BerlinCruisers

We are planning on buying the Essentials Package for our 16 nights cruise as it seems to be a very good deal. What I could not find out on this thread is, whether it is possible or not to upgrade the included premium to the ultimate beverage package for one or two persons by just paying the difference (i.e. 7$ per person/day)? Can anyone share his or her experience?

Hello!

Could anyone give an update if it is still a requirement to wear masks inside of the ship on SCENIC French river cruises, particularly on the SCENIC Diamond? In our final documents it only states that it MAY be needed to wear maks depending on local and governement restrictions. And is it correct that NO Covid testing is required prior to departure? Because, again, they are only saying that this depends on the local laws. Just wanted to make sure...

Thank you!

Hello!

Has anyone who started the cruise on Odyssey in Barbados just recently been able to upload their PCR test result online before arriving in Bridgetown? I’m talking about the website, not the BIM Safe app. It seems that they changed their procedure for that. Although it is still mentioned at various places on their website that you should upload the test result at the same time you are filling out the ED (immigration) form, i was not asked for it during the registration process and also did not see a link to upload it either. I got my confirmation email with the QR codes for immigration and customs right after submitting the form and I will take the printed test result with me, of course. Just wondering.

Furthermore I got confused that at one place it says the time frame for the PCR test is max. 72 hours before arrival, but all other references on the site say it is 3 days. We are a little worried now because due to the time difference between Germany and Barbados our test was taken more than 72 hours but still within the 3 day period. Any thoughts on this?

We're on this cruise as well and our invitation states an "intimate event (which) will be screened live in selected venues throughout the ship from 6:30pm" so I assume that, probably because of social distancing issues, the ceremony itself will not be open to public or only to a limited number. But I might be wrong, of course. Anyways....looking forward to it!

2 hours ago, cinbeach said:

Was told yesterday that 75% was the number they were hoping for but had not booked nearly close to that.  I join the July 28 cruise - have sailed SS for over 20 years.

We will also embark the Moon on July 28 and have been told by a SS rep today that they are expecting 350-400 guests on our cruise which would be an almost 100% increase in passenger numbers compared to all the Moon cruises before which is very surprising. I don't know why this is, but maybe one reason could be a lot of (former) Seabourn guests from the UK having transferred their booking over to Silversea at short notice because Seabourn would not allow them to travel on the Ovation at this moment? Also there might be more officials/press/bloggers/influencers, etc. on board, because this itinerary now contains the naming ceremony. It's just a guess. In any case, 400 passengers would already come close to the envisaged goal of 75% capacity. Any thoughts on that?

We are booked on the July 28 cruise on the Moon and really looking forward to it. It's already our 6th cruise during the pandemic (being German we were lucky to have some German cruise lines (e.g. Hapag Lloyd) available who restarted last year). So we are well familiar to the current restrictions (masks, temperature checks, testing, contact tracing, no individual shore excursions on some routes, etc.) but also some advantages (mainly abundance of space due to limited passenger numbers and even more individual service).

All in all we feel that the whole cruise experience is not significantly impaired and we are happy that more and more cruise lines are sailing again.

P.S.: Are the "cooking classes" in S.A.L.T Lab included or offered for an extra charge? And is Kaiseki open for (sushi) lunch?

We are wondering if all shore excursions on Seabourn expedition cruises are included in the cruise fare (like on Silversea e.g.). Reading the published information it is not quite clear whether this is the case or only zodiac and bike activities are covered, whereas land excursions (and things like submarine rides of course) would be optional for a charge. Could anyone clarify who has already been on a Seabourn Expedition Cruise?

Thank you!

Thank you very much to everyone here who commented on my initial post and who encouraged us to disregard Mr. Hagen's "unconventional" marketing speech!

Just wanted to let you know that this finally convinced us to give it a try and we recently booked the 17 days "Komodo & the Australian Coast" itinerary on November 30th, 2018. So if anyone of you happens to be on the same cruise and you can spot the four persons on the ship walking around in Bavarian Lederhosen and Dirndl to spice up the "ambiance" a little (just kidding), please feel free to say hi! ;-)

I hope you take the cruise--which one are you thinking of?

We are thinking of the 29 days Viking Spirit South Pacific Sojourn in November 2018. Looks like a lovely itinerary.

After reading the first replies, we feel a little bit relieved and this confirms what we already hoped/imagined. We, of course, understand that it is is important to be fluent in English to fully understand and enjoy everything which is offered/presented but the nationality really should not be of any interest. And it looks like this is also how it is "practised" on board. Thank you!

Hello Everyone!

We feel a little embarrassed to post this thread but as the following issue could be quite a deal-breaker for us, we have to get some advice/opinion from people who have already traveled on Viking Ocean.

We are very experienced travelers, having already cruised with a variety of international cruise lines in the past and we enjoyed our voyages all the time. Being German with (reasonably) good English language skills we never had any problems getting along and always felt welcome and being treated "equally" on ships where English was the official language and the majority of fellow travelers were American/English/Australian etc..

For one of our next trips we were now considering Viking Ocean as the whole product sounds very appealing to us.

We already knew that Viking is not marketing their ships in Europe (except UK) and we would have to go through our U.S. travel agent we have already used a lot of times. However, when getting into detail preparing to book, we stumbled upon something a little bit "disturbing", namely an interview of Mr. Torstein Hagen, the CEO of Viking where he gave precise statements about his target customers.

Quote:

Hagen described his target audience as "people with some curiosity, who have worked hard and earned some money. They haven't had time to see these places -- and not just see, but experience the culture. They're grown-up people. They speak English. They are 55-plus."

He paused. "We target people like me."

He's equally clear about people he is not interested in: "We have no need whatsoever to say we want some younger people onboard. If you have teenagers, then you should go somewhere else. We don't encourage [inter]generational travel. We market to North Americans, Brits, Australians. Nothing else. No Turks, no Brazilians. They may sneak on a person from Hong Kong or whatever, but the language is English, and it's the ambiance of these types of people [that we strive for]."

At first, we could not believe what we were reading, as this really sounds quite racist and we think the nationality of their guests should not be of any importance for a cruise line, but Mr. Hagen seems to be very serious about this. This impression was confirmed after we sent an email to the official Viking customer service center, politely asking if they would foresee any problems with us booking a cruise and never (!) even received an answer.

Now one thing is what the (in)official policy of the company might be, but what is much more important/interesting is how this is handled on the ships.

Can anyone of you give us a report if they have seen any international, non-native English speaking fellow guests on one of Viking Ocean's ships and if so, if you had the feeling that these guests had any "problems" or if they were treated differently.

It's really sad having to ask this question but we feel it's important to be clear about this so we won't be disappointed should we decide to book.

Thank you very much in advance for your advice!

To all that are "in the same boat" and have asked me to contact them regarding sudden elimination of the Suite Class program from Quantum's and Ovation's China departures, I would strongly recommend writing to RCCL directly in order to address the issue with them.

I have done so, too, but have agreed to be discreet about the outcome. So please understand that I cannot say more about this here!

Here's how Google translated it:

 

 

Bin also in November of Hong Kong and saw a Grand Loft suite booked . Have different from Rccl get testify. Login some games with me

 

 

Tom

I always find Google Translate's results quite amusing. :D The correct translation should be:

"I am also travelling out of Hong Kong in November and have booked a Grand Loft Suite. Received different statements from RCCL. Get in contact with me!"

I just read this new information in their updated brochure, too, which is really shocking for us.

We only booked the Grand Loft Suite because Royal advertised it coming with all the perks. Ovation was always stated as having the new Suite Class perks and there was no mentioning anywhere that China departures would be excluded at all.

Furthermore, if you go on Royal's website today and book a China departure on Ovation it still clearly states that the Grand Loft Suite comes with all the Star Class perks.

Well done, RCCL!!! :mad:

Hi,

We are currently booked in a Grand Loft Suite on the Ovation of the Seas cruising out of Hongkong end of this year.

According to the new Royal Suite Class program Grand Loft Suites are entitled to the Star Class priviliges/perks which include almost everything (unlimited specialty restaurants, premium beverage packages, unlimited internet, etc.) free of charge.

However, when logging into my cruise planner on the RCCL website I can not see any of these perks included under my resercation. All the above mentioned items are offered to book with the regular price tag. :confused:

Has anyone experienced this before and can confirm that this is normal and I should simply ignore it? Do you know if these perks apply to ALL passengers sharing a suite and not only the first two guests? I could not find any side note about that but it would be almost too good to be true. :rolleyes:

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Would appreciate any info on the layout of Superior Ocean View Staterooms (Code F), in particular whether there will be an exterior hallway or publicly accessible area in front of the stateroom window or not.

Thank you so much and enjoy your stay in my home country! :)

It looks to be a great value for the money with all the extra sq. footage.

That's what we thought, too, when booking this particular stateroom.

We are still very curious and excited whether there will be an exterior hallway in front of the window or not.

We'll see... :)

Thank you for all the answers!

Good to hear that there are similar thoughts around the ones who also have booked forward facing cabins on Quantum or Anthem.

Looking at the photos in the "Quantum Keel Blocks" thread I am still not quite sure whether there is a walkway in front of the staterooms or not. What you think should be the windows, Mar56, could also just be cutouts in the hull which have the same shape as the real windows which lie behind the walkway. The thing which irritates me most about this is the walkway between cabins 10102 and 10500 in the attached deckplan which would be useless and just taking away valuable space in my eyes if it would not lead to anything accessible to the public at the very front of the ship.

Can anyone explain the purpose of this particular walkway?

Cathy, I would really appreciate it and it would be great if you could share your photos once you return from your cruise...!

Dear Forum members,

This is my first post here and my English is not the best, so please be kind! :) I have already read a lot of informative things on here and hope you can also help me with following.

We are passionate cruisers from Germany and have just booked the Maiden Voyage on Anthem starting Apr22 from Southampton. We thought a lot about the various stateroom options and finally decided to opt for a Superior Ocean View cabin at the very front of the ship. Deckplan code for this stateroom type is F.

This cabin seems to be huge (302 sq.ft) compared to the "ordinary" rooms and from what i can see in the drawings and early pictures it has a panoramic, round window facing forward. In the Description it also says that there would be an alcove with window seat. Nice!

Now my question:

Does anyone already have an idea or (even better) a picture of the actual floorplan of this particular stateroom type? How the layout is? Arrangement of furnitures, location of bathroom, etc.?

One thing we are wondering the most is whether there is an open hallway between the outside of the window and the front of the ship which is accessible by the public or if the forward wall of the cabin is the actual front of the ship with no open space in between. From the deckplans and pictures it's hard to tell.

Please help!