hillsprint

Terry

So glad to see this thread still going, we enjoyed the Solstice back in 2012 after a cancellation from the previous year. Like you I love Venice and all it has to offer, especially beyond the regular tourist locales.

We particularly enjoy the walk to St Marks from the cruise terminal, the back streets and the sights are amazing

My tip to visitors, is to walk down the waterfront after St Marks Square until you come to the park, you might even se a sight like this on the way

And then head inland and walk trough the backstreets where the locals live

And finally on the way out, a thunder storm gave some interesting lighting

Venice, it’s very special

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You have to empty your cabin by 8 AM and disembark by 9 AM.

I would think this is pretty standard practice on all cruise lines in order for the staff to be able to prepare the ship for the next set of cruisers.

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.

Robin

The currency is the same, Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., the coinage is exactly the same as the rest of the U.K., so getting rid of the coins doesn't make sense, I suspect your friends are talking about Euros coins from Southern Ireland

arima22

As you've already learnt, the weather in Ireland is variable, and as the wind and weather generally comes in from the South West anything opens to those elements could be liable to wind and choppy seas. June is generally fine, but we usually do get the occasional less clement day. So there is no guarantee.

Londonderry should be fine, you will anchor in Lough Foyle, which is well protected

Galway Bay faces due West and is a large bath open to the Atlantic.

Bantry Bay is more sheltered

Hi

Look up your cruise in the Roll Call section and you'll find you fellow travellers and can post there re trips and ports etc

Paul beat me to it :)

If you want to travel for a day, why not take the train to Cork or Galway or Belfast, they are about 2 hrs on the train and a train is much better than a bus.

OK a couple,of things to look at before you go "Beyond the Pail"

Do the Guinness Storehouse, first off Guinness is best when drunk in Dublin, secondly you get a fabulous view over the city from the bar at the end of the tour.

A couple that might be off your main tourist map

St Michan's Church - Visit the vaults and meet some interesting folk including a Crusader. It's a fantastic tour, but you have to be reasonably mobile as there are steep steps.

Collins Barracks - the former British Military Headquarters on the edge of Pheonix Park, it has the history of the military in Ireland over the centuries, plus there are other non military exhibitions.

Dublin Castle - Another good tour

And finally do send an evening in Temple Bar taking in the nightlife and the craic.

The current situation re pricing levels is interesting, as the current listed prices for both X and Azamara for 2019 have moved them both to be comparable with and sometimes dearer than O, much to the consternation of the X & Az CC boards.

Given the number of folk across the industry that book cruises 12 plus months in advance, O might start to pick up those discerning folk that are getting fed up with the apparent nickel & diming and hard selling that particularly X has been accused of.

I'm sure your new threads will be fascinating, but what effect do they have on cruising? Specifically, what effect do they have on stowaways on board?

If you were diligent to dig this up from Page 1 you should then have followed the Quote trail back to the source and then you might have understood these Tongue in Cheek comments.

JPR

His titles are under each photo, plus he is back from the cruise, so your advice is a tad late ;)

I_r_a keep it coming, we would all like to hear of your experiences, we need more than one post a week :)

Presto2

Security is not tight at all cruise ports, yes it will stop you getting in with that extra bottle of spirits, but a group of determined individuals, I doubt it.

You can be sure that X will have analysed this incident fully and will have taken steps to hopefully prevent it happening again, the last thing they will want is any incident where passengers are put at danger.

When you travel, you take many calculated risks, being on a cruise is just another calculation. I've reckoned it to be an acceptable one, so sit down and do your sums.

No cruise ships are not safe.

They can sink, they can go on fire, you could die of food poisoning, you can fall down a flight of stairs...................

Folks we live in a world full of risks, you are probably be more likely to be hurt on they way to your cruise by road and air than you are to have a life threatening incident on a cruise ship.

Terrorists and gunmen have attacked trains, planes, concert halls, supermarkets , restaurants and schools, in fact anywhere there are groups of people, but everyday we go about life and we go to these places.

An incident has happened, I am sure that the ship and port authourities have made the appropriate adjustments to make it harder to happen again, but no one can guarantee that it won't happen again.

So like crossing a road or getting in your car, you assess the risk, make a decision and either get on with life or lock yourself in a room.

 

We are taking our first R vessel voyage in October. Interested to see if the R ship size/configuration etc are suitable to us. Opinion seems to be divided if the R ships are "suitable" for Oceania's image. The small bathrooms would appear to detract from the product offering.

I'm afraid you've got your Rs back to front :D

You stated a few posts back that you are on Riviera in October, it's not a R ship, it's an O ship.

You were on Marina which is the other O class vessel

First off can I say I am yet to experience an O cruise, that will hopefully happen at the end of August, but I have travelled on an Azamara R ship.

Oceania is neatly positioned at the moment, as has been mentioned above, where you buy the cruise and then add on what you require. It is a step above the mass market and considered ahead of Azamara.

Like all cruise companies it is looking to the future and trying to see how it will remain profitable in a changing demands of the market. The demand for an "all inclusive" package is lapping at its door. In that sense I mean included drinks and gratuities only, which is where those below are now mainly marketing themselves.

I note that O has a dedicated band of return passengers, but by definition they are declining in size, so they have to see what will attract the next group of devoted O followers. The average age of the cruising community has considerably lowered in the last decade or so, and I suspect all various cruise brands have been subject to that phenomena to a greater or lesser extent. O has to look to supplying that market as they progress from the mass to the Luxury lines.

If you look at a census of current comments on O, you will see food quality is the big positive and entertainment appears to be the main bugbear. How will the R ships with their structural limitations on dining options, entertainment facilities and stateroom size meet the market when faced with newer ships of similar passenger capacity, but improving on these shortfalls?

Ultimately the R ships will be replaced, all things evolve and no doubt somewhere in Miami someone is looking at how O will. Like it or not the current status quo is unlikely to remain unaltered.

Folks

I went to "The Horse's Mouth", i.e. looked at the Costa and MSC sites.

MSC Sinfonia - Is in on 24th at 20.00 and leaves at 03.00 on 25th

Costa Luminosa - Is there all day on 25th

Costa neoRiviera - Is there on 24th & 25th

Costa neoClassica - Is no longer part of their fleet

While I know absolutely nothing about the handling of large cruise ships, a ship entering a port is slowing down and is probably more susceptible to side winds and currents, a ship leaving is accelerating up to speed .and can probably maintain its course with greater predicability.

Put it this way, the persons who do know how to handle such situations, made their professional decisions based on their experience. I've been on several flights where the pilot decided to abandon a final approach and go around, I'm not going to criticise his choice.

I'm sorry to hear that the ship couldn't make it into St P, it would be the highlight of my Baltic cruise too, but you'd be a whole lot unhappier if the ship got stranded or damaged trying to get in and your cruise ended there.

Another posting option is Tapatalk app, it will give you size options when adding a pic.

Enjoying the report, have a great cruise

Here is Crew-Centre listing, says only Luminosa

http://crew-center.com/mykonos-greece-cruise-ship-schedule-2018

ToxM

Thank you for your reply, but as has been stated we are talking about cruises that stay within EU ports, to be clear my cruise only goes to Italian and French ports.

We seem to have established that such cruises from an Italian port does not incur VAT on alcohol. However, as yet O have not confirmed this to me. A similar cruise from a Spanish port appears to attract VAT at a certain rate on alcohol, but again we await confirmation from O, which really they should be able to indicate before a cruise.

I sense a Guinness tasting approaching !!

Monte Carlo

But if appears that Monte has accepted the French VAT regime.

Actually, it is the Italian rules I am asking about, we sail out of Civitavecchia, but as you correctly highlight all ports are within the EU.

Still no reply from O.

Looking at other boards, this query seems to appear on several, with an array of answers.

I did receive a generic answer from O, which basically made you aware that the VAT was applicable on EU only cruises, but unfortunately no specifics. My O Cruise Concierge has said she will try and get more specific information, which I will pass on when issued.

Given the volume of European sailings, you would think that the companies should be able to produce detailed information prior to going on-board.

The thing to remember is that all EU countries set their own VAT rates and what it applies to, it is not universal. So a cruises that do not visit non EU ports, the tax applied may be different.

I have an upcoming cruise out of Civitavecchia, and am awaiting confirmation from the cruise line ( in this case Oceania) if there is a tax on the beverage packages. From the info on this thread and ones on the O board, it appears it only applies to the shop sales.

But it is my understanding that a similar cruise from Spain would incur some tax on beverages as well.