has been

46 minutes ago, Ehg said:

Any update on docking. No sign of you yet in Southampton. 🤷‍♀️😬

Both CruiseMapper & Sky Bridgecam have Sky stationary .. a long way from where they usually dock though.

The Orion has gone back to green on CDC=

CruiseMapper reports it is getting a little breezy, with a 28mph wind & 2.6 meter waves ..  Anyone getting a bit queezy?

Any photos of the pool?

Orion has gone GREEN at CDC = 

3 hours ago, Twitchly said:

We’re in Hawaii right now visiting friends, and yesterday we saw a smallish cruise ship docked here (in Kauai). Couldn’t get a look at the company (not Viking). Looks like Hawaii is open to at least some cruise ships again.

Looks like it might have been The World or Oceana Insignia.https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Oceania-Insignia-640?tab=itinerary

Cruise Mapper gives the impression the Orion will be calling in at Hawaii on the way back to the US. Have those folks on board been adivised of their itinerary?

PS .  you have to zoom out a bit on that link to get the past & future route.

I have now finished posting my impressions. For anyone not interested in the photos of the whole trip I have added a Summary

Thanks to those who expressed an opinion of the postings.

That will be the end of any posts until around June when I will be writing about my SE asia adventure. Mid Jan to Mid May.

To all those who will sail on the Odyssey - Bon Voyage.

Steve

Great blog and pictures. Waiting to read more.

Istanbul is there now. I usually post a port every two days or so.

I was on the 25th September Athens to Istanbul, Istanbul to Istanbul round the Black Sea.

I am just halfway though posting the story on my Blogo for anyone interested. Mostly photos with a few comments.

http://hasbeen.travellerspoint.com/384/

Press "next' at the bottom of the blog to continue

Steve

You will have a chance to book the shore excursions you want once you are onboard. They don't "sell out" to my knowledge except in a few cases where they definitely let you know that there are limited spaces (such as an excursion to a particular palazzo in Palermo).

 

Usually if a particular excursion is a half-day excursion, it is only offered once (e.g., morning only or afternoon only, not some in the morning and some in the afternoon).

Thanks very much. Its is coming together nicely. Not long to go now. Going to be looking for a copy of The Iliad.

Looks like Iceland is going to blow it's top again soon. Hope it doesn't cause the same chaos as last time.

Steve

You can choose either of the excursions, but not both. In Batumi, both are half day, but Thessalonica has either a full day or half day.

How does one make the choice? On line or on board? Is there a priority list for bookings? Do some choices get 'sold out' & late comers get what's left?

For half day tours - are there separate morning & afternoon tours?

At the back of my mind for all this is that I quite like being on board when everyone else is ashore. With a half day tour split between am & pm, the ship might be half empty for half a day - very nice.

Seve

Steve,

My husband and I will be on the cruise sailing from Istanbul on September 2nd. Very sad that so many of the scheduled ports were cancelled, but still looking forward to the new itinerary. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on VTA three years ago.

Yes- it is very sad to miss Russia & Ukraine. I had hoped the alternates would be still in the Black Sea or more time in Istanbul, instead of what for me will be, more Greek Islands.

It is even sadder for those poor folk caught up in the Ukraine's problems.

I have been looking at the shore excursions and see they offer more than one included excursion on the same day. Any idea how that works out?

Steve

Hi I will also be on the cruise on Feb 14 in fact I am also on the 2 previous segments leaving on Dec 19 This will be my 5 th cruise on Minerva and I have always had a midship or forward cabin and noise was not a problem but I was invited for a drink in one of the stern cabins on Baltic and I was glad I wasn't staying in that cabin I am also a fellow Canadian

Betty

Madrona Bet

Wow - that is quite the route for you. Singapore to Singapore. I was on an Oceania cruise last year that called at some of those stops. Very interesting - very exotic.

No need to ask if you enjoy the Minerva I think.

Have you been to any of these places before?

Do you go home after the 14th Feb?

Steve

A refund took a round-about route & had a bit of trouble avoiding banks on the way but it finally found it's way to my account.

Hi Steve - I know it can be frustrating looking for a roll call for this line and may I suggest that all of us try to persuade the company to set up some kind of roll call thing on their website or that other site that we are not supposed to mention here.

 

Several years ago, I set up a roll call for my first ever cruise with them and it got shanghaied by haters and was eventually locked down ... and rightly so. I've never tried to open another one since.

 

Anyway, any questions re the ports of call for your cruse, just ask away since some of us have probably been there on a past cruise.

 

Enjoy and I envy you your cruise on the lovely little ship. - Shar

How about asking CC to open up one for V2A just like any of the big cruise lines? How would one go about that?

My questions for my Black sea cruise are around the subject of the stops in Crimea, which might get cancelled. No point asking if Crimea will be cancelled just yet but It would be interesting to speculate what the company might substitute.

Steve

Sorry - This is gonna be a little off-topic as the thread is about 2015, but there is not a lot on CC for this cruise company.

I will be on the Athens to Istanbul & Istanbul to Istanbul starting in September 2014 & wonder if anyone else is on either of those cruises.

Steve

Point taken about the offer being made to you and it may be that a different one is placed before us, but somehow I doubt it

Have they actually made you an offer? If not, then they are not offering you anything at all.

Have you written to them your concerns & expectations of what they should do?

If not, then I doubt they will not make you any offer.

On another note- Last year I had an even worse experience on Oceania. A mega cost cruise line. I managed to contact the President to tell him why I would not be travelling on his cruise line again. His response - an offer of a discount against a future cruise.

Hmm, if they start cherry picking offers, they're an even worse outfit than I thought!

They are not going to 'Cherry pick" anything.

Their offer is this'.... we should like to offer a discount of 50% from the brochure fare of a future sailing on Star Flyer, Star Clipper or Royal Clipper in 2014 or 2015. This discount may be combined with other brochure discounts such as Repeat Passenger and Early Booking, if applicable.'

You will be the one doing the picking, cherry or otherwise.

Sorry - I was reading dollars not pounds & I wasn't factoring in the air fare or transfers.

My fare was $2750 US just for the cruise 7 days but if I were to travel with them again I would go on the Royal for 14 days which would no doubt be more than double that. The discount offered is based on the future cruise so the refund would be 2750 or there abouts.

I should also add that the offer has been made to me. Others may get a different offer.

The base cost of this holiday package put together by SC in the UK was £2365 pp (based on the lowest grade cabin) and economy flights - so one is looking at minimum cost for two people of around £5000 or more depending on cabin grade, and flight class. What they are in effect offering is the equivalent of £600 pp which is the cost of a mid-grade cabin for a week on one of the Clippers. This does not in any way equate to their inefficiency and 'loss of enjoyment' experienced. In addition the descriptions on SC website remain unaltered.

Is that how you see it?

I see it as - a brochure price for a future cruise at 2500pp, times 2 for a couple = 5000. At a 50% discount = a 'Refund' of 2500. The higher the price of the future cruise the more of a 'Refund'.

Having said that, even without the problems, I will not be going on that ship again. Apart from the food, there was nothing special apart from the cost, which was way too high.

So - I would need a cash reimbursement, not a discount & that is not going to happen.

And apuleius - I cannot find you on tripadvisor.

...Please DM off the forum......

What's DM?

Just got this from my agent...

Re: Star Flyer sailing 16 February 2014.

Thank you for sending your constructive criticisms regarding your recent sailing on board Star Flyer. We have now completed our investigations and should like to address your points as follows:

Firstly, a considerable amount of planning took place to prepare for this operation in Cuba and the Cayman Islands. A number of Star Clippers’ marine operational personnel, Captains, Cruise Directors and tour managers were sent to Cuba to meet with the Cuban Authorities and local Agents, plus to check the ports of call and anchorages.

The advertised itinerary had been checked and approved by the Cuban Authorities. Unfortunately, the various Authorities do have a tendency to change their minds, on a regular basis, and this was the case regarding the planned call at Cayo Blanco. We were instructed to anchor at a different location to that originally inspected and, when the ship arrived, the crew found it unsuitable. Therefore, swimming was arranged from the ship’s gangway. We now have a more suitable beach stop arranged for the first day.

The call at Casilda was preplanned and the nautical charts show adequate depth in the channel. Star Flyer made a successful call at Casilda during the previous sailing from Panama to Cuba. Unfortunately, this channel has not been properly dredged and the ship was grounded on sand, during this cruise, with the pilot on board. It was necessary to order a tug to move the vessel, which took some time to arrive. We now have a suitable anchorage, for future calls, off a nearby beach with easy access by car to Trinidad.

The delay, waiting for the tug, caused the cancellation of the planned call at Cayman Brac and meant a late arrival into Grand Cayman, affecting the shore excursions available.

At Cayo Largo our anchorage was changed again, meaning that the area had to be checked by our crew first, causing another delay and shortening the beach stop there. We now have a better anchorage and a shorter tender ride to the beach and marina.

The next day was advertised as sailing in the archipelago. Unfortunately, much of the area is shallower than depicted on the charts, plus there was a swell that day, so swimming from the ship or a photo tender was not possible. We now have a beach/BBQ stop arranged for this day on subsequent sailings.

We understand that there were problems with some transfers between Havana and the ship and we have asked our travel partners to ensure their bookings are confirmed, with correct timings, with the local operators.

We also had assurances from the port authority in Cienfuegos that passenger facilities, such as chairs, tables etc, would be prepared for Star Flyer’s arrival, however, this did not materialise. We are continuing to pressure the authority to provide this at the port.

As shown in our brochure and on our website, this was the first cruise for Star Flyer, from Cienfuegos to Cienfuegos, and Star Clippers is pioneering in arranging these sailings in such a destination. Even with considerable planning, many aspects of operation only become apparent after the ship physically arrives at the destination. Plus negotiating with the Cuban Authorities will continue to be a challenge, although it is already improving.

Nevertheless, we do understand your disappointment and, as a gesture of goodwill, we should like to offer a discount of 50% from the brochure fare of a future sailing on Star Flyer, Star Clipper or Royal Clipper in 2014 or 2015. This discount may be combined with other brochure discounts such as Repeat Passenger and Early Booking, if applicable.

We do hope that you can understand our position and that we may be given the opportunity to welcome you on board again in the not too distant future.

>>>>>>

Steve

Hi

A bit of news re the 16th feb sailing ----

I wrote to my travel agent (the report that you can see above), who wrote to Exclusive tours, who wrote to Star Clippers.

This is the response...

"Please see the reply that I got from Star Clippers in Monaco:

Thank you for your email advising us of your client’s concerns. Could you please kindly send your client an interim response stating:

We take their concerns very seriously; The Owner of Star Clippers, Mr Krafft, has flown to Cuba to complete the investigations with the officials in Cuba plus the Captain & Officers on Star Flyer. The matter will be discussed further with Mr Krafft after his return next week and then we can send our official response.

We understand that our valued clients and travel agencies are waiting for our reply and we thank them for their patience in the meantime.

It seems that the sailing that your client took was indeed problematic.''

... I am hoping we can see Trinidad and also have a bit of time at the beach.

....!

...

I don't recollect a beach there or anyone mentioning one.

......

....!

One more question: Did you find it easy to get money from ATM"s using your debit card (Cdn)in Cuba? How about using credit cards (Cdn).

....!

I did not use a debit or credit card in Cuba. I changed Canadian & US notes at Parque Central which does not use debit or credit for exchange. I did wiz through cash.

Remember you need to pay 25 CUP cash Havana airport tax after you get your boarding card.

There are banks & ATM's around. Ask at the desk.

Enjoy your trip & i want a full report on your return. Say hello to Ingrid from the guy with the red socks. I can't believe she noticed but she did.

Steve

A lady I spoke to, German maybe, who took the ships excursion did not like the pace of that tour. Too long here, not enough time here. Some parts very rushed. If I understood her coreectly, her shipboard account was adjusted to a lower figure after she complained on board.