travelingman

i have not taken a Christmas Market river cruise.  But from what I remember reading about them on these boards is that the ships still do their regulars excursions and what time is left over is time you can go to the Christmas Markets, which may not be much, if any since some of the stops do not stay much longer past the excursion time.  of course you can always skip the excursions and go to the Christmas Markets, if they are open while you are there.  You would need to check each town to see what time they open up.

with all that said, another option to is fly into a goo Christmas Market city, such as Vienna, and spend several days there prior to the cruise.  That will give you plenty of time to see several Christmas Markets.  Vienna has somewhere around 15 of them.  Some are big, such as the one at the Town Hall, and some are relative small.  They are all different and each has there own mug for the mull wine.  Wife ended up collecting some of them to use as coffee mugs to replace our old ones.  so make sure you have enough room in your suitcase ore bring a tote bag to carry all of your purchases home.  I have heard of people having to buy another suitcase to have enough room for everything.

i will admit we had to do this (small carry on) after a 15 day cruise to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Israel.

Stan

On 2/25/2023 at 8:26 PM, sheza said:

Cheers, thanks Stan, with a bit of luck the same will apply to us, I suppose all we can do is keep our fingers crossed, I'm just annoyed because I like to book my tours well out when travelling and if I don't know what tours they're offering inclusive its makes it impossible but perhaps I need to live more dangerously and book on the fly 😄 thanks for replying, Marguerite

If you look at your booked cruise under "Manage My Bookings" it should show your included excursions.

Stan

In the daily that Viking puts out the night before you will find the contact info for the "dock" and for the ship.  Viking has been known to drop off at one dock and pick up at another.  This is something you need to inquire about if you are going to depart the ship on your own.

Stan

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The cabin stewards will have more cabins to clean, but that doesn't translate into longer work hours, which are regulated. The change also won't affect their ability to go ashore, as this is dictated by "In Port Manning", where a percentage of the crew have always been required to remain onboard.

I'm not an expert.  I was quoting what a cabin attendant said that is on a ship that has recently converted to the "once a day cleaning" policy.

Stan

It's all about the money.  By only cleaning the cabins once a day they can cut back on the number cabin attendants.  Unfortunately, the remaining attendants have to work much longer hours cleaning almost the double number of cabins, with some of the cabins not being cleaned until late in the afternoon.  Your cabin attendant might show up to clean while you are taking your afternoon siesta.  This also means the cabin attendants can not go on shore because of their, now, long work hours.

Stan

13 hours ago, ChrisB123 said:

Dh and I have been on Sea Cruises and know the routine with luggage tags and medallions. Most is done on line now.  What can I expect from Viking? I've read everything from a Back Pack to other "goodies," but not sure where I read it.  Thank you. 

Viking has pretty much cut out everything except for the luggage tags.  And all "paper work" comes on line now.

Stan

1. We traveling in November 2022 which was shortly after the "new" policy was put into effect.  We purchased under the old policy and had the "original" packages that were offered when we booked.

Stan

@Host Jazzbeau - My understanding is that Hurtigruten has a 25% ownership of Metropolitan and has a lease on the Santa Cruz II ship.  When I was looking at the cruise the main thing I noted was that Hurtigruten costs more than Metropolitan but is all inclusive with the only add on being for drinks (alcohol or soft drinks) ordered from the bar.  Drinks are included with meals.

Metropolitan was less expensive but charged for some items such as wet suit rentals and WiFi.  Not sure about any other items.  Don't know how this would work on the ship since Hurtigruten is the one actually doing the cruise, even though Metropolitan employees coordinate with Hurtigruten.

Metropolitan shore employees also work with Hurtigruten on any land portion of the cruise such as meeting travelers at the airport; the included tour in or around Quito; getting the travelers to the airport; showing them where to go at the airport; and meeting them at the airport on the return flights through Quito.  There is smooth coordination between the two.  Only way you might know they are Metropolitan employees is if you see a Metropolitan polo type shirts under the Hurtigruten windbreaker.

I am sure there are some nuances to this relationship I am not aware of.  But from what I saw on my cruise on the Santa Cruz II there is a very good relationship between the two and most people might not even notice they are not one in the same because they operate that way.

Stan

@Alice Anne I might question - "Put a color copy of the photo page of your passport in each suitcase, just in case."  I actually used to do this but then someone pointed out that if someone got into your suitcase and took that copy of your photo page they would have your identity.

I now put a copy of our itinerary in the suitcase and the outside pocket of the suitcase - in case it gets lost the airline will at lease know where we will be each day.

We do make address cards for everywhere we will be staying during the trip and change out the address card in the luggage tag holder each time we get ready to move to another hotel, ship, Airbnb, etc.

This only takes a few minutes to do.

I agree on the laundromat or a cleaner in Prague.  Should be less expensive than having Viking do the laundry.  That is my plan for our post cruise Prague visit.

Stan

For anyone interested I came across a good review of a cruiser's trip to Machu Picchu and Galapagos from May 11 through May 28, 2022.  Here is a link to the review - http://www.thepreismans.com/Peru_1a.htm.  The Galapagos portion of the trip begins on "Page 3, Day 10 - Fly to Quito.  They were there a few days prior to flying to the Galapagos.  thought there was a lot of good general information even if it isn't with the particular company or ship you will be on.

Thanks Mike for the review.

Stan

@stitchinthyme9.  I have used tripinsurancestore.com for a number of years. They deal with 9 or so insurance companies that have vetted.  They have always been happy to work with me on moving insurance on a booked cruise to a new cruise.  As far as the vouchers, they only insurance the amount of the original cruise cost and not any credits the cruise company has added on as good will.  If the cost of the new cruise is more than the original cruise then you will have to insure the additional cost also.

Good luck.

Stan

Has anyone done a solo on Hutrigruten to Galapagos?  I have booked their 1/18/23 cruise on the Santa Cruz II.

Stan

On 12/10/2022 at 10:40 AM, Hlitner said:

This past May we stayed in our favorite-ever hotel which was a small place in Prague.  The owner was a hands on kind of guy who was there morning, noon and night.  When I went to the included breakfast on my birthday the owner surprised us with a bottle of decent Champagne, specialty cup cakes, and more!  When he found out that DW and I were going to the Opera (about a mile from our hotel) he came back to his hotel so he could drive us to the opera.  But this kind of hotel and service is very rare.

 

Hank

Hi Hank.  We will be in Prague in June 2023.  Can you mention the name of the hotel?

Stan

We got off Celestyal Crystal a couple of weeks ago and they were turning away people at the main dining room that had on shorts (except for some children).  Short sleeve shirts were find as long as they had a collar on them.  I wore a polo type shirt several nights.

The buffet restaurant was good for shorts and t-shirts.

Stan

4 hours ago, blacknj said:

I just booked and I am showing unlimited drinks for Nov 2022 as well.

When did you book for?  Is it in the Crystal?

Stan

For any of you that have sailed this year on the Crystal, what did you do for the formal nights?  I have read somewhere (?) that the Captains Cocktail Night was mostly just a picture with the Captain.  Also, I read that you could get by with just a nice pair of slacks and a nice shirt.  Do you agreed with this?  Or, should we stay away from the Captains Cocktail Night and Gala Night if we don't want to dress up.  Actually, is is more of a suitcase packing situation versus not wanting to dress up.

Stan

I think you are correct.  For 2023 cruises the drink packages have changed and it is no longer a "Classic Unlimited Drink Package" as the basic package.  Included will only include at meal time.  I am cruising Nov. 2022 and it is still the Classic Unlimited Drink Package.

The real question for you is do you get the Classic Unlimited Drink Package if you booked prior to them making the change or do all of the 2023 cruises revert to the new drink policy.  only way to know is to see what shows on your account.

Stan

We have stayed the course and are leaving in 2 weeks (Nov. 😎 for Athens to board on Nov. 12 for our B2B 14 night Eclectic Aegean and 3 Continent cruise with the cruise completion on Nov. 26,  We will then fly to Vienna for 3 days for the wife to visit a Christmas Market.

Stan

On 5/31/2022 at 10:46 AM, thekidsandi said:

Thank you so much for your detailed response. That is what I was hoping to see. I was so excited about this cruise 2 years ago when I first booked it, but now I'm just not sure. I'll give it a couple more months and hopefully there will be some additional positive comments to get rid of my concerns.

What was your decision on taking the 3 Continent cruise in November?

Stan

They do offer umbrellas for use by the passengers.  However, they are the full size umbrellas.  Provide good coverage but unwieldy to carry around if not needed.  We prefer to take our own smaller telescoping umbrellas.

Stan

I had emailed a similar question to Celestyal.

Here is their response (9/20/22).  Of course, this is for a US citizen.

"Hello from Celestyal,

 Regarding USA passport holders for the ‘3 Continents’ cruise please note:

• No Schengen visa is required for Greece regardless of the means of transportation used to enter the country, UNLESS they hold diplomatic or military USA passports.
• No Turkish visa as Kusadasi is not an embarkation port for 3 Continents, so passengers will be in transit.
• No Cypriot visa is required for USA passport holders.
• In Israel, no visa is required. Passengers will be given a landing card where Passport Control officers of Israel will place your entry stamps. Please note that all passengers upon arrival in Ashdod will go through face and passport control.
• In Egypt, USA passport holders will be granted a quick trip stamp visa on their passport during their voyage from Piraeus to Port Said, therefore, no pre-issued visa. "

Hope this helps.  Would think the same would apply for you.

Stan

Yes.  First, do stay a few days to see some of Athens.  And a taxi is about the best way to get there unless you want to deal with your luggage on the express bus or the metro.  After the metro stop there is still some walking to do to the port.

On the taxi be sure to get the price before getting in the taxi.  The hotel can arrange one for you.

If you go to you tube you can find some older reviews of the ships if you do a search for them.

Were you able to book excursions prior to the cruise?  I have been trying to find where on the Celestyal website to book excursions without any luck.  I emailed Celestyal and received a reply that just had a link to the excursions brochure; but it does not tell you how to book an excursion.  It just tells you what the excursion are and info on them.  Pending the response here I will next go to my travel agent.

Thanks.

Stan

@Colorado5358 which cruise did you decide to take - Celestyal or Oceania?

Stan