melgirl

I neglected to say in my earlier post (#11) that the only refund I was querying was in regard to port fees as I assumed they were included in the fare. I had no expectation of compensation for a missed independent tour.

We had two missed ports on our August Bergen to New York cruise this year. On board advice was “ no compensation “. I rang Viking when I returned home to query their policy and received the same response. However the staff member with whom I spoke suggested I send an email outlining my query. I thought it wouldn’t be worth the effort, so was very impressed when this same staff member rang some three weeks later to advise that she had been proactive in following up. We now have $500 future cruise credit. Needless to say we were impressed with this staff member.

Many thanks for your help NanciEA .

NanciEA, May I ask if you were happy with the Eyjatours experience? We have just booked their Puffins and volcano tour. We had booked with them in 2020, but had to concel(Covid). 

Thank you for your help. Much appreciated. I’m away from home at the moment, but will certainly look at the invoice.😀😀

DH and  I have booked our first Viking cruise - Bergen to New York -  departing 

Aug 2,2023. I understand that restaurant /excursions can only be booked about 70 days in advance, but I’m wondering how to find out what arrival/departure times are, so that I can look at the feasibility of booking independent tours. The list of excursions showing on the cruise itinerary seems fairly limited in some ports. Is it possible that more tours will be added closer to departure? Thank you for any information that you may have.

Ann

Pre Covid , but not long before , we stayed at Hotel Jazz and were very happy on both occasions. It is only 2 - 3 minutes walk from Placa Catalunya, in a small street - so you don’t get traffic noise. Also has a great rooftop bar and pol.

Thank you for your response Phil. Having read many of your posts over the years, I value your opinion.  Ann

I’m wondering if anyone else has received an email similar to one I received yesterday. It seems to be from a crew member whom we have met on two cruises . Dh gave him his business card, with an invitation to contact us if the ship docked in our home town (this was approx 4/5 years ago). The next time we met him was last year. The email simply made comment on how hard it was for cruise people currently and a hope that we were well.

My first reaction is to respond, but I don’t want to be caught up in some type of scam.(I’m not suggesting that, if it actually is the crew member, That he is trying to do anything illegal). 

I have been following this thread with great interest. We were due to sail on June 23 from Copenhagen. Azamara cancelled on May 21 and I asked my TA (local Melbourne operator) to request a refund same day. She advised that Azamara were advising a delay of 30-45 business day . To my absolute astonishment funds were in our account by June 4. I spoke to TA who suggested that, because the payment had been debited directly to OUR credit card, the refund process went more quickly because it didn’t go through the ta’s cc systems. Could this be why others are having such long delays In receiving refunds?

I thought that this topic was lighthearted when it started. It seems to have gone somewhat off track imho. One thing I’ve never heard is “who is steering the ship”. I like that senior staff are visible and friendly.

I’m another one who loves reading her blog. In fact I went looking to see if I could find any updates on her plans yesterday! Thanks for the update.

Have you had a look at Azamara? 670 passengers therefore would meet your requirments to get close in. We were on theQuest to the Baltic in 2015 and would highly recommend .

We have stayed at Hotel Jazz on two occasions. It is close to Placa Catalunya and Los Ramblas, very clean with excellent front desk staff. Lovely rooftop pool and bar.

I use both the medications mentioned, so have faced this issue. I found that our (Australian) glaucoma association sell pouches to store these drops. Simple to use, you soak an inner pouch in water, the gel inside expands, place the bottle inside this pouch and then into outer pouch. This is effective for 72 hours. Then it is just a matter of resoaking the inner pouch. Very handy for travelling when temperatures cannot be consistent too.

I forgot to mention that the minivan was not "self drive". I recall that we had no problem conversing with the driver, but that his English was limited. We decided that the minivan was the best option, because (unless the rail route has changed) we would have had to get a taxi from the station to the ship which was still a long distance.

We faced the same dilemma three years ago. After looking at a range of options we linked up with 3 other couples from our roll call and hired a minibus. It picked us up from 3 hotels, stopped for a break half way through the trip. I don't remember the cost, but recall that it was one of the cheapest options. Btw, we met the others for dinner the night before - a great way to start the holiday

DH and I stayed at Hotel Jazz in October last year - liked it to the point we have rebooked precruise in June. Clean, good breakfast if you need it or coffee shop next door. Staff were very helpful, particularly when we had to extend our stay and find an English speaking travel agent when our Pacific princess cruise was cancelled 48 hrs before we were due to board. Short cab ride to port and 5 minute walk to Placa Catalunya

Have just watched pacific princess sailing out of Nice port. Past the breakwater. Looks as though the pilot just left the ship.

What did you do? DH and I were booked on this cruise as part of a 4 week holiday(for me) and 6 weeks (for dh). This cruise ended in Rome and from there we were going on to Venice (5 days) London 6 days and on from there. So it wasn't just a matter of getting on a plane and going home (Australia) when This cruise was cancelled at short notice,. We have been able to book an Oceania cruise from Monte Carlo on 22/10 and so we are on our way to Nice for the next 5 days. The cruise finishes inVenice, so we will be on our previously booked flights to London that same day. So after much angst, and hoping that it all goes well from here got me wondering what you did, if you were booked on this (now cancelled) cruise.

We used the Barcelona city tour bus two days ago. Pretty standard hoho bus. Can't comment on the other line. It might be helpful for you to know that it takes approx 1.25 hours from PlacaCatalunya to Sagrada Familia.also it's a good idea to pre book your tickets to Sagrada-lines are very long

I arrived at bcn yesterday at 1.30pm. No other flights were being processed at that time. Travelling on an Australian passport, so went through the "all passports" line. Only 2 officers working, but as I was one of the first through, I don't know if more were operating as more passengers lined up. Luggage was off very quickly, and a straight walk through the nothing to declare line. All in all a quick, painless procedure. If booking a car pickup, the drivers wait almost straight in front of the door you exit from customs. Signage indicates "driver waiting area". Process took no more than 20 minutes.

We met our son and daughter in law for dinner just after they returned fro holidays. I was a little bemused when they handed me a children's book. - until I looked at the front page and read. - " I know you are really good at reading stories, and I'm looking forward to you reading this book with me. Your coming grandchild"

So, our grandson is now 8 months old, and we are enjoying reading to him.

A book would be easy to pack, will give years of enjoyment and Hopefully start baby on the way to loving to read.

Thanks for your responses. We were on quest last year, so I was aware that a range of alcoholic drinks and wine were included,hence my surprise that they were excluded on a charter. We are looking at a club continent cabin, so I wonder if free access to the specialty restaurants is also excluded.

I have been looking at Montreal to New Orleans charter on Quest in September 2016 run by a travel co and noticed that "soft drinks, speciality coffee and wine with lunch and dinner included". No mention of other included drinks. Makes me wonder what other changes occur on these charter cruises. Does anyone have any experience with this? I rang the company running the charter and got very little info at all. Tks for any advice.