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Hello all experts! You have been good enough to help me in the past and hope you can with this question as I do not fly internationally often. I am looking at Delta One Z fare JFK/MAD/LIS with delta flight into Madrid and Air Europa Madrid to Lisbon. It states 1 hr 10 min layover in Madrid. I believe I need to go through passport control in Madrid correct? Is the layover time sufficient to do that and catch my next flight? I will have wheelchair assistance. If further info is needed please let me know. Thank you.

Share is my favorite speciality restaurant on Princess. I don't think $39 is outrageous for a 6 course meal. I can't get a 2 course meal for that price in a nice restaurant where I live.

We have done Amsterdam-Budapest with no problems. However, I have been told, going Budapest-Amsterdam is better as the weather comes from west to east. I guess the reasoning is if you hit rain, you will be out of it faster instead of following it. Haven't been back to check that reasoning out.

We were on her in early June for Alaska. This was the first time on her and liked the less crowded feeling. However, our balcony cabin slider curtain was broken and the rug was rippled. Not a HUGH problem but we have never been on any of the other Princess ships in this need of repair. Yes, she will be in dry dock the end of the year. Hopefully, these and some other worn areas are repaired. Enjoy your time on her!

Thank you for the pictures. The river banks look amazing! We are so looking forward to this next year.

Santiago de Compostela is very beautiful and moving, especially the Pilgrims' Mass at the Cathedral -- and especially if someone has paid for the Botafumeiro incense burner. When we were there it wasn't used during the mid-day Pilgrims' Mass, but the Hotel Association paid for it every Friday evening.

Yes it does looks like a beautiful ceremony. If anyone is interested, the movie The Way with Martin Sheen is a must see.

Porto was beautiful! Spending extra time there will be good. We did not go to Santiago, but some of our fellow passengers were going to go there when they disembarked. On various tours that we were on, we would see signs for the pilgrimage to Santiago. Maybe next time we go to Spain we can visit Santiago. (There will be a next time! We loved Spain!)

 

Yes, they have laundry services. Every piece is individually priced. We filled the provided bag, and asked for specific instructions not to put DH shirts in dryer. Everything thing came back, nicely folded, with the shirts on hangers. It's very convenient.

 

I hope you enjoy your time in Portugal and Spain as much as we did. Safe travels!

 

IMG_0193 by BobalinkToo, on Flickr[/quote

 

Thank you! We have used the laundry service on the other AMA ships but since this one isn't owned by AMA, I wasn't sure. This eliminates extra packing. We cruised the Rhone last year extending to Barcelona which we loved. I am sure Madrid was beautiful.

Thanks for your review. We will be doing Lisbon pre cruise and River cruise sailing AMA once again. We opted not to go to Madrid as we really want to stay extra days in Porto and take a day to Santiago de Compostela. Also extra day in Lisbon to see Fatima.

Do you recall if AMAVida has laundry services?

Thank you!

We booked this cruise for September 2018 and would love for you to write a review when you get back.

We have sailed AMA a few times and found them top notch! We have taken a couple Tauck land tours which were superb but not a cruise.

Safe travels and enjoy your Rivercruise!

I just returned from onboard the AmaVida - the Douro River cruise.

 

I can't address the curling iron because I don't use one. However, the HAIR DRYER provided by AmaWaterways worked just fine. BUT, there is no outlet in the bathroom. (I get that, they don't want the risk of using electricity around water.)

 

I had to unplug the lamp on the desk and use that socket. Then, I had to lean way over the bed where the mirror was located to see myself and dry my hair. There was a socket in the entry way, but that was not close to a mirror.

 

Several ladies onboard were talking about the inconvenience of where the placement of electrical sockets are in the stateroom. At least on the AmaVida, there are no sockets close to mirrors!

By any chance, have you posted a review? We are sailing AMA next year on the Douro and would be very interested. Thank you!

We will be cruising with AMA once again Porto to Porto. We are arriving Lisbon 4 days early (Fatima one day) and staying in Porto another so we can visit Santiago de Compostela. Thought about the Madrid one but wanted to spend time in some smaller towns.

Personally, up on the top deck to get the full unobstructed view. We were on the port side but we did AMS to BUD. So, From BUD to AMS, starboard.

Sorry river cruising is not for you. We have done the Rhine, Main, Danube and Rhone so far. Duoro next year. Just can't get enough! We started River cruising 10 years ago and have sailed exclusively with AMA Waterways. Top notch in our books. We have done Tauck land tours and they too, we felt, did a fantastic job. Everyone has different styles. We joined in when we wanted and some passed up. We like the calming of going down the rivers. While we have done extensive ocean cruising, we prefer the rivers at this point in our lives.

I don't know if this will help but I booked a day room in Ft Lauderdale it includes shuttle to and from port hotel and airport. $67 for the room up to 4 people. Perfect for late flights. Gives me access to the room and hotel amenities from 10 am until 6pm. No sitting for hours at the airport.

 

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Which hotel did you book?

No, you don't have to pay to preselect seats if flying Biz

Thank you. I thought that but didn't want to assume.

Just be aware that on intra-European flights, (ex. Lisbon to AMS) "business/first class" on KLM usually is just a coach seat in a 3-3 configuration with the middle seat left empty.

Thanks. We would be going OPO to AMS so a short flight.

If you register for Expertflyer, or a similar tool, you can see the seatmaps.

So I can see the availability of seats "before" booking or Is that similar to seatguru?

Indeed on KLM you can pre book your seat on any flight, but have to pay for it.

You can choose a seat for free upon on line checkin. However, very likely the nicest seats will be gone.

Even with Business/first?

We just did this in May of this year. We had a flight leaving Lisbon on KLM connecting in Amsterdam using miles for Business Class. We were able to book all our seats ahead of time. Since you wish to use miles, you may want to check all options. Originally we thought we would use ATL but tickets for fewer miles were available through DTW. The business class was excellent including the food. We finally had to tell the flight attendants to stop bringing food and beverages. You will probably have several legs with longer layovers. The alternative is a very short connect time in AMS or CDG. I did not need that stress so we opted for the longer times. Even though we were exhausted the experience was one of our better ones.

Thank you! I will look at DTW as well. ATL would be much easier but much more costly. We just returned from Alaska with 2 connecting flights each way so I am primed!

You can also pre-book KLM seats for the international leg if you are booking business class. For KLM intra-European legs in biz I can't recall if you can prebook or not.

I would like to fly the World Business Class for KLM part of the trip. I went on the website and didn't see "fees". I don't want to assume but is there a fee for these seats? I wouldn't think so with the pricing but one never knows! Thank you!

Hi everyone! I am just starting to research Delta One flights to Lisbon and returning from Porto. I will be using my pesos. I know Atlanta Is higher than JFK from prior experience so will probably go out of JFK. Part of the trip would be KLM which I have never flown. When I try to look at seats it tells me I need to book the ticket then pick the seats. Is that the norm? How do I know I'll get 2 seats where I prefer? Am I missing something? Thank you!

With Delta, I request a wheelchair, sometimes when I book or later and never had a problem. You can go on their website and change it (also specials meals) at anytime. When I check in at the counter, I ask the rep to check there is a wheelchairs listed on my reservation throughout my travel. I had 3 connections each way on my last travel and Delta came through with flying colors! Luggage actually arrived too!

Is there still an Effy store?

 

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Yes there is! They had a lot of flyers in the cabins about items in the store and when we were sailing and not in port, it was quite busy.

Wildflower Cafe in Tallkeetna hands down. Homemade seafood chowder to die for and the crab stuffed mushrooms were the best! Spent 2 hours there eating, drinking and talking to the waiters. Would highly recommend.

We were on the Star and disembarked last week. We did a six day land precruise. Ours went by truck.