johnandlinda

7 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

One possible explanation of the reduced insurance cost is not that the cruise is free but that under Viking's temporary policy all reservations made by April 30 2020 are can be canceled for a full refund up until 24 hours before the cruise departure. I verified that this DOES apply to rebooking with a voucher. So there's no (little) need for 'cancel for any reason' clauses or other cancellation of the cruise portion of your trip. Insurance would cover other things of course, airfare, trip delay, lost  luggage, medical transport, etc. 

perfect explanation...thanks

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

 

The cost of the cruise and how it is paid for are two separate things. The cost of the cruise is not $0.

Thats what I was thinking too. We had Viking trip mate for the cancelled cruise and was going to shop around for the rebooked cruise just to compare, however if we ever did have to cancel how would we ever be able to “prove” what we paid for the rebooked cruise? Years ago we had to cancel a trip and I remember having to show credit card statements showing our costs.

2 hours ago, Socky Sunshine said:

Our cruise in June was cancelled, of course.  The price for next year is a little lower.  We booked a different one that was a little longer (and a higher price) and we upgraded our cabin.  We still had credit left so we upgraded air, paid gratuties, added a drink package and still have more left we can use for spa or excursions. (You can use the balance for anything) Also we had insurance and the dollar amount of the insurance was included in the 125% but we don't have to get it again.  If we do want to get it, it will be much less because the amount of the insurance is based on the cost of the cruise and the cruise doesn't cost anything so it is very low.  I would say they are being more than fair.  We are very pleased.

Im not sure I understand your comment about the insurance cost being so low? Even with vouchers you still have significant amount of money Invested.

Just being announced. Ships in excess of 500 passengers banned till July. Certainly glad now we did not book Alaska for May...we were that close to doing so but decided to just let things ride for now for our June river cruise

Hand sanitizing when entering any dining area should be mandatory all the time.

In our situation, we opted against the 65 minute connection time. We will haveva long long layover, but its our choice

Thats certainly a great idea however I have no clue how the airline can control it, at least here in the states. Its like a stampede to get off the plane! And with airlines now  offering early boarding to people needing assistance, its amazing how many people suddenly need to board! 

42 minutes ago, sugarside said:

We have been on flights in Europe where they have allowed passengers with short connection times to leave the plane first and given them detailed instructions on how to get to their allotted departure gate.

We did the air plus so I think we will change

We are able to get direct flights on Delta from and to Tampa. On our return there have been schedule changes on our Basel to AMS flight where we will only have 65 mins...obviously if the first flight is delayed we would be in trouble, but if its on time is 65 mins sufficient?

Thank you so much for the info! We are in Tampa and Delta currently has a direct flight to AMS. We are doing this for our river cruise in June. Looks like we have options connecting in JFK, Newark, Philly, and Washington for the Lisbon trip .

We are on the Trans Atlantic from Lisbon. Is it better to fly to Lisbon direct from an American airport, or flying to lets say Amsterdam and then connecting to Lisbon?

Can this be done?

17 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I still prefer non-stop flights if possible. I'd be inclined to travel to Zurich from Basel for a non-stop flight.

Agreed however there arent non stop flights to every city...lol

We were able to book out of BSL with a connection in AMS then direct to Tampa. Going we are direct from Tampa to AMS...hoping Delta keeps that flight going! We had VAP and to get these flights we wanted was an extra 80 bucks or so pp...to us very worth it!

We will be on Rhine Getaway in June ending in Basel

will return flights be Basel or Zurich departure?

Thanks!

On 8/20/2019 at 6:14 AM, Fletch1 said:

Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened on both of our river cruises. People got into their dining groups and had representatives race in early and grab the best table and reserve it for the rest of the group. Really got annoying towards the end of the cruise. 

 

Dining on the Aquavit Terrace for dinner would be nice.......wish it was around when we cruised with them. 

 

And I have no doubt you will enjoy it and I hope you do! 

 

 

Must have been the Americans on the cruise lining up and grabbing! And Im an American, but becoming quite embarrassed by the “attitudes” of “entitlement” thats enveloping our country

What was the normal daytime temperature on this cruise? We really wanna do a TA and looking at this same cruise next year. We like to be out and about on the ship so wondered if its warm enough to enjoy?

Kuaui is a beautiful island. For us it was the island that most represented what we had envisioned. Do a 1 hr helicopter tour! You will not regret it!

We just booked our air

We used multi city as it was a cheaper option

We also opted to overnight in Seattle going so we can arrive Fairbanks mid afternoon versus after midnight

We are doing SB Alaska next August on Golden. Booked this ship mainly because of its size and having the indoor pool option. Does the Golden have a thermal suite spa?

We are booked on the Golden SB with a Land Tour pre-cruise. Flying in from Mid-Atlantic it looks like most flights arrive Fairbanks at midnight Alaska time. Is it possible to add an extra night at the Princess Lodge in Fairbanks if we decided to fly in a day early? I guess the other option would be to fly to Seattle the day before and get to Fairbanks on an earlier flight the next day.

Booked on Golden SB mid August. Looks like most flights will have us getting to FAI around midnight. Should we fly in a day early? If so, is it possible to add-on a night at the Lodge Princess uses in FAI?

I understand fully about fixed costs! My point is if oil prices go up the first thing they do s raise prices, never reduce if they come down. Just like gas for the car, prices always go up faster than they come down when oil prices fluctuate.

Airfare should have been very cheap then when we had record low oil prices! Yeah right!