bookbabe

We are dual citizens on a cruise right now, and our info for the online checkin had passport 1 but we checked in at the terminal with passport 2. No issues. The issue with going back to the states on your Italian passport would be that you’d need an ESTA, wouldn’t you? I’m not sure how that would work, you’d have to use the ship internet to get one, I guess. For general travel, the guideline I was told was that you should use the passport with the strongest ties to the country you are entering. In your case, as I understand the guidelines you would be using your Italian passport to enter Italy and the rest of the EU, and you’d use your US passport for North America and the Caribbean. For most other countries, I personally would check which passport doesn’t need a visa for entry to that country, and use that one.

Answered on your other thread. But as people say, it’s chancy so you’ll want an excursion that’s refundable or missed port insurance.

We did a Viking cruise (980 passengers) in Sept 2023 and made it to the Faröe Islands but missed the Shetland Islands due to weather. I had seen a lot of reports from people on that itinerary in the past saying they’d missed it, though. You might want to go with a ship excursion or a DIY one that offers refunds, just in case.

Nope, not considering Canada to be international in this case, as mail headed there from the US doesn’t take much longer than US domestic mail, maybe a couple of days extra. Mail to Cayman, where I now live, takes a minimum of six weeks, but usually closer to eight, to get to me from either the US or Canada. Still no sign of the luggage tags for the Viking cruise I boarded almost a week ago, according to our house sitter. I never once thought I’d miss Canada Post. And sending paper luggage tags by parcel post, as Regent does, usually ends up with me having to pay duty on them, with customs just arbitrarily assigning a value. Cost me $2 in duty (plus 30 min in line) to get my paper luggage tags for our last cruise, not a huge deal, but hassle enough that I almost prefer the print-it-yourself ones from some other cruise lines.

FYI, for those of us with international addresses, the package of tags and final documents is sent via a three-legged pack mule, paddleless canoe or some other very slow means of transport. Ours were supposedly mailed five weeks prior to our pre-stay for our current cruise, and we didn’t get them before we left. Pre-stay hotel Viking reps did not have tags either, so we had to wait until the port to do them. If you really want the tags, maybe have them sent to your home address for your mail pickup person to courier to you? Otherwise, plan to tag your bags at the port, or DIY some cabin number stickers.

LOL. Try to convince my husband of that. He wants same port start and finish.

So Miami to New York for sure for 2027? Not round-trip Miami? Sigh. There goes any hope I might have had of convincing DH to delay to 2027. He loves the true circumnavigation aspect of the 2026 round-trip Miami WC. Ah well, I still look forward to seeing the itinerary when it comes out.

Currently on Iconic Med Treasures, which pre-cruise in MVJ had Rome plus the middle Athens day empty of shore excursions. We got these flyers in our cabin the second day. Sorry I didn’t take a pic of the whole Athens flyer, but it all seemed to be excursions from the other two days there. FWIW, read the descriptions of the Rome excursions carefully, we almost got caught in that even the guided optional Colosseum excursion only “views the facade” and doesn’t seem to go inside at all. We ended up booking a private tour that will hopefully give us a better Colosseum experience, and we are just doing the included as a shuttle to get us there.

I live there. BBD rum is easy to find.

I personally wouldn’t walk it. It’s technically doable, but the best parts of the beach are at the end furthest from the cruise port, so you are looking at a 5+ mile walk each way. In the heat. Read any one of the dozens of beach threads in this forum and you should have the rest of your questions answered.

That sucks. All it takes is one bad apple to spoil everyone’s image. If you still have the driver’s name, lodge a complaint so his license can be pulled. And share his name…it’s a small island, and word spreads quickly. https://www.caymantransport.ky/complaints

Old thread, but one of the most comprehensive I’ve found on the how of the self-service laundrettes, so thought I’d update it with the laundry directions from Saturn. Posted in the deck 5 laundrette, I assume the same ones are posted on other decks.

Yumi’s Corner: Voyage to Korean Cuisine (as per stateroom tv menu, today on Saturn, actual menu and pics will follow after we try it on Sunday) Eel Chawanmushi - eel, octopus Healthy “Ocean Party” - crab meat, scallops Korean Soup Pot - tofu & pork belly The More BBQ, The More Prosperous - beef short ribs A Touch of Freshness - matcha cheesecake, yuzu ice cream

A good self-service laundry thread can be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2535604-laundry-washer-and-dryer-directions/

@shmabbies Saturn is at Galataport. According to the Viking rep at the hotel, there is mobility assistance, just ask any staff member there and they can facilitate. Hopefully his info about there being assistance is correct, and someone at the port will be able to help when you get there. Also of note, IST airport is huge and modern, emphasis on the huge. They have golf carts pre-customs to help with the distances as well as the usual wheelchair escorts (plus one really cool wheelchair/Segway combo unit that looked like a lot of fun). The distance from the gate to customs is long, as is baggage claim to the Viking bus. Baggage handlers will take your check bags on a cart from baggage claim to the bus if you have a transfer booked. They were pulling off all the bags with the red luggage tags and putting them to one side, so if you aren’t taking a Viking transfer you may want to skip the red Viking tag.

My Regent rep told me Splendor. We are debating delaying our 2026 to 2027, so we are trying to look at all the variables.

The only beach club left is Coral Beach - https://coralbeach.ky The spot where you went before still exists, there’s just no Calico Jacks there anymore. It’s Public Beach, with the nearby Kimpton Seafire hotel having one of its beach restaurants near the former CJ spot. See the various threads on Public Beach for more info. However, the best snorkelling is usually at spots that don’t have great beach. https://www.explorecayman.com/grand-cayman/things-to-do/snorkelling

https://maps.app.goo.gl/afsxPnqueN7Vucaw6

Our rep at Regent specially told us we didn’t need to bother with the specialty restaurant reservations, just tell your butler that morning where you want to eat that night. Grand suite on Mariner. Worked like a charm, even the one day that we forgot to tell her until later in the afternoon.

Possibly? Vendors like that are scattered all over the island. No predicting who might show up to sell on a given day. Technically, they’re supposed to have permits now to vend at Public Beach, which would theoretically result in a standard set of vendors there, but it’s still a kind of messy bureaucratic battle so I have no idea what vendors might be operating there when. Hopefully someone who has visited Public Beach recently will post with their experiences. There’s a good seafood and bbq place, Duke’s, across the road from Public Beach if there isn’t anyone selling food right at the beach, or there’s the restaurants at the Kimpton Seafire hotel. Those are about the closest options if you are having a beach day there. https://biteclubcayman.com/restaurant/dukes/ https://www.seafireresortandspa.com/grand-cayman-restaurants/

Been reading the various threads on this topic, and just got curious because I hadn’t seen it mentioned. Why aren’t the London to Amsterdam trains also cancelled during the station remodel project? Or are they, and I’ve just misread the info?

We haven’t been there before, thus the pre-stay. The whole Med is new to us, so it’s going to be very exciting. How long are you on board for? We are actually doing a back-to-back, and eventually disembark Saturn in Bergen, after 36 days.

We’re on the pre-stay, I’ll ask the Viking rep which port when we get at the hotel and post here to let you know if it’s Galataport or not. I hope it is. Our embarkation day plan was to drop our bags and then head back out to do some shopping at the multitude of stores the website says are at Galataport, but that’s not going to work if we’re at some other port. Editing to add, my final docs show this: VIKING SATURN Yeni Yolcu Terminali Salipazari/Findikli Meclisi Mebusan Caddesi Salpazar Liman Sahas 1 numaral Yolcu Salonu Beyolu Istanbul, Turkey Anyone know where that is?

As an FYI to future readers of this thread, those two awesome cabins have been “discovered” by Viking, and the equivalent cabins on Vela, 5118 and 5119 plus the two deck 4 aft ES, have been reclassified as ES1 cabins, with the corresponding price hike. The only ES2 cabins left on Vela are the two deck 6 aft ES.

Absolutely. All of the excursion operators will have them, and most will encourage their use.