Spree75

On 9/13/2021 at 11:55 AM, bostonstrong17 said:

Hi.  Thanks for the information.  I am booked on a Basel to Amsterdam cruise next August.  We will be staying in Amsterdam for two nights after the cruise on our own.  What hotel did you stay at?  Since I'm a Marriott elite member I am deciding between the Amsterdam Marriott and the Renaissance Amsterdam.  Do you happen to know which is a better location?  Thanks.

We stayed at the Conservatorium Hotel that is right across from the Van Gogh Museum.  It's one of our favorite hotels around the world.   The museum district is always nice to stay as it's quiet, easy access to the major art museums, and has the large open park space if you are looking to people watch.  The museum district also has several high end shopping streets.  Not our focus but might be of interest.

I do want to try and stay in the old city at some point as that will give easier access to nightlife.

I don't think you can go wrong with either Marriott hotels.  It just depends on what you want more convenient.

On 8/28/2021 at 4:55 PM, nursinadream said:

Spree, Can you tell a little about your week in Switzerland?  You planned this on your own, sounds like?  Other posters say that's a pricey country.  Did you do Lucerne, Mount Pilatus?

Deb

This was a travel agency/personal planned extension so it was not part of the Uniworld package (same with Amsterdam).  And yes, Switzerland is a ridiculously pricey country even considering where we stayed.  Everything was at least double of what we have paid in the past for comparable hotels, guides, restaurants in other parts of Europe (Italy, Southern France, Barcelona, Denmark, etc)

For Switzerland we did 3 nights Zurich, 1 night Vitznau, and 3 nights in Basel.  Daily itinerary was (you might be able to tell we don't "relax" on vacation...):

Day 1 - Land in the morning and check in to the Widder Hotel.  Walking tour of the Old city and afternoon at the Kuntshaus - If there is one thing to see in this area it's the Chagall Windows in Fraumunster.  They are the one of the most beautiful set of stained glass windows I've seen and topped only by the overall effect of Sagrada Familia.

Day 2 - Architecture tour of Zurich including University of Zurich/ETH, FIFA headquarters, Dolder Grand, Pavilion Le Corbusier, MFO Park, Fischli and Weiss sculpture, Anne-Sophie Statue, Puls5 (a converted foundry), Schiffbau (the converted shipyard), Frau Gerolds Garten, Freitag flagship, Viadukt.  We also did a 1 hour lake cruise around the lower end of Lake Zurich (saw Tina Turner's house).  

Day 3 - Day trip to Bern.  Walking tour of the old city with a tour inside of the Zytglogge (one of the coolest things we saw on the whole trip but I'm a science nerd...) and a visit to Einstein's House.  Afterwards we went to the Zentrum Paul Klee which is a very unique looking building housing a massive collection of Klee's paintings.

Day 4 - Transfer to the Park Hotel in Vitznau.  We took the train up Mt. Riggi.  It was kind of hazy so the views weren't that great, it was really hot, and I couldn't believe the number of people up there...

Day 5 - Ferry transfer from Vitznau to Lucerne (Lake Lucerne is beautiful).  Visit the Rosengart Collection.  If you love art you should visit as there as so many Picasso, Klee, and other modern masters which you won't be able to see anywhere else in the world as the museum does not loan any of their paintings. Stop off for pictures at the Chapel Bridge.  Transfer to Basel for two nights at a friend's house.

Day 6 - Whirlwind tour of Basel including Transitlager building, BIS building, St. Alban section (to see the old city wall), Beyeler Foundation (there is one crazy room in this museum with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art), Vitra Design Museum (which is actually in Germany), sculpture at the meeting of three countries, Expo Center donut

Day 7 - Transfer the to Les Trois Rois.  Old City walking tour in a loop from the hotel to the Gate of Spalen to the Johann Wanner Christmas House to the rock and roll graffiti mural to the Tinguely Fountain to the Basler Munster to the Rathaus and back to the hotel.  In the afternoon we visited the Tinguely Museum.

Day 8 - Visit the Kuntsmuseum (don't get this mixed up with the Kuntshalle...  so many museums in Basel) followed by the transfer to the Antoinette docked in Breisach in the afternoon.

If you wondering about Amsterdam:

Day 1 - Transfer to the Conservatorium - City walk from the hotel to the Pijp district, to the Basel Archives, to the Dam Square and then the tram back to the MOCO museum.

Day 2 - Drove to Loenen and took a Vecht river boat to see the Dutch country estates ending in Oud-Zuillen.  In the afternoon we visited Slot Zuylen which was a fascinating castle just outside of Utrecht.

Considering how desperate my partner and I were for a vacation the trip was well worth what we spent and we had a fantastic vacation.

Hi Notamermaid,

I believe Heidelberg Castle was a group issue.  The government (local, state, or federal? not sure which) wasn't accepting the list of people that the cruise director was trying to send and without the okay from the government it wasn't worth the risk of going and finding out that you couldn't visit the castle.  Especially since this was a premium excursion.

As for Marksburg, that excursion went on as planned with about 30 of us going on that tour (split into two groups of 15).  Masks were required at all times during the tour.  Viking got there ahead of us and had 3 semi full tour buses of passengers.  Lots of visitors but I'd imagine the castle would be more mobbed if not for Covid.

Excursions that went on as planned:  Alsatian villages (Kaysersberg and Eguisheim), Walking tour of Strasbourg, Vinegar Tasting, Panoramic Walk around Rudesheim, Walking Tour of Speyer (extra in replacement of Heidelberg w/ the cruise director), Wine Tasting at Castle Vollrad, Let's Go Hike in Boppard, Walking Tour of Boppard (extra tour from the cruise director), Let's Go Bike from Boppard to Koblenz, Walking Tour of Koblenz, Marksburg Castle, Walking tour of Cologne. 

As for another river cruise, we'd definitely consider it and would be happy to go again with Uniworld.  Cruising was fine and we'd just need to find the right itinerary.

I know I've gotten a lot of information from others that have posted their experiences and especially with Covid restrictions I thought I'd give our account for the trip.  I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Cruise - 8 day Castles on the Rhine 

Cruise line - Uniworld

Itinerary - Breisach (overnight) -> Strasbourg -> Rudesheim -> Boppard -> Koblenz ->: Koln -> Amsterdam

Cruise date - August 15-22

Ship:  SS Antoinette

Note: there was lock maintenance in the Canal du Alsace so the cruise was unable to start in Basel as planned.  We spent a week in Switzerland pre-cruise and 2 nights in Amsterdam post cruise outside of the cruise package.

The Covid stuff:

• When we booked Uniworld was only requiring a negative test result but while we were in Switzerland this changed to "must be vaccinated".  I suppose this could have caused a problem since there wouldn't be a way to get fully vaccinated in the short time that they switched policies.  I personally think the change was made after France and Germany tightened their requirements to eat at cafe or visit any cultural institution.
• Have your vaccination card with you at all times.  Don't rely on a photo as this will not be accepted in some situations
• Museums in France (at least in Strasbourg) won't even accept a vaccination card.  They require the EU QR code from an app.  We were told we could get a temporary QR code from a pharmacy but the pharmacy said they weren't doing this anymore and you'd have to get it from a consulate...  Needless to say we didn't get in to that museum.
• Masks were required on the Uniworld buses at all time. 
• In Switizerland, France, and Germany  masks were required in all indoor situations (of course excepting sitting down to eat or drink) and all transportation but you didn't need to wear them outdoors.  The Netherlands was SUPER lax about masks.  The only place it was required was in public mass transit.  There was also no vaccination checks in Switzerland or the Netherlands in restaurants or museums.
• In the Netherlands museums are by timed appointments so don't expect to just show up to the Rjiksmuseum and expect to get in.
• On the ship masks are required at all times while moving about indoors.  Masks can be removed in the lounge and dining area once you are seated (and of course your cabin).
• Seating for meals was fixed after the first breakfast and you couldn't switch tables to sit with people you may have met.  The why of this wasn't clearly explained.
• Breakfast and lunches were buffet style but you were not allowed to touch the food.  Instead you walked by the stations and chef/waiter would put whatever you pointed to on a plate for you.  Dinner was from the menu and served by courses.
• There was a strong encouragement to use the sanitizers which were everywhere around the ship.
• You will almost certainly be required to have a Covid test prior to your departure back home and Uniworld will help locate a test center.  There is self test kits available on the ship but these are not accepted by airlines/governments.  We had set up with the hotel/travel agent but most people on the ship were surprised about the requirement.  There is a test location in most international airports but you do need to schedule an appointment.  I do know that some people were leaving REALLY early on the day we docked in Amsterdam and were concerned about getting their test results.
• We were lucky and none of the guests had any symptoms of sickness but it was also a unclear what the process would have been if one of the passengers did get sick.
• That isn't to say there wasn't Covid aboard the ship.  We had one non-passenger facing crew member (I believe one of the engineers) that tested positive for the virus on the first night.  That crew member was immediately quarantined off the ship.  The passengers were informed during the next daily briefings by the cruise manager.  There was a thorough decontamination during the night of all public spaces while and we were offered better masks if we wanted them (although they were more difficult to breathe through).  We felt the ship was very transparent about the situation and we didn't have any more incidents the rest of the cruise.

About the cruise:

• We talked with a some of the senior staff and found out that Uniworld has set a limit to the number of passengers per cruise which is about half of normal (max passengers in ~150).  On our cruise there was only ~60 passengers.  There was ~45 crew so it's a really amazing crew to passenger ratio right now.  We were the fourth cruise since Uniworld started sailing on the Rhine.  We had heard that the cruise after ours had even less passengers than ours.
• Almost all passengers were from the USA or Canada.  We were told that Uniworld usually draws in UK, Australia, and NZ passengers but obviously the latter two are on lock down and there are major travel restrictions for the UK.
• There were included excursions every day and some days a choice of excursions.  The excursions seemed to be the usual sort and included walking tours, wine tastings, bike tours, etc.  There were two Uniworld buses available to take passengers on excursions and in general there was 1 guide for every 15 people on the tour.  We don't normally take the ship excursions so I can't say whether or not this was different or not.
• Due to the low number of passengers none of the premium excursions managed to get the required numbers except Heidelberg Castle which was cancelled because the government wouldn't allow access to the castle ruins.
• Piet, the cruise manager tried to be really flexible with excursions but he did need to send lists of passengers in Germany in advance so once you signed up for an excursion you couldn't switch options
• The additional dining area on the deck and the bar were not open at all on this cruise.
• Max 1 person/family in the pool and Max 2 people in the gym.
• Piet managed to bring on entertainment most evenings who played until the ship left but there was no onboard entertainment so evenings were very quiet. 

Overall we were very happy to be travelling again.  This was our first river cruise so we didn't know what to expect and were happy with the product.  We normally travel with Seabourn on the ocean and would say that this wasn't quite as luxurious as that.  No idea if that was the cruise line or if travelling during Covid as we don't have any reference for either.

Once again, happy to answer any questions you have that I can.

We've also been on both seas with Seabourn and loved both trips.  However, there are a number of considerations and changes since we did the cruises.

• If the Aegean is Athens to Istanbul or vice versa then you're in for a fantastic trip.  Ephesus is almost guaranteed to be on the itinerary with various Greek islands rounding out the trip.  Lots of archaeological sites and lots of beaches.  I wouldn't consider this to be a hiking through nature kind of cruise but there is plenty of fun walking in the small port cities and some challenging walks like up to the church in Patmos.  As others have mentioned it's worthwhile to monitor the situation in Turkey as two of the major port cities would be deal breakers for me if they are excluded.  Also you'll want to monitor the situation with refugees from Syria (Lesvos comes to mind).  Our trip was Istanbul->Lesvos->Ephesus->Rhodes->Patmos->Mykynos->Milos->Athens
• The Adriatic has two flavors.  We did the round trip Venice which gets you to the west coast of Greece and then heads back.  The other is Venice to Athens.  We found this trip to more varied than the Aegean as you stop in more countries and many more mainland locations.  Corfu, Katakolon (Olympus), Dubrovnik and/or Split, and Kotor would be some of the destinations on this side.  You will see both Roman and Greek history on this trip.  Corfu was amazing and I can see spending a week or two just there.  Some things to watch out for on this side.  Venice is tamping down on cruise ships so watch out for where you will dock.  We were last there on one of the little sisters so got to dock outside of the main terminal closer to the city which made a huge difference.  Dubrovnik is also limiting where and how many ships can dock.  Once again we were tendered right outside the Old Town but I'm not sure that's the case anymore on the larger ships.  Less ships would be great as Dubrovnik can turn into a zoo!  We had a 10 day trip on the Adriatic and went Venice->Gallipoli (Italy)->Kefalonia->Katakolon->Corfu->Dubrovnik->Split->Opatjia->Venice with two sea day

If I was picking again and hadn't been to any of the places I would go with the Aegean but only if Istanbul is on the list.  That city is amazing and you should plan for several days there.  Definitely one of my top 5 cities to visit in the world.  If Istanbul isn't on the itinerary then I'd pick the Adriatic.  Everyone should visit Venice and there's more variety in my opinion on this trip especially if you want to do nature hiking.  From the Croatian cities you should be able to make your way inland to what I heard are amazing national parks.  Of course you'd be missing out on the amazing port cities...  

Our travel agent booked us through Made for Spain in 2017 for our extended stay in Barcelona after a Western Med cruise.  We were extremely happy with the service.  The company was quick to make last minute changes (we added a detour to Figueres the afternoon before our tour to Girona which required extensive changes to transportation) and provided fantastic guides who not only knew the city inside and out but also seemed to know all of the security personnel at the various attractions so that wait times were almost non-existent.

Here are some areas that we enjoyed in Rome where we didn't see any other tourists (except for #4)...

1) Coppode - Art Noveau-Baroque-Gothic-Ancient Greek all smashed into one.  This area which was built in the early 1900's had fascinating architecture.  It's a small area that could be a quick stop or you could end up spending an hour or two wandering around and staring at all of interesting building styles.

2) EUR (especially Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana) - Built by the fascists but still a fascinating area.  Kind of like a modern day forum in that everything is planned out and the placement around the area has meaning.

3) Stadio Dei Marni - This is the stadium next to the Olympic Stadium and has 59 massive marble statues lining the outer rim.  If you love staurary then you should stop here for a look.

4) The Aventine Keyhole - Not really a long stop but one of the most unique picture framing that I've seen.  This can be found at Villa del Priorato di Malta.  There's usually a line of people waiting to take a look.

All of the above are free but you do have to get them.

My partner and I are considering an Antarctic cruise.  I see that the cruises start in late November and go through February.  Is there a better month to go?  Are the seas rougher on the edges?  When are the penguins most prevalent? How about the weather?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  

We did a similar trip with Quito, Galapagos, Lima, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco.  We went a bit later than you in late August/Early September.

What surprised us was how variable the weather was.  The only constant was the need for sunscreen.  As per the previous poster layers are what you will need.  Galapagos for us reached 90F one day but also dipped down to the low 50F one night...  It was usually a very mild 80F.  Lima is always kind of cool which surprised me it was overcast and 60F every day.  The Sacred Valley was nice in the high 60F to low 70F.  Machu Picchu is really weird.  When we got off the train it was in 75F and our guide said it would be even hotter on top of the mountain (which it was).  Our guide said that MP is generally hotter than anywhere else in the Sacred Valley.  Cusco on the other hand was freezing.  I think the high was 50F the day we were there and the night felt like it dropped to near freezing.

Bring enough layers that you will be warm enough in Cusco and then mix and match layers as necessary everywhere else.  I'd be surprised if you will need a jacket in MP.

We tacked on Lima and Machu Picchu to the end of our Galapagos cruise last year.  We did 2 nights in Lima, 2 nights in the Scared Valley, 1 night in Machu Picchu, and 2 nights in Cusco.  As others have mentioned I would highly recommend the 2 nights in the Sacred Valley to get acclimatized to the elevation.

If you don't want to climb Huayna Pichu or to the Sun Gate, it's possible to do MP in a single day since you're only allowed a 4 hr timed slot in the site.  Take the train from Ollantaytambo, tour MP in the afternoon, and then take the train back to Cusco or Ollanyaytambo in the evening.

Here was our itinerary if you are curious:

Day 0 - Fly in from Baltra, Galapagos via Guayquil.  Arrive Lima at 11:30 PM

Day 1 - Lima - Old Town, Larco Museum

Day 2 - Drive to Pisco - Nazca Lines, Paracas - Drive back to and stay in Lima

Day 3 - Fly to Cusco - Pisac, Ollantaytambo - Stay in Urubamba

Day 4 - Chinchero, Maras, Moray - Stay in Urubamba

Day 5 - MP - Stay in MP (we were lucky and stayed in the Sanctuary Lodge)

Day 6 - MP - travel to Cusco

Day 7 - Saqsaywaman, Old Town, Market - Stay in Cusco

Day 8 - Fly to Lima - Barranco and La Punta Districts - Fly back to the US

Can't comment on the Ovation but I was lucky enough to have an upgrade to the Wintergarden Suite on the Odyssey which from the pictures and layouts look very similar.  It is a luxurious space.  The dining table seats at least six and you should be able to seat 8 without any issues.  The living room has a large wrap around couch that is perfect for lounging about and having a cocktail hour.  Oh, and there is a full bar with two bar stools...  The bathroom is massive with a huge jacuzzi sized tub and I loved the seashell spiral design of the standing shower.  Spacious double sinks with plenty of counter space.  The walk in closet isn't massive but we each had our own hanging rod and there was a stack of 5 smaller drawers on one side and then a stack of 3 larger drawers with space for shoes on top.  The bedroom is probably the tightest room being dominated by the king sized bed but there's no chance you will stub your toe in the middle of the night.  Still plenty of space all around.  The sun room is pretty luxurious with a soaker tub and banquette with a full wall of windows looking towards the sea.  The patio has a table for four and 2 recliners and more empty space on top of that.  There's also a second half bath in the main area so that guests don't need to go into the residence side of the suite.

Hope that helps.  Happy to answer any other specifics that I can remember.

This is a bit late for the poster but... We were on the ship last week. Since both my partner and I are novice snorkellers, we asked for a life vest. They had neon green vest that had a round the waist and a through the crotch strap. The life vests were self inflated. Seemed to work fine for us.

Define expensive Spree. This way folks can let you know. To us, laundry is very expensive which is why we do our own onboard ourselves.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

$50/bag isn't bad. $2-3 for a piece of underclothing or a pair socks would be reasonable. $4-5 for a polo shirt or a pair of pants would be reasonable. I'm looking at this compared carrying extra luggage and the cost and hassle of that. Thanks.

HI WTP. Fantastic posts with so much information to plan with! I loved that you gave information on the other options even though you didn't take them. Your dive on the final day sounded amazing.

One question I had for you and everyone else that has been on the Silver Galapagos. I noticed in the brochure that it mentions "Laundry Service". What is this and how much does it cost? The reason I ask is that our vacation is split in half with the Galapagos on the front end and then another 8 days on the backside in Peru. In an effort to keep my partner from over-packing, I was wondering if it wasn't too expensive to get undergarments, polo shirts, and chinos laundered on board. That way we can lower the packing by at least 1/3...

Spree75 - Are you on the September 1st sailing? We will be on that cruise.

Hi Linda and Bill. Yes. My partner and I are on that trip. I'm trying to doing so legwork on what can be expected as this cruise is very different from our usual vacation plans. The Galapagos and then Peru afterwards was too tempting and has been on both our bucket lists.

Love the posts. Thanks for doing this. We will taking this cruise in 1.5 months and I am so excited. One thing I was wondering about was the zodiacs and transferring from the zodiac to shore. Are these wet landings? We've had a bad experience in Hawaii when we weren't informed about a wet landing and had to run through surf in jeans and then set out whale watching in wet clothes that wouldn't dry quickly... So I'm wondering if you should wear shorts/swim suits and sandals for the trip between the ship and land?

Thanks for the reassurance. I got a note from my TA that their office down there is monitoring the situation but so far nothing from Silverseas about modifying any itinerary. So that's good I guess. My cruise has the stop on Fernandina and two stops on Isabela so I was curious how the volcanoes might affect things.

We sail in about 60 days and noticed on the original itinerary a stop on Isla Fernandina where the Cumbre Volcano is erupting. I'm guessing that stop has been rerouted? Just wondering from people that may have just gotten back on what the cruise has been like and what has had to be changed. Is there any concern about volcanic ash making flights to the Galapagos a problem?

We visited La Sacro Bosco on our departure day from Rome and found it to be one of the more interesting sites that we had on the vacation. The guide really helped to enliven the gardens because the history and stories associated with the sculptures add a whole new dimension. Our guide presented a number of fables and tropes that gave a story arc as you walked through the park. Although the sculptures are interesting on their own I think you'd probably only spend an hour here. With the guide and the stories we spent almost 3 hours wandering the small garden.

Overall it was about 1 hour from Rome, 3 hours at the Monsters Garden, about 1 hour to Tarquinia for lunch and then 20 minutes to the port.

Our travel agent booked us the guide and vehicle. The local company that was on the cards was I.D.I Travel.

I would do Casa Batllo over Casa Mila since the self guided tour in Batllo was more immersive and I thought you got to go through more varied architecture. Mila has the neat attic museum but if you go to some of the other Gaudi buildings then it you've already seen it all...

Park Guell (huge amount to see) and Palau Guell (early Gaudi) are both excellent. I loved the roof of Palau Guell over any of the other roofs.

If I had to put an order I would suggest Park Guell, Casa Batllo, Palau Guell, and then Casa Mila.

Here are the current crop of new Musicals on Broadway:

- A Band's Visit - Front runner for best new musical and has been getting best critic reviews for both the off-broadway and broadway run. Beautiful and touching. It's a lot quieter and slower paced than any other musical on Broadway right now.

- Carousel - Old school musical revival. The music and choreography are fantastic. Some critics have had a problem with the subject matter in the #MeToo era. Read the synopsis of the musical and see if it's a deal breaker because nothing has been changed.

- My Fair Lady - Another old school musical revival. I haven't seen this one yet but have tickets later this summer. It's the favorite to win best musical revival and has been getting good reviews. However, some critics (the opposite ones to Carousel) have taken issue that the director has changed the musical (although no dialogue has been changed).

- Spongebob, Mean Girls, Frozen - The other odds on favorite to be nominated for best new musical. All have gotten positive reviews however I haven't seen any of them.

- Once on this Island - Haven't seen it but it's an under the radar well received revival.

- Summer, Rocktopia, Margaritaville - Dismally reviewed musicals. I haven't heard anyone coming out of these shows with that much positive to say. I have not been to any.

From last season:

- Dear Evan Hansen - Tony winner. 3rd most expensive ticket right now (behind Hamilton and Springstein). Best show if you have middle-highschooler

- Come From Away - Great show. Go see if you want to just feel good. It's not deep but you should leave feeling happy.

- Hello Dolly! - Haven't seen it but it does have Bernadette Peters...

- A Bronx Tale and Anastasia - Haven't seen either but both are holding on. A Bronx Tale is Jersey Boys-ish while I hear that Anastasia is a good recreation of the movie.

If you are interested in plays:

- The Iceman Cometh - Great reviews and you get to watch Denzel Washington for 3.5 hours...

- Lobby Hero - Great cast and see Chris Evans in a whole new light

- Harry Potter - Good luck getting tickets...

- Angels in America - A fantastic revival but it's 7 hours for both parts...

- The Play That Goes Wrong - A play from last year. If you like slapstick comedies and just want to laugh and laugh and laugh...

We are also on this cruise and have found the comments really helpful. It will be our first time on SB

 

Could anyone let us know where Seabourn docks in Taormina? Is it at Messina or Naxos and does Seabourn transport you into town or do you need to make your own way?

 

Similarly at Xlendi - is there transport provided to get into town?

 

The cruiseline mentions that they will ensure you get into the centre of towns but it is tricky to know which towns this counts for.

 

Much appreciated

For Taormina we tendered in Naxos which was a quick ride away from Taormina. In Xlendi we tendered to Mgarr which kind of makes sense since it's the major port on the island. Everything on Gozo isn't that far away. We ended up stopping in Xlendi for some pictures about midway through the morning on our way to the Blue Hole/Azure Window ruins. From our views of Xlendi Bay I can't remember there being a big enough pier for even the Seabourn tenders to dock... I also don't know if Seabourn offered shuttles to Taormina and Xlendi since we had private arrangements at both ports and our driver was waiting at the right place.

This is outside the Gothic Quarter but we really enjoyed Botafumeiro (Carrer Gran de Gràcia, 81, 08012 Barcelona, Spain) which our guide suggested as one of the best paella restaurants in Barcelona. We went for lunch and tried three different paellas between the four of us. My favorite was a squid ink seafood paella. It was all black using black rice and looked a bit daunting but it was absolutely delicious.

Musicals and plays are definitely a personal preference as you note below. It also depends if you are looking for something new, something recent, or a classic.

From the New category:

A Band's Visit is the best reviewed new musical on Broadway right now and almost everyone I've talked to has loved the show. I saw it off broadway and found it beautiful and charming but really really slow... The critics have been eating this show up for almost two years though and it should be in the running for the Tony. Frozen just opened with okay reviews. I'm not interested in seeing the musical but it is hugely popular. Carousel and My Fair Lady are coming back to Broadway. Classics but with all new productions. I'm seeing Carousel next Thursday and My Fair Lady some time in the summer. Be aware that My Fair Lady is at Lincoln Center. Mean Girls is in previews and opens this week. It's got some buzz going right now and is the last of the big new musicals to open before the Tony's. I'm not sure Escape from Margaritaville or Spongebob or Once on this Island (the latter being the only one getting any sort of good reviews) will make it to October.

From the Recent category:

Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Come From Away are the best of the shows that are still around from the last two years. Good luck getting tickets... Hamilton is just an amazing modern musical. Dear Evan Hansen is the tear jerker with beautiful solos. Come From Away is the heartwarmer musical.

From the Classic category:

Wicked is no longer selling out so you can actually get decent tickets. I've always loved Kinky Boots and they have a revolving stunt casting so there's always someone non-broadway famous in the show. Book of Mormom and The Lion King are always wonderful.

If you want to take a chance, Pretty Woman is coming this summer and King Kong should be in previews when you get here.

Hope that gives you some ideas

Hello all (especially New Yorkers) ~

 

I am arriving on 10/20 for 10/21 cruise. I want to see a show while I am in NYC. I just want some feedback on shows you have seen. They all can be quite pricey...so an educated decision is to be made. :rolleyes:

 

While the "themes" can be a personal preference (which I understand), I am just looking for overall opinions. I am looking at "Escape to Margaritaville" which is fairly new (and not so good reviews?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks:)

We did a Carcasonne/Bezier tour on stop at Sete. We had a driver and guide but I'm sure a DIY car rental would be easy too. Carcasonne was wonderful and would have been even better with less crowds. We wanted to see Canal du Midi which flows from Toulouse to Sete. Bezier is great place to see this as there is a set of 9 locks that you can watch boats on the canal transition through. We also passed by the canal jousting in Sete which looked to be an amusing diversion.