I'm new to Azamara and considering a voyage.  I see that a lot of people have deals that include a sizable sum of on-board credit.  Presuming there's no pressure to spend refundable OBC that might have come from a travel agent, I'd like to concentrated on the spend it or loose it OBC.  I also saw OBC does not roll-over on B2B cruises.

 

What I've gathered so far is that there are complications using OBC pre-cruise for excursions, but excursions are one way to spend the OBC.  Another way to spend the OBC is to use it to buy the experience more package.  And I might have read someone used the OBC to get wifi?  Spend it in the on-board shops?  Specialty dining?  End of trip airport transfer?

 

What I would like to discover is a comprehensive list of all of the ways to spend non-refundable OBC, and if there's any known complications for spending in each category.

According to www.cruisingearth.com, the Sky is heading to Southampton right now, so not going to Reykjavik.

 

This was the original schedule, I think:

Akureyri, Iceland (20 May 0800-2000);
Isafjord, Iceland (21 May 0900-1900);
Grundarfjordur, Iceland (22 May 0800-1800);
Reykjavik, Iceland (23 May 0700-2000);

 

There's a company that sells home weather stations that, by default, weather data, including historical weather data, gets shared.  It's called ambientweather.net.

 

Here's what one weather station recorded as the wind speed and direction in Akureyri on 5/20:

 

So in the morning, there was 7 to 14 mph with gusts as high as 26mph.  Afternoon and evening was less windy.

21 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I had this for a while on Saturday.  Tried 3 browsers.  Finally just waited a while (there might have been a reboot in there for another reason).  Next time I went in (at least a couple hours) it was working.  I heard later that they were doing some type of site maintenance (again).  They very well may have done something that messed with your cookies.  Try clearing browser cache.

Thanks, that was helpful to know.  I was able to get it to work on my phone.  It's just something weird on my desktop computer.

When I go to https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/

using Firefox on Windows or Chrome on Windows, I get a blank page.  Other parts of the site seem to be working ok.  Anyone else seeing this?

On 3/15/2023 at 3:08 PM, Princess Chatterer said:

I will be testing my travel router GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 (Slate AX) on Princess next week.

How did it go?

I just got off the Regal and thought I'd share what I learned about my obstructed view balcony cabin.

 

 

So you can see that the deck 8 obstructed view cabins can have a minimal downward view. That is variable, though, since you can get a cabin that's between two lifeboats. Also, there are cabins that have a slightly lower style of lifeboat, which gives you a few more degrees down. But nobody on the ship can look straight down (I don't think so anyway), because the promenade deck sticks out farther than the balconies.

 

I made a video that has pictures, if pasting youtube links here is going to work:

Has anyone watched in earlier seasons to what happens to pricing as it gets closer to sailing date and the ship is not full?

 

I would expect a price drop, but this isn't something I've watched in the past, so don't know. I've read a few forum posts, and heard about the drop and go sales, but didn't see the number of days before sailing those prices went into effect.

 

It's probably pretty obvious to the cruise line many months in advance that a ship is going to need discounting if it's to attract a more profitable number of customers. But how many days in advance do they drop the price? I imagine they drop it in "stair-step" fashion as they get closer to sailing with a lot of empty cabins.

I'm looking at Regal out of Copenhagen on 9/9, 14 days, and it looks like there are plenty of "$1.7K" cabins available (in quotes because they add $0.23K in taxes). I'm not picky about where the cabin is or anything like that.

 

Any personal experience watching prices on a cruise with this level of booking? How many days from the sailing date did the prices tend to change? For instance, do they drop until 30 days out then hold fast, or do they do all their dropping 100 days out?

A friend of mine was going on a Carnival cruise after getting married, so bought him what Carnival calls "Cruise Cash", which consists of two things 1) a credit on the sign and sail account, and 2) a card in the room telling them they got the credit, and who it was from.

 

After he got back from his cruise, I asked about the cruise, but no mention of the Cruise Cash. Hmm. Awkward. I finally asked about a card in the room. Nope. At that point, I gave up and decided to just call Carnival.

 

I was on the phone with Carnival for 45 minutes and got zero satisfaction.

 

They reviewed the account and said that the Sign and Sail credit appeared. So one of the two aspects of the Cruise Cash was apparently fulfilled. The two reps I spoke with were nice enough, but just unable to offer anything but a letter to the recipient stating that they're sorry the card wasn't in the room.

 

I stated that I was the injured party because I bought a statement credit AND the warm glow that knowing that the recipient would hold up a beer while on the ship and have a toast with me and my wife in mind. But that didn't happen. So I got less than I bargained for. Asking point blank didn't do any good. They wouldn't even do a small credit on an (improbable) future cruise. The reps were as nice as could be, but just did not offer any remedy to me.

 

My recommendation is to avoid The Fun Shops and Cruise Cash because they can't execute properly on it. What a fiasco! The recipient doesn't know he even got a gift, and I've spent an hour on the phone and an hour discussing it with my wife. Life is too short for crappy service like this. It would have been easy to hand Steve a $100 and say "have a couple buckets of beer on me". Done. Instead, he still doesn't know I bought him a dang beer. Complete fail on Carnival's part. They had a chance to make it right when I called, but they did nothing.

The TV on the "Brilliance of the Seas" did not browse my USB thumb drive, but it did play the HDMI input when I tuned to channel 3

 

This is my info sharing review about the TV experience on the RCL Brilliance of the Seas. Bottom line: bring a universal remote if you plan to use a USB thumb drive.

 

When I plugged in my thumb drive:

 

 

 

I got a prompt to hit enter:

 

 

But nothing I could do would cause the TV to proceed to browse the thumb drive.

 

 

 

I went to reception. They said it's not possible. I even cornered a guy in white overalls in front of a bunch of computers and he said "sorry, it won't work".

 

The good news is that with an HDMI cable connected from my tablet, I was able to watch anything on the tablet. I plugged the HDMI cable into the TV and tuned the TV to channel 3. The tablet recognized the display and we were able to watch the movies we brought along with us.

 

The cinema on the Brilliance was so small that it was always completely full, even if you got their 30 minutes early. I gave up on watching their movies. And, oh, you want to watch the same movie in your room, prepare to give up $12!!

 

PS: if the pictures don't show in this post and you are curious, it's i . stack . imgur . com

My observation is that there would be a problem if the water levels were too high. On our boat they had to fold down the side rails, remove the furniture and awnings from the top deck, contract the wheel house and we still cleared some of the bridges with only a few inches to spare.

Agreed, based on my recent experience. It would seem to me that if the rivers weren't low, there would have been a problem getting under a few of those bridges. We went under a bridge once when I was on the front of the ship (deck 2 of 3). Deck 4 (the top 'sun deck') had been 'flattened' as you mentioned. But as I looked-up about 10 feet to the bottom of the flattened deck, it didn't look like more than a few inches of clearance. The ship's ballast tanks were light, though, so they could have added ballast and gone down about a foot (max), if they needed to. But based on the river height indicators (see picture attached earlier in the thread), it looks like the river often rises much more than a foot. I think 3 deck ships are great for utilization, but might be problematic if the rivers are not low. Luckily they were low when we were there.

Thanks for posting! The pdf came through perfect and the maps will be very helpful even for those on other cruise lines. The thumbnail has the color blocks but no text. Can you post that to the google drive too?

Sure, Here you go.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6X74x23Hx7DXzFKcXlBMzliTEk/view?usp=sharing

wow excellent! thank you. we are doing the other direction in Sept. were you happy with the cruise? any must see recommendations?

I wrote a review that seems to be stuck in moderation. The shore tours were at times a bit crowded, and you need to 'make hay' if you're cruising in good weather with interesting scenery. We signed up for all of the optional excursions, and it turned out to be a bit much. Luckily, they let us bail-out of one without penalty. As for must-see things, that's a matter of taste. I kind of liked the geeky fun of the steam train, but that's just me. My wife liked the wine tastings.

I scanned the daily papers that came in my cabin during an August 2015 northbound Viking Heimdal "Portraits of Southern France" cruise. I also tried to include where the ship docked and the walking tour map (sometimes I added the walking tour route). It's not perfect, but if someone would like to get a real good idea about what happens when on this route, this might be interesting.

 

The image has each day aboard as a row. The first day, along the top shows a green block (touring time), then dinner inside the dashed block. The top bar is grey, indicating the ship is docked. In general you will find that there is a morning tour slot, and an afternoon tour slot (again, tours are dark green). You're always on the ship for all meals (dashed blocks) if you're not making your own tour. Only one morning tour slot is empty due to cruising and one afternoon tour slot is empty due to cruising (yellow is cruising, grey is docked).

 

The scans of the daily paper and maps were bound into a PDF document stored on Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6X74x23Hx7DWjgwYUZwUGt1SjQ/view?usp=sharing

Any problem there ? Leaving in 2 weeks !

The levels on Rhone and Saone were generally fairly low in early August.

 

Low water levels should not be a problem since river-only boats draw about 6 feet, whereas barges that come from the Mediterranean draw 15 feet.

Actually, no, I can't see the results. It says "Results are hidden" and lists no percentages.

I'm working on that now, with the moderators. This is my bad when creating the poll. Sorry!

So far, 8 out of 9 voters brought 3 or fewer pairs of shoes.

 

Can everyone see the poll results after you vote? I hope so!

 

My wife, about to embark on her first river cruise, has selected sneakers, and rainbows (leather flip-flops) for walking, and three pair of sandals for on-board. So, with 5 pair, she'd be one that liked to treat herself, I guess. She's worried about exceeding 50lb with her suitcase, so has cut way back on shoes this trip.

When I booked directly with Viking, they said that they were not going to book air until X weeks before departure (I think X was 4 or 6, but don't quote me on that).

 

I didn't even know how many plane changes, much less what seat I'd be in until I got the updated itinerary in the mail.

 

The mail and email showed-up with the updated itinerary. This itinerary had the flight numbers and reservation numbers, whereas the previous one just said "included transfers".

 

But only the domestic flight had seat assignments listed. I called Viking about it, and they said sometimes that was airport check-in only. Alternatively, they suggested to look at the carrier web site (the itinerary has a reservation number). I didn't try that until now, but it says "This flight does not permit seat selection". I told the Viking guy my seating preference, he went off and checked with the Viking air department for a few minutes, came back and said pre-assigned only. $40 to pre-assign, if you're really interested. That actually might not be a bad deal if there's an awesome stretch out seat that you can secure for a trans-Atlantic. Alternatively, you can request seats for the entire journey when you get to the first airport, so if you get there early, you might stand a chance of getting the exit row, bulkhead, or whatever you're going for. The Iberia site seems not to disclose the aircraft type, and the flight "Iberia operated by Air Nostrum" is not on seatguru.com. But the guy did tell me the configuration was a 3 - 4 - 3, so it might be an A380.

 

Nice to know the seats because even if they're all napkin-fold type seats, at least we can make sure that both of us aren't in a middle seat on different rows or something like that.

 

I paid $200 to change from Viking's stock return flight to a return from Paris, 4 days later. That's a non-stop, and we have seat assignments there.

The Viking web site's pictures of travelers show smart casual, which may be interpreted as needing various shoes to go with various outfits. Maybe the picture is not exactly like reality (I suspect the actual dress is down a notch from the pictures), but for a reality check, I thought I'd ask about the shoe situation.

 

For your most recent river cruise (ladies only, please), please vote how many pairs of shoes you brought. In the comments, if you used all of the shoes you brought (especially if this was your first cruise and didn't want to be caught with the rest of the girls saying they thought your shoes didn't match).

We're sailing on the Heimdal (north to south) on October 21st. We also have planned a pre-cruise in Paris for 3 nights and a post-cruise stay in Nice for 3 nights. If anyone is planning to do these extensions or the cruise itself we would like to hear from you.

We are sailing the Heimdal (south to north) on August 5th. Going over with Viking's included airline ticket. Paid $200 each to fly back from Paris. Doing Paris on our own for four nights. My research indicates that our rivers are lower than normal...hopefully that won't be an excuse to mess stuff up for us, lol! The temps might be getting up in the high 90's (lowest is mid 60's at night) and looks like some days of 15 to 20 mph winds.

The problem with tipping from the standpoint of most people is that we don't know if or how an employee is compensated. These things I know: in the US wait staff are generally paid half of the minimum wage; my beautician is an independent operator who pays rent for her chair; and the bellman pauses a long time after showing off the hotel room. But on a cruise who gets paid what and what are their daily expenses? How do you compensate a hard worker doing the assigned job for no pay as opposed to the hard worker with a salary that pays very well? What does the bus driver get from a company where tips are included and what salary does that same driver get when driving for a company that does not have include tips? So how is the Viking program director (CD) compensated? :confused:

I find it annoying to decide on tipping. I had direct-report employees for a while and I didn't like evaluating them and deciding on their monetary fate. Why should I have to do that when I'm on vacation?

 

In the US, what if you went to a restaurant in the forced minimum wage part of a city, then you went to the same chain one block outside the forced minimum wage area? Would you tip the same? If yes, that's not fair now, is it? Like I said, annoying for me to have to deal with. But I shall rant no more.

 

Here's a link that shows the rank and file make about $15/hr in the US.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Viking-River-Cruises-Salaries-E247518.htm

We will be cruising from Paris to Normandy first part of Oct; ...

When the day is at hand, hit this site:

http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/paris-orly

...daily newsletters...

That's a great idea. I posted PDF's of the first part of my last Princess cruise, but alas, I got tired of scanning and didn't get to the end of the pile.

 

... Yes Young Dubliners - my favorite band. I'm a tad Irish - hence the shamrock as well. Not many have heard of them.

Doesn't appear to be an easy way to send a PM on this board, so a little off-topic here, but I became a fan when I saw them play warm-up for Jethro Tull. I got my whole family to be fans too, lol!

Many people find they spend less time in their cabin on a river cruise than they are used to from the ocean ships -- and since Viking "stole" the space for the Verandas on the Longships from the French balcony cabins (only 135sf), you will probably agree.

I wonder what tricks all of these cruise outfits use to make the pictures of the rooms look bigger than they are....very wide angle lenses, I guess.

Thanks, all, for the input.

 

YoungDubFan, Getting time in port across multiple cruise lines and cruises must have been a challenge! But that's one thing that bugs me about the ocean cruises many times...by the time you finally get ashore, you've almost got to turn around so you don't miss the departure! BTW, Young Dubliners, the band?

 

ural_guy, I get that they (the cruise lines) must get a great deal on airfare. Staying on longer might be an option...good idea. But can't forgo the big window. Viking had a 7 night on an old ship, bottom deck, $2K with air (as opposed to new ship, french balcony, $3K with air). Even though it's 50% more money, I just couldn't get excited about the little window on the older ship because we often hang out in the room rather than the public spaces, so having to stand up and peer out the little window doesn't do it for us.

 

I'll have to check out some of these other cruise line suggestions for next year.

If you're familiar with "dealnews", a "hotness" of 5 out of 5 is a screamin' good deal, all things considered. The ATC means if the cruise was shunned by others because of some known factor, that would be considered in the hotness.

....(hotness) compares what this thing was recently really (not fictionally) selling for earlier, and now is less.

 

... if the difference between a deal hotness of 5/5, and a hotness of 2/5 is only 5%, it's not worth worrying about. But if it's 25%, that would get my attention.

I've been getting brochures from Viking for July/August that include air fare that might just be a "hotness" of at least a 3 of 5, but I thought I'd lay it out and ask here (prices per person, so twice that for both DW and I).

 

I'm comparing "Portraits of Southern France", "C" level (French balcony) room on one of the new longships in August. 7 nights, 7 shore excursions, and the normal Viking amenities, beer & wine, including airfare, transfers.

 

The price in the standard brochure is $4,851 (includes $1,295 airfare).

 

The special they're running now is $2999, "free airfare", which is a 38% discount off of the original brochure sent a few weeks earlier. If I back-off the airfare (at the brochure rate), the per diem (using "7" nights, not "8" days) comes to $243. If I back-off the airfare at the rate I just found on Kayak, it comes to $188! It's starting to look more like an ocean cruise rate, especially considering the price of a beer on the ocean cruises!

 

I presume that a lot of people booked at the $4,851 level (really selling for that price), so the 38% discount "got my attention".

 

This being my first river cruise, I figured going on Viking would be ok, especially if this price really is good. Those of you who are well-rounded river travelers that have strong preferences may not make take this offer seriously, but for me, what do you think of this deal?