vslparis

Looks like the SS package is now $25 per person per day .  I had put the package in my shopping cart yesterday (or the day before ) and for my 28 day trip it was $558 per person for the length of the trip; today it showed $700 per person 😬.  Someone on another social media site also mentioned that plus an increase in gratuities but I can’t confirm that since I hadn’t done that one yet.  Did anyone receive a notice about an upcoming price increase in these ? 

On 12/10/2022 at 9:34 AM, flviking said:

Thanks Jim.  I will have my TA contact Celebrity.  I know cruisers are "special cases" for day visits to many countries.  It just seems odd that we are free to leave the ship when we are "expected" to return but there is a different process to "finally" leave the ship from the same dock.  Although it seems odd we will be cautious and hope to get the ok from Celebrity in a timely manner.  We want to use our frequent flyer miles so we want to book as soon as the airline opens for booking that date.  Unfortunately no Retreat for us this cruise. A Sky Suite is the same cost per day as the RS we were in on Reflection last month. Not within our value proposition.  Hope you're enjoying Mexico.

Disembarking a ship is very different situation than getting off for the day . For disembarking the cruise line must work with the local customs and immigration authorities to make sure that there is an official present to clear you to disembark as you are essentially being let loose  into the country. There are ports where that is not possible.  This is why the request needs to be done in advance and approved by the cruise line and local authorities. In a large port such as Mumbai where international flights leave at all times of the day, I imagine that this would not be a problem but is certainly something that needs to be approved in advance.  

On 9/9/2022 at 8:48 PM, SantaFe1 said:

Oh, I’m glad.  I used it again two days ago.  My husband harvested some basil and I made pesto and pasta and told him his basil was redolent.  I know,  so old… but I love words.  
Hope you and family are well vslparis!

Thanks , we are doing well. Back on the road after the unfortunate and regrettable accident on our World Horizon trip in January. We leave on Friday for 7 weeks in Europe and just rebooked the World Hoizon trip for January 2024 😀.  He may not be able to lift his carry on into the overhead bin yet, but he can pull it along until we get on board 😂

On 8/28/2022 at 10:28 PM, Twitchly said:

Makes me happy to see someone on social media use a term like “redolent.” Such a great word. I must use it more often. (Yes, I’m a word nerd though I try to keep it under wraps!)

I too love the fact that someone would use  redolent in a sentence.  My fear these days is that we will lose the power of speech ( and only text) along with the richness of language. I have often said to my children ( who are in their late 30's ), think about the feeling that you get when someone says a situation is "bad " vs when they say  a situation is "horrendous" .  That shows the power evoked by language.  OK now I feel really old 😆

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks for being involved in CruiseCritic. I’ve emailed as requested but my question is simple and is what was in the Original post:

1. Will Viking be selling a cruise between Hawaii and Bangkok after Orion disembarks guests from Vancouver in mid October and before it embarks guests in Bangkok on November 10, 2022?  We had planned a week in Bangkok after disembarking the now canceled Hong Kong to Bangkok segment of Orion’s cruise.  If Viking is going to make a cruise from Hawaii to Bangkok available (at a reasonable price) we would prefer to join it over joining friends on another line for another cruise. 

Seems like a non answer to a pretty simple question to me ;  it’s either  yes or no. End of story. 

Just an FYI  as I am not sure if anyone else on this sailing has been notified ( or noticed ) , but 10 days ago I received an email from Sea Dream with final e-docs, Health Form , itinerary etc.  When I went on-line about a week later to look at the voyage ,I saw that two ports were different than what was on the itinerary that I had just received .on line it showed  Zakynthos in place of Cefelonia  and a day at sea in place of Santa Maria del Leuca . When I questioned Sea Dream about this they told me that they would contact the itinerary department head to see which was the correct itinerary . Just received an email from them yesterday confirming the itinerary change .  Would have liked to visit Cefelonia but a day at sea is always a good thing 😎. 

12 hours ago, Piaa said:

 

Thank you so much.  I emailed the hotel and received the same info except the hours that Homed are open.  Here is their email (maybe it will help someone else) ..

 

Further to your e-mail, we wish to inform you that there is a Covid – Test Desk, where you may do the PCR or Rapid Test, at our sister hotel Electra Metropolis that is 5 minutes walking distance form our hotel.

 

The desk operates:

Mon-Fri: 11:00 – 13:30 pm

Saturday: 10:00 12:00 pm

No appointment is required.

 

The cost for PCR Test is: 38 euro per person 

The cost for Rapid Test is: 10 euro per person 

 

Apart from Electra Metropolis Hotel, there is another laboratory that you can have a test and it’s located at Ermou street No. 18.

 

It’s called Homed and it’s open till 22:00. The prices although differ. Price for PCR test is 48 euro and for the rapid test is 10 euro.

No appointment is required.

 

You are correct with the closing hours of Homed. They are open from 8am to 22:00 7 days

a week which is great. Rapid antigen is quick , PCR takes longer they say although for all of us going on Azamara , the rapid antigen one day prior to embarkation is the way to go !  Everything with this Covid testing is so fluid it is amazing that we travel  at all ; so kudos to everyone that is willing to run the Covid gauntlet 😀

10 minutes ago, annapolitan369 said:

We just boarded Journey in Piraeus 2 days ago. Our 3 day old par was not accepted for boarding and we had to take an antigen test at the pier. Azamara waived the fee for the test. In Piraeus, either an antigen or per can not be older than one day. 

Sounds like AZ realizes that there are some problems with the PCR option and is prepared to test you for free at the pier .. Just curious, where and when did you have your PCR test done ? 

5 minutes ago, blag said:

But I think that the info for Greece that you have cited is incorrect. 

People are reporting that a PCR test within 3 days/72 hours (whatever) is NOT acceptable. The test including PCR  has to be conducted within 24 hours/1 day of boarding. I cannot say for definite that the 1 day includes any time on the day prior to boarding. 

According to the Greece Travel website - https://travel.gov.gr/#/.  - 

Just now, Host Jazzbeau said:

Actually that describes what I would call a well-organized website.  Life is complicated, so Azamara can't make their explanations over-simple...

Very, very true. It took me about 3 looks at the site to realize the difference between Preparing for your cruise requirements and the Boarding requirements 😉

On 5/22/2022 at 7:10 AM, Piaa said:

Thank you so much - we are staying at the Electra Palace - may I ask how you found out that the hotel is doing testing (I hope the EP is as well and I looked on the website but didn't see anything)  Thanks again 

We are also staying at the Electra Palace but their testing times at their sister property will not work for us.  They recommended Homed which does a rapid antigen test and is open 24/7 . We plan to stop off there first thing in the morning , get tested and continue on with our tour that day. It is about a 5 minute walk from the Electra Palace. No appointment necessary, 10€ for rapid antigen. 

8 hours ago, harrodsfan said:

And yet on the azamara web site it says that tests aren’t required if you are vaccinated??? 

The Azamara requirement page ( Explore Well at Sea ) has several tabs. The first one , Preparing For Your Cruise, is the requirement for entering Greece ,which is only to be vaccinated if you don’t want to take a test.  then if you click on the second tab, Boarding, that one is the requirement to board the ship, which is a negative Covid test.  Travelling these days is not for the faint of heart 😉

I guess my first question would be , are you sure that you are flying Iberia ( or Level which is some Iberia type of flight ) which is a direct flight that departs SFO at 7:55 pm.  If that is not your departure time then you are on a connecting flight that ,while sold as Iberia, is flown by American or one flown by British Airlines.   Or was it a different flight when you first booked it ; could it have Iberia and then it was changed to Level due to Iberia cancelling you original flight ?
If indeed you are on that Level flight and you paid for premium economy you should absolutely get a refund for that.   

On 5/17/2022 at 11:21 AM, travelberlin said:

I have boarded in Athens today. You do need one antigen test within one day of boarding. Easy to get in pharmacies in Athens. Cost varies. Some have paid 5 Euro, others 8 Euro. I have paid 7 Euro. 
Ivi

Did you just walk in and get it done or did you have to make an appointment ?

On 4/4/2022 at 7:36 PM, austinetc said:

We loved tea time. The experience was the height of extravagant living for us. 

 

The sight of some passengers attending the event in bathrobes was a real downer though. Not very posh.

 

 

Or as they might say here in Texas , “Obviously , their momma did not raise them right ! “

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

So does that mean if there are no USA tourists in a tour do they ditch the armed escort😆? 

Probably not. As @Heidi13 mentioned about experiences back in the 70's , even when we went on a Costa Cruises trip back in 1998 ( with mainly Italian and Germans) we had armed escorts .  Just a thing that they have been doing for years with foreign tourist I believe.

1 hour ago, stretchcruz said:

We're on our way to Puerto Vallarta for a medical emergency. Captain said it would take 5 to 6 hours. Supposed to be in Cabo San Lucas tomorrow. Not sure what will happen. I don't care, we weren't getting off anyway, but I hope the passenger is ok. Must be serious to divert.

Andy will know how long it takes to sail from Puerto Vallarta to Cabo. I have no idea.

Oh no.  I do hope that all will be well. The good thing about PV is that there is a very large English speaking ( American and Canadian) Expat community there so many of the doctors speak excellent English and were trained , at least in part , in the US and Canada. This will make things a bit easier and  give some peace of mind to those affected.  My husband had to be hospitalized and have surgery  there in January and we were very pleased with the care given. 

7 hours ago, ldpetrillo said:

Our guide said that Ramadan cut the crowds down as it was jammed the day before. We went to Wadi Rum today and it was as impressive as Petra. Awesome scenery!

Lucky you ! 

17 minutes ago, GKTV32162 said:

We are also very early in the season. The weeks ago this was all covered with snow.

When we went about 4 years ago it was late in the season and it was still more crowded. You all really were very lucky to experience Petra without a massive amount of tourist. 

18 minutes ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 101/152 - Aqaba, Jordan - Magnificent Petra!
 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/04/world-cruise-day-101152-aqaba-jordan.html

Great blog about your day in Petra. I can’t believe how uncrowded it looks . You very lucky not to have the mass of humanity that would have been normal before Covid. 

5 hours ago, JM0115 said:

Yes by air.  16 hr excursion.  People who went said that it was a long day.

Tanks Jim. That was the one place that I wanted to see in Saudi Arabia  . The tombs there were carved by the same people that did Petra.  

19 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 98 - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - Not ready for prime time - and optional masks starting tomorrow - no April Fools!

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-98-yanbu-saudi-arabia.html

Do you know if there was a tour to Al Ula offered from this stop ?

1 hour ago, JM0115 said:

It's funny to think that we would be ready to "go dry" after 90 days on the ship.  From what I have seen on board, not too many are ready yet :)!

I probably wouldn’t be either 😂

1 hour ago, GKTV32162 said:

I agree with your comment about broadening horizons through travel, but...oppression is oppression.

 

We still have no excursion information, so we have no idea what we may have the opportunity to do/see.  We're hoping that comes out soon as we arrive in Jeddah in five days.

 

Curious what you are learning from the Sky passengers as they are on a 10-day Med cruise - we ran into them in Katakolon.

Sorry, meant the Star not the Sky.

I am not sure the citizens of Saudi Arabia themselves would call their restrictions oppressive ; certainly they can be seen as repressive to the western eye.  As you said, if you are not comfortable with being there the first day ,you can always stay on board.  I imagine though that once you get off and start exploring you will find the experience not as bad as you thought it would be. 🙂

5 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

The biggest one impacting the ship is that Saudi Arabia bans alcohol, therefore, the Star cannot serve any alcohol while in port.  

After being on board as long as you all have , maybe a few dry days might be a good thing😂

Then you can make up for it on the rest of the journey !

Respecting local customs and mores may not always be easy, but broadening our horizons is what travel is all about .

Not being able to go to the  stop in Saudi Arabia where you could go to Al Ula and visit the archeological sites at Medain Salah is one of my biggest disappointments in having to get off the WC after my husband was injured. Well, that and having to cook, clean ,shop and make the bed for 3 1/2 months more than I planned to this year 😉.

I am living vicariously thru your blog and insights from other passengers aboard the Sky .