Jay Bee

Thank you, all. Those are great suggestions. :)

Having recently returned from a cruise on RCL's Oasis of the Seas where it is an extreme challenge to find anywhere to sit quietly and watch the sea go by, I'm wondering about the Silhouette. Are there any lounges or bars with windows (unobstructed by lifeboats) where this is possible?

Thanks,

Jan

Week of March 6, 2017

Europe (Phase I), Year-Round Caribbean & Bahamas

 

Week of March 27, 2017

Northeast & Seasonal Caribbean

I understand the difference between year-round and seasonal caribbean, but which routes/ships are which? After the year-round itineraries are released, I don't know how to figure out what is yet to come out later in the month so it's hard to make a decision.

Jan

We did the South of France cruise with Scenic last year and I must admit I cannot remember Macon. I agree with Gary & Lisa, Lone Star, the Viking boats are deeper drafted then the Scenic vessels this could be the technical problem or the amount of available moorings there are far less then for example the Rhine or Danube at some points only one, there are more being built but these take time. It is a wonderful cruise and one I would happily do again but next time when the weather was cooler temperatures of 30 degrees and above for most of the time was both wonderful and tiring at the same time. Lyon is a superb city I really enjoyed our visit to the Paul Bocuse Institute. Regardless of the so called technical problems enjoy your cruise. CA

Thanks. I'm sure we will. :)

Hi Jay Bee ( Jan )

Just wanted to let you know that yes I have heard back from Scenic and no issues with conversing between Lyon and Macon.

The "Technical Issues" would appear to do a lot with Water Levels and Low Bridges on the river between the two cities and if I remember right you are cruising with Viking and their ship are somewhat higher than that of Scenic Ships.

Hoping that this may be of some help you.

Are you going to be doing any sort of a Blog during your cruise? Have you ever been over in this particular part of France Before? Do you happen to have any sort of inside info as to place to go and see or things that aren't to be missed?

We made our plane reservations yesterday and are flying into Paris on The 19 and our cruise doesn't set out until the 25 of September of 2017, so time to do some looking around and Sightseeing.

Wishing You Smooth Sailings

Fun For All and All For Fun Loungin" Laughin" and Libations"

Happy ThanksGiving.

Gary

Thanks, Gary, for the information. I did call Viking and the phone rep had no more information than was in the email. I didn't find that to be satisfactory, and even though staying in Lyon will probably be nice, it does cut out a significant chunk of cruising the river which, after all, is the point.

We haven't been to this part of France so it's all new to us. Enjoy your trip!

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I am reassured that time in Lyon will not be overkill. The point of a river cruise is to sail down a river so missing the jaunt to and from Macon will be missed, but it's still better than a bus (fingers crossed).

This doesn't answer your question, but on our Rhone trip with another cruise line, due to high water we were not able to sail to Macon from Lyon. Macon was to be the port for our bus excursion to Beaune, but we were bused from Lyon. We had an extra day in Lyon due to the high water, and Lyon is such an interesting city and easy to explore on foot and using the tram system that it was a plus and not a hardship.

 

Unfortunately, due to the high, rapid flowing water, ultimately our ship was allowed to sail from port to port while we had bus trips to meet the ship at each port, visiting places we ordinarily wouldn't have enjoyed had we been on the ship as well as the regular walking tours of the ports. Was this ideal? No, but it is such a beautiful and interesting area of France that we still very much enjoyed the trip. High or low water is possible with river cruising, and you never know what might happen.

Actually, that does help. Thank you. :)

Hey Jay Bee,

I have just talked with the folks at Scenic here in the US and haven't heard of anything but I read your post to them and they are contacting their operations department to see if this pertains to all cruise lines or just Viking. Did you find out in calling as to what the " Technical Issue " is?

No. I thought I'd post here first before calling. If people tell me that we're really missing out by not sailing to Macon, I'd like to be ready to register a complaint.

Jan

Thanks ever so much for your posting as we are booked with Scenic on the Sapphire for The Spectacular South of France with Paris and Monte Carlo for September 2017 and have just sent an email inquiring as to if this be the case for all cruises..

Lisa and Gary

LoneStarCruisinCouple

Please post if you get a response. :)

(I would have posted this on a roll call thread, but there doesn't seem to be one, and besides, I wondered if it affected other cruiselines.)

We are booked on the Viking Delling next summer for the Paris, Burgundy & Provence cruise. Last week I received an email stating:

In my experience, itinerary changes generally do not enhance the cruise; rather, the opposite. Does anyone have an opinion (especially those who have done this trip)? Has this affected all cruises to Macon?

Thanks,

Jan

Speak to Guest Services, sometimes they can contact the airline and get a slightly earlier time approved.

Thank you! I will do that.

Out of Port Canaveral they told me your flight has to be after 12:30 and only if you are on an Oasis class ship.

We've got a flight at 12:13 so I guess we'll just miss the cutoff. Good to know for planning. Thanks.

Thanks for the responses!

Jan

Has anyone recently used luggage valet at Port Canaveral? I'm looking for the flight times that qualify. A post from Apri indicated that it was between noon and midnight. Has that changed?

Thanks,

Jan

Thanks, all. I was hoping there might be a few unmarked stairwells other than those designated "crew only." And I am looking at Deck 8 so the one on 7, though nice to know about, isn't quite high enough.:)

Are there stairs on the Oasis class ships apart from those near the elevators? Specifically, if I have a stateroom near the Aquatheater, do I have to walk all the way to the aft elevator/stair area to go down to the boardwalk?

TIA.

How did you get the number to call. Thanks

It was in the email from Viking outlining the air itinerary.

Jan

We were on the Sea's maisen voyage. It was more fantastic, wonderful, etc. that I can express. We reserved only 2 1/2 months out, as we have done on two river cruises. We get the best deals! We were in a middle cabin on floor four. We liked the location very much. There's no way we would book way in advance! We do our own airfare as I like to control my flights and seats. We love Lufthansa Premium Economy. Have flown this several times LAX to Europe. This time we opted to upgrade to business at the airport. I always go right to the gate agent to get on the list before they even announce if there will be anything Available. I also refer to Seat guru.com to help me select seats prior to buying our tickets. Also, if you check orbitz.com you can see what seats are open, then buy your tickets directly from the airline. I don'd buy from discounters because I prefer to deal directly with the airline, just in case there is a problem. Have a fabulous cruise!

Thanks for the advice. :)

They will ask for your booklet sent with the luggage tags about a month before travel, because they want to scan to bar code right inside the back cover. But if you don't have that they will just look up your name. I don't usually take ours to save space, but it does expedite things a bit a check-in.

Good to know. I was going to take one of the two. That should probably be adequate. Thank you.

Jan, some folks are already talking about just this subject on another thread. Click here to see what they have to say about it.

Thank you! I missed that.

We will be on the Sea soon, and if it's as good as I anticipate, we may want to book a future cruise while on board to take advantage of a deal that will expire before we get home. Is there some sort of future cruise booking desk on board? And do they offer any incentives to do so?

Thanks,

Jan

Thanks, both. One less thing to think about. :)

Hi. We'll be on the Viking Homelands trip soon so I'm lining up my ducks. Do we need to print out or bring along any papers in order to board? Other cruises we've been on require some sort of "set sail" pass.

Thanks,

Jan

On our cruise (50-day maiden) there was no separate tip for Cruise Director. We just got back from a Viking RIVER cruise, we asked for envelopes as opposed to the auto gratuity and there was one envelope for Staff and a separate one for Program Director. On the Oceans cruise we only got one envelope that said Gratuities - no separate one for Cruise Director.

 

Spa staff are tipped separately.

 

For the local guides and bus drivers, we tipped the recommended amount for half day tours and double for full day tours. Did not tip based on costs as most are "free". We adjusted up and down based on quality. We tipped in either local currency, Euros or US$.

thank you. that is helpful. :)

Thank you!

Do you happen to know it the gratuities charged include the Cruise Director (not sure of the correct term...Tour Director? Program Manager?) We have only been on Viking River and while the Cruise Director provided many on board services and lectures, he also took several walking tours in port.

Thanks,

Jan