Yggdrasil98

I have the regular email and a third answer to my request for a refund as France is a no go zone for Australia a few days ago is no, we can offer credit NOT REFUND. 

germanyboy, I have long since given up trying to work out how any cruise company - I have only travelled small ship ocean and river cruising - counts first and last day as a 'day'.  I know all the arguments that it is nights, not days, but day one can hardly be considered a 'day too' in my opinion when no boarding can occur until 4.00ish, except for the few that sit in the lounge and have a coffee.  For our cruises we now delete the first and last day and work out the cost of the cruise based on the middle days.

I just would like to add, that I have found when comparing various RC brands you get what you pay for. For some, it’s all about the ports and the actual cruise experience is not so important. Then a value line would be most appropriate. Look at Host Jazz’s stickies comparing various brands

Very true! I never socialise at night, so for me immaterial if there is anything to do. We all have our own "must have's"

No idea what EVOO is ? Do you mean extra virgin olive oil ? Was there anything you liked ? Your review is extremely negative.

It is extra virgin olive oil :D

I am sorry you didn't enjoy your holiday, it is such a downer for so long. Whether you pay high or low, it really is a drag when you loathe every day.

I have never sailed on a ship taking more than 140 pax, so I have no oceean-hotel type experience. I have sailed from Platinum (AMA/APT) and has an abysmal time, a suite and regular cabins on Uniworld, and the 'cheapest' was a charter of a Croisi vessel in France. I select my cruises on cruise itinerary first, and then examine the quality.

I had such a low expectation of the Croisi/lease vessel! It now ranks as one of my best food experiences ever! The ship was a la Ikea, freshly and simply decor'ed, and I had the tiniest cabin I have even seen for a single! It was a strange thing going from the very expensive, the last platinum was an appalling experience in every way, to ordering in dinner on a card at breakfast! There was so many special diets (including me) I have no idea how they produced dinner dishes that excelled most of my small cruise experiences. Admittedly it was France, and the food was amazing. The decor cheap, the room tiny, I actually had no complaints as I knew it was a budget cruise.

I was nearly talked into a Travel Marvel product, and my husband said, no, you'll regret it. By your experience, he was probably right. There is however no excuse for rancid oil, naked salads etc, and I often wonder if it is just the luck of the draw!

I was a bit relieved when I saw your post, as I thought it was just me!

I don't know if you are missing 'it', but we have noticed this over the last 2 - 3 trips, the fares in our usual lines are up, and a lot. We have had two European/UK holidays slow travelling on land. Our UK small ship cruise company has made us rethink our itineraries too, big price increase, and lots of wet landings. ie no fees I assume as we don't use the jetty/dock - which is fine for expedition cruises, but the $ per day does not match our value for money bottom line anymore. We have covered our favourite rivers 3 or 4 times now, so we are hopping onto dry land, and redoing our favourite locations.

Apart from having to read French road signs and rules, and how manic the situation will make the roads, we drive on the opposite side to the US and France, I never even dream of hiring a car :)

I book my hotels direct or with Accor so I range their help line, and I bit the bullet and I have paid for an extra night in Paris, and have been able to switch some arrangements in Lyon, and I have a second TGV ticket a day later.

During my research my train ran on both days 3 and 4 April. But I felt I needed peace of mind, so I booked again. Now I have done this, of course I know my train WILL leave as intended! That's life, eh?

I hope everyone gets their arrangements sorted out okay. 3 months is sooo long to have these strikes, I pity the locals affected.

Yggdrasil98,

 

This is the BBC's coverage: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43617033

 

The SNCF website lists the TGVs that will be running on the day, on the previous day at 5pm local time. The info says that you have to have a ticket for those trains to be allowed to board: https://www.sncf.com/fr/greve-nationale/circulation-des-trains-tres-perturbee-a-partir-du-mardi-3-avril Download where it says cliquez-ici.

 

Thank you for your replies.

 

Rebooking train and hotel on a non strike day sounds good if you can do that, better than hoping to have the "winning" ticket, i.e. your train runs. If it does not, you might not be able to rebook... Tough decision, perhaps a past cruiser can tell you what they did.

 

notamermaid

No, I am travelling independently so I am fortunate if have several days to play with. I guess what the worst sorry is (apart from the extra euro's - as I don't think my travel insurance will fork out for hotels cancelled at my request or at least due to a strike) I am concerned because of the crowds in the stations and not understanding where to go due to chaos. The photo's online are not good for settling one's anxiety!!

My train ran on the 3rd, but there is not way of knowing until 5pm the night before when it will run. I have bitten the euro bullet and made two more bookings for my hotels - which are flexible now, and another ticket 24 hours later on the train. I am fortunately I had a couple of days to play with though. I believe the Wednesday of my week Euro football/soccer is on in Lyon too! I hope others have time to play with, my husband helped calm my issues with wasted travel money :):):)

I am glad someone started this thread. I have read nearly everything I can and have not found a solution! I am booked on TFV Paris to Lyon in May on one of their strike days. What I am really worried about is that I won't understand what is going to happen and how to actually get to Lyon. I have been in Paris when the taxi's went on strike, we just walked a long way, but left early so had no issue catching our train. But when they say the railways on strike, if 1 out of 8 TGV's are running, that they will be overloaded doesn't it? Or does it mean I can do nothing until the day before, once in Paris when they know who will turn up to drive trains?

It appears the TGV site that now loads to QUI SNCF site, the contact is disabled, but I am not sure how to work through this as I am travelling alone on this trip and will probably be a nervous wreck in Paris! Do I double book, now? Lose the $$ for the hotel, and just rebook train and hotel on a non strike day?

Does anyone have a plan of action for this sort of thing?

We had the misfortune to be stranded in Deggendorf on our fateful Christmas Cruise 2012. 4 days. You will not regret it if you actually see Deggendorf. There is nothing actually wrong with Deggendorf, but it is a little like just going around your local area. We could not get under/past the bridge at Passau.

Passau is a lovely old city, and you dock right in there, I would have been dismayed if I was still having to embark/disembark in Deggendorf. FYI there is NOTHING open on New Years' Day in Deggendorf - including the railway station!!

Have a wonderful cruise! :D:D:)

If you look on the map for André Citroën Park, it is 40 metres from the docking point. Their website photo is taken with their back to the Seine. This is a small area, and a narrowish river, Giverny is about 3/4 hour drive from memory, it will be crowded. Honfleur is just amazing, we don't plan "evenings" on these ships, we wander around town, dinner is usually not finished until 9.00ish, and then I retire with my laptop and do some work, or edit photo's. I have done this twice with Uniworld, and once with Backroads, twice alone, once with my husband. It's a lovely are to explore. Have a great time

A similar situation occurred for us with Scenic. We have only ever had one suite and that was Uniworld Seine/Nomandy. We were going to do Bordeaux, and due to dates we booked a suite with Scenic, for our second "pushing out the boat" cruise, we usually travel in the "middle" class. We booked the last suite on the date decided on, paid the usual "just in case" insurance of 75.00 I think it was. We were contacted and told we would have to pay another couple of thousand for the week as they had decided to upgrade the ship during winter so that meant out Suite would now be a Royal Suite, and we'll have yet more money. We were pretty angry, but decided to get all monies back and cancel. They weren't that impressed I think, but we thought they would have known prior to then that the ship was for a big refurb. So we did get the insurance back too, and I think that was probably a tipping point for me with Scenic and their lucrative oops situations (had another costing issue with them). I am just putting this on a Uniworld thread in case the costing was changed after the refurb they are doing on your ship.

I have sailed for river cruises on AMA, APT (alone) Uniworld and Croisi.

As I have travelled from the Suite on Uniworld, to a single tiny cabin on Croisi, I would put the food and care I received on Croisi well above AMA, and APT. One of the things that affects my enjoyment and value for $ is being allergic to capscium and a vegetarian. So when you all receive 3 or 4 choices, I have one, just one . And I don't drink either, but love France and try and go one a year - hold me back from the cheese!

So, apart from the very new, modern but tiny cabin (other singles on that cruise had regular cabins), I was blown away by the care and quality of my food. It truly cleaned the floor with the main meals on the other lines. That said, breakfast was very basic for a vegetarian, so I had a little crackers, cream cheese, a pastry and coffee. At one meal, we received a menu and decided then (like in hospital) what we wanted to eat that next day. Whilst I found it quite boarding school, any issues were blown away when I saw the quality I received, and they must have dealt with at last 20 special meal "people" every sit down . It goes a long way for me that the Maitre 'd don't just SAY yes yes, no problem, and what is actually delivered. I sat with a lady could not tolerate onions of any kind, including garlic, what a chore for the staff and chefs.

I would sail with them again, but would definitely want a larger cabin when my husband was with me, but, wow, I went with no or low expectations (it was reasonably priced too), and came away feeling very cared about during my week. There also seemed far less awful welcome and farewell "do's" - I loathe those, so it was more low key on Croisi. :D

I've done 6 river cruises in France, 2 Paris/Normandy on the Seine, 1 north to south, 1 Bordeaux and 2 Just Lyon to Arles.

I travel there in spring and I book the first or second cruise of the season, depending on the the line and dates. No issues in the north on the Seine, and none of my trips have been affected. However, I stay in Lyon either post or pre-cruise for a week, and I have seen the Soane rise dramatically, but nothing was cancelled. In the south you have the snow melting as well as rain sometimes. I have had a couple of bakingly hot trips (in the afternoon) in the South in early April!

So my experience is that compared to Germany less dramatic changes to affect the cruise, far less bridges and locks to go through.

Have a great trip :)

Glad it's up for you, but nothing on the Australian site, no surprises I guess. I was looking for the longer trip too, I think it was Grand France, so I will need to wait until they get around to us.

I've never experienced motion sickness with river cruising, if your wife feels anxious, just take some travel sickness tablets tucked away to set her mind at rest.

I have done many river cruises, but not with Croisi. I am booked with them for France next month, and simply judging them against the other lines I use it will be much more basic, no fridge in the cabin, limited meal choices (at least in France) etc. It was also considerably cheaper than my regular lines, so I was sort of expecting it. There is no laundry, no gym, no salon or massage therapist, that sort of thing.

I am looking forward to their slightly different French itinerary and travelling with them. I hope you both enjoy your cruise too!

I don't' know but I'm getting a bit antsy about the wait now. I rang the Australian office last week and they don't know either.

I am waiting too, but I thought it was later than that. I thought I recalled Asia coming up a good month or so ahead of Europe. I hope I am wrong and you are right! :)

I too have been fortunate, I have sailed Lyon to Arles twice, and am booked again for April 2016. (Uniworld, APT/AMA and next is Croisi)

If you have not done this area before, I would go with your favourite line, I have chosen 3 lines as each has a different Itinerary, and some of the stops are quite small, so wanted to experience new things. I stay in Lyon for a while before I board (the last and next cruise) and it extends things nicely. I also stay in Arles at the end, I love Arles too, and go to Les Beaux if offered, in fact any day / afternoon trips to medieval places such as Uzes, Les Beaux, Pont du Gard etc - all worth doing. For me the the Uniworld Olives afternoon is an utter waste of time, but if you haven't seen this before, perhaps something you will be interested in. AMA/APT's olive farm was much more interesting, and they had a truffle farm too which was fun and interesting.

It is different to the German rivers, but I prefer it, enjoy it!

Yes, I have, last year - I went solo. Had a great cruise, it was much different to the other two cruises in France (out of Paris and out of Lyon). I know Uniworld cabins are a bit more snug, but I find the food and service make up for that. There were areas that I found a bit dull, and others I wish I could return to tomorrow, so not different to any itinerary.

With France cruising I can only compare to APT (AMA), and on that particular cruise (Lyon to Arles) the itinerary matched Uniword - they did some different stops like a Truffle farm than Uniworld. Uniworld I have done the Lyon to Arles twice, and I only chose AMA/APT because it had a slightly different itinerary and they owed me a free cruise for an appalling cruise experience.

The Bordeaux region I did not find as scenic, but it was beautiful too and there's usually something nice to look at on any river cruise. I enjoyed every day in some way and most stops just weren't long enough! :)

I have done two APT (AMA run/crewed) ships in Germany, food quite good several years ago, appalling 2 years ago. I have also done one APT (probably also AMA run) cruise in France, and I enjoyed it very much, and the food was great. 4 cruises with Uniworld, admittedly in France, food amazing on each cruise. Two of these was the Normandy run, and that was the best food.

For me, cabins on Uniworld universally too close for me, but their food and staff is so good that we actually opt for Uniworld.

Enjoy your trip!

Gosh, what a long time ago now, so much life has happened!

I can confirm it was an amazing cruise! there are some threads on Trip Advisor under Noble Caledonia. Since that post they have acquired two more ships from the same build of 8, and we are due to go on one to Japan in 9 weeks. I have also traveled on Island Sky twice since I posted, and will be sailing on her later in July this year too (BIG year for sailing this year!)

I am afraid we had a major, major issue with APT and only sailed with them a third time to use our refund. I book directly with the ship's company office in London. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask :)

The Russian Visa was a PITA, and I can confirm every single dock was totally enviable due to her size! St Petersburg docks within sight of the Hermitage (English Dock). yes, Helsinki's market is 100 yards from the berth. :)

….my wife literally had to drag me to Paris the first time….

LOL My husband was the same, and after the Seine cruise he can't wait to get back to France! :)

We've done it twice, once late March and once this year in April. No rain on the March trip, incredibly warm, and this year had a little overcast weather, no rain. Lovely weather :)

This is on my list with NC too, not booked yet though! I am eager to learn anything from anyone who has done this sort of itinerary with Noble Cal. I hope you have a fantastic time, and would love to read a trip report :)