Heidi13

Since many of the pax are continuing on the World Cruise, 1 roll call was started for all the separate cruises prior to Ft Lauderdale.

Most reasonable people expect you to have taken out travel insurance to cover the financial risk of potential quarantine. Therefore, the costs of quarantine are not at your own expense. COVID is no different than many other communicable diseases and quarantine for those infected has been in force for many years.

The only reason your symptoms are unconfirmed is because you would refuse to test and confirm. Sadly, you are correct that others on the flight will be carrying the virus, some not yet with symptoms, but sadly there will no doubt be others with symptoms with little regard for the health and safety of other pax. I find this complete disregard for the health and safety of others deplorable.

Is the Black level their basic level of loyalty, as those aren't overly impressive.

Another suggestion is for Viking to provide the cruise staff on regular cruises the same latitude they afford to them on World Cruises. Yes, we received the usual pro-forma shows, but the Cruise Director and the entire staff produced numerous additional shows onboard, using the C/D, A/C/D and 4 singers individually, or in groups. Lots of different types of music. We enjoyed many great evenings. In 99 days, I believe we only had ABBA & the Beatles twice. In addition to the larger shows in the Star Theatre, they also performed more low-key events around the piano in the Living Room. All of them were exceptionally talented, and with the self-produced shows really demonstrated those talents.

Princess will accept cash up front, but once your account is at zero balance, your cards can no longer be used for purchases, until you provide more cash. Might want to consider a cruise line with no casino.

Although I've been using "contactless" for almost 10 yrs, we still need the chip/pin for purchases over the vendor's limit - with many being $200. Since I don't make too many large purchases in a store these days, I've only had to use my pin a couple of times this year.

An excellent summary, thanks for posting. Another consideration for anyone in a similar situation - you have 2 potential issues: - Canada's border security laws, and - The Officer(s) that interpret them. Based on your post, you probably didn't meet the requirements to enter the country. When the ship's manifest is sent ashore, it is reviewed and all the US information is available to the Border Services Officers. I'll suggest that the officer that reviewed your history decided that you were a low risk and didn't flag you for further inspections. Others in similar circumstances may not have the manifest reviewed by such an accommodating officer.

Jim - The included tips isn't actually Govt Regs, as a few years after purchasing P&O, Carnival introduced the US model by adding tips (for your convenience) to all the P&O UK ships. It bombed big time, as most removed the auto-tips, so Carnival had to back down and revert back to the British model. If enough pax complain and remove the tips option, Viking will also be forced to reconsider.

Janet - I forwarded the ANT22 promo I received the other day. Should work in Canada.

- Passport validity - I research both for UK & Canadian passports - Visas/eVisas - whether required pre-entry or upon arrival, costs and any limitations, again for both UK & Canadian passports. Note - I use whatever passport has the least requirements and/or is cheapest - Vaccinations - info received from specialised travel clinic - Medications - any that are banned (including OTC meds), limited, requirements to have prescriptions, original bottles, doctor's letter, etc. - Misc - I include any additional info I glean, including whether a passport/ID must be carried ashore, restrictions on taking food/beverages ashore, restrictions on attire, photography restrictions, restrictions on eating/drinking in public, etc. Since COVID, I add additional info for: - vaccinations/booster - noting any unusual requirements and whether we require the original vaccination card or our Govt issued QR Code - Testing requirements to enter country and also board the vessel - Country specific COVID forms required - Misc - any additional info gleaned during research.

Colon gets my vote as well. From experience, it isn't safe walking outside the port gates, even in daylight.

So true, it was a sad day when the SS Canberra website shut down.

Lots of great responses. Another consideration is that the Viking Terms & Conditions clearly lay the responsibility for compliance with pre-boarding requirements rests solely with the pax. This is consistent throughout the industry. While Viking assist in providing information and update it as best they can, I always verify the requirements the applicable Govt websites. I develop and maintain a spreadsheet for each port visited.

You can definitely tell the difference between a newer polymer and old paper note. The polymer ones feel like plastic. Queen Elizabeth is on one side of all modern bank notes, it is the opposite side of the note that is different. Adam Smith is on the reverse side of the paper 20's, while the newer polymer 20's have JMW Turner.

May I suggest that when dealing with Viking, the Corporate office is in Basle and they are very experienced and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, on a day-to-day basis, we have to deal with the many incompetents that work in the L/A office. Having a chat with the Customer Service Manager will probably get everything resolved once you get onboard. Assuming your plans don't contravene EU or National cabotage regulations.

I concur with the others; in that I wouldn't pay too much attention, to current requirements, for a cruise next year. Almost guaranteed that they will change. The requirement for arriving and/or cruising to Canada must be followed, even if you remain onboard. By being onboard you are in Canadian Waters, so have already arrived in Canada.

I suspect the new US chip/pin cards are similar to cards we have used for 30+ years. We never need a signature when we purchase with our Visa from a merchant. We insert the card into the reader and enter the pin. You set the pin number at the bank when applying for the card, or upon receipt. It can be the same pin as an ATM card, or you can use a different one for each Visa. However, we rarely use our pin these days, as most purchases are now completed by tapping the Visa card to the reader. Only for significant purchases do we require a pin.

I had a similar experience, as Royal Bank of Canada refused 16 of my 50's due to various marks. Took them to our local credit union and they accepted them without any issue. So how about trying a different bank. Similar experience with notes issued by one of the Scottish banks. RBC refuse to accept them. When you get to UK, your local bank may accept them for deposit, or else BoE will accept them by post and deposit the money into a UK account.

Sorry, that's BS. With respect to leaving the ship overnight, a regular ocean cruise is no different to a world cruise. It is all to do with compliance with local requirements, especially Cabotage Laws. I'll suggest, yet another un-informed response from the L/A office. Probably best to make the arrangements with the staff onboard.

Just noted the ship has departed the shipyard and is bound for New Orleans, with an ETA of 07:00 tomorrow.

With Viking, when we make the booking direct we simply request them to copy our TA, who is on file. She gets a copy of the booking and assumes control. To transfer later, we call Viking and request they send a copy to our TA.

I spent 6 months in South Shields for 2nd Mates F.G. back in 76 and 78. Not as nice as York, but we still had a great time. Since I drove back up to St Andrews many weekends, I often used Scottish notes at the local pubs. Never had any issues, but down in London, different story.

Another option is walking up to Fisherman's Wharf and catching one of the harbour ferries for a trip to the Empress Dock. You can explore downtown or take a harbour ferry tour.

Even prior to COVID, some ports forced pax with communicable diseases to be mandatory disembarked ashore into Govt mandate quarantine. This happened to us back in 2008 in a Chinese port. Cruise ship medical centres are not crewed to provide prolonged hospitalisation of a patient. Therefore, if you required hospitalisation, or treatment not available on the ship, you are medically disembarked at the next port with facilities.