firefall

We used the included VIP Aloha transfer from HNL to the Outrigger and back.  It all worked just fine.  They were in the baggage claim area, for our arriving flight, with a list of passengers.  We had to wait only about 10-15min. for all to show up. On the return...We had a slight wait for our pick-up at our hotel due to traffic.  

You contact them the day before for your pick-up time.  We gave ourselves extra time for our return to HNL so all was fine.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for this information.  I will be cancelling my reservation for 10/19 !!

Kathy 

Most opened up at 5:00AM PST.  Enchanted opened up at 9:00AM PST

Received an e-mail on a Friday. Called back about 5:15PM and left message that we would accept. Didn't get a return call until about 11:00AM on Monday...one day before sailing. Asked if we were still interested. Offer was very very good and we were driving to the ship so it was a definite yes. It was hard to know whether to pack or not so we just had everything ready to put in the suitcases. You'll know when you really must pack/get everything ready and must decline, if they do call.

Good luck!

So glad we took the Move Over offer! I was worried about the above mentioned issues. I knew when they offered such a good deal they were seriously over-booked.

Would love to see Al Katz again on our Princess voyages. Very much enjoy his shows!

CDG and AMS are large airports and we have experienced long lines at passports checks at both. I will never do less than a 2 hr connection in either and preferably 3 in CDG (or LHR!). Just my opinion.......

Found it :)

Thanks

utexonah...thank you so much for your follow-up post. This is exactly the information I have been looking for. We have an overnight in Honolulu and I have rented from Enterprise for the two days. The distance and price are very doable. Could you possibly give me a bit more info about Harbor Court's location?

Thanks again,

On the other hand, with a car, you could stop and check out Bratislava. We drove by it on the bus ride with Viking. I can help but think that a stop in Bratislava for lunch would have been much nicer than the service plaza where we were taken for lunch.

 

Trivia: Did you know that the two closest capitals in Europe are Vienna and Bratislava?

Oh...I so agree!

Yes, two pronged plugs. And be prepared to get different types of money along the way. Use ATM machines at banks...much better rates. Bogdon will show you.

Oh and BTW...the AngeloAirport Hotel was perfect for the one night stay upon arrival in Bucharest.

We did the Viking pre-cruise Prague to Budapest a few years ago. The ride was 8hrs and not terribly scenic. Why not plan on the train but have a plan-B?

I hesitate to quote a price in fairness to Bogdon. I reserved with him about a year ago so I will leave it to him to give you his price as of today. He is VERY reasonable. The Guest House was just a very different accommodation than what we are used to. We were kinda surprised at first but it turned out to be a nice change to be able to visit a local home and experience life in that part of the world. The owners are lovely people and friends of Bogdon.

Impacted...wow!! We were in Budapest with train tickets to Salzburg for Friday. With the Keleti station closed and all trains cancelled we had to regroup fast. Within 2 hrs we had flights re-arranged and flew home instead. Sitting here when we should be Salzburg and Munich :( Oh well...a new trip to plan.

This one was definitely one of the most challenging trips we've done yet :D

Well, it was a very interesting trip, for sure! Water level was low...missed Rouse cause we had to be bused an extra 2hrs to next dock...then no boats allowed in Budapest so we were bused from the last port. Le Meridian changed hands to Marriott the day before so hotel was not in the best of shape. Weather was a "very unusual" average of 97 degrees everyday. Viking was good but just not our favorite itinerary. The scheduling in Bucharest (city tour) needs improvement!!!!

Transylvania was wonderful...so glad we did it on our own. The tour company I used was Transylvania Discovery Tours. Owner and guide is Bogdon Ghenoiu. We had a van and a driver. Did a three night tour but felt a bit rushed (not much free time) so I would suggest 4 nights. If you want to cover a lot of distance in a day and don't mind quite a bit of time each day in the vehicle then 3 is fine. First night was a Guest House in Sibiel (interesting :eek:) next two were in a very nice little hotel in the center of Brasov (just no lift). Loved Brasov...unbelievable low prices on everything...needed a bit more time to explore and shop. We had to do Peles Castle and Bran Castle on the same day due to scheduling...might of made a difference??? For more info you can e-mail me at kmronvacation at gmail dot com.

Hope this helps.......

Would really love to hear back from you. If your guide is good, I think I'll cancel the Viking pre-excursion and do it on our own (with your guide). Are you flying into Bucharest? When you say your guide is going to pick you up at an airport hotel, do you mean a Bucharest airport hotel? Are you going a night early and crashing near the airport and then he picks you up in the morning? Viking wants a whopping $800 per person for the Transylvanian extension which I'm guessing you got for less or at least matched, but will end up with a much better tour.

Our departure time is quickly approaching. We fly to Bucharest next Wednesday.

I will definitely let you know how our private tour & guide are when we return. We're staying at the AngeloAirport Hotel which includes a shuttle from the airport upon arrival and our guide will pick us up there the next morning at 9:00am. Then he will drop us off at the Viking hotel 4 days later. Our 3 night tour is about 450euro (there's 4 of us might be more for just 2?) and includes tour, hotel, breakfast and one dinner. I'll report back about the tour company and how the 2 hotels were that he booked us at ;)

Peregrina651

Thank you for the information. Much appreciated. Any other times to be sure to be up stairs, on deck?

yes yes yes & yes...about 2/3 the cost of Viking. Staying at Angelo Airporthotel Bucharest

I will definitely report back and let you know how everything went.

We're using a private guide. I did research of tour companies and their reviews. Doing our own air, also. Guide will pick us up at an airport hotel and drop us off at the Viking hotel. He has organized hotels and itinerary for our 3 nights/4days in Transylvania. I will report back after the trip and let you know how he was. My only regret...so far...is that I didn't allow time for a 5day tour :)

Thank you so much for all the wonderful information. We depart mid August for our Bucharest-Budapest voyage on Viking Aegir. We have a 3 day pre-cruise tour to Transylvania with a guide that we are very much looking forward to. Any words of advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

theremin....please ramble some more :)

Can't wait for the rest of the story!!

Been reading along since the beginning. Great thread!

Thanks Peregrina651 for coming back and posting valuable info for us who are yet to depart. We have a French river cruise with GC coming in May and our much anticipated Eastern Europe trip with Viking in August with a 4 day private tour in Transylvania. I must read your links on China...I think that might be 2016 :)

Thanks to everyone for all their great, informative posts!! And great questions, too. Love CC......

Same opinion as yours. We stick with martinis (from Crooners), beer and wine only!

Kathy

We just got off of the Golden yesterday. All in all a nice time. We expect a few things to be different with the short coastal cruises. Dress codes for one...and, oh man, was it ever bad. It was expected so we just had a laugh and moved on. We found the service to be very good. Wait times were not bad for the ATD. They did a good job with that. Food was quite good in the DR. Now the buffet was another story...cold, bland and greasy. We ate one breakfast there and never went back. International Cafe was good, also. And on Deck 14...some of the best pizza yet! Crown Grill was just ok...not sure we'd pay for it again. DH's steak was tough and my seafood was quite bland. The service was prompt but we were never offered any sides. If we were new we wouldn't have known to ask for the yummy side dishes that are included with the meal. I agree with the bar service...could definitely use some improvement. The crew were great. Great cabin steward and smiles from all. Had an issue with our cabin and Customer Service found us another one...4 helped us move...terrific service! The one thing that bothered us is that all the nice, comfy loungers in the Calypso Pool area have been removed. They have been replaced with the new, blue, uncomfortable ones and only a few at that. None on starboard (only tables). So disappointing. Sure do hope this is only the Golden and not fleet wide.

The Golden does need a bit of TLC (we heard dry dock is scheduled) but she's still a great ship.

Bobocasey...thanks for asking the question and thanks to all for the great info. We are planning to do the same thing and are grateful for the help.

Bobocasey...what 2 cruises are you doing??

Kathy

Sandi...take a look at Pam's picture of her standard balcony cabin (post# 1249). It, in fact, has 3 drawers at the desk and 3 little storage shelves next to the fridge. I saw the picture of the deluxe balcony (with it's ONE drawer) after final payment...wasn't happy about that. The couch was nice but that "one drawer" thing was very frustrating!

With a sensitive stomach...I had a hard time finding things on the DR menu that were not spicy or fried. The anytime menu gets a bit old after a while...not special, for sure.

Kathy