CDNPolar

Not knowing for sure where the OP is from but because you mentioned Medicare, assuming you are from the USA...? I am from Canada, and we do take as little as possible in our wallets, but we have to take our Provincial Health Care cards with us as our out of country medical coverage always (in Ontario anyways) requires us to have a valid government health care number. This would need to be verified and this is always suggested that we carry the actual card and not a picture of the card. My question would be, does your out of country medical coverage require you to carry your Blue Cross or Medicare card?

Why would you assume that I am not concerned about my own hands? You are incorrect, as I am concerned with washing my hands. Washing in your cabin does not mean that you don't touch other things on the way to the dining room. I know that others don't care which is why I protect myself by washing my hands. Breakfast especially where buffet is normal, the tongs and serving utensils are the area of concern that you are touching those and then going back to your table. I want to MYSELF wash my hands after this. Think me crazy or paranoid - whatever you wish - but we wash our hands at every restaurant we go to after ordering and touching the menus and before the food arrives. We wash our hands still the minute we arrive home from anywhere out of the house. Thank you to those that see this as something serious and sharing the location of the restrooms near the restaurant.

Did I say anywhere that you were not?

Here is our channel - growing slowly. https://www.youtube.com/@lktraveljournal4554

It could be that the seats were booked through United and they don't show on the Lufthansa site. Similar situation recently when I booked for Australia, I booked the flights on the United site, but there was an Air Canada segment. (Air Canada and United are Star Alliance as are United and Lufthansa). United showed the seats for all segments but Air Canada did not show any seats. If you can actually see the bookings on both airline sites, then I would call each airline. What ended up happening for me is that I was careful to only book seats on each site for that airlines flight and not the other. This worked for me. HOWEVER, there is a poster here that is saying that Lufthansa requires payment for seats. You should take this up with Viking Air. We have found that sometimes the Viking Air reservationist is not knowledgeable and thinks they have booked your seats when they have not.

I searched and have not found anything on this topic. It has been pre-pandemic since we were on a Viking River Ship and I don't remember... Do the River Ships have hand washing stations outside the dining room? Not just hand sanitizer, but actual soap and water stations? If you read about Norovirus going around now you will also note that hand sanitizer does NOT kill Norovirus - in fact it does nothing. You must wash your hands with soap.

I am not the one that you are asking, but my husband and I are the same. We like the small ships and look for others to meet and interact with that are looking for a fun trip too. What is a fun trip for us? Meeting good and nice people that are interesting. They don't have to be gay and in fact we have only met one gay couple on a Viking smaller ship and frankly they were so pretentious that after sharing one lunch with them we avoided them for the rest of the cruise. Fun for us is much more quiet than perhaps for others. We are a very quiet couple.

Regardless of the comments here, Viking do this as a Celebration of US - their guests. They are welcoming us back on board. We personally have been disappointed on some Ocean voyages when it has not happened. Our Cabin Stewards told us they love doing it and they were thrilled when we spotted them and called out to them. To each his/her/their own and I can understand if some don't enjoy this. Some have made it sound like it is exploitation of the crew. That I don't think is the case. That is just my/our opinion.

Personally I don't understand the hype around Manfredi's now or in the past. We prefer the Chef's Table and on any cruise we will book every menu - regardless of the theme - in The Chef's Table. This is going to bring on the haters, but we are not on Viking to eat "North American" food. I know that Manfredi's is Italian, but it is what we have all over North America. We are on a cruise in a different part of the world to experience different cuisine not eat the same as we do at home. Steak, pasta, and seafood prepared for a North American palate is not what we are after. The fact is that Manfredi's menu is too static for our tastes. Again - don't know the hype. We try to eat in Manfredi's once during a cruise but don't care if we miss it either.

I am only sharing what I was told by the US Agent this past weekend. My Nexus is now renewed, and my passport expires in 2026. He said very emphatically that I MUST go in person to a land border crossing or an air crossing when flying through the US to update my passport information in 2026. I asked - can I not do this online - he said NO, I must do in person. What more can I say?

My husband was renewed automatically online... I was informed that I had to present in person for interview. It may happen to you. But, note, that when you renew your passport, you must now update your Nexus and this can only be done in person - I was told this yesterday by US agents.

My Nexus expired in 2020 but with the Pandemic shutting down the centres in Canada for renewal, were we are three years later. I finally completed my Canadian interview at the Fort Erie border crossing, crossed into the US and completed the US side interview. I have been approved again for 5 years. What I just learned which is just another pain in the butt, is that when my passport expires in 2026 and I get my new passport, I either have to: Drive to Niagara Falls and cross the border and on the US side have the passport updated to my Nexus by both the Canadian and US offices, OR Do the Fort Erie thing again with both the Canadian and US sides, OR Have a flight to or transiting through the USA and after passing security and US Immigration visit the US desk at the airport to update. This apparently cannot be done online, and must be done in person. AND, now that I have the new passport, I cannot use the Nexus line at the airport, or at the drive through border because my new passport is not yet synced to my Nexus and I will get stopped. (Just this first time through with the new passport) Canada is issuing the new passport, and verifying that it is me, can they not link this to the Nexus and be done with it? I know, first world problems, and kind of a rant. I am just happy that I finally have a renewed Nexus card after all this time.

Have you written Viking about this? Expressing your opinion here is one thing but if you want to see this stop, then you must inform Viking of your distaste for this practice.

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this message, but I do corporate training and I have done extensive research and training on textual based communication. An accepted percent of the amount of text based communication that is misinterpreted is approximately 50%. I see over and over, a lot of misunderstandings here on CC with someone's answers. I am not convinced that the majority of misunderstandings are intentional, it is the way that the poster has worded their response. There are some here that are very direct with their answers and some of the readers may need a slightly softer touch to the reply... In many cases I would propose that if the conversation were verbal and you heard the inflection and tone of voice in the response, there would not be misunderstandings. Choice of words, is always key too. Now, there are people on here that I believe intentionally are short and rude in their responses on purpose. Don't hate on me - this is just my research and personal opinion.

You should probably post this in the Celebrity forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/16-celebrity-cruises/ You are more likely to find someone that will know that regularly cruises on Celebrity.

This will depend on how early in some cases. We have been taken to a Holding Room, and we have also been allowed to board the ship but without access to our cabin until a later time.

I think that this is about citizenship. Your requirement for a ESTA will be based on that, not on where you travel though... In my opinion. For instance, if I need a Visa or ESTA as a Canadian to travel somewhere, but an American Citizen does not, I still need that Visa even if I drive to Buffalo and fly from there.... If I am reading your response correctly. I know that sometimes these requirements are confusing, but if you can truly find the country specific site and look at the entry requirements, that is your best bet. No one wants to land somewhere and be denied entry....

Just so that you know, hand sanitizer does NOT kill norovirus. If you read CDC and other sites, the only way to kill it is to wash with soap. Don't make yourself believe that after serving yourself at the buffet and a quick squirt of hand sanitizer you are ok... you are NOT.

I only paid $18 CAD on the Australian Government site for my Visa.

Happy Happy Birthday Canada!

We have learned that we use the Canadian Government site as a guide, but always visit the country specific site for reinforcement of what is required. Always however ensure that you are on an actual government site of the country that you are visiting. There are many sites out there that sell VISAs or ETAs that are not necessarily government official sites. Friends went to Egypt and paid twice what we did for the Visa on the official site.

“Technically” both terms are on the site and the paper based Visa that I received. Have you looked at the Australian site? The site refers to them interchangeably.

I think that we all have sympathy for the OP. Most of us have learned the hard lessons in a similar way. Time, age, and experience teaches us the lessons of checking the fine print. I think that what most are trying to point out is the original post was pointing the finger at Viking as being the bad guy, when all that happened was laid out in the terms and conditions of sale. There was no surprise if you read the fine print - so it is called. Viking cannot give in to one no matter how compelling the story is or they would have mounds of law suits going after them even though their terms say different. Many on CC are still confused with vouchers and if travel insurance covers them or not. We recently (Canada) approached our trip interruption insurance provider because we are using $3k worth of vouchers, and their immediate response was NO, we do not cover vouchers, but when we pressed, they came back saying that it depends on how we got the vouchers. The insurance companies don't even know and they could not tell us if we received our vouchers in a way or for a reason that they could be covered. In the end we insured the trip minus the voucher amount understanding and accepting that we would lose the voucher portion if we cancelled. (We know that these vouchers once applied to a Viking sailing cannot be moved to another sailing.) If I have sounded less than gracious, please accept my apology, but I read the other posters as showing that Viking is not necessarily the bad guy here and that sometimes we have to accept our personal responsibility when we enter into a contract. Read everything, ask questions, don't accept the first answer, call back and ask someone different the same question. Was there a better way out of this? Maybe. Oh, and having a "beef" with what the travel insurance did or did not cover has nothing to do with Viking. And for the record, I am NOT standing up in defence of Viking. I have my own issues with Viking and things we have been told and incorrect information and how they manage things... the reality is that my issues are covered in Viking policy. I just disagree with them, but I have to accept them or move to a different cruise line.

I think that there may be some "language" challenges here. I went online and applied for my Visa, but I believe it is also referred to as an ETA. My Visa is an Electronic Travel Authority (Subclass 601) Visa. My visa includes a paragraph on "What you can do on an ETA" Go to this site. This is the official site to get your entry information for Australia. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/entering-australia This is where I got my ETA Visa. I think that they are one in the same.

I just came back from Australia - return trip from Toronto - Canadian citizen. I had to have a Visa to enter Australia. Done online quickly, pay the fee, and you get the Visa.