Somewhere Beyond The Sea - (Cruise Travel)

Maybenaut · #51

River cruise got off to a rocky start, but there were silver linings. I’m usually the planner, but my husband planned this one, and he got so many advertising emails from Viking that he stopped reading them.

So he never read the one they sent IN AUGUST saying that our flight itinerary had changed. I discovered that change the morning we were due to leave when my luddite brain couldn’t stand the idea of not having all the documents printed out in a folder, and insisted he pull up all the emails relating to the trip. [Narrator: To his great relief, Maybenaut’s husband is permanently enjoined from planning future travel.] So instead of a nice leisurely meal at the United Polaris lounge, we were lucky to get to our KLM flight in time (it left five hours earlier than the Lufthansa flight we were originally supposed to be on). That whole thing spun me up into a stress cyclone that took some time to dissipate.

Silver lining #1: The KLM flight was wonderful. They gave us little Delft souvenir salt shakers shaped like the buildings in Amsterdam.

Silver lining #2: When we arrived in Budapest they took us directly to the ship - no waiting around. Because of the low water, the ship was docked in Komarom, an hour and a half away. Our original flight (the one my sister was on), got in around 4:00pm and they had to wait around the Budapest airport for a few hours for more travelers to arrive. So they didn’t get to the ship until very late.

We spent our first full day in Budapest - bus tour of the city in the morning (which I could’ve done without), then my husband and I spent the rest of the day walking around looking at the architecture (my favorite thing to do). Budapest is beautiful, and because it has had so many rulers over the centuries, the architecture is as varied as it is stunningly beautiful.

We had the option of going back to the ship after lunch and at first I wanted to do that because I was still feeling stressed out, but my husband convinced me that staying in town and taking in the city would do me a world of good. And he was right. We’d walk around for an hour or so, then sit at a cafe for a bit and people-watch. And repeat. That was exactly what I needed. When it was time to head back, all the stress hormones were gone.

The ship departed Komárom last night at midnight, and we’ll arrive in Vienna tonight around 5:00 pm.

#52

Oh, that's awesome.

jemcanada2 · #53

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 4:22 pm
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 4:09 pm You will love Iceland!
I already do. Been there twice.

When it was the two of us, we were going to stay on, but I'm going into Bergen a few days early so I think that's long enough. I used to enjoy three-week trips, but they are getting too long for me, so I think I'll pass on staying on my own, but have time to decide. I'm going in early on my own as, if I did the pre-extension, I'd have to pay for my husband, too. This will be my seventh or eighth trip to Bergen, though, so I'm good with just going in, staying in Bryggen on my own, and doing my own thing. My friend will be there as she did the pre-extension.

Viking's wonderful. Except when it's not.

This photo of boats in the flight locks of the Welland Canal at night was on Facebook. It’s a lovely photo. It reminded me of the cruise that you and your husband (

) took a few years ago.

#54

Very nice photo, Jem. Thanks. That was a great cruise, and that's one of the parts I remember well. Most people don't think of the Great Lakes as a place to cruise, but I would highly recommend it. The big ships will never (never say never) be able to get through the locks there, so it won't become a well traveled itinerary, but that's not bad. Because only smaller ships can sail there, they are more expensive, too, and that's also protective of the ports and water.

#55

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 3:18 am River cruise got off to a rocky start, but there were silver linings. I’m usually the planner, but my husband planned this one, and he got so many advertising emails from Viking that he stopped reading them.

So he never read the one they sent IN AUGUST saying that our flight itinerary had changed. I discovered that change the morning we were due to leave when my luddite brain couldn’t stand the idea of not having all the documents printed out in a folder, and insisted he pull up all the emails relating to the trip. [Narrator: To his great relief, Maybenaut’s husband is permanently enjoined from planning future travel.] So instead of a nice leisurely meal at the United Polaris lounge, we were lucky to get to our KLM flight in time (it left five hours earlier than the Lufthansa flight we were originally supposed to be on). That whole thing spun me up into a stress cyclone that took some time to dissipate.

Viking is notorious for covering you with paperwork. I've learned to watch their mail and email carefully. And I also have always been the planner, and I want the paperwork, too. I'm fine downloading tickets, etc., to the phone, but I want the backup.

Budapest is a lovely city to stroll and people watch. We went a week before the cruise, so we got to do that and a lot of other things. Vienna is also a lovely place for that, but we didn't stay there.

I know you will have a lovely time.

Maybenaut · #56

As I mentioned earlier, my sister has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She does pretty well on the medication, and is fairly with it throughout the day but tends to turn inward after dinner.

The other day after lunch we went to an apple strudel-making demonstration put on by the chef, and he asked for a volunteer. She looked at me and said, — what the heck - why not — and volunteered. She had a blast. They gave her a chef’s hat and a very nice apron to keep. Then when it was almost over the chef put the microphone in her face and said, now sing “Rollin’ on the River.” She went full-on Tina Turner and I was in tears. She was so funny! And everyone loved it!

Later she said this is one of the upsides - I won’t remember this so I won’t be embarrassed by it! She may not remember this but I will never forget it.

#57

#58

#59

Ahhhhh

Uninformed · #60

Wonderful.

Maybenaut · #61

Having a wonderful time. Had to change ships in Passau (four exhausting hours on a bus).

We both picked up a cold somewhere. Sore throat, cough, congestion. My husband is worse off than I am - he stayed on the boat today but I went on the tour of Bamberg (an unbelievably lovely city).

Put on my PJs and stayed in the room the rest of the day watching the scenery go by. Hope to feel better tomorrow.

#62

I hope it's just a cold and that you all feel much better soon.

And, yes, Bamberg is lovely.

Wintermute · #63

We just returned from Cozumel on Carnival, and I stopped in a pharmacy and bought a 90 day supply of Trelogy. I have COPD and in the states without insurance this would cost over $1800, with my part d it costs about 600, but in Mexico at the expensive tourist pharmacy it cost me 360. It is almost worth cruising every 90 days to buy pharmaceuticals. Go figure.

sad-cafe · #64

we Royal Caribbean in June and always bring back Prednisone and Zpacs

johnpcapitalist · #65

Wintermute wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2023 8:17 pm It is almost worth cruising every 90 days to buy pharmaceuticals. Go figure.

Wonder if the cruising expenses would be deductible as travel to obtain necessary medical treatment.

Maybenaut · #66

Home.

The Viking River Cruise was lovely, but we’re not likely to do it again.

The pace was both too fast and too slow at the same time, which is kind of hard to explain. After moving from the Danube to the canal, they closed the upper sun deck so there was no walking outside, which meant way more sitting around. And some port visits were too short, so I didn’t get as much exercise as I’d hoped.

And there were WAY too many busses. Some port visits you had to take a bus into town, then instead of getting bussed back to the ship, they’d bus you further along the river where you’d meet the ship again. That wasn’t so bad - on those days the bus would go a half-hour or so to meet the ship, which took four hours to go through a number of locks (the first dozen locks or so was interesting, but…).

But the ship didn’t actually make it to the advertised starting point, Budapest. Instead, it docked over an hour and a half away, and we made that bus ride a number of times.

Included in the ticket was a guided walking tour of each destination, as well as optional excursions you could purchase. Viking hired local guides in each spot, and each guide had no more than 25 ducklings following him or her around. The tours were very, very good. I resisted it at first, thinking I’d just rather walk around on my own, but I’m glad I did the tours. After each tour there was usually free time, and there were only a few times where it wasn’t enough. As I said, I would have liked to have had longer visits, but mainly so I could have more meals off of the ship.

The food on the ship was very good, but the razzing by the crew of my food allergies was starting to get old. At breakfast they had peanut butter and homemade jam, so I asked for a peanut butter and jam sandwich for lunch, and the waiter was like, seriously? I’m like, you keep telling me they’ll make whatever I want as long as they have it on board. And I couldn’t have any of the desserts, but they usually had a banana or some pineapple available. My husband, sister and BIL all thought to food was really good.

Over all it was a very enjoyable experience. We’re glad we went. I had a great time with my sister, which was the whole point. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but only because there are other things I’d like to spend my time and money on.

We went high-end on the stateroom. We had a two-room suite on the stern with a wrap-around balcony. So glad we spent the extra $$ - We spent a lot of time in our room watching the scenery go by because…

We both got very, very sick. About four days in my husband started feeling crappy, and I was a day behind him. I got sick as a dog. He was sick as two dogs. Don’t know what it was. Probably not covid - we had just been boosted - probably a flu of some variety. A lot of people got it. My husband was the candy-man, giving out Nyquil and Dayquil to his friends. I missed one meal because I was sick - my husband missed two days of tours.

And the weather at the end was awful. We were in the Netherlands for the bomb cyclone. Kinderdijk was closed - you could still go there and walk around, but the shops were closed and the tours were cancelled. We took a short walk to the visitors center - 50kt winds and cold, stinging rain. We head that the airport in Amsterdam had shut down and many flights were cancelled, but by the time we got there it appeared the backlog had been cleared.

I know I’ve kind of focused on the negative, but we really had a lot of fun! We met a lot of great people, some of whom we’ll likely stay in touch with.

#67

Maybenaut, thank you for that. Ol' You Know Who and I are planning a trip to Europe. I'm gonna read your post to her, word for word.

Maybenaut · #68

Foggy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 04, 2023 9:01 am Maybenaut, thank you for that. Ol' You Know Who and I are planning a trip to Europe. I'm gonna read your post to her, word for word.

Also tell her, floating down the Danube, the Main, and the Rhine rivers when you’re sick and watching one medieval castle after another go by is not a bad way to recover. We did get a lot of nice pictures. Also, we were pretty much over it after a few days. We got it early; lots of folks were just starting to get sick toward the end.

One lady got a sinus infection and guest services set her up with a doc-in-the-box who prescribed an antibiotic, which a crew member picked up at the next port.That was cool.

It really was a lot of fun. We met all kinds of interesting people. We met the guy who invented the digital watch when he worked for Bulova.

There are so many ways to travel in Europe, and it’s all good. By boat, by train, by car - you can’t go wrong. I guess it depends on what kind of experience you want. If you want pampering, this cruise checks all those blocks.

#69

Would have loved to cycle through Europe (except for the pointy parts).

#70

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Sat Nov 04, 2023 9:20 am Would have loved to cycle through Europe (except for the pointy parts).

#71

Welcome back! I'm glad you had no issues returning. We did the same cruise in 2015 and ran into some of the same issues. But we had the additional issue of weather about 100 degrees most places. (Stay out of Europe mid-summer!) We stayed in Budapest for a week before the cruise, though, and saw more of the city and country, meeting relatives I didn't even know existed until our tour/ancestry search company told us after we arrived.

The ship exchange wasn't fun, but doable. I didn't mind the buses so much, as we got to see more things than were just on the rivers. We stayed on the ship one day because it was sooooooooo hot. It was a day the ship moved to a different port for pickup, and it was wonderful relaxing and watching the activity on the banks. Lots of swans.

I'm glad you enjoyed the trip.

RTH10260 · #72

Saga cruise ship: 100 people injured as Spirit of Discovery caught up in storm

Tuesday 7 November 2023 at 4:23pm

A passenger on board the cruise explains how the storm affected the cruise

A passenger on board a cruise ship that sailed through a storm has described passengers being thrown around and being scared for their lives.

Around 100 people were injured on board Saga's Spirit of Discovery during its roundtrip to the Canary Islands from Portsmouth when severe weather hit in the Bay of Biscay.

Richard was onboard with his elderly parents and explained: "We were left floundering in the centre of this storm where we were advised to go to cabins...people were getting flung all over the place and there were breakages."

Guests were treated on board before the ship arrived back at Portsmouth on Monday evening (6 November).

Spirit of Discovery departed on 24 October on a 14-night ‘Canary Island Quintet’ cruise.

The ship was caught in the storm.

As weather conditions started to worsen on day 10, the call to Las Palmas was cancelled and the decision was made to continue onwards to La Coruna to get ahead of the approaching storm.

The ship's crew were then informed the port at La Coruna would be closed and they decided to continue back to the UK earlier than originally planned.

Spirit of Discovery's propulsion safety system was activated in the poor weather causing it to veer suddenly to the left, bringing the vessel to a sudden halt.

This led to 100 of the 1,000 guests on board being hurt with the "vast majority" suffering minor injuries.

Five people needed treatment for more serious injuries in the ship's medical facilities, according to Saga Cruises.

Richard, a passenger on board, said: "People were generally scared for their lives. Some had even written texts to their loved ones as they thought they were going to die.

"It was really choppy on Friday night and on Saturday we were getting flung all over the place...There were few injuries with elderly people."

He continued: "We were the only cruise ship in Bay of Biscay, all the others have either postponed their journeys or taken shelter because of the incoming storm."

A spokesperson for Saga Cruises said: "Spirit of Discovery was sadly caught in the challenging weather conditions this weekend, as she started her return to the UK.

"The ship remained safe at all times, but due to the impact of the storm, some guests sustained injuries.

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2023- ... le-injured

#73

Bay of Biscay is bouncy on a clear, beautiful day. Can imagine what it would have been like with this storm. I've been in a Nor'Easter and a Class 8 gale. The Nor'Easter was our first cruise, and we were sailing south out of NYC to Bermuda, not into the worst of it. We rode out the Class 8 gale off the coast of Newfoundland at sea as our port had closed. Luckily, neither my husband nor I have trouble with seasickness, so it's mostly been seen by us as an adventure, but there were a lot of sick people on those ships, particularly the Nor'Easter. I hate being even just nauseous, so I can sympathize with them, though.

RTH10260 · #74

The 3-year cruise is canceled, leaving guests out hundreds of thousands of dollars

By CNN Newsource staff
Published: Nov. 25, 2023 at 3:32 PM CET

(CNN) – It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but now it’s not happening.

Life at Sea Cruises says it had to cancel its three-year inaugural cruise because it doesn’t have a ship.

The voyage was originally due to depart from Istanbul on Nov. 1. After being postponed twice – and relocated to Amsterdam – the cruise is officially off.

Passengers are now out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some say they have nowhere to go, having sold or rented their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage.

Life at Sea Cruises say it is working to refund passengers, but that will take a few months.

https://www.fox19.com/2023/11/25/3-year ... s-dollars/

#75

No ship.

We forgot just one little thing.

Other than that, we're totally ready.