Brissle

Thanks again

Thank you for that entertaining (and informative) reply.

I've just started planning for the cruise and on the basis of adverse comments about the "included" tours we are looking to be independent in most places.  Our experience of paid tours provided by the ship on other cruise lines has left us a little bruised (financially anyway).

The lady I spoke to at Saga the other day said that information on excursions to be booked would not be available until 4 - 6 weeks before sailing anyway.

thanks for your help.

Hello everyone,

My wife and I will be on Spirit of Discovery April 9th cruise Treasures of the Adriatic. 

This will be our first experience of Saga.

Can anyone please tell me if Saga provide shuttle buses in ports, to the nearest town centre?

Thanks

OK thanks everyone for your input and suggestions.

The Cruise Critic option is the closest to what I'm seeking, but still does not provide the full list of filters that I would like.

As Idubs suggested this is an opportunity for someone to develop a full searchable database of all cruises anywhere at any time.

I wait with bated breath.

Thanks again....

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

You would  need to narrow down  your  wants  but look at the top of CC for "FIND A CRUISE"

I hadn't tried that. Actually it's getting nearer to what I want - and there are filters t narrow down the cruise lines.  Thanks for that suggestion.  More research tomorrow....

Thanks everyone.

I'm guessing that you guys in the USA have far more helpful agents sites than I can access here in the UK.

A Google search as suggested came up with a few regular agents, who I am aware of, but they all want to know where I want to go, when and on what cruise line. before I can search.

The website suggested by Essiesmom is the closest to what I want (many thanks) but it still isn't a "proper" database where I can do a refined search by specifying (say) six cruise lines and three or four geographic areas and a range of up to four or five months to search.

I'll keep trying - the data exists, it's just a matter of finding someone who has organised it in a searchable format.

I'm starting the plan ahead for a cruise in autumn 2023 or maybe the winter 2023-24.

We have no particular area we wish to visit (have done many over the years) although we would exclude southern hemisphere.

We have no fixed length (anything between 15 and 30 days).

We don't mind whether we cruise from the UK or a foreign port, although the former has attractions.

We have a long-ish "shortlist" of preferred cruise lines and ships.

Is there a data base of ALL cruises by ALL cruise lines in calendar format where we could look and filter down to get ideas?

It takes far too long to search each individual cruise line and most don't do a simple calendar list of where all their ships are going.

We just want an easy way to get ideas - and maybe find something new and different.

I'd be very interested in any ideas or links.

Thanks

We hadn't considered Celebrity - know nothing about them.

We only started looking at Symphony of the Seas because of a conversation with our TA.

Yes we realise that this is only a very short cruise (we usually do 21 days or more) but we consider it a "taster" as I said.  We will probably spend time on board on most port days, so the lack of sea days won't matter in this case.       Maybe we should try a taster on Celebrity as well, sometime.

Yes we had discovered that Cunard have a "Class" system - top grade cabins have access to a separate restaurant, so I guess that is just the same as here.  But that is the only other ship we have found that.

And we only went with them once.

The comments have been really helpful - we are more encouraged to try this out.

At the moment - all other things being equal, as they say - we are considering an 8 day Caribbean cruise from Miami in December - it just happens that we will be in Miami at the right time.

Thank you everyone for such constructive comments.

Thanks everyone - what a great selection of replies.

This will all be a great help to us.       

We will certainly enjoy trying the "upmarket" restaurants and i have already noted several that have been mentioned here.

I did discover somewhere, about the cabins that are called suites, having access to a separate lounge, bar, restaurant (Coastal Kitchen, someone said) and deck area.  We're not used to having different classes on a ship, but for us, maybe seeking some peace and quiet sometimes it may be worth the extra cost.  Does any cabin called a suite have access to CK and the suite lounge?

Deck 8 sounds attractive for access to many things.

Someone asked what our previous cruise experience is - we started when I retired in 1999 with P&O (a British cruise line, now owned by Carnival), then switched to Princess, tried one Cunard cruise, and lately have been with Seabourn and Oceania.  We always try to find cruises with a maximum number of sea days and few ports - we just love life on board.   We know are are very fortunate to have been to so many places all over the world and we are not inclined to rush ashore on an excursion - been there, done that.  I'm not boasting - we know we are lucky - but we just love life on board a ship (and someone else does the cooking, washing up, cleaning the cabin.....)

Symphony of the Seas Caribbean cruises are only 7 or 8 days and we would treat this as a taster....

thanks for all your helpful input.

Hi everyone,

We are a retired UK couple who have been cruising for 20 years.

We usually choose small ships, but our TA has told us that we should try the Symphony of the Seas if only once, just for the experience.

He knows that it's not our normal type of cruise, but says that we should try it.  We do understand that this ship is designed for family activities, but will take pleasure from watching the young folk trying all the sports!

So where do we start?  We have never cruised with RCI.

Can anyone tell me where we can discover answers to all our questions?

E.g. - if we choose a suite cabin with sea view balcony, which deck and where on the ship is best to be located? / are all meals included or are there supplements to pay - can we purchase a buy-out package? (We do enjoy good food in good surroundings) / can we get a package for all-inclusive drinks? 

We'll be grateful for any advice - it will be wonderful when we are able to start cruising again.

20 hours ago, ORV said:

I can remember in the past, not recently, that I’ve got a mailing from Oceania where if you recommend  another passenger, and they book on a cruise you are booked on, then you and them both get an obc.  Of course it came about a week before the cruise.

That is exactly what we had with our first cruise with Silversea and I was hoping something similar might have operated with Oceania.  Another regular Silversea passenger "sponsored" us and they and we received a chunk of OBC.

Hawaiidan - the "scheme" operated by Silversea does not require any payment up front - why should it?  If they are giving ME some OBC why would I need to pay them money.?

As we've already established Oceana do not have a similar promotion for first timers, so my original question has been usefully dealt with as you will see if you look at earlier replies.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

OK thanks again.

I checked with our TA.

It seems that when we booked this in July 2018, we were given an early booker's discount plus a discount from my TA as regular customers.

We do have O Life options and it appears that at the time of booking we chose the House Select beverage package with the recommendation from our TA that most of her customers take that then upgrade to the Prestige package onboard for $20pp per day.    We visit only 2 or 3 ports that we haven't been to before so the 8 free shore excursions were not of interest. The other choice was $800 OBC, which would have covered the tips with $150 to spare.  We are not heavy drinkers, but are likely to want to enjoy drinks in the bar before lunch and dinner and late evening, so the Prestige package looks like the right choice for us.  But everyone is different, of course.

OK, thank you everyone.

Was worth asking the question anyway !

We're very much looking forward to our first Oceania experience.

I'll talk to my TA about this.

Happy cruising.

Hi we are sailing on Marina in November Barcelona to Rio.

First time on an Oceania cruise.

Does anyone know of any scheme for first timers to obtain on-board credit?

My package doesn't include any OBC.

When we sailed with Silversea last year another passenger on the Roll Call suggested that I should be sponsored by a regular Silversea passenger and this worked and gave us a decent on board credit.

Is there a similar scheme with Oceania?

Thanks Floridiana,

I guess that's what we will get - I have average temperatures for Kushiro (Japan) and Kodiak (Alaska) and both are on the chilly side in late May.

We forgot to consider the weather when we booked this cruise - were just attracted by the itinerary and days at sea (which we enjoy).

Oh well, no sunbathing on deck this time, then.

Thanks

Hi,

We would be very grateful if anyone who has done the North Pacific Circle route (Japan to Alaska) could advise on typical / average weather to be expected during the 7 days crossing.

We will leave Japan on 20th May and reach Kodiak, Alaska on 27th May.

We know it could still be chilly in Alaska when we get there, but the crossing is a puzzle - can't find any data anywhere.

Thanks

Thanks for the referral coupon offers.

We are now sorted.

Chris

Hi everyone,

We are a UK couple booked on Seabourn Sojorn for the cruise starting on May 15th.

This will be our first Seabourn cruise.

We are interested in contacting anyone who may wish to share a referral coupon.

We can be contacted at cjhumphatgmaildotcom

Thanks

Chris

Hi Sue,

We are in Memphis now - in an apartment and will transfer to the Sheraton on Sunday as planned. Don't know when they will let us check in, but we will leave our bags there in the morning before taking the rental car back.

We've had a great trip so far - have "done" Chattanooga and Nashville and now seeing the sights here. Just back from Graceland - well you have to do it after coming all this way !

We have a note of your name and will makecontact somehow later on Sunday afternoon.

Have a good trip,

All the best

Chris & Dawn (Humphreys)

Chris and Dawn

 

Come to think it of it. We can meet in the lobby on Sunday either late afternoon or dinner time. I just know one thing: On Saturday, I have to go to the Rendezous rib resturant. They are closed on Sunday. I am told they have the best ribs in Memphis.

 

Best,

 

sue

Thanks for the tip about Rendezvous.

We don't have plans yet for Sunday when we arrive, or Monday morning, because we will have already spent 3 days in town. We'll probably just want to chill out.

Late Sunday afternoon meet in the lobby sounds good - we expect to check in around lunchtime and will try to remember to find your room number and send you a message.

See you soon

Chris

Hi Sue and Les - well we've started packing the bags and sorting the paperwork because we leave home next Wednesday to start our pre-cruise adventure.

We received the tickets and information pack yesterday and the pre-night hotel is confirmed as the Sheraton Downtown, Memphis.

We will be staying in an apartment in Memphis for 3 days prior to moving to the hotel on Sunday.

So we may catch up with you at the hotel or maybe later on the ship.

Our surname is Humphreys (Chris and Dawn) and we will be in cabin 412.

We hope to catch up with you somewhere.

Happy travels

Good to hear from you Kathy.

My brother emigrated to Canada in 1951 also - he was older than me. He lived in Ottawa, then Kingston and we visited him several times. We love Canada and spent one of our best ever holidays doing a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer from Calgary to Vancouver, then a week touring in Vancouver Island, then the Alaska cruise, then a week in Vancouver itself, then an RV back to Calgary in time for the Stampede show. My brother had told me that we had to visit Vancouver one day - and he was right - you have a wonderful city. So much music in the streets when we were there.

I use (and contribute to) Trip Advisor a lot - an amazing source of information when we are visiting new places. Usually Cruise Critic Roll Calls are good for cruises, but river cruises don't seem to get the same response.

Hope you have a good trip also - please leave the ship in good order for us...!!!

Chris

Hi Chris: Just booked our air and we will flying out of St. Louis at 12:35 also so perhaps we could share a cab. Will connect with you somehow. Sue

Hi Sue,

Just back from Baltic cruise (incl St Petersburg). Great trip but a bit cold and wet at times. We hope for better in TN.....

I'm sure we'll link up OK once we get on board if not at the hotel night before.

Will be happy to share a cab.

Got to find time to plan our after-cruise road trip when we fly up to DC. Have loads of suggestions from the Trip Advisor forum. It's amazing how helpful folk are when people like us ask for advice.

Have a good summer.

Thank you for that tip-off LDVinNC - a useful prompt to look up Google maps. It seems that when we dock at Alton we are only about 30 minutes away from the airport. Somewhere I found a reference to the airport transfer which includes a tour of St Louis (which we will have visited the previous day.....) but now I can't find it again. From memory the price was $69 pp. But i can't find that now when I do a search, so maybe I was mistaken.

So a cab (or Uber) may be the best option.