styme123

13 hours ago, hallasm said:

It should be OK, the trains run on time and it's five minutes from the station to the dock - usually everyone is on board 30 minutes before departure.

Does the train have a good record of not running late or mechanical issues? 

I'm thinking of doing the same. I was wondering if it was worth the fees they were charging. Is there and other spots to visit in Gudvangen? How much time do you need there?

We will be in Flam in July and as many others said the tickets sold out quickly on the site. I did get 2:55 tickets but we get back at 5:05. The ship departs at 6:00. I'm not sure if that is cutting it too close. I forget if the all aboard is 30 min before or more.  So that would be 5:30. 

2 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

The slot is for 15 minutes.  If you are there late, then you lose your slot and go through the regular line.

Gotcha! Thanks 

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

 Grab a taxi (many of them outside the terminal or if you want to pre book try staxi.nl).  You will be at the airport by 9.45 and that gives you almost 4 hours.

 

Do you think a taxi at the terminal or a booked transfer from the ship is better or more reliable? 

3 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

But you were in the lounge 75 minutes before that flight, why would you want to leave earlier? 

 

You can only book a slot from three days before. You fill in your flight details and the system will give you suggested slots based on their predictions. You can usually choose from really quite early to very early indeed!! This all assumes you won't have fast track through status or booking, nor Previum. 

If you miss your appointment slot then do you have to wait on the regular line? I would imagine so. 

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

https://www.schiphol.nl/en/page/timeslots/

 

Just as a data point, we took a ship shuttle from ship to airport, which departed at 10.00 am (on a Saturday) and we had checked luggage (already checked in), cleared security and passport control and arrived to the KLM lounge by 12.15pm.  We had a long walk from the shuttle drop point to the KLM luggage drop and then went to the wrong security line (my fault, habit) and DW is a slow walker.  However there were lines at bag drop, security and passport control.  A 1.30 flight would give me no worries, as I would just leave earlier than we did.

Thank you for the link! What time slot should we choose if our ship docks at 6:00am and we are doing self-walk off and carry-on luggage only?

13 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

@3redheads, its NOT a requirement to use the appointment system. Rather it is intended to be a way you can get through the process faster.

What is this system? I didn't know about booking an appointment. I'm flying out on a direct 1:30pm flight does that give me enough time?

On 10/20/2023 at 6:39 PM, waterbug123 said:

 

So what to do?  If it was me, and the nonstop was significantly cheaper, I'd book it.  But I'd book it a day or two earlier and enjoy a day or two in AMS if your flight leaves on time.  If you do have a delay, you now have extra time to get to AMS before your cruise.

Thank you so much for the detailed response!

2 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I'm confused.  Are you starting your trip from JFK?  What stopover routing are you seeing from JetBlue?  Right now they go nonstop from JFK to either LHR, AMS or CDG, but they don't fly between those 3 cities in Europe so I'm not sure what sort of stopover you're talking about. 

Yes I'm starting from JFK. They have a non-stop from JFK to AMS but they also have some flights that stop for a layover at BOS and DUB before going on to AMS. Example below:

10 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

With so many flights flying full, I'm not sure that Delta (or any other airline) could easily put you on another flight.

However, JetBlue is also flying to other US cities.  I think they are also flying to Boston.  You are not totally out of luck. Getting from BOS to NYC is not difficult so this is another option. Yes they have some flights from JFK to BOS. 

In reality, if the problem is a weather related issue, all airlines will be affected and if it's a mechanical issue with the plane, this could happen to any airline.  It's not as if they have extra planes in reserve waiting to be used.

 

If there is a problem with a flight and you are at the airport, I have found that using the app or calling the airline's hot line to arrange alternative transportation during a problem is more effective than waiting at the gate with several hundred other screaming people. Good point I'll download the app.

 

Read post #8 on Delta ATL to LHR - Cruise Air - Cruise Critic Community Read through the post thank you!

 

15 hours ago, 6rugrats said:

I don't really understand your question.

Yes this is what I meant,  If your flight cancels on JetBlue or has a long delay, I don't believe they will pay to place you on another airline.  I was wondering if an airline would only put you on a flight with companies they share with? If there is a delay, do you always get a refund? Meaning, if they can book me on another flight with them but I don't want that flight am I forced to take it so I don't lose the money on my tickets with them? 

You are always free to purchase tickets on whatever airline has availability.  This can take hours, or minutes.   Impossible to predict.

 

How easy is it to get a new flight quickly?

I'm booked on cruise in July to Norway Fjords leaving from Amsterdam. I've only flow once internationally once before to London last summer with Delta and Virgin. I've heard of Jet Blue for a lot of local flights within the US but not international. We want to fly non-stop, they have the cheapest flight right now that leaves at a good time at night for us from JFK. What makes me nervous is they only have that one non-stop fight. We are leaving on the night of July3 and ship leaves July5. Same thing for when we return, one non-stop flight. They have a few stop over ones though. My concern is that the larger airlines like Delta and Virgin share flights amongst each other so if one falls through they get you on another. I'm not sure if Jet Blue does that? At least that's not what it seemed when I was looking into it. So am I taking a bigger risk by flying with them? If their flight falls through am I the one that scrambles for a new flight? If they get me a new flight do I need to pay an additional amount as I'm sure getting a flight the day of would be more expensive? Sorry so many questions, I am kind of new to flying. 

I'm booked on RC for a July 2024 Norway Fjord cruise. I'm starting to think about booking my independent tours as I prefer those over the ships ones. I'm trying to figure out what times to book to be sure I'm off the ship in time to meet with the tours. None of the ports are supposed to be tendered but I have heard for example Geiranger can be difficult at times depending on if there are other ships in port and who uses the sea walk or tender. In Molde there could be 2 docks one in industrial area vs. one downtown. I don't want to wait on the ship longer than I need to but I also don't want the tours to leave without me.

Below are the arrival and departing times.  

GEIRANGER, 10:00 AM-7:00 PM
MOLDE, 7:00 AM-4:00 PM
HONNINGSVAG 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

TROMSO, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM
FLAM 8:00 AM-6:00 PM
ALESUND, 1:00 PM-8:00 PM
OLDEN, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM
BERGEN, 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

Thank you

16 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

. But obviously, this works out even better if the card is FX fee-free.

yeah my credit cards are FX free. I didn't realize there were other fees involved. I thought it was a straight conversion and that was it. 

I always heard that but was wondering why? It's the price your paying converting into US dollars when your paying anyway? Like if the price is 5 euro won't I pay $5.50 in the end anyway? 

3 minutes ago, Mountaineer0313 said:

You are clearly smarter than me on how to handle husbands 😂 

Alaska should’ve been our first. 

Lol no just a lot of practice after almost 39 years.😂

4 hours ago, Mountaineer0313 said:

Yes! The first cruise I made him go on was a Caribbean. Honduras, Belize, Mexico. He hated it. Which made me hate it. It took a few years, but I convinced him to get back on a ship and we did Alaska in 2018. He said, and I quote “I don’t know how much we paid for this, but it was worth every penny”. (It was a lot of pennies, he has no clue). 
Then we did Canada and New England in 2019, which was also fantastic, and Alaska again last year, which may have been even better than the first time if that’s possible. 
And as a bonus, he’s also figured out he actually loves being on a cruise ship. Food everywhere, room service breakfast, a drink around every corner. He gets so excited to fill out his room service card and hang it on the door every night 😂

We did Alaska for our first one. Take him to the British Isles he'll love it! It's a lot of planning with all the ports but it's worth it!

1 hour ago, Mountaineer0313 said:

he doesn’t hate hot weather, per say, but he works out in it for 10+ hours all spring, summer, and fall here. But it’s not the hot weather, he just has no desire to go somewhere and sit on a beach. Which I don’t either, at all. That’s why Alaska is our favorite cruise destination. He could definitely be swayed by Norway and Iceland. 

Your husband sounds like mine. He would rather sit at home on the couch and watch TV, but I dragged him on the cruises anyway. He started out not wanting to go and we have probably been on 5 so far now. He's getting much more used to them and enjoys them now. We did British Isle on Princess last summer and he had a great time much to his surprise. He's a meat and potatoes guy who doesn't like "weird" food and we always found great pub type food when out on excursions. I think what kind of won him over was seeing so many iconic sights while there. The history was so interesting! It was a 12 day cruise with I think 10 ports. We were off the ship every port getting the most we could out of it. We are also now booked for Norway next summer. 

We did Emerald Princess last summer. I thought Princess had the best itinerary for what we wanted to see. The ship was a little dated but I didn't really care. It was very port intensive so it was more like our floating hotel. Loved it! We went in Aug. The pricing was very reasonable. 

34 minutes ago, Moxiefurball said:

Thanks all. Another question . Assuming we land on time at Heathrow at 7 am, how long would you estimate it will take to go through customs, get luggage, and a guesstimate on arrival at London Hotel .?

Where's your hotel?

We went last year and pre-booked them online. I don't know if they sell out but there was a very long line to buy tickets where ticket holders walked in quickly. When you go, try and get there when they first open and go straight to see the crown jewels. That gets extremely busy very quickly. A long line in the August sun won't be fun. Try and also catch the beefeater tour. They offer them a few times during the day I believe.  

3 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

If an interview will be required for a renewal, I’m waiting for that also.

ah sorry I thought you were applying for the first time. When I did my initial interview it was pretty quick that I heard back. About 1-2 weeks. 

4 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Curious if anyone out there has recently applied for and received their renewal.

Curious about the time frame you experienced? Were you notified? Or did you just continue to monitor by visiting the website?

 

I'm coming up on 4 months and according to the website, I'm still in a "Pending" phase.

 

Yes, I am aware that since the renewal process has been started, that my expiration has been extended and should still be good for my travel plans.

Did you do your interview or are still waiting on that even?