porrah

Thanks. I went to chrome instead of safari and got it.

yesterday afternoon, I was unable to access mvj and got a message saying it was under maintenance and will be back shortly. As of 10 a.m. Today, still the same. I called Viking who checked and said it was fine. Could somebody with time in their hands check for me and see if yours is working? Thanks.

Your booking number is on the luggage tags and that is what they use to send your luggage to the right cabin. You ask the concierge on boarding if no assignment has been received. I was told this morning that assignments could be two weeks out, but are often upon boarding.

I didn't set out to book a guaranty either. I booked ( and paid for) the lowest category - v 2- and Viking suggested the guaranty.

Thanks. I see your cruise is sold out, so obviously that made a difference. Have a great time.

Does anyone have an idea how soon (or late) before sailings the guaranty cabins are assigned, or is it entirely unpredictable? I am on the Oct 18th sailing of the Star ( which is not sold out) and am waiting impatiently! I am guessing it is late because they are hoping to sell more cabins.

Any experience or thoughts on this?

Thanks to all for your responses. Looks like we may be taking a quick walk up to Times Square assuming we have time for that.

we are arriving at JFK at 8 a.m. And sailing on the Viking Star at 4 p.m. We have Viking transfers so will probably need to wait for a full bus to transfer to the ship. Assuming we arrive at ship around 11 or 12, are there any Harbor tours leaving from a nearby pier? Time will be tight as we will probably need to be on board by 3 at the latest.

Does anyone know when Viking posts the excursions? I have logged into My Viking Journey and it says nothing available. Mind you, we are in the "cheap seats" so not allowed to book before Aug 19 for our October trip. Does that mean maybe the excursions are available, but not posted for me until my booking date?

I was also on this cruise although we did not meet at the m and g. I enjoyed reading your review. We are of the " older, retired" generation. I have to agree with you about the lack of a forward viewing lounge a la Crows Nest (Hal) and Skylounge ( celebrity). This is one of the things that made the ship not a good fit for us. Another is the food and service in the dining room ( we had select dining ) and we often ended up going to the buffet because the menu did not appeal to us. I was also very disappointed in the theatre shows and guest artists. ( one singer, one pianist, and the rest second rate comics)

The crew were wonderful, and the speed of buffet service and plate clearing was the best I have ever had.

I generally don't book my cruises directly with Princess but I really had no choice this time.

 

I just had a phone call from our PVP, saying "I noticed that your cruise is ten days away, do you have any questions or concerns?"

 

That's great customer service!

HI Nina.

I'm on your cruise too and got a phone call a few days ago. She also followed up with an e mail giving extra information and a number to call if your trip is interrupted and you are going to be late - won't help me if my plane is two or three hours late, I'll literally miss the boat - but it was a nice thought.

Is there a nice upper lounge equivalent to X's Skylounge or HAL's Crows Nest? I used to love going up there, but have checked the Royal's deck plans and can't find anything. I'm asking here in case I missed anything.

I have just been reading wonderful things about Kory Simon. I can't work his "tour" page on my iPad. We board the Royal on Nov 30th, and I was wondering if anyone knows who the piano man is/will be. Thanks.

We have been assigned B 605 on Royal Princess. Does anybody know what the big white space opposite is and if it will be noisy? I have tried looking at the spreadsheet but can't work it on my iPad. Thank you.

I've tried checking the spreadsheets, but am using an iPad so can't do it. We are assigned the above cabin on Royal Princess - I'm wondering about the big white space opposite. Has anybody been in this location who can advise about noise? Thanks.

We took a balcony guarantee on the Royal and have just been assigned B 605. Quite happy with the location, but I'm wondering what the big white space opposite is. I suspect it is kitchen/ buffet access as it is near the stern. Does anybody know? Anyone been in that location? Hopefully it won't be slamming doors and crashing dishes all night! Thanks.

We have just returned from the K'dam. We had cabin 5201 aft, and it was an adjoining cabin if you wished to use it as such. It was very quiet. The balcony was the usual 2 chairs and a very small table - couldn't eat breakfast on there for instance. We overlooked the balconies on deck 4. They were double size with the covered section, then an uncovered section where you can be seen from above. With deck 4 you would need to check what is underneath you E.g. It could be a a noisy show venue, although from memory these venues are toward the front of the ship.

Thanks everyone - we're happy.

We took a VH guarantee for our upcoming Koningsdam cruise and have just received our assignmentin VD 5201. There is a cross at one end of the balcony. Is this a lifeboat? I am trying to find out if the balcony is obstructed. I have tried googling, doing a fake booking to no avail, then I realized that someone here is sure to know. Is VD better than VH? Are we obstructed? Thanks in advance for your help.

Thank you. I recognize both your names from the boards. So I'm sure you are right. Bit if a nuisance, we go straight from Fll to the ship, so we'll have to buy the wine in Toronto, put it in our checked luggage for flying, then somehow somewhere get it out and into our hand luggage. Any chance they will allow it in checked luggage? Ok, just thought I'd ask........

I believe you can take two bottles per cabin ( 2 people). My question is can you take cartons? I don't mean big 3 litre boxes, you can get a liter carton - looks sort of like a milk carton but with a screw top. We could only take one or we would exceed the allowance, but it would be so much more convenient for travelling. Does anyone know?

Thank you.

Dear Grouch,

I appreciated your reports and sense of humour. I love going to trivia, and shared your pain when you lost.

Only one more posting I guess, then you are home and I will be going through Grouch withdrawal.

Thank you.

Like other posters, I wondered whether I needed to renew. We board the Koningsdam on Dec 14 and my passport expires May 14, 2017. I decided I'd better not risk it. The guy at the passport office told me that there was no requirement for the US, but maybe some of the islands have different rules. I don't suppose HAL will publish everybody's rules, so they say six months for everyone. My new passport will arrive next week, then when I've changed the Information with Nexus, no worries for ten years.

Security is much stricter. We flew from Toronto and had to change at LHR. My carry on baggage which was fine in Toronto did not pass muster at Heathrow.

ALL liquids must be taken out and carried through in a see through plastic bag- even lipstick and toothpaste. It can cause quite a delay when you have to wait while they inspect everything in your hand luggage. They are very nice about it, but apparently some people have missed flights because of this. So yes, allow a lot of time at Heathrow. We had an hour and a half in the same terminal and barely made it.

Are you on the September 3 sailing? That's when I sail. Have you registered in Roll Call?

 

Just curious, what tour did Viking cancel in Venice?

 

I'm staying three nights at a hotel prior to boarding. There is a vaporetto stop at the port, but I don't know how far the stop is from where the ship docks.

 

Diane

Diane, when I said cancelled tour I was referring to the original magazine/booklet from a couple of years ago before the ship had been built. They led us to believe that there would be a Venice tour with a chance to visit the basilica.

Like you, we have been trying to find vaporetti stops. The alilaguna blue line seems to have a stop in the port, found it on google maps.

We are on the Sept 27th sailing.