CDNPolar

I am looking at UniWorld Nile River Cruise, and the fine print says that house wine and beer are served with lunch and dinner. There does not seem to be a package that includes alcohol at other times other than at lunch and dinner? Can anyone help with this? Is there alcohol for purchase in the evening? I cannot find much information about this. I know that Air Egypt for instance, does not serve alcohol on their flights...

The OP asked: "Are we able to use US dollars in Canada?" which is a broader question than can we tip using US dollars. Yes, tip in US dollars, but in my opinion, don't calculate any exchange - tip the 18% or 20% that a restaurant server expects against the CDN total... don't tip less because you are tipping in USD. Can you "use" US dollars in Canada. There is no general rule yes or no. Depends on the port, how far you are from where American tourists commonly travel, and every store or merchant will have their own policy. Some will and some will not.

You can see in the picture below that there are two bases to the bed. They will separate these two beds but you can also see that there is limited space that will be available between the beds when separated. Perhaps 18 inches? The beds still have to fit against the headboard wall in and not go beyond.

If you go to the Hurtigruten site and find the ship, when you look at the cabin types, all cabin listings say the same thing: "flexible sleeping arrangements with double bed that can be divided into two single beds" When you request twin beds, they separate the larger bed into two. There is generally a very small space between the beds and that depends on the size of the cabin.

I agree with Jim. In our most recent cruise - Homelands - most excursions that were sold out prior were open to booking onboard. We also noted that busses that held 50+ people were only running 25-35 people. Unless the particular excursion has a meal or something that needs a strict number by a date or time, in my opinion, sold out now does not mean sold out onboard.

My experience is that not many join roll calls... There will be a few, but you are far too early for most.

Don't quote me on this and I cannot find the Viking information now, but Viking Ocean ships have the PCR labs onboard. They are still testing crew and they will test guests on request or if crew recommend testing. They have always been willing to provide a PCR test for disembarkation for your return home. I would email tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask a very specific question about this. Reference your booking number and ensure that you have your contact information including phone number. We have had great luck with tellus@vikingcruises.com and generally get a phone call back from someone within 48 hours to give the response. Then ask for the response in writing. Although great advice comes from the responders here, because situations change with Covid all the time, get this response from Viking directly, or you will have to find another method. There are video type tests that you can do that are sometimes acceptable. You should also find out directly from Windstar what they will accept in tests.

The Captain stated in both the welcome his final address that there were 710 on the ship. 540 is the amount of crew. Your cabin guy was wrong or you were not listening to the Captain. I put my bet on the Captain.

We just recently returned from a Viking Homelands cruise. We had 710 guests and 450 crew. The ship holds 930 guests. We were told by crew that the ship would be full to capacity with guests on the sailing after we disembarked. I personally don't think there is any intentional limiting happening now.

Yes and no. Depends on where you are. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal - probably most places will accept them, but don't automatically expect exchange rate. There is no requirement to give you exchange, and you will only ever get Canadian money as change. Also, don't just routinely expect that all stores or coffee shops will accept them. They may not. There is no universal rule. Canada is proudly not the USA or "America".

We have air for our next three cruises booked that go out to March of 2023. Flights booked, seats booked. Sometimes there are schedule changes, and sometimes you have to call the airline to readjust the seating, but in general, we don't experience issues having flights booked well in advance. If you wait, you won't get the flights or the seats that you want. Yes, you must "manage" this over time, but it is easier than being disappointed closer to the date. TA's don't want to do anything this far out because they have to manage it. This is why unless I am booking Air using Viking Air - which I will be on the phone to Viking with the TA - then we book our own air. TA's have no interest in dealing with airfare in my experience.

I am certain that Viking are not going to leave you stranded. If they move the flight before SAS cancel there will be cost. If the flight is ticketed, there will be a cost even for Viking to move it. I am certain that they have contingency plan for you. This is the landscape of flying today. SAS aside, the number of airlines cancelling flights and the airline is not on strike is ground breaking. We disembarked Homelands the day after SAS went on strike and not all flights were cancelled and those that were, Viking got them to where they needed to go.

I feel you pain, but you don't get ticketed immediately when you use Viking Air. You are ticketed when somewhere under 60-75 days from the actual flights. I would not immediately blame Viking or Viking Air. Obviously your original routing changed or cancelled and the re-routing happened. If you were originally flying BA then something happened to your return flights with BA that caused the change. I don't believe that someone is sitting at Viking Air wanting to mess with you so they change the flights - this would be initiated by the airline and Viking move to reroute you so you have flights. We often book way out, but in that booking way out, there can be many flight changes before the actual flight. Sometimes, yes, it is frustrating because we carefully chose our routes and in some cases even the aircraft type that we were flying and we end up with a totally different itinerary from what we originally booked. First things first - if you used a TA go through them, but be on the phone with the TA when they call Viking Air Plus. Find out what happened. Before that search the flights YOU want again yourself. When you are on with Viking Air Plus and the TA, outline the flights you want and have them change them. Before the flights are ticketed, you can many any changes you want.

Correct, with some of the "special" shows running 15+ minutes longer. The longer shows will be one or two only on a 14 day cruise. Our dancing under the stars on the pool deck 7 went probably 30 minutes longer....

The above comments re battery life are good advice. I have found that turning off the WiFi when leaving the ship helps, and also some folks will go into camera mode and leave it on as you are walking around. This eats through battery too as the screen and camera remain ON while you are walking around. With the iPhone, because you have the little camera icon at the bottom of the screen that you can access without keying your password, the camera is always readily available.

Some did make comments, but that never ends well. You end up looking like the "Karen" for making teh comment and sometimes looking worse than the offender. You never know how someone will respond, so we just very obviously stood up and moved.

The one thing I will say is that I never saw anyone on this cruise enter the World Cafe without being "forced" to wash their hands. The Greeter stood conspicuously with his/her back against the sanitizer station and asked everyone to wash their hands. This does not mean that they were not immediately coughing into their hands and then using the tongs at the buffet. We did see some people go and wash their hands again after getting their food before eating. Covid or not, there is still Norovirus that runs rampant on a cruise ship.

We were on Homelands, and no we did not catch Covid. Luckily.

Viking has water at disembarkation that is included in your fare. There is no extra charge for the water. Sometimes the bus has water too, but not always. Always get the water on the ship before you tap off the ship. Regarding the USB chargers, I have seen new busses with this but generally no. You will have to count on your charge and a battery backup.

I don't have the same extent of medical concerns as you do, but I had some "stuff" happen to me about a year ago now, that made getting insurance questionable. Here is what I found and hope that it is helpful... A lot of what the insurance company is looking at is not the condition but the stability of the condition. How long has the condition been stable. How long since an addition - or subtraction - of medication. Increase or decrease in medication as well. I did not think my medical condition was that significant, but Manulife turned me down flat out. I filled out an extensive questionnaire with Manulife feeling very exposed by the detail that I had to provide and weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying I was not insurable. I managed my Mother's medical insurance (as a Canadian) going to Florida as a snowbird for years and many of her friends used the same company and got insurance so I knew that I could get insurance somewhere. I finally found that CAA has the best options for me. First, you can do it on the phone with CAA and get an answer immediately. The guy that I talked to was very frank but reasonable. At the time that I called because my "event" was within 6 months it would mean higher rates. My trip was not for months yet, so he suggested calling back and doing the questions again after 6 months and my rates would fall. I contacted 4-5 insurance firms and for me CAA was the best option. Hope this helps.

We were on Viking Homelands in the Baltic Sea on Canada Day and that night was a special dancing under the stars evening on the pool deck with the pool roof open. The Cruise Director wished us a Happy Canada Day and there was a special drink that was red and white. It was nice that we were recognized as there was an even larger celebration and recognition for the 4th of July.

We have often left the guided excursion. As others say, just ensure that you tell the guide that you are leaving and ensure that you know the back onboard time and don't miss it.

I hope that this does not violate the new Covid discussion policy. In fact this is not about Covid, but pure manners and decency for your fellow traveller. We just came off a 14 day ocean cruise, and I admit that we are likely more hyper vigilant when we hear someone cough because of the past couple of years, but please, please, please, if you are going to cough, cover your mouth. I cannot tell you how many times we moved away from someone in the theatre or in the World Cafe because they were coughing and not even attempting to cover their mouth. They would be in the buffet line or serving themselves and coughing without covering their mouth. They were sitting at a table and coughing and not covering their mouth. They were walking anywhere on the ship and coughing and not covering their mouth. They were on a bus and coughing and not covering their mouth. Have we not learned anything over the last couple of years? Did we not grow up hearing our parents tell us to cover our mouths when we cough of sneeze? This was not a single isolated person or incident - this was all over the place. What has become of us? Forget Covid, I don't want your Flu or your Cold either. Please cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze.

On our most recent cruise, the shows were (if there were two shows) 6:30pm and 9:15pm. If there was only one show it was always at 9:15pm. The Star Theatre will open the doors at 8:45pm and some nights if you want a good seat, you should be there between 8:45pm and 9:00pm. We always have dinner (reservation at specialty or walk in at The Restaurant) at 6:30pm and this gets us out by 8:30pm. We just came off a 14 day cruise, and we ate all 5 menus at the Chef's Table and always sat at 6:30pm. Some nights we were out as early as 8pm but most of the time it was closer to 8:30pm. Hope this helps.

Make sure that you know the terms of the RFG as these terms have changed by date of booking. The original RFG was up to 24 hours before. Our last cruise we booked was 14 days before sailing. I also believe that RFG's are potentially different based not just on when you book but where in the world you book from.