minnow76

Another question for Antarctica passengers: what is the laundry situation? I see that there are self service launderettes onboard; is there special detergent to purchase onboard or should I bring something along? How easy or difficult is it to use those facilities? 

Thanks in advance for your insight!

3 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

I would be curious if Viking has an upper limit of how many checked bags you can do, but likely nobody has taken full advantage of it either.

 

Since it's a charter, I would guess the airline gets the same fee whether everybody brings a carry on and zero check ins or everybody has two check ins.

Well, I'm DEFINITELY not telling my husband about your curiosity. He might see it as a challenge! 😛 

Hmmmm...there's always a risk, I think, if you check bags in. We didn't even fly for one cruise, and my husband's bag took a different vacation than we did. But there is something to be said about letting someone else deal with your bags! I'll report back what our experience is!

Just now, Mike07 said:

 

 

It's a Viking charter so there should be no fees or restrictions. Though people have noted weight limits on some of the pre and post cruise extensions.

 

To my knowledge, everybody on that Felix plane should be a Viking customer. It's a 737 so I don't think you'll hit weight on it.

Mike, thanks for your quick and helpful reply. Although I'm probably not going to tell my husband what you said. 🙂 

On 9/13/2023 at 5:19 PM, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

No, no luggage fee. We checked 2 bags each.

Florida Flounder, do you remember what kind of luggage restrictions were on the charter flight? My husband and I are going on the 12/29/23 sailing of Octantis, and our itinerary shows Felix Airlines as the carrier. The only thing I've found about them online is that they are based in Yemen and they have a restriction of basically two carry-on size bags.

Any insight you can give would be helpful, as my husband loves to just take a big bag and throw whatever he feels like into it. Information from a source NOT me might actually sway him!

We're from the Tampa Bay area, so any tips to dwellers of heat and humidity would be welcome, too!

And one more vote for Murano. The warm goat cheese tart just might be the main reason I cruise on Celebrity!

My husband and I have experience both on the Celebrity "On Your Own" excursion and taking the train into Paris. It sounds like you are very focused on an actual ship excursion rather than making your own plans, which certainly has advantages. In that event, the "On Your Own" option whisks you off the ship, drops you in the city (I can't remember exactly where, but at a decent starting point) and tells you to meet back at that spot at the time needed. If you're primarily concerned with getting to Paris and then feel comfortable navigating the city on your own, it's a good option. There are apps you can download to plan metro routes, and you can start planning your routes today.

If you are comfortable traveling on your own, I would suggest considering the train. We stopped there last summer with my parents and two oldest nephews, and we were ready to head off the ship as soon as we were cleared. We got a cab right away (my husband does speak fluent French, so that was helpful) and made it to the train station in plenty of time to catch the 8:00 a.m. train direct to Paris. We had purchased train tickets ahead of time, which could have gone badly if we hadn't made the train, but I think there is an option you can add to be flexible, too.

There are a couple of things that I liked about the train better: first, you end up at the Gare Saint-Lazare train station, which is connected to the metro, so you don't have to figure out where a metro stop is, which means you can potentially be on your way faster. Second, you can spend more time in Paris than the bus trip because the bus trip returns super early to ensure they get back in time for you to sail away.

There is always the potential that there is a strike or issues with the train, but that can happen on a bus, too (as it did on our excursion to London from Dover). The advantage of a ship excursion is that they'll wait for you to return. We just looked at it as that the worst that could happen was that they did leave us, and decided we were willing to risk it since we could catch up in the next port easily.

I can't comment on the tours that are fully guided, but no matter which option you choose, I hope you have a great time!

It's been a few years since we sailed in AQ, but the only dish I remember (which, admittedly, might not be on the "new" menu) was blue cheese risotto. It was delicious - at least enough for me to remember more than four years later!

Hi all,

I apologize that this is too late for some people who wanted to know, but I did want to follow up about our experience. We got up and were waiting for the all clear to go ashore and were some of the first people off the ship.

We went straight to the taxi rank, and my husband (who does speak fluent French) secured a taxi for €12. We hopped in with a few other people, and I furiously counted out the €12 per person. We arrived shortly thereafter - and lo and behold - it was €12 for all six of us! I had to chuckle, considering I was prepared to pay so much more based on what I'd heard.

Our cabbie did get a nicer tip than he was probably expecting, so win-win.

We easily made the train, had a fun (albeit crowded) time in Paris, and easily made the return train. One note just to be aware of - it costs a minimal fee (maybe €2-3) to use the restrooms in the train station. Not a big deal - just be prepared if you think you might be in a hurry!

As someone else mentioned here, when we returned, we exited the station and went to the taxi rank (I think it's left once you exit...it definitely is not straight out the door). We easily found a cabbie to take us back. Truly, both our drivers in Le Havre were the most pleasant of our whole trip.

Best of luck to anyone who attempts this. Our experience was only one, but from it, there seems to be nothing to be concerned about.

Heather

There is a train arriving back in Le Havre just before 6:00 p.m. Our ship leaves at 8:00 p.m., so even in the worst case scenario, that should give us time to get back to the ship. And thank you for the tip on where to find cabs from the train station - that could be a panic-inducing moment if we didn't know where to look!

I do have Uber on my phone already - I thoroughly enjoy it and have no problem using it instead of an "official" cab!

Thanks again for all your help!

Minnow

Thanks again, Hank! I don't know that we've come to a firm decision, but I think we're leaning toward chancing it. With the difference in cost between the ship's tour and train tickets for all, we could offer a sizable "bonus" to any cab driver willing to make the short haul and still come out miles ahead. I think my mom is a little worried about missing the ship on the way back but with the train times and our willingness to offer incentives, it should all work for us. :D

Thanks, Hank! That is partly what I'm afraid of (the other part being the time to actually disembark). I read somewhere on a thread here that other cruisers offered to pay double the fare just to get to the train station - but even with that, I don't know that it would be all that attractive to a driver, as compared to a full-day tour or a drive to a different city. As much as I would like to do this trip on our own, it's looking like the ship's excursion may be the safest bet.

Minnow

Hi all,

I am sailing on a British Isles cruise with my family (husband, mother, father and two nephews) in June. Since this is the first time to France for four in the party, we have decided to take the trek into Paris in our one day in France.

We are docking at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 29. There is a train leaving Le Havre at 8:02 a.m. Any thoughts on how likely we are to catch that train? If we don't choose the train, we are planning on the Paris on Your Own tour from the cruise line - but train fare is considerably less than the tour.

We are relatively comfortable navigating train/metro stations, and my husband was born in Paris and lived there for the first five years of his life - so he speaks French well enough to be our guide.

Any suggestions or comments welcome. Thanks in advance!

Minnow

Hi all,

I am booked on a "bachelorette" cruise on Magic (I know, we are some PARTY people!), and am thinking about dropping off two photo mats to have characters sign so that I can give them to my Matron of Honor and Man of Honor. One question: do the characters ever write any kind of personalized note, or are they restricted to just the signatures? Either way is fine, I would just like to know.

Thanks for your help!