Hlitner

Plan "B" can simply be to grab a taxi (there are usually some available at the port) to the airport at your chosen time. When it comes to Sunday mornings/afternoons in Athens, our goto place is the huge Sunday flea market located in Monstiraki. If you wanted to do this, DIY, you could arrange, online, to hire a car/driver and pay to have that driver wait for you while you explore the expansive outdoor market area (this covers an entire neighborhood). As to Sounion, it is a pleasant drive (we have done it with rental cars) although, IMHO, there is not a lot to offer other than the decent views from Sounion. While the Temple of Poseidon is OK, it pales by comparison to the ruins that are within the city of Athens. Hank

Thanks for the review. Ever since the Covid restart, we noticed that SB had hired quite a few new staff (on our various cruises), some of whom had yet to adjust to the SB way of doing things. When asked about SB, we used to say that the staff/crew does not have the word "no" in their vocabulary. Unfortunately, for the OP, this did not seem to be the case with the server they first encountered in Solis. Tis a real shame and we sure hope that the management team quickly imposes some attitude changes where necessary. While we have seldom had any complaints on our SB cruises, if a server told DW that she could not order two starters (in place of a starter and main) I think the issue would quickly get elevated to the restaurant manager. That is just not acceptable on SB (or other lines). On SB we expect to hear, "no problem" or "we will do our best." I will add that we have also been cruising on other lines (in the past two years) including Explora Journeys, Oceania, HAL and Princess. Every line seems to be having some "issues" with new hires. One senior manager on O told us that, one result of the Covid shutdown, has been that too many experienced staff/crew moved on to other careers. We also found it interesting that the new Explora Journeys line (a higher end luxury product) hired about 80% of staff (for their first ship) that had never worked on any cruise line. It was explained that the new line sought very experienced staff from top hotels,restuarants, and resorts generally located in the middle east (often from Dubai). The reason was they wanted staff that understood how to deliver quality and thought that more important than previous cruise ship experience. To some degree they have suceeded, but there are also some rough edges that we think was due to the inexperience of staff working on ships. Hank

Thanks for the excellent review :). We will add Ritz to our personal "watch list" for some future bookings. That being said, a quick glance has given me the impression that SB can be a lot less expensive (sometimes only about half the price of Ritz) which we factor-in to our cruise decisions. It is less about being cheap but more our philosophy of looking for good value, be it a higher-end luxury line or mass market product. I am curious to see if Ritz starts offering some longer itineraries and promotions on voyages, once they add the new ship....oops, meant "yacht." Hank

We like to give complements when it is deserved. In our case, the GDR on the Vista ticked most of the boxes including excellent service from our wait team and the sommelier. Our norm was to go to dinner around 7:15 (to miss the initial rush) and always request our favorite waiter (Kadeck) who always treated us like VIPs. Not only was the service top notch, but Kadeck also guided us through the various menus with suggestions on what to order and what to ignore. While we also enjoyed most of our time in the alternative restaurants (3 times in each venue) our favorite place was the GDR. As to "slow," we normally prefer to dine and not rush. For the few evenings when we did want to speed it up (to get to a show) we would simply mention it to our waiter. On most evenings we would say "take your time" since we were generally not in a hurry. As an observation, when we shared a table with others, dinner always took somewhat longer, since the staff must adjust to the slowest diner at the table. Hank

Just off 5 weeks on the Vista, where we had an excellent Filipino band. Hank

A lot of O malarkey. Onboard we met some real long time O fans who lost several deposits because of cancelled bookings due to COVId. They still love O and view that as “it happens.” I prefer systems where refunds do not depend on the customers needing to be assertive. Like Os ridiculous air fee policy, this needs to be fixed. Small stuff, but still an issue for those of us who cruise many lines. Hank

Am I missing something here? You mean if a cruiser does not act within an arbitrary time (1 year) they will lose the deposit? With most if not all, other lines, any deposit is automatically returned (with no hassle) after a specific time.

Sometimes :). The key to alcohol on land is when we are actually spending a few days in a city where I do not need to drive. But we have wondered if that is a contributing factor. We do have cruising friends, who do not drink any alcohol, who also have the ankle thing. Speaking of my wife, her ankle swelling was not nearly as bad as mine on the Vista. And to be clear, we still love to cruise and would not allow swollen ankles/feet to dissuade us from that form of travel :). Perhaps we need to spend more time on cruises to further investigate the issue. Hank

We have long thought that salt was the culprit. DW does minimize adding salt when cooking at home. But since we left the Vista, all of our meals have been in restaurants and most professional chefs routinely use plenty of salt (like on most cruise ships). And yet, the ankle swelling quickly dissipated once off the Vista. And this is not just about the Vista, because we cruise on many different lines (within the last year Princess, HAL, Seabourn, Explora Journeys) and the ankle swelling is common on all of those lines. Can it be that cruise line galleys simply add a lot more salt than land-based restaurants? At home I never pay much attention to salt and will routinely add it to many of the usual things and yet, do not have any ankle swelling. Some of us used to think that the culprit is the water used on ships. Most ships now make their own water, from sea water, by using flash evaporation and/or reverse osmosis. But a few CC contributors, several of whom were chief engineers, have assured us that the systems used on modern cruise ships do not result in excessive salt/sodium. We also have some cruising friends that avoid ship water (they only drink bottled water with limited sodium) and they still have the ankle swelling issue.

Thought I would keep the thread active, since we are still in Europe (post Vista cruise) following what we preach (cruise + land is great). We have spent the last week in Austria (Graz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck) and had a fantastic time driving through the country, After a few days of cloudy (and some rain) weather, today is a beautiful day with temps reaching into the 70s F and the nearby mountains fully in their glory, This morning we took a local cable car up to the top of the local mountain where we had fantastic views (through a few fluffy low clouds). We later took a local tram over to a bell foundry/museum that has been in business for hundreds of years. Since we have debarked from the Vista, all of our driving trip has been to places that cannot possibly be accessed via cruise ship. But I want to talk about swollen ankles. After 50 years of cruising, we have never solved the mystery of why many get swollen ankles on cruises. There has been many CC blogs on the topic with many of us tossing out theory's. By the time we disembarked Vista on May 1, my ankles and feet were pretty bad (tough to even put on my shoes). Within 36 hours of leaving the Vista, both ankles and feet were back to near normal. Within 4 days they were 100% normal. This despite still being in travel mode, eating in restaurants, etc. For me, the mystery continues. Tomorrow, we drive back to Italy (Milan) where we will finally end this trip with our flight back to the USA. DW and I have really enjoyed the past week in Austria (a country where we have previously never spent more than a day in Vienna). Innsbruck is a decent tourist city that is surrounded by beautiful mountains, has a river running through downtown, an old town, etc. While we were in Salzburg, we did see river cruise tours (from both Viking and AMA), but here in Innsbruck that is not the norm. Like most trips in Europe, we have had our fill of churches and castles (at least until our next trip) and have climbed more stairs/ramps then expected. The reality of this kind of European travel is that it is very helpful to be both mobile and in shape. Walking 4-8 miles a day is our norm, and in this country too much of those miles are up and down. DW and I are already talking about a future cruise on O, but we will likely stick to either the Vista or new Allura. We did not book a future cruise (or future cruise credit) on the Vista, because we have our doubts about meeting the time requirements, Another issue is that trying to speak with one of the future cruise folks (onboard) generally meant a long wait or some careful planning. More hassle then we want, when on a cruise. Another Martini Bar friend (who has numerous O cruises) told us that is something he has long disliked about O (i.e. trying to get to speak to the future cruise folks). A minor complaint, but still worth mentioning. Hank

With the two O cruises we had booked (one of which we finally cancelled less than 3 weeks prior to the completely changed itinerary) we have had more cancelled and altered ports then in all of our 100+ cruises over the years. Why? Some of the changes were not completely the fault of O while others were certainly questionable changes Since O is not always transparent on changes, one can only speculate as to why? Speaking as a long time student of the industry (more than 50 years of extensive cruising) I do think there are differing corporate philosphies. Some cruise lines (HAL comes to mind) will do everything possible to keep to their itinerary, This can mean going to ports in bad conditions and giving it the old "college try." Sometimes it works and other times cruisers will have a missed port with a sea day. O, on the other hand, seems to more easily make itinerary changes based on forecasted weather, with the goal of changing to an alternative port or perhaps avoiding some nasty weather. Tjhis recently happened on our Vista cruise when, 2 days prior to our scheduled arrival, O changed Funchal to Madeira. They were hoping for more favorable conditions at Madeira, and it did work out. However, looking at the actual weather and sea conditions it did appear that we could have also gone to the original port (Funchal). Hank

The interesting part of this post is that Positano is generally considered a terrific place. Many folks who port at Naples, Sorrento or Salerno, will somehow make their way to Positano for part of all of their day. I do agree with Cruisemom, that on Capri, the Blue Grotto would be way down on list of how we spend time on that island. That being said, it is one of those overpriced tourist traps that most folks need to experience once. We do like everything about Ravello and find it a charming place for a 2 hour walk and perhaps a nice lunch. Hank

We have really embraced the "no no" term and think it is right on! Where to avoid the no-no? Having been on 18 cruise lines (#19 coming up late this year) we can think of no line that ignores the no-no's except, perhaps, the Explora Journeys folks. That being said, they are a new line (with very deep pockets) who will likely learn as they go and may well bow to the "no no pressure." I doubt if a ghost pepper will ever find its way onto a cruise ship (unless smuggled by a passenger). And basic things like garlic, onions, and oregano seem to be more and more underused. I could not help but notice that pizza in Waves, is made without oregano (unless it is specifically requested). In Italy, it would considered an essential ingredient. Hank

Tis true and we have considered that line in FP. But thought I should raise the issue since this is the O blog. Hank

While we really enjoy the MSC YC, in the Caribbean, we have no desire to cruise on that line in Europe. In Europe, MSC functions more like a ferry ship than a cruise ship. Folks are embarking/disembarking at nearly every port, and for those of us who treasure the socialization on cruises, this loses too much with folks constantly coming and going. Hank