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Hi Jan, I had an excellent birthday...thank you, Jan. I appears you have a lot planned through 2023. We're all chomping at the bit to get back to traveling again. We look forward to meeting on the Edge...

Much appreciated...thank you!

Thank you. We've walked by Antica Farmacia del Corso many times. Will likely use that farmacia before our Edge cruise on October 2nd if a test is still necessary. Do you recall how much they charged?

Hi Jan... After a number of cancellations, we are so looking forward to finally getting back to cruising. Our next opportunity will be a B2B2B on the Celebrity Edge this fall culminating with the October 24th TA you mentioned. This will be only our second Celebrity cruise...we had 50+ on Princess before turning to Viking and Regent which we have yet to sail. You can see our cruise history and future plans by expanding my signature below. Our first Viking experience will be 55 days on the Sky embarking in Rome on October 6, 2023. This also is after a number of cancellations and FCCs that need to be used before they expire. We're looking forward to the same reaction to our first Viking cruise as you. We hope you meet you onboard the Edge. Have you signed up for the Cruise Critic Connections party? We're planning to be there.

This is the fist of your posts regarding this issue where you have indicated contact with Celebrity beyond the initial email you submitted. As late as your May 28 post you stated Celebrity has been absolutely silent on this matter. We're not mind readers here...I assumed nothing. I based my post on information provided by you...nothing more, nothing less.

Not a problem...happens all the time... 🙄 The OP referred to Celebrity’s Covid regulations and I took it to mean the traditional definition of home port. Apparently there are two definitions when referring to cruise ships. Thank you for enlightening me. By the way, I was a NY Giants fan when they held their summer camp in the Burlington, VT area and coached by Jim Lee Howell. I even had the opportunity to go to a Giants game with a friend at Yankee Stadium when a senior in high school.

As a self-described long time business leader, why have you not thought to follow-up with Celebrity? If I had not received a response to my email after a couple of weeks I would be sending an email to every Celebrity email address I could find to inquire of the status of my claim. Phone calls might be an even better method. If you had travel insurance, a claim would have been settled by now. It appears you travel without insurance. Threats to cancel future bookings or contact nationally published reporters likely will have no effect. A cancellation will give Celebrity an opportunity to resell your booking at a higher fare and cause you a lot of work rescheduling all that goes along with cruise travel. If you have no inclination to follow-up with Celebrity, use this as a learning experience and move on with your life.

The home port of a ship is where the ship is registered. Do a Google search including the name of your ship.

Although I don't see a hair dryer mentioned on Albergo del Senato's website or in their booking confirmation they may very well offer one. Some travel booking sites do mention a hair dryer. I suggest you email both hotels for the most up to date information. For what it's worth, we haven't use a voltage converter in many years. My DW brings a dual-voltage hair dryer on trips to Europe for use in hotels and onboard ships. All the electronics we bring are dual-voltage also. For us, voltage converters are a thing of the past.

Thank you! I found Marisa on the Tours By Locals website. Will keep her in mind.

We've visited Rome many times and will be there for 6 day's prior to embarkation. We're always up to see and learn more, so yes please post info regarding the tour guide you mentioned. We did not opt for doing the wall walk in Dubrovnik. Comments by our cruise companions suggested we made the right decision. It was a hot day and even hotter on the wall. I've added Proto to Google Maps. Will definitely check it out. Thank you...

Thank you @longterm for your in-depth review of the podcast. From what I learned of Viking, I had a feeling the podcaster's thoughts were not spot-on. We're doing a B2B2B next fall which includes the Rome to Athens segment. We are so looking forward to our first Viking experience. We've visited Dubrovnik and are eagerly anticipating a return visit.

Have you had an opportunity to listen to Viking Ocean Cruises Is NOT All I Thought It Was Podcast? It is a segment of the Essential Cruise Tips Podcast by Gary Bembridge. As someone who have not yet sailed with Viking...I will in fall 2023...I am interested in comments on what is said in the podcast.

Thank you for the link. We're doing an overnight in Istanbul this fall and will check them out...

Although I order and enjoy escargot, does anyone really crave the escargot itself? If the chef prepared some seasoned garlic butter along with some crusty bread or toasts I'd be a very happy camper.

Eating Europe offers food tours in various European cities. We've toured with them in Rome, Prague, and Lisbon. They offer two in Rome: Twilight Trastevere Rome Food Tour and Taste of Testaccio in Rome Italy. We've done both and would say we enjoyed the Twilight Trastevere tour more.

We received a $300 credit for declining the precruise package for a future cruise.