Kristal Blade

This is great news for us! We are doing this route on Capella at the end of the month. We are sailing back to Budapest too so only a short time in Bucharest. Thanks for posting.

Sorry to read you have missed so many ports. We are doing a circumnavigation of Australia on Regatta, leaving in December next year. We have sailed with Celebrity from Vancouver to Japan and we missed Dutch Harbour which was disappointing. But… as you sail you have the opportunity to see Russian islands which are volcanic and we got some great views and photos of steaming volcanoes. Our Celebrity captain did a great job of keeping us informed of his navigational choices to shelter between these islands to avoid the motion of the ocean. We really enjoyed the cruise in spite of the fact that I am not the best sailor and often have to resort to popping a pill to calm my stomach. Best of luck for a smooth crossing.

Sorry to hear you will miss Aomori, but better to be safe. Hakodate is a good port too!

Thank you, sounds like it will be all good for my trip. Fingers crossed. I will keep tabs on Capella from now on.

We are scheduled to be on Capella on 30 October in Budapest, on the Best of the Balkans trip. I’m wondering where Capella might be now and if our cruise will be disrupted. Interesting times!

We visited Aomori on our Diamond Princess cruise and it was one of our favourite ports. We ended up staying 2 nights because of a typhoon but found lots to do. Don’t miss the museum which houses the floats which are used in the annual parade, a sort of festival of light where huge floats are decorated with characters from Japanese folklore. The shop there was a great source of unique and not over expensive souvenirs. I still have the towel I bought there. It’s a big bath towel and I use it when I go to my weekly swim session. There is also a very interesting museum outside of town, easily accessible by local bus. It has reconstructions of ancient dwelling houses plus displays of Stone Age artefacts which was really interesting. And the museum had labels in both Japanese and English. Aomori is famous for apples. We bought one and it was delicious. The reason we didn’t buy one each was because the apples are so big! I think we have been to Sakaiminato too, but I would need to check my diary. If it’s the place I’m thinking of we took a train ride, a ferry, then a little chair lift to a big temple area. On the way back we hired bikes and cycled through a beautiful pine forrest. Japan is just so beautiful!

We were offered whale at a Japanese fish market, but declined. The meat was really dark red, like a matured beef steak but with no streaks of fat. Loving the tour description, thank you. It’s making me wish the time away till my cruise on Westerdam in March.

Having your passport can also get you senior admission prices. Because we all look so young!!

Yes, the Japanese ladies all have their own hand drying cloths which they carry with them. I always have a few ziplock bags with me when I cruise so I would just pop a washcloth in one when we went ashore in Japan. But it takes a couple of days to get into the swing of remembering. I have had a few times of whirling my hands around to air dry them!

Thanks for the reminder about the drying towel. I had forgotten that the Japanese toilets don’t have paper towels. I used to take the washcloth from our ship bathroom! Enjoy Kushiro and hope you see the cranes.

Thank you reeves35, that clears it up for me. I will do a compare and contrast of AmaStella and Capella and report back when we have finished our cruise in mid November.

I got my “tickets” for my holiday today. An online booklet with some info about the destinations. It looks as if there is only one trip with an additional charge; the church of the rocks in Budapest. Everywhere else seems to be a guided walk or coach trip. APT have really tied themselves in knots with all these labels! Is Travelmarvel owned by APT? Are the Travelmarvel ships owned by APT or just chartered? I assume AmaStella was chartered by APT as I have seen Ama waterways cruises which can be booked direct with them, rather than via APT. Thanks for trying to explain all the intricacies, one day I might understand what is going on! 🙂

I am getting a bit confused by APT now, because our first APT cruise was on AmaStella. Our current booking on Capella was also done through APT! So it seems APT uses both “high end” and “lower quality” ships. To be honest we didn’t notice a price difference, but once we have paid and done a cruise we forget what we paid! We are at the stage of life where, happily, if we see something we like we just go for it. We do have budgetary limits. I think I mentioned on this thread that I thought Noble Caledonian was outside of our budget. I didn’t have a butler unpacking my clothes on AmaStella, but he did bring delicious little nibbles to our room every evening. I didn’t see a brochure for this trip, booked after seeing an online advert because having done an APT trip I think we are on a mailing list now. But if we have to pay extra for an excursion we want to do then I expect we will. What sort of additional cost are we going to be charged? Thanks for all the insider info reeves35

Thank you very much, that is very useful info. I will pack my fitness gear. I did have a giggle at your comment about waddling back to your room post dinner. That is often how our days end on a cruise. Good intentions of going to a show, but then deciding that digestion is a top priority!

Thanks for that insider info, Jazzbeau, We prefer longer breaks so a 7 day trip is hardly worth leaving home for! Once I unpack I don’t like to refill my case too soon! A 14 day or more is our preference, which is why our next trip on Capella is Budapest to Bucharest return. I will look out for Scenic trips from now on.

Yikes! We were totally spoiled on Ama then! The classical concert in Vienna was free. looks like I will be making sure I book AMA next time. Thanks Jazzbeau, as novice river cruisers we just took our Ama experience as the norm.

Hiya BillY, yes to a good credit card that is fee free. Good old Halifax. Extra excursions? Everything was free on AmaStella, are there excursions you have to pay for? I can understand going paperless. On sea cruises we chuck so much stuff in the bin, but that is the ads for the spa that we never use plus future cruise info. I would like the daily info as a hard copy but will have to learn to look on the tv. We had APT maps on Stella and they were really good. I kept my Budapest one, ready for my next cruise!

Thank you reeves35, All my questions answered and I will definitely pack a clothes line. We often need to extend drying space because the lines in the bathrooms are often very small. We will bring some puzzles to keep us occupied, but I expect we will be happy chatting with our cruise companions.

I’m enjoying your report immensely, thanks for posting so frequently. I have a little question for you, if you don’t mind. Are there any free fitness classes? I remember HAL ships used to have a daily stretch followed by a more active class each morning and there were sometimes afternoon classes. Thanks for any info about that. Hope you have found something to do in Kushiro. We hired a taxi to take us to 3 different places to see cranes. We got up close to the ones in captivity and saw some wild ones in the fields as we drove around. We had time for a stroll round the town afterwards but it wasn’t as interesting as some of the other ports we visited.

Thank you BillY, good to know there are additional lunch options. I was brought upon soup so I will be hoping for that every lunchtime! I was hoping that we might get a couple of laundry bags provided. It was terrific to get a free laundry service on AmaStella, but I will wash out the smalls and pack strategically. We are on deck 3 so it shouldn’t be so much of a walk for us to reach the bar. We aren’t expecting great weather, seeing as it will be November when we visit most destinations. But we can layer up and I always pack gloves and scarves. Are there daily puzzles? I think we had a crossword and Sudoku on Stella. What is the currency on board? I’m expecting it to be Euro, but I know none of our destinations use Euro! Thanks for any answers. I will definitely try to do a review after our trip. If the wifi is any good I might even put some live-ish posts on.

Hi again TLC, Yes, don’t apply for your visa too early as it is valid from the date it is completed, if memory serves. And print out a colour copy of your receipt/visa form. I did the form for myself and my husband and I did them on different days! The frustration of pausing, restarting and amount of info required was just too much to do 2 forms in one day. I’ve not been to Goa. But I have visited Kerala, the next door state. It’s not so party central, but beautiful and very “Indian”! Great food, gorgeous scenery, wonderful people, amazing wildlife…. I love India!

I wonder if there are any Japanese passengers on board? We cruised round Japan on the Diamond Princess several years ago and on formal nights the Japanese ladies wore the most beautiful kimonos. It made my dress look very ordinary in comparison! Enjoying the live review very much, thanks for keeping us all up to date with such detail. Hope the sea is calm now.

We were on AmaStella earlier this year, sailed from Amsterdam to Budapest. We used the free trips in every port. We had a good choice of at least 2 trips at every port. Most included free time after the walk round. Guides were very happy for people to break away from the group if you wanted to, so long as you knew where to meet if you had to catch the bus back it was fine. Cesky Krumlov is delightful. It is a fairly long drive toget there and once there we were glad to have a guide to lead us to the highlights. We had free time later and we had a delicious lunch of local specialities in a restaurant called the Two Marys. It was recommended by the guide. We still had time after that to look round. I don’t remember the Baroque Theatre! We selected excursions the night before we arrived anywhere and there was always space. We never had to take a second choice. I know you are with Viking so maybe someone else can add more for you.

Thanks Jazzbeau, I am now on the AMA mailing list so get regular offers from them. Noble Caledonian is a bit of a stretch price wise! Lovely itineraries but we haven’t ever booked with them. Hope you are enjoying your cruise.

Thank you, this made for interesting reading as we had done this cruise in April this year. We cruised on AmaStella. We hadn’t realised APT was an Australian company but were delighted to have so many Australian and New Zealand passengers on board. We had a really fun time. We cruise on Capella later this month so good to get some more info about the ship layout. Happy travels reeves35.