering if there might be a noise issue since there is a lounge below. Any thoughts/advice? Thanks

Sailed on Royal Princess Baltic itinerary in 1996 for our 25th anniversary. Wonderful experience that got us "hooked" on cruising.

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We began in BA and arrived 3 days early to have more time to explore city. Also, we flew into BA and started vacation immediately. If you start in Valparaiso, you need to get from airport in Santiago to Valparaiso - I'd rather do that at the end. Our cruise on Celebrity had 6 days at sea, but no more than 2 in a row

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