Hlitner

“Years ago” there were many cities we enjoyed (even in the USA) which have changed in a very bad way. We can agree ti disagree about Marseille. But when it comes to “O” we are mostly in your court. 😉

Today we are docked in Marseille. I have a strong dislike of Marseille (my least favorite place in France) but love the port as a gateway into Provence. A large majority of passengers went off on excursions to places like Aix en Provence, Avignon, St Remy, etc. DW and I left the ship around 9am with a DIY plan of going to Cassis for lunch. Although we have spent a lot of time in the south of France (including having rented apartments in both Avignon and St Remy) we had never visited Cassis. Upon walking off the ship we boarded the free port shuttle bus that would take us into town (a few blocks from the old port). We also noted that one tour group also used the free shuttle bus (along with their guide) which is not impressive when one considers those folks paid about $150 pp for their tour. The docking area used for most cruise ships (Terminal A and Terminal B) are too far from Marseille for walking. DIY folks need to either use the shuttle bus or hire a taxi willing to do the short haul into town (which I assume will cost about 25 Euros). Once in Marseille, DW and I walked the 1/2 mile to the St Charles train station where we bought round trip tickets for Cassis (about 12.50 Euros pp). We arrived in Cassis (a 25 min train ride) around 11am, only to find no taxis at the station, very infrequent buses to town, etc. So we decided to make the 2-mile trek into Central Cassis. Much of the walk is downhill, so the walk is not difficult for folks used to long walks. In Cassis we walked around the picturesque and somewhat charming marina area before settling on a local outdoor restaurant that specialized in mussels. We got the best table, had a wonderful view, and enjoyed our Moules et Frites and Vino Blanc. After spending some time walking around town we used our phone to summon an Uber to get us back to the station. That cost about 14 Euros, which was a good investment as we were not looking forward to the trek (with many uphill slopes) back to the station. Back in Marseille it was an easy half mile to the shuttle bus stop and back to the ship. Another decent DIY Day. Dinner, last night, was in the GDR with our favorite waiter. DW and I both enjoyed a shrimp main which was served in a light/tasty sauce. The evening show was a decent singer from Holland, who turned out to be a competent Opera Soprano. While she did quite a few popular songs, it was her few opera arias that really shined. Our Guest entertainers on the Vista continue to be very good and comparable (or better) then we have experienced on other cruise lines. The late show in Horizons was Karaoke and I had a good time chatting with my new-found Aussie friends and our Assistant Cruise Director (Paul) who ran the karaoke show. There was a good size crowd (over 50) in Horizons until the end of karaoke ended around 11:30. A little tidbit about our cabin bathroom. The shower is quite large (close to 4' square) and has two glass shelves for items like soap. shampoo, etc. O provides excellent Bvlgari soap, and it is in bar form. When you put a wet bar of soap on smooth glass, it will stick. In fact, it can be a challenge to pull the bar off that glass. After a few days our steward put a folded face cloth on one shelf in order to avoid the problem. Great idea! DW and I both appreciate that O does provide decent bar soap. Much of the competition has moved to liquid soap dispensers, which we have never liked. We finally did hear our neighbor's TV (during our pre-dinner shower time). Not a problem, at that hour, but it was the first time we did notice the oft reported issue. I suspect that, in most cases, getting a quiet cabin on the Vista is simply "luck of the draw" in terms of having quiet or noisy neighbors. Hank

The seafront walkway is now opened, but there is still construction. The walkway is protected by some fencing and we had no problem getting all the way to the steps. Yesterday, the two adjacent beaches were crowded with sun worshippers and a few swimmers (the water must still be chilly). Hank

Wow! Very similar to the lunch dish I had in Vernazza. Love mussels. Hank

Good day from Villafranche, Today, after a short cruise from Livorno, we are anchored just off the coast of the lovely French port/resort city of Villefranche sur Mer. For those who have never been to this port it is tender only. The Vista used several of its own tenders supplemented by a large shore-based tender. This is the first time I even recall a shore-based tender at this port, and that boat is quite new and immaculate. Villefranche is a favorite port because there are so many options for both excursions and DIY. From here, folks can easily get to Nice (yes, Nice is nice). Eze, St Paul de Vence, Monte Carlo, Grasse, Antibes, and other places are all within range for a day trip. This morning we saw another day of perfect weather. Not a cloud in sight, temps in the mid 70s, low humidity, and a gentle breeze. A true "10" day, So, DW and I decided to follow a plan of hiking to the Villa Eprussi de Rothchild, which is located near Cap Ferrat. We had planned to tender ashore after 10am (to miss the rush) but the cruise director announced, around 9:30, that there was no tender queues. We headed to the Vista Lounge (to get our tender tickets) but were stopped on the stairway by Paul (the Assistance Cruise Director) who said there is no wait for a tender and to just head down the tender pier. Good job Vista :). It is about a 2 mile walk from the tender pier and the stroll took as about 50 minutes. The Villa Ephussi was interesting (a self-guided tour) and the outdoor gardens were very expansive. After spending about 2 hours at the Villa, we walked back to Villefranche where we stopped for a delightful lunch. DW and an excellent goat cheese salad and I fulfilled a personal passion of having Soupe de Poisson. The fish soup in this part of France has long been a favorite of mine and the Rock Fish based version at Cosmo (the name of the restaurant) was excellent. We returned to the ship about 3pm having enjoyed an absolutely perfect day. Dinner last night was our 2nd visit to Polo. This time, our meal was excellent (DW thought it the best meal...so far). She had the surf/turf and enjoyed both the steak and small lobster tail. I decided to ignore some warnings (from other cruisers) and ordered the Maine Lobster with drawn butter. I was delighted to be served a real Maine lobster (I love the claw meat). It was not quite as good as fresh Maine Lobster (which cannot be done on ships) but was close. I should mention that my starter of the French Onion Soup was also terrific. A word about my food comments. This is our first O cruise, so we cannot compare to the pre-Covid O. Others tell us that O cuisine has gone downhill in the past few years, which does make us wonder what we missed! What we are experiencing here on the Vista is probably the 2nd best overall cuisine we have had on 18 cruise lines. #1 still goes to the new Explora Journeys, Explora Journey 1. Seabourn trails O because O offers more variety (at least on the Vista). One mild complaint (about O) continues to be the early nights. Entertainment (in Horizons) generally ends at 11:15 and than the ship dies! There have actually been some decent crowds in Horizons (quite a few dancers) but once the music stops, most are quickly off to bed. One more dance/music set would be appreciated by us night owls. Hank

Thanks to your post, we learned about the ability to dim that mirror light :). Hank

We are thinking about booking one of the Santorini wine excursions, but have no clue if it will even be available. That would use up most of our remaining credit. Our visit to Santorini, on the next segment, will be along with 3 or 4 other ships and over 6000 cruise passengers. Dealing with the cable car, when you have that many cruisers, can be a royal pain so an excursion might be helpful (at least in the morning). Getting down, from Fira, in the afternoon will not be fun. Hank

Moving on with our live from the Vista reports. Yesterday we were in Livorno with absolutely gorgeous weather with temps in around 70f. Livorno is a port with many terrific options (for both DIY and excursions) and opted for a very pricy wine tasting/gourmet lunch excursion. We thought the excursion was quite good (and we normally dislike excursions) and we enjoyed our small group of fellow passengers. The only negative was that the excursion cost about $300 per person which we (and some others) thought was a bit steep. Last evening it was dinner in the GDR (DW and I both had an excellent strip steak au poivre). My NY Cheesecake was somewhat disappointing because it lacked enough cream cheese. Today was another gorgeous day and we were docked in La Spezia. This port is most convenient for visiting the villages of Cinque Terre, so DW and I decided to visit a few villages DIY. We have been to this part of Italy, many times, but we usually access Cinque Terre with a rental car. Today we took the train (an all day Cinque Terre Pass was about 27 Euros). This pass gives unlimited use of the regional train, access to the hiking trails etc. Folks that have often visited this over touristed destination generally have their favorite village. For us, it is Vernazza, which is where we got off the train as for our first village. I should mention that this port has a free shuttle to the port terminal building, and from that location it is a 1 mile walk to the La Spezia Centrale train station. At Vernazza we did a lot of walking and eventually had an excellent lunch at an outdoor restaurant with a decent view of the crowds and water. Cinque Terre is a popular place, so crowds are the norm. After lunch we took another train over to Corniglia. This is probably the least visited of the 5 villages because it is somewhat difficult to access (you need a bus from the train) and the village is full of slopes and steps. After spending 1 1/2 hours in Corniglia (and having some terrific local gelato) we decided to make our way back to La Spezia and the ship. The trains were running late (not unusual) and it actually took us about 2 hours until we were back aboard. A word about our cabin (a normal veranda). The Vista has a night light (which can be operated from either side of the bed). It is a blue bulb located on the ceiling near the bathroom. There is also a white light under the sink in the bathroom. The problem is that the night light is a little bright for our taste (and others with whom we chatted). We found a great solution is to simply leave on the light that surrounds the bathroom mirror. With the bathroom door closed, enough light bleeds under the door to give us a nearly perfect night light 🙂 Hank

There was no reference. However, 2 days after I posted my comment, we did receive a letter from the shore excursion folks explaining that the excursion was cancelled for "operational" reasons. At this point we have had 3 cancelled excursions (all by the Vista) and have over $370 pp shore excursion credit. An excursion that we might have considered for this segment is no longer available and we are not permitted to book anything for the following segment until last day of this cruise. In fact, we cannot even find out what, if anything, is available on the next segment since the onboard Destination Office folks tell us they cannot access any info on the next segment until the last day of this segment. Hank

Definitely a good step in the right direction. Given the HAL track record we will wait to see if, and when, these shows exist on all the ships.

We later noticed that some of the trains were running, despite claims to the contrary on various Internet sites including warnings on the Trenitalia site. Having, in the past, being left standing at various Italian train stations during strikes (both announced and quite sudden) we opted to play it safe and not risk having to pay a taxi to get us back to Civitavecchia from Rome. We were only planning on going into Rome for lunch at a restaurant in Trastevere, so it was not a big deal to give up a meal :). It also gave us an opportunity to do some laundry (there were a few others with the same idea). One amusing related tale happened to us many years ago when we got blindsided by a sudden Trenitalia strike that was on a single line for half a day. We waited on the platform at Certaldo (a station not to far from San Gimignano) to go into Florence for a Saturday evening dinner. The train did not come. Along with quite a few locals we patiently waited for the next train which also did not come. Everyone just shrugged and we all left the station (we had a car). A few days later we were flying out of FCO and had enough time to stop at the Trenitalia office that is located in the airport. We wanted our money back (for the unused tickets). The station manager told us about the 1/2-day strike that shut down our trains. He further explained that if we were Italians, he could issue us a refund, but foreign nationals had to fill out a form and the refund would be mailed. He helped us fill out the form and we never received the small refund. But even if we had gotten the check, it would have been in Euros (not easy to cash in the USA). Hank

This morning, we stopped at Horizons around 11am to get a morning drink :). Since it is a turn-around day, the ship was mostly empty and one of our favorite bar tenders was working at the bar. DW asked him if he had any fresh squeezed OJ to make a decent mimosa. He said they did not have the good OJ. but he had a few oranges and would sqeeze one to make her mimosa 🙂 That is the kind of service we expect on luxury lines. Hank

I believe that some hotel and hotel chains pay commissions to TAs. I should add that over many years (and lots of cruises/international travel) we have generally found that cruise line hotel packages (pre/post cruise) generally cost about twice the price of simply booking the same or even better hotels on one's own. There are sometimes when included transfers might make it worthwhile to book a cruise line hotel package, but that is rare. Hank

TAs are paid a commission, overrides and bonuses from cruise lines. But they do not get anything from air bookings which is why most agencies do not encourage air bookings. We are in the digital age where many of us handle our own air/ hotels via the Internet, Apps, etc. Many cruise lines do have decent online booking sites for cruise air. Sometimes they have good deals for Business, First and Premium Econmy. Dealing direct with consolidators (discounters) for air is a tricky business and many experts do not favor using air consolidators. Hank

On the Vista now and we get a 4 page US news summary every evening. It is day old news. Most folks get their news via the Internet or from several news stations on the cabin TV. Hank