rachiem

New PUP survey is interesting. Would like them to status match on Silverseas!

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Regensburg bridge seems to be fine. All sorted within eight hours according to the newspapers.

 

Passau gauge now at 627cm. Much more favourable for passing under the suspension bridge.

 

notamermaid

 

We won’t make it. Scenic have told us that it’s still impassable. Doesn’t make much difference to us as we fly from Munich on weds but the guest going to Nuremberg will have a longer journey. 
Bussing to Regensburg tomorrow, which is a short ride and have the added bonus of a few hours in Passau 

We are currently on the Scenic Amber and have docked at Linz today (from Melk)

we are supposed to dock in Regensburg tomorrow but there’s a very strong chance that we will end the trip at Passau as the river is still too high. 
we have been extremely lucky and mostly unaffected by the high waters. There are a lot of trees still underwater with large branches as debris in the water. 

40 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Passau has risen to 704cm and is now on flooding level 1.

 

notamermaid

 

We are due in that area in 5 days...fingers crossed it reduces 

1 minute ago, jvd1971 said:

Today we are leaving Marseille. This was added 

when we orded a a drink

20% grat / service charge

Vat 20%
Vat 10%

 

I had a promo code - service charge - premium beverage package SCPBP quantity 2.

 

got no explanation or email from NCL. And big lines by the service desk.

 

I read it was only in Spanish waters? But now the added everything the whole cruise

My brother is also on this cruise! So VAT is added to the VAT 🤷‍♀️

1 minute ago, joandy2425 said:

But is this not an NCL issue? France haven't just started charging VAT on drinks in the last month...or maybe they have? The charges differ quite a bit from our Med cruise in June?

We've literally just stepped off a Celebrity cruise and never encountered this?

22 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I disagree with you, passengers can't just demand that a cruise line email them about every little eventuality. What's next? "Dear Guests, there's a possibility of rain during your cruise a month from now, so make sure to pack an umbrella." VAT can be and is a reality and passengers are responsible for paying it. Just like missed ports, strikes, bad weather, diseases, etc. Here's an article I found helpful. It dates from 2018. https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/what-is-a-vat-tax-and-where-will-you-find-it-on-a-cruise . I find this sentence interesting: "Cruise lines generally notify passengers through the daily newsletter of major changes in taxes as the cruise progresses, including tax changes that occur due to missed ports of call." 

but it doesn't even mention this on new bookings going forward. Someone had an email stating Spanish ports...but it's clearly extending beyond those now

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

 

Kinda hard to email 1,000s of guests in advance when the staff only heard about it a week ago. I'd reckon this is a good reason to follow Cruise Critic. We've known about this for more than a month! I disagree it's a transparency problem, the stuff about VAT is already covered on NCL's website.

I disagree....If CC knew, then NCL must have also known that this would be introduced or maybe they should start following CC?

3 minutes ago, joandy2425 said:

Agreed.  I felt really sorry for the staff, particularly at Guest Services, who were inundated with cross guests.  The person I spoke to at GS told me the staff had only been told on 25th September of the change to charges?!  

 

Its not a massive deal for us but I can see how the lack of transparency made it a big deal for some.   

As it's VAT, can you claim it back as we are a non EU country?

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Exactly. Every time I read a comment like "RCI doesn't charge this" I'm like "yes, they do, you just don't see it." (As if a major cruise line is going to break the law in a flagrant manner like that).

 

Right???? Folks think nothing of dropping $10,000 on a fancy cabin and then whine about $2 on a drink? But of course, it's not about the money, it's about the principle. Sure it is. 🙄

Sorry, but it's more of a transparency problem.

NCL should be emailing people in advance rather than letting the poor staff onboard deal with the aftermath!

2 hours ago, joandy2425 said:

We've just returned from a Med cruise on the Epic (on the FAS package) which sailed from Marseille and didn't include any Spanish ports.  VAT at 20% was charged on every drink with 10% of the VAT charge added on top.  I was told by Guest Services that VAT is payable on all drinks consumed in ports or in the waters of any EU country.  We didn't receive any prior communication from NCL about it.

 

It didn't spoil our holiday but it did for many other guests.  The queues at Guest Services were lengthy and everyone we spoke to was complaining about it.

 

We sailed on the Epic at the beginning of June from Barcelona visiting Spanish, French and Italian ports and at that time only 10% was added.  

 

I've emailed to ask for a full and honest explanation of the charges......who knows when I'll receive a reply!!

Yep, my brother has just boarded in Marseille and is being charged too. They've had enough time to email their clients but haven't? 

We've just come back from a Celebrity sailing and never had any VAT added...cruising Italy, Greece and Spain.

These cruise lines need to be clearer as their drinks prices are already ridiculously priced!

Thank you for posting the review.

Like you, we are doing are first ever river cruise in Dec (same itinerary and ship) but adding some Christmas markets. We have also opted for the Marriott extension (this was cheaper booking with Scenic than doing it directly)

We've sailed with Celebrity, Viking, NCL etc....but all have been ocean cruises.

Glad you enjoyed yourselves.

4 minutes ago, Riocca said:

U.K. deposit is £250 pp but as you correctly say is non refundable.

Thank you, I thought I read $550 but never got to the booking stage

Thank you. It’s hard to know if it’s a good price as we’ve never really looked at Aza before but compared to Celebrity, it seems ok! 
I think we only have NRD of $550 pp, so cancelling isn’t really an option. 
the other one we’d considered is Oceania but they don’t have the itinerary that we’d like 

Thank you all for the help and insights 🙂

I think the UK price seems similar to the US price (as we don't have a great exchange rate with the rest of the world at the moment)

The free upgrade looks to be on 2024 but saying that, the 2025 prices look slightly lower (although there is no exact comparative to our cruise itinerary)

I think if the ship was larger, last minute in the UK usually gets a better price but as Azamara has smaller ships, I'd imagine that they fill up quicker?

Again, thanks for your help and as the itinerary is just what we are looking for, I may just go ahead and book now 🙂

We've wanted to try a Croatian cruise and Azamara has a great itinerary for this in May 2025.

We've sailed Celebrity (Elite), Viking, NCL, MSC, RCL and P&O and I'm assuming that Azamara will be more on par with Viking?

The price seems good (although I don't have many comparisons for the itinerary) £2200 pp for 7 nights?

Do they ever have a sale or are the prices quite steady (as I've noticed with Oceania)?

Finally, I'm assuming that All Inclusive is in fact All Inclusive?

Looking at the balcony vs club balcony

Thanks fo any help....Off on Celebrity on Monday and think that may be our last with them for a while, due to their high prices.

We have the Reflection booked for this coming Monday and we are Elite status.

We have decided not to book any more ocean cruises at the moment and will be trying some river cruises.

We have a Xmas markets Scenic river cruise in December, which we are really excited about!

Just out of interest, does anyone know who will match a Celebrity loyalty status?

We have matched with MSC but no one else.

Just now, doghog said:

Ignore the app. Consistently inconsistent, IMO. Wait until you are onboard to see the menus. 

Ok, thanks...fingers crossed 🙂

It no longer shows any kids Fillet Mignon on the App, so will be interested to see if it's been "pulled" from the options now

3 minutes ago, doghog said:

Yes. I've ordered the Mac n Cheeses on some of our cruises from the kids menu. 

Thank you...sometimes it's nice to just have something simple 

I've sailed on Celebrity 4 times but have only ever asked this question in Luminae, but in the MDR, if I'm not that hungry, can I just ask for something off of the children's menu?

Looking at the menus on the App next week, everything looks the same as previous sailings and sometimes I'd prefer something smaller.

Us Brits get embarrassed at asking 😉

Have just seen that the "all inclusive" fare if booked after the 4th Oct will no longer include gratuities 😞

One more cut back!

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/CEL_08_22_23_All_Included_One_Pager.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1EmoLRFxu24KZfCzGHgbql8pMQBZIMHCaVYWznPTtv5rxUiyhxZWi6PUU

They say to limit tourists but won't they just get "bussed" in anyway from other local ports?

Can't help re photos but it looks like you had the pizza at the hotel that we previously stayed at 🙂

Excited to read your reports!

Excited to read your posts.

We are doing this Itinerary in Sept on the Reflection...only on a concierge SV cabin though...with friends in the cabin next door.