mjobtx

kkmiausa, you now know you were absolutely right. Dismissing a quality cruise line out of hand without ever trying it seems hypocritical on its surface. I would never suggest that you have to sail on the line but to dismiss it without cause is disingenuous.

As for me, the commercials played no roll in our decision. The itinerary coupled with excellent reviews did the trick. And all of us who have cruised no there is no such thing as "all inclusive." That is a marketing term that is over used. Some lines do include more of what you may want in the cruise rate but you are paying for it. No cruise line is giving anything away. If you were to track total cost as I do, you will find that the more all inclusive a cruise line says it is, the higher the premium over a similar cruise on another line. All inclusive is a marketing message meant to convey that we won't nickle and dime you. What it doesn't convey, is you will be paying quarters instead of nickles and dimes.

The real difference in cruise lines is not in marketing terminology, it is in the experience whether that be the level of luxury, pampering, itinerary, fellow passengers, or other factors. Pick the line that suits you but don't expect to get a bargain because it advertises "All Inclusive."

All license Taxi Drivers have to take a course in English and pass before being issue a Taxi License unless you did your Taxi booking through Grab or Uber. Don't be surprise to find Taxi drivers who are graduates.

 

 

 

Exactly, English is the nation first language and Singaporean are mostly bilingual.

We learned from experience in April, that many taxi drivers spoke little or no English. The four drivers we used were licensed drivers. Two were hailed by the doorman at the Intercontinental Hotel. The one that we took from the Intercontinental Hotel to the port had the poorest command of English. He was pretty much limited to nodding his head. If he understood English, he didn't let us know and he certainly could not understand enough to take us to the right port. I only posted my caution because of our experiences on April 10, April 11, and April 14 of this year. Yours may have been different. We did have experiences as others have described but I wouldn't expect all of them to be that way. They certainly weren't for us.

Is there a website like Shore excursions in Europe for South America? I like small or private tours and am a little overwhelmed by our 30 day adventure coming up. Is there a good place to search shore excursions without gong to Trip Advisor for every single stop?

 

Thanks so much!

We haven't used them. Just started the process for a January cruise but this company offers excursions in quite a few ports. http://www.southexcursions.com/

From our experience. Some of these are las puertas cerradas (closed door restaurants). You probably already know that dinner is late in Buenos Aires. Most restaurants don't open until 7:30pm/19:30, many not until 8pm/20:00.

Restaurant La Josefina,

Lafinur 3006

+54 11 4804-7296

T-Bone Restaurante

Armenia 2471

+5411 4833 6565

Casa Saltshaker (la puerta cerrada)

http://www.casasaltshaker.com/schedule-reservations/

Roux

Peña 2300, Recoleta

+54 (11) 4805 6794

iLatina (la puerta cerrada)

Murillo 725

Phone: (0054) 11-48579095

reservas@ilatinabuenosaires.com

Seven course fixed menu with wine ~$160 per person

Lo de Fer y Javi (la puerta cerrada)

Fernando Dabbah

Ferdabbah@yahoo.com

+54 (9) 11 4477-6057

http://www.lodeferyjavi.com/

Casa Coupage (Rear of La Bumón)

Francisco Acuña de Figueroa 1790

+54 911 4861 3644

http://casacoupage.com/

Four tables: Meal with wines approximately $95 USD

Tomo 1 (in hotel Pan Americano – South Tower)

Carlos Pellegrini, 521

(+5411) 4326 6698 / (+5411) 4326 6695

Crizia (raw bar, full menu, full bar)

Gorriti 5143

(5411) 4831 4979

It has been two years since we were there. Things change so check it out. We will be back in BA in February.

We too booked for the night before. Like RaeBay, we also stayed at the Intercontinental. Great location and great breakfast buffet too. Rate was more reasonable than many as well.

Most flights out of the U.S. arrive shortly after midnight. One caution, when you grab a cab to the port, make sure you have the address/name of the port you are going to sail from. There are two. Many taxi drivers speak no English. We took a taxi, showed the driver the address, and he still took us to the wrong port. Leave plenty of time.

Hoyaheel is right. We sailed on Oceania. They do not limit what you bring on board. Neither does Regent or Viking. I don't know about the others. Depending on the length of the cruise, we take one or two cases of wine with us. Oceania charges $25 per bottle corkage. Regent and Viking do not charge corkage. We drink what we like and save a lot of money.

We are from the U.S. We had 4 ports in India last month. E-Visas were not an option and as some have said applying for an Indian visa can be complex and confusing. Even though the form has a check box for the 120 months multiple entry visa and you check that box, you may not get a 120 month visa. My wife got a 120 month visa. Mine was only good for 12 months. I met a couple of others on our ship that experienced the same thing. When I asked Visa Central about it, they simply said it is up to the person processing our visa to decide when your visa will expire. One thing for sure, it costs the same whether it is good for 10 years or only 1 year.

We arrived at Thilawa last month. Lots of constructions. Roads in terrible shape and it definitely takes up to 90 minutes to get into Yangon; longer to get to Bago. Traffic and roads aside, wouldn't have missed the experience for anything. Myanmar is an amazing place. Resilient and trying to climb out of the economic pit. Everyone seems to be optimistic. With a spirit like that, in time things will improve.

We do have Global Entry long enough to have renewed it. Not sure what advantage Mobil Passport would have. We have never experienced a line at any airport.

We take our own wine on most cruises. According to the Viking representative I talked to today, they do not charge corkage if you take your own wine to dinner. Regent has the same policy. Oceania charges $25 per bottle corkage.

Taken from the Viking Ocean website:

Beer, wine and soft drinks with onboard meals

Other included beverages, such as specialty coffees, teas and bottled water

We have been on the Oceania Marina twice, soon to be three times and on the Insignia once. We have cruised on Celebrity, Regent, and soon to be Viking Ocean. On Oceania, the Terrace cafe is for people that don't want to change for dinner. Did some people take advantage in the Grand dining room and the specialty restaurants? Absolutely. It is difficult for staff to send a passenger back to their room to change unless the dress is way out of line. We saw none of that on either of the Oceania ships.

Like some of you, we pick a cruise line based on the itinerary. The itineraries of interest to us are currently on Oceania, Regent, and Viking. Before I book, I launch Excel and go to work. We get quotes and the perks for each cruise from our TA. We selected Viking for a 37 day Hong Kong to Vancouver itinerary in April 2019. Even adding in the things not included like business class airfare and estimating shore excursion costs (we have a lot of experience with private excursion costs), the cost was in our favor by several thousands of dollars. It made economic sense plus the itinerary required to cover the same ground was much more efficient.

The reviews are excellent for Viking Ocean so it just gets down to whether or not the experience is to our liking. We are not the kind of people that still wear suits on airplanes or tuxedos at dinner so we won't miss that part of the experience inherent on other cruise lines.

One final thought, we have sailed on Viking River cruises and had absolutely none of the negative experiences mentioned by others. There were six of us on the last Viking River cruise. Shortly after boarding the ship, I asked the hotel manager if there were any larger suites unsold. He said there were a total of four. We took three of those suites for our group for a total upgrade cost of $1,200 ($400 per cabin). Quite a savings. We were very happy with the entire experience.

My wife and I are taking the Miami to Buenos Aires segments in January ourselves. It is the only practical way of covering so much ground and seeing so many amazing things.

As for the so called Code Red, we were on the Oceania Insignia in April and May and experienced one. Apparently the bug came from people who took an overland excursion to the Taj Mahal from Cochi. It spread from there but the crew jumped on it quickly and it was contained. It is a tremendous amount of work to completely scrub the entire ship but they did. In the next port, they had us vacate our cabins from 8am - 1pm and provided a free shore excursion for all that wanted it. You can pick up a bug almost anywhere and some can spread easily but if the ship's staff leap into action quickly, it can be mitigated. Several people were quarantined until they were better. Medicine was free. You only had to call the clinic and it would be sent to your cabin. I was astounded at their efforts.

Lot of info in this thread. We are currently on board the Oceania Insignia.

First, all of our TA provided OBC/SBC is always refundable.

From time to time our agent receives promotional dollars which are used to reduce the upfront cost of the cruise. It is not used as OBC/SBC. Others may handle it differently but we prefer the upfront reduction in the fare.

Men's haircut $33 plus 18% gratuity.

Women's haircut $78 plus 18% gratuity.

Rates at home are similar unless you get exotic.

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We just visited 4 ports in India (Kochi, Mangalore, Goa, Mumbia) as well as Yangon, Myanmar. It was warm and humid but as long as you stay hydrated and don't mind perspiring you will be fine. A couple of people on one of our shore excursions failed to stay hydrated. One was taken back to the ship. The other was taken back to the air conditioned bus.

It is important to know and accept your physical limitations. We enjoyed the ports and except for barefooting through the marble floored temples, the heat was manageable -- in the low to mid 90s Fahrenheit.

We are in the middle east now. Even hotter but also dryer. We will eventually get to Luxor where the forecast high for our first day is 109.4. Now that's hot.

Michael and Patricia

Plano TX

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We are in the Navigator favorite ship group For 3 years running we did the N.Y. to Bermuda run right through the bumpy Atlantic. What I will say is that the first thing we do when we board any ship is to go straight to the reception desk and request their seasick prevention tablets that they have all set in little envelopes. I have never been seasick and am told it is something I never would want to experience. We take them as directed for the whole cruise and have never had a problem. I was sleepy the first night but I believe it was more due to the excitement and the business of travel prep.

Well fizzy, you have told me something no one else has mentioned and it is valuable information. So reception has seasick pills do they? That is great to know. We usually carry some but we have never been seasick (knock on wood) even in choppy waters crossing the Atlantic. Don't want to be either. Thanks. We are going for it. Cost is right. Itinerary is right. Cabin, who knows but it is larger than normal.

Part of the Navigator Fan Club!!! I'm in the "what aft vibration" club too. No hesitations about recommending the Navigator to someone.

 

Just keep in mind some people don't like chocolate either.

Who doesn't like chocolate :). Chocolate with a Grand Cru Banyuls is amazing.

In all seriousness, we will be probably be forward and putting up with the anchor noise, no veranda, and the crew catwalk. Cabin 600 is available and I will take the extra space with the problems that come with it for the Category G price and hope for the best.

It isn't that I expect an unbiased, unprejudiced response but I sent my Regent rep an email yesterday asking him what his customers' experiences with the Navigator have been given all of the negative comments in various threads. It will be interesting to read his reply. I will say that he has always been candid without breaching his responsibility to his employer. We shall see.

As for us, I think we will chance the cruise simply because the itinerary is the Caribbean and South American shoreline to the Amazon and back. No grand multi-day crossings.

Given that the ship is a re-purposed Russian spy ship, most of the problems seem to come from crossing open seas and all of the reports have been when the swells were high. There don't seem to be any really negative reviews in calm seas. I wonder if the experience would be less traumatic sailing from Miami to a few Caribbean islands and along the South American coast to the Amazon River and return through the Caribbean? We really like the itinerary and the Amazon River is on our bucket list but of course, we don't want to be sick the whole time. What a dilemma!

We are doing the Amazon this coming November on the Mariner (a very stable ship). It is a 25 night itinerary and may be the least expensive cruise (per diem) that we have ever booked! While, as said previously, we have sailed on Oceania but our preference is always Regent.

Travelcat2, I saw that cruise but we couldn't work it into our 2017, schedule. You are getting the better of it this year. Great per diem. The best I have seen on Regent. One night longer, a ship with less negative history, and the same price as the 2018, 24 night cruise on the Navigator.

We have been cruising for many years on a variety of ships. We were so looking forward to our first trip on the Regent and our first visit to West and South Africa. However, whilst the Navigator looks good after her refit once at sea, she became one of, if not the most uncomfortable ships we have sailed on. I acknowledge we had a PH well forward on Deck 10 but significant movement was felt in many areas of the ship even in moderate swells. We had the ship's carpenter to our suite several times to try to fix the various rattles but in the end he shrugged his shoulders saying she was an old ship and these noises are no different from other suites. Hardly 5 star luxury. It seems to me that when a cruise lines purchases a pre built hull and then converts it to a cruise ship it rarely works out well. We have had far worse sea conditions on other ships, 4 days of really high seas crossing the Tasman once, but never have we felt so uncomfortable as we did on the Navigator. Not just us but many other guests. Then of course is the well known vibration problems aft of mid ship. Navigator was not a pleasant introduction to a Regent for us but I hope it will not put us off trying Regent again, but definitely not on Navigator.

Thanks johncb7. There is nothing better than first hand experience to inform those of us considering any ship. This gives me pause to think about whether or not to book an itinerary on the Navigator. It does seem odd that they spend millions retrofitting the ship but don't the things that cause a negative passenger experience.

We were considering booking the ship for a cruise from Miami - Miami with ports in the Caribbean and a sail up the Amazon. Those waters should be calm at that time of year (November) and I wonder if the experience would be that bad. We do want to visit the Amazon River. We haven't sailed into it before. Oceania also offers a similar itinerary the same month on the Sirena. That might be a more enjoyable experience.

In April, we will be taking our first sail on an Oceania small ship, the Insignia. We were concerned about the tiny cabins but we are in contact with people that are on board on the ATW on the ship, and they are not complaining so we are optimistic. In February we are booked on the Sirena so we will have had two experiences of 39 days each to help us decide if we like the experience.

I love this board. People are so willing to share their experiences and that is of great importance. It sure helps to put private shore excursions together too.

Michael

You may want to read the about the experiences of passengers that have been on the Navigator the past month or so. IMO, saying "culture shock" was being kind.

 

mjobtx - although we have only sailed on the Riviera (which I hear it almost identical to the Marina) in a Vista and PH suite, we took a tour of one of Oceania's smaller ships. Seeing the Nautica was another big surprise. While beautiful, she is not our taste at all (although I understand that some people prefer the small ships to the larger ones).

 

In terms of Regent, the Mariner and Voyager have a lot of similarities (although we prefer the Voyager due to the size of the suites). The Explorer is as close to perfection as we have ever seen (even after acknowledging a couple of design issues.)

 

As has been said many times, the Navigator was never meant to be a passenger cruise ship and no matter how many hundreds of millions dollars go into her, her beauty is only skin deep. What lies beneath is a hull that doesn't do well in rough waters, has a significant aft vibration and other issues that I'm being polite by not mentioning. For many years the fares on the Navigator were significantly less than on other ships but this is not necessarily the case any more. In addition to my DH, there are many passengers that I've met over the years that will not sail on her.

 

You sound like a person that rolls with the punches and also can take rough seas very well. The only time my DH has been seasick was on the Navigator. There are many passengers on the world cruise that have been seasick. One poster indicated that it felt like the ship was rocking and rolling in circles.

 

Agree that predictability can be boring but in the case of some ships, returning to them is like going home.

Thanks for the heads up. I just visited the reviews on CruiseCritic and it is clear that Africa was a bust but the other reviews in 2016 were a mixed bag of some average, some great. I didn't see a single comment about too much instability or sea sickness. If you have a link or two, please send it. Some of the comments have me bewildered. I know itineraries can go bad because of weather. But the comments seems to suggest that Regent has lost its way. Do you think that it has or is it just the Navigator and bad luck. I may have to reconsider one of our next cruises because it is on the Navigator but seas should be less of an issue. Miami - Miami Amazon River cruise. I can say that in November 2015, we had 4 days of rough water sailing from St. Helena to Rio but suffered no ill effects. We did look funny walking down the halls though and you had to hold the handrails everywhere you went.

We are used to rolling with the punches. Cruises in the 70s and 80s were far rougher on those not used to being at sea. Stability has improved significantly over the decades but I would not want to spend the whole time feeling queasy. We rarely get to choose the ship because we choose the itinerary. The itinerary is our primary interest.

Please keep the comments coming. We have never been on the Navigator and while we can roll with the punches, we don't want to pitch and roll too much.

You do make good points - it is a trade-off. I just like to warn people about certain suites so they can book it with full knowledge of possible issues. We also avoid suites under the pool deck due to the scraping that you mentioned. BTW, the Owner's Suite on the Marina is gorgeous!

 

woogie recently sailed with us on the Explorer and, IMO, going from the Explorer to the Navigator is a bit of a culture shock.

You absolutely should warn people Travelcat2. Someone that is more sensitive to the movement of the sea could be miserable the entire time. Others are very sensitive to the anchor noise. We are usually up early so less of an issue for us. Just noise. Like you, I try to look at the deck above and the deck below but sometimes, you just can't avoid the issue unless you go fore or aft in a lesser category cabin. Sometimes we just deal with it and enjoy the trip in spite of life's few annoyances.

You are right the Owner's Suite on the Marina is beautiful Nice to have two bathrooms too. Although the one just inside the cabin door is small if is a full bathroom which got put to use on occasion.

I am sure you have experience your share of shock changing ships. We certainly have. You expect them to be similar if they are on the same line but that expectation isn't always met. We have also experienced it on Oceania going from the two larger ships to the smaller ships. That is part of the experience, isn't it? Too much predictability can be boring. :)

It is one of a kind but it is very noisy in that suite (as is 601). You hear the anchor coming down very early in the morning. Also, suites that far forward feel the movement of the seas on both directions (forward and back as well as side to side). Lastly, there is no balcony but there is a walkway where crew can walk by your window..... something that people should be aware of.

 

Henk123: Agree with you 100% Guarantees are risky on the Navigator (as are upsells unless you look at the deck plan before accepting the suite).

 

woogie: I believe that you may be looking at the WC for 2018? If this is the case (or on any Navigator itinerary), stay low and mid-ship. The suites are similar in a way to the Explorer. The closets are the same size and the bedroom is the around the same size (but beds do not face the sliding glass doors). The Category "G" suites have some good locations.

There are absolutely trade-off Travelcat2. Personally a little ship movement is not an issue but if it is, the cabin isn't for you. I get a lot more movement deep sea fishing than this ship will have. Anchor noise bothers some. The noise from the Waves Grill on the Oceania Marina caused by the constantly scrapping chairs above my PH1 mid-ship cabin is far worse and goes on all day and until the restaurant closes.

If I were lucky enough to be able to book Cabin 600, I would because for us the trade-offs are worth it. A cabin almost the size of the Navigator Suites at a much lower cost. For us, a veranda is nice but we don't spend much time on it. We had a wrap around veranda in an Owner's Suite (8143) on the Marina last October and spent very little time on it and never got in the hot tub. It is all a matter of what you typically do and how much you want to spend.

If you are looking for a little more space, don't mind not having a veranda, and a bargain at the same time, try to book Cabin 600. It is forward, almost always booked, and Category G. One of a kind on the ship because of its location.