hal2008

But there is a point Cheap inside 3 niter and 10 niter balcony got exactly same points after conversion.

Advantages of GTY (other than substantial lower price): You can do better but not worse. Many years ago, GTY meant higher chances of getting an upgrade!!! in those days before sophisticated yield management, prices tended to remain stable and cruise lines will keep selling Inside cabins even when all cheap inside cabins are already booked. So those who booked late with GTY inside, inevitable (more than 95%) got some upgrade key is to monitor inventory.

All of these online testing sites work USUALLY work reasonably EMED of course is best of the lot. When they work fine, it is not news. They are suppose to work fine News is when they drop the ball. If you have time and inclination to go through various threads in various cruise line forums or Roll Calls, you will notice that OnPoint has some negative reports OnPoint uses three different organizations and they have almost non-existent escalation point of contact when they make mistakes. Again, when things go smoothly, they all work fine Based on our personal stressful bad experience, we will not be using OnPoint again especially when their failure rate is higher (based on feedback from others on CC) primarily because of how they are setup Rapidtestandtrace seem to be better

It seems moral of the story is that if you are not hung up on particular sailing then it is best to wait until it is 2-3 weeks remaining (but monitor inventory) If you live near a homeport and have flexibility then for a sailing with huge inventory, you can even get cruise fare that is less than port taxes!! Inventory status is the key

Scroll up for some suggestions in hotels near station in Oslo. There are three within the building itself And many of various budget nearby Bergen (town center) is quite compact and plenty of hotel choices both near byparken or near harbor

Agree. They certainly will keep "public health" in mind as it will inevitably affect profits Point was that their primary objective is (and should be) their bottom line. Everything is secondary and only to the extent if affects primary goal directly or indirectly in short or medium timeframes. (That's why if public health is a consideration, appropriate regulations are needed. Self-regulatiome have not worked well in ANY industry - finance, pharma, aviation - cruise will not be an exception)

Depends on the "real use" of the test For the goal of preventing covid from coming on board, of course tests done 3 days prior (and then undertaking relatively higher exposure journey from home to port) are not much of value medically These kind of requirements, though, do serve as a deterrent to certain type of people who are most likely to engage in risky activities (and hence more likely to bring and spread covid onboard) But real reason for testing, at this point, in absence of govt mandates is more for show (similar to ineffective checks done in Security lines at airports) Requirements will go away or may get stricter based on feedback from PR/Legal/Marketing teams After all, their main goal is revenue increase for the cruise line, not public health

Royal palace itself is on a hill. Will need to take Tram 12 if wishing to visit the sculpture park. (On way back, get down at Soli and walk flat to palace orgetdown at National theater I'd you just want a look of the palace) Main pedestrian street connects palace to the train station. Parliament, Frieda sign, Storvet, are all located at or near this drag Munch Museum and Opera (walking its inclined roof is a great experience) are between station and the harbor Tram 12 also connects station/opera toN9ber Peace center/City hall area

is it logistically possible during 10 hour port visit as DIY? (assuming tickets can be pre-arranged)

You are right on the money. When WHO (or CDC) declares that we are in flu pandemic with number of deaths/cases similar to CURRENT expected actual cases/deaths primarily caused by Covid, they should require that from public health perspective. Right now, flu and covid numbers are still far apart (irrespective of how the last person who got covid felt it like flu) in USA> But let be honest. In absence of any govt regulations, vaccine related regulations on cruise lines are less related to public health and more weighted by what their PR/marketing/legal gives as feedback. Policies will be governed based on that feedback.

Statement was correct in summer of 2021 for the variants prevalent that time. Look at historic chart. In counties where vaccination rate was high, covid cases almost dropped to nothing. Old vaccines are not able to offer much protection against new Omicron variants in terms of prevention from getting mild infection but supposedly help with recovery.

They should be using local date and time of the person who is being tested. But they use Dallas time, Philipines time, etc. This is no big deal if it still puts you within 2 days. But it gets you out of 2 days then this whole testing circus becomes useless. Problem with OnPoint is that they are is no easy customer service to contact using either phone or email when they make a mistake. Their competitors get much better feedback on these boards.

Awaiting you live report.... Hope ferry 80 worked out....

which port? Assuming Frihamnen, Bus 76 or Bus 1 can take you back. (covered by your day pass) Uber is easily available (especially back to port) and you will know the cost upfront. For taxi, apps mentioned above are useful. Hailing one from the street or picking one up near tourist area, you have to be very very careful as they are legally allowed to rip you off. Not a fan of HOHO bus when local transit is so good. BTW, if you have time, commuter ferry 80 from Nybroplan (which also stops behind ABBA museum nnear Vassa museum) provides a nice 45 minute ride (also covered by your day pass)

Scandic Hotel questions: Bergen Any opinion on Ornen located next to train station? Oslo: Byporten - we discussed How does Scandic Oslo City compare? Copenhagen Which Scandic you prefer? Webers or Front or something else?

depends on your interest and budget. There are two hotels right at the airport (Comfort and Clarion) with 15-20 minute metro ride to touristic center. There are numerous hotels near Central Train station too (Radisson Royal, Hotel Nimb, Scandic Webers) Bus 23, 26, 2A are of interest Right at Nyhvn, there are Hotel Betel. 71 Nyhvn, Scandic Front, Admiral There is also a 3 star at Osterport station. with bus stop at front door (and across from train station) Bus 25 starts here and goes towards Cruise terminals. Bus 27 starts here for Little Mermaid and DFDS terminal. Bus 23 stops here which goes through touristic center to Central train station Purple dotted line walk on tourist office map covers most of the major points of interest in the central area.

Hopefully, you landed at ARN and are on way to the ship. Luggage operation might have shutdown by now but someone from the staff will certainly help you. You are fortunate that there is an overnight at Stockholm Best wishes

One plus about Marriott beyond comfort zone for Americans (true air conditioning) Most hotels in Copenhagen that are listed on Tripadvisor or other hotel search engines as having A/C DO NOT have true A/C. They have something called air cooling which cannot remove humidity and leave you feel sticky on those rare hot and humid days in CPH. Those days are becoming more frequent each summer with global warming Marriot has true air conditioning. Taxis in CPH are ridiculously expensive for short rides within city but are easily available at train station. With your back to the tracks, take right exit out of of the train station (by the Coop store) and there will be dozen plus taxi waiting. Taxis have three components to their fare: 1. High base fare (just to get in) 2. Per km charge 3. Per minute charge CPH does not allow Uber. But bus stop is also right there (bus 26 going towards Sankt Ann Plads) and your ticket from airport to train station is still valid on that bus and bus drops you right in front of the Marriott Unless price difference is significant, take a look at 5 star Hotel Nimb which is right across the train station (opposite taxi stand) located in the grounds of Tivoli Of course Radisson Royal, very close to train station (next to Tourist office and also convenient to multiple tourist friendly bus routes, new metro stop and less crowded S-torg stop) is along time favorite on CC board BUT does not have true A/C (which may or may not matter on any particular summer night)

Both @kaisatsu and @Noreaylady are local experts and their feedback obviously should carry more weight. my 2 cents: Scandic Byporten has neither AC nor Air Cooling. It is a non issue for Oslo on most days in a year but it was hot and sticky earlier this year. If you have long day ahead on BergenRail, you indeed need a comfortable sleep the night before. Otherwise it is a nice hotel connected to station via underground shopping area. Thon Opera is closer to the train tracks and has air cooling and better breakfast option (IMHO) and great views of Opera and harbor if you get high floor room facing in that direction. Also, the commuter train from the airport takes only couple of minutes longer at significant cost saving compared to the expensive airport trains (Google for more info and even YouTube videos) Confirming that our train to Bergen did not stop at the National Theater station. if you have time (and inclination), Gronland street (just north of the station) offers amazing variety of authentic international cuisine at very reasonable prices. If you prefer American fast food, Berger King. McD, Subway - all are located within or close to train station and open early for take away for the long train ride. Most mainstream luggage sold in US dept stores and warehouse clubs have wheels meant for smooth surface of airports. I envy Europeans chugging their Saturday wheeled luggage through rough pavement and side walks For most Scandinavians a hotel located "10 minutes" away is not a big deal. Most Americans never have to drag luggage through street in USA for half a mile or more, ever. Many find comfortable hotel connected to train station lot more convenient.

Comment was clearly about Europe requirement for Europe based cruises. Are you sure those have been changed recently? If sure, thanks for updating us. We were told that last shot (second shot or booster) has to be within 270 days. (which make medical sense). Person with 4th shot was out of 270 days and had to take 5th shot (reluctantly as person was waiting for newer formulation booster) to comply with EU rules that RCL still follows in Europe. Hope, your information is indeed correct

One marked in blue all the way to the left is the berth. Tram stop is half way between what is labelled as "Aker Brygge Shopping" and "Nobel Peace center" right in front of the "Nu" national museum. From there Tram 12 goes to Sculpture Garden in the west direction or to station area in the west direction (you can switch to 13 along the way to get dropped close to Opera and Much museum) If weather cooperates, from cruise berth, it is a nice walk to national theater (or even palace royal - bit uphill for the palace). From there you can make a left on to the main pedestrian blvd (Karl Johnas Gate) and wonder your way all the way to station area and onto Opera/Munch museum Area north of station (northwest of bus terminal) around Gronland street (there is a metro station for it too) is an abnormality for this pale white country. It is quite cosmopolitan with authentic cuisines from all over the world available at quite reasonable price (by Oslo standards).

I think this exactly same location as old Selandia hotel when this area was very seedy (red district of copenhagen) It is much better now but after dark walking from station one has to be bit alert. Everything googled so far seem to indicate that this hotel has true air conditioning and not air cooling. After your trip if you can confirm it, it would be great. (Climate change is not going anywhere, better to start preparing for future high summer stays at CPH)

When you are there, can you confirm and report back if they really have true air consitioning or typical Scandinavian style "air cooling" which is basically an electronic ventilation system (allowing you to change temperature of the room by couple of degrees but not remove humidity) Air conditioning is very rare in Copenhagen with most reidences not having it. Historically, it was never deemed necessary. However, with climate change, there are nowadays many days during cruise season where humidity in stuffy hotel room lends to an uncomfortable night (if one is unlucky to catch those nights while visiting). It is a noisy city and hence many times opening windows is not an option on the lower floor. Most US hotel search engines including tripadvisor are outright wrong when they list "air condition: as an option for most hotels in Copenhagen. For many hotels, tripadvisor wil show hotel having A/C but response from hotel itself will say that "we do not have air conditioning, we have air cooling". Even 5 star Radisson Royal does not have air conditioning. (On the other hand, Marriott does have it)

If you are on a Baltic cruise this year, it is easy to secure a cheap upgrade from ridiculously cheap internal cabin. Most ships are running at 30 to 40 pct capacity.

Bon voyage If your luggage doesn't arrive with you, start buying stuff on Saturday itself as most places closed on Sunday. You will get reimbursed by airline or insurance within reason For Frihamnen, your ferry option is thousand time better than bus option (avoid taxis who are legally allowed to rip you off. Uber are easy and cheap) In Helsinki, hotel Torni (tallest place in downtown) has a viewing platform outside their bar on the top floor. Nice views of the city. It is very close to famous sculpture outside Stokmann store. If you can manage, take short boat trip to Sumolina island. Even if you don't walk there, roundtrip boat ride is scenic. In Riga, you have plenty of time. Do visit art nuovo streets. Also, worth paying to go up by elevator at Peter's church. In Copenhagen, download dantaxi app to get taxi from terminal if you find public option overwhelming. Also, from your hotel, Veserbro s-tog station is closer than the central station and the new metro station at Radhusplan (city hall) is very convenient too just as bus 26, 23 and 2A. Main tourist office with detailed transit maps is literally next door to your hotel In Tallinn, you might want to take Uber to Russian cathedral directly from the port. Do level walking of upper town and then take long pikk (it is a gradual slop down) to main square. After visiting Katrina Kike, come out at Viru Gate (you can get Uber back to ship from McDonald's for 3-5 euro)