ssawjo

Good choice. We were there pre-pandemic and it was very nice. Good food and service. Make sure you get reservations.

We will be calling at the Port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia for one day and a visa is required. Oceania is offering to obtain the visa for us for $89/pp. This is a lot more than being able to get one from the Government of Cambodia. Online, a single entry eVisa T is $36/pp and is good for 30 days. There is also an eVisa E for $42 and I cannot see any difference between the two. Would it be a good idea to get the eVisa beforehand and forgo Oceania's offer? Another question: We will be debarking in Bangkok a few days after visiting Sihanoukville and will be flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia, for a few days. It looks like I will have to purchase new eVisas either online or at the airport. Can the original eVisas we purchased be used for arriving at Siem Reap? It will all be within the 30-day limit. Thank you for your responses and suggestions. Bill

It would be nice if tips were added to the SimplyMore thingee.

Question: Does the Wind Surf dock IN Venice at MARITTIMA / CRUISE TERMINAL VENEZIA? Asking because I booked, under the latest promotion, a cruise from Venice to Athens. Thanks, Bill

So, if I read you correctly, if our first port of call in VN is Chang May (Hue), Nha Trang, and then HCMC (Saigon) (Oceania does not have Phu My on their itinerary), I will be eligible for an e-visa. Or am I way off base? I will check with embassy website to make sure we are eligible. Thank you for dealing with this issue, which seems more complicated than it should be. Bill

Terry, IMO, best to scrub the visit early so that you can make alternate plans. Hard to do in the middle of the ocean. BTW, I found our itinerary for our India trip. India HK Cairo Tour.pdf Fabulous time. This was our whole trip that year. Technically we went around the world. Any questions, my email is ssawjo at cox dot net.

Terry, as I may have previously mentioned, we are booked on the Oceania Riviera and we are supposed to stop in Myanmar in January 2024. Nothing has changed with Oceania yet. However, we did plan to go to Yangon overnight to avoid the bad roads, etc. But I do believe that it will eventually be cancelled. Bill

I am on the same cruise. I don't have any tour suggestions. We are just going to wing it, so to speak. We are not planning to visit Blarney Castle. I also suggest you post your inquiry on the cruise's roll call: Sept September 5, 2023 British Isles - Page 12 - Regal Princess Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community Welcome to Cruise Critic, BTW.

This is a great itinerary, TLCOhio. We will be doing almost the exact same itinerary on the Oceania Riviera in January 2024 from Mumbai. We already had the pleasure of visiting India for two weeks in April 2018. Amazing place but the food, to me anyway, let something to be desired. DW loved the food, however. I do not know what will happen with Myanmar. Oceania's 2023 cruises have cancelled the port stop there due to the political instability of the country. SS may have different plans. Oceania has not cancelled our 3-day port stop for 2024 yet, but I expect that will happen. BTW, I like your map! Bill

I guess I didn't drink responsibly LOL.

I believe that it is also National Bourbon Day! Please drink responsibility.

There was trivia twice a day, county fair, and other stuff.

Good question and following.

I sympathize with you for the missed ports. Lisbon is nice but I found Porto to be much more interesting. If these ports are missed by a strike of some sort, then I always felt that all port charges for the missed ports should be refunded to the passenger, probably by OBC. Why Oceania and some others (Regent, for example), don't do this is not fair. Princess refunds missed port charges, or they used to. Just easy money in the bank for the cruise lines.

Do you live up near Clark International Airport/Angeles City? If so, we will need a mid-range hotel for one night. It is true that prices are from very low to very high. (Well, not that high.) Which hotel would you recommend? We will be there on Feb. 1, 2024, flying in from Puerto Princesa. Also, do you know of a car hire/rental/taxi that we can hire locally, with driver, that can take us around in the afternoon to visit some former POW sites? Thank you for any information you can provide. Bill

Well, yes, the Government is bombing its' own people for one. So, not sure what your "comment" means.

We are on the Riviera cruise that calls at Yangon in January 2024. I booked a private tour, but it is refundable if we can't land. It is a shame what is happening there.

Thank you that heads up. Presently, I have no plans to go to the PRC until at least 2025. My current 10 year visa expires in 2030. I will check before any planning happens.

Yes, that is what I meant. By "no visa required", I meant that the visitor does not have to obtain a visa if with a licensed guide. And, I am afraid, everything has probably changed.

Thank you for your well written and comprehensive review. We are on the AMA Bella from Giurgiu, Romania to Vilshofen in two weeks. With a pre cruise in Istanbul and post in Prague. Smaller ship of course but the tours you did are the same as the ones we selected. We are planning on the Vienna concert. Glad you enjoyed the dinner/folklore show in Prague. I was having my doubts about whether to go or not. We'll go.

You are correct. We visited Moscow with a licensed tour guide and no visa required.

DW and I were to go to the PRC for about two weeks in 2020 but covid intervened. We had applied for and received ten year visas which are still valid. We used a visa service (CIBT), and it was expensive, but they were very helpful to make sure we had all of the proper entry documents. Mailed our passports to them and they did the leg work. I don't recall any questions about Turkey. We were there in 2016 for an overnight on a cruise. I never mentioned it and they didn't ask. Not sure how the PRC would find out someone was in Turkey unless they hacked the evisa system. Wouldn't be surprised. Also, never had to meet a PRC consular officer. We still want to visit but the current political situation makes traveling there dicey.

We did a private tour but the same route. There was a "rest area" along the way. I would describe it as being very rustic. Women should bring their own sanitary products, that is, toilet paper. Long boring drive, a lot of check points, and speed bumps. If it is an overnight, I strongly suggest saying overnight in Luxor. You will not regret it. Have fun.

Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

Thanks for your response. Yes, I am also of a certain age watching events every night on the news. I will ask Xuan for a recommendation. Bill