ClemMovieRunner

Could be problematic without a passport, borders are borders!

How do you prove your perk level?

That's a nice tip!

Very useful, thanks very much!

How much time would you build in?

We're planning a couple of DIY excursions involving trains and while we're planning to be back onboard in plenty of time, I wondered if anyone knew if the arrival/departure times that have been supplied to us are the times we should expect to be allowed off the ship, or if they're the times that the ship will be docking/leaving? For example one stop is La Spezia. Arrival is 9am and departure is 8pm. If we don't plan to get back to the port until 6pm, giving us 2 hours of delay time, is that a safe plan?

Thanks! What timing, I just checked and got the time I wanted! Thanks @Gretchendz!

Dare I ask what happened..?

My travel agent has arranged my flights, hotel before cruise and connection from the hotel to ship. They're picking us up at 11am but Virgin have assigned us a 4.30pm boarding. If we just show up at midday as expected, they won't make us wait for 4 and a half hours will they?

I have to say (and I'm assuming your name alludes to Washington DC) that American travel agents seem to be a lot more helpful than ones in the UK. I actually asked mine... ...And was directed to Virgin's app!

This is it, I absolutely don't blame you, that's what everyone will do, because they won't want to miss out. But, It'll surely mean some people will have bookings they don't want, or can't make because they haven't planned their excursions or the shows or activities they want to go to, etc. etc.

Sorry to hear you had such a rotten time. It's pretty terrible that cruise lines make this such a scramble to actually be able to enjoy your holiday. On the cruise I mentioned earlier (P&O, not VV) we couldn't get any restaurant bookings either, which I think effectively means the holiday we were sold didn't match the experience "20 restaurants! ...But it'll be the buffet for you." Etc. I hope you don't mind me asking but what do VV do in lieu of luggage tags? What's their disembarkation system (sounds like they don't really have one...)?

Nope, they just opened!

TYVM! I just came to say the same thing!

I agree, my experience of getting no reservations on a cruise (as mentioned earlier) really exposes that there aren't enough bookings to go around.