Jamietravelstheworld

I don't recommend going to Paris if your port of call is Le Havre or anywhere that has a long drive because you won't have enough time to see or do anything. If you decide you must go to Paris, I would only do a ship's excursion, because I'd be too concerned about not getting back to the ship in time. And I wouldn't do the ship's Paris on your own, because you'd still have very little time to do anything. Paris is packed with people (I was just there) and there are crowds for everything. If you really want to see Paris, I'd plan to do it pre- or post-cruise. It's worth several days.

I have just discovered the most wonderful company. It is the Baggage Handling Company and they handle baggage for many cruise lines. They will pick up your luggage anywhere in the UK, store it, and deliver it to the ship on the day of your cruise. Super nice people on the phone. Here's their website. https://www.thebaggagehandlingcompany.com/ I recommend calling and talking to them, they're open M-F, 9a-2p London time so you may have to get up early to talk to them if you're in the US, but well worth it because the 2 gentlemen there I've talked to, Craig and another person I can't remember the name of, have been super helpful for me.

I've been on smaller cruise lines as a solo - Azamara and Regent. On Regent, they really go out of their way to make sure solos meet and interact and have a daily cocktail gathering and most nights several people would then go to dinner. The Cruise Director sent all the solos invitations to these events. On Azamara it was just listed on the daily program, and was not as well attended. On my first Azamara cruise there were only 5 of us who showed up but we became very close and had cocktails most nights and often had dinner. On my 2nd Azamara, at the beginning there were closer to 15-20 of us, but that number dwindled quickly. However, several of us continued to get together regularly. I will be traveling on Princess this summer and am curious how the larger cruise lines handle solos.

Looking for recommendations for a cruise line for India and Sri Lanka. I prefer smaller ships but itinerary and cost is most important. I’d appreciate your input. Thanks.

Doesn't really matter what the requirements are today - that could easily change between now and October, and most likely will change multiple times.

A couple things I'd want to know: Which ports are used for Ho Chi Mihn City and Bangkok? For large ships (which NCL are), the port for Bangkok is 2-3 hours from Bangkok and for Ho Chi Mihn City I believe it's an hour away. Take that into consideration when planning for excursions. I love Bangkok so I'd recommend spending several days there after the cruise. In 2020 I was supposed to go to HCMC and Sihanoukville in 2020 but never made them (aborted cruise midway due to COVID) so I can't tell you much, but Sihanoukville seems like a beach resort city. Singapore is a fascinating city as well. I'd recommend going in at least one day early in case of messed up flights and to see it as well - you can see a lot of Singapore in one day with a private guide (that's what I did) but it's exhausting due to high heat and humidity.

@BTO, I believe I am on the same cruise as you, but am boarding in Santiago, Chile on February 14, 2024. Will be on the Marina. I'm curious to hear the responses and I noticed that several of the Amazon ports do not have excursions listed.

Will have a cruise stop in Le Havre in July and trying to decide between Mont Saint Michel and Normandy tours. Both tours involve a lot of bus time and a lot of walking, so can't use either of those as deciding factor. If you've done both or have a strong opinion, which would you recommend? Mont Saint Michel appears to be stunning, but I am concerned about the physical stamina required to really see it. I like WW II history but don't have a strong personal connection to it so am not sure how interesting I'll find it. Or is there something else you'd recommend? (Don't want to go to Paris, too far for a day.)

http://www.dewabalitours.com/

Hi. I'll be on the Regal for British Isles at the end of June. Is there anyway to know if there are any special themed nights where special clothes (such as white night) should be packed?

Do you know which website you book the Waterloo to Southampton train on? I haven't been able to find it? And do you need reservations in advance?

I haven't seen any discussion of this. I'm taking the Eurostar from Brussels to London St. Pancras station before a cruise out of Southampton. I know I can change to Waterloo station and take a train but I'm wondering if there are any shuttles that pick up at St. Pancras. Googling I haven't found anything and car services are very expensive for one person. Thanks.

I was in Dubai for 5 nights in 2017 and what I learned was that the city is quite large and traffic terrible. Taxis were expensive and it took forever to get anywhere. I would look for what you want to do and find a place to stay near that. I don't remember where I stayed but it wasn't convenient to anything so I wouldn't stay there again as it was a half hour taxi to go anywhere. BTW, Ubers were less expensive than taxis. Often when I'm looking for a hotel pre/post cruise, I look at what hotel the ship is using and then book that hotel independently (much cheaper than through the ship) or if it's not available or is still too expensive, look for a hotel near the ship's hotel. The cruise lines usually choose based on locations and quality.

Will be on an Oceania tour in October 2023 that docks in Kobe. I'd like to do a non-ship tour to Kyoto on our half day and am looking for recommendations. Probably a private tour because of what I'm interested in. I'm not finding much when I google. Thanks.

For the port of Durban on February 27, I just found this tour provider, Wild Routes Africa. They offer several day tours, but this one particularly interests me: https://wildroutesafrica.com/plants-and-primates. I have sent them a message asking to book it. As I'm traveling solo, I may need to find others who are interested - it's a max of 7 people, so if there are others interested, please let me know.

Hello. I'll be on a cruise next fall that has 2 days in Bali (Benoa port). I've been there before and saw a lot so I'm struggling with what I'd like to do this time. A couple questions: 1. Are there hotels/resorts that allow day passes for the beach with facility usage? 2. Is it easy to get cabs at the port or in Ubud to take you to specific destinations or is it better to hire a driver for the day? Thanks.

I will have 1 day in Singapore on a cruise in fall of 2023. Just before COVID I had a full day in Singapore and did a private tour where I saw so much, including the Gardens by the Bay and Chinatown. I'm looking for something unique or different to do when I'm there next year. The ideas I have so far are the Orchid Garden and Raffles Hotel. What other suggestions do you have?

Hello all. I will be on the Regatta in the fall of 2023 cruising in Asia and am booking a few private excursions where the guides want to be paid in cash in US dollars. I will be traveling before the cruise and don't want to carry this much cash. I'm assuming there's an ATM on board as there's a casino, but can someone confirm this, and confirm that it gives out US currency. Do you know if there's a daily limit? And what the transaction fee is on it? My Schwab ATM card refunds ATM fees so I'm not particularly concerned about fees but still curious. Thanks.

I am on Oceania Regatta in the fall of 2023 that has Shanghai and Hong Kong as ports of call and I am assuming neither will happen. If either does, I will be surprised. Shanghai is a bucket list city for me. I've been to Hong Kong before and loved it. I have a friend who is Chinese and from Hong Kong who lives in Australia who just returned to Hong Kong to visit family for the first time since COVID. She said it's not the same and to be glad I visited several years ago. It's not just COVID, it's the changes in the Chinese government and the crack down on human rights that started pre-COVID. Personally, as much as I'd like to go to Shanghai and back to Hong Kong, I'm okay if I miss these ports.

@SargassoPirate Your idea of the two cruise-only bags is a good one - thanks. I'm also leaning toward your 2nd idea of paring down the expectations of cruise only wear. I've learned that the evening dress code on the first cruise - Azamara - is fairly casual - but I know the 2nd cruise - Princess - is dressier and I'm not into dressing up much anyways. Thanks.

I am coming up on the date to be able to book shore excursions for a 50+ day cruise. Does anyone know of a way to download a PDF of all the excursions for an Oceania cruise? On long cruises I so much prefer to be able to print them out and read them and highlight the descriptions, rather than having to go through them online. I've asked my travel agent and she hasn't been able to find this either. Other cruise lines have this and this is my first Oceania cruise so I'm wondering if there's a way to do so. Thanks.

This might not be the right forum to post this question but I couldn't find a better one. I'm going to be traveling for 14 months, some by cruise ship and some by land. When traveling by land I am going to have as little luggage as possible, but when on ship, I need extra clothes for dinners. I know I can ship luggage to and from my home, but I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can ship luggage between cruises and have it stored there. For example, I end a cruise in Lisbon on March 25, 2023 and my next cruise starts in Southampton on June 25, 2023. Rather than shipping a suitcase back to Seattle and then on to Southampton, do you know of a way I can ship it to London or Southampton and have it put in storage and then delivered to the ship in Southampton? I don't know anyone who lives in either port city who could help with this. I've looked online at the luggage shipping companies and none mention anything about storage. I will also have the same issue from Australia in December 2023 to Chile in February 2024. Thanks for any advice you have.

I just returned from the Mariner (8/31 - 9/7), Seward, Alaska to Vancouver, BC. This was my 2nd Regent cruise and probably my last as I just don't feel the experience justifies the cost. My first Regent cruise was in 2020 and was wonderful, even with it being aborted midway due to COVID. We booked this cruise to use our FCCs from the aborted cruise. While there was nothing terrible or really bad about the Mariner or the Alaska cruise, here's my feedback: The food was generally mediocre to poor, with the exception of Prime 7. Fish was the worst, and we were in Alaska. Most of the fish was clearly frozen, but given we were in Alaska, I would have expected fresh salmon and halibut. In fact, I never saw halibut and the chefs did not know how to cook salmon. (I live in Seattle and my son was a cook at a seafood restaurant here so I know what salmon should taste like). The texture of the fish was all wrong. Meats were generally under or overcooked, sometimes served cold, and rarely seared properly. Food was usually seriously under seasoned and vegetables seriously over cooked. The Wi-Fi was beyond terrible, worse than any cruise ship I've been on, and I paid for the upgraded streaming quality (which I did get a refund on when I complained about it). The Internet Manager was out sick the last few days of the cruise and there was no back-up crew person to help passengers or to help with the Internet Cafe computers, most of which had issues on the last day when everyone was trying to check-in for their flights. My friend found the one computer that seemed to work and we helped several people with their flight check-in. I totally get that crew get sick (which supposedly was not COVID) but there should have been someone from Guest Relations who could step in to help. The bathrooms in the Deluxe Veranda Suites (not sure about other suite types) were seriously outdated and in my mind fairly unsafe. There was only a tub/shower combo. To get in the shower, you had to step over a tub side that was at least 2 feet high, which when the ship was seriously rocking was dangerous. And if you were tall, once you were standing in the shower, your head hit the ceiling. My estimate was the ceiling was 6 feet from the tub bottom. With a rocking ship, I literally had to hold onto the safety bars with one hand to not fall while in the shower and then had only one hand free to shampoo, etc. I had peeling material in the bathroom sink and there was a constant chemical smell, I assume coming from the toilet. The ship was not full - I think there were around 560 passengers. Compass Rose was never busy, and the sommeliers seemed bored. We literally had 2 to 4 sommeliers offering to refill our wine glasses every 2 minutes. It became quite bothersome as we couldn't even finish a sentence with each other. This was my 4th trip to Alaska and my first late in the season. My first trip was to Juneau and was land only, in June 1995; my second was land only Anchorage to Fairbanks in June late 2000's; my 3rd was an NCL cruise in June or July early 2010's. The weather was great on all of those. I mention that because on this cruise the weather was pretty crappy. From Seward to Sitka the weather was rough - 50+ mph gusts and pouring rain at times - many people with seasickness and we had to skip Hubbard Glacier. From Sitka to Vancouver we had on and off light rain and gray skies, but much calmer waters. So if you're planning an Alaska cruise for late August/September, be aware of the weather potential. Lots of shore excursions were cancelled due to weather, especially those with helicopters or flights. Alaska is an amazing state definitely worth a visit, and a cruise is a great way to see it. I just didn't really enjoy this cruise, other than hanging out with my friends and seeing some wildlife.

There has been lots of discussion on visas in the various roll calls for the Africa cruises.