-Lew-

Steve Dasseos and his staff at the TripInsuranceStore are the best. You can find Steve quite often on the Cruise/Travel Insurance board here on CC. Whatever you do, do not buy insurance from any cruise line.

Google Maps indicates it's 7.3 - 10.7km by car depending on the route. It's a 6.1km walk. Take a taxi...

You're right! Rates for April 10th are sky high. The reason is below... Hosted by Spain and co-organized with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO), the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference will take place on 10-12 April 2024 in the coastal city of Barcelona. You know...there are many knowledgeable CC members who want to help. Next time please provide as much information as possible. The name of your hotel and date of arrival in your initial post would have been very helpful.

I just checked the hotel's website and saw rooms during September for less than 400 euros per night.

Without knowing the name of the hotel it's kinda' difficult to determine whether the price you found is correct. I can tell you Barcelona has some very nice hotels priced at ¼ the cost you mentioned.

Clicking this link should bring up my entire itinerary.

It's a question you should ask of the car service you intend to use. They likely have the most accurate information.

Microsoft will likely have an issue as it owns the “X” trademark.

As promised, below is my correspondence with Viking's Guest Services Department. I understand, but do not agree with, Viking's policy. After all, I paid for each segment as if they were separate cruises, but Viking is not allowing us full benefit of what would otherwise be included excursions. As a point of comparison, we sailed on Regent Splendor for three consecutive cruises in January and February of this year and were able to take advantage of as many included excursions as we wanted...including repeated port calls. I am aware Viking and Regent are two different cruise lines, but they do cater to the same clientele. ===== Me... We're cruising on Viking Sky this fall on a 55-day multi-segment cruise that was combined into a single booking. Excursion selection opened yesterday and we were faced with Viking not allowing us to book more than one free excursion on multiple logical segments. This applies regardless of whether the free excursions are duplicates or different. One example would be for our three days in Fusina where the second day is the end of the first segment and beginning of the second. Viking will allow us to book a free transfer to and from Piazza San Marco on day one, but not again on day three. There are other repeated port calls with the same restriction. It appears we're being penalized by the fact that Viking combined the segments. This was not our choice. Can anything be done to correct this? Thank you for your assistance. ===== Viking... Rest assured, you will receive your allotted number of reservations for each segment. When we have a large number of in-transit guests booked on a combination cruise, we will offer one included tour and one optional tour in the 'in-transit' ports. These excursions are only available to book on board, as they will not be available in My Viking Journey. ===== Me... Regarding your statement concerning booking onboard, can you guarantee full availability of excursions and times as there were when excursion bookings opened on July 21st? If so, I’m fine waiting until we board. If not, I would appreciate it if you would find a way to confirm us for a second booking on turnaround days. In addition to turnaround days, we were not allowed to make a second free booking at the following ports that are visited on other days: Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence. Will a full complement of excursions be available to us once we board…guaranteed? ===== Viking... Your cruise is part of what we call a combination cruise, which is made up of multiple, separate itineraries. Shore excursions are not listed on embarkation/disembarkation (turnaround) days but are available to be booked on board. There should be no problem reserving your remaining shore excursions on board. We suggest going to the Shore Excursion Desk/Guest Services as soon as you can. They'll advise what is available and when. As far as the included shore excursions for Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence, you may only do one included tour per port; even if we have 2 days in the same port. We have to be fair to all guests, and all guests receive one included per port (not per day). There will be optional shore excursions available to you and of course the on board staff will be available to advise you of the details.

Good info! Thank you...

Thank you for relating your experience. I'm one who jumps online asap to book excursions. I'd prefer not waiting until we're onboard and taking our chances. I submitted the online form outlining my concern.

Kent... Our experience was all turnarounds and duplicate ports were allowed one free excursion in total...whether the excursion was the same or not. In addition to multi-day turnarounds, we encountered the issue for the following ports: Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence. For Istanbul it wasn't an issue because we're doing a dinner cruise on day one and a free excursion on day three. For Athens, where we port twice, the second for two nights, we'd like to use the free excursions for a ride into the city and return on our own. I'll post what I learn from Viking here...

Thanks, May. I did send a message to Viking. Hope they can assist us. Understand... However, in the case I mentioned Viking does offer excursions on day one and three, but not on turnaround day two. Other duplicated port calls do not involve a turnaround, but still do not allow a second free excursion.

We're cruising on Viking Sky this fall on a multi-segment cruise that was combined into a single booking. Excursion selection opened yesterday and we were faced with Viking not allowing us to book more than one free excursions on multiple logical segments. This applies regardless of whether the free excursions are duplicates or different. One example would be for our three days in Fusina where the second day is the end of the first segment and beginning of the second. Viking will allow us to book a free transfer to and from Piazza San Marco on day one, but not again on day three. There are other repeated port calls with the same restriction. Has anyone been faced with this same restriction? Is there a way around it? Thank you for your advice...

My personal practice is to not purchase insurance from the entity I may have to submit a claim against. This is because the entity or its insurance company may have a conflict of interest when it comes to paying out claims. IMHO it is better to purchase insurance from an independent third party that has no stake in the outcome of my claim. This way, I can be confident my claim will be handled fairly and impartially.

Just a thought.... Have your parents given you Power of Attorney for financial and legal affairs? If so, you should be good to go.

It would have been helpful if you had posted your embarkation date and ship. If you'll be sailing on the Mariner on August 2nd, the Porto de Lisboa site shows she will be docked at CAIS DE STª APOLONIA/TERMINAL DE PASSAGEIROS...Passenger Terminal Santa Apólonia.

You might want to post your question on the Viking Ocean board...

Cynthia... Your prayers have been answered: CBS Saturday Morning: Ancient Roman square opens to the public

Here's the response I received to my email request to Albergo del Senato for booking assistance last fall... Armando al Pantheon does not answer both calls and e-mails. Because of this, we decided to waive any kind of collaboartion relationship with them. I’m sorry we can not help you for this.

Although it's best to have a reservation for a restaurant you really want to visit, we've been to many without one. Armando al Pantheon was accepting some without a reservation at opening last time we dined there. Personally I wouldn't want to chance it, but it's worth a try if you were not able to get a reservation. If you don't get in, there are plenty of other options. We've walked up to many without a recommendation and I can't say we've ever been disappointed. There are so many on side streets in the area of the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. I've heard of Tonnarello, but have never been there.

Are you aware bookings at Armando al Pantheon open at midnight Rome time (and go quickly) on the same day of the month you want to book in the previous month? To state it more clearly, bookings for August 8 will open at midnight tonight Rome time. As for restaurants we enjoy... Virginiae, Via di Parione, 41 / IMHO just as good as Armando al Pantheon / Book up to 90 days in advance on their website or on The Fork Osteria Da Francesco, Piazza del Fico, 29 / Full service, but we go for pizza / Book up to 90 days in advance on their website or on The Fork Rimessa Roscioli, Via del Conservatorio 58 / We're doing the Wine & Food Tasting Dinner for the first time...looks interesting / Reserve on their website Ristorante Maccheroni, Piazza delle Coppelle, 44 / Always an excellent meal / You need to call or email for a booking I suggest you check the Italy: all things food and wine-related thread just below this one...

It was the one pictured below. I should mention that @mahdnc was in a room a few doors down and was perfectly happy with the size. There is a discussion of room sizes beginning with post 700 if you're interested.

Excellent idea...much more convenient for you also. Just the two of us. Selection was a bit limited when we booked. The extra space will be welcome, especially after the tiny room we had last fall at Albergo del Senato.

According to the NCL website your cruise disembarks on the 12th. You might want to double check that. We booked a Family Suite Town House. I have no idea what their balconies overlook, but we're happy to just go up to the rooftop bar to enjoy the view. By the way, I believe you can book Hotel Smeraldo now for next July on their website. You'll get the best pricing there also.