We did an APT river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest from the 29th March 2024 to 12th April 2024. On organised day tours don't leave anything on the bus as we had items stolen out of our bag even though they said it would be secure. The manager favoured 4 people [friends?] who were always given top priority - e.g. front seats on tour buses were reserved for them and their friends. Don't pay for a ...
"Cruise" dates: Apr 5, 2124 - Apr 13, 2024 Normandy to Paris, "Impressions of the Seine"
Ships: AmaLyra and AmaDante
Be aware that climate change is causing unusual extremes in the water levels of the Seine. Thus, we never got the "Scenic River Cruise" experience, instead being tied at anchor first in Le Havre then at Paris. All we got were bus rides ("Ama Busways"?). And we ...
To begin, I’ve sailed >5 times on Disney, Norwegian and Carnival so I have some cruising experience.
That being said, it is hard to give an accurate rating to MSC because of their amazingly low prices. One should almost EXPECT to get “nickel and dimed” to death. The problem was that this “penny pinching” sorely distracted from my cruising experience.
For example, passengers are offered ...
Firstly, this ship is too big with far too many people onboard and not enough staff. Unfortunately this cruise was during half term so the pools were taken over by children who even had their own blow-up toys in the water. Not enough seating in the public areas. Sunbeds on the decks are almost touching each other. Poor service in the dining room. Wine is served to you already in a glass and not by ...
In summary, a fantastic cruise.
Recently, we've sailed with so-called budget lines (MSC\Costa) with an NCL cruise dotted in. Sometimes it's worth paying that bit extra and Princess certainly felt like that.
The quality of the food was 1st class (Bit disappointed with Crown Grill to be honest - scallops overcooked but Sabitinis was absolutely fantastic). Buffet selection was superb. ...
MSC Sinfonia is one of the oldest ships in the fleet, so don't book for the things it doesn't have, such as Yacht club, speciality dining, robot bartenders, water slides, and big production shows. Book for the destination ports and value for money.
The ship was on a continuous circular Eastern Mediterranean itinerary catering predominately for the Italian market, but with many other Europeans ...
The food and staff where fantastic.
We were very disappointed that we didn't get to do the entire cruise. The reason that was relayed to the passengers was the water levels where to high to go through the lock system. On Day 3 we made it about half way up the Douro river and it stopped.
We were of the understanding when we went to an information session prior to booking the cruise that ...
Wonderful experience on Avalon Panorama for a Tulip Time cruise in Holland and Belgium. Wonderful crew, who said "of course" to every request, excellent food, nice vibe, and fellow passengers and a real treat all in all!
Our only complaint was their heavy reliance on the line's "app" which had all the daily details but the "app" was hard to use, had seemingly no instructions and caused a ...
We were on the recent ill-fated cruise that had to return to port due to mechanical difficulties. Earlier in the cruise, we had already identified shortcomings in cabin cleaniness, mediocre food, and lame excursions that were very disappointing (we did not travel to that distance to be "treated" to a tour of a golf course, taken to markets but not given any time to shop and told that we couldn't ...
Over priced and limited cruising of river. With maybe 4 day’s actually cruising on the river we spent most of our time on a bus. Stayed in same port 4 days. Not really Vikings fault due to the high water coming from Spain. But no offers of refunds or cruise credits for were ever offered. But you could buy a $100 voucher for your next cruise. Dining staff was under staffed and wait times were a ...