whitbob

Edge has Sky Suites butlers back on board.  We sail B2B on 3/24 & 4/5 in 2 different rooms.  Our first butler had just returned.  He said they were still filling some positions, working through travel and work visas for some so they still had vacancies.   The 4/5 cruise was a different butler, and it seemed they were fully staffed. In both cases, we were greeted day one, asked about our preferences.  We saw the butlers daily in the hall, or at times filling in at Retreat lounge.  The couple of times we had room service, the butlers delivered.  We didn’t have many requests, but felt the butler services were available.

We docked Rosyth on the BIE on Mars in August 2022. 
 

Our research in advance and the port talk on the ship led us to believe we would not be able to hail a cab in Rosyth.  We read on the port websites and the ship port talk confirmed that we could only get a shuttle to the train station or a taxi to the train station.  Edinburgh is only 15 miles, so why cabs don’t line up when a cruise ship appears didn’t make sense, but it was confirmed multiple places to be the case.  🤷🏼‍♀️
 

Our first hand experience was:

-viking did not have a shuttle to Edinburgh. The shuttle ran from the ship to Dunfermline stopping at the Inverkeithing train station. Guest relations provided directions and maps on how to take the train to Edinburgh.

-as we left the ship there was a tent (see below in top right corner) that functioned as the cruise terminal.  Once inside, there were guides directing you to Viking Excursions, shuttle buses.  They had maps, brochures, etc..  We asked if there was a taxi queue to catch a taxi to Edinburgh.  The guide said no, but he could call one for us, which he did and reported it would take 20 minutes for them to arrive.  We then wandered outside of the tent to wait.   As it turned out, there were Taxis coming and going right outside the tent/terminal.  Not a line of cabs, maybe one or two every few minutes.    People coming out and seeing the line to catch the shuttle to train station, and jumping in the cabs.  We could have done the same, but decided to wait.  Our driver arrived, spoke to the guide, collected us within the 20 minutes and we were off.  Clean, large sedan, driver was an owner/operator for the service, we were happy with service they called.
 

We cannot remember why we didn’t just Uber, but I would check the app for Uber or Lyft to see if they are operating in the area.  

And yes, the return taxi dropped us right at the terminal/tent, so we were back on the ship in a few minutes.

  Assuming all rooms have the same furniture, the nightstand on one side is attached to the wall.  The second night stand is 3 stacked boxes.  That (moveable) nightstand is approx.  9 inches wide, which will be the split between the beds when made into twins.

Currently on Edge in Sky Suite.  Beds aren’t separated but twin platforms and mattresses, so they can be separated.  

We are also on this cruise and following along.  Thanks for sharing your experiences.  We are also in a Sky Suite but didn’t get gifted with the high top table.  😕
 

3 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I’ve been checking the website for this cruise obsessively, because I’m currently booked in a veranda guarantee ( all that they would allow with just 2 people) and I’m afraid of being assigned an obstructed view of the life boats. Right now if 3 people booked there are close to 200 rooms spanning the veranda categories. It’s not that far out from the sailing to assume all those rooms will be filled with young families. I also checked the school schedule for August in Europe. Depending on the region, many will be back in school. I’m sure there will be a fair amount of children, but hopefully it will be manageable. I don’t mind children as long as they are well behaved, but that is not always the case 

Your post peaked my interest, so I tried a mock booking for 2 and they only showed inside and ocean view available.  Everything else shows sold out.  We booked AQ last summer.  I was going to suggest AQ to you as the rooms only allow 2 people, but it must be sold out.  No option to book AQ guaranteed was offered.  
 

I hope you can find an acceptable room AND we aren’t booked on the “stuff a bus” whatever that means.

Yikes!   We are booked on this sailing.

 
Our first Celebrity cruise was Silhouette in the Baltic in late August.  It was wonderful.  We liked it so much, we booked the Reflection the following year in August, Rome round trip to Greece.  There were 750 children on-board.  The pool and buffet were madhouses.  It was crazy with teens running wild around the ship, we almost stopped sailing  Celebrity.  We have since been on 6 more Celebrity Cruises, 2 in August in Europe without incident, so we thought the Reflection trip was a one off.  

Hum?!

We are considering a tasting tour of Waiheke Island while in Auckland.  Has anyone taken the package tours offered by Fullers360 ferries?  We are considering the Taste of tour, and are looking for feedback.  Thank you.

Thank you for asking about the classes.  I will be on both of these cruises and take Yoga and Tai Chi classes weekly.  It would be nice to understand what level they are on the ship.   I was planning to check in at the gym once we board to see if the instructors can offer some detail.  

First, a question to your question.  Can you define ‘quite a bit more’?  
 

I am asking because we just identified a Tauck land trip this week that we are very interested in for 2025, which involves the same deposit and wait for pricing.  We did our first trip with Tauck to Nova Scotia last fall, and were very impressed with the entire experience.  
 

As to pricing increases, the answer is yes, but as always you have to dig into the details.  We did an AMAwaterways cruise May 2023 that was 1 week cruise w 6 nights pre/post.  We have another AMA BOOKED FOR May 2025 which is approx $1100 pp more.  Same number of nights, 1 week + 6 nights pre/post, but the 2 variables are:  we booked the 2023 trip in May 2022, and just booked the next trip, so over 18 months apart.  Also the 2025 trip is on AMAMAGNA, which draws a higher price per day than their other ships (usually).  

We are still looking at timing and discussing the 2025 Tauck trip.  The same month (Sept) for this trip in 2024 is sold out, so we know if we want to go, we will need to put down the deposit and wait for final details to determine if was want to withdraw.  

You might want to check the restaurant hours on the app for your cruise.  For our Edge cruise next month it shows the hours for Rooftop as 5:30 to 9:30.  

As you stated the menus in Luminae can be eclectic.  We frequently book Aqua or Retreat for the smaller more customizable dining experience.  The service in both are excellent most of the time and they are able to offer changes in the kitchen without having to chase down food from another part of the ship.  That said, you can check the menu in advance on the app and choose a specialty, Blu (if available) or MDR when nothing appeals on a menu.

We booked Aqua on our first Celebrity cruise, and were hooked.  For us it is the smaller dining room and the ability to request substitutions.  We enjoy most of the menus.  We also typically cruise once a year, so we aren’t repeating the Blu menu over and over.  DH is a picky eater, and we have found  it is easier to get a sauce changed, or veggie added without sending things back.  MDR waiters are busy, and getting the little changes right isn’t as easy as in a smaller dining venue.  Service in Blu has always been excellent.

As for the specialty dining package.  Silhouette is our favorite ship so far (1st E ship cruise coming next month), and the variety of specialties are part of that choice.  We looked at booking a b2b in veranda this fall and using the specialty dining package, pricing both.  We ended up sticking with Aqua, after reading several CC threads about getting reservations using the packages.  As I understand it, you cannot make your reservations until boarding with the dining package.  Is this correct?  Do others have good experiences with getting the times they want after boarding?  

On 2/6/2024 at 4:18 PM, snookie1 said:

We are looking at the Walmar Castle and Sandwich excursion from Dover, and the Caernarfon Castle excursion from Holyhead, but we don't want to do a bunch of castles.  Is one of these better than the other?  What would you recommend?

We are interested in the Beauty of County Wicklow excursion from Dublin.  Has anyone taken this one?  Would you recommend it?

DH loves trains and would like to take the Ffestiniog Railway excursion from Holyhead.  Is it worth the 8 hour trip and the $209?

We did the Walmar Castle tour with Viking in 2022.  It isn’t as much a castle, but rather a fort.  It was built for Henry VIII along with several other fortresses along the coast to protect from invasion from France.  The grounds/gardens were pretty and there are views of the ocean.  The interior had a few nice rooms, some interesting articles about the castle on the walls, but it wasn’t opulent.  In Sandwich  we did a walking tour past churches and half timbered houses.  The guide was very good. We enjoyed the excursion, but it wasn’t memorable if you are hoping for a royal palace type castle.  
 

We also took the Ffestiniog railway.  It was one of our favorite excursions of the trip.  Again, great guide.  She provided a guided tour from the ship to the town to board the train.  Pointing out sights, and providing insights on Wales.  The train is a narrow gauge rail, so smaller than a normal train.  The views along the route were lovely.  The was a nice lunch at a restaurant in a park type area, with time to walk around and a 3rd stop at Conwy Castle which is more of a ruins.  The guide provided current and historical information about Wales and their relationship with England.  

3 hours ago, phillipahain said:

So used to other ships having push button automatic detergent dispensers 

Viking also uses push button detergent dispensers.  On Mars last month and they had added machine instruction sheets, explaining the symbols on the washers and dryers.  Much easier to operate.

We were on Mars in December and tendered in Roatan.  The original booking showed we would dock. There were 2 other ships in port, so we tendered.

It is worth a try.  I was using an iPad and the website.  The first cruises start in March 2024.  We looked months ago, and there were more options for multi day packages.  There have had numerous sales, so I would have guessed they over sold packages, so they were dropping the options for us, but your cruises are 2 years out, so that logic doesn’t make sense.  Good luck, I hope you can find more options.

We have 4 cruises (2 B2B) booked for this year.  The X app does not offer dining packages for purchase.  The website for the cruises does offer unlimited and 5 night for the 12 night cruises.  The 9 night cruise on the website offers unlimited and 4 night.  One is Edge and the other Silhouette.

On 1/6/2024 at 12:36 PM, jfehrenb said:

Quick question -- do the beds on AmaWaterways river cruise ships, specifically the AmaBelle, accommodate medium sized and opened suitcases underneath?

Have not been on Amabelle, but we have on AmaPrima and AmaCerto.  We have stored 2 30 inch soft side duffles on wheels under the bed.  When the top is empty, you can push them flat enough to squeeze in.  They are also somewhat narrow, so they fit.  We upgraded to a 28 inch Travelpro (12 inches deep) last year, and it was too wide to fit under the bed open with another suitcase.  
 

2 medium suitcases should fit.   Another thing on Certo was they had a drawer or box on wheels under one side on the bed.  It took up all the space under that side of the bed.  It slides out at an angle, and we used it to store back packs, carry on luggage.  I think the room steward uses it for extra supplies or the decorative pillows, etc at night when they make the bed up for evening.  

We just returned from the Panama Classic on Mars.  We didn’t notice the passengers skewed old or with limited mobility.  We did notice some larger tables in the dining room that appeared to be families traveling together.  As for dress, it was a warm weather trip and not Cunard, so days were shorts and tops while evenings were the typical slacks and collared shirts for men and women mixing it up with slacks or skirts with tops in the restaurants.  WC was more casual.  

We are on Mars now, Verity is the Cruise Director.  Returning to Florida from Panama City.  This is our 2nd cruise, we did British Isle on Mars in August 2022.  We think the Ribeye and Chicken Parm in Manfredi’s are much better than last year. The ribeye wasn’t steak house size cut, but tender and tasty.  
 

We are not fond of buffets, but ate in WC most dinners on BIE.  Part of it was long days off the ship, but we could not stand how loud the main Restaurant was.  We did eat 4 dinners in the Restaurant this cruise.  The food was good each time, and the staff have been over the top with good service. We found the starboard side, as well as the front area of the port side to be pleasant.  We were seated in the middle section of the port side twice and both times we could not talk without yelling.  I would have guessed it was alcohol fueled, but we arrived at 6:30 last night, and by 7 pm the room was full, and people were already yelling to hear each other.  The acoustics in that section are just bad.
 

Everything else about the cruise has been excellent.  Excursion availability was top notch.  We reserved all of the included and optional tours we wanted in advance.  Last year we had to waitlist for most excursions, which we now realize was probably Covid vendor related.

We are on Mars now and received this in last nights Daily.  It isn’t very detailed.  We booked on board August 2022. The discounts were $500 booking, $200 past level guest and $200 for booking onboard.   Per person. The $500 was the saving was  sale rate at the time for this cruise.   We also have $200 total OBC.  We checked with TA before traveling and this was the best deal at the time, so we transferred the booking to him  after booking on board.  Final payment was 6 months before sailing.  

We stopped in Colon yesterday.  All ship excursions went as planned.  Our guide was from the Colon area, and confirmed much of what Billb48 said that things are back to normal for now.  We embarked in Panama City on 12/7 after a 3 day stay there, and other than normal traffic jams we moved about without issue using Ubers.  

Bliss is heading to Panama City today.  We passed them in GATUN Lake.  Joy was here Wednesday as they had a large pre cruise group at our hotel.  You might want to write into one of their Roll Calls to see if someone can let you know if Norwegian has been providing shuttles on the over nights in Panama City.  
We took 4 UBERS while in PC for 2 nights.  All were clean, timely, averaging 2 to 10 minutes for pick up.  Reasonable pricing.  One cancelled us after asking if we wanted to go to the airport rather than the cruise port.  When we said no, they cancelled, but another accepted immediately.  
Again, the actual port facility isn’t ideal.  We could see the ship, but the driver missed the turn to the port as it wasn’t well marked, and disappeared behind buildings and  trees.  It would be worse after dark.  
 

Good luck with your planning.

When is your cruise?  If you are arriving shortly I would not count on taxis waiting at the port.  We embarked at Amador Cruise Port yesterday.  The  building isn’t finished, so we were processed in tents on the pier.  Once at the pier, we learned they did have a shuttle from the pier taking you into town.  Unsure if that was Viking arranged or the city. Our all aboard was 11:30 pm.  
 

The roads around the port are unfinished gravel, not pavement.  We used Uber and we were stopped 4 times at noon to inquire where we were going.  The driver had a conversation each time convincing people we were boarding the ship.  Some were security stops, other appeared to be construction staff managing traffic into the area.  We saw no waiting taxis, so I would imagine you would need to prearrange a pick up.  
 

We used Uber into old town on Wednesday around noon.  The traffic was heavy and stalled entering and exiting the area, so you need to allow time.  As Billb mentioned, old town itself was lovely and crowded, but the surrounding areas would be concerning to walk through if you were not aware of where you are going.