gnome12

1 hour ago, bborzell said:

 Checking in to this thread in anticipation of October 20 - November 5 Tauck cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest.  We will be on a 110 meter ship.  

 

Friends just returned from same trip (but on larger Viking and started in Budapest) and they had days with upper deck off limits because of high water.

I don't know about the height of your Tauck ship, but the issue is low bridges, not specifically high water, on the Main (I think it is). If your ship has 3 passenger decks, then it is quite likely that the sun deck will be unavailable for a while.

47 minutes ago, Ombud said:

@Cotswold Eagle makes my choice easy .... 12:10 & not paying for large luggage as it's not THAT large. Thanks!

The only thing to note is that if the 13:30 is full, you will need to wait for a later bus with space.

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

One of the highlights of an Arctic Circle cruise is, in my opinion, the Midnight Sun - therefore August is too late. 

On the other hand, if you aren't going to be up at midnight anyway (and I admit that I have a lovely picture of the midnight sun taken at exactly midnight on my recent cruise) the second option includes all 3 of the best fjords.

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Based on the many posts across all of the forums, that seems to be a very common lament when people contact their cruise line looking for information! A real pity...

Except this complaint was about people taking passport pictures not being aware of the rules for the photos.

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I believe the term homeport can also be used for a port where passengers begin or end a cruise (as opposed to a day port for shore excursions).

I thought that was called a turn-around port. (But certainly that is what the article seemed to be saying.)

1 hour ago, Senga said:

I hate the fact that when you renew early you lose a LOT of remaining time.  We renew 6 months prior to expiry so that's six months wasted.  They should be like NEXUS and give you the full period.

I remember reading something. The UK used to do this (and maybe still do); they would add the extra time to the new passport. Then, post Brexit, Schengen was giving them issues about passports with greater than 10 year validity, and people were being denied entry.

7 hours ago, Langoustine said:

What is "Game of Thrones"?

It is a television series. 

5 hours ago, sjde said:

Is there a way to find out ahead of time if you can walk right off the ship into the town or if there’s going to be a bus ride? Our first 4 river cruises were basically always walk right off the ship and you’re in town (except for Douro) and we liked that so much,  but our last one (Viking ) had SO many bus rides to the town ( and quite a ways) and we did not like that at all . 

If you look at a map of the trip and see little black lines coming off the river, that indicates that there is probably a bus involved. 
 

The current problem is due to the proliferation of river boats, even if there is docking in the centre of town you might be relegated to a more distant dock. This can also happen in high or low water situations. 

Booking the train for this year on Norway's Best began in mid-December of 2023.

The timetable for 2025 should be available here some time in December (look for R45 in red near the bottom of the list of trains)

https://www.vy.no/en/traffic-and-routes/times?item=2893#item-96c83897df82

Trains were available on Norway's Best a few days after the schedule was posted. Don't worry if you get a message that all trains are booked and to choose another date. Just keep checking daily and they will appear. Book fast. However, some train times will show as sold out. They may be not have any allocations from vy.no because they have been allocated to the cruise companies.

14 hours ago, debfed65 said:

Hello. I am flying Westjet to Japan next month, but have only flown with them to Florida in the past.  

 

Has anyone flown International on their 787-9 Dreamliner?  

 

How was your experience?  Did you fly economy? Premium economy? Business?

Are you sure that the flight is operated by Westjet? Perhaps it is a code share flight.

Just book any excursions right away. Then, if they change from included to select you will be grandfathered in (unless there is a major change to the itinerary - at SS's discretion of course). You can always adjust them later. You don't pay for any extra cost excursions until just before the excursion departs.

2 hours ago, tvl4life said:

Thanks so much for the great review!  We are doing this trip next summer and look forward to it.  Quick question about the excursions, if you have time.  Did you find much of a selection.  In looking at choices for next year there are few options, in some cases only two per port included, and not that much more for the extras.  Did you find that more options became available later?  Also, it seems very odd that every single excursion, both included and paid, list the exact same time as the ship's arrival at port.  We hope this in an error!  

The times will change closer to the departure date. For popular tours there will be a number of different departure times. However, for my cruise I don't think there were really any new excursions added later, just more departures of the same excursions. The only exception was, of course, where they changed the port.

I only found the information once we boarded. I don't know if there is any other way.

38 minutes ago, PCruzer said:

Do any river cruise lines in Europe have single cabins?  I tried to search this topic but found nothing relevant.  Thanks!

Personally, I would much rather get a regular cabin with no or small single supplement than a single cabin which, from what I have seen (mostly on ocean cruises) are very small. Most river cruise cabins are already fairly small.

4 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

Sailing on HAL Rotterdam next year and have an excursion included in our fare.  Which one of these would be the best for an excursion?  

 

• Haugesund
• Eidfjord
• Bergen
• Kirkwall, Scotland (I figured I'd throw that in there if this could possibly be the winner)

 

Thank you!

 

For me, the highlights to see in Kirkwall (or rather outside of it) are Skara Brae and Maeshowe. You would need either a ship sponsored or locally provided excursion to get to them. 

3 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

A correction...  Although Ireland is in the EU, it's not in the Schengen Zone.  Instead it's in the Common Travel Area, which is shared with the UK.  So (if you choose to go 'landside') you will clear Irish/CTA immigration in Dublin, and Italian/Schengen immigration in Rome.

 

In both locations, customs is just a case of walking through the Green lane (assuming you have nothing to declare).

 

As I understand it, there is no choice in this.  The whole plane-full of passengers exits into the domestic area in the US, so everyone needs to pre-clear in Dublin.

I think the “otherwise” meant not returning through Dublin. 

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

Thanks for sharing your recent experience on Scenic and the sailing's occupancy.  Our Avalon sailing in June was also at low occupancy.  I wonder if river cruising hasn't fully recovered or if it's a case of softening demand?

Or mushrooming supply?

43 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hey Roz, you are NOT A weirdo! As a solo guest, I also enjoy dining with other folks. We are of the same mindset😀

Me too. However if at a table for 6 I prefer it to be a round table rather than rectangular; to me it works better for conversation. 

2 hours ago, npima said:

Good morning,

 

My husband and I are thinking about a Viking Rhine & Main cruise in November 2025.  I’m wondering if it is worth going in November.  We don’t mind cold weather when we travel, but we’ve never cruised this time of year.

 

Any thoughts?  Thank you in advance..

The days are fairly short. Days can be cold and rainy or nice. You would need to be prepared for anything. In most places I think you would be too early for Christmas markets.

5 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Does anyone know the general timing of evening theater entertainment on the Shadow?  Trying to decide on dinner reservation times and want to allow enough time for any shows we may decide to attend. 

I can't speak for the Shadow. On the Dawn in June almost everything started at 9:45. For my 8 pm reservation in Silver Note I let them know that I needed to leave and was OK. Some friends of mine arrived a little later, and they never made it to the show; they were still waiting for their mains when I left. I had no problem getting to shows arriving in Atlantide or SALT Kitchen at about 7:15-7:30.

They also had a few shows start at 6:15 because some people complained that the shows were on too late.

56 minutes ago, Amish-boy said:

Forgive me, I’m trying to compare carriers, but I’m having a little difficulty. Several people have mentioned CFAR coverage, which I assume isn’t “standard.” Yet I’m looking at the Allianz policy, and the only coverage “upgrade” they offer involves terrorism. Is this plausible, or am I mistaken about CFAR not being standard?

CFAR is generally built into a policy. It is either there or it isn't. I don't think you usually select it like an option. Its terms will be listed in the cancellation section. There are covered reasons for cancellation (where you get 100% back in cash) and other reasons. If there is coverage for other reasons it is CFAR. Generally less than 100% (on a stand-alone policy) it could be up to 100% on a cruise line policy but the benefit is paid as FCC not cash.

On 8/21/2024 at 9:04 AM, skatie said:

Now that I'm retired, we are traveling more and I'm wanting to learn more about how to gain and maximize travel points with credit cards, airline/cruiseline loyalty programs, car rentals and hotels etc.   I have a Visa credit card that's good for gaining Air Canada aeroplan points and I join a lot of the hotel loyalty programs and focus on the Hilton Chain when I can.  I've been researching to try to find the websites or podcasts for tips and tricks to gain points faster and how to utilize points to maximize their value and do things like bump yourself from economy to Business class seats etc but most sites I find are focused on US credit cards or US loyalty programs.   Does anyone know of good Canadian focused websites that I can learn from?    Thanks

Try looking at https://www.rewardscanada.ca

7 hours ago, Tango99 said:

If you google Star Alliance you’ll find a list of all airlines that belong there. So if you use their routes, regardless if you booked through Air Canada, your Aeroplan points also accumulate. Happy saving! 

That was what I thought until my last flight from Frankfurt on Lufthansa. I found myself with a fare code that didn't qualify for points. I had booked it directly on the Air Canada website (I chose it because it was the most convenient departure time) and nothing ever said that it didn't qualify for points.

10 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi, you said there is no bottled water in the suites? When did that start? I have always had bottled water in the frig. Usually there are 2 bottles, one sparkling and the other still. 

There are still 2 bottles, but they are now refilled  with filtered water. The same is served in all the restaurants.

29 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

I understand that there is no bottled water in the suites as they now provide refillable water bottles with filtered-water stations around the ship, but does Silversea serve any premium bottled waters in the dining rooms? We don't drink alcohol so a nice bottle of San Pellegrino or Aqua Panna, etc., with dinner would be nice for us.  

I don't think that any bottled water was available in the restaurants.

5 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

Did you take the panorama bus tour? Give the small size (45 pax) I guess it needs to be booked way ahead. However if it's non refundable, It would be a gamble on the weather conditions. Did I get it right? Or does that mean 45 pax per bus and there could be multiple buses?

I was on a Silversea included excursion so it wasn't an issue for me. I don't know what the panorama bus tour does, or how many buses they might have available.