WanderingBrit

As mentioned, I cannot save the advance passenger information in MyViking if the passport expiration date is before the start of the cruise.

Thanks - I must have misunderstood the need for advance information to be complete before making final payment.

I'm thinking someone may have encountered this before and have some suggestions? We have a cruise booked in 2026 which starts 3 months after a passport expiration date, final payment is due January 2025. You cannot save advance passenger information in My Viking if the passport expires prior to the cruise, and you cannot complete final payment without first providing advance passenger information. Other than renewing a passport over a year before it expires, or perhaps making a mistake in the entry of advance passenger information 😉 , can anyone see a solution?

The few videos I've seen of Guadeloupe, based on walking from the cruise pier, left me feeling it would be a port to stay onboard - graffiti everywhere, dead and overgrown flower beds, very rundown buildings. Did you find you needed to take transportation away from the dock area to find more charming surroundings, or were the videos I saw misleading?

We just recently enjoyed Iceland's Majestic Landscapes, and it's a great way to see places that can otherwise be challenging to visit - and only 2 sea days. Empires of the Mediterranean is up next for us.

They seem to always bias towards Starboard simply because that's where the "Host Station" is - but we have very limited first-hand experience simply because we generally found The Restaurant too noisy and close quarters for us.

We've just booked Amsterdam to Basel for March 29th 2026, taking advantage of $50 deposit and double past guest discounts makes it pretty attractive. This will be our first river cruise too, unless we add something else in the intervening 2 years 😃

A reduction from 40 sq ft to 9-11 isn’t “slightly smaller” - it’s a 75% reduction! If that square footage is accurate the balcony is only about 12” from door to railing ….

To his credit, Sir Richard called out the fact that things had not gone well and commended Nirmal (VV CEO) for speaking to all the sailors and making sure he was the last aboard. "When things go wrong, get out there as a leader, be open and honest, and show your face", he said.

The lowest priced Rockstar (Seriously Suite) is now slightly more expensive per night than the Penthouse Veranda we have booked on Viking for 2025 Adriatic - and the Seriously is smaller. Both include in-suite alcohol, both are adults only, both are similarly inclusive for dining - Viking includes beer and wine with meals, there's no charge to use the Spa on Viking, and Viking includes an excursion in every port. Yes, they're a very different onboard experience, but looking fairly simply at perceived value it's a tough sell to justify the Virgin prices now for us.

It depends where you're dining. We've made all our reservations for 6:00 and feel pretty confident as the only one I expect to take a long time is Test Kitchen, and I've booked that for the night we plan to see Dance Showpartything which doesn't start until 10:00. We're not planning to have dinner at The Wake, which is the one I've heard can be really slow.

That's exactly what my First Mate found today for us, but it's still more than I could do on my own given the app wasn't taking any reservations at all! I figure we'll just ask for it to be changed once we get to check-in, assuming the app doesn't start working between now and then. We got early reservations for every other day but embarkation.

For Rockstars on February sailings shore excursions opened up some weeks ago, and dining reservations are available now for those Rockstars sailing in 60 days or less (mid February or earlier)

You can transfer your account to a First Mate (travel agent) and have them work to resolve things for you. Alternatively try online chat, as I’ve found that better than email.

Under 24 hours for me

Mine didn't initially appear, but that could have been because we were on Brilliant Lady and that booking was never entirely solid on the app - the ship didn't exist yet. Once we were transferred to Valiant things got a little better, and the DBE actually showed up when something changed on the reservation - I transferred it to a First Mate (Travel Agent) and that got me loot. Might be worth firing up the online chat and just asking Sailor Services?

All of the excursions we looked at were oriented earlier in the day. You might find an all day beach trip where you return closer to 5 or 6, but I don't think I saw anything later than that. Excursions are offered to book sooner than dining, so you'll know all about excursion timing weeks before you can make dinner bookings.

It’s December now 😎

That might be British roots showing - Brits have strong thoughts about electricity and wet places, probably because it's 240V. You'll find that (typically) even the light switch for a wet location is outside or (if inside the wet room) on a pull string, in order that a wet hand not come into contact with anything electrical. My Mother's downstairs bathroom has the light switch outside (as does the bathroom in our flat in Scotland) and her upstairs bathroom has a pull string for the light switch with nary an outlet to be found in the room itself. Electric razor outlets are the exception.

We're fortunate that when we made our booking back in February - originally for Brilliant Lady - the Rockstar Suites were much less expensive than they are now. I think a Sea Terrace XL is now going for about what we paid for our Brilliant Suite for our sailing next February, it certainly pays to book early!

I saw that in their IG this morning - I'm hoping he's still there in February when we sail.

That's been my experience too - the bag can't travel without an associated passenger for security reasons.

According to this it will be the first sailing from San Juan, as to ceremony I don't know. Valiant Lady Itinerary, Current Position, Ship Review | CruiseMapper

I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Virgin has originated a sailing from San Juan yet - the rescheduled Brilliant Lady sailings will be the first.

Can you give specific examples? The USD - AUD conversion rate I'm seeing quoted is 1:1.5 - not 2x. A random view of a pub/hotel in Sydney suggests that wine by the glass is anywhere from 9-13, or 14-21 for a large, with cocktails around 19-22. I don't know how the pour size compares for wines, but the cocktail prices seem comparable at a 1.5x exchange rate?