OnTheJourney

No..nothing like that on my statement or slips.

No...charges on all the slips are in euros. I didn't see any $ conversions till receiving my credit card statement. I don't recall being asked if I wanted charges billed in USD, nor did I request such.

If it is, it's coming from other than Bank of America since they have no further info and said they don't assess anything. If a merchant is charging anything additional, it should either reflect on the slip or be verbally told the customer. Not sure it's worth disputing these transactions however since I'm not sure how much the credit card company would even be able to find out. I'll see what I hear back from the Vatican gift shop. Some of the other smaller merchants don't even have websites. I'm surely not going to waste additional money on a long distance phone call. Makes me think that it's best to always just pay local currency (unless a larger purchase) over there.

Pertaining to the same recent cruise - the Cities of Antiquities- at various merchants, including restaurants, I used my Bank of America VISA card and, despite the exchange rate being basically 1 for 1 all the time we were over there, I'm seeing about an 8% mark-up to arrive at the total USD charge. Why is this? The credit card slips I have don't reflect any VAT or any other additional charges, so where is the extra coming from? I just contacted the credit card company and nothing is coming on their end. I actually expected the USD amount to be about the same. Is it VAT by any chance? I'm seeing a current VAT amount for Italy as being around 5% (fluctuates I suppose) so if you add that on plus whatever the individual merchants might be assessing for using a credit card, that could account for it all I suppose. Doesn't VAT typically reflect on a credit card slip? The only thing I see on one of the slips (Vatican gift shop) is "3.5% exchange rate mark-up" which would only account for an additional $1.75 though. I've emailed them to find out more since they have a convenient website to contact them. Thanks for any helpful thoughts.

...and gave their camera to Barbara to have the group picture taken when we were at Epidaurus, could you kindly send a picture to her so as to be forwarded to other group members who would like it (including myself)? I've been in contact with Barbara about getting the picture, but she informed me that she didn't take one with her own camera but rather used those of other group members, so she said if any pictures are forwarded to her, she'll gladly send one to me or whomever. I have her contact info if someone needs it, having asked her for her email address being that I'm not on facebook. OR, if someone can forward me the facebook address where the group picture is located, I'll go from there and try to get it somehow. Thanks...

It’s a really amazing cruise. I would advise taking along something for motion sickness though just as a precaution. North Atlantic can get rough on the way to Tilbury. It was our first cruise with Viking and we really enjoyed it till things went bad. Hated to leave the ship (especially by winch!). Scenery is fantastic. Extra time in Oslo is well worth it. We did Viking’s extension.

Of course. I should have made the connection to the one that was delayed coming into Tilbury. We never got that far on the March 2019 sailing. Huge storm system - actually a bomb cyclone - which ended the cruise off the coast of Hustadvika. (More like WAY too close to the coast actually)

Definitely good idea depending on where you plan to go where you might wind up walking around on packed-down snow. I seem to recall we used them at Polar Park. Waterproof boots are highly recommended also.

meaning what exactly?

When we were just on the Sky during the NFL conference championships, Viking recorded both and had them available to watch anytime on the stateroom TVs under the "Enrichment" category (lol). Otherwise, it involved watching the games late at night. Some people did (till like 4:30 in the morning) and then had an early excursion the same day!

Often wondered if some of these pro sports are somewhat, shall we say, choreographed? These guys are good enough to accomplish that.

Who, for the 2nd game in a row, had the benefit of a costly penalty called against the other team in the last minute.

Both teams were somewhat lucky to even get here. Eagles had an easy time of it with 49ers due to the latter's quarterback situation. Chiefs got lucky with that roughing call near the end of the game that otherwise would have probably gone into overtime with the Bengals instead of providing them with easy field goal range. I was hoping for the Bengals and 49ers. Sort of tired of Mahomes by now and have never really been much of an Eagles fan, espcially after that profanity-laced rant by Kelce after the '18 super bowl win. I lost alot of respect for the team after that. My favorite team is the Seahawks. Agreed that Eagles will win - they're simply outplaying the Chiefs the entire first half. Mahomes will struggle with the injury right before the half. Eagles seem like a team of destiny this year. I always pull for the underdog anyway so would sort of like to see the Chiefs win. Otherwise we might have another Philly parade with inappropriate speeches and behavior.

Drakes, I totally agree. Ship crew isn’t masking as much anymore either. I must say that masking takes a good bit of the fun out of traveling. Not the same anymore.

I don’t think covid will ever be a non-issue going forward as long as variants come along. I got covid on a cruise a few months ago and that’s after masking almost all the time. Just completed another cruise and by the time it ended lots of people coughing, blowing nose, etc. Increasing number of people masking by the time the trip ended. Still lots of hotel staff masking where we stayed and a few requirements to mask on buses during a few excursions depending on port policy. This is likely the new normal, IMHO.

Correct. Only nonrefundable costs are insurable.

Wish they would have safely docked in Tromso back on 3/23/19. Sorry you lost ports. We never even made it to Tilbury as well as lost two other ports.

Doesn’t seem to be a problem though requesting transfers if doing your own air.

CC, I agree with your thoughts. I’d rather book my own air and be able to choose seats right away. My TA had expressed to me several times that she has no great love for dealing with Viking air. If trip offers included air, then I’ll go sometimes with that and upgrade if available.

Yep. Same for my sailing 4 years ago.

I would advise also booking an evening search especially since having a sighting is so hit or miss. Some who have done these trips have reported seeing the lights during night excursions but not on the ship, and vice versa. Your call but I’d say you’re somewhat limiting your chances by only hoping for a sighting onboard. Agreed on taking layers along for clothing options. No need to really overthink it all that much.

I agree, which is why I started the thread. Judging from the response I’d bet that they’ll offer it again.

It pretty much has come to that, which is why I suggested that they maybe institute a smart casual (or similar) policy for all nights. People will still wear whatever they want anyway 😀

I’m traveled out after doing 5 trips last year. Looking forward to being home for an extended period after a spring trip. Hate traveling during summer so rarely book anything during that time. Hate traveling during winter too since I always worry about bad weather either before, during, or while coming home. After this coming fall I don’t anticipate doing anymore cruising for probably 2 years or so. I’ll have had my fill for awhile. I don’t ever do any sort of dining or drink packages. No interest in that. Hardly ever a specialty restaurant unless included like with Viking. I cruise primarily for the destination and itinerary.

So Barefoot Beach for suite guests is still going? In that case looking forward to it again sometime, unless it all changes as allegedly proposed.