Did you book a 2010 Europe Cruise?

[calvin81]

We're on the Baltic Treasures July 25 -- am hoping there will be an active roll call to get some private tours planned. Our second O cruise.

[CalSisters]

My sister and I booked the Dec 6th transatlantic a while back and then friends contacted us and said they were doing the May 24th trip on Insignia - Marseille to Venice, so we signed up for that also.

 

We ahve been on 2 Oceania cruises before, one from Rome to Venice and the other a transatlantic from Barcelona to Miami. We will be covering some of the same ports on these two trips next year, but will be adding some new ones also.

 

We can hardly wait. We loved Oceania on the Med cruise, but wanted more sea days, so we booked the translatlantic for the next year. Love just sitting in the comfortable chairs in the library and reading.

 

Looking forward to seeing some of you on these cruises. I just saw the new roll call for the transatlantic, so I will have to get myself onto that as well as the Med cruise for May.

 

Cathy

[lorene1]

for London to Stockholm, July 12-26, on Regatta.:)

Lori F.

Crystal Serenity

Celebrity Mercury

Oceania Insignia

Regent Paul Gaugin

[GrammieK]

Lori,

We did the London-Stockholm a few years ago. You're gonna love it!! FYI - when we tried to purchase something in the Hermitage with a credit card - it was denied. At the time, our credit card co did not do business with Russia. Make sure you have cash for any purchases you plan to make, or check with your credit card co and see if they will approve charges in Russia. I was embarrassed to be denied, but when I returned to the ship, I found out many of my fellow cruisers had the same experience.

Enjoy!

Kathie

[agnesd]

Just started a thread on Roll Calls for the above date.

[stujake]

We are also a group of 4 (2 couples) from the Chicago area who also have booked this cruise. We sailed on the Nautica last May from Athens to Istanbul. The weather was phenominal for the entire trip. If the Insignia is anything like the Nautica, and it should be because they are the same ships with different names and maybe different decorating, you will probably love it. The ship size is wonderful and there is never a problem or long line getting off the ship. The standard and veranda cabins are small, but there is room for everything. The staff on the Nautica was incredible and did everything they possibly could to make your cruise experience wonderful. We did not do any of their shore excursions because we thought they were far too costly for what they were, so we did our own excursions. The entertainment is fair, but you don't cruise on Oceania for the entertainment. You go because of the itinerary, ambiance, ship size, etc. One of the other things that you will love is the casual nature of the ship. No matter which dining room you go into, men never need a jacket or tie, but they won't throw you out if you choose to wear one. I took one on our last cruise and never took it out of the closet. Similarly, women can wear just about anything into the dining room except tank tops or bathing suits, although my wife usually wore slacks and a blouse. Forget the cocktail dresses.

 

Unfortunately for us, one of the ports is a repeat from last May (Dubrovnik), but it is one of the better ports on the cruise. We have also been to some of the other ports on other cruises or on land vacations. If you have any questions about the ship,I can try to answer.

[stujake]

My recollection from about 11 years ago when we sailed from Rome, the ride from Rome to the port in Citavecchia is about an hour. So the actual time in Rome itself will be even less than you thought. If you have a good guide and a small group, you should be able to get the some of the highlights. There are too many highlights to see in Rome, so you should read up a little and then talk to a tour guide to see if you can put something together for your short time in Rome. My wife and I and another couple sailed on the Nautica last May from Athens to Istanbul and absolutely loved it. See my other reply posted today on another thread for more information.

[frqttrvlr09]

I have booked European Legends (Aug. 10-24) and Scandanavian Splendors (September 2-17) with an independent trip on my own from disembarkation on August 24 in Lisbon to Morocco to camp out in the desert and emjoy the medinas and souks of that country, and then up to Stockholm for the SS cruise. I am very excited about going to St. Petersburg. I will be looking to share private shore excursions, particularly in St. Petersberg, if anyone is interested, for any of these cruises.

[CintiPam]

We booked our third cruise (which also is our third Oceania cruise!) in mid- August, Mediterranean Tapestry, Venice to Barcelona, on Regatta, sailing April 28.

 

We seem to be working our way slowly west across the Med, starting last September, when we discovered the joys of cruising, traveling Istanbul to Athens on Nautica and then again in June, when we sailed Athens to Rome, again on Nautica.

 

My roll call cupboard still is bare, so I hope I can entice some regulars to consider this lovely 14-night port-intensive itinerary. May is a lovely month to sail the Med.

[A Knitter]

We booked our third cruise (which also is our third Oceania cruise!) in mid- August, Mediterranean Tapestry, Venice to Barcelona, on Regatta, sailing April 28.

 

We seem to be working our way slowly west across the Med, starting last September, when we discovered the joys of cruising, traveling Istanbul to Athens on Nautica and then again in June, when we sailed Athens to Rome, again on Nautica.

 

My roll call cupboard still is bare, so I hope I can entice some regulars to consider this lovely 14-night port-intensive itinerary. May is a lovely month to sail the Med.

 

 

I took this on the Regatta in October, 2007. You will love it. If I can be of assistance with names of the wonderful guides I used, feel free to email me at holmtwin@dc.rr.com or click on my review link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=663576&highlight=

[lorene1]

Kathie,

Thanks so much for the heads up on taking cash for all things Russian, in case the credit cards don't work. I suspect with all the fraud recently, that the companies will tighten, rather than loosen up, on transacting business there. So we will get prepared with rubles. or whatever currency the tour operators and merchants accept.

Cheers.

Lori

[tanny18]

Always wanted to do the Black Sea so we are booked for the June 18, 2010 cruise - Istanbul to Athens -this will be our 6th O cruise. We have back to back booked for December 20th and January 7th - altogehter Singapore to Aukland 34 days. Took advantage of the great OBCs and prepaid gratuities. And are now looking at the Capetown to Singapore in December 10/January 11 cruise!!! Arlene;)

[CintiPam]

I took this on the Regatta in October, 2007. You will love it. If I can be of assistance with names of the wonderful guides I used, feel free to email me at holmtwin@dc.rr.com or click on my review link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=663576&highlight=

 

I just finished reading your very helpful review; thank you so much for the link. Sorry to read you missed your port day in Marseilles; I think we probably will rent a car and spend the day in Arles.

 

We also used Sylvie di Cristo for our day on the Cote d'Azur in June, and thought she was an excellent tour guide, with a great deal of knowledge, as well as good driving skills. (We were in an eight-passenger van.)

[stujake]

We are not booked on that cruise, but we were in St. Petersburg about a year ago. We booked 2 days with Alla Tours and she provided us with a wonderful woman guide whose English was as good as ours. She was a young professor at the business school in St. Petersburg. If you contact her, tell her the Jacobson's recommended you to her. We put together a group of 8 people using the Cruise Critic Roll Call. If you contact Alla, she can also help you put together a small group. We found a group of 8 worked perfectly and brought the cost down to less than the excursions from the ship and we saw much more because of the small group size. We were able to get into places in front of large groups, which saved much time. Contrary to what we had been led to believe, we did not need a Russian Visa. Alla picked us up in a Mercedes mini-bus right next to the gangplank. We had to pay in cash, but we paid no deposit and did not pay anything until the second day of touring. Her e-mail address is allaushakova@aim.com. Red October was also used by some on our cruise, but their groups were much larger and some complained of long time to load buses, stragglers, etc. Cost was also more than we paid. Good luck.

[stujake]

A word of caution in Athens. Do not use the subway system. The crowds are terrible. My wife's purse was slashed with a razor and her wallet with ID's and much money were stolen and she didn't even know it until about an hour after our ride ended, and we only went two stops. Our friend was also wearing his fanny pack under his stomach and his wallet was also removed with much cash as well, and he didn't know it either until after my wife found her purse slashed. Athens has some interesting ancient sites, but it is also a dirty city with much graffiti everywhere, even on the walls of apartment houses 5 floors above street level. The Plaka was fun to walk around, but we were warned to be careful of pickpockets there too. Could not wait to leave and will never go back.

[stujake]

Do you have contact information for that guide? We will be in the area next May starting in Marseille and stopping in Canne, where we have been twice before, but think there might be more to see. Do you recall the cost per person for the group of 8?

[StanandJim]

Do you have contact information for that guide? We will be in the area next May starting in Marseille and stopping in Canne, where we have been twice before, but think there might be more to see. Do you recall the cost per person for the group of 8

We've used Alain of Dreamtours several times for the French Riviera:

 

http://www.dream-tours.com/excursion/Presentation-us/present_usus.php

 

Everything you need to know, from tour options to prices per person are listed on the site.

 

Have a wonderful trip.......we're very jealous!

[Friscorays]

A word of caution in Athens. Do not use the subway system. The crowds are terrible. My wife's purse was slashed ... Our friend was also wearing his fanny pack under his stomach and his wallet was also removed with much cash as well.... Athens has some interesting ancient sites, but it is also a dirty city with much graffiti everywhere... The Plaka was fun to walk around, but we were warned to be careful of pickpockets there too. Could not wait to leave and will never go back.

 

An alternate take:

 

We have loved all of our visits to Athens and found using the subway system there both convenient and simple. We can not wait to go back, particularly to visit the new Acropolis museum. Precautions agains pickpockets must be taken in every major tourist city around the world. I'm sorry for your bad experience there.

[CintiPam]

A word of caution in Athens. Do not use the subway system. The crowds are terrible. My wife's purse was slashed with a razor and her wallet with ID's and much money were stolen and she didn't even know it until about an hour after our ride ended, and we only went two stops. Our friend was also wearing his fanny pack under his stomach and his wallet was also removed with much cash as well, and he didn't know it either until after my wife found her purse slashed. Athens has some interesting ancient sites, but it is also a dirty city with much graffiti everywhere, even on the walls of apartment houses 5 floors above street level. The Plaka was fun to walk around, but we were warned to be careful of pickpockets there too. Could not wait to leave and will never go back.

 

Sorry about your experience, but I personally do not think that such incidents are any more common there than elsewhere in major cities, Barcelona or Rome, for example (or even NYC, where my friend's wallet was stolen on the elevator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when she was visiting me). We have visited Athens twice in the past year, once pre-cruise and once post-cruise, and very much enjoyed both visits.

 

Using money belts and bra stashes take all worries away.:)

[CintiPam]

Do you have contact information for that guide? We will be in the area next May starting in Marseille and stopping in Canne, where we have been twice before, but think there might be more to see. Do you recall the cost per person for the group of 8?

 

Our guide, Sylvie di Cristo, can be reached at Sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr.

However, she does not tour as far west as Marseilles, only the French Riviera, so including Cannes. Her rates in 2009 were 100 Euros per person for six and 80 Euros per person for eight.

[Cruise Junky]

A word of caution in Athens. Do not use the subway system. The crowds are terrible. My wife's purse was slashed with a razor and her wallet with ID's and much money were stolen and she didn't even know it until about an hour after our ride ended, and we only went two stops. Our friend was also wearing his fanny pack under his stomach and his wallet was also removed with much cash as well, and he didn't know it either until after my wife found her purse slashed. Athens has some interesting ancient sites, but it is also a dirty city with much graffiti everywhere, even on the walls of apartment houses 5 floors above street level. The Plaka was fun to walk around, but we were warned to be careful of pickpockets there too. Could not wait to leave and will never go back.

 

My husband also lost his wallet on the subway in Athens...they're really good!! It only takes a second of a distraction. We've never had a problem anywhere else and have visited Rome, Paris, Barcelona and most large cities in the US.

[StanandJim]

To be fair, pickpockets are found the world over.

 

I've only had my pocket picked once, it was in the New York City subway, just after leaving the theater. The perpetrator was a fifty-ish VERY well groomed woman who was wearing a fantastically expensive sable coat.

:confused:I spent the first five minutes wondering why a woman who could afford a coat like that was riding the subway.

:confused:I spent the next five minutes wondering why she lost her balance so easily (she fell against me during a turn)

:mad:I spent the rest of the night wondering where my wallet was..........

[A Knitter]

Our guide, Sylvie di Cristo, can be reached at Sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr.

However, she does not tour as far west as Marseilles, only the French Riviera, so including Cannes. Her rates in 2009 were 100 Euros per person for six and 80 Euros per person for eight.

 

Don't forget to take your passport as she will run into the Embassy and have it stamped for you as a momento. She is very knowledgeable, a safe driver.

[A Knitter]

Our guide, Sylvie di Cristo, can be reached at Sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr.

However, she does not tour as far west as Marseilles, only the French Riviera, so including Cannes. Her rates in 2009 were 100 Euros per person for six and 80 Euros per person for eight.

 

 

Sorry, that was mean't for stujake. Still thinking about the Butler I had on that trip that I won't have on the next.:D

[CujoK]

Yes, we booked the 4/28/10 14 day Venice to Barcelona. We had looked at a very similiar sailing on Regent SS and the cost in the cheapest cabin including air fare and unlimited shore excursions plus of course all beverages was slightly over $16,000 for 2. Our cost on Oceania in the lowest level Verandah cabin is a little over $10,000 including air fare but no shore excursions included and drinks and wine on Oceania are not included. It will be interesting to see what the final total cost of the Oceania cruise is after we factor in the cost of shore excursions and what we spend in the lounges during the trip.

 

My wife and I are thinking about booking this cruise. I got a quote from a TA and the airport transfers seem to be quite high. This would be our first cruise to Europe so maybe that's normal. Transfer from airport to the ship is $258 for the both of us and $138 from ship to airport. Our quote for interior room with air was $9232 which included transfers.