CDNPolar

All the above very true. I think for residents that live and work in some of these cities, the onslaught of thousands of people being unleashed on a city is too much to deal with. I was born and raised in Toronto. Toronto is not a major tourist draw, but we have our tourist season and times. We do have some cruise ships that dock in Toronto as well. When I am "running" for the commuter train after work and minutes from the next one and a carefully timed routine to get to the station, I can often be interrupted by groups of tourists that are blocking the sidewalks listening to a guide, or staring up at a building. I can only imagine what it is like for locals in some of these cities. We went to Venice off season. Very off season. We were told that the crowds were extremely light and we found it frustrating as a tourist based on the number of people. I cannot imagine Venice in high tourist season. I am not convinced that it is because cruise passengers don't spend enough money. We do fuel the bus/tour industry. I think it is about crowding.

We used to always buy the SSBP on Viking. I think that we thought we were getting greater value. The fact is that we primarily drink wine and we are fine with most of the included wines at lunch and dinner, so we don't feel the need to move onto other wines that we must pay for. Since wine and beer are included with lunch and dinner and you can literally ask for a top up to the brim of your wine glass before you leave the dining room at night, we just don't drink enough to warrant spending on the SSBP. If you are a cocktail drinker, and you are having mid-afternoon, before dinner, and after dinner cocktails (no judgement) then the SSBP is probably for you. Most all drinks are in the $8 USD range. That is the number you should divide into the daily cost to see per person if this is worth it. (You don't say in your profile where you are from and the cost is different depending on where you are buying the cruise and drinks package). If you are from the USA then you are paying $25 per night per person. Because we do not buy the SSBP now, we don't hold back from ordering if we want something different, or a Cognac after dinner because we will never come close to the cost of the package.

However EES is being implemented too and that to my knowledge is being implemented starting October this year. Difference being this is not an apply for before you go but a requirement for finger prints and pictures on entering the EU. The one thing that may be advised is for longer connection time if you are connecting flights in the EU this fall/winter. We know that this will not go so smoothly that everyone will flow like they do now. There will be lines and delays.

Hahaha... Yes, I will suggest that to the other half. He would not care however because I do all the budgeting and he just goes along for the ride.

Viking does NOT have formal nights. One of the reasons we do sail them. If we were to sail a line with a formal night, we would just do the buffet that night. We do like to come back from the days activities and shower and change into clean and nice clothes, but there is no way that I am putting on a jacket or tie for dinner. This is just personal choice.

I may have the answer to this, but this is just my thinking... I do not see here that you called Allainz while you were away and before you made your cancellations and rebooked your flights? Did you contact them before doing all of this? I think that perhaps if you did not contact the insurance company when all this was happening, within a certain time frame, and by waiting until you got home, this is the reason why they are not paying. Insurance as I know it requires you to contact them for their assistance before you do anything - unless of course it is a life threatening medical emergency. Could this be the case? Our experience was a full cancellation for a covered reason, but I called the claim line before cancelling or making any steps towards cancelling. I would hope that if you call them and ask for a direct reason that they denied your claim that they would be obligated to do so and not just direct you to the policy language....

For me it is all about what the policy states for pre-existing conditions and the stability period. I don't think that it matters what medivac insurance you have unless it covers pre-existing conditions regardless of stability. If you don't meet the stability and pre-existing conditions language then you won't be covered. Most insurance is not "blanket" insurance. (This in my knowledge and experience)

Sorry, not questioning what you are being told, but it is only land/car crossing that requires all travelling together to have Nexus. However, it would not make sense for you to go to the Nexus line and your wife the non-Nexus line when arriving back anyway.... Got it.... Thanks!

Would you please clarify this statement? Interestingly we both have Nexus but we never state travelling together coming back into Canada, if asked at the kiosk we state we are travelling independently. Perhaps we are doing something wrong....?

I think that your fears are unfounded and especially around cost. As @Flatbush Flyer states, the premium to luxury lines include so much more that you must look at a per night amount rather than the sticker cost of the cabin. I am sure that some consider us snobby because our preferred cruise line is Viking Ocean, and some friends (at a distance) have commented in ways that suggest they think we are exactly that because of the cost... But, if I met you on a Viking Cruise and you told me that this was your first Viking cruise and you had sailed exclusively on Carnival in the past, I would be immediately interested to hear your experiences with Carnival and what you loved about them to sail that line many times. We don't judge you based on your choices, or consider ourselves better because we are on Viking. We are limited now to experiences on Viking, Uniworld, and Hurtigruten, but the people we have met on these lines have been very down to earth.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! Please be more specific to your question. Your title states "Onboard Currency" so are you asking can you pay for things in cash onboard the ship? Ships are generally cashless and all charges go to your stateroom account and you settle them at debarkation with a credit card, or you may be able to pay in cash your final account... Or are you asking what currency the ship(s) operate in those regions?

The fact that you pre-paid them, makes me wonder who you are paying gratuities for based on what is below in the terms and conditions????? From the Avalon site: GRATUITIES Gratuities are included for wait staff at included meals (excluding hotel meals in Europe), and porterage at hotels for one suitcase per person during the land stay of your trip (except on Cosmos; exceptions exist on select tours based on hotel facilities and operational necessity). Gratuities for your Tour / Cruise Director, Local Hosts®, Local Guides, driver, and ship’s crew are not included in the trip price (unless otherwise noted in pricing details) and are discretionary. Another Section of the T&C NOT INCLUDED IN PRICING Unless specifically noted in your trip itinerary, the following is not included in your reservation. airfare to and from the start of your trip; intra-trip air, unless specified in the itinerary; airfare between bookings from one tour/cruise to another; airfare within an itinerary unless specified in the itinerary as included; airline baggage fees, including checked and/or excess baggage fees; Federal inspection fees for Canada Immigrations & Customs; International Air Transportation tax; agricultural tax; other per-person taxes imposed by government entities; airport taxes and fees, including the Air Traveller's Security Charge up to $11.20 per person, participant facility charges up to $18 per person, Federal domestic flight segment fees up to $14.25 per segment, Canada and international arrival and departure and other government imposed fees added by the airline and applicable at time of reservation; ^ port taxes; passports; visas; vaccinations; gratuities to your Tour Director, Cruise Director, Local Host®, driver, Local Guides, and/or ship’s crew; gratuities on ferries, trains, and cruise ships; laundry; telephone; minibar; entry/exit fees at airports; alcohol, beverages, and food outside of the contracted menu as presented at a hotel or restaurant or on board your vessel (these extra items will be billed to you before leaving the hotel, ship, or restaurant); airport transfers (unless on qualifying flights); optional excursions; porterage at airports or train stations; porterage at hotels on Cosmos and Independence by Globus tours; exceptions exist on select tours based on hotel facilities and operational necessity; Travel Insurance;

My experience is that OBC given to you by a TA is not refundable. Some can be used before boarding for payment of optional shore excursions, and then transfers over to the ship if you don't use it all, but it is generally not refundable. In my knowledge, TA's have the ability to ask Viking to make the amount available before boarding or after. I would ask for before and then it works against any optional excursions you purchase. If it is just onboard then apply it to your gratuities at the end.

On a recent multi-country 12 day river cruise through Europe, I bought a 5GB Airalo eSIM for $20 bucks. I did not even come close to using the data - perhaps only half. You can also with these plans now monitor your data usage on their app and add if necessary. I used it solely for maps, navigation, and just basic Google needs to find businesses or restaurants. I get what @Fouremco is saying about maps, but we just like the freedom to be able to have access to anything that data could give us when we are travelling. We DO NOT pay Rogers for their Roam Like Home - that is highway robbery - so we are without our primary phone number for these trips and rely on WhatsApp to keep in touch. Our friends and family - that we want to keep in touch with - know when we are away and that WhatsApp is our link to home.

I may be wrong, but I believe you must schedule the Canadian interview - wherever you are going to do it. The US interview follows without a scheduled appointment. I don't think that you can just show up to any Canadian interview without an appointment.

There is no obligation for any business to offer any exchange on US cash. I get what you are saying, but especially today when the vast majority of people pay with cards, there is a lot of admin work to deposit US cash for a business. Running exchange rates through the restaurant books is not something that anyone wants to do.

We now consider our air to be approaching the cost of the cruise in some cruise itineraries that we are booking. We do a lot of long haul flights and these are just expensive now for sure. Especially Asia.

We just had a friend return from a land based tour in Italy. 20 people. One coughing at the beginning of the trip and most sick by the end of the trip. We STILL travel with Masks and I don't care what anyone thinks or has to say, but when I hear coughing and sneezing on a bus then the mask goes on and hyper vigilance starts with the hand hygiene. She got Covid and was high fever and sick for almost 2 weeks on returning home.

We embark in Barcelona in October. We have been to Barcelona before and just intend to go directly to the ship. If we came across protesters we would just move on and let them do their thing.

I wondered about posting Princess in the Hurtigruten forum. In any case, we were on the Nansen, but sister ship and I think identical. We had the absolute best time on this cruise and this is the best cruise of our lives to date and probably always will be. You cannot express exactly why it is so great, you have to experience it. In my signature you will find a link to our. personal videos - one of the Antarctica. This is a non monetized site, so I am not trying to drive traffic... @Catlover54 comment about being banned to tourists, this is a distinct possibility as the traffic heading there is incredibly on the rise. However, the region is governed by very strict rules, and all tour companies sailing there must abide, but I can see that in the future if over tourism starts to harm the environment, that it will be stopped or at least have strict limits.

Also, where are you sailing from? I cannot find any Princess sailings to Antarctica in March of 2025.

I don't want to point out something that you may already know, but you know that this cruise does not "stop" anywhere in Antarctica and let you go ashore on the Antarctic Continent - right? The size of this ship and the number of passengers does not allow for shore landings. You are listening to someone speaking and pointing out areas of interest as you sail by. You may know this, so please forgive me if you do, it is just that most people want to set foot on the Continent.

Thanks...

I would return to Madrid over Barcelona any day. I would also consider Sitges outside of Barcelona - beautiful seaside town.

All great responses, but I think that many will find that the trend to charge fees is an emerging trend. The trend is emerging because there are many things - air especially - that is either not commissioned, or a very low commission. If there are problems then the TA can be on hold with airlines for hours to work this out. I am ok with the TA that charges a fee for research but will rebate when you decide to book. I have been in sales my entire career and it does not matter the industry, there are a lot of tire kickers out there that will waste your time and never follow through. To answer the OP's question however here is my finding... Most cruise lines have a education program for their Travel Advisors and the TA's can become "Certified" in the cruise line product. These TA's are often then listed on the cruise line web site as experts in the cruise line product. We wanted to go to Antarctica and this was a big deal to us (we book our own cruises) and so we decided that we wanted someone that knew the cruise line and the destination. We found this TA on the cruise website, and were extremely pleased with her knowledge and what she did for us.