Heidi13

Another consideration is ownership. Azamara was started by RCCL about 12 yrs ago. Earlier this year they sold the brand and ships to a private equity firm - Sycamore Partners, who have no prior cruise ship experience. While only time will tell if this is a positive or negative move for the brand, history dictates that quality doesn't increase when equity/investment firms own a cruise line.

The estimated arrival and departure times are determined by the initial cruise planners and established based on having sufficient time ashore and also to manage fuel consumption. Therefore, provided the ship is fully operational and no other issues are experienced, the ship is capable of arriving at the estimated arrival time. Once completed, the shore-ex department should plan tours in each port, based on the time in port. This is the reason that some tours listed on the website are not available, as the time in port is shorter than the duration of some tours. When schedule changes occur, sometimes things are missed. For example - on the 2020 WC, Viking Sun was changed from Lyttelton to Akaroa. Lyttelton is a short drive to Christchurch, while Akaroa is about 90 mins. They didn't address this on the Christchurch tours, so our 5 hr tour had only 2 hrs in Christchurch, as the ship couldn't delay departure to reach the next port. As usual, Viking's great customer service, automatically refunded the entire tour cost. In your situation, I would be very surprised if Safaga was less than 12-13 hrs, as that is the time required to reach Luxor and spend more than a couple of hours. As previously noted, the shore-ex included on the website for any cruise are generic tours available for that port. Only once the actual shore-ex are released, will you know which tours are available for your port calls. Therefore, if the posted arrival/departure times are accurate, they will only be able to offer more local tours. As another option, you may wish to consider Memphis Tours, who can develop a custom tour from Port Said/Alexandria, taking you to Cairo, Luxor, Valley of the Kings/Queens and Petra, rejoining the ship in Aqaba. Downside is you miss the Suez Canal transit.

When alongside, the gangways must remain in place, but whether they are open is at the discretion of the local authorities. Previous overnight visits to Piraeus we have been able to walk on/off at any time. In Piraeus at 07:00, the traffic can be rather busy heading into Athens, while only 7 or 8 miles it can take considerable time. Another option is the metro, which has a station about 1 mile from where Viking normally docks.

Jim - great attitude. Had we not cancelled the Barcelona to Port Everglades T/Atlantic, we would have been stuck in Montreal on Dec 23rd, as the flight from FLL arrived, but all YVR flights were cancelled. With the thousands of cancelled flight and very high load factors, we could have been stuck for many days. The weather certainly wasn't the fault of the airlines and we could have booked a more southerly connection, but opted for proper business class in a wide-body over convenience and faster flights. Since we considered the weather potential at Montreal, we had insurance to mitigate the financial risk, so only cost was time. Hoping the rest of the trip home is uneventful.

If stabalisers were non-essential, why does almost every passenger vessel have them. Yes, they are not required for safety, but if the cruise line really does value the comfort of their pax and crews, they are essential, especially in these waters. The marketing types that wrote this letter are trying to convince you that the stabalisers are rarely deployed - from experience, I call BS. Using the stabalisers does reduce the vessel's speed and use more fuel, but in these waters, I'll suggest they are normally deployed when in open waters. They can justify their statement by considering the length of the entire voyage, as in sheltered waters they should rarely be required. However, when crossing Drake Passage, I'll suggest they are used > 90% of the time. I recall the days when running late, we brought the stabalisers in to get additional speed, only to put them out before making a big turn. When making open ocean passages, there were few days we didn't have the stabalisers out. Sorry, but from experience, stabalisers are used more than they are stowed. Although this isn't a safety issue, it is most definitely a comfort issue. Yes, they can time transits across Drake Passage and adjust courses, but in all probability that will impact the time in Antarctica. Personally, even with a fully operational vessel, I expect weather issues and reduced time in Antarctica. With stabaliser issues, when you pay this much for a cruise, I don't think it is reasonable for pax to have the potential for significantly increasing the loss of additional landings, as they time the crossing. Rather than only offering to rebook a cruise, with a damaged ship, as a good faith gesture a quality cruise line should also offer full refunds.

We were very happy with the CP, I suggest watching the rate every few days, as they do post some special rates.

Departing from the airport to Canada Place, the taxi is a fixed rate. However, if you call a taxi to your airport hotel, assuming it isn't the Fairmont at YVR, the taxi fare will be as per the meter. If the airport has a free shuttle, you can take that back to the airport to get a taxi, if you prefer the fixed rate. I suggest paying for both the taxi and wine by credit card, requesting they charge you in Canadian Dollars and let your card provider do the exchange.

You are most likely departing from San Pedro, either the World Cruise Centre or Berth # 46. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, which is about equidistant from both berths and is in town, so good selection of pubs and restaurants close by. If you know you are using Berth # 46, the Double Tree is closer to the berth, but not much around, as it is out of town.

Did the same scenic cruising on the 20 WC.

Your parent's experience is most unfortunate. Based on your post, your parents were unable to fly, due to their flights being one of thousands in North America that were cancelled coast to coast due to weather. Your parents contacted the 24/7 number that is provided to all pax, but they were unable to book new flights. The 24/7 emergency number does rebook flights that are missed, as I know a couple that contacted them at 02:00 last week and were found the last 2 seats on an alternative flight. However, with the number of cancelled flights, if no seats are available, the 24/7 emergency department can't possibly book new flights in time to make the cruise. Viking are only a travel agent when booking flights, so I'm having difficulty understanding how Viking are at fault, if the airlines have no flights available. You noted your parents purchased travel insurance, which is a prudent investment to mitigate the financial risk. Surely, you should be working with the insurance company to get a refund for your parents. BTW - if your parents purchased travel insurance through Viking, again Viking are only a sales agent, as the insurance is through Tripmate. I suggest reading the Tripmate insurance policy to determine if this is a covered event and dealing with them. If they used Tripmate, here is the online URL to initiate a claim https://www.tripmate.com/main/claims/

Definitely not worth the risk, as they would probably be terminated.

Just received the annual Xmas email from Robin Petch aka "The Whale & Dolphin Guy", noting he is aboard Neptune for the 22/23 WC. We had Robin on the 19/20 WC and he is a wealth of knowledge. His office is one of the tables up in Explorers and if not presenting in the Theatre, he is often outside Explorers on the fwd deck. Please pass on my regards, since we are unable to sail this WC.

I recall hearing the birds in the bathrooms, especially early morning, but like you, don't recall hearing piped music. I just assumed my selective hearing blocked out the background noise.😁

At least on Princess, this information is distributed to the crew. The Purser sends out reports, which work down the chain of command. Cabin Stewards are advised by their Accommodation Supervisors, the name and cabin number of any pax removing the DSC and if at a fixed table, the wait staff at the table are advised by their Head Waiter. They most definitely can disseminate this information.

Great attitude. If you enjoy wine, when in Adelaide, I suggest checking out the Barossa Valley, if tours are on offer. Some great wineries.

Same here, any shore-ex spend was refunded to our credit card.

My preference would be spending the entire day in Dubrovnik. Even though I have been a number of times, I can still spend an entire day. Normally start walking the wall, which is easily 2+ hrs, with lots of stops for photos, enjoying the vistas and refreshments. We then wander the narrow streets of the old town and around the harbour.

In the highly unlikely event I am detained by the authorities, whether I am carrying my passport is the least of my worries, and I will be contacting the local Canadian or UK Consulates requesting assistance for more than a temporary passport. You may be capable of securing your passport against common pick-pockets, but no matter how well hidden, it isn't secure against muggings, which are rather common in a number of port cities. If you are mugged and end up in hospital, the probability of muggers taking the ship's daily news paper or the agent's contact details is fairly low, so in all probability you or the hospital can still contact the agent. Failing that you contact the local Consulate, who will check with the ship's agent. Pax that lose passports ashore can have a challenging time getting a temporary replacement due to to ship visiting multiple ports and not all ports have access to consular services. It may take a few days to acquire a replacement passport, in many countries. BTW - in the unlikely event, time is not available to land passports ashore, that decision is not made by the "Crew", it is made by the Master, who is not a member of the crew. If not landing passports ashore, the Master does not have, "Better things to do", they have valid operational and/or safety reasons for not delaying departure by a further few minutes.

@wowzz What Wowzz posted regarding Princess sharing the DSC fleetwide is factual, and has been that way since our son quit working for P&O/Princess almost 10 yrs ago. It was also in force during our last Princess cruise in 2015. Since we were on an Australian based ship which has no DSC, I asked some of the crew I knew, if they still shared fleet-wide.

No - prepaying the "Discretionary Service Charge" does not increase the levels of service you receive. Although the DSC was introduced after I left cruise ships, I have discussed it with a number of crews I worked with. On the company I worked for the cabin stewards and MDR stewards were advised if you removed/reduced the DSC. They did not know if you pre-paid or paid on the final bill.

I don't need to hope I can reach the "Ship's Agent", as we don't go ashore without having their contact details with us, either taking the daily paper or copying. Never had any issue contacting the Ship's Agent, in many years at sea. The passports, of no-show pax, are normally landed ashore, unless they are not in the safe/readily apparent, or the Master deems they have insufficient time to delay departure. It is not security that makes this decision. We prefer to base the decision on a risk assessment, determining if the potential theft of our passports is more of a risk than being able to contact the agent and retrieving passports. Having dealt with ship's agents and been involved in the process of sending passports ashore, from my experience in the industry, the potential risk of having the passport stolen is greater than getting the passports from the agent. We tend to carry our actual passports when it is mandated by the country we are visiting.

In addition to ships operating in the N/American market, ships on World Cruises, Grand Voyages and Line-Voyages also use Panama Canal.

Seabourn Venture is their newest tonnage and is Panamax

P&O Aurora, as their oldest and smallest ship is also Panamax

All Fred Olsen ships are also all Panamax