hillsprint

I know that the menus are often of interest to CC members, and those on this Med cruise seem to reflect the region

The Waves Bar Menu

The GDR menu for tonight

Happy to answer any queries

Cheers

Michael

Folks, embarking on our first Oceania cruise today. We flew in yesterday evening, Pre-cruise, to Rome Fiumicino Airport, to save on doing the Red Eye flight on the morning of Embarkation. We stayed at the Hilton Rome Airport Hotel, which is attached to the airport by an overhead walkway

The hotel is a good transit point being 30 mins to Rome by train or providing a relaxing breakfast before, in our case, a transfer by the highly recommended Rome Cabs to the Riviera in a sunny Civitavecchia, where it was sharing the docks with a few esteemed friends, both large and small

We have had a walk round the ship and been to our Concierge stateroom and I have to say it all looks in great shape.

Cheers

Michael

To be clear, in Europe, me being in the UK, we normally get issued with Debit cards. I used the term Debit/Cash card as I wasn't sure what American banks issue for drawing cash from an ATM.

As I mentioned, if you go to a bank ATM, not one in a shop/ retail area which may incur additional charges, then you will be as safe as you can be with this type of card, either in the US or EU.

If you are unhappy to take your normal bank card, most EU banks use chip & pin, then get a cash card with a set amount of money on it, which you pre-pay before travelling and that sets the level of your exposure to fraud.

Frankly, no matter what card you use, if you follow the usual safeguards, eg never letting the card out of you sight when a transaction is ongoing, you will be as safe as you can using either type of card.

Generally in Europe, the best rate you can get is using your Debit/Cash card in an onshore bank based cash machine. I would suggest getting a small amount of Euros, enough to cover initial expenses, before you travel from the US, and then if you need more, use bank machines when ashore.

We are doing a similar cruise in a few weeks, and it is my understanding that it is only applied to shop purchases at the rate of 22%

Alsun, thank you for doing this extensive blog, it must take quite a bit of dedication, especially when you are in your holiday mode :cool:

We are planning to be on Pursuit next April, so your insights are most helpful. Enjoy what's left of your cruise

Looks like they match Carnival, Doug, so you should get something from those cruises you've done

What do folk think of the idea of replacing the casino with another lounge/bar area as Azamara have done on the Pursuit?

Has there been any rearrangement in the layout of the staterooms, or is it just the public areas?

Can I offer one slight correction at this stage, actually Weiner Schintzel not Vienna Schnitzel, but whatever, it should have a thin breaded crust and not be overcooked.

Actually, when in Germany or Austria, I prefer the Ziguener Schinzel, which has fried red, yellow and green peppers in lieu of the breaded crust,much easier to digest ;)

Folks, thank you for the positive replies, it all sounds good

On our various travels round the European mainland, and especially in recent years, we have that in most places you can get by speaking English, even in France. OK occasionally you get someone who will only converse in their own language, but if you are buying or paying for a service, your requests will be understood, and especially in places where tourists visit. As mentioned throw in Please and Thank You in French or Italian, and 99% of the time you'll be fine.

A little studying on the Internet, produces a raft of useful information, such as the wonderful lift map of Monte Carlo, linked to a few post back, thank you Kate. So travelling in the Med is no where near as daunting as it was in the pre-web era.

For example, now you can download apps for SNCF railways, find timetables and buy tickets, all in English, a web search throws up local bus timetables and routes, you can even Streetview a place like Toulon to see what it looks like.

The hardest part was probably finding Crusie Critic

We are on Riviera in a Concierge Veranda in late August, for our first Oceania cruise. In the past, on occasion, we have ordered breakfast via room service. On thing we noticed on HAL was that the hot plates arrived stil hot, due to a hot metal disc they had under the plate.

Do the breakfasts on O arrive with sufficient heat retained ?

We are doing the same itinerary as you.

OK As others have said, there are lots of places to explore in or around all the ports and there are plenty of professional guides who can explain the history to you and help appreciate your surroundings. If you look at what O are offering it will give you a flavour of what there is at each port, do some internet research on all the sites named above and then you can decide what you want to do either with tem or arrange your own.

We have been to all these ports before and done the tours, so we are planning to do our own thing in most of them.

(I note you are going in November, so all the places you visit may not be as vibrant as I will expect in August, so also bear that in mind.)

Portofino is easy by yourself, you will tender into Santa Margherita, which itself is a nice place to explore, then you can get the ferry into Portofino, it leaves from beside where you tender into. Explore the town, sit and have a glass and a nibble on the waterfront, go up to the church and get a great view back over the town.

Olbia is one where I would consider a tour, look up Tour With Locals for example. If you fancy a beach day there is a HoHo that will take you there.

Bandol & Toulon are close to each other and the ships tours are basically the same from each port. The Marina looks like it is docking in the ferry port in the Toulon itself, not the port for the larger ships which is 8km away, so you will be close to the centre of the city. As I mentioned we are looking to do our own thing in Bandol and take the train to Marseille. There is a reportedly good museum in Toulon to their "D Day" landings that happened along the Med coast during WW2.

St Tropez - you can people watch along the front, explore the town or take the Bateaux Verte ferries to the other towns around the bay

Monte Carlo - You can explore the old town of Monaco, see the palace etc ( there is a lift up to the old town in the car park to the left of the ferry terminal) and then return to Monte, walk the streets ( and the F1 track, got to Cassino Square and have a coffee in the Café de Paris. If you want to go out of the city then St Paul De Vence is a fabulous walled town now filled with boutiques and restaurants with fabulous views over the countryside, Eze is another good visit, or even the nearby Nice

That's a potted and probably slightly biased overview, I hope it helps.

But as has been mentioned, decide what you want to get out of each port and then try and make it happen

There are two Marina Rome to Monte Carlo itineraries listed , the 2018 cruise is the same itinerary as we are doing on Riviera in August, with Portofino, Olbia and then the French Riviera ports of Bandol, Toulon, St Tropez and finally Monte. All of these ports you can walk off and explore the towns, though Olbia is really just a working port. In Bandol and Toulon, you can get the train to Marseille if you wish.

The 2019 cruise goes to Livorno, and then some Spainish ports before Monte, there's a current thread about Livorno on here which is worth a read, but in general most ports in Western Med you can get off and explore the town/city yourself if you do a bit of Internet hunting

The port section on CC will help, but if you look up the tourist info on each port on the web you can get a lot of more info, plus Whatsinport website is also good as well as the others mention above.

I think the telling tale with Celebrity now is the $50 pp charge for their top specialities, (they were $30 not that long ago) they appear to be the same quality, but it shows how X feel the difference in quality is between the Speciality and the MDR. We haven't been on Celebrity for 3 years, but I must admit at where they are now placing themselves in the pricing market, the likes of O and some of the Luxury brands look a much better cost/quality option.

It's a pity as I do like their Solstice class ships, and I think the planned Edge-ification of the fleet will make them a less attractive product, unless you are able to be in a suite.

Mind you it doesn't look like it has been proof-read, it refers to "the three bottles" in the third para.

Keith

Where did CruiseJunkie's mention pax ?

The comment referred to the remaining available times for Specialty restaurants, and the term dregs was used in it's correct context.

Fortunately O in the UK don't do as much mailing, I think we have only had two since we booked in April, but we do get emails very regularly, which is fine. We get nearly as much postal advertising from Azamara, who we haven't sailed with in two years. I think once you have shown any interest in a cruise line, either registering on a web site or booking a cruise they all follow up with you, trying to tempt you back, O isn't any different to the others.

Several years ago, we were on Solstice docked in Dubrovnik and getting ready for the Sail Away. There was a German cruise ship ( Aida line I think) berthed a distance behind us, which was first to depart. As usual there was a crowd on the upper deck of the Solstice for our departure and we were all watching the smaller ship as it sailed past, when suddenly we noticed a lot of feverish activity on their top deck, tennis court, as the "Clothing Optional" cruisers suddenly realised they were going to be viewed from above by a large crowd of by now cheering spectators !

So if you are inclined to bare all, make sure you're on the loftiest perch ;)

When the ships are in the Med, are there more European offerings available?

If you look in this thread you will see the menus from the ship, hope this helps

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2637415&highlight=New+drinks

Here are the ones I've been to -

Sorrento - lovely town to walk round, get the lift up from the beach front beside the harbour, or take the ferry to Capri or one of the other islands.

Valletta - you dock in the Grand Harbour right in the middle of the city, the red Ho Ho stops just outside the harbour if you want to see the old capital of Medina, a medieval walled town.

Kotor - walk round the town and the climb the path up to the Citadel to get a fantastic view over the town and fjord.

Dubrovnik - Do the walk round the city walls, great sights and restaurants, or take a bus or ferry to the delightful Cavtat.

As previously said the Whatsinport site is full of info, or the Ports section on CC

There are three parts to making a contract, in this case purchasing something to do with a cruise. The main parts are Offer and Acceptance, but there is often an initial part called Invitation to Treat, which in this case is advertising.

A Price on a webpage or in a shop window, is termed as an Invitation to Treat. You look at that price and then say to the web company or shop owner, I'll buy that at the price advertised, this is called the Offer. If the web company or shop owner say Yes that is fine, that is Acceptance, and you have a legal contract. But if they say "No I do not accept your Offer" then there is no legal contract between you.

So in this case Azamara can decide whether or not to Accept your Offer. They do not have to, but they might decide to honour the deal or part of it as a Good Will gesture.

No other lines offer opportunities to remain onboard, but not have access to a stateroom, however, there is usually a surcharge for this service.

 

We have an O cruise ending in Monte Carlo in August and when I asked for a latest debarkation time from my O Cruise Concierge, she told me 9.30 am.

Sorry forgot my comma !! It should read

No, other lines offer opportunities ....

So yes other cruise companies do permit you to stay onboard :)