CDNPolar

From what you are saying you are proposing it the right way. You will have to use a SWIFT code and the exchange rates are just a factor of doing this kind of transfer.

My husband and I both renewed at the same time. He got approved online and mine was conditional on an interview. None of my information had changed. If your response says to book an interview, then you will have to go in person.

my renewal started in August 2020 and my in-person interview was cancelled due to the closure of the Pearson location. I just flew into Terminal 3 Pearson two days ago and of the 6 Nexus machines, only 2 were working and they were taking extremely long to process. We just walked to the Nexus immigration officer and handed our passport, nexus card, indicated that they machines were not working and he stamped us through. Sad really what is happening with this and how much money and time are our governments wasting on this back and forth about immunity from prosecution if they commit a crime? I was a bit ***** about that... why would they need immunity from prosecution? Do these US agents intend on committing crimes while working on Canadian soil? Makes no sense to me. The kicker is that we don't use Nexus for the USA - we almost NEVER go to the USA and would not fly through the USA unless there was no other hub to go through. We use Nexus for faster security and arrival back to Canada from every other country that we go to.

We have aways preferred booking directly with Viking because when you have a small question or change to make, then you call and it is dealt with immediately - or faster than going through a TA. Our experience with TA's is that often you cannot get a quick turn around of a question because they are now the in-between entity. We have worked with a TA that we cannot reach by phone and then we email and then it takes days for a response. We happen to be very experienced in booking all our vacations from cruise to air to hotel, and excursions. We just feel more "control" in all of our bookings. We have recently booked a cruise however through a "major retailer" travel department because of the rebate, the shop card, and a discount that we got for paying at the time of booking. We calculated our savings to be $3,000.00 give or take. For these savings we will "deal with" a TA, but in general we find them to be more challenging and not offering - to us - much value. (You cannot book Viking through this major retailer, so this is not a Viking booking.) We only use a TA now if there is significant enough financial value to us to do so. And... yes, I agree to the above comment - book through Viking and then transfer to a TA if you get some sort of value. We have done that too.

I agree with Mrbp1 - call the cruise line and ask the questions directly from them. I have done this as a gay man in the past, and although I feel that I got a DEI type of rehearsed and trained response, it showed me that the cruise line at least had a robust DEI policy and the customer service team was well equipped to answer my questions. You really want to hear the cruise line's policy and responses directly from them. Our experience online is great to get, but always go to the source as well.

We have the kind of really light down winter jackets that scrunch up to a small sleeve that is about 5X5 inches, but will also compress into your bag easily if we feel the need to wear that coat to the airport. I tend to "risk it" in that we are only 15 minutes from the airport and we always order a car to take us and bring us back. In this case, we only wear what we want on the aircraft, and that tends to be long pants and long sleeve shirt as we find it cold on the aircraft, especially overnight.

The caution that I add, is that I was under the impression that in some cases, electronics that are purchased in the USA are not warranty covered for repair in Canada. You may have to return to the USA to have any warranty repairs? Check with AppleCare. I may be totally off base with this....

Hello Markham from Mississauga. Cozumel - We did the Ruins of San Gervasio - Informative and OK Belize - We did the Cave Tubing - LOVED IT - Great experience Roatan - We were supposed to do Kayaking and Snorkeling but was cancelled due to weather Costa Rica - We did the Nature Walk and Ariel Tram - Good and informative Colon - We did Panama City By Foot - Good and informative Jamaica - We did Rose Hall and Shopping - Rose Hall was good but the shopping was just a tourist trap I cannot get too excited about any of these EXCEPT the Cave Tubing. I have been to many of these islands before and to me the excursions are all the same. What I will say is the HIGHLIGHT of the trip is the partial crossing of the Panama Canal. Absolutely worth getting up at 5am and being on the deck outside the Explorer Lounge to witness the approach. Approaching in the dark is spectacular. Get there 30-45 minutes before the expected arrival or you may not get a good railing spot. Again - for me the highlight of this trip.

Might be the difference of calling in and asking/complaining. We did not ask or complain on one port missed on our recent Homelands cruise, but apparently some did and they got some compensation.

The elimination of Key West is not new. I was on a Panama cruise in December of 2021 and it was listed on the itinerary on MVJ with all excursions showing sold out. I believe that this is because Key West have limited the guest count on cruise ships and Viking is too big. Not sure why Viking keep this port on the itinerary as it only causes grief like we are seeing here... Oh, and by the way, we fully expected to stop at Key West even though excursions were sold out. We only found out on embarkation day that we would not be stopping.

Same as above... we will often do an early excursion, stay in the city/town or wherever we are, and sample a local restaurant for lunch, then wander. Saves going back to the ship and leaving again.

Met my husband 9 years ago and we have been married for 7 years now. When I met my husband, he had never been on a cruise before. I had been on large ships and was not crazy about my experience on a large ship. We watched a lot of PBS shows and especially during Downton Abbey we would see Viking advertisements. The ads were appealing to us and our tastes - or so we thought. We were excited to do our first cruise and it was an Ocean cruise. Our second was River. We have now done 5 Viking cruises, which would have been 7 or 8 by now if the pandemic did not get in our way. Viking does attract an older demographic, and Viking does not have the nightclubs and casinos, but this is more our style anyway. Quiet enjoyment of the culture and the food where you are travelling. If you are looking for a great vacation, with great food, great service, great crew, then you should consider Viking. Ocean ships are 930 guests and River ships depend on the river, but range from 60'ish to 180'ish guests.

We are in the process of booking our first experience on Hurtigruten and it is an Antarctica cruise. Does anyone recommend the optional liquor package? Does anyone have pictures of the beverage menu and prices if we opt not to take the liquor package? Thank you.