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1 hour ago, Jillt92 said:

Where did you see the change?  I’m on the same cruise but haven’t seen it in the app yet.

Refresh the app or close it completely and reopen it. If you click on the ship icon on the top of the screen and you will see the updated ports of call.

22 minutes ago, ATG said:

I’m also on this sailing and don’t see this anywhere.  My cruise planner still has Labadee excursions for sale.  I have not received an email about this.

Refresh your app and click on the ship icon on the top of the screen

Symphony sailing on 23 March has cancelled Labadee and is now calling on Falmouth from 9-5:30on day 3, 3/25. 

I’m on Symphony sailing on the 23d. Changed day 3 (3/25) from Labadee to Falmouth, Jamaica. No excursions listed yet. I found out about 1.5 hours ago. I’ve been obsessively refreshing the app. 

37 minutes ago, Monk86 said:

Pineapple magnet for cabin door and similar pins for t-shirt. Fun toys for room.

😳🤭

I was supposed to stop at Labadee on March 25 while on Symphony. It is up in the air now, but I doubt we will go. I feel terrible for the Haitian people. I had a cabana rented. I haven't cancelled, neither has Royal. It would be better if they would give us notice of any port changes so we can make alternate plans. I understand that the situation is fluid. I just don't see this situation in Haiti resolving anytime soon.

I have not had my cabana reservation canceled. I’m supposed to stop at Labadee on 3/25 on Symphony. Others on my sailing have had snorkel, jet ski, and boat ride excursions cancelled. Many excursions still are available on the website 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a flight booked for 10:15 am on Easter Sunday. I am also on Symphony OTS. I read too many posts and blogs about how that was cutting it too close for comfort. I switched my flight home to 2 pm. I don’t want to spend the entire cruise stressed about debarking the ship and making my flight. It may be possible, but I chose not to risk it. 

I use the Luxe version. Just get 2 and put them under the mattress pad. They don’t move very much. Two will cover the mattress nicely. https://a.co/d/hHxmipg

I have rented from them twice. Both times I’ve had no issues. I have another scheduled for our upcoming cruise in March. 

1 hour ago, tropiclvrs said:

Hello!  We typically have stayed beach front in Lauderdale for our 2-3 day pre-cruise stays but this time at the end of March a decent place is a little cost prohibitive.  I've been looking elsewhere such as some of the better choices Downtown (i.e. Hyatt Centric downtown or Riverside Hotel) but I know we are probably going to want to go to the beach for part of our day.  Does it make sense to be that far from the beach if I know we are going to want to spend some time there?  How much would a taxi or Uber be each way?

Also was considering lower budget such as Hyatt Place or Hyatt South in Dania Beach which is probably a littler further even but it seems very convenient from the airport and to the port.

Any advise from experts?

 

Thanks!

I haven’t stayed at the Hyatt Centric, but I saw a YouTube video that said they offer rides to the beach through the hotel. They will also provide chairs and an umbrella. 
 

I’ve been researching the area because we are staying one night at Riverside in March. I also have a compulsion to plan and to know everything I can about the areas that I travel to. I’ve also stayed beach side in the past. I want to try something new. 

I think that emailing special services would be very helpful. Your dining reservations will all contain prior information about your dietary requirements. You do not want to take a chance on cross contamination. In the windjammer and other venues, you will likely need to speak to the staff each time you attend. With any premade reservation, the staff will know ahead of time and will consult with you without you having to ask. 
 

I have a DS who is celiac and I have researched this extensively. He hasn’t sailed since he has completely changed his diet, but we have traveled a lot. I find that generally, the earlier the staff is notified, the better the experience will be.

Thank you for the information on gluten free cuisine. My DS (26) has been GF for the last 1.5 years and it can be a real challenge traveling with celiac disease. I’m glad there are options for him. He has yet to cruise since he has changed his diet. 

3 minutes ago, Betsynh said:

If you’re on the Odyssey I did a LIVE review of our trip with lots of detail. 
 

I believe we checked in at 8:00am for an 8:30 departure time. Between the drive to that part of the island and a 15-minute stop at the gallery, we arrived at the beach just before 10am and had 3 hours to enjoy. There was an area roped off for us to use and several chairs under palm trees—many of us had shade. If you sit near the front of the bus you might get first dibs. 
 

The excursion offered a free soda and shower token for 30-second shower. The line was long so didn’t use that. Food options were simple but okay. Cheeseburger & fries were listed as $19 but that’s in Antillean currency so they were $11 US. 
 

if you Google Cas Abao Beach you’ll see there’s a waterfront spa to book massages. Their early bird special starts at 10am. I didn’t book ahead since I didn’t know when we’d arrive. The people that did book 10am were 25 mins late so we got 20 minute back/neck massages in the little hut. A slice of heaven if you like that stuff. 
 

Bring water shoes! There are a bit of shells and/or coral getting into the water. Wish I’d thought to bring mine. Enjoy! We would definitely go back there (and we are picky beach people and prefer shade).

Thanks again! Great info. I couldn’t find any information on this excursion. This helps a lot. We are goin to be on Symphony, but I will check out your review!

9 hours ago, Betsynh said:

In Curaçao we did a tour to Cas Abao beach and scenic drive which was an adorable art gallery for 15 minutes and then breathtaking beach. Highly recommend. 
 
Thanks for this! We have a cruise coming up in March. I booked the same tour in Curaçao. I was worried that we would spend a lot of time at the art gallery. How much time did you have at the beach? Were there decent chairs with shade to use? Was there a place to get food? What time did you get back to the ship? Thanks in advance!

I have rented a car in Aruba both on cruises and for land vacations. It is extremely easy. It is difficult to get lost since the island is so small.  You can download offline map app called maps.me. I don’t understand how it works, but it does. You don’t need cell service to be able to see where you are and how to get around. You just need to download the appropriate map while you have WiFi. However, I usually buy an eSIM for my international travel which gives me reliable service wherever I go. 
 

Parking has never been an issue either. All the major beaches have plenty of public parking. Palm beach we park either in the Jolly Roger parking lot or in the parking lot across from the Hyatt. See map screenshot both areas circled in red. 
 

We never have gotten a parking ticket or had any problems whatsoever. In the center of Oranjestad, it is a little more tricky, but you can visit on foot there before you pick up or after you drop off. All of the companies have the same pickup and drop off spot. It is an easy walk from the pier. I have marked it in red. 
 

We have used Royal car rental in Aruba when we cruise. They have always worked well for us. For land vacations, we use Wheels2Go.  I don’t think that they deliver to the cruise port though. Roads are well marked. There are a lot of roundabouts. Make sure you are familiar with how to navigate them. Drivers are generally courteous and gas is easy to get. 
 

i have a jeep rented through Royal for my upcoming cruise in March of ‘24. We are looking forward to a great day in Aruba!

5 hours ago, bbtondo said:

Thanks for asking as I am the person that mentioned the soggy shrimp and soggy crab legs, dried out turkey and dried out pork at the World Cafe on the Sea, Nov 1 BCN to Rome. Also asked if there were theme night dinners at the World Cafe since I didn't see any and asked crew quite a few times if there were and got no answer.  I see photos of large paella platters, etc. Were these theme foods just at lunch? No one on this forum seems to answer my question about Theme foods.

 

You will have a wonderful cruise on the Sea!  These food concerns I have is just annoying me since Viking is at a price point that I wouldn't imagine this to happen. 

 

 

We just returned from the Iconic western Mediterranean on Jupiter 11/7-11/14. They did indeed have theme nights in the World Cafe. We went on Asian night and on Spain night. I seem to remember one night was "southern fried chicken." 

We just returned from a cruise on Jupiter. We made reservations for the thermal suite on our 2nd day. We reserved once on board. They are allowing 12 persons at a time. The time slots are on the hour for a 45 minute use time. They were enforcing the reservation system. When we went, there were 3 of us and only 2 other people at the same time. All facilities were open for use for those with reservations. It was a very pleasant and well controlled setting.

On 11/17/2021 at 4:03 PM, bbtondo said:

Just got off the Iconic Med Cruise BCN to Rome.  Did 4 days 3 nights in Rome after the cruise.  There was a pharmacy right down the street from our Viking Hotel - Palazzo Naiadi in Rome.  Nice family run, took a rapid antigen test and got our negative test result right there.  Went back to the hotel and the  Concierge helped us print out the QR code from our email results which were in Italian for our flight back to the US.

 

FYI the Palazzo Naiadi was gorgeous!  Great buffet breakfast, great staff!

 

I couldn't agree more! the Palazzo Naiadi was FABULOUS! I was very pleased. Our hotel in Barcelona that Viking chose, however, was not good at all. It was quite a stark contrast. In Viking's defense, I thing the hotel they usually use is currently closed.

We tested on our last cruise ship day.  We were on Viking Jupiter November 7-14. We had extensions on both sides of the cruise with Viking. Our last morning, we did our test as we did on every other day of the cruise. The Viking representative in our Barcelona hotel told us he was to drive to the ship to retrieve our test results. We had the printed results in hand the next day. They were accepted at the airport on 11/16 without incident. Hope this helps.

I got an email 3 days AFTER excursions opened for booking on my November Viking cruise.  My best advice is to do what I did: Obsessively check My Viking Journey daily, sometimes twice per day. If I hadn't done that, I don't think I would have gotten the excursions that I wanted. They sold out very quickly.

8 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Yes, CC is usually a safe place to ask questions, but some people are just plain rude.  I use CC's "ignore" feature so I don't have to be subjected to those types of comments.  If you hover over someone's user name, options will appear, including an ignore button.  You can also report nasty comments to CC.

OP here. I saw the comment you are referencing. I’ve been on CC long enough to recognize a troll when I see one. I just keep scrolling! No need for me to even acknowledge the snide comments. I figure that anyone who feels the need to be rude to those seeking help probably has a sad existence. 🙄

37 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Glad it worked out for you!  I noticed the same thing for my Nov BCN to Rome cruise.  Barcelona was missing from the extensions.  

You will likely have the Melia Barcelona Sarri Hotel as well........if you have an extension. I'm not familiar with Barcelona enough to tell if it has a better or worse location than the previous option. I looked it up on Google maps. It seems to be a few kilometers away from the historic city center.

So, I called.  The post cruise extension is indeed still confirmed.  I still don't see it on My Viking Journey page, but the agent sent me a new invoice.  The hotel has changed. It was previously Nobu Hotel Barcelona. It is now Melia Barcelona Sarri Hotel. 

I think that Viking must be updating the information on their servers and it hasn't come through the system yet. Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

44 minutes ago, deec said:

sometimes the extensions dont show up when it is all booked.  does it still show on your "my journey?"

 

My pre extension shows up on my journey page, just not the post extension. That is why I was concerned.  They previously had 2 post extensions available: one for Madrid, and one for Barcelona.  I was booked with the Barcelona one. Up to a couple days ago, the Barcelona extension was listed and had a banner that said "reservation confirmed." Now it isn't even listed as a possibility. The Madrid extension is the only one listed.

This is what I see: