Best Of
Re: Can't decide between excursions.
We did the wine tour on that trip. The little trolley through the vineyards was great, but the wine was not great. We were not offered a chocolate option in 2022. However, you should get some local wineries coming on board the ship for tastings. If you do have a visit from CHENEN BLEU their wines are wonderful!!! We bought some and shipped them back home. This is one of my favorite trips. Enjoy!
Marla526
Re: Massage
Not necessarily. But do be sure you book giving you time incase the safari ends later than expected. This can happen quite often if exciting things are happening out on safari.
British
Re: Hat for Sun exposure
My best hat is with a net that is rolled in a pocket in the back of the sun hat; comes in handy when you go in murky waters to avoid the small bugs; have used the net in our last Africa trip 
Re: Can't decide between excursions.
I looked at the itinerary to refresh my memory. We rode a little trolley around the vineyard either before or after the wine tasting, probably before. The views of the villages below were so beautiful.
I don’t think you can go wrong with either excursion, but I leave chocolate tasting to Switzerland and Belgium.
kfnknfzk
Re: Can't decide between excursions.
Just looked at day nine on the website. It sounds like the wine and chocolate are combined and the hike is the second option. Unless the schedule/choices have changed
Ben
Re: Can't decide between excursions.
I never pass up a wine tasting opportunity, especially in France. This was one of our favorite tours. Enjoy.
kfnknfzk
Re: Can't decide between excursions.
I'd definitely do the chocolate truffle class. I'm not much on alcohol but I love chocolate.
Euros and Pounds
Since we will only be in London a few days (we are flying to London a day early), is there a need to purchase British Pounds, or will credit cards suffice?
I am wondering about the need for Euros in France.
I know that credit cards are not often accepted at various little souvenir places.
I was thinking of bringing a small amount of both Euros and Pounds.
Is it better to get that money here in the states or in Europe? I hear conflicting things.
Sue M
Chase Sapphire Reserve changes
tldr; The annual fee is going up
Chase is making a number of changes, with some additional benefits (most of which are useless to me) and charging a higher annual fee. Seems I'm reevaluating this card's cost-effectiveness once or twice a year...
https://thepointsguy.com/news/chase-sapphire-reserve-refresh-2025/
BKMD
Re: Chase Sapphire Reserve changes
The reason I went with Chase was the $10,000 per person travel insurance. That's $20,000 of travel insurance when my wife and I travel.