CDNPolar

Of course you can check in and drop your luggage and you may get lucky and they have a room. We have had that before... but at the very least drop your bags and go. We don't mind this becasue if we got the room we would be enticed to have a nap where we know ourselves and we tend to push through the entire day until 9pm before sleeping. Early arrivals in Europe we always do this. The Movenpick is right on the water, and just a hop, skip, and a jump from the train station, and about a 10 minute walk to Old Town. It is a convenient location. I don't know where the Doubletree is.

That would not include the Air Plus and the deviation fee. That is just the air.

Cannot agree more. I think that many buy insurance and really do not understand the ins and outs of insurance. Folks think they are covered and aer possibly not covered. Read every policy and ask many questions. Understand effective dates. Understand coverage for pre-existing conditions and what a pre-existing condition is. (You might be shocked) Understand stability periods.

We have not yet had the pleasure of the Signature Suite, but hope to in the future. Agree, Toronto Pearson is not a great airport. Old - even the newest Terminal - and needs a major redesign in many ways. Crowded, dirty - especially toilet facilities - and bad food options.

You have to ask that of the insurance company directly. In Canada, for annual programs it does depend if you are buying for the first time when penalties kick in if you are talking about cancelation insurance. For instance, if you buy today and your first trip is next month and then you cancel for a covered reason, they are going to investigate to see if this reason was reasonably known or expected before you bought the package. Example would be a loved one that is in Hospice or close to death and the does pass in the next month, then they likely would not cover this. Once they investigated they would learn that you could have reasonably expected this and then assume that you bought the insurance just to get out of the trip. Sorry for a blunt example. For medical most plans will cover you immediately unless you have pre-existing conditions and they have a stable period prior to departure. They probably will cover you for anything but the pre-existing condition... Call the insurance company and ask questions and share any concerns for them to answer.

We don't do the closed loop, or typically the Caribbean type cruises. We are Europe, South America, Asia... Flying out of Toronto we have a lot of direct non-stop options to our destinations because we are the biggest and essentially the hub in Canada if you call it that... which we don't. We typically choose the direction of the cruise based on the city we can get to directly without a connection and we generally fly overnight which means we land between 6am in 10am in European cities... generally extra time if we are delayed. We often however in the winter season fly a day early. As much as this is published about how bad Toronto Pearson Airport is for delays, we don't experience this and never have.

There will be many people leaving on the 6am flight on that ship. This is not uncommon. Viking will likely transfer you at 3-3:30am from the ship. They will have various departure times. We have left Viking ships often at that time. Fill out the form, send it in. Viking will respond and if they do not then contact the to follow up.

When you are booking your own air, Viking will still get you to the airport on disembarkation day. You must do the following: Go to your MyVikingJourney (MVJ) account and go to the Manage My Air Tab. You will see this: We click the link to the Transfer Request Form and fill that out. After submitting, check back in a week or so to ensure that it is received and logged. Check also when you board the ship.

We have had our share of stress wondering if luggage goes through to destination, navigating European airports - and LHR can be a nightmare too - and for those that are doing it for the first time it can be really confusing....

We have flown back on Christmas Eve day before. Flight schedules don't really reduce because of Christmas Eve or Day as so much of the world is not Christian and these days mean nothing to them. Up to you. I don't know if you have a day in Basel or you arrive in Basel on the morning of debarkation. If you don't have a day in Basel then staying allows you to see Basel. If you already have a day in Basel and that will satisfy your need to see Basel, then I would fly out Christmas Eve Day. If however you have booked already, you may not be able to change it. With Viking, if you are booking your own air, and you are arriving on the day of embarkation or leaving on the day of disembarkation, then you can book Viking transfers and pay for them so that you don't have to worry about arranging your own transfers. You only have to book your own transfers if you are coming in early or leaving late. Hope that makes sense.

Hank - you speak such logic with what you are saying here. We have never missed a cruise embarkation but have family that have. We fight internally about going a day or two early... I want to, my husband does not always think necessary. We take many precautions - as many as we can - to avoid issues like this. CC also brings many situations like this to the forefront to be aware of. One of these is it does not matter if your fight is booked through the cruise line or not when it comes to cancelations and delays if you miss the sailing. I do want to add that I still do feel for the OP and their situation. No one wants to be out money for a travel disaster that was out of their control.

I have a USB fan but it is more for use under hot sun on an excursion if I am melting. It can sit on a table top as well and apparently had 21 hours of power on on speed. It can also work as a battery backup to charge your phone. Note this is a CDN price on Amazon.

Have not experienced it yet, but in November we are staying at the Movenpick Amsterdam, which should or could be right in front of where the river ship will dock. Not all river ships dock here but our last Viking river ship did dock here. It is not a guarantee. Cannot help you in Basel as we have not stayed there. Look at the Viking Pre and Post options and look at what hotels they are staying at and see if those rates agree with your budget. This is what we do when looking for a hotel in a new city.

So you are on a Viking River Cruise ending in Basel. Great! We have done that one! The only thing to note is that if your flight departs at 6:05am, then Viking will get you to the airport 2+ hours ahead of that flight departure, which means you may be on a bus leaving the ship as early as 3:30am. We have had this happen many times including this past New Year's Day - January 1st. We left the ship after celebrating New Year's Eve at 3:00am.

Then you are good to buy on your own. Many do. Just understand the medical portion and pre-existing conditions if any.

Just to clarify Viking Air. 1) You pay $100 or $150 per person for the privilege to use Viking Air 2) You can do a deviation in or out for $100 per person and fly in days early or stay days late. You do NOT have to fly in the day of and out the day of.... 3) You have some more control over your flights in as much as you can search the routes and the timetables that you want and then request these. This does not mean that flights you want are inside the Viking contract air prices and there can be an upcharge for the flights you want, on top of the Viking Air and Deviation fees. 4) Upgrade to Premium Economy can be pricy, but in our experience it is usually about the same as booking on your own. What you are likely experiencing here is Viking have great contract rates for Economy - $799 - but the PE upgrade is not contract rates so you are paying a bigger upcharge. We use Viking Air on most all of our Viking cruises and we call and book our air as early as 270 days in advance of the cruise as we have generally the best inventory to choose from at that time. Sometimes we score great PE upgrade rates, and sometimes we score great direct non-stop flights. We have also booked the air for many Viking trips on our own. The other thing to consider on booking a deviation is that if you are flying in one or two days early and you are NOT purchasing a Viking pre-excursion trip, you are responsible to get from airport to your hotel and then from the hotel to the ship on embarkation day on your own. Same if you deviate at the end of the cruise.

I have not purchased Viking's insurance because as a Canadian we are not eligible. I do know that it is expensive and yes, you are right the CFAR part - Cancel For Any Reason - is managed by Viking and not TripMate who sells the insurance. The CFAR must be purchased within a certain time frame of booking, but that does mean that for any reason you choose you can cancel. Your cancellation reason does not have to meet one of the insurance companies reasons. You are also right that you will get a voucher for the non-refundable amount of your trip paid and booked through Viking and yes, Viking are going to hold your cash until you rebook. Just a caution that vouchers with Viking have rules attached to them that you may or may not be agreeable to. There are many discussions on CC about vouchers, and for me and my past experience with Vouchers, I would avoid them. For us we don't have the option of purchasing Viking's insurance, so we have always had to purchase our insurance privately. We have knowledge of the different packages available to us and know what we want and we buy that and are satisfied. The one point is that you don't have to purchase Viking's insurance and there may be advantages to buying your own. Also, some insurance companies also offer CFAR insurance if you felt you needed it.

Basel to Amsterdam is inside the Schengen area, so when you arrive in Amsterdam your plane will disembark inside the Schengen travel zone. You will have to then move from the Schengen zone of the airport to the International departures area of the Amsterdam airport. At this point you will go through passport control to log that you are leaving Europe and you will then also go through security to ensure that you are eligible to transit now to a flight going to the USA. Your bags should check all the way through. We have done this type of flight many times and never had to pick up bags. 2 hours should be sufficient for you. We typically never book less than 2.5 hours but we have done this many times on less than 2 hours. We like longer because we just don't feel the stress of the rush... Since you have not flown through Europe before, take advantage of the agents at the gate when you arrive in Amsterdam. Stop and ask how you get to the transit zone for international flights. Some of these airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol are large, and can be confusing. Also, because this is your first time doing this, go directly from your landing gate in Amsterdam to your departure gate for Detroit. Don't underestimate how long this will take as there can be lines at passport control depending on the day and time. Shop when you pass through all the checks... don't shop before. Good luck. You will be fine. This truly is the part of flying that I love - navigating the airports! We have some stories for sure....

We personally have never done this with others but see this in roll calls frequently. I don't think that Viking guests are opposed to doing this. We have certainly met people on both Viking ocean and river that are doing private tours. I just think that you are taking a risk booking for a larger number if you cannot find the other couples in the end to join you. When we have booked private tours, we do so where we can join as a couple - regardless of the cost - and not depend on finding others.

Yes, they are a consolidator, and we have had nothing but good luck with Viator. We have used them in South America, Europe, Asia, and most countries that we have been to. We have never been disappointed, and one of the things that we appreciate most about them is their cancellation policy.

Extensions or power bars that don't have surge protectors are allowed. We have found a plug adaptor that has not only the standard North American outlet plug but 4 USB outlets as well. This allows a plug from a laptop, and then 4 USB cords to charge phones, watches, etc. No need for a power bar with a couple of these and much easier to carry.

I only drink decaf coffee and I am an early riser and want that decaf in my cabin - usually by 5:00am or 5:30am. I put the room service card out each night before bed and very routinely get my decaf coffee delivered to my cabin. We generally book only V1's or V2's and these don't have the coffee makers, but they are way too loud for 5:00am as my husband sleeps while I have my coffee. I have heard coffee makers through the walls from the next cabin before. I always mark on the room service menu for one KNOCK on the door or only one push of the buzzer when the coffee arrives and to leave it on the floor outside the door. This never wakes him.

Clickbait including this discussion. Got me to click! haha

No, these should be attached when you collect your luggage at your final destination and when you are surrendering your luggage to the cruise line. If you have to arrange your own transportation to the ship, don't attach them until you are at the cruise terminal. If the cruise is picking you up at the airport, attach these at the time you pass your luggage over. These tags are ONLY for the cruise line to get your luggage to your cabin. They are in danger of being damaged or lost if you attach them before your flight.

I may be very wrong with this, but what we expect in North America in liability is desperately missing in other parts of the world. That is why we should all buy medical insurance when we travel. I have climbed some sketchy stairs without railings and rock steps carved out of a rock face and my thought is that this is my risk and no one is going to pay me any life changing windfall if I am injured.