Vineyard View

Our booked cruise just added the OBC credit promotion yesterday. We booked on 7/1. I sent an email to our TA last night. Just heard from her. It would require rebooking, and it would cost more per person for less OBC than the increase. Wow. Now that is quite the deal! NOT. That response was definitely not a feel good one.

Thank you! I’ve looked at several places. I think it boils down to which view….. I am leaning towards Suisse….

Thank you Marazul. I appreciate this!

Marazul, thank you for all this great information! I’ve never heard of socca. Great tip about wine as well as restaurants and museum. We are really looking forward to visiting this region for the first time! I really appreciate all of this! Interesting TA reviews on Hotel Suisse. I have reach out to them a couple times and their response was to look on their website, which I have done. Do you by chance have experience with their Superiure vs Privilege rooms? How are the balconies for enjoying coffee or wine from? The rooms appear pretty small, but the suite cost is double the cost.

I believe that, as slidergirl said, I do doubt that this is going to dissipate. It is happening in many areas and not just Europe, to Podi’s point. (We love Sedona) Even where we live, while not to the extreme we are reading elsewhere, ‘wine country’ VRBO rentals are a topic of supply and demand for locals who are looking for year round rentals. There is an argument to be made. Thank you for this information Edinburgher. It is important to note. This is in fact an official act, and should be noted.

Thank you for this information marazul. I sent inquiries to Hotel Suisse with questions about their Superiure rooms vs their Privilege (both are same size rooms), and Suite. They all look lovely.

Thank you again marazul! I just sent them an inquiry.

Thank you Hank for this information. While we won’t have OBC, knowing this information is really helpful. I would absolutely consider that price from SB for a direct transfer. Guessing direct taxi or independent driver without OBC if I can arrange that prior, might be a better option price wise.

Which is why what used to take less than 200k miles for RT business from States to Europe for two, is now 600k+ with a couple thousand in cash, or close to a million miles with taxes only. They just don’t have to offer those miles anymore.

I didn’t even see that one!

I was referring to OBC in the brochure that I received of up to $2,200. Could be you are responding to a different poster regarding air credit marazul. You are always helpful.

Thank you all for your feedback. I sincerely appreciate this. I am glad to hear that you concur on our thoughts to use Nice as a home base. I started looking at hotels, and had found two, one was Hotel Suisse. The other Hotel West End. I have sent inquiries to both. Will also look at La Perouse. Thanks marazul! I am happy that there is a lot to see, restaurants and museums to choose from, as well as market and parks to explore. Thank you Edinburgher Hank, we will be disembarking from Seabourn Encore. Not sure transportation yet. Will probably look at private car, or maybe train as suggested by carlmm (TY), depending upon ease with luggage.

We will be staying over for three nights early April. Disembarking in Monaco. We do not want to stay in Monaco. Been there. We’ve visited Eze as well. We are considering Nice, as that is the airport we fly out of midday. Does anyone have a better suggestion for a home base?

I just turned in a ridiculous amount of miles to book next year based on current pricing. I can return it for future use if it makes sense, but the flights available under FlightEase were not only including long lay over times, but also without decent pricing. I was able to look at several days pre and post, but I did not test the over 5 day parameter.

Maybe. IDK. Pricing does seem to be widely fluctuating during the same sale period. When I contacted our TA about this (not a small, low booking SB agency), she did not know about 2025 expansion. I shared with her that I received a brochure over the weekend regarding this - again news to her. When she contacted SB they could not provide to her the sailings included in the 2025 expansion, but could tell her that ours was not one of them! In my opinion, an incredulous lack of communication and information. This week I looked at the sale and didn’t see our cruise. I think I will keep an eye on this!

You both present the opportunities to have a beautiful day. I must admit, as time is flying by faster now, that seeing Seville has been a draw for years. I keep saying we will do a land trip to Andalusia and enjoy it then……but land trips are not as easy as they once were. So I will spend some time thinking of both options. Looking at some pictures, we did visit Cadiz in 2015, and strolled through the painted walkways and museums. Not sure why that didn’t click into memory sooner, but It was a lovely day. So maybe it will be Seville in 2025. thank you both once again.

Edinburgher and Marazul…..you have both given me exactly what I had hoped for. Now I have great places to research, from two people who are forever helpful, that we can make choices from. This is perfect. I am excited to start doing just that! Thank you both again. Now that you described Cadiz with the color coded directional on the streets, it triggered a memory from 2015 on Viking’s maiden voyage of their first ocean ship. We sailed her for 29 days, and I believe that Cadiz was a port we visited (unless there is another port in Spain that does this), while some visited Seville. 4 hours travel time is a sticking point, but I need to look deeper into this one. If we do that I don’t want to be on an excursion, however, that is a long distance from the port for a private. It is a conundrum, just as you said edinburgher.

Thank you Marazul. We are excited to travel this early. We generally go in May so we are going to celebrate a special anniversary early, because we really liked the itinerary. Thank you for the Collioure recommendation in Port Vendres. I may try to find a private tour for that. Is it a full day experience? Will also check into public transport. Thank you for the Toulon recommendations. Friends just returned from Aix on a land trip they really enjoyed it. We haven’t been to any of these areas so we do want to make the best of it. We enjoy the experience of spending more time in a place rather than cramming in multiple places on a port day, unless they are very close to one another. Sounds like both you and edinburgher enjoyed Ajaccio, so that is great to hear. Cadiz……soooo on the fence here. We’ve been to neither Seville nor Cadiz. I sincerely hope to spend some quality time in Seville in the future - but we all know there are no guarantees. Seems like a 2hr drive each way is a trek…..and a ways away for a private tour (even though I read Spain Day tours does a good job). Now I am completely undecided. You just had to say that! Haha! Thank you again Marazul.

Thank you Edinburgher. I wasn’t really interested in Marseille to be honest, so thank you for confirming my thoughts. I really do want to figure out private or DIY with whatever our decisions are. I am really glad to hear that Ajaccio is worth exploring. It might turn into that early port day where we enjoy the ship for a bit while others are on excursions. We always like to fit one of those into our journey. Then again, who knows based on your input. Sounds like it is more than I thought so thank you. Toulon is sounding like a jump-off port to decide on a private excursion. I wasn’t sure if there was much to offer in Toulon itself, based on what I read so far. We live in a wine region, and usually only gravitate towards rose in hot weather. That said, good wine is always of interest to us wherever we go, so twist my arm! Bandol does not include wine tasting but a market. but again, that is an excursion. I always look at them to get an idea of where to explore. Castellet includes wine tasting but a touristy city doesn't really sound appealing. Cassis does not include a boat. Not sure why I didn’t catch the typo auto correct of Bormes…..again though, looking for a private or independent. I am wondering if you can recommend a good tour company for this region? I appreciate the attached Toulon thread and website you referenced. So thank you again.

We are sailing on SB next year and I am hoping for ideas for Port-Vendres, Ajaccio, and Toulon. First time visits at all three. On another thread, I noticed excursions to Carcassonne from PV, however that is 2 hrs travel time each direction. SB offers excursions to Collioure, Perpignan, and Salses. All three of these places look of interest in their separate ways. Ajaccio - I am not really finding much here. The former home of Napoleon Bonaparte, and I think quite a small town. There is an excursion to a nature park, or Ocana. Toulon - the excursions include Bandol, Cassis, le Castellet, Borge’s Les Mimosas, Hyeres, Sanary sur Mer, Marseille, and St Tropez. So many options, each with their unique offerings. We chose this itinerary because it takes us to many new ports for us. We have not spent time in Southern France. I realize that part of the draw are the beautiful beaches, however we are there late March/early April so a bit early for that, and not really what we are going there for. We are not big on ship excursions so I will ideally not partake, but rather DIY. . I know these are a lot of ports for one thread, but I was trying to consolidate. If anyone has experienced time in some of these beautiful places, and has some input, I would appreciate it. Our idea of a great day is visiting places filled with history, walking cobbled streets, having a lovely lunch, and soaking it in on our own. Thanks in advance.

This thread has been really helpful. We have a port stop in Cadiz next year. We have not been there nor Seville. It seems that both have a lot to offer, and Seville would be better to visit with at least an overnight stay? Thoughts? We also will be in Malaga. I have been in touch SDT regarding Alhambra. I am hoping to gather 5 more couples from the ship (we sail on 3/27 out of Lisbon). So far I have not had any activity on the roll call, but it is early.

I get it. Truly. But that response is what pushes consumers to look at other companies, regardless of whether they are a cruise line or not. Oceania is now pricing themselves up against luxury lines. Itinerary is incredibly important to us, along with cost pp/pd. If a luxury line has an attractive itinerary, and we can sail for not much difference in price over a premium line with larger ships, it’s a decision that makes sense, maybe not for all, but for us. Options are good.

It is the May 8 Barcelona to Rome itinerary I was referring to, and was part of the summer Sale. B4 is now $2k more without air comparison. If you add in gratuities and drink package, you are up against the luxury cruise price range in a smaller cabin, and on a larger ship. If you don’t add the drink package, you are still close. We hesitated because of the Jubilee next year in Italy. The end date coincides within 2 days of one of their events. We felt that the planned land trip post cruise could be impacted, and pushed our return to Italy into 2026.

Totally agree. Zero dollars though feels a bit misleading. I just received a brochure stating ‘up to $2,200’, and in fine print, ‘on select sailings in 2025’. The message keeps changing from one day to the next.

We have a quote from end of June for a 10 day next year that was a part of their sale which included 66 itineraries. No air. Today it is $2k more. This comparison is before gratuities/ drink packages or TA discounts. This big price jump may have mostly occurred with the 66 itineraries.