CurlerRob

I'm not sure exactly what was in the Classic Monuments tour, but we used a private Black Taxi tour in 2015. Michael Churchill (no relation) was absolutely outstanding - we were able to fully customize our tour to see what we wanted to, have an excellent pub lunch and ended touring the Palace on our own. https://londonblacktaxitours.com/ Only second in my view to hiring Jim and Andy, but Michael is likely much less expensive. 😈 🍺🥌

You may have missed Heidi13's reference to the "link to the more detailed instructions", which it seems you have not seen. Here is the more detailed information from Viking's Health and Safety FAQ - available on their website (bolding is mine): Are you requiring that I take a COVID-19 test before traveling to a Viking ship? Viking requires that all guests take a pre-departure COVID-19 test. For your convenience, Viking offers two ways of testing prior to departure; for either, you must travel with an electronic or printed copy of your negative COVID-19 test result. Guests may take a COVID-19 PCR test (with a laboratory-certified proof of negative result) within 72 hours prior to boarding your first outbound flight from your home country OR Guests may take a COVID-19 antigen test (with a laboratory-certified proof of negative result) within 24 hours prior to boarding your first outbound flight from your home country. If you are traveling independently outside of your home country, you must take a COVID-19 test prior to your first Viking activity (embarking ship or joining pre-cruise extension). You may take a COVID-19 PCR test (with a laboratory-certified proof of negative result ) no more than 72 hours prior to your first Viking activity OR You may take a COVID-19 antigen test (with a laboratory-certified proof of negative result) no more than 24 hours prior to your first Viking activity. This may involve arranging a test independently in the country you are visiting. It's unfortunate that you did not see this. The current state of cruising really does require us to do much more in-depth research to ensure we avoid unpleasant surprises. 🍺🥌

In addition to reading the instructions (always a good thing ...), a bit of logical thinking may have assisted the OP. I find that viewing the rules through the lens of the cruise line helps to resolve a number of potential contradictions. One of the purposes of pre-cruise testing is to limit the liability of the cruise lines. Once you are accepted into their systems (which happens when you take their flights, pre-cruise excursions or embark the ship), they bear some level of responsibility for you. It follows that they want to see negative testing prior to you entering their "care" - hence I always view the testing requirements as being based around my first contact with the cruise line service - not when I happen to get on a plane at my own discretion. A simple example - suppose I decide to fly into my embarkation port two weeks ahead of time. It's totally illogical to expect the cruise line to accept a negative test taken before that flight - it doesn't provide them with any protection against liability. So - for Viking - I expect to abide by PCR 72 hours before "first Viking contact", whatever form that takes. 🍺🥌

Crew-Only = No Passengers. Possibly not the best business approach fleetwide. 🍺🥌

Always your choice and I recognize your earlier statement that "I’d rather sit in a hotel room of whatever quality and salvage something from our lost vacation", but if you were ever unfortunate enough to have to make the decision, you will want to ensure you know in advance what kind of shoreside quarantine you are entering into. I recall reports of several very different quarantine experiences from shortly after the reopening - ranging from private villa accommodation (may have been in Malta?) to utterly abysmal hostel stays (SA, I think). Hopefully never needed, but keep it in mind ... 🍺🥌

We were originally on this trip, now deferred to 2023. I booked the Bergen-Oslo with Rail Ninja (1st class), who advised that they would ticket 90 days before the trip. An email to vy.no resulted in my being advised that I could alter my tickets (we wanted forward-facing) if needed, by using the vy.no site once we had our tickets from Rail Ninja (still with me?). There was no senior discount that I saw on Rail Ninja, but I'll add it to my list of things I will be trying to change once we are ticketed in 2023. (PS - Rail Ninja was very slick when I asked to modify my booking - I lost the service charge, but that was clearly stated up front). All this to say that you may want to open a query with vy.no and ask how you might get the senior discount if you book with Rail Ninja. Best of luck! 🍺🥌

Used to be French Onion Soup, Caesar Salad, chicken, salmon and steak as "always available" - but in looking at the posted meus referenced earlier, it appears the (small) steak is no more, although you can pay extra for a larger one.

Star is about 600m from the Town Hall, Jupiter about 1000m - or roughly 1/3 mile and 2/3 mile respectively. Can't help with the shuttle question though - Clay's thought on the Roll Call may help. 🍺🥌

The differences are more likely a function of the various countries and their requirements. (I presume your river cruise doesn't start in Bergen 😁). 🍺🥌

The cruise line responsibility is likely dependent on who you are sailing with, and the rapidly evolving policies. Recently, a number of the Carnival lines stopped providing disembarkation tests, requiring pax to arrange tests for themselves if required to fly home. (This was not well received by surprised pax). One of the prevailing themes is the thought that if the cruise line does not test you prior to disembarkation, then you are not their problem if you test positive once on shore. In that case, it's over to you to deal with flights / xfers / hotels. Cruising ... not for the faint of heart right now. 🍺🥌

Thanks for this info. It's perfectly reasonable to have pax call for results. I was overly influenced by eel's mention of "pushback" in acquiring his results - that would not be acceptable. Not deviating from a rule is always simpler for a provider - it eliminated the need for analysis or decision-making on the part of staff. (Of course, strict rule adherence also avoids inconsistency in policy application and reduces liability due to errors ... it's not black and white). My real point was that if I saw a person with a positive PCR test on day 'x', followed by multiple negative tests on succeeding days, I'd be highly suspicious of the validity of the positive. PCR tests are generally sensitive enough that they shouldn't turn negative overnight in an infected person. In this particular case, I simply found it unfortunate that there didn't appear to be any room for professional medical judgement. That said, we all know the policies and the risks, so it's up to us. 🍺🥌

Squawkman and Andy - I agree with all of your points about process, risk and lack of liability, but I'm troubled by two items raised by eel: In my opinion, daily test results for quarantined pax should be provided to them automatically. They should not have to request them after the fact - they are our health records. Keeping a patient fully informed about their medical condition is mandatory good medicine. The circumstances described by eel do raise the question of whether the on board physician should have some professional discretion, especially around the "90-day" timing. There's no magic to the 90-day window, it's simply a point in time chosen by the CDC. Other countries' health institutions have different recovery "windows" and quarantine times. While it may be simpler for the cruise lines to avoid exceptions, I'm sympathetic to the difference that one day made in this case. 🍺🥌

I echo Andy on this - and the smoked salmon sandwiches in the adjacent restaurant are completely worth the "tourist" price! 🍺🥌