Christmas markets in Europe and Caribbean cruise (RTW)

[RooFlyer]

Post take-off drinks order taken before pushback, and served not long after the seat belt sign turned off. Dinner orders then taken and these were served pretty quickly for Qantas and the whole meal service for me was completed 2 hours after take-off.



They also had a Riesling on board! I'm on a roll.



The chicken was pretty nice. It has some chillies in it, which weren't mentioned other than 'spicy' but I was able to push them aside.



Pannacotta.



Breakfast for me was muesli and toast/jam and the green juice thing. Nice

So overall, I'd give the meals/service a solid 7/10, could be 8/10, one of the better long haul QF experiences I've had recently.

Cloud formation on descent into Sydney this morning

 

[RooFlyer]

New, larger and re-organised immigration set-up in Sydney for me, and much improved. In spite of being in the midst of the morning bank of arriving flights, only a few minutes wait for a machine, where I was promptly bounced, as I had been to Colombia. Manually processed with some inscrutable letters written on my arrival card.

Bag out quickly! At customs they merely asked if I had a yellow fever vax certificate - yes, then waived though.

During the flight, I realised that I'd booked my separate connecting flight to Hobart as a Qantas reward, departing at 2pm - over 7 hours after arrival! Dumb thing to do considering I'd be tired and cranky. So while waiting for my bag I checked Virgin award availability and found a J seat departing at 10am. So I grabbed it, and cancelled Qantas.

Presently in the VA lounge at SYD, which is uncrowded and has a really good brekkie spread. About to board that HBA flight.

I'll do a summary and post some videos when i get home and recover.

 

[love_the_life]

Well, Happy New Year to everyone; here at DFW its a fine, chilly day as I wait for QF8 tonight.

_________________

Almost the entire perimeter of the Old Town, is lined with defensive fortification/wall, which was constructed in the early 1600s after the repeated attacks by pirates, including Drake and Hawkins. More-or less encompasses all of the below, bar the NW and SE extremities.

View attachment 422810

And it attracts all types

In fact so many narcissists posing and re-posing and re-posing etc all along the wall.

They're not narcissists, they are that very important group known as 'influencers' (or in a nod to Kim, 'effluencers')

 

[RooFlyer]

So, a bit of a summing-up.

I did a Finnair RTW (needs a Travel Agent to book), cost abt $10K for J, booked Jan 2024. Starting in Sydney, this allowed me a stop-over in Asia (which I didn't take) (Qantas), fly to Helsinki, then fly to anywhere in Europe and back to Helsinki, (open jaw OK) (Finnair), fly to USA (FInnair). Then it allowed me to fly back to Australia on Qantas or AA BUT any gap between arrival port and departure port I had to fill. In my case I flew MIA-BGI and CTG-MIA-DFW on a separate AA ticket.

Finnair was excellent. Especially the dining and FAs. I was OK with the Finnair bed, except its difficult to wriggle out of lying position. The Qantas wet-lease of the Finnair plane SYD-BKK was a marked step-down from the 'pure' Finnair experience.

European Christmas markets were very good, but by the time I reached Vienna they were getting a bit the same. The lack of snow was in part a shame, but it made walking about safer - I did a lot of walking which I don't think I would have done if there was ice about. Strasbourg was the best experience, mainly because of the street decorations and some nice food options. Vienna probably next, and Vienna of course is a fantastic place to visit. I finally understood the Hapsburgs, a bit anyway. Salzburg was a bit of a let-down; of all places it would have benefitted from snow!

German and Austrian trains were good - fortunately no disruptions due to snow or breakdowns or trackwork. I got a DB Trial (3 month) 1st class 50 BahnCard - 50% off first class tickets. I am definitely glad I travelled first class (but Business add-on wasn't worth it), especially with my checked bag and a carry-on. Better flexibility and nicer seating. Their wi-fi was a dead loss. This is a video about how Germany is improving and rebuilding its awful train system:

Accor hotels in Europe as a Plat were a bit disappointing (mostly Mercure) - but I've since been told here that that's not unexpected. Fortunately I chose all the hotels before becoming Plat. The best one was Mondial am Dom in Cologne (M Gallery), followed by the Novotel at Vienna Hauptbahnhof.

The Caribbean cruise. I booked the Silver Moon cruise off the back of my fantastic Antarctica cruise on Silver Wind in Christmas 2023 as a way to cover a number of Caribbean countries in comfort. I discovered that I am not a 'classic cruiser' . The idea of lying in the sun around the pool for hours on end, for days on end, playing bingo in the lounge, drinking coughtails at the bar is not my scene. Not to mention dressing formally for dinner in the tropics! I like to get up and go see places, which expedition cruises offer. There were a lot of small faults on this cruise (and a couple of big ones)- in my suite and in the service, which can and will happen anywhere but there were a lot here and for what you pay for SilverSea it should have been better. The included shore excursions were on the whole, just OK. Comparing to the descriptions, the tour providers gave the bare minimum. SS did give me a refund of the 'night cruise to no-where' after my tour feedback, which I gather a number of others did similarly.

Fortunately I don't have to say 'never again, SilverSea', as I have already booked my cruises for the next 18 months and they are all expedition cruises, mostly on Ponant (zero single supplement, too ).

Best place on the cruise was Willemstad at Curaçao, buy a long way. Best shore experience was the submarine at Aruba. Barbados was fun for a couple of days, and fortunately gave me easy access to a doctor and radiology.

Cartagena in Colombia was excellent. On balance, probably the highlight of the trip in terms of any one location. Food there was amazing and again, best of the trip, and the history very interesting. Cheap too, except for accommodation. What I didn't mention before were the Rosario islands - an hour or so offshore by speedboat, would be a great place for a daytrip or a stay, especially if you are into beach and waters ports. I'd like to go back to Colombia.

American Airlines in J was very good; comfortable, good FAs and not bad food and wines.

Qantas flight back was one of the better long haul Qantas flights I've had recently - especially as it was 17 hours. meal service not delayed, FAs friendly and efficient and meals pretty good.

So, that's this trip - I will post some videos once I get settled and caught up with regular life at home. My niece got married last night , absolutely the nicest, most devoted couple you'd meet (except in your own family, of course!) and it was a late, jet-lagged night. Yawn.

 

[tgh]

Thanks for another entertaining and informative TR ; a Caribbean cruise is no longer on my very short list of ttdbid (things to do before I die)

 

[SYD]

Sounds and look like a great trip!

I would have hated packing for Euro winter AND Caribbean! Although I did pass through DFW about 10years ago on my way to FLL for a cruise and Dallas was blanked in snow! They weren’t coping!

Cartagena is definitely on my “To Do” list!

Meanwhile, it does seem to have been a mild Euro winter. We only got one night of proper snow in Budapest but London has been threatening the white stuff (no, not Charlie) tonight as we’re about to leave!

 

[ellen10]

Thanks for another great trip report. Very informative, lots of great photos and very entertaining following along with your experiences.

And a good all round sum up. I will look forward to the next one.

 

[OZDUCK]

More thanks for an excellent TR with lots of detailed commentary.

I think that we were lucky to get Salzburg in snow. But then again we experienced DB at its worst. So swings and roundabouts.

As Syd said, packing for snow and heat must have be a nuisance.

 

[drron]

More thanks for an excellent TR with lots of detailed commentary.

I think that we were lucky to get Salzburg in snow. But then again we experienced DB at its worst. So swings and roundabouts.

As Syd said, packing for snow and heat must have be a nuisance.

Loved tagging along. Actually not surprised you aren’t a classic cruiser. Expedition cruises are a totally different experience. Sadly I can no longer enjoy them.

 

[Pushka]

Thankyou for the report. It's been nice to be on a holiday and have a distraction.

 

[Cossie]

Great TR, glad I could help in a small way.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hummingbirds in Tobago

Slowed

Sunken wreck in Aruba from submarine

Leaving Willemstad, Curacao on the Silver Cloud

Fireworks at Willemstad

Pontoon bridge at Willemstad opening
Willemstad pontoon bridge opening

 

[zig]

Thanks for the great TR.
I'm also not a classic cruiser, so understand your preference for expedition cruises.

 

[Port Power]

Ridiculously long walk to immigration. All the travellators out of order. However, at immigration there was a diversion for app-users, but I couldn't use that, as I had to have a B1/B2 visa because I couldn't get an ESTA because I had visited Iran. Into the main hall - vast, but no machines, just regular queues to see agents. Hardly any queue! Given a pretty thorough questioning by the immigration agent, then through (with no stamp in the passport). Another very long walk to the baggage carousels, and a long wait for bags, then walk straight through green lane for customs. Never had that before!! (Although I have visited the USA in about 5 to 7 years)

Staying at the Pullman at the airport. It was either that or the Hilton, but reviews of that were bad, mainly because of uncontrolled children.

Long wait for the shuttle and had to call them as to where to go, as the instructions on their web site were plainly wrong, due to roadworks. That's really annoying - cost me $10 to open up Telstra roaming to make the call.

Zero recognition of Accor Plat on check-in, but the guy who kindly took time out of playing on his phone, found me a room with no-one around and away from elevators. I think it was an upgrade (to a suite), but he didn't say and I don't think it was an 'upgrade', just the room he chose for me.

View attachment 419893

View attachment 419892

Only wanted a snack before bed, so went down to the bar and usual horrid selection of burgers, chips and cheese stuff.

Pullman, my cough. Hampton Inn.

What a difference a day makes!

When I arrived at MIA, it was a straight walk through immigration. Because there was no queues, I was directed into the Canada aisle rather than walking all the way to “other nationalities”. Showed passport, advised I had some biscuits/cookies in my luggage, and through I went to baggage collection. Bags were out in ten minutes. (Edit: Oops, so sorry, passport control was at DFW. Bags were out in 5 minutes there, 10 minutes at MIA. Hey, I’ve been travelling for 28 hours!)

Outside at the crossing, I asked the crossing guard where hotel shuttles are. This is the difference: women ask for directions, men just keep following their noses! . He told me to take the lift up a level, and go out Door 5. He firmly repeated “Door 5”. I followed directions and found myself on the departures level and at the hotel shuttles sign on the road. The traffic agent there said no need to telephone the hotel, but when I see the Pullman van, make sure to wave. Several Hilton brand vans came and went, and the Pullman van arrived soon afterwards. Maybe 5-10 minutes.

On arrival at the hotel, the driver went inside to grab a hotel luggage trolley. Lovely man!

Different day to you, different staff member, different experience. I agree, first impressions count! If I had checked in with the other bloke at reception, I think I might also have been less impressed.

At check in, the guy on reception several times mentioned me being a member, and welcomed me. He said because of my loyalty I had been upgraded to the 15th floor (top floor). I asked for a late check out and he offered 2:00pm. It seems my experience was just totally different! I have a king room with water view. It is dark, so I see lots of lights and some other hotel names. The room is large and has everything I need, including a coffee machine. The bathroom is a bit tired, but functional. No welcome gift, but I don’t need any more chocolates anyway. It was 7:00pm by then, so I went down to the bar for a happy hour drink followed by my “Welcome” drink. A fellow solo traveller from the shuttle was there, so we enjoyed time chatting. I just didn’t need any more food, but here burger looked great: a really thick, thick meat patty! Breakfast is included with the room rate for me this time, and I am actually looking forward to that.