Edinburgh & Mediterranean Cruise

[Kolo]

Our second last day is at sea, so a chance to relax and indulge. Our entertainment options have included a variety show each night, a piano bar, a guitarist, a blues band, a classical piano/violin duo, and various other one-off events. Then there have been a host of activities, of which the coughtail sampling was perhaps the most enjoyable.

We do really enjoy the meals on these cruises. Each night in the main dining room, we have a choice of at least 4 entrees, 4 soups, 8 mains and 4 desserts, and no two nights' menus are the same. The options are varied and the dishes delicious. We do feel like we're dining 5 star every night.

Deluxe suite guests are invited to breakfast in the Pinnacle, but as stated earlier, we don't find the friendliest staff here, and the coffee is always warm at best. We can go to the main dining room, where the same menu is served, but instead decide to breakfast in the Lido, the self service buffet where we have much more choice and hot coffee! If we're off early on a tour, we sometimes also order room service.

The other photos below are of the second pool, taken in Naples with Mt Vesuvius in the background, and a lovely sunset during a post-dinner deck walk.

 

[Pushka]

Sounds great. I went on the new Regal Princess from Barcelona to Venice. Wish I never got off!

Maybe this is you berthed in Venice then - July 12th? When that huge storm hit.



We were about to start Venice to Istanbul. 17,500 cruisers in port that day.

Loved Santorini.

 

[Kolo]

No, we left Venice on the 23rd, on Holland America. Have had excellent weather all the way!

 

[Pushka]

Yep. I was thinking it was Globetrotter's Regal Princess.

 

[Kolo]

But boy, that's a lot of cruisers for Venice to handle in a day!

 

[Kolo]

Our last port is Naples. On our last cruise we visited Pompeii and Sorrento, which were both brilliant. This time we visited Ancient Herculaneum, a smaller site than Pompeii, but much more detailed as it was preserved under molten lava. It is surrounded by modern Herculaneum and has the feel of an archaeological dig, but has plenty of mosaics on display, along with timber doors that the lava preserved as solid carbonised pieces, plus urns, service counters in shops and marble furniture.

 

[Globetrotter]

Maybe this is you berthed in Venice then - July 12th? When that huge storm hit.

lol I went in June but ironically we cruised through a storm between Mykonos and Venice.

 

[Kolo]

Vueling FCO to ORY. The cruise comes to an end and we dock at Citivecchia, the port for Rome, about 90 mins away. The port is a huge maze and having been through it before, we decide the most convenient way to get to the airport is by using the HAL bus transfer. Sure it probably costs a bit more than a taxi but its seamless and painless and we are at FCO in plenty of time.

When we booked our international tickets, VA did not have a code share flight out of Rome (they do now) so we had to find another departure city, and it took no time to nominate Paris. So we needed to get to Paris with a one way flight, and Air France and Alitalia are stuck in return air fare pricing, so VE provided a good option.

We have purchased an "Excellence" fare with VE which is more or less premium economy. We are seated in the first row with just the two of us in the bank of three seats. The fare includes checked luggage, priority check in and boarding, lounge access, and food from the snack menu including alcohol.

The lounge used is the I Mosaici lounge, which is also a Priority Pass lounge. It is not busy when we are there and quite comfortable, with a bar from where we get coffee and snacks. Wifi is available free throughout the airport.

Priority boarding works fine and we are soon seated. The only thing I don't like about the first row is that is a bulkhead, and although you have plenty of knee room, your foot room is restricted and you can't stretch out. I choose the club sandwich and crisps from the menu. The sandwich has the usual airline soggy base, but is OK, and they have run out of normal crisps so I take the vegetable crisps instead, all washed down with an OK Cava. We are served a glass of water after the door has closed which prompts and American voice from row 2 to ask "are they in first?" We are served our refreshments as soon as the plane has levelled out and before they prepare the carts for general sales. I didn't think the fare was much more than standard so all in all really worth it, I think.

 

[Kolo]

L'Hotel Paris. A night in Paris, one of our favourite cities, is a lovely way to finish our holiday. We have chosen L'Hotel, an SLH property, and it's remarkable. It's a tiny hotel with typically small Parisian rooms, but what it lacks in space is made up in an abundance of charm and style. Oscar Wilde stayed and died in the hotel, in a room that is now the bar. The rooms encircle an cylindrical atrium. The restaurant has a Michelin star but is closed for Summer, so we only get to enjoy breakfast in this space.

Everything about the rooms, the restaurant, the bar oozes with opulence and Parisian style. Highly recommended.

 

[Kolo]

L'Hotel pics

 

[Pushka]

Tres chic. Ou est il?

 

[Kolo]

5eme arrondissement, off Blvd St Germain, near Musee d'Orsay.

 

[Kolo]

Dinner at Le Jules Verne, Eiffel Tower. For our night in Paris, we wanted to have dinner somewhere special. Had the restaurant at the hotel been open, we certainly would have eaten there. So we chose Le Jules Verne, Alain Ducasse's restaurant on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. The menu is a set degustation, and you can choose five or six courses; the six gets you a fish and beef main, the five means you choose between fish and beef. We chose five with matching wines. The odd thing was that there were two desserts: the fruit tart and then the chocolate. Our view was that the food was fine but nothing particularly special, but the wines were perfect. We enjoyed the experience as a one-off and you certainly pay for it, but the dinner was not of such a special standard to make us want to return.

 

[Kolo]

EY CDG-SYD. The time has come to return home. We're collected by the complimentary EY chauffeur and soon at CDG.

My partner and I travelled over on different days, but we are travelling back together. We are on separate PNRs, but I have booked seats together, and in the EY configuration, similar to the BA config, there are just one set of seats together for every two rows in J. But at check in, our booked seats are ignored and we are allocated seats apart, not even in a similar area. Mr checkin tells us that we needed to reconfirm our booked seats 48hrs in advance and pay 10 euros for the privilege! News to us. With a bit of shuffling we at least end up closer to each other but not in our booked seats. An email to JB at VA is coming up about this.

The lounge is a combined First/Business with an a la carte menu, but a pretty simple buffet. My partner tells me its nowhere near as good as the new SYD lounge.

The first leg to AUH is on an A340 and is an older fitout. Still the same seating config but not as spacious. I manage to order the Arabic specialities of the mezze plate and chicken but they're all gone by the time the FA gets to my partner, and he ends up with an unsatisfying bean soup and an overcooked veg pasta, and is not very happy. Apparently only three mezze plates were loaded, and this is their signature entree. I had a similar problem coming over. I don't understand why they can't get this right.

While not planning to sleep on this flight, the long day in Paris has taken its toll and I'm soon in the land of nod, with 3 hours sleep before were in the final hour of the flight.

 

[TomVexille]

Disappointing that your selected seats were moved. Hope you still had a good trip home.

 

[drron]

I hope they never change seats on us as then they will have to deal with mrsdrron.They will regret their decision.
Agree with Jules Verne.Gone once.Much better places to go in the future.But you should do it once.

 

[Kolo]

EY Flounge AUH. The flight from Paris arrived at T3, and the flight to SYD was also departing from T3, so I was able to use the dedicated Flounge this time. And it was terrific. The lounge in T1 is a combined F&J, with a pokey shower. But T3 has separate sections for F and J. It is set up like the CDG lounge (and the SYD lounge I believe), with separate sections for the a la carte restaurant, lounge area, TV area and, in this case, spa. The shower was the largest I have seen in a lounge, with a huge rain shower above. The pancakes were perfectly cooked to order, and I had a wonderful 15min massage. All in all a real treat.

 

[Kolo]

Members with nervous dispositions should not read this post. Sadly, I declined an op-up to F on the AUH-SYD flight. At the gate, the magic ping sounded and I was advised that I had been upgraded. Problem was, I was travelling with my partner, but we were on separate PNRs, and of course you read above the hassles we had getting seated close to each other. I informed the staff member that I was travelling with my partner, in the hope we would both be upgraded. After some time, tapping away at the computer and making phone calls, the gate guard happily told me I could stay in J! After conferring with my partner, we decided to separate, but it was too late as someone else was bumped up to get me back my J seat. I wish the guard had have told me that option before he did the deed!

We know that singles are always more likely to be upgraded, and had we been on the same PNR the offer would never have been made, so while disappointed I accept its just one of those things.

On board, some shuffling had to be done as someone else had been allocated my seat; the lucky upgraded person came from another part of the J cabin. We were on the A340 again (same plane I think) so the older style fitout again.

This time all menu options were available so again the Arabian choices were taken and enjoyed.

 

[Kolo]

The last leg home. We were late departing AUH and we had a dom connection to MEL (and then HBA) to make. Arriving in SYD at 7am, the MEL flight departed at 8.30am, so it was going to be tight. We were off the plane and through Smart Gate quickly and at the baggage carousel by 7.15am. At 7.45am our bags finally appeared, way way way after most, if not all, of the others. Priority luggage is a joke. Using Express cards we were though Customs pretty quickly and at the VA dom tfr check in, but they do not check bags for flights departing under an hour. So they put us on the bus with our bags, and we arrived at the Dom Terminal at 8.10am. The VA service staff reacted quickly and put us to the front of the queue. We had our BPs issued in Paris, and our bags had been tagged through to HBA, so VA did not have to reissue anything. We made the flight but our bags did not, but they came later in the day on the direct SYD-HBA flight, and delivered to our home in the evening.

Despite several calls to the Guest Contact Centre, including from Paris, we never got written or verbal confirmation for our limousine transfer in HBA. So it was no surprise that there was no nice man holding a card with my name on it at arrivals. Another email to JB coming up.

Its nice to travel and sad when the trip ends but for us, there’s two reasons that coming home is joyous, and here they are:

 

[Bolthead]

Thank you again for a great TR. Happy travels....