Je souhaiterai avoir des renseignements sur la croisière Terre Sainte de chez Costa.
Nous partons pour notre première croisière le 09 octobre prochain en all inclused.
Les excusions proposées nous semblent onéreuses, avez vous des suggestions pour nous débrouiller par nous même.
Quelles sont les "arnaques"?
Quelles monnaies prévoir...des dollars?
Merci beaucoup par avance des réponses que vous pouvez nous apporter.
Letty
Nous faisons mon mari et moi, ainsi que mes parents, cette croisière.
Il y a aussi, sur ce forum, Mimietge et Robert1551, qui font la même croisière, nous serons donc plusieurs à nous retrouver sur le Pacifica en même temps 😉🙂 ce qui est intéressant si nous voulons partager les excursions !
Nous concernant nous prenons celles d’Israël et Egypte (si cette dernière est maintenue, vue l'actualité 😕), avec Costa, je pense qu'au niveau sécurité c'est mieux, de plus on ne connais pas du tout, donc je préfère ne pas me casser la tête ...Ceci dit c'est vrai que leurs excursions sont chères, mais il parait bien organisées ...
Pour le reste, il faudrait voir qui veut faire quoi et en fonction, nous retrouver sur le bateau et prendre des taxis à 8/10 places et partager les frais, ce qui coûterait moins cher, en plus ça serait sympa de se retrouver à plusieurs ! Après, tout dépend du temps des escales, si nous n'avons que quelques heures ça risque d'être chaud, niveau timing, si on veux faire par nous même, ça se calcule ...
Bonjour à tous ceux qui seront comme nous sur le pacifica mon bateau préféré le 09/10
Nous avons découvert l'israël en 2009 et nous nous y rendons chaque année avec Costa, on a testé aussi MSC cet été pour la même destination (quelle horreur)
Bref au niveau des excursions JERUSALEM-BETHLEEM est absolument magnifique après l'église de bethleem vous avez l'opportunité de faire quelques achats donc la croix du pélerin avec les portes de la ville sur le médaillon (j'en porte un depuis 2009) qui montre que vous êtes venus en terre sainte. La Mer morte et MASSADA aussi (il y a un arrêt shopping au pied du téléphérique après pour les produits AHAVA qui sont fait avec la mer morte).
Attention pour Jerusalem on marche surtout le chemin de croix c'est un petit chemin qui est pavé donc très inégal il faut prévoir de bonnes chaussures. Idem pour Massada (cité en altitude où on s'y rend avec un téléphérique) il y a de gros cailloux mais une vue imprenable sur la Judée. On apprend beaucoup de la citée qu'avait construit Hérode et le funeste dessein de ceux qui y ont vécu.
Pour Jérusalem, il faut toujours rester grouper, sur place il y a beaucoup de policiers avec armes (surtout autour du Khotel) et si on se perd c'est la fin, il faut toujours suivre le mouvement et c'est une sortie qui est très prenante mais très haletante, personnellement j'aime beaucoup l'eglise du st sepulcre.
Pour la météo (j'y suis allée fin juin cette année on était à 50 degrés au bord de la mer morte) là en octobre on devrait taper dans les 30 degrés, le mieux je dirais c'est toujours CREME SOLAIRE et quelque chose sur la tête, toujours une bouteille d'eau à emmener avant de partir en excursion. Toujours épaules couvertes pour les femmes lorsque l'on rentre dans les églises.
Arrivant au port d'ashdod on est environ à 1h30 de car de jerusalem. Jerusalem-Bethleem 8 km environ.
Pour la mer morte c'est un peu plus long mais tout aussi joli et la mer morte est splendide. Attention pour la santé il ne faut pas dépasser 20 mn dans l'eau, ne pas faire de l'hypotension ou être trop cardiaque c'est déconseillé surtout que l'on descend avec le car à -400m en dessous du niveau de la mer.
C'est à faire (nous avions eu également 2 jours sur israël en 2009 compte-tenu du remue ménage en egypte à cette époque) et là d'après les renseignements de l'agence de voyage hier cela va être de nouveau pareil. Faut juste espérer qu'ils mettente la mer morte le 2ème jour et non pas le 1er comme ça vous pouvez faire les deux. Perso c'est ce que j'ai préféré.
Nous avons fait aussi Nazareth et la Gallilée qui est magnifique aussi mais je conseillerais Jerusalem c'est un must à voir. Alors attention car il y a aussi une autre visite de Jerusalem et à la fin vous terminez dans un endroit où ils taillent des diamants, des amis ont fait cette sortie et étaient super deçus.
Autre renseignement la veille d'arriver en Israël TOUS LES PASSAGERS seront convoqués pont par pont au théatre pour rencontrer des policiers israéliens qui vous remettront une carte pour votre arrivée en israël SURTOUT NE LA PERDEZ PAS. Elle sera contrôlée à chaque fois avec votre carte costa au débarquement et à l'embarquement.
Un conseil parlez anglais, ils ne parlent pas du tout le français (pas évident de se faire comprendre quand vous ne parlez pas anglais tout de même).
Pour tous les achats faits en israël ils vous donneront une carte pour le remboursement de la tva à bord (normalement des personnes israëliennes doivent être à bord et vous rembourser ce qu'il y a de noté sur le papier qui vous sera remis que ce soit bijoux crèmes etc...) Malheureusement pour nous à chaque fois vu que l'on faisait des excursions on les a loupé donc pas de remboursement c'est à savoir.
Sinon le PACIFICA est magnifique, on y mange comme des rois. Pour 11 jours de croisière il y a une soirée italienne donc prévoyez un vêtement de couleur VERT ou BLANC ou ROUGE (drapeau italien) avec comme dessert l'omelette norvégienne à tomber !
Soirée du commandant, prévoir robe longue et costard pour les messieurs.
Cocktail du commandant pour tous les passager, 2ème cocktail pour les personnes qui sont déjà partis avec Costa.
Après ce n'est que du bonheur.
J'ai 36 ans mon mari 49 et deux petits de 11 et 7 ans (on bourlingue depuis que ma fille a 2 mois donc on a l'habitude de partir loin et nos enfants sont très cools on ne les entend pas)
Si vous voulez d'autres infos y a pas de soucis, nous sommes déjà partis 4 fois rien que sur l'israël et là 5ème fois et la première fois pour ma maman que nous emmenons aussi (elle a 63 ans)
Les excursions ne sont pas données mais elles valent vraiment le coup. En Grèce, à Athènes nous avons pris le métro billet à 1 euro on avait un plan et c'était super simple.
Pour la turquie pareil on s'est débrouillés tout seul. Pour l'Israël vous ne pourrez voyager seuls, là il faut prendre l'excursion sur le bateau.
Méfiez vous également des taxis qui attendent les touristes à la descente du bateau, beaucoup cassent les prix mais ils cassent aussi leur tour de ville ça nous est arrivé sur une croisière en Espagne-Canaries. On est débrouilles on s'est est sortis mais tout de même.
Pour Rome c'est pareil on a pris Rome en toute liberté en bus (on paye de mémoire 35 euros) on est laissé sur la plus grande place de Rome et après 1 euro le ticket de métro pour les enfants de - 12 ans le métro est gratuit. On est arrivés à chaque fois avant les groupes de costa et quand on faisait le compte de ce qu'on avait payé nous c'était imbattable et avant tout le monde.
Bref il ya les pour et les contre, c'est à vous de voir, mais les taxis eux vous verront venir c'est sur donc faites attention. Sinon en israël vous pouvez payer en dollars ou en CB sans problème, on a même fait des achats en euros ou en livres sterling (mon mari est britannique il nous restait de la monnaie de chez lui)
voilà voilà j'ai fais le tour je crois
J'attends avec impatience vos questions et remarques
Audrey😏
Très int2ressant votre compte rendu.
Nous partons le 7 octobre avec Costa pour la Terre Sainte donc Israel
On hésite encore pour l'excursion, soit faire celle de Costa Bethlem Jerusalem, justement celle qui ne fait pas le diamantaire.
De toute façon si on veut refaire un voyage ou une croisière pas de dépense à faire en diamants.
Ce qui m'interesse surtout c'est le côté difficulté. J'ai donc quelques questions, monte t-on à pieds ou en car au Mont des Oliviers? ou bien voit-on seulement le Mont des Oliviers, c'est ce que je crois comprendre quand on lit le descriptif sur le site de Costa.
Est ce très difficile au niveau de la marche, et des marches? je dois dire que je ne marche pas très bien.
Merci pour votre réponse et pour ces renseignements rassurants car j'avoue que jusqu'à présent les informations qui circulent sur les excurions ne sont pas très bonnes: chères, à la va vite, avec beaucoup de participants.
Beaucoup se sont regroupés ont pris un guide, en avez vous côtoyé, quels étaient leur impression?
Merci et bon week-end🙂
😎
Bonjour j'aime bien vous lire, je crois vous relire.
J'ai quelques difficultés de marche, pensez vous malgré tout que ce soit accessible pour moi.
merci
Bonjour,
J'ai eu la chance de faire parti du voyage l'an passé et j'ai posté mon compte rendu...
(Nous avions un guide privé pour Jérusalem). Mais pour avoir échangé avec les passagers qui ont pris l’excusions costa : Pour le mont des oliviers, vous l’apercevrez au moment où vous irez au mur des lamentations.
Il y a quelques marches dans les ruelles en pavé...mais le père d'une amie qui a 84 ans et complètement voûté a éprouvé aucune difficulté, bien évidemment il était fatigué de sa journée et à apprécié le retour.
Sachez que pour les excursions costa, c'est vraiment au pas de course, bien suivre le guide dans la foule, car un couple s'est perdu et ils ont du prendre un taxi entre Jérusalem et ashdod (soit 200 ou 250€ je me rappelle plus, de leur poche évidemment)
Elles sont aussi très chères!
Si c'était à refaire, je ferai les excusions par moi même sauf le Vatican, car la queue est impressionnante et il est vraiment intéressant d'avoir un guide pour la visite (notamment pour le passe droit de la chapelle Sixtine.
Je vous conseille de regarder le reportage dédié sur la france 4 le mercredi 26 février à 00h05 (coulisse off croisières de luxe).
C'est sur MSC mais pour avoir vu le reportage la semaine dernière c'est similaire!
merci pour ces renseignements qui vont dans le sens de la plupart des croisiéristes.
Vous serait-il possible de me communiquer le nom de votre guide comment vous avez fait pour vous grouper, et le prix approximatif. merci
si vous préférez vous pouvez le faire en privé
bonne journée😉
Désolée, mais notre guide était celui de l'ambassade qui fait découvrir sa cité par amitié...
Attention, pensez à prendre des shekel (la monnaie local) 1€ = 4.83 shekel
Les distributeurs sont en hébreux ou en anglais.
Il y a plusieurs guides francophone que vous retrouverez sur le net, il faudra compter environ 250€ la journée.(a plusieurs)
http://www.guide-israel.info/tarifs/
En arrivant sur place, certain se propose de faire guide pour vous, histoire d’arrondir les fin de mois.
Vous pouvez prendre le bus de la gare routier (voir mon post à ce sujet), vous procurer à l'avance, un plan de la cité qui est assez simple à découvrir avec un peu de documentation. Mais le mieux me semble t il reste un guide.
Hi there,
I’m looking into a Mediterranean cruise on the Splendida in YC.
I’d love to know if it’s a ship with a lot of triple and quadruple cabins in the Yacht Club.
The thing is, I’m planning to depart from Malta, and either the cruise ends during the French school holidays in October with a departure from Marseille—which means there’s a risk of lots of kids on board—or the other option is a departure on October 30th, which might also have some French kids during the first part of the cruise.
I read that some ships in the Fantasia class have more triple or quadruple cabins than others, but I’m not sure if the Splendida is one of them.
If anyone has that info…
PS: This isn’t about starting a debate on traveling with or without kids… I’d just like a quiet week, and that’s not always easy in a small space with lots of children around.
Just back from our first cruise on the Renaissance, and I’d like to share a few thoughts about life on board. Our feelings are mixed—we wanted a change after several MSC cruises, but the value for money on this repositioning cruise left us torn.
After taking advantage of successive promotions, we finally secured a well-located balcony cabin for 2600 € (almost 50% off the brochure rate). Given the amenities and the ship’s age, this now feels like the absolute maximum we’d pay for that period.
Overall, we were happy with our vacation on board, but a few details—when added up—left us with a somewhat mixed impression.
The pros:
- Ship size
- Reasonable noise levels, except in the restaurants (aside from the covered pool area)
- Spacious balcony cabin (20 + 5 m²) with plenty of storage and a bathtub with jets
- Understated, tasteful decor
- French language spoken on board
- Friendly staff for the most part
- 100% French-speaking clientele
- Decent food with French dishes (even with an Indian chef)
- Tables for two available (though the ship was full, so no changes possible)
- Some high-quality shows, thanks to an excellent English-speaking troupe
- Interesting lectures (especially on history and cetaceans)
The cons:
- Unreliable air conditioning in common areas (you’d go from a freezing lounge to a hot one, as if the system only worked in certain spaces at certain times)
- Aging ship with a few glitches (noises, AC, toilet flushes, lights) reported at reception (luckily, our only issue was the bathroom door not closing...)
- Industrial, thawed-out bread and pastries (a letdown for a ship with a French image)
- Limited fruit selection (often just apples and watermelon/melon) and not much variety in vegetables
- Worn, sometimes stained restaurant towels
We’re not ruling out another cruise on the Renaissance—their itineraries are unique—but only at a very competitive price.
Hi, I’m about to go on a cruise on the Costa Smeralda but I’ve never been on a cruise before. Could anyone share the à-la-carte drink menu? I’d like to know if the prices are excessive, since the MyDrinks drink packages, for example, cost 266 € per adult.
Have a great day! 😉
Hi everyone,
I’m going on a Mediterranean cruise in November and I’m looking for some "tips" to visit the cities of Naples, Messina, and Valletta in Malta without booking the ship’s excursions, which are really expensive.
Thanks so much for your advice and suggestions. We’re a group of 6 people.
Looking forward to hearing from you...
Best,
M
PS: We’re also stopping in Genoa and Barcelona—even though we know these two cities, we’d still love any tips for visiting them!
Thanks
Hello everyone,
We’re a senior couple signed up for a 13-day cruise in Japan on the Princess Sapphire, departing from Yokohama on April 8, 2027.
Are there any other French speakers on this forum who’ll be on this trip?
Hoping for a reply...
Hi,
The MSC Magnifica has been refurbished and a Yacht Club class has been added. Could anyone share their impressions of cabin 14001, as the view is slightly obstructed? Is it really a "disadvantage" in terms of brightness? Thanks in advance
Hi, we're heading to Venice soon. We have a hotel in Mestre and we'd like to know which bus can take us from the Mestre hotel to Marghera Port. Thanks.
Hi everyone ...
We’re planning to do the 83-day Cunard cruise ...
departing from Southampton on January 10, 2027 aboard the Queen Anne ...
has anyone done it ... or have any info ... or tips ...
for example ... deck and cabin choices ... drink packages ... excursions ... etc.
... anything good to know about this ship???
Thanks everyone ...
Hi there,
Here’s the 2027 cruise schedule.
It’s a great way to get ideas and maybe even meet up with other members!
2 essential rules:
1) Never "quote" the schedule when replying—this avoids any confusion.
2) Follow this format:
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
REMINDER Despite my requests, few people follow the requested format. Cruises that stray too far from it won’t be listed anymore—sorry about that. IMPORTANT Please respect the templates!
PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE FORMAT BELOW AND REPLACE WITH YOUR DETAILS IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
It takes time to fix mistakes, so THANKS TO EVERYONE for your help!
YOUR TURN 😉
NUMBER OF 2027 CRUISES: 1
JANUARY
14/01 - poupou10 / AZAMARA JOURNEY / 74 days / South America Tour / Miami
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Hi there,
I’m looking for an all-inclusive Nile cruise on a comfortable boat with as few passengers as possible.
Which tour operator can you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
I’m about to book the panoramic suite, and I’m not sure whether I should go for the one at the front of the ship or the one at the back. I’d really appreciate any feedback—anyone who’s already booked this kind of suite and can share the pros and cons?
Hi,
We’ll be visiting Barcelona for the first time on our upcoming cruise.
I was wondering if it’s better to book a taxi in advance to get from the train station to the cruise terminal, since there’ll be four of us. Are there enough taxis around that we won’t have to wait too long?
For the return trip, same question—are there enough taxis, since we have a flight to catch? Though I doubt we’ll know in advance which terminal we’ll dock at.
I came across this site below—has anyone heard of it?
https://taxibarcelona.taxi/fr/
hi there
Here’s the cruise schedule for 2026.
It’s a great way to get ideas and maybe even meet up with other members.
2 essential rules:
1) never "quote" the calendar when replying—this’ll avoid any confusion
2) follow the format below
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
REMINDER Despite my requests, few people follow the requested format. Cruises that stray too far from it won’t be listed anymore—sorry!PLEASE respect the templates!
COPY AND PASTE THE FORMAT BELOW AND REPLACE WITH YOUR DETAILS IF YOU’RE STRUGGLING
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
It takes time to fix mistakes, so THANKS TO EVERYONE for your help!
YOUR TURN 😉
NUMBER OF CRUISES 2026:
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Hi everyone, we're going on a week-long cruise and I have a question: can we travel by train and on a cruise with small refrigerated injectable syringes?
Do we need to complete any formalities?
And how should we store them?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
I'm considering a cruise on the Hurtigruten Coastal Express from Bergen to Kirkenes and back to Bergen over 11 days in mid-March 2027.
Has anyone already done this trip?
I think it’s a great way to discover the Norwegian coast with the chance to see magnificent northern lights, but isn’t the trip a bit *too* long?
There are about thirty stops, but most last only a few minutes, with just one daily stop of over 2 hours, which gives a quick glimpse of a few towns but doesn’t allow for a full excursion.
Is the supplement for an outside cabin with a porthole (800 € for 2!) really worth it?
It’s more pleasant than an inside cabin, but do you spend enough time in your cabin to make the most of it?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this journey.
Best regards.
Hi everyone! I’m used to sailing on a sailboat with two or three people—it’s amazing. But I’d love to try the experience of a cruise. Just to clarify, I’ll be going alone. My first question: are there other solo travelers on these cruises, or is it mostly couples and families?
For a first cruise, I’d prefer a short one (maximum 8 days). Do those exist? And on the smallest boat possible. I live in Marseille, so a departure from Marseille would work, but I’m open to other ports too. If you have a cruise line to recommend and a destination you’ve enjoyed, or if you’ve had a great experience on a more intimate-sized ship, I’d love to hear about it!
We just returned from a cruise from 08/13/26 to 08/20/26 on the MSC ORCHESTRA with stops in Tarragona, Valencia, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Genoa, and back to Marseille.
The ship was fully booked. Deck chairs were already occupied by beach towels early in the morning, and there were only 1 or 2 people in the pools... However, on the day the Italians disembarked, there were very few towels on the deck chairs.
We found the Italians less talkative.
We had a balcony cabin on deck 9, starboard side. The cabin was spacious, but the sofa was facing the desk, making it a pain to watch TV (neck strain guaranteed). So, we changed the sofa’s orientation to face the TV (we put it back in place on disembarkation day).
There were 325 French speakers on board, and a lot of staff from Mauritius, which made communication easier.
No annoying announcements about bingo, etc.—a nice change from COSTA.
For dinner, we were at the first sitting at 7:45 PM, at a table for 6. On the first night, we were two "gray-haired" couples at the table. The second night, two young women joined us but asked to change tables after seeing us...
The show for our dinner time was at 10:15 PM and ended around 11:00 PM. We found that a bit late for us. The shows were varied and of good quality.
The restaurant menus offered plenty of choices, but at the buffet at lunchtime, there were a lot of dishes with quite a few carbs. Afternoon tea from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM included some great pastries, among other things.
We had an issue with the air conditioning and bad odors in the cabin one afternoon. I reported the problem to the reception, and staff along with our cabin steward came to check the cabin. The issue was resolved that same afternoon.
Two days later, we were surprised to find a bag with items inside: 2 MSC mugs and 2 MSC thermos flasks that keep drinks hot or cold for 10 hours. It was a gift from customer service following the bad odors in our cabin. We weren’t expecting this at all and thanked MSC’s customer service.
For excursions, MSC always offers port-to-city-center transfers for 14 € per adult in Valencia and Tarragona, and 12 € per child. In Livorno, it was 10 € per adult and 7 € per child.
In Civitavecchia, there was a shuttle to the train station for 6 €.
On the MSC for Me app, there were "promotions" on certain excursions.
We really enjoyed this cruise, but we couldn’t revisit some stops (Tarragona and Valencia) on our own because it was too hot.
Great evening: Mum49
We're leaving on August 25th for a Danube cruise from Vienna to Bucharest. The travel agency refuses to postpone this cruise despite navigation changes due to the exceptional drought, which include bus transfers that don’t interest us.
Have you had any experiences with this that you’d like to share?
Hi there!
I’m going on a cruise with MSC on the World Europa this coming October.
Stops: Genoa, Naples, Messina, Malta.
Has anyone visited Mount Etna and Pompeii?
Could you share some tips for each of these stops?
I’d like to explore on my own without booking the ship’s excursions.
Thanks for your advice!
Hello!
After a lot of hesitation between different cruise lines (Explora, Oceania, YC, HAL, NCL) and several destinations like Norway, Ireland, and Iceland,
I finally chose NCL’s Star for Iceland.
I had already looked at this itinerary when I went to Scotland in April with CFC, but it was really expensive.
You should know that CFC often offers last-minute deals 45 days before departure (the point when you can no longer cancel or modify).
So, I got a great opportunity and grabbed it.
Departure is on August 23rd.
Hi everyone,
I’m staying in a suite on the Pacifica in October and I can’t find any details about the suite benefits beyond the elite restaurant, the butler, and the espresso machine.
What about breakfast and meals served free in the cabin, and the spa?
Costa’s been cutting back on perks for Gold members, and it seems like suites are next.
Thanks for your replies!
Hello,
We’re back from this cruise.
Boarding in Dunkirk: The doors opened around 12 PM. Since we were a bit early, I asked if my husband, who uses a walker, could wait inside instead of outside. I left him with the two suitcases and our two backpacks in the small hall while I parked the car in the reserved CFC parking lot for 10 € per day.
The shuttle that was supposed to take people from the parking lot to the model pavilion was supposed to arrive in 5 minutes, but after 15 minutes, nothing. After waiting 15 minutes, I saw a man walking and asked if I could follow him. In 15 minutes, we arrived, and still no sign of the shuttle—it must have passed us. Arrived at the model pavilion.
My husband had already checked in the suitcases with the help of a CFC staff member. The remaining formalities were completed quickly. We were on board by 12:15 PM. Headed to the buffet on deck 11 and waited in a lounge to access our cabin.
At 2 PM, we discovered our balcony cabin on deck 9 at the rear: spacious with a large balcony compared to MSC/COSTA.
Since we were at the rear, cabin 9202, there was always an issue with elevator number 4: "priority."
Elevator number 2 stops at deck 10... and elevator number 3 was often out of order, leaving only number 1 for those with mobility issues to reach the buffet, especially for people who struggle with stairs. Note: only one child on board and lots of "gray hair."
DAY 2: At sea. Lots of activities offered.
Day 3: GOTHENBURG (Sweden). Sunny, 19°C at 11 AM.
Excursion booked with CFC: Gothenburg and Haga for all.
Interesting visit with a great guide. The HAGA district, in our opinion, is full of cobblestones and nothing special, not suitable for people using a cane or wheelchair. Elevator number 3 was out of order again.
Day 4: Copenhagen. 15°C in the morning, showers in the afternoon.
We didn’t book an excursion since we’d already stopped here with CFC in 2025, and based on advice from this forum, we took the hop-on/hop-off bus right in front of the ship. I still went to see the Little Mermaid again.
No TV, but the elevator was fixed.
DAY 5: At sea. Still no TV.
DAY 6: GDANSK (Poland). 15°C, rain all day.
There’s a shuttle to get to the city center.
We took the excursion: Panorama of Gdansk.
The guide left us at the entrance of the city center for 45 minutes, telling us what to visit. Meet-up for the rest of the tour at 3 PM. The bus left at 3:15 PM to cover 10 km to see St. Mary’s Cathedral. We arrived at 4:16 PM... The guide said there are often traffic jams in that direction. We had 10 minutes on site before heading to see the lighthouse and the Westerplatte monument, where we also had 10 minutes.
Many of us wondered why we didn’t do the tour in the opposite direction since they knew there would be traffic...
I went to reception to complain about the organization. The staff member read me the program: we were supposed to start with the lighthouse, then go to the cathedral and stay for 30 minutes before heading to the center of Gdansk for a short guided walk with some free time to buy souvenirs, etc.
The guide did the complete opposite of what was planned and didn’t even give us a guided tour—just dropped us off in the city...
DAY 7: Bornholm Island (Denmark). 14°C, a few sunny spells.
We saw in the excursions that there was a walking tour of RØNNE. So, like many others, we explored on our own. There was a small orchestra welcoming us at the port and two people with city maps. We took the shuttle to leave the port—it ran every 15 minutes. The tourist office was next to the "shuttle bus." A pleasant visit at our own pace.
DAY 8: KIEL (Germany). 18–23°C, nice weather.
We took the "Kiel for all" excursion. Great guide and interesting visits.
The port is in the city, and in 10 minutes, we were in the city center by following a blue line on the ground from the port. Elevator 3 was stuck again... and the TV was back.
DAY 9: At sea. Elevator 3 works.
DAY 10: At sea. Elevator 3 is out of order again...
DAY 11: Disembarkation in Dunkirk.
Cabins had to be vacated by 7:30 AM. Buffet open until 9 AM.
Elevator number 1 was "reserved," leaving only number 2, which doesn’t go up to deck 11... a problem for people with mobility issues who had to cross the entire deck 11 and try to use one of the four working elevators at the front, which were crowded.
My opinion: Interesting stops.
The onboard staff were always welcoming, smiling, and mostly French-speaking.
Evening shows were better than in March/April 2025—better singers, dancers, and presenters, and the costumes were improved.
I liked the "magician" shows less.
There were three onboard lectures by a very cultured person, but they went off-topic and were too historical for my taste. I didn’t attend the other two; my husband went to the second but not the third.
For this cruise, there was a bridge theme, but we’re not players or interested.
We didn’t take a drink package on board—water, coffee, tea, and herbal teas were available.
We had a water leak in our cabin the night before disembarkation. We reported it, and after the technical staff came (with a translator who didn’t speak English), we were asked to leave the cabin for a while for repairs. We went to a lounge, and after 1.5 hours, I checked in at reception. The repair took longer than expected... we had to change cabins... not ideal the night before disembarkation. No balcony cabins were available, so we got an ocean-view cabin, 6075, with a bathtub (impossible for both of us to use). We packed our suitcases, took a shower in our cabin, and moved to the new one. Noise from chairs until 12:30 AM because the cabin was under a lounge, and constant ventilation noise in the hallway... sleep was hard to come by.
Disembarkation: Well organized. We were helped with transporting the two suitcases and bags to the waiting room while I took the shuttle to get the car.
Guylène