Cienfuegos

Split has a wonderful city green market just outside the Diocletian palace gates. It is a fine walking city. On our Celebrity visit a few years ago, we were tendered in to the center of town, just down from the ferry terminal. Split is the terminus for many ferries serving the Adriatic islands. At one time, ferries also went to Ancona and Venice.

I don't know if it's still the case, but some code-share arrangements used to be bulk sales. Lufthansa would sell United 50 seats for every Miami-Frankfurt flight in June. United cut LU a check and the seats disappeared from the LU inventory. If the seats didn't sell by two days (etc) from liftoff, they would flow back into LU's inventory. United would pay a penalty, and walk way. Or United would eat the empty seats. A lot of consolidator last minute tickets are created that way.

Some folks will link a "travel" debit card to a bank account with minimal assets. Enough to get you out of a jam, not enough to buy a boat or aircraft. Years ago, way before widespread ATM networks, I had to use my AmEx card for emergency cash in Austria. The local AmEx office resolved the issue, made some additional reservations, and got me on my way.

South Florida poses some challenges for bicycle riders and pedestrians. More so than places which make a point of observing traffic signals / laws, etc

My wife and I used an affiliate of a major business travel company in our northeastern state. Very good on price, and superb when air travel is disrupted. Here in Florida, we've used a local travel agent who is also affiliated with a large firm that does extensive planning for cruises. He handles a lot of group business. The plus is, the Florida guy is very tuned in to all the cruise deals etc in the local market. And, we get calls along the lines of "I have 36 people going on a seven day out of San Juan for an unbelievable amount, wanna come along?" And, he's been generous with on board credits. Viking limits the amount of OBC a travel agent can share. I haven't seen any significant downsides. When we've dealt directly with Viking, we don't get the $500+ on board credit this guy provides. We are working on a cruise for early 2025 or late 2024, his prices look better than Viking's advertised rates. His prices for pre-departure airport meet and greet, transfers look good. I've long felt that Viking's (and Celebrity's, etc) prices for arrival and transfer to hotel border on highway robbery. As with any issue, you need to examine what you actually get. We haven't had any airline disruptions on his watch yet, but our northeastern provider was superb in arranging alternative flights.

The Tru brand presents itself as basic hospitality. My wife and I have stayed in several of them. No frills, but clean, free parking, OK free breakfast.

SpaceX plans to launch another of its series of StarLink satellites from Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. Scheduled for 11.13am. Inbound and outbound cruise passengers from Port Canaveral have a literal front row seat to these amazing launches, and separation of the booster rocket. The launch pad is about four miles away.

The original poster raises a good point. The contracts presented are complicated, and defy simple understanding. They are written by professionals to protect the interests of the insurance company, not the traveler. I would like to see a simple summary, in plain English, on each contract. Highlighting the most common situations and what is covered or not covered. That would highlight the limits of the coverage. Maybe I've become jaded by all the ambulance chasing and roof climbing lawyers' advertising here in Florida, eager to stick it to the wicked insurance companies, but some of these contracts are damn difficult to understand. Even for somebody like me who has been reading them for almost 50 years.

To be clear, "reinsurance" is the process of an insurance company securing additional or backup coverage from another financial entity. On its own, it's not good or bad. Sometimes it is the result of a decision to let experts handle the pricing and terms of bearing the risk. Viking runs a transportation / hospitality business. Writing insurance against travel related risks may not be the business they choose. But competitive forces or profit potential may make it necessary. From a practical standpoint, you don't want the same series of events (like serious financial problems) to put both the cruise / cruise line and the entity underwriting the travel insurance in the same situation at the same time.

One aspect to consider is how much of 2023 and 2024 booking has been done with vouchers for 2021, 2022 etc cruises. Viking has likely been holding a liability on its balance sheet for future cruises, but the cash paid to Viking in 2019 for a 2021 cruise was spent long ago. The practical result is Viking has an expense in 2023 (fuel, ports, labor, food, etc) but doesn't have an equivalent amount of new money to offset it. That shows up in slightly fewer staff, maybe some trims in the restaurants, higher fares for cash passengers now, etc

I believe TripMate is mostly owned by Generali. TripMate functions as a plan administrator which interacts with cruise passengers. . I expect Viking is a minority owner. It's not unusual for insurance companies or consumer businesses to establish a public facing business. That way, any potential negative blow back hits TripMate, not Generali or Viking. If you have a massive blow up, you dissolve the plan administrator, and use the people and systems to create a new public facing business with a new name. The management of the plan administrator often have a piece of the action, expressed as a % ownership of the business or some significant profit share. For a traveler, one lesson is that the plan administrator's objective is to control and minimize costs relative to revenues received. So, it isn't in their interests to say "Sure, here's a check on day one". Their ability to keep expenses low, and issue vouchers in lieu of cash payouts, is critical to their success. Viking was paying 11% for money, now lowered to 8% range, holding onto "free" money is crucial to their success The same plan administrator protocol is used by many companies to administer pension plans, honor warranty claims, etc.

In my extended issues with TripMate and Viking over their shortcomings on Cancel For Any Reason, TripMate made it clear they act as a plan administrator for Viking. Using rules established by Viking. TripMate isn't on the hook for payments. My understanding is Viking re-insures / shares the risk with highly reputable, financially stable insurance companies and takes a piece of the profits.

Debt offerings outside the US are often subject to different rules than those offered to institutions or qualified individual investors in the US. Many US investment funds, private equity managers, and hedge funds maintain "off shore" affiliates in order to provide service to investors who aren't subject to US rules.

Good thread, thanks for sharing this info.

The incident and angry passengers got a lot of coverage on south Florida TV. One problem was the passengers arriving for their pm cruise departures found the parking garages still full. That caused enormous congestion, spilling back into some local roads. Per interviews, many felt there was a lack of information and alternatives presented to them. The incident happened in the early morning, so signage / alternatives could have been presented more clearly. Much weeping and gnashing of teeth over missed airline connections, who will pay for my overnight stay, etc.

I had the same experience with Avis making the $4.95 daily charge for the toll transponder. They said the counter clerk didn't check / uncheck the box declining the service. Avis was agreeable to reversing the charge. I'm sure it cost them more to dispute it with me than they made on the fee.

The Broadwalk is indeed a nice place, but there was a shoot out over Memorial Day weekend. Three individuals fired several dozen rounds, injuring nine people and sending dozens scurrying for cover. Reports say the incident began as an altercation between two groups of young men, and escalated into gunfire.

Yes. On my Trade Routes cruise in 2018, Viking placed waitstaff squarely in the entryways to the World Buffet. Specifically to direct everyone to the adjacent washing stations. About half the guests ignored them and pushed past. Back in the old days, buffet service didn't allow self-service. You pointed, they plated the food.

to add a little: South Florida in July - October is often plagued with late afternoon thunderstorms as cooler ocean / Gulf air collides with hot air from the Everglades and around Lake Okeechobee. Doesn't always happen, but experienced flyers tend to schedule flights arriving in Miami before the early afternoon, or after dark.

Thanks for that perspective. Which deepens the fog of Why Didn't They Plan For This?

Miami has a lot of interesting options. South Beach in Miami Beach is always a happening place. Great beach, party atmosphere, tours of the 1930s Art Deco buildings,etc. Lunch in one of the classic hotels. Calle Ocho (8th Street in Miami's Little Havana) is always a popular choice. Cuban food, clothes, flashy outfits. Farther afield are tours of the Everglades. Air boats (fan powered boats which skim the surface of swamp water) get you up close to alligators and a wide range of birds

Haven't stayed there, but the neighborhood is OK. Residential, lots of new construction, several new restaurants, a Fresh Market grocery, about five blocks north of the Las Olas area and the water taxi etc.

I'll speculate that the wholesale layoff of experienced employees at Viking may have contributed to this problem. Many companies eliminated decades of institutional knowledge in the pandemic, forced retirements, layoffs, etc. People who had the depth of knowledge to remember "there was an issue back in 1994", etc.

Viking Ocean has a 2024 trip which looks quite interesting. Barcelona - Marseille - Rome (standard so far) Sicily - Malta - Tunis - Algiers - Casablanca (IIRC) - Malaga - Barcelona. Given the issues in north Africa, I would be surprised if the three stops are actually made.The US State Department Travel advisories are not encouraging.

On two of my many trips into Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Customs / TSA dock staff did not arrive at the expected time. Although we had been told that top groups and walk-offs would begin shortly after 7 am, it was almost 8 am before the process began. I don't know if there was a labor action or just a shortage of staff, but it is one contingency to consider when planning a tight connection.