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Mrs. Claypool

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Everything posted by Mrs. Claypool

  1. Samantha Brown (PBS) did a show on Egypt several years ago. She sailed on the Sudan and had a lot of good things to say about the experience. Yes, it did look fascinating; very old-school, in the Agatha Christie manner. In 2019 we sailed past her as she was docked in Luxor, but we were on Uniworld.
  2. I throw in a black skirt, as well. Just in case an emergency “really classy occasion” should arise.
  3. We were on a Seabourn cruise last month that stopped at Saigon for one day. The ship arranged our visas and they cost us $55 each. However, we were told that if we wanted an overnight visa or longer, we should contact the front desk. Perhaps that would have increased the price?
  4. Costco has just started selling boxes of Portuguese tarts in our local warehouse. Check your cold case section. 😉
  5. We just returned from an Encore voyage. The public restrooms had both cloth and paper towels. I certainly agree with all those who have posted above; the bathroom in your own suite should be your first choice for any purpose!
  6. We took UNIWORLD’s 2-week Cairo and Nile cruise back in 2019 and enjoyed it so much that we’ll be going on the same cruise with them again in 2 months time. Excellent guides, interesting itinerary and comfortable ship. We had hoped that the Grand Egyptian Museum would be open by this time, but they just keep pushing it back to a later date. Sigh!
  7. I also recommend “Tour With Xuan”. Xuan worked carefully with us before we had even arrived in Saigon, to make sure that the tour would meet our needs. He answered all our questions very quickly and clearly. Xuan met us at the cruise port exactly on time and he dropped us back off exactly on time. Everything in between was beautifully arranged and at a very reasonable price. Not only was every minute of our tour filled with something interesting to see and do and learn and eat and drink, but spending time with a lovely person like Xuan Le was a pleasure in itself. His email address is tourwithxuan@gmail.com An excellent guide and a wonderful tour!
  8. In Singapore, we booked a tour through the Secret Food Tours website. Our guide was Edwin Lee and he was just excellent.
  9. We have taken river cruises with Crystal, Tauck and Uniworld. We were very pleased with our experiences on all 3 of them. Crystal stood out in terms of dining. Which is a moot point now, of course. So I can heartily recommend either of the other two lines.
  10. We are booked on this year’s Rivers of the World cruise in May and it does include the Nile. I expect Uniworld wants to change things up from year to year to attract repeat customers, so we may see the Ganges some time in the future.
  11. We are US citizens, so this information may not apply to you. However … We have a Seabourn cruise next February that includes stops in Cambodia and Vietnam. Our TA checked with Seabourn and we were told that the ship would arrange for those two visas and put the charge on our shipboard account.
  12. It’s listed in the itinerary under Day 6 - Rudesheim.
  13. One evening Tauck took us to Schloss Ehreshoven for dinner and a musical performance and a tour around the castle. As they had promise, it truly was a magical night!
  14. We have just finished passing through the Middle Rhine on the Tauck MS Inspire. No swapping, no busing and no bottom scraping. Plenty of passenger ships and barge traffic going through both ways. We even saw a very large barge loaded with containers!
  15. We arrived in Munich this morning to overcast skies. We took a walk to the area around Marienplatz for an early dinner. It was a lovely cool afternoon after our awful heatwave in California. Then, halfway through dinner— Crash! Thunder and lightening and a downpour such as I haven’t experienced for years! No umbrellas with us, of course. It went on for hours. So we arrived back at the hotel looking like drowned rats. But all my husband could say was — “What would Notamermaid think about this?” 🤣🤣🤣
  16. We were in cabin 216 which is mid-aft. I didn't notice any diesel smell. Honestly, I can't remember smelling any unpleasant odors anywhere on the ship.
  17. We cruised the Nile with Uniworld in 2019 and loved the experience so much that we’re doing the exact same cruise in 2023. We were on the Tosca, and she is an absolutely beautiful ship.
  18. We have done several tours with Tauck. There are at least 3 occasions when a sport coat may be appropriate: the welcome reception dinner, the special event onshore and the farewell reception dinner. I remember once checking into the hotel in Munich on our first day and meeting a couple who were also on the tour. They had just seen the official itinerary and the husband decided that he really needed a sport coat after all. So they left the hotel, walked downtown, and bought one for him!
  19. We have just been informed that all the China ports (Hong Kong and Xiamen) have been pulled from our Encore Southeast Asia cruise next February and the itinerary has been significantly changed.
  20. The Sears in San Diego certainly had a hot nut counter when I was growing up. But my mother never bought any because they were "an unnecessary extravagance." Now I buy my own cashews in the 2.5 pound jar from Costco. Then I look lovingly heaven-ward and say-- "Hey, Mom! Watch me stuffing my face with cashews!" Emily 😋
  21. In our group of 20 there was one solo woman in her 80’s. She was coddled and cared for by the staff as if she was Cleopatra herself! In 2019 we travelled in November; excellent weather, neither too hot nor too cold. Looking at our group photo, we were all wearing t-shirts and long pants or shorts. May appears to be the “shoulder season”, so it will probably will be getting warmer. The real heat evidently starts in June.
  22. Forgot to mention— we enjoyed that cruise so much that we’ve signed up to take it again next May!
  23. We took the Uniworld Nile cruise in 2019 on the Tosca and had a fantastic time. I highly recommend it. If you have any particular questions, I would be glad to answer.
  24. Thank you for the news about the Crystal logo being removed from the Mozart. Very sad, indeed. We were so proud to have such a beautiful vessel as part of the Crystal family, even for a few short years.
  25. Congratulations! We’ll be on the Sphinx in May. We sailed down the Nile on the Uniworld Tosca a few years ago and there was no self-service laundry. Looking on the Sphinx’s deck plan, I did not see any public laundry room listed. However, Uniworld has a Heritage Club for those who have travelled with them previously and one of the perks is complimentary laundry service.
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