LostTexaninCali

July 17, 2019

I know this is way late but the only way you could check your CPAP in as checked luggage and not be charged for the bag is if the CPAP was the only thing in the bag or you only had medical equipment in the checked bag. I have to use a ASV (CPAP on steroids) and use an oxygen concentrator at night. The oxygen concentrator is the size of a 24 inch suitcase. To travel by air, I had to check my concentrator and a second bag. To get the free bag for medical equipment, I had to open my medical bag at the ticket counter and prove it was only medical equipment in it for the free baggage.

If it is just a CPAP, carry it on.

October 20, 2018

Thank you for the pictures. Does Viking take you to the markets and back to the ship?

Also what kind of shoes do you recommend to wear for the Christmas Markets? (I am in Southern California. Sandals are usually the shoes of choice 12 months of the year.)

October 5, 2018

Losttexincali, I believe that we are on your cruise. Are you on the Viking Gullveig? We are a group of 10 couples. I had started a roll call some months ago but it died due to lack of interest.
As we get closer, we can try to start another again.

No, we are not on the same ship. We board the Viking Tor on November 29th in Nuremberg. But we will probably be cruising down the river together if you leave on the 29th as well. I know it is over a year away but I am already researching this trip.

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September 27, 2018

While I certainly feel sorry for you, none of the medical issues that you suffered were caused by or impacted by the fact that you did not wipe down your cabin. You could have been in a medical bubble for all the time you were in your cabin and it would not have eliminated your medical issues.

They were perhaps caused by the person near you who coughed all the time. However, even that is not certain. My wife sometimes coughs a lot because she has allergies and not because she has any other medical issues. If you sat next to her when she has one of her coughing spells, you would have assumed that you got sick from her coughing when in fact she does not have a cold or any other germy problems.

DON

Perhaps you are right and more than likely it was the woman, but I am just going to be a little more careful when in confined spaces with several people (like during muster drills) and if my mom or I develop a cough during a cruise. Just a eye opener due to how fast I got sick and my next cruise will be in the winter in Europe. I live in Southern California where winter is 2 days.

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September 27, 2018

Before my cruise in October, I would have said never. In the cruises I took, the rooms were always clean and we never saw signs of anything wrong. We always washed our hands and the crew members were always at the door of the buffet handing out sanitizer or we would get it from the stands. However in October, 2017 we flew cross country and the person behind me the whole way (on both flights by chance) was coughing the whole way. I was fine but I have a history of asthma. The next day we boarded the cruise ship and due to a bad knee, I needed to sit for the muster drill and low and behold, the lady that coughed the entire flight behind me was sitting right next to me in the muster drill! The cruise was fine for about 7 days and my mom started getting a cold. My mom and I were sharing a room. Within 2 days of my mom getting sick, I was getting sick with a cough and shortness of breath. While touring Quebec, I was having to use my inhaler a whole bunch. We debarked the next day and had to travel for 13 hours to get home. 8 hours of flying and the rest of waiting. The next day I ended up in the hospital. And for 6 months I was on oxygen, breathing treatments, medications to help me breathe. In fact, the whole ordeal made me so sick and made my body so debilitated that my genetic condition went into a huge flare up and caused my body to shut down to the point that I am no longer able to work. I am now medically retired and permanently disabled. In fact 1 month ago my pulmonologist just told me that she is happy I am still here because honestly she thought I wasn't going to survive until July. So now, my whole thought process on cleaning my cabin especially on the remote, telephone, desktops, toilet handles, shower handles, door handles and things that don't normally get cleaned. And to wear a mask at the muster drill!

Now my lungs are getting better and I am saving up for a 2019 Christmas Market river cruise. [emoji3]

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September 23, 2018

As you rightly state, if you leave 29th. / 30th November, the major Christmas markets will be open, so then you have $1000 to spend in the markets.:halo:

I assume you will be cruising Nuremberg to Budapest, you r cruise will cover some of the most interseting and beautifully placed marekts, Nuremberg, Regensburg (several), Passau, Vienna (several), Budapest.

Snow, maybe. On the higher ground. But hopefully cold for those glühweins.

You say you have some days on the ship in Budapest. How many?

I have always found 3 days will give you a good insight into a city - without rushing things.

Having Prague and Budapest as pre and post cruise stays really make the cruise into a living memory.

The ship docks and we have 1 full day in Budapest and then depending on our flight home the 2nd day. I am wondering if we should add on the post cruise 2 days that Viking offers just to give us 2 extra days in Budapest or if by that time we would just be too tired since we would have just spent 11 days at Christmas Markets including 3 full days in Prague.

We did sign up for the Viking Air package since the price from LA area to Europe was only $599 because of the sale they were having as well. Viking is letting us leave from our local airport instead of having to drive to LAX!

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September 23, 2018

I am book on a Viking long ship for next year with my mom. This is my mom's bucket list trip. She has wanted to do the Christmas Market trip ever since I could remember.

We are actually leaving the last week of November 2019. We are doing the 3 day pre departure in Prague (we leave from Nuremberg). We wanted to leave the beginning of December but found out if we left on November 29th or the 30th we saved over $1,000 per person and had an upgraded room than if we left on December 1st. We confirmed that all the Christmas Markets opened up around mid November except maybe 1 of the small towns and Krems doesn't have one.

We are looking forward to traveling in the winter and getting to possibly see snow as we live in Southern California. We have a few days in Budapest with the ship and all in total we will be gone 11 days. I am not sure if we should add on the post cruise in Budapest. That would just make it into a really long time. Any thoughts?

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January 17, 2018

I grew up in South Texas. We would cross the border so my mom could get her vanilla. The vanilla tastes better and is not processed. It is real vanilla and you can buy a huge bottle that would last for years for a quarter of the price of vanilla in the US.

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May 16, 2014

They were pre assigned. There was a card in your room with the location, date and time. We were able to call the dine line and change yours to a different location, date.

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May 13, 2014

My first Princess Cruise was on the Royal Princess from April 27 to May 12 (yesterday) from Fort Lauderdale to Copenhagen.

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April 25, 2014

If you are an AAA member you can get foreign currency with no service fee if you get $200 and can pick it up at your local AAA office.

There is actually a fee built in to the transaction. For every $100, you only get $ 92 worth of foreign currency and there is an $ 8 transaction fee included. I just tried this 2 weeks ago.

It worked out to be something like €64 total in Euros for every $ 100 spent.

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April 17, 2014

Thanks Dave for all the great information.

Are there any must have "secret foods" on the Royal Princess or any Princess ship? Things they make that you really should try but the are not on the menus?

Someone mentioned a dessert that is on the kid menu.

I guess this would be similar to In and Out Burgers animal style or the 3x3 or 4x4.

I figured that all you wonderful cruisers who have been doing this a long time might know or have some very good recommendations.

TThank you very much for your help.