oddjob16

A brilliant summary, Denise. I can chip in that «The Best of Norway» was a show that was held on Quest this summer in Ålesund as a «Destination Celebration» event. It is probably the same show in Tromsø held as an «Azamazing Evening» and therefore in a venue on shore.

Well it is not a gift. You have paid for it, and if they cannot provide it it should be replaced with something useful e.g extra OBC.

Flåm is part of the UNESCO Heritage area, hence restricted for ships with higher polutive emission. Azamara is now restricted from that area already, but many other with more modern engines still are eligible for sailing. In 2026 these areas will be «No emission» and very few are able to sail here.

That was what the skipper told us, too. He had it from Miami. Turned out they just played a white lie. You don't get banned from Bergen if you are unable to take shore power.

I can confirm zero emission from 2026 applies to the Geiranger and Næroyfjord. These are Unesco World Heritage sites and all other fjords are "cruiseable" without restrictions. The docking in Bergen is possible without land power. In the future there might be restrictions to be able to use land power, but capacity on land is not close to cover all ships.

I would not consider the Ultimate package if no champagne and no decent tonics. Serving expensive gin with sh**** tonic is an insult to the customer. Faulty Wifi and a/c, full pool deck and uncomfy veranda chairs. All in all glad we have no future bookings on Onward, and we will avoid it until things change. Hope your spirits stay high and that you enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Just wondered. We just booked Pursuit TA out of Rio in march...

So it's the TA with Onward in feb?

It was a port day.(Day before disembarkation) I would expect shuttles to be more scarce on a turnaround day

Shuttles to Darling Harbour on our 2020 cruise. Very swift and efficient.

Just changed TA from RCCL and was given a direct link for online credit card payment. Surprised me as I always had to phone in to use my cards when dealing with Royal.

Hear Hear Hear Best CD since Russ left.

Sorry for your travel experience. We never travel the same day as embarkation, but that is of course up to yourself. One hour transfer in Paris is usually impossible if you are going thru passport checks. It might be done without, but I would calculate at least 2 hrs for a CDG transfer. The fact that you managed to do it is a miracle. Every hospitality venue, being it restaurats, hotels, cruiseships or whatever is recruiting fresh staff these days. Some of the problems out of this willbe inexperienced staff and poor service. You get it everywhere. It shouln't be like that, but it will happen. Sorry for your bad experience in Aqualina. Hope it doesn't affect the rest of your cruise.

Thanks for the great review and happy belated anniversary. One tip regarding OBC if you have not used it all by the last evening: Get the most expensive wine you fancy and savour the last dinner with some excellent juice.😁

We had ice on request in our V2 on Quest. No ice when we were on Journey V2, but we never requested. Btw, how is the pianist in the Den? Still Anna Chepikova playing slightly louder than necessary?

The Matua SB could be an OK replacement. Is it a white or blue label? Agree about the Montaudon champagne, but the NF wasn't that good, either.