Hlitner

Just beware of the FP cruise ship restrictions (i.e. no more than 1200 cruise passengers, per day, on Bora Bora). Hank

I will give my usual response to the subject question. Yes, one should try and cruise in the Med (we have done it dozens of times), but also combine the cruise vacation with some additional time on land, be it on an organized tour or independent trip via rental car or train. To us, this offers the best of both travel worlds (sea and land). We are living what we preach and are currently driving through Slovenia and Austria after a wonderful 35 days on the Vista (TA plus part of the Med and Adriatic). Land trips are not a substitute for cruises (especially for those who love being on ships) but neither is a cruise a good substitute for land. One will not be able to go up into the Swiss or Austrian Alps on a port day :). One possible compromise is a River Cruise, but that is its own subject. Hank

To reiterate the subject, we are currently on a driving trip (post O cruise) through Slovenia and Austria, before we drive back into Italy. DW and I do not speak more than a few words in either language, but this is not an issue. Everywhere we have gone (Lake Bled, Graz, Salzburg, and now Innsbruck), most speak some English or are completely fluent. As independent travelers, we routinely enjoy interacting with locals, which is where we learn lots of valuable info. Just yesterday, we stopped in a nearby wine bar for a late afternoon rest (and relaxation). We asked the two ladies, running the place, to recommend some decent Italian restaurants and quickly had two strong suggestions on an upscale pizza place and a higher end Italian restaurant. Last evening we went to the pizza place which was owned and operated by a couple of Sicilian gentlemen. The pizza was some of the best we have had anywhere (and that is saying a lot). I do think that many fellow cruisers get into the "Excursion mode" where they primarily do things with large groups of cruisers. While this does have some advantages, it does mean you go to tourist places and mostly interact with fellow cruisers and guides. In our experience, it is a lousy way to get the true feel/flavor os a city or site. Yes, you do get plenty of history, some tales, etc. but it is not quite the same as being by yourselves or in a tiny group and taking advantage of the opportunity to meet locals. In our experience, many folks are more then happy to share their knowledge (and favorite places) with visitors who smile, show some respect, and are curious. Hank

I think the OP needs to consider the geography of both Mykonos and Crete. Crete has over 600 miles of coastline and is more than 250 miles long. So no, you cannot simply walk around Crete :). If your port is Iraklion or Chania (just at that port 2 weeks ago) you can certainly walk around those port towns on your own (we have done it a few times). I should add that a highlight for many visitors to Crete is visiting the ruins at Knossos, and for this you will need a tour, taxi, or regional bus. Mykonos is primarily about a single city, Mykonos Town (also known as Chora). If you dock, you will be about a mile from town and can get to it via shuttle bus, taxi, or even walking. Once in town, folks can walk anywhere DIY. We were just there last week, and spent a few hours walking the narrow streets, browsing shops, stopping for a drink, etc. The streets are windy and narrow and it is easy to get lost, but you are never far from anything. Having a working cell phone and map program (such as Google maps) can be helpful. Otherwise, if you do lost/confused, just ask for help :). Hank

While I seldom disagree with you, I do not think that Rome is Northern Italy by definition or mores. Rome is in Lazio, which is considered part of Central Italy (there are 4 statistical regions in Italy). The cuisine of Rome (and central Italy) is quite different from much of Northern Italy is among my favorites and makes me quickly think of Osso Bucco and Risotto alla Milanese. My "personal chef" insists that while cream does show-up is some Italian recipes, much of the classic dishes do not use cream. Even pasta dishes like Carbonara and Alfredo do not use cream (if made classically). But what do I know? I just eat what I am served, always love it, etc :). Hank

Driving through parts of Europe now. Our T-Mobile works everywhere (in Slovenia at the moment) and we also use it as our GPS guide when driving. Hank

That HAL cruise was a 42 day Westerdam voyage around Japan, over to Alaska, and ended in Seattle. While we enjoyed that cruise (like all of our cruises) there was a lot wrong about HAL. As 5* Mariners with over 550 days on HAL, many would say we are loyal HAL cruises. But by the end of that Westy cruise, DW said to me, "do not book anymore HAL cruises! We were tired of the understaffing, logistic issues, poor or no entertainment, constant onboard accounting issues (we were overcharged 11 times during a single cruise), etc. We have no problem on larger ships (although we do prefer the smaller luxury vessels) but we have lots of problems with HAL. That being said, we would quickly book HAL if we had reason to believe that they were correcting some of our issues. Most recently, it has been posted that HAL is gradually bringing back Production Shows and that is a start. Interesting that there are no new builds on the agenda for HAL. By the way, we did enjoy the Japan/AK cruise so much that we booked something similar for 2025. But this time it will be on Seabourn :). Hank

Am really appreciating the info from a few of you about what you enjoyed in Slovenia. The rain finally arrived, tonight, during dinner. Since we managed to explore the Lake area today, while the sun still shined, we now thinking we must deal with a rain day...tomorrow, The cave info is appreciated, and we are now having some fun looking at the options. We are thinking about heading out to the Postojna Caves and nearby castle in the morning. This brings up another reason why we love independent travel. When the weather does not cooperate, you simply change your activities to work with the weather. Being in a cave on a rainy day is not much different on a sunny day 🙂. But when you are on a tour/excursion where you have paid for an specific itinerary, you will likely get what you booked, rain or shine. This happened to us, recently, when in Taiwan on a HAL cruise where we had booked a tour of a gorge. We were walking up and down slippery metal ladders and hiking over slippery trails as we all had to use our umbrellas. It was fun, but absolutely nutz. As an independent traveler would probably have changed their plans, but with pre-paid tours that is not going to happen. Getting back to O, I am not a fan of their Simply More program. It forces us to book overpriced excursions that we would never consider...otherwise. We talked to a few O fans who also do not like excursions and told us they will continue to cruise on O and just eat the SM cost. Like us, they are not fans of cruise ship excursions. My goodness, in Rovinji, we tagged along (for a few minutes) at the rear of a walking tour (about $100 pp). These folks were walking on the same streets as us (we paid zero) and the few minutes of guide-talk we heard was just boring. While I do understand that some folks like excursions, many others see them as boring. Trying to force us to pay for excursions we do not want is not the way to build loyalty It just reinforces our desire to be on our current favorite line (Seabourn) that does not include any excursions in their pricing. Hank Hank

Our first, "no longer live from the Vista" post :). The Vista docked at Trieste (the only cruise ship in the port) early this morning and debarked the shippabout 8:30am, after a last cappuccino and croissant in Baristas. Because O ended our cruise on a national holiday (Mayday or Labor Day) many normal functions in Trieste were closed. This included the local rental car agencies. In order for us to get a car we needed to drive nearly 25 miles to Triest's own airport. O did offer bus transport, but at $69 Euros per person, it made no sense. We simply got a local taxi (about a 3 min wait in the queue) and our talkative driver got us to the airport in about 35 minutes at a cost of 65 Euros (total cost for two). Disembarkation, in Trieste went very smoothly with a majority of passengers heading about 100 miles to Venice's Marco Polo Airport or Venice. We are already suffering "Vista withdrawal" since we must now fend for ourselves :). At the Trieste Airport we picked up our rental car from Europcar, and were soon on our way to Lake Bled, Slovenia. It is our first visit to Slovenia, and we found it interesting that our taxi drive (from Trieste to the airport) told us he often drives to Slovenia for dinner since "everything is much cheaper in Slovenia." The weatherman was wrong (it was supposed to rain) and we had nice day (with partly sunny skies). We reached our Lake Bled hotel around noon, and after some lunch we walked part of the way around the picturesque Lake Bled. This part of Slovenia is beautiful and is growing as a major tourist destination. During our drive, I pulled in to a gas station (in Italy) in order to purchase the needed Slovenian Vignette. This is required for anyone driving in this country and a 7 day Vignette cost us 17.50 Euros. These days it is a digital Vignette and your car's license plate is registered. Failure to have a vignette can get folks a nasty fine. In some European countries (including Slovenia), a Vignette replaces most road tolls. One nice thing about being in Slovenia is that English is widely spoken. It is a mandatory language, in their public schools, and most of the younger folks speak multiple languages including English, German, many Slavic dialects, Spanish, etc. While we are already missing the Vista and the easy life on a cruise ship, DW and I are always happy to be on our own in Europe with a rental car. The freedom of being able to go where we want, when we want, with who we want, is what I 5ave loved about travel for the past 57 years of extensive world travel. And the one thing I do not miss from the Vista is the too often and too long announcements from Peter (the CD). Life is good :). Hank

Thanks for responding as we always appreciate your expertise. Since it was the middle of the night, we cannot be certain if it was a total blackout. In our aft cabin, any blackout was short lived. Forward cabins had longer outages with emergency lighting activating in their cabins. According to the Captain, power was quickly rerouted with cabins and passenger corridors getting priority. From the passenger perspective there was very little disruption. We do know that once the Fincantieri technical team boarded in Croatia, repairs were completed in less then 1 day and all power was returned to normal status. The only detailed info we received was that it was a failure in a forward electric control panel. We did not hear any alarm or rumor of a fire situation and passengers were basically told to go back to sleep. Hank

We really enjoyed dinner at Osteria Della tres Panche, in Florence. It is a restaurant that specializes in dishes with truffles (white and black). Since our last visit it has moved to a larger venue and we are not sure if this has impacted quality. Hank

Fair question. When we first started dining in the GDR we were all over the place. One evening we happened to be seated in Kadek’s section and were very pleased. The following evening, DW simply asked the hostess (Marina) if we could be seated in his section. After a few days, she and her boss managed to always find us an empty table in that section. My personal observation, after 50 years of cruising is to show the staff lots of respect, interact, and let them know your preference. And a few smiles as well as thank you’s can work miracles. The staff on the Vista is terrific and goes out of their way to please passengers if it is within their power. One other hint. A few times we did make it clear that we would share a table in that section. Sometimes, just making it known that you appreciate somebody’s efforts can work miracles. I am often appalled at how some passengers treat the crew. Hank

DW tells me that when you get the ratio of pasta water to parmesan just right, the result does seem creamy. She has heard of using some butter, but that seems to vary depending on the recipe and chef. Hank

Afternoon readers, We are in our last port (before debarkation) on this 35 day adventure. From my perspective, O saved the best for last :). Today we are tendering in the Rovinj, Croatia and both DW and I are absolutely blown away by this charming place. It is like the hidden gem of Croatia, as it has not yet been discovered by the masses, although we suspect that within a few short years it will be a packed place just like Santorini, Dubrovnik, etc. We have been in many ports on this voyage, with only two (Chania and Rovinj) we have visited for the first time. Rovinj has a really nice old town area, and nearly any view could grace the cover of a guidebook. Plenty of cafes, restaurants, art galleries, the usual church, streets paved with stone (which can be slippery). This is not a port for folks with mobility issues, although they could enjoy part of the town along the various harbors (there is more than one). I suspect it is not a popular cruise port because there is no pier adequate for cruise ships, and its proximity to other popular ports (i.e. Dubrovnik, Split, Kotor, etc) keeps it off of most itineraries. What a shame. DW and I will plan to revisit this town when we are on one of our driving trips. Not much more to add to this live blog. DW and I had a good feeling as soon as we boarded the Vista, and nothing in the last month has taken the glow off our first O voyage. Some readers might be aware I am a student of the cruise/travel industry and always have an interest in some of the inside info. Many may not be aware that a majority of the crew on Oceania, do not work directly for O, This company is a major user of the Apollo Group, who has been involved with the cruise industry for eons. Much of the crew that interacts with passengers, are actually employed by Apollo as are the regular entertainers (singers/dancers). That is not a negative thing, but simply a fact. These days, a cruise line can contract with third party companies for just about anything and O obviously prefers to use contractors rather than deal with the complications of taking most jobs in-house. This will likely be our last "live from the Vista" post as we disembark in about 18 hours. DW and I are staying in Europe for 12 days, and if all goes well will pick-up a rental car and be on our way to parts of Slovenia, Austria and Italy. We have long suggested, here on CC, that we find the ideal trip to be a combination of cruising and independent land travel. But we are not looking forward to having to "forage" for our own food/drink :). Hank

Just chatted with my “personal chef” and she dies not even use olive oil. She says the oil would cause the cheese to slide off the pasta. Just a little of the pasta water to melt the parmigiana and lots of black pepper. Cream sounds like a major faux pas as it becomes something akin to an Alfredo sauce. Hank