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On 8/2/2022 at 6:10 AM, DragonOfTheSeas said:

As we left Stockholm yesterday we sailed through the Stockholm Archipelago.

 

 

That is a great sail out.  Thank you for taking the time to post and for a great review.

23 hours ago, flamingos said:

Do they have the You Are Here series? We looked in England, in several places, and no joy. They make great gifts.

It's always a bit hit or miss depending on release dates/inventory.  We found a YAH Scotland mug in June in Edinburgh - but no Edinburgh mugs in stock. The Scotland mug is one of my favorite designs because it includes so many Scottish icons.

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We can share duties. Need Helsinki as well

Deal! Which city do you want to take?

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

ABBA and Starbucks are our two planned visits. ABBA for Laura and Starbucks for my mug collection

Starbucks is on my list too, if we have time.  I’ve got a collection of You Are Here mugs from various trips. 

Check booking.com. It’s possible to filter by location, reviews, price, etc.  You can then book either through them or directly with the hotel.  

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

My replacement cruise still doesn't show on the website

I’m not seeing any of the Tortola/St Croix sailings in June or July including our July 1 sailing. 

The letter I received from the TA does not contain the OBC offer for keeping the booking.  Does RCI not provide OBC if you use a TA or is this a TA decision?

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

 

 

 In the last 7 days there have been around 120,000 positive tests reported nationwide (0.03% of entire population). Hospitalizations remain at a very low manageable level, mortality at a very low level. This is NOT the Covid of 2020. IF we knew the total number testing positive on your ships, I doubt the percentage would be much different. 

 

You can’t say with any certainty that changing protocols would have any significant effect.  Europe is dropping the protocols, so we should know soon. 

Are you sure you're quoting a weekly figure?  CDC says as of July 6, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases is 106,549.  Here we are being told the actual number is likely much higher than reported cases from testing.

16 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Waiting on Jewel from April. 

Interesting.  I just called yesterday to request a Jewel block be sent me from a cruise I disembarked earlier this month.  The agent told me to call back at the end of next month if I haven't received it yet and there should be a tracking number available.  I wonder if RCI is expecting faster turn-around or if the agent was just kicking the can down the road a bit.  I was told the Pinnacle package/stratum would take longer.

Jewel JS had the Lavazza machine. My husband liked the coffee pods. I used the machine to make hot water for my Starbucks Via and also for hot tea. 
 

Just now, HowieG said:

I'm ok to schlepp bags...do you think a 6:30am departure is workable? I would prearrange a cab.

Self-assist began departing right at 6:30. 

15 hours ago, Larainerenee said:

 

Thanks - we did book Comfort plus, so, fingers crossed.....

The Delta app check-in tab linked us to the KLM site.  The morning of disembarkation we were able after some trial and error to check-in with KLM (we thought the KLM site was clunky and not intuitive but perhaps it’s because we so rarely use it).  Once we received electronic boarding tickets we were able to see that the top right corner indicated we had Sky Priority. We were going to try to print off paper boarding passes at an airport kiosk because the KLM website said to print the passes if they were in .pdf form, which ours were, but many of the machines were not working.  When we checked-in at the Sky Priority desk the agent provided us with paper boarding tickets which also indicated we had Sky Priority.  

On 7/2/2022 at 8:35 PM, Ashland said:

I'd like to thank you also for posting this. We'll be flying out of Schiphol on August 7th from our Arctic Circle cruise. We're flying DL One first class at 2:30pm AMS-LAX via SEA and thought DL priority should come into play somewhere...now I know it will.

You’re welcome.  We also had access to the KLM lounge which was very busy but nice and on the way to our gate. 

On 7/2/2022 at 5:05 PM, HowieG said:

Thanks so much for posting this information. It was concerning knowing that we were at high risk of missing our 10:50 am flight to Toronto. Luckily, we have Delta Priority but until reading your post was unsure what that meant in terms of getting us to the gate in time. Looks like we now have an excellent chance to make the flight.

 

Was it possible to leave the ship any earlier and did you prebook a cab?

The only way to get off the ship earlier is to do self-assist departure by schlepping your own bags out. We did not pre-book a cab and when we got outside there was no line of people waiting for one. 
 

One thing that was confusing (and strange) at the port was that the luggage groups were not in numerical order.  Our group and 2 others was behind a screen separating them from most other groups. At the port we had to ask 2 people where to find the group with our tag numbers. 

Boarding info for our  KLM flight booked through Delta stated it left from terminal 2. On arriving at Schipol we got in the line for terminal 2. Several minutes later an airport worker instructed KLM  passengers to go to terminal 3 for check-in. We then walked in the building back towards the check-in gates assigned to our flight.  Just as we were getting in the long check-in line I heard someone ask about Delta priority check-in.  It was at gates 9-11 and there were only 4-5 groups in each line where we were given paper boarding passes and checked our luggage. 
 

The check-in agent directed us to the Delta sky priority line leading up to security.  Again, the lines to go upstairs and the security line were much shorter than those for general boarding ticket holders. 
 

The passport control  line was also much shorter. 
 

We spoke to a group who missed their flight because they did not know about the Priority lines. We also spoke to several other  groups who missed flights yesterday and some who were not going to make their flights this morning.  We heard at least one airport employee say there was nothing they could do to prioritize people with soon-to-depart flights. 
 

When you get to Schipol ask and ask again to make sure you are in the right line.  Some waited in much longer lines than necessary and others waited in line only to be told at the front of the line that they were in the wrong line. 

We got off the ship at 7:00 am and were able to get right in a taxi for the airport.  We were through check-in, security and passport control at 9:30 am using the Delta sky priority lines. 
 

As others have reported the inter-Europe line even at 7:30 in the morning seemed impossibly long snaking back and forth for a very long distance outside the airport. 

On 6/22/2022 at 10:43 PM, pstone1 said:

Thanks for the report!  I have no trouble accessing my work VPN from Hotels or other public WiFi’s, so perhaps it will work.  Just in case, I’ll bring a thumb-drive with my hard drive saved on it.  I only have to work about 10 hours a week which shouldn’t be too hard!  I am training my eventual replacement though and it would help if I could access our shared drive via VPN.

My husband has never had an issue at hotels, airports or even other RCI ships -  that is why this is so curious (and maddening).  Hope your work-around solution works for you and that Voyager’s system works for my husband. He works on projects with huge CAD files that are revised frequently so he needs realtime access. 

On 6/14/2022 at 4:29 PM, vino123 said:

Hi We will be on the Jewel of the seas shortly. The deckplan shows a concierge lounge. As Diamond Plus will be we allowed in or is it still suites and pinnacles only?

We are on now. As others have said, there is access for D+ in CL.  More than half the seating in Viking Crown Lounge is being used for overflow - the doors between the Diamond lounge and VCL are open every night. There is a sign stating VCL is reserved for a Pinnacle event but it is available for those from Diamond lounge as well. We usually aren’t there too early but last night noticed that sea pass cards were being checked.

A buffet is also set up in VCL. 

Rather than a long transfer to Rome (where we had been several times) and then a rushed day there, we arranged for a private tour from Civitavecchia to Orvieto and Civita Bagnoregio, which included lunch and wine tasting.  It was a great day with plenty of free time for us to explore on our own.  

On 6/21/2022 at 1:41 PM, pstone1 said:

We will be boarding Jewel next month and I will also need to VPN.  Can you please tell me what the ship’s IT person told you if you asked?  Thank you!

He spoke to multiple people including the  top IT person twice, he was told by various people (including the IT person  and the Loyalty Ambassador) that the RCI system on all ships blocks vpn access. They said there was nothing they could do to allow him access even though he explained several times that the IT system on 3 other ships allowed him to access his work site so this was not a fleet-wide issue/policy. 

My husband needs to access his work through VPN.  He had no issue doing so on 3 ships out of Florida this year.  But now we are on Jewel out of Amsterdam and he can’t access his work site (needless to say, he is not too happy).   Does anyone have experience trying to access through vpn  on Voyager out of Copenhagen?  We have a cruised book next month. Thanks. 

17 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We get a $1000 discount for 100 shares on the World Cruise. Cash, not OBC.

Interesting. Any word on whether it is OBC or credit for individual legs?

Many thanks!

On 5/28/2022 at 8:23 AM, Ine said:

Unfortunately we have heard stories about some "cowboy"cabdrivers at the terminal. Indeed check your rate or prebook at a decent company. 

Can you suggest any particular dependable and fairly-priced companies?

16 hours ago, Ashland said:

Thank you so very much for posting. Was there any problem bringing the flowers onboard, if not did you just carry them around with you until cabins were open? We're so looking forward to this hotel...counting down the days until we depart July 22nd.

No issue at all bring the flowers on board. I had a packable nylon market tote which I put them in along with a few mixers. Several terminal employees commented how pretty they were. Rooms were ready at 1:00 so flowers did ok. I also brought a collapsible vase I purchased online. It is working perfectly 

Just checked out of Banks Mansion a little over an hour ago. Great value for the cost. Breakfast was very good with plenty of cold options as well as made to order eggs, omelette a, pancakes and French toast 

Within a 20 minute walk of almost anywhere and great restaurant options within 11 minutes walk. 
 

Staff was very helpful. Tracked us down last night after my husband left his camera in the lounge. 
 

As mentioned previously, alcohol and mixers available at all times and included in the price. Nice selection, also.  

This morning we walked the two blocks to the floating flower market and got some flowers for the cruise. 
 

I checked prices every few weeks and was able to save more than the price I originally booked with a multi-day discount. 
 

We’ll be back in Amsterdam next year and plan to stay there again.