junglejane

There are two Viking tours listed on MVJ that go to Tulum. "Tulum Mayan Ruins" and "Tulum & Casa Tortuga."

Thank you @hoosier quilter! I know we'll be fans of afternoon tea. It used to be nice on Princess but devolved into a rushed, crowded mass production event. Afternoon tea on Viking sounds wonderful and I expect we'll hit all the lectures. My husband used to be a big reader but now likes to listen to audio books and podcasts.

I've tried using the search function to find comments on this but didn't get anywhere. We're booked on our first Viking cruise, which is a full transit of the Panama Canal on 10/24/2023. Our booking window for shore excursions opens on 8/8. DH is especially interested in the locks themselves and we've both read the Path Between the Seas. So looking at the excursions in Colon, we see that there's one that's labeled "Privileged Access" and says: "At the Miraflores Visitor Center, watch an IMAX movie about the canal and see the Miraflores locks from a unique perspective while visiting the operational area with a private guide from the Panama Canal Authority. After lunch, visit the Panama Canal Expansion Observation Center to learn more about this engineering marvel and the massive Panama Canal Expansion Project, which doubled the waterway’s capacity when completed in June 2016." It says the excursion is 8.5 hours. Any feedback on this excursion option for someone interested in the engineering and operational side of the lock operation? Also, what's the advice on whether to pick all excursions and then check out, or check out one at a time? I think I saw some advice on this board suggesting you should immediately check out for your top priority excursion. Is that good advice? Thanks very much.

Another Princess refugee here. We're Elite on Princess and trying Viking for the first time in October, doing a Panama Canal full transit. Princess has diluted the value of being Elite quite a bit. We have friends who are big Viking fans so we decided to give it a try. The smaller, less crowded ships sound very appealing. We did go to the production shows, comedians and concerts on Princess but we avoided most of the other types of entertainment (karakoke, marriage games, etc). Our Viking Panama canal cruise has a large number of sea days (9 on an 18 day cruise), so we look forward to relaxing and enjoying history and culture talks, but hope we don't get bored. We've also never been on a cruise longer than 14 days, so this will be extra long for us. Preparations for our daughter's September wedding has preoccupied us for months, and we decided that while they honeymoon (land trip) we would reward ourselves with a Viking cruise. 😁

We're currently booked on NCL for a Japan cruise in October 2024. We were originally booked on the NCL Sun but NCL has emailed us that they are changing the cruise to the NCL Spirit. We have no major problem with the ship change, but we've started looking at the alternatives, which are the Celebrity Millenium and HAL Noordam. The Millenium cruise has a lot of sea days and pricing is relatively high. So we are checking out the Noordam and the pricing seems attractive. The suites on the Noordam are priced about the same as balconies on the NCL Spirit. We haven't been on HAL since 1996 when we were on the Ryndam. Please share any feedback about the Noordam. And if you have any feedback about the Japan cruise, please share that as well.

We're on the Viking Star 10-24-2023 full transit and our window to book shore excursions opens on 8/8. This is our first time on Viking so any tips on booking shore excursions will be appreciated. In Colon DH is very interested in the Miraflores Locks "privileged access" excursion. Any feedback on that one and is it difficult to get a spot? In Cozumel we are looking at Tulum, in Cartagena maybe the Old Cartagena By Foot or the Columbian Village & Botanical Garden. In Puntarenas we're hoping for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Aerial Tram, in Colon probably the Art & Architecure tour. We've been to Cabo a bunch of times and are thinking of doing the Sportfishing there for something different (although we don't fish). Any feedback on these? And how likely are we to get what we want (we're in a Penthouse Veranda). Thanks!

I was scheduled for the Sun doing Japan 10/23/2024 and got the same notice. I've never received the promised revised confirmation, although when I look at MyNCL it shows me on the Spirit in a BA cabin. My TA called for a fare adjustment because I had been in a Club Balcony Suite. The NCL rep did adjust the fare but said that no revised confirmations would be sent out yet because they are still "working on the itinerary." So I'm waiting but starting to wonder if this Japan cruise will really happen. There are similar itineraries in Fall 2024 on the Celebrity Millenium and HAL Noordam, so I may need to look at those alternatives or just decide to do a Japan cruise another time. But I also saw that Princess has cancelled some Japan cruises in order to do charters, so it seems to be a bit of a trend. https://www.cruisehive.com/princess-cruises-cancels-sailing-in-favor-of-charter/106829

My TA talked to NCL this moring. They have adjusted down our fare but they are also apparently still making changes to the itinerary. So we'll just have to wait until the dust settles and see what happens with the itinerary. Any tips on balcony cabin location on the Spirit? Right now they have me on Deck 11 and it looks like I'm under the Waves Pool Bar.

As mentioned in my original post, my brother and SIL were booked in a B4 family balcony on the Sun while we were in a MA Club Balcony Suite. Because of the cabin difference, we were paying $1400 pp more than they were. Now we're both in the exact same class of cabin on the Spirit (BA) just a few doors apart. Yesterday my brother and SIL received an updated confirmation for the Spirit, and NCL is honoring the fare they had on the Sun. Considering that we're now in the same class of cabin on the Spirit, I think that a "fair" fare for us would be the same fare he's paying. Hopefully that's what will happen, but since I booked through a TA, I'll have to wait until at least Monday to find out. In the meantime, the NCL website is still not showing any Spirit cruises for Fall 2024 so I can't see what the currently offered pricing is. It's reassuring to hear everyone agree that the Spirit is a superior ship to the Sun. I've only been on one other NCL cruise, which was on the Pearl. We picked this cruise for its Japan itinerary. Our other options are the Celebrity Millenium and HAL Noordam, but we liked this itinerary the best.

As an update on this, the email from NCL about the ship alteration (dated 7/5) said we would get an updated confirmation by 7/14 but nothing so far. For a short while last week, the new cruise on Spirit showed up on Expedia and the NCL website, but then it disappeared and now they don't show any cruises on Spirit for Fall 2024. I've reached out to my travel agent and hope to hear something on Monday. I'm okay with the BA cabin but only at a fair price, not the price I booked for the Club Balcony Suite.

I just saw this concerning the Spirit: https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-deployment-change-announced/106309

We were booked on the NCL Sun for the 10-23-2024 12 night Japan cruise. We were booked in a Club Balcony Suite (MA). We received a notice that the ship will now be the Spirit. We've been reassigned to a balcony cabin (BA), which is considerably smaller. Spirit doesn't appear to have any cabin category in between the BA balcony and the full suites. Has anyone experienced this type of cabin downgrade before? What can we expect? I assume NCL will adjust our fare, since this cabin category is selling for significantly less than we had booked for our Club Balcony Suite. My brother and SIL are traveling with us and are in a similar situation, because they were booked in a Family Balcony which also doesn't exist on the Spirit. We're rethinking the whole cruise now and looking at other options. Anyone else have this experience?

Thanks for your reassurance @Globaliser and @FlyerTalker. Sounds like the best plan is to stick with the existing passport. My main concern was them being blocked by some AA gate agent relying on some AA policy I wasn't aware of.

Thanks @Globaliserthat's reassuring. So do you think he's better off sticking with the existing passport, or immediately trying to do an expedited renewal? I keep reading stories in the news about backlogs in renewal times, even for expedited applications.

Thank you. We know that, and his passport is valid a little more than 3 months beyond their 10/6 departure date. We're mostly nervous about American Airlines personnel not letting him board the PHL-MAD flight.

This is a question about a land only trip, no cruise, but I know there are lots of experts here on air travel. DD & fiance will be honeymooning in Madrid & Paris. Flying PHL-MAD on 9/26 and returning 10/6 CDG-PHL. Flying AA. Fiance's passport expires 1/22/2024, which is a little more than 3 months after the return date. But I worry about whether AA may give him trouble. He would've renewed it already but we had to attend a family wedding in Canada that we just returned from yesterday, so he hung onto the passport. Now the dilemma is whether to apply for an expedited renewal (having heard the horror stories about delays, even for expedited), or fly with existing passport. The state department website says that both France & Spain only require 3 months. What are your suggestions for how to proceed?

Interesting. We haven't received any communication about the itinerary at all. Glad it's back.

Thanks this is helpful. Do I need to set up the ACH ahead of time (is that even possible) or just be ready with my bank routing and account info, do it the first time, check out and then repeat?

As a Viking first timer, I would like to know more about this advice. Our excursion booking window opens in August. We have the date and exact time marked in our calendar. Is there an advantage to paying via ACH versus credit card? Any other tips for booking excursions and dining when our window opens?

Other itineraries can add a stop in Jamaica (the pros and cons of which are a separate question), but the Ft Lauderdale-Los Angeles cruise "needs" Cartagena to comply with the PVSA. The ABC islands are an alternative, but they are further away and probably more expensive for Viking.

As @Heidi13 explained above better than I can, different rules apply to closed loop cruises. For example, the cruises from LA to Hawaii can get away with a call in Ensenada because they are closed loop cruises, so they just need to go to a foreign port, not a "distant" one. But this cruise is a full transit and needs to go to a "distant foreign port."

What are the other options for a distant foreign port besides Cartagena? Aruba?

@BigBee51 We had the same thought. This is our first Viking cruise and while we like sea days this cruise already had more than we're used to, and we'll be a little disappointed if there is yet another.

We're on this cruise so I'm following this thread to see what you figure out. This will be our first time on Viking.

Look at the FAQ for Excursions. It says: Toddlers aged 2 and younger sitting on a parent's lap (not occupying a seat), are not charged for most excursions. If a parent would like their infant to occupy a seat or would like to utilize a safety seat, the parent must purchase an excursion ticket for the infant at the published excursion price. Parents are also responsible for bringing a safety seat for their child. https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/shore-excursions/. Have you tried just booking yourself and spouse and not booking the baby? It sounds like you should be able to just show up with the baby as long as she doesn't occupy a seat.