CurlerRob

I believe you are referring to Celebrity, not O. 🍺🥌

Second this and it often applies to ANY food taken off the ship. Oz, NZ, Hong Kong and Japan are all live examples with various restrictions and penalties.🍺🥌

Not all grass is greener. Oceania’s R ships have only 3 accessible cabins - all are inside cabins (Sirenia may have 2 OVs). No accessible cabins with balconies. They also have a habit of not holding them for those who actually need them. Certainly cheaper, but not without impact on the experience. 🍺🥌

You’ve been fortunate, we are 0 for 3. It’s just a tough port. Conversely, we are 2 for 2 in the Faroes, also a notorious miss. Cheers. 🍺🥌

Enjoy your trip! I hope the Shetlands are accommodating. 🍺🥌

Seems fair. 🍺🥌

I expect they will convert them to USD onboard at the time of use. We had a similar situation currently - purchased an excursion prior to sailing in CDN, then cancelled on board. The refund was applied to our onboard account, converted from the CDN price to USD. No luck on CDN $ at par, unfortunately! 🍺🥌

It’s both true and good - assuming the new trip is under the $25 deposit offer (many are). For example, in Dec/23 we booked onboard for an Antarctic trip. $25 pp deposit, $100 pp OBC. in theory, you are liable for $100 pp if you cancel (std. terms), which would neutralize the gain, but it’s not likely worth Viking’s time to chase you for the delta if that happens. In reality, most people who book onboard intend to do the trip versus clipping a few bucks, and a live booking is always better than a “maybe later” one to the cruise line.🍺🥌

I’m speculating but I don’t think a shuttle would be available for a disembarkation day. The only way there might be one is if the cruise is B2B and your disembarkation was an in-transit day for pax continuing. Even then, I don’t think you could use it. As mentioned, taxi is easy and a short trip. 🍺🥌

If your preference is to dine alone, just leave an article of clothing or a tote bag on the chair to mark it as taken, then go and get your food. For added assurance, order and receive a drink first. 🍺🥌

My personal experience is dated (2019), but I think it’s still valid. Our shuttle ran every 30 minutes, drop off was at the Harpa Conference Centre - an easy few minutes walk to the heart of downtown. You can also walk the shoreline back to the ship if the weather is good - about 50 minutes. 🍺🥌

We have observed (Star in December and Orion currently) that Manfredi’s has become much busier than in the past. You can still get tables, but it requires a lot more diligence and a bit of luck. Chef’s Table is noticeably easier to reserve. If you sail again, stay with the day before / day of queries and be flexible on your time. Hope you enjoyed yourself. 🍺🥌

Why would you think they don’t? Like every other cruise line, Viking provides a description of each excursion, including a difficulty rating. The ratings are defined in detail in their ShoreEx documents. Unfortunately, there are always some who won’t read or choose to ignore the information - to everyone’s detriment. 🍺🥌

I’m not aware of any Airalo eSIMs that support maritime cellular service. Depending on the strength of the shore signal you should be able to use a Global or US eSIM when in range - but I have no personal experience with the coverage for the inside passage. Good luck! 🍺🥌

There are a couple of things that you should know about Airalo. First, as you recognized, a data eSIM will not help with confirmation texts - they need cellular service. If you go to the Airalo site and search their help function, you will find a section that explains how to still use your phone with the data eSIM. See the pic below. The section explains how to restrict data usage to your eSIM while activating your phone and text. If you only need to receive a confirmation text, you should not be charged or trigger a daily plan from your home provider. This is what I do when I need 2-factor authentication. Additionally, even if you have an eSIM that supports text and calls, it usually comes with a number different from your phone - may be useless if the text goes to your home number. Summary - I use the eSIM for data when away, but turn on my normal line for incoming text when I need a text code. 🍺

Is this a function of a newer iPhone? I’m very familiar with creating a wifi hotspot on iPhone using cellular data, but I’m unaware of the ability to do so when “connected to ship wifi”. Thanks. 🍺🥌

I’d be curious to know if there was any info in the shorex brochure in the cabin (it just looks like every other sales brochure you’re ever seen, not an important reference doc). On our first O cruise, there were significant changes made to multiple excursions and the only place they were documented was in that flyer. Nothing from DS, no letter advising a close read of the brochure. Lots of very unhappy pax who were blindsided. 🍺🥌

We regularly travel with 4 devices, all connected simultaneously (2 per person). I frankly don’t know if there is a limit pp, as that’s all we have. 🍺🥌

I second what others have said here - if you really, really want to see a specific destination, don't cruise - just fly to it. The hard facts are that cruising is always subject to weather diversions - and hurricane season just ups the odds. The pic below is from Sept/23 - it was a Regent TA. The large purple blob on the bottom left is Bermuda. Needless to say, we did not make it. Instead, we ran for NYC (our destination) and spent two days at anchor under the Verrazano Bridge without shore access, as there were no berths available when we got there. This was hurricane Hal as described by a previous poster. No master is going to play with a hurricane (they eat ships) - so your odds of really bad weather are not high, but your itinerary may be very different than you expected. As well, it's not always obvious what the storm tracks will be, so the cruise line seldom cancels the entire trip. Hope you manage to work out a visit with your daughter! 🍺🥌

If you're kind enough to take this on, here is a potential model from the RSSC board. You may wish to ask the OP for permission to filch it 🍺🥌

Ref. post #147. 🍺🥌

Jim, your flight story reminded me of a similar one from San Juan to Tortola many years ago. Aircraft was a 'vintage' DC3 (a good thing, as they are indestructible). When a few late arrival pax showed up, they moved a few goats farther back and strapped in additional seats. Critters and pax all landed safely. 🍺🥌

Your extremely charitable interpretation does you great credit! 🍺🥌

It doesn't forgive the lack of foresight, but in looking at the original shoreEx, the buses ran every 15 minutes from 8:30 until departure. Depending on the route time, it might have required up to 8 buses to keep the schedule alive. I'm not sure how many there might be in DH, but I suppose it's possible that a "bus flu" has impacted the fleet ... As well, the dockage looks very commercial, so I suspect there is no option for pax to wander off by themselves due to safety / security concerns. Frustrating, we were looking forward to a unique stop. 🍺🥌

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