Gourmet Gal

As Host Jazzbeau mentioned, the pinned posts at the top of this River Cruise Forum will help to clarify the differences for you. As for Rhine cruises, if you have the time and budget I strongly recommend one that includes the Moselle. If traveling all the way from the US you may as well make the most of it. If budget is a factor then there may be more choice next Spring or Fall.

JoyMBee, Hope you’re enjoying the planning process. Just wondering what were the reasons your TA gave you for recommending this particular itinerary and cruise line? It is rather late to be booking for this year and I suspect availability could be one reason unless you had specific requirements. If you are looking ahead to next year there would be more choices. Something else to consider is that the standard cabins on river ships are shockingly small compared to ocean cruises and the suites usually sell out first. So perhaps another reason to consider next year if you think you need a more comfortable space. I think there are some differences in price points for the various lines and along with that there are differences in what you get. Quality of food, quality and size of tours, entertainment, amenities and service. You’ll get a lot of recommendations here but reading the stickies will help you to discern between the various lines and rivers. My first river cruise was on Uniworld Rhine and Moselle Amsterdam to Basel. If you’re never been before, Amsterdam is a great city and Basel is a wonderful launch pad into Switzerland if you can extend your trip. The inclusion of the Moselle makes this itinerary special. It’s a beautiful river in a premier wine producing area of France and Germany. All my other river cruises were with Tauck. Both are premium cruise companies with Tauck having outstanding excursions in fairly small groups and many thoughtful extras and surprises along the way. BTW, October is a great time to travel in Europe, may be chilly or a little wet but slightly less crowded.

So which suite are you in? What is the itinerary?

Why not just rent a car. You cannot get lost driving in Iceland.

There is no night sailing on the Douro. You’ll see why. It is very narrow and curvy. Not sure about Ama but most of the ports require bus travel and at least once will meet up with the ship further up or down stream.

Classy!

Try using the search function first because this topic has been discussed quite a few times. Then come back with any further questions. You’ll still get some responses (and opinions) right here but do the search anyway to glean even more info to help with your decision.

My MIL always tipped $20 for that service.

Sounds like it’s the difference between an ocean and river cruise. It’s extra difficult on a river cruise for folks with mobility issues so I can understand Viking wanting to have an independent opinion from a physician. The larger ocean going vessels are definitely more accommodating for those same people and there is a physician onboard. Are you also traveling with Viking on your Aus/NZ cruise? i don’t find the queries about medication or fitness an issue at all for either type of cruising if you’ve already been identified as needing some accommodation.

Perhaps they require it now for passengers over a certain age?

I’ve had to submit a physician's form for round-the-world jet trips and never considered if it was legal or not. It included listing medications if any and allergies and in some cases vaccines were required. All participants had to submit the forms, not just those beyond a certain age. I just thought it was a precaution because those trips went to some rather isolated places with few medical facilities so participants need to be fit enough. As for travel on a river cruise I think the issue could be there is less accommodation for those with mobility or health issues than there would be on a larger ocean-going ship and the ships are so small there is probably not a doctor or nurse on board. It’s really a safety issue for passengers who may over-estimate their fitness to travel and also a liability issue for the cruise lines. Is this something new at Viking? If you think a legal line has been crossed then you can choose not to cruise with them, right?

This early? I book my non-cruise vacations 2 years in advance! Just make sure you’re well-insured. I wouldn’t think twice especially trying to use an award for flights. But why are you so locked in to Iberia? Never book a flight to arrive on another continent on day 1 of a cruise. Always come in at least 1 day in advance.

The masks provided on my last cruise were the low-quality basic surgical type masks. I would recommend taking some kn95’s for crowded areas and busses if you want to make a good attempt to protect against Covid. I don’t think masks are required now.

A good TA can save you money, time and headache. If they are affiliated with a large consortium there can be perks such as comped hotel nights, hotel upgrades, usually breakfast included and hotel credits. They can search flights for you and book without charging extra fees. They can call SS on your behalf with questions you may have. If you were using SS Air that is especially important as they can be difficult to contact. A well-travelled TA can offer excellent advice on itinerary pre and post cruise hotel/guide recommendations and airport transport. It’s definitely worth having an advocate if there are problems before or during your travels. None of these perks will add any additional cost to your trip. I have an extensive trip coming up and my TA provided an extra hotel night and a full day private tour in my final city. Breakfast is always included and we almost always have an upgraded room or suite and hotel credit along with early check-in and late check-out. There are usually gifts along the way as well. By the way, I lifted most of this post from a post I made on another thread in this forum. You can always just create a search in a forum for info as so many questions have been asked before. Happy Trails!

Doesn’t seem like that much of a differentiator to me. I really don’t like dressing up to the formal level on vacation but I’m not going to miss out on great service, beautiful ship and ideal itinerary because of it. Do the pro-formal cruisers choose SS only because of the 2 or 3 formal nights? Perhaps some do but I think there are other factors at work here. The lovely environment is conducive to never feeling over-dressed anyway so I don’t think it’s a game changer for that pro-formal crowd if there is some easing of the “code”.

It looks like some incremental easing of the “code” has been happening as well as more tolerance for those who make an effort without complying 100%. The good news for the SS veterans is there’s no prohibition against dressing up.

Poke nachos are really good, too! Poke over fried wontons with Dragon sauce.

Pronounced Pokay. It’s Hawaiian and has evolved over the years to include soy and sesame seasonings. Poke is basically seasoned raw fish and a poke bowl is poke over rice. Different from a chirashi bowl which has a greater variety of components and the fish is not pre-seasoned. And both are delicious and healthy if you can handle the sodium.

Are you saying the policy no longer allows deviation or just in your case?

Well, if pax don’t have to mask the first 5 days then why bother with new crew masking? Personally, I mask in any crowded area. There’s still plenty of virus around and some countries are surging, over 1K people are still dying every week in the US. Covid generally seems to be waning but I still practice some common sense precautions to avoid being sick and ruining my or other’s vacations.

If they are attempting Neapolitan style pizza then they’re really failing miserably. Neapolitan does not just mean thin-crust….thin-crust could be New York style! Neapolitan pizza has a thin, pillowy, very soft texture not the dry, chewy crust I encountered on the Moon. 48 hour proofing is the norm for Neapolitan.

The inability to cancel and rebook is especially galling.

Whisper is even smaller than Muse and is one of the oldest ships in the fleet. Having been on it in rough seas I would try to avoid.

Outside of OBC the perks would be the same. There’s not much to spend OBC on. My TA will usually gift me a full-day tour before or after the cruise if extending my trip and if booking a non-cruise line hotel there’s always early check-in, late check-out, breakfast, hotel credit, upgrades, etc. She’ll also book my air without any additional fees. She also gives excellent advice regarding trip insurance and handles most communication. I say most because with Tauck I will still respond directly with excursion choices if there are any that need to be arranged in advance.

Is it not listed anywhere in the T&C for your fare? If not then you should have a case but if they still balk I wouldn’t blame you for cancelling the booking…if that’s even possible with P2P. Seems confusing and not a motivator to book with SS.