the mice

When we were in Nice in fall 2022 we were also docked in Port Lympia at Quai du Commerce. While it might look like it is close to the historic center, it is a rather long walk as you need to circle the old port. However, it is a short distance to the end of the old port to the tram. On this map we we docked where it says Corsica Ferries. The tram is where it says Quartier du Port. Old Nice is on the far side of the high hill labeled Collin du Chateau, which you have to go around one way or the other. You can ascend it from Old Nice, but I am not aware of ascending from the old port side. Hope this helps. g

Probably, as much has changed since Covid, but it does make me hesitate to commit in advance. We leave for an independent trip in a few days but just booked this Spain cruise (now shows sold out). I will have to do some research when we return. I'm really only interested in ship excursions in Huelva and Gibraltar since we can do the other ports DIY, especially since we have been there before, and I have a fair idea of what we would like to do this time.

@Oslo Dutch We did the Carcassone excursion on Azamara in fall 2022. Guide spent a long time talking outside entrance to city. Huge crowds so hard to hear with our big group. I told my husband to follow me and we left and followed the Rick Steve's walk. However, if you want to walk the walls, the line was very long so we did not. Also, the church was closed for services so we had to wait to get in. Plus all restaurants were jammed but we finally managed to find one table on the square. Serviceable but certainly not memorable in any way. I was glad to see Carcassone but it wasn't one of my favorite days at all. Way too crowded and a real hassle all around. Hope it works out better for you.

Yes, I found that in the drop down box. But this is the first time I have seen this on Azamara. When we last cruised in October 2022 this was not the case. It's interesting because I got an Azamara email this morning featuring the port of Huelva, describing an excursion to a national park. The link goes to the cruise we booked and no excursion is offered like this - the park is mentioned in a wine excursion. All the excursions in this port are nonrefundable.

We just booked March's Spain Intensive. Before my deposit went through I looked at shore excursion offerings. I could swear that the format was different 2 days ago when I could see the details without going through a booked cruise. Now it's a bit different. There is a drop down listing cancellation terms: 3 days, 30 days and 90 days 100%, and Nonrefundable. Also, there are 2 Azamazing Evenings - one for Gibraltar and 2 days later another for Valencia. Should I assume only one will take place? For Malaga and Valencia, there are On Your Own excursions for $69, which are only transportation to the city center at specific times. What's up with that? Is shuttle service restricted? We visited these 2 ports on an Oceania cruise in fall 2018 and I think there were shuttles. We also visited Valencia on Azamara in fall 2022 but had a private tour pickup at the port but I believe there was a shuttle. Anyone have any experience with any of this? Will need to figure out how to spend our $500 OBC (non-drinkers). At least it's not the $$$ amount we had in 2022 - I bought a Coach handbag that is still in its protective bag in my closet.....😁

We just booked the Spanish Intensive for next March. We've been to several of the ports before so may do independent touring, but we've got $250 OBC each so I was looking at Azamara's offerings. I noticed this statement in the details: Tickets are nonrefundable after purchase. We haven't been on Azamara since fall 2022 so is this something new? If so, I hesitate to make any bookings.

Thanks so much for posting. Just finished it.

They are going on Sirena so no Culinary Center, but that strategy is valid on Marina, Riviera and Vista. Although on our Vista cruise the 2 classes we took were full.

Haven't got any personal experience but maybe this video might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4HFwkpSkKw

Are youasking about Ishikagi excursions or the immigration procedures? For Ishikagi, Oceania cancelled the excursion to Iriomote. We took the other short excursion offered since I couldn't find anything else to do and was concerned about the immigration process. Since we were on a ship's excursion, we went to the theatre and met with the Japanese immigration officers. It was a quick process to be cleared for our excursion. Of course, Oceania Riviera only has about 1200 passengers. After Ishigaki we had Shanghai as our next port. That was followed by Kagoshima, Japan, where we were again on a ship excursion and the immigration process was the same IIRC. This was followed by Nagasaki, Japan where we had a private excursion, but I think it was very fast to get off the ship - this was back in March so I don't remember this day's process as clearly. However, when we returned to the ship, the currency machine in the port wouldn't work for me (it was not an ATM - it only converts cash which I didn't have enough of on hand). So I needed to reboard, get cash from my stateroom and return to pay my guide. The immigration officers let me through ASAP both getting onboard, off again and back onboard.

Did it on Vista last November - great fun. Was also offered on RIviera in Feb/March - would have liked to do it, but was way too busy to try on the few free sea days we had on our B2B. Besides, I needed some non-brain challenging R&R 😁

I agree. The flight from New York to London is too short to get any quality sleep. And if you fly business class, which is the only way I can get DH on an overnight flight, the meal service just keeps you awake for a good part of it.

I have uploaded photos from my computer, not a mobile phone, when doing the online registration. I prefer using my desktop (big monitor, full keyboard) for most of this stuff, rather than dealing with the small screen on my mobile phone.

Oh, one more thing. Where is your cruise departing from? Southampton or elsewhere? And I do hope you are planning to arrive a day prior to embarkation.

Are you already ticketed? Where are you starting from? Where are you connecting? Same airline for both flights? All this info helps provide you with better advice.

Like @1985rz1we are doing this O cruise but as the 2nd part of the Grand Voyage March 22-April 15 since we have the time, and this 24 day cruise covers a lot more. I expect we will add on a week to see Tokyo and Kyoto (but I'm not telling DH that just yet 😉). We have cruised on Azamara 3 times and on the Oceania Nautica. There is a ton of information out there on Japan - you can check the ports at https://www.japan.travel/en/us/ I can point you to 2 threads on Azamara's Japan Intensive with some descriptions of excursions: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2999287-japan-intensive-on-the-journey/ https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3001538-japan-intensive-live-take-2/#comment-67215510 And this is a document on the ports https://partners-pamph.jnto.go.jp/simg/pamph/2349.pdf Hopefully you will find this of some help. Good luck deciding.

Yes, I do see lots of economy awards at more reasonable rates but business class awards are definitely harder to come by. Unfortunately, DH won't fly an overnight in anything but a lie-flat anymore. Since that is usually the start of a trip, I need to get it off to a good start since he's not the best traveler.

I also think there is a lot more "competition" for award seats. Back around 2010 or so, a lot of people did not know about accruing and using airline miles. Enter The Points Guy and a number of other blogs all promoting how to travel for "free" (which it isn't) and pumping credit card sign ups. Now every newspaper and magazine runs articles on doing this. Banks are constantly promoting miles and points and many more people are looking to cash in. So lots more demand. Add in dynamic pricing, and it can be a real challenge. I'm quite literally ecstatic whenever I manage to get really good award seats in J at a great redemption rate. And I've also resigned myself to the fact that in the future I might have to pay actual $$ for our flights.

Awards seats can fluctuate in terms of both availability and number of miles required. Keep watching. Finding seats you want at the mileage you can "afford" doesn't always happen when the seats are first released. I have often taken weeks to find an award that I wanted. Sometimes it was often a few months after seats first opened for booking. And I second looking at partner awards.

Points posted from the Platinum 40th anniversary bonus for DH and me. We have now applied multiple AMEX offers to use on our O cruises. Sept '22 we deposited a Sirena Baltic cruise for Sept. 2024 and earned $250 credit on DH's AU Platinum. This January we moved that deposit to a Vista cruise for Dec. 2024 so did not forfeit that credit. In Nov. '23 we paid the FP on 1st leg of our Riviera Asia B2B cruise on DH's AU Platinum earning an extra 5 MR points (54,204 total). I paid $1K on 2nd leg and got $200 credit as part of signup bonus on AMEX Green (which earns 3x MR on cruises so well worth the $150 fee). In April '24 I paid $1K toward Vista Dec cruise on my Platinum and got $200 credit. Paid $1K on DH's AU Green card and got extra 20,000 MR points (23K total). (my mistake for not checking offers on my Green card before activating offer on the Platinum since 20K MR points are worth more than $200 to me. But once I activated the Plat offer, I'll never know if it was offered on my Green card.). Now DH and I just used the AMEX Plat 40th deal. I made $4K toward FP on Vista Dec cruise, and DH paid the $1198 balance. Then he paid the remainder of his $4K toward our Regatta '26 Japan cruise. So we earned 88,000 MR points (1 point + 10 additional for the $8K spend). So you can apply multiple offers from multiple people if you get the offers. Feel like we've hit the O / AMEX jackpot. (or as DH says, "the mice" got the cheese!). Now just waiting for more offers. 😉

Interchange fees are higher for Amex than Visa or MC.

You should both be able to make the payments. I don't even think you have to wait a couple of days. My husband is an authorized user on my Platinum and my Green. We have charged on both cards and each gotten the $ credit or points, depending on the offer. If it's a points offer, it all goes to my main account since AU earned points credit there.

Maybe you mean Trevi (the fountain), not Tivoli which is outside of Rome and is a day trip from the city. Fabulous, but better for those who have seen the main attractions in Rome itself. You need to pre-book the Colosseum and now the Pantheon, otherwise you need a tour that includes entrance. You can get a lot of information on the TripAdvisor forum for Rome where there is lots of information on tickets to both attractions. Also check the Ports of Call forum here on CruiseCritic. Read a lot. Perhaps get Rick Steve's guidebook (borrow from your local library if you don't want to buy it). He has lots of useful, easy to follow advice for novice travelers to Europe. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

So why not book 4 nights on one reservation and 2 nights on another? When I book hotels (usually using points), I often book nights separately (either because of rate changes or because I am using points from my account and my husband's, or because I decided to add on another day at a later time). Sometimes I have had 3 separate reservations to cover the days of our stay. If you end up keeping both, you can just email the hotel and ask them to link the 2 reservations. I have never had an issue doing this. This way you can put the hotel issue to bed, so to speak, and just focus on the flights.

Others have explained the TAP- Star Alliance relationship. The hotel should have a cancellation policy that would surely allow for a cancellation this far in advance so I'd book that if its a concern. Unless you are choosing a non-refundable rate, which we never do. TAP also has a stopover program so you could stop over in Lisbon for a bit if you wanted.