pinotlover

We are wanting to book the Douro for 2015. We have meet and talked with many Spring cruises that because of flooding, the ships often can't go above the Dam in Spring. That results in long tour bus rides to sights in Spain. Likewise, October can be iffy because of low water. We don't want to go in the heat of the summer, therefore, is September normally a good month to make it all the way up the river and back? Is early September better than mid to late month. Is there a big temperature differential?

Thanks to all!

Thanks to everyone! My wife and I read every post. We are booked on this trip Sept 13th , North to South. Flying in a week early to do the Provence and Chat. du Pape wine area, and then doing the three day extension in Nice.

Can't Wait!!

We never buy trip insurance. If we have to cancel a trip/cruise, it would mean that we are probably having far greater problems that make losing the cost of the cruise inconsequential.

thanks Jim; Yep, that's the one.

I didn't recall seeing any public transportation there. All that came out was the O shuttle, tour buses and vans, and taxis. No public transport except cabs.

Can't remember the name, but they dock nowhere near the City Center. It's in a industrial area about a 15 minute bus ride into the City Center. O typically provides free shuttle buses.

FDR should define "country club casual" in detail, for all to understand and not leave it so open to person interpretation. If he wants Lee blue jeans in the dining rooms in the evenings, just say so. If he wants 250 lb woman wearing tight spandex to Jacques, put it in the policy and leave no room for doubt. Common Sense is a myth, spell it out!

Herb;

Totally correct!:D

I realize Jiminy doesn't like discussions discriminating on body types but nothing worn can destroy my meal faster than a obese woman walking by the table in tight fitting spandex! :eek:

Please show me the common sense or source of advice in those clothing selections!!!:(

I'd take bathrobes and curlers, at the breakfast table anytime! Spandex on anyone over maybe size 10 should be banned!

Discussions linking Common Sense and Clothing are oxymorons. If you want proof, just go sit in front of your local Walmart and look at some of the attire walking through the door. :eek: Unfortunately, I've seen the same level of common sense displayed on both cruise ships and river barges. We can never depend upon a nonsensical concept of common sense to rule the day!:(

Fuel Science;

I'll repeat what I said earlier. Seating availability on flights to and from Europe is entirely different in the June-mid October time frame as the rest of the year. Upgrades that may be easily obtainable right now , at the last minute, are impossible to achieve even months out in those time frames.

One other word of caution. The various cruise lines often have very low group air rates which is designated on the ticket as the ticket type. If you have booked on that fare and try to upgrade to E.P., at the airport, the price quoted may be significantly higher for the upgrade.

When jeans and shorts become the allowed normal dinner attire, I'm done with O. Let the casual casual crowd have the boat. See how they fill it.

that simple enough?

Size 64 Comfort Fit Lee Jeans are not classy. The problem is convincing the men that wear them of the fact!

FDR is having so much trouble filling his Russian designation tours that he'll probably start allowing sweat pants to dinner if they reserve the trip. The problem isn't the dress, it's giving money to Putin, Inc.

Wear whatever you like during the day, but no jeans etc, at dinner. Fairly simple.

Please keep down the bathrobs and shirtless attire fetching morning coffee also!

Nana;

It's amazing how many American men and women don't, or refuse to, understand the difference!:eek: They only understand what they are comfortable in.

Still remembering the woman showing up for breakfast in her bathrobe and curlers, but I guess she felt comfortable!:rolleyes:

Only tried to use Viking Air once and doing myself was easier and less expensive. We don't go out of one of their portals, so that was an upcharge. We always go in several days, this time a week, early and stay past the disembark date, more deviations. I found tickets, on my preferred airlines, for considerably less than the Viking offer.

We typically fly Economy Plus. If one waits on many of the long leg flights until the 60 day out time period and attempts to then upgrade to EP, good luck! This is especially true going to Europe June-Oct, or AU/NZ Dec-Mar. We booked our upcoming Sept. Viking cruise early last Oct as soon as airfare/reservations became purchasable. Friends, travelling with us, didn't book the flight portion until about Thanksgiving. All EP seats were gone, they'll be riding coach for playing around for 45 days. If you're serious, and the Viking deal works for you, pay the extra and book EP ASAP!

I laugh at many of the responses here. If a young slender lady looks very stylish in a pair of designer jeans, does that also make a 50 year old, 50 lb overweight lady in a pair of Brand X jeans look stylish? How does that compare with the guy with the beer belly hanging over his belt buckle wearing the comfort fits, are they all the same? In appropriateness is there no difference between Cameron Diaz and the Molly character (of Mike and Molly) in a mini skirt?

I would never wear jeans to dinner, nor would I show up to breakfast in sweat pants and a sleeveless shirt, like some fellow American travelers has insisted upon doing. I don't get overly excited about the issue, however, I'm not a total equalitarion. What may be stylish for one person (or group) may look very inappropriate, and down right bad on a different person(group). Difficult concept for many of my fellow Americans to grasp, as proven by many of the previous posts here.

Over a period of three plus hours one consumes about three glasses of wine. Some of what one is poured goes into the bucket because it may be a wine one dislikes. A glass of wine an hour for three hours is not a large amount, especially since the body will be metabolizing it about that same rate. The amount of food one chooses to eat is the same whether at the buffet line or at La Reserve, it's a personal decision. I wonder if the same people overwhelmed with the small course servings at the La Reserve are so overwhelmed daily at the Terrace!! Must make for a difficult trip.

Having said this, if one thinks a glass of wine/hour for three hours is to much for them, then please don't make the reservation so the rest of us can. Win-win proposition in my book.

The posted wine list is a sample only and may not reflect what one actually gets on their cruise. However, the overall quality of the wine list changes very little. It is still very poor for such a foodie ship, imo. However, we have been able to find a hand full of wines that were acceptable and stuck primarily to them along with the decent bubblies they have by the glass. The cognac and port makes the package for us. If they ran out of it, the package would be a poor choice.

It was my understanding that spa services are provided by CanyonRanch Spas, which is a separate company to Oceania, working as a subcontractor on the ships. They do their own billing and reservations. As suggested above, I have not seen this contractor change, although they may rotate and change personnel on the ships. Complaints about their services should be addressed to CanyonRanch, with perhaps a cc to O to let them know how their contractors are performing.

Thanks everyone for all the great info. Booked the hotel.

Another question: Has anyone done the winery tour out to the Waiheke island off Auckland. It's a ferry ride. Any advice?

My wife and I will typically have a cocktail before dinner, a couple glasses of wine with dinner, plus we sometimes substitute their dessert wine for a dessert, plus a glass of cognac or brandy afterwards. So on a typical port day, the package is always at least a breakeven, and on sea days it saves us money as we sit around the pool.

I agree with Rick as long as it stays within the country club casual guidelines at dinner, and reasonable attire! Otherwise, not so much. Bathrobes and sleeveless muscle shirts for Breakfast, in the Terrance, is a bit distasteful for patrons of O, I believe.

I have never done any of the long extended cruises, or long back to backs. Having talked with our cruisers that have, a common theme is that one of the chief highlights of O, its great food, starts to become boring after about week three. O does a poor job of rotating the menu very much on its cruises, and there are only so many speciality reservations one can get. So unless O opts to change its menus very very frequently on the 180 day cruise, I think this issue would become a huge problem.

I have other long route cruisers tell me they start eating their main meal of the day, onshore, at lunch to get around this problem. If you're going into the cruise short funded, this doesn't become an option.

Paulchili;

Obviously O is attepting to run its excursions as a profit center. However, as I pointed out, we don't know what all those taking the tours are actually paying or who may be covering the costs of those shortfalls.

Dan;

Thanks, for the info. It will be a treat for Marina to actually dock right in the City Center, in lieu of piers elsewhere.

No Marriotts in NZ, period. I even called Marriott and asked!

I believe that it may be an incorrect assumption that all the people on O tours are paying the list price for those tours. We know that certain TA's can provide their customers savings/discounts. From casual conversations will fellow passenger from large groups, i.e. Alumni cuises, it appears that the tour operators are able to negotiate packages, which include, or include at greatly reduced rates, many of the extras O offers. Besides the obvious PPGs and internet, things such as air deviations, pre and post hotel rates, airport pick-up and delivery, shore tours, and drinks package costs all appear to be negotiable by these larger tour organizers. When you see those 120 Texas Aggies pile out to the O tour buses, you don't have a clue of what they are paying for those tours. ;)

One should book the cruises and other offerings from the lines,as meet heir needs, and not become obsessed with what others are/may be paying, imo.