2fromONCA

Thanks everyone - all good comments and food for thought - we are going midships on deck 7!

There are four A1 concierge cabins on deck 8 of the R class ships (Sirena, Regatta, Nautica, Insignia).   Can anyone comment on the 2 midship deck 8 cabins 8024 & 8027 (we are not interested in the aft cabins) and in particular any difference as compared to deck 7 cabins in the same class?  I realize that the cabin itself is likely identical to those below, but I'm wondering if there is any difference in service since deck 8 is otherwise penthouse suites with butlers.  Any comments - and in particular the Regatta is the cruise we are currently looking at.

Thanks!

Great! Looking forward to meeting you! We are Mike and Margie from California, travelling with Ron and Renee from North Carolina.

 

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oh... and we are Alan and Jen from Ontario Canada!

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Great! Looking forward to meeting you! We are Mike and Margie from California, travelling with Ron and Renee from North Carolina.

 

 

 

I'm wondering if we might pick up the wine our first day in Lima, then have them transferred along with our bags to the ship (since we're only taking our carry-ons to Cusco).

yeah... thought of that but it’s a Sunday and we arrive at 6:15am... so not sure how much luck we’re going to have either finding something at the airport duty free or later in Lima that will be open...

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...and I was wondering where I could find some nice wines to take onboard.

 

 

 

I don't want to bring wine from home, and we will be doing a pre-cruise excursion to Machu Picchu, so a store near the port would be great.

We’ll be with you and looking for the same ... hopefully the driver can be persuaded to make a stop... there will be plenty of time after all!

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How did you scan your passports? Do you have a scanner?

 

 

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Yes - or at least I used a scanner. I tried taking a digital photo but it is extremely difficult to get the passport flat enough and avoid any reflection.

• Tip from my experience: Make sure your entire scanned image is just the passport bio pages (ie. not a regular 8 1/2 x 11 page sized scan in which the passport only takes up about 2/3 of the image - I think this is why my first one was rejected).
  

Good news! The e-visas came online for Canadians today as promised. It took me about an hour to apply for both me and my wife. It was fairly straightforward, although your scanned photo and passport bio page have to in .jpeg format (it would not take .jpg or .pdf) and they have to be 300kb or less in size. Took a bit of fiddling but I sorted it out. Where I did get stuck was on my home address postal code: it wouldn't take a Canadian postal code, only 4-5 numerical digits like a US zip code. However, I went to the online chat page and they came on right away and we sorted it out. I imagine this is a minor glitch in their form that they will fix. But for now I was able to just use the 3 numbers from my postal code, and added 2 zeros.

 

So Americans...looks like you should be good as of January 25, 2018...

 

I will update on processing time once I get the visas....

Received e-visas today, 8 days after starting application. It was not quite as smooth and easy as I had hoped: our photos were rejected multiple times, as was the scan of our passports; considering that the maximum upload size is 300kb I found it a bit of a challenge to get things "just right" for them. A bit fiddly, but all in all worth the wait. Rio here we come! Looks like US e-visas are up and running now too!

Latest updated on the start dates for Brazilian e-visas is:

• Australia - has been up and running since November
  
• Japan from 11 January 2018
  
• Canada from 18 January 2018
  
• United States from 25 January 2018
  

So... getting to nail biting time.... as a Canadian I am holding off until January 18. If they move the date again I'm giving up going to the Brazilian consulate in Toronto on January 19 to get one the old fashioned way....

Good news! The e-visas came online for Canadians today as promised. It took me about an hour to apply for both me and my wife. It was fairly straightforward, although your scanned photo and passport bio page have to in .jpeg format (it would not take .jpg or .pdf) and they have to be 300kb or less in size. Took a bit of fiddling but I sorted it out. Where I did get stuck was on my home address postal code: it wouldn't take a Canadian postal code, only 4-5 numerical digits like a US zip code. However, I went to the online chat page and they came on right away and we sorted it out. I imagine this is a minor glitch in their form that they will fix. But for now I was able to just use the 3 numbers from my postal code, and added 2 zeros.

So Americans...looks like you should be good as of January 25, 2018...

I will update on processing time once I get the visas....

Latest updated on the start dates for Brazilian e-visas is:

• Australia - has been up and running since November
  
• Japan from 11 January 2018
  
• Canada from 18 January 2018
  
• United States from 25 January 2018
  

So... getting to nail biting time.... as a Canadian I am holding off until January 18. If they move the date again I'm giving up going to the Brazilian consulate in Toronto on January 19 to get one the old fashioned way....

Excellent news! Thanks for the heads up - I almost went online and paid it today because we are travelling in Feb/March 2018 I just got another reminder from Oceania!

I couldn't find the cited Disposition on the website https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar, but I checked the website for the Argentinian Consulate in Toronto and they confirm the same thing here:

http://ctoro.mrecic.gob.ar/en/content/reciprocity-fee-6

Based on current pricing, I think that might enable us to buy one Martini each on onboard to celebrate....

We are travelling late February on Oceania and keeping a sharp eye on this. The application site run by VFS Global (for the Brazilian Government) is now up and running for Australian passport holders here:

http://www.vfsglobal.com/Brazil-eVisa/index.html

According to Brazlian government website the process is supposed to be available for Canada, U.S. and Japan in January:

http://www.brazilgovnews.gov.br/news/2017/09/brazil-to-begin-issuing-e-visas-for-australians-in-november

VFS confirmed to me a few days ago via online chat that Australia started on November 22 (as scheduled). I asked them to confirm the start time for Canadians and they confirmed the plan is to start very soon and they are awaiting confirmation from the "Ministry".

It is a huge change to the process: VISA fees are down to $40USD from $120CAD; it is all digital and you don't have to surrender your passport while they process it; and best of all the processing time is 5 days.

Wikipedia claims the start dates are scheduled as follows, but I could not find independent support for this (although whoever wrote it obviously got it from somewhere):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Brazil#Electronic_visa

CountryAvailable fromAustralia21 November 2017Canada8 January 2018United States15 January 2018Japan22 January 2018So my dilemma is... do I start the consular process with all the wasted time, money and temporary loss of passport.... or do I wait for January 8 and hope they keep to schedule?