CDNPolar

I believe that there are inherent risks to travel Covid or no Covid. With or without a current pandemic like Covid, it all started at person zero which could be any of us in the future with something new from any country that we travel to. I get your anxiety. I had a great deal of anxiety in the beginning, and do everything science tells me to do to be safe. I have had 5 vaccinations and I got Covid. We still wipe down our groceries and our phones when we come home and wash our hands every chance we get. We wear masks in close quarters and I don't care what anyone thinks of that or says. I however got to the point that I was not going to let this control me. Life will happen with me locked away or with me participating - and I prefer the latter. We have been on a Panama cruise, a Homelands cruise, and spent 10 days land based in Spain in the last 6 months. It felt great to be back out again. I went to South Africa for work and that is when I got Covid - on the way back. No one that I work with had Covid, so I can only assume that it was airports or aircraft? I masked with N95's and gasped when I finally got home and took the mask off - oh, to breath again. I washed my hands every chance I could get. I disinfected the seat and tray table on the plane and everything I might touch. I raised my mask after every sip of wine. I still got Covid. I realize that I am likely not doing anything to relax your anxiety. I think that I just want to say, that I felt trapped and very unhappy. I decided to accept the risk while still taking the precautions I feel necessary. Since making this decision, I do feel free again and enjoying life. We are cruising in December 22, again in March 23, and again in August 23 and this is just what we have booked now. I hope you find your comfort zone.

I have never seen the pool chairs full on a Viking cruise yet. Perhaps we are not travelling on the high demand pool chair cruises... but... To me the pool area can be hard to get a seat at the pool bar and grill, but not around the pool.

Most often on a cruise, we do all meals on the ship, and buy nothing to bring home, or consume while there. Nothing...

We were not on a cruise, but we just came back from a 10 day stay in Spain and we were not required to show anything vaccine related coming or going. (We are Canadian) NOW, we did still have all our vaccine information both electronic and printed because you never know. One caution is that Spain - at least the cities we were in - required masks for public transport and taxi's. That would include buses and trains. We traveled all our day trips with masks in our pockets. Also, not knowing the cruise you are on I just looked at the "Resources" page of one cruise that starts or ends in Barcelona, and I found this... Spain - In addition to Viking’s vaccination requirement, please ensure you have the following: 1. COVID-19 Immunization requirements: - Spain defines fully vaccinated as having received your final primary dose of COVID-19 vaccination no more than 270 days prior to travel. After 270 days Spain requires you receive an additional booster dose of vaccine. Booster dose is considered valid upon receipt. - If you have not received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine after 270 days, Spain will accept one of the following instead: A negative PCR test performed 72 hours prior to departure for Spain, or A negative Antigen test performed 24 hours prior to departure for Spain, or A Recovery Certificate AND documentary proof of the diagnostic test from which the Recovery Certificate is derived for an infection between 11 and 180 days prior to departure. For additional information regarding Spain’s entry requirements, visit: https://travelsafe.spain.info/en/requirements-beforearriving-in-spain-from-third-countries/. As I stated above, we just returned from Spain and we had all that is required here but were never asked.

Also, only positives to say about Norway and the people but the fact is that many countries and cities have issue with cruise ships. Sometimes travelling with Viking, and we prefer off season cruising, we would be the only cruise ship in port. Even if all Viking guests go ashore, it is not the onslaught that comes from 2 or 3 or more mega-ships when you have 10,000 people wandering your streets. I cannot say that I cannot see the side of the argument that does not like the cruise ships. (Forgive me.... but I get it.). We are not "consumers" and we don't buy trinkets and souvenirs. We can come off a 12 day cruise and visit every city and other than go on the excursion and browse the stores during our free time, we don't purchase anything. Yes, we have financially benefited the tour company that Viking is paying to take us around, but nothing else in that city/country economy.

It is our experience that this information is not ALWAYS on MVJ. To find your specific requirements, the most up to date is always on the main Viking Ocean Cruises site. Find your Mediterranean Odyssey cruise - like you were looking for availability - and then one of the tabs is titled "Resources" and then you are looking for "Pre-Cruise Requirements". This link is for the Canadian site, so if it does take you there, ensure that you are redirected to the appropriate site for your booking country as the requirements may be different. https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/mediterranean-odyssey/resources.html This is always your best and most up to date resource. The resource is dated also, so you can check back and see by a date change is there is a change to the content. Here is the link to the PDF, but again, this is from the Canadian site. https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf but from this link it looks like it covers most countries of origin.

Some may feel that it is time to move on. Some may be inconvenienced by testing and others not. The fact is that Covid is still with us globally and different countries are still going to impose different rules and requirements as we go. Viking is not the villain here, the governments of countries that Viking is visiting are... Viking has PCR labs on their ships. They did this for us - their loyal base - to help protect us. No other cruise line went to the extent that Viking did. Also during the height of the pandemic when cruising resumed, if you followed the outbreaks on ships, Viking was not prominent on that list. I personally did not feel that spitting into a tube was an inconvenience. I would gladly do it again to travel. It never occurred to me that a travel companion would spit on behalf of someone else because they felt they were exposed, but that kind of behaviour only shows the selfishness of some people. Covid ain't disappearing for some time yet. I personally feel that if you are not comfortable with return of testing, masking, and potential quarantine, then just don't travel. This is just how it is today.

I believe that your bags would be checked directly to Montego Bay. You will know this for sure when you check your bags on your first flight as they will tag them to either YYZ or Montego Bay. I cannot see any reason that you would have to collect bags in Toronto because there is no Jamaican customs in Toronto and no need for a secondary check of anything flying within Canada.

Interesting - we were the exact opposite on our recent Homelands Cruise in September. The Spa was empty almost every day. We tend to go in the mid-afternoon about 3pm'ish and at this time it was empty. Maybe 1 or 2 people. Probably very much the demographics based on the cruise destination and during the day, when the popular excursions get back.

We tend to book flights 250+ days in advance, and generally we book them ourselves for better control. It is in my calendar (and DNA) to check and recheck the flights every 3 to 4 weeks. Some airlines have auto emails that come to you when an automatic change is made and some don't. Shocking to me that an airline (or Viking) would take the liberty to move a flight by 2 days without consulting you.

In actual fact, PV1 is a higher category of stateroom to the PV2 and PV3. I would say that the others sold out sooner because they are cheaper? I was upgraded to a PV1 once and the stateroom is great. The only thing that I think for you comes into this is the location of the stateroom on the ship. Personally I will only book mid-ship staterooms for reduction of motion on rough seas. You have to be happy with the deck and the location of the stateroom. There is nothing wrong with a PV1

This is concerning that these delays are happening. We have never used Tripmate, as we always buy our own. Does anyone have a good news story about Tripmate?

I am in the Toronto area and the only locations US based are Detroit and Niagara Falls, but when you go to the site and attempt to book, these sites do not have any appointments available. I think we have to be content to wait...

There are no appointments in Canada at all. No virtual appointments. We are just west of Toronto in Mississauga and we would have to drive to Port Huron or Detroit I think - and cross the border. Not doing that. What I fear is that if and when they do open appointments in Canada, the wait list will be very long. For now, they keep extending my Nexus benefits, so I am not that worried.

I have a translate app called "Say Hi" and you speak in English and it translates to Chinese, Spanish, or anything you want. The same in reverse, the individual responds in their language and it translates back to English. This happens in voice and text. My husband is Chinese and none of his family speak English. We all have this app and when I am home in China I use this a lot to afford me with basic communication skills with all family. It works well. The only piece to this app is that you must have your data live if you are out and about for it to work. It does not work offline. I do know that there are newer stand alone devices for travel that do not need data, but I have not used them nor do I know their price. This Say Hi app has been a life saver for me many times. Restaurants are relatively easy in many languages as you can learn beef, chicken, fish quickly, but if you are in an underground subway and need a ticket and there is no English, without a translate app like this you may be in trouble.

I find this a really frustrating thing... We have used one TA that gave nothing. We have used one TA that had charges for everything outside of the cruise that she booked for us - such as hotel, car, and air. She also has a cancelation charge per person above other penalties. We have used the big box TA for an upcoming cruise and are looking forward to a shop card at 10% of the value of the cruise and the membership rebate as well. This is the most we have ever seen and makes it well worth the extra layer of using a TA, but they don't book some of the cruise lines that we prefer to sail with. I find it a trade off. With the exception of the big box opportunity, I find that the extra layer of a TA for a couple hundred in OBC is not worth it. I generally find TA's not responsive and not knowledgeable.

From what you are saying you are proposing it the right way. You will have to use a SWIFT code and the exchange rates are just a factor of doing this kind of transfer.

My husband and I both renewed at the same time. He got approved online and mine was conditional on an interview. None of my information had changed. If your response says to book an interview, then you will have to go in person.

my renewal started in August 2020 and my in-person interview was cancelled due to the closure of the Pearson location. I just flew into Terminal 3 Pearson two days ago and of the 6 Nexus machines, only 2 were working and they were taking extremely long to process. We just walked to the Nexus immigration officer and handed our passport, nexus card, indicated that they machines were not working and he stamped us through. Sad really what is happening with this and how much money and time are our governments wasting on this back and forth about immunity from prosecution if they commit a crime? I was a bit ***** about that... why would they need immunity from prosecution? Do these US agents intend on committing crimes while working on Canadian soil? Makes no sense to me. The kicker is that we don't use Nexus for the USA - we almost NEVER go to the USA and would not fly through the USA unless there was no other hub to go through. We use Nexus for faster security and arrival back to Canada from every other country that we go to.

We have aways preferred booking directly with Viking because when you have a small question or change to make, then you call and it is dealt with immediately - or faster than going through a TA. Our experience with TA's is that often you cannot get a quick turn around of a question because they are now the in-between entity. We have worked with a TA that we cannot reach by phone and then we email and then it takes days for a response. We happen to be very experienced in booking all our vacations from cruise to air to hotel, and excursions. We just feel more "control" in all of our bookings. We have recently booked a cruise however through a "major retailer" travel department because of the rebate, the shop card, and a discount that we got for paying at the time of booking. We calculated our savings to be $3,000.00 give or take. For these savings we will "deal with" a TA, but in general we find them to be more challenging and not offering - to us - much value. (You cannot book Viking through this major retailer, so this is not a Viking booking.) We only use a TA now if there is significant enough financial value to us to do so. And... yes, I agree to the above comment - book through Viking and then transfer to a TA if you get some sort of value. We have done that too.

I agree with Mrbp1 - call the cruise line and ask the questions directly from them. I have done this as a gay man in the past, and although I feel that I got a DEI type of rehearsed and trained response, it showed me that the cruise line at least had a robust DEI policy and the customer service team was well equipped to answer my questions. You really want to hear the cruise line's policy and responses directly from them. Our experience online is great to get, but always go to the source as well.

We have the kind of really light down winter jackets that scrunch up to a small sleeve that is about 5X5 inches, but will also compress into your bag easily if we feel the need to wear that coat to the airport. I tend to "risk it" in that we are only 15 minutes from the airport and we always order a car to take us and bring us back. In this case, we only wear what we want on the aircraft, and that tends to be long pants and long sleeve shirt as we find it cold on the aircraft, especially overnight.

The caution that I add, is that I was under the impression that in some cases, electronics that are purchased in the USA are not warranty covered for repair in Canada. You may have to return to the USA to have any warranty repairs? Check with AppleCare. I may be totally off base with this....

Hello Markham from Mississauga. Cozumel - We did the Ruins of San Gervasio - Informative and OK Belize - We did the Cave Tubing - LOVED IT - Great experience Roatan - We were supposed to do Kayaking and Snorkeling but was cancelled due to weather Costa Rica - We did the Nature Walk and Ariel Tram - Good and informative Colon - We did Panama City By Foot - Good and informative Jamaica - We did Rose Hall and Shopping - Rose Hall was good but the shopping was just a tourist trap I cannot get too excited about any of these EXCEPT the Cave Tubing. I have been to many of these islands before and to me the excursions are all the same. What I will say is the HIGHLIGHT of the trip is the partial crossing of the Panama Canal. Absolutely worth getting up at 5am and being on the deck outside the Explorer Lounge to witness the approach. Approaching in the dark is spectacular. Get there 30-45 minutes before the expected arrival or you may not get a good railing spot. Again - for me the highlight of this trip.

Might be the difference of calling in and asking/complaining. We did not ask or complain on one port missed on our recent Homelands cruise, but apparently some did and they got some compensation.