Rainbow3fe

26 minutes ago, Julma said:

I was just on for 3 weeks and the Bigelow fried my hair and stripped the color.  I've never had shampoo do that.  I used the Bigelow last year and it seemed ok, not great, but it didn't do to my hair what this stuff did.  I was in two different rooms too, so it wasn't just the product in one room.  I ended up buying stuff in the shop.  

Thanks.  I was really thinking about shower gel and body lotion.i bering my own sulfite free products.  I won't use generic shampoo or conditioner because they will strip color and dry out your hair.  

I do appreciate your help. 

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Slightly OT:

Before I took early retirement and moved to Philadelphia I worked at Chase Bank in Manhattan. At one point in my long career with them I was a Branch Manager for one of their branches in the Greenwich Village neighborhood.One of my business customers  was the original Bigelow Pharmacy on Sixth Ave.. Never thought they'd grow to become an International brand. 

Oh yes. I know that shop. It's still there. ( last time I looked before COVID. )

My son has been using their products forever.

Such a lovely neighborhood to work in. 😎

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

You will only get the Labo Santal in AQ if you are Zenith.   Otherwise you will get Bigelow.    I like both products and would not carry any extra product with me. 

 

If it doesn't work for you pick up some product at first port of call.

I appreciate your advice. 

     Bigelow will be good for me. Now that I know they don't have generic garbage, I won't have to schlep 3 weeks worth of products. Our TA leaves from Rome and we'll be vacationing in Italy before The Edge trip back to the US.

8 hours ago, drakes2 said:

The shower products are very poor quality in dispensers on the wall but you can shave your legs with the conditioner. I had some Bvlgari shampoo gel products from home which I brought but you won't even find these in aqua class.

Thanks for letting me know. 

Just now, Rainbow3fe said:

54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

On our recent cruises in AQ  and  CS we had Bigelow and Le Labo Santal  in RS and PS.   Having said that due to being Zenith they changed out our products to le Labo Santal even in AQ.

 

If you get the Le Labo Senta you will have to read the labels they are very entertaining with little quips e.g. For Shower Gel -  Invite someone into shower If using this product.

Expand  

I looked at Le Labo Santal and it apears that they are both plant based and cruelty free. Looks like they're certainly worth trying.  I appreciate your help. 

Felice 

53 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

On our recent cruises in AQ  and  CS we had Bigelow and Le Labo Santal  in RS and PS.   Having said that due to being Zenith they changed out our products to le Labo Santal even in AQ.

 

If you get the Le Labo Senta you will have to read the labels they are very entertaining with little quips e.g. For Shower Gel -  Invite someone into shower If using this product.

49 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

On our recent cruises in AQ  and  CS we had Bigelow and Le Labo Santal  in RS and PS.   Having said that due to being Zenith they changed out our products to le Labo Santal even in AQ.

 

If you get the Le Labo Senta you will have to read the labels they are very entertaining with little quips e.g. For Shower Gel -  Invite someone into shower If using this product.

Thanks. We're Aquaclass. Will look up Le Labo Santal products.  Sounds quirky.

I do know Bigelow.

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Did you have a higher category than a Sky Suite? On the Apex Sky Suites had Bigelow toiletries.

We have an Aquaclass Stateroom if that's helpful.

    I really want to know if they're decent enough for me not to bring along 3 weeks worth of products. 

Thanks 🌊😎

      I have a question about the quality of the bathroom products on Celebrity.  We're doing Celebrity Edge for the first-time. I usually don't bring shower gel or body lotion  with me because I am accustomed to Oceania's Bulgari.  I love using them. . 

     That being said, I would like some feedback 

    Thanks and Happy Valentine's Day, 

Felice 

1 hour ago, Lucas Mom said:

My husband and I took this cruise in January 2019.  We stayed in Cape Town for 4 nights before the cruise and stayed at the Cape Town Hollow Boutique hotel.  We used PG Tops Tours and had a private guide each day - who also met us at the airport and brought us to the ship.  Our tours included a full day city tour which included Table Mountain and Kirstenbosch, a Cape Penisula tour including Simonstown, a Cape Winelands tour including 4 wineries and morning high tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel.  We did all private tours except in one port.  Most tours we organized with others from our roll call board.  In Mossel Bay we did the Point of Human Origins tour, in Richards Bay we used Heritage Tours and went to the Umfolozi Park for safari and lunch.  In Durban we did a Tours by Locals to the Zulu Valley with safari at the Tala Game Reserve.  In East London we had a tour (not sure of tour name) to the Mpongo Private Game Reserve.  In Port Elizabeth we had a private tour to the Addo Elephant Park.  In Walvis Bay we booked through Namibia Tours and did a full day Sandwich Tour which included the salt flats and sand dunes, the next day we toured more of the country with the same guide.  Then after the cruise we spent one night at the Cape Verde Hotel right at the airport because we flew out early the next morning to Victoria Falls for 2 nights before heading to Chobe for 4 nights for safari.  Please let me know if you'd like any other detailed information or have any other questions.  Be ready for rough seas around the Cape of Good Hope.  We were gone a total of 28 days and it was a wonderful trip.  Michelle

Thank you Michelle.  This is so helpful.

     We booked ship excursions for every port. Many of them go to places you went to. We will revisit our decisions when the time comes closer and people start to organize private tours. 

    I definitely will bother you again when we need advice. 

Stay safe 

Felice 

Hi,

    I'm interested in feedback on experiences in Walvis Bay. Looking forward to going in Han 2023.

3 hours ago, boerneDQ said:

We did this cruise in 2017, so things may have changed.  We did the Overland excursion to Phinda Game Preserve and it was excellent!  We left the ship in Richards Bay and returned in Durban.  If it is offered, I highly recommend it!

Sounds wonderful. 

35 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

It does happen. We’ve had one cruise where there was no YWYW option. Of course, it could by a mistake on the tours PDF. But, if the reservation system isn’t showing a YWYW price quote next to tours, you are SOL.

       I spoke to Oceania and they said options were full price or Unlimited plus $$ for OS. 5 of the 6 excursions chose were OS .

      We'll only go on game drives that offer 4x4 open air vehicles.  We are taking this cruise in order to see the animals. 😎  If we have to pay extra, it's worth it for the experience.  I have no idea if we'll ever be able to return to Africa. 

It turns out that our  Oceana Capetown cruise does not have a 25% discount for X number of cruises. They are offering $779 per person unlimited and there's an upcharge when an OS excursion is booked.

  We decided to book this way because for good game viewing experiences, we need to be in a 4x4 open Jeep as opposed to a coach or van.

On 9/23/2021 at 10:13 PM, hotzej said:

I am on the 2023 HAL WC and have been doing some research on the African ports.  Here is what I have so far...

East London, South Africa.docx 15.95 kB · 15 downloads Durban, South Africa.docx 20.35 kB · 19 downloads Port Elizabeth, South Africa.docx 21.5 kB · 19 downloads Luderitz, Namibia.docx 18.2 kB · 16 downloads Walvis Bay, Nambia.docx 15.13 kB · 16 downloads

Hi,

    We are on Oceania Jan 2023 and are docking in some of the same ports.

   Has anyone been to these places and booked game drives?  Most of these tours aren't what I am trying to find.

Thanks 

On 1/3/2022 at 1:12 PM, susiesan said:

Why not fly to Windhoek after the cruise and do a safari in Namibia? I was there this past June 2021 for a 10 day private safari. It was wonderful. Namibia's landscapes are so different than the other African countries, a very unique and special place. Namibia safaris are very reasonably priced compared to kenya or Tanzania.

Our cruise does an overnight in Walvis Bay Namibia. Looking forward to going there.

56 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't let the 'excellent' destroy your chance to experience the 'good.'  We cancelled a Great Migration safari that would have been wonderful – because we felt our backs couldn't take the continuous pounding over rutted roads and outback.  We ended up with a smooth river safari that was very good (and very good to our backs) and one day in a jeep that confirmed our fear of the longer trip.  Figure out the best that you can do, and enjoy!

    That's wonderful advice. I know that although every experience may not be perfect, we'll still have a great time. The river safari must have been wonderful. 

     Same reason that we canceled our Ugandan Gorilla Treking safaris. We booked private tours and purchased our Ugandan Govt permits for 2020. Moved them to 2021and then totally canceled.  We don't think at our age that we have the stamina to climb uphill in the hot jungles for 3 hours. We still are hoping to go on a safari in 2024. Hopefully we will be strong enough to go.

    Enjoy 😎

Felice 

1 hour ago, Queen of DaNile said:

The game drives from the pier are definitely late AM because it takes a while to get to them. Don't remember the exact type at Tala but thinking it was an enclosed smaller vehicle. Hluhluwe Imfolzi was an open vehicle and def not like any of my visits to any zoo. Certainly not like a dedicated safari but not bad for a day trip.

Hu,

Happy New Year 

.    I appreciate your letting me know about the "game drives". Hopefully we'll meet in the future on another cruise. The Dec 3 Riviera cruise was relaxing but not exciting.  We loved listening to Tony at the piano every night. He's a gem. A delightful person and excellent entertainer. Made it to one show and it was awful.

Please let me know you think of anything else that's important. 

Stay safe 

Felice 

1 hour ago, Queen of DaNile said:

We did Hluhluwe Imfolzi from Richard's Bay and Tala from Durban. Not bad for day trips. Lots of white Rhino which was my objective.

Thanks for letting me know.  Glad you saw white rhinos. 

We can book them but I do have a few questions if you don't mind. 

     When you arrived at the preserve were you in transferred to jeeps/ open air off road vehicles? Ivan doesn't want to remain in a coach or van for animal viewing.

     Were the game drives in early mornings or kind of midday? I know best animal viewing is early morning or dusk.

Thanks again  

Felice 

6 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I have come close to that situation on an O ship quite a few years ago in Central America. I cannot remember the specific port. But, there were both significant tide and traffic issues ticking the buffer clock down while a small bus load of one O tour was caught on the other side of a major fire crossing the main (only) passable road back to the port.

As we watched the not-too-distant blaze, an announcement was finally made that the ship could wait no longer than another approx. half hour and we were reassured that the port agent was already working on arrangements for the folks who might get stuck ashore.
Fortunately, the fire was finally brought under control and the “pier runner” bus did make it back.

 

    I appreciate your input. I know the ship has to move at a certain point even if an excursion group is late getting back. I really didn't think it through. 

     Now I'll research private group game drives from the ports in Durban and Richard's Bay.

    Any suggestions??

Thanks  

Felice 

On 1/2/2022 at 9:59 AM, RPen63 said:

We were booked on the 2020 version of this cruise, which obviously did not happen.  Instead, we pushed the booking to a 2022 Caribbean cruise.  However, we could not get Africa out of our mind, so we booked a land tour to Kenya last November to satisfy our dreams of Africa.

 

I subsequently looked at the ship tours offered on this voyage and cannot imagine how they could compare favourably with our land tour experience.  As an example, a 90 minute drive from airstrip to lodge took 3 hours so we could capitalize on animal viewing opportunities.  Our guide kept in touch with the lodge and our freshly prepared lunch was waiting for us when we eventually arrived.  Game viewing is highly unpredictable and the rigidity of a ship’s tour is not conducive to seeing much less observing behaviour.

 

A large group tour is also not conducive to seeing what you want to see.  We were watching a pride of lions along with a couple of other groups.  I saw 2 bull elephants fighting, which interested us but obviously not the other groups.  Our guide was happy to let us observe to our hearts content while the other groups chased their own interests. 

 

As far as my experience relates to yours, I suggest that you spend top dollar on the available tours and supplement with a pre- or post-cruise tour without the confines inherent in time limited day trips if time and finances permit. 

Hi,

   I appreciate your advice. My concerns are that if we book private excursions at these ports, we can possibly be delayed getting back to the ship. ( Flat tire, vehicle breakdown or other unexpected problem) I know that if we are on a ship's excursion, the ship must wait for us if there are mitigating circumstances. 

     Are any of the ship's excursions worthwhile? The OS ones are costly and are the only ones that sound exciting. I am so sad. 

     I really would like to know if anyone HAS USED a private company at these ports. In all European ports, there are great suggestions about reliable tour operators.  Also, in those ports it's easy enough to get a taxi in an emergency. 

     We are planning to go on a short Safari near Capetown after the cruise. This will be expensive but isn't much as far as animal viewing. 

     We have booked a Kenya and Tanzania Safari for late 2024 but wanted to squeeze in  this cruise just in case Covid or health issues prevent us from going. 

Thanks again  

Felice 

2 hours ago, RPen63 said:

We were booked on the 2020 version of this cruise, which obviously did not happen.  Instead, we pushed the booking to a 2022 Caribbean cruise.  However, we could not get Africa out of our mind, so we booked a land tour to Kenya last November to satisfy our dreams of Africa.

 

I subsequently looked at the ship tours offered on this voyage and cannot imagine how they could compare favourably with our land tour experience.  As an example, a 90 minute drive from airstrip to lodge took 3 hours so we could capitalize on animal viewing opportunities.  Our guide kept in touch with the lodge and our freshly prepared lunch was waiting for us when we eventually arrived.  Game viewing is highly unpredictable and the rigidity of a ship’s tour is not conducive to seeing much less observing behaviour.

 

A large group tour is also not conducive to seeing what you want to see.  We were watching a pride of lions along with a couple of other groups.  I saw 2 bull elephants fighting, which interested us but obviously not the other groups.  Our guide was happy to let us observe to our hearts content while the other groups chased their own interests. 

 

As far as my experience relates to yours, I suggest that you spend top dollar on the available tours and supplement with a pre- or post-cruise tour without the confines inherent in time limited day trips if time and finances permit. 

Hi,

   I totally appreciate your candor.  In 2015 we did an awesome 3 week safari through Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  It was more exciting than we could imagine.  We subsequently canceled BTB safaris for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda  for 2020 and then 2021. Not knowing how Africa will recover from Covid,  we didn't rebook. 

     We booked the Oceania Capetown to Capetown just to " get back to Africa at least one more time". We will extend our trip and are researching a private tour from Capetown. Kruger is in the rainy season so that's out. Kenya and Tanzania will have to wait until.2024.

    I really appreciate your help. 

Felice 

14 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

If it's offered, do not waste your time with Aquila "Private Game Reserve". We did it as an included tour with our post cruise stay and yes, you'll see the Big 5 but in a totally unnatural environment. Looks like they offer a post cruise trips to Chobe/ Vic Falls or Kruger which you could do on your own for a lot less $$$ and customize it for your interests. JMHO

Thanks for letting me know about Aquila. After doing research, many agree with you that it's a Zoo environment.  We've been to both Chobe and Victoria Falls. Sadly, friends who live there said it will be rainy season in Kruger. 

Stay safe, 

Felice 

2 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We were on the Nautica on a Capetown  to Singapore  cruise and stopped at several ports in South Africa. We used a private guide for the extra days we spent before the cruise.   It's too early to book anything  but you can spend time researching.

 

Robbin Island  is a popular day trip....rather than paying the Oceania price, many people book the tour directly with Robbin Island...they took Uber to the tour meeting place (nearby). The same boat takes everyone to the island and then the island people run the tour. 

 

There are also wonderful wineries around Capetown.

 

 

 

Hi 

   Thanks for the info. We spent a week in Capetown a few years ago and did enjoy wineries as well as wonderful sightseeing.  

    We are interested in visiting a game preserve for 3 or 4 nights after the cruise and also making the most of the game drives and private preserves that the ship offers.

   Sadly almost all of the great ship excursions are designated OS. If we book more than 4 each, can we get the 25% discount? Guess we will have to take SBC on this cruise.

     Anyone go to any of these parks??

Thanks  

Felice 

55 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Use the search feature on CC and look for Oceania “YWYW”. I’ve posted all the specifics many many (did I say “many”) times. Basically, your cruise’s tours PDF from O will tell you how many per person tours you must book to get 25%. Your O life freebies count toward that minimum which then gets you 25% off the cost of paid choices.

NO - you cannot pay the difference for OS, OE.

O Life is only “basic tours” usually no more than $199.

 

Take the time to do the search and my posts will have very specific instructions that will save you $$$.

 

Yes, raised in two Brooklyn neighborhoods: Flatbush and Red Hook (now the way-too-chic Carroll Gardens). Midwood HS and Brooklyn College. Summer?: Manhattan Beach in HS and Neponsit (Rockaway) in College. 

 

Thanks again.  I definitely will look at those posts. I appreciate your explaining the differences between the tour excursion designations. For Africa, I may have to pay for the excursions we really want to do. 

Wow! Certainly our neighborhoods. I went to Lincoln and Brooklyn College but both of our children went to Midwood. (walking distance from our house)

Our daughter and her husband just sold their condo in Cobble Hill. 

Looking forward to hearing from you again

Felice