cruisingmad
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On March 28, I sailed on a 10-day "Cuba Intensive" cruise with Azamara. The following video is my own interpretation of a medley of traditional songs (I play the piano by ear, it's my hobby), and the video will show you photos I took during the cruise.
Some of the photos may only be of interest to me (like the house where I grew up), but the beauty of Cuba is undeniable. What a treat it was!
Enjoy...
Sergio Calderon
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Sergio - You will have numerous opportunities to get off the bus if you so wish and there was quite a deal of free time allocated. After the dinner we did do a night tour of Paris and it was outstanding. As for the Fairmont I do hope Tauck has encouraged them to lift their game.
If you have any Aussies on your trip then starting on the 25th April could add something special as that's the day we honour the ANZAC's that landed on Gallipolli on that day in 1915. This year is the 100th Anniversary.
I'm sure you'll have a great trip with Tauck.
Rod
Thanks, Rod. I still haven't decided what exactly to do in Paris on my free time (aside from ice cream at Berthillon - :) ). It's such a great city!
My trip doesn't actually start on the 25th, but that's the day I arrive in Paris for my free night. We will have our group dinner the next evening.
I've traveled with Aussies before, and they always make the trips enjoyable, warm, and memorable.
Thanks again!
Sergio
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Thanks, Rod, for posting such a detailed review. I am booked on this same itinerary on April 25, I appreciate your observations.
I took advantage of the "Gift of Time" free night in Paris prior to the tour. I've been to Paris a few times already, so I was wondering if the Tauck tour of the city allowed for some spots to get off and continue independently.
Did they give you a night tour of Paris on the bus after the welcome dinner?
Your comments on the Monte Carlo Fairmont sound familiar... I remember reading many similar comments on this board when I was doing some research on my trip, months ago. This is really sad...
Anyway, thanks for all your posts.
Sergio
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Carolyn, have a wonderful cruise. My trips for the rest of this year and next are all planned, but the American Empress is definitely on my list, probably for 2016.
The Pacific Northwest river cruise sounds particularly interesting to me. I'm not that interested in the Mississippi cruises, but the Pacific Northwest looks like a winner to me.
I look forward to your review upon your return.
Sergio
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I just came back from a Tulip Time cruise on the AMA AMAPrima, and it was a terrific experience. Since Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities, I also stayed there for a couple of days after the cruise, and I stayed in Paris for 3 days prior to embarkation. Taking a train from Paris to Amsterdam is trivial and inexpensive, and it allows for a more rewarding vacation.
Here's the link to my photos of the trip:
Sergio
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Beautiful pictures. We were also on this cruise and it is fun to see the trip through your lens.
Thanks! It was a great trip, and I always travel through the lens of my camera...
Sergio
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Thanks, Strath and Sharon. Great cities to visit!
Sergio
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I just came back from a wonderful cruise on the AMA Prima, roundtrip Amsterdam through Holland and Belgium. You are welcome to view my photos if you're interested:
Enjoy,
Sergio
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Thank you so much! We are going to be on this ship in a few weeks doing your itinerary. I love to take photos as well, but yours are spectacular. I'm even more excited now if that's possible:)
Thanks! Good luck with your photos on your trip. Taking photos while traveling is a real thrill, and putting together a slideshow helps me bring back all the memories from the journey.
Sergio
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I was on the same trip with Sergio. I wore the same thing in Istanbul that I wear for any of my trips. My pants were mostly capris and tops were short sleeved type. I did bring a scarf for my head when we visited the mosques. A skirt is not necessary unless you feel more comfortable in one.
Hi, Sharon,
I'm glad to see you active on the boards and doing well. I don't post often, but I do like to share my travel experiences if it helps someone.
My best regards to you and Dick,
Sergio
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Re SPB in STB, EXCELLENT company and many friends and others here on CC have nothing but rave reviews. They plan full days worth of excursions with the
Ability to be flexible for traffic and the needs and wishes of the group.
That's good to know, Remydiva... I looked at other tour operators, but SPB "hooked" me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the itinerary will not change.
Sergio
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Related to that, do you mind telling me what the women in your group felt comfortable wearing? I know we will get coverings in the mosques, but I want to be super sensitive even around town.
Hopefully others will give you more specific suggestions, but I think that the weather in October will probably influence your choice of clothing. Avoid bare shoulders and back, and be ready all the time to remove your shoes (that goes for men also). No shorts, of course. Sorry I can't be more specific.
I'm also booked for a Baltic cruise this July, with an overnight stay in St. Petersburg and a regular stop in Tallinn (Estonia). I'm hoping that there won't be any itinerary changes, but situations like these are unpredictable, if you are a student of History. In St. Petersburg I've arranged with a Russian tour company (SPB) to be part of their two-day excursion, and I'm hoping that they will know what to do, as well as take care of the visa requirements.
Sergio
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Thanks!! That's very helpful! We've got a great guide our TA has used before and had great responses from the clients she sent out with them. We arrive in Istanbul on 9/30. We have that afternoon and evening open...haven't decided what to do yet:confused: but I'm still researching!
AMA can't tell us if there would be enough people also flying (vs the bus) to run a City Tour on 10/1. Also, my DH is a rather avid amateur photographer and we would like complete control of the itinerary and to spend more time in the very early morning on or above the streets of Sultanahmet when the lighting is good. So our plan now is:
Oct 1 tour Istikal St with several stops at the guides preferred coffee and dessert spots as well as the Pera museum. (I have a recent interest in Orientalist paintings, and there are some good ones there!) Then we will take a Bosporus cruise and set our feet on the Asian side. I'm still working out where exactly, though we may just leave it up to the guide. The most important thing for us is to actually set foot on the continent (it's number 6 for us and we have Antarctica planned for 2016/17, so even though we will go on other Asian trips in the future, we wanted to call Antarctica officially #7;))
Oct 2 The rest of the AMA pax arrive and would likely have the 1/2 day City Tour, but since we wish to get started early, so instead we will do a complete tour of Sultanhmet with our guide starting close to dawn. We hope to fit in the Galata tower too.
Oct 3 AMA will offer that tour of Topkapi Palace, that you mentioned, and we will rejoin our AMA friends for that, and maybe take another (the optional AMA tour) cruise down the Bosporus. We don't want that to be our only Bosporus cruise because from your photos it appears the AMA group doesn't dock and set foot in Asia. Can you confirm that?
We fly home the 4th.
While we were on Enchantment of the Seas recently, the headwaiter was from Turkey and insisted I contact her Istanbul based sister for advice...which I did and she's been very helpful with suggestions!:D But I'm leaving it to our guide to suggest those out of the way, unique places like you mention...that's one of the benefits of having the guide.
Incredibly, Istanbul is an amazingly reasonable place to hire a private guide and car...our 1 and 1/2 day tour includes all transport including the car and driver, entrances, a few snacks and lunches for less than 300 pp. So that's 100 dollars a day for private guiding with car and driver. I find that among the most reasonable in the world where we have traveled and therefore well worth it, even if it means skipping one already included AMA tour. I know in most places in Europe, guiding at that level would be close to 1000 for the day. Given the "change-y nature" of Turkey right now, and the experience you had last summer, it also gives me a measure of comfort to have a local guide who can have an ear to the ground should things start happening and know how to keep us safe, rather than go on our own.
We will be paying off our cruise in just a few weeks and will have the opportunity to sign up for the various signature tours, so I'm trying to get everything in order before then, so I will have a good idea of what I'd like to sign up for. Also, I am with you...planning is part of the fun of travel for me...I often arrive in a new place with a pretty good "map in my head" for where we are and culturally, what to expect there...I find it really deepens the experience!:D Thanks for sharing your photos and answering (my endless:rolleyes:) questions!!
You're approaching your trip as I would. If I ever return to Istanbul I'll consider hiring a private guide, since you suggest that the prices are not that outrageous. Usually I would tend to do it by myself, and like your husband, I also like to take photos when I travel, so I understand his concern with early morning, etc.
As I remember, our Bosphorus cruise did NOT dock in Asia, but I think it was because of the political situation at the time. I had been anticipating eating one of those stuffed potatoes that I had read about at one of the stops (along with other goodies), so I was disappointed. You may be luckier in your itinerary.
Don't hesitate to ask other questions if they come to mind. The Basilica Cystern is also interesting and worth visiting.
Sergio
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Sergio, thanks for sharing your photos. We are taking the same itinerary on AMAPrima soon (in reverse) and I like to see the photos to get an idea of what things are on the included tours.
I have a question for you about your Istanbul tour. Were your photos from one of the included tours with AMA or were you touring on your own? I'm wondering what to expect with the AMA Istanbul City tour because we have extra days in Istanbul and are hiring a guide to take us around for a couple of days in addition to the AMA tour. (We are flying from Bucharest after our cruise so won't be busing to Plovdiv) Since it's likely we will take the AMA tour AFTER our free days in Istanbul, I'd like to get an idea of what to have our guide do that we might not be seeing with AMA.
Any thoughts? Thanks again for your photos!
I'm glad that you enjoyed the photos and that they were helpful. I also search for photos and blogs about my travel destinations as part of my research. The preparation for a trip, I find, is very enjoyable and an important part of traveling.
Regarding your question, my photos reflect MOSTLY the AMA tours, except for one time that I went on my own to visit the Galata Tower and the surroundings while the group visited the Topkapi Palace (which I had visited on a prior trip).
I also went one night on my own to attend the Whirling Dervishes ceremony, something that I had always wanted to do. It was a very interesting experience, although some people may find it boring.
As a side note, THAT night marked the beginning of the riots, and it was an "adventure" getting back to my hotel... I felt tear gas for the first time in my life... NOT a good experience.
If you will have a private tour in Istanbul for a couple of days, my guess is that the AMA tours will not add much to your plans, except for perhaps the Bosphorus cruise. I would suggest that you take advantage of the AMA tours when they are offered, and that you use your private guide to COMPLEMENT the tours. You might want to work with your private guide in advance to make sure that he/she can take you to other places in Istanbul and surroundings (it's a fascinating city), or perhaps allow you extra time in places in which you are particularly interested.
BTW, I just came back from a cruise on the AMA Prima (Tulip Time). It's a wonderful ship/boat, the staff was outstanding, and the food was awesome. It was a very hectic itinerary, but I enjoyed it tremendously.
Sergio
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And keep in mind that the Program Director has to pay for his health insurance and also for social security (which in Germany means unemployment payment and retirement payment) plus more insurance stuff not mentioning the income tax. So roughly he keeps 50-60% of what he gets.
steamboats
We're not that far from that here in the US today!
Sergio
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Itinerary is the most important factor, followed by cruise line reputation or personal experience, followed by dates available.
Some lectures and enrichment would be nice.
Sergio
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List of factors?
Sergio
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After a year of research on these boards (thanks members) we are going on a RC in Sept (whooo-hooo!)
AMA – Basel to Amsterdam.
What do you think of the below agenda? Thoughts/reviews/comments – whatever you think may help, welcome.
THEN we were going to take a train to Paris – I read on these boards that there is a train that goes direct from Amsterdam to Paris (4 hrs) – whomever did this – did you pre-book or just go to train station and get tickets there and then?
Have a great trip! The "covered bridge" in Lucerne is a highlight.
I'm taking the train from Paris to Amsterdam this April, and it cost me 35 Euros (one way, second class). I don't think it's worth paying for first class. It's only 3.5 hours. In any case, here's the link to making reservations (I made my reservation on-line and printed my receipt):
https://www.thalys.com/nl/en/train-timetables/Paris/Amsterdam
Enjoy!
Sergio
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AMAWATERWAYS INTRODUCES MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOLO TRAVELERS
River Cruise Line waives single supplement on unprecedented number of 2014 cruises
That's all very good (I travel alone), but when you visit the AMA website, you can't determine which are the specific cruises that will waive the supplement.
I've sailed 3 times with AMA, two of these trips on the "single" cabin, which has a small bed. I have a "Tulip Time" cruise booked for next April, and I will call them to find out if my sailing qualifies.
I just wish that the information would be more clearly available on the website itself.
Sergio
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Fantastic photos, thanks so much for sharing and letting us travel with you virtually!
Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app
Thanks a lot, Suspaul, and also KirkNC! I appreciate your comments.
Sergio
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Great pics and brought back memories of my trips to Istanbul, Budapest and Vienna this past year...except you saw flowers (none in Jan...who knew! :D)
what camera did you use as you got way closer with your zoom to Lippizzan horses than my camera did.
thanks for the post!
Thanks! I use a point-and-shoot Panasonic Lumix LX5, nothing fancy. The "secret" of the horse was walking INTO the courtyard and snapping the photo. Several people were doing it until one of the carekeepers chased us away. After that, careful cropping... Even though it's a simple point-and-shoot, the sensor resolution in the LX5 is excellent and allows me to crop photos judiciously when I want to.
I'm glad it brought back memories for you! :)
Sergio
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Thank you for sharing these.
Keith
No problem, Keith. I enjoy taking photos during my trips and then creating a "memory" slideshow.
Sergio
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lovely pictures thank you.
Thanks!
Sergio
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Very nice. Thank you for sharing. The spice and candy vendors look very similar to what I've seen in Israel. The Amacerto looks like a beautiful ship, and it seems like you had a great time.
Thanks! The Amacerto is a beautiful ship, and a great crew to boot! This was my third AMA cruise and I'm very happy with them, although I have not cruised with other river lines at this point.
Sergio
Warning to potential US customers considering sailing with Hurtigruten
in Hurtigruten
Posted
Before you decide to sail with Hurtigruten, I just want to highlight their NON-REFUNDABLE deposit policy.
Once you make a reservation with Hurtigruten, your deposit is not refunded, unlike the policies of all US carriers I'm familiar with. Most companies have a sliding scale chart for deposit returns, and as the sail date approaches, you receive less of your refund.
I think that's fair, and I consider a non-refundable deposit confiscatory. I'm just making other people aware of their policy.
As a remedy, some people have suggested that it's "buyer beware" and that people should read the fine print of the contract. Some have suggested that you purchase travel insurance, even though that's an expensive remedy to a flawed policy. Finally, you can decide whether to book a Hurtigruten cruise. I will not.
Sergio