Redtravel

I can feel your pain. We booked a cruise from the extraordinary deals. We booked with O air because we couldn’t find a decent airfare. We change planes once going, and change twice returning. All changes have 2+ hours between flights. We don’t like it. We got assigned seats on 4 out of 5 flights. We couldn’t get reserved seats on a subsidiary of Lufthansa Eurowings Discovery. I called my TA, Lufthansa, and Eurowings with no success. Lufthansa and Eurowings said that nobody can reserve a seat. We cannot get seats until checkin 24 hours before the flight. We are not happy. Strangely enough, we are booked on a Viking cruise with air. Sure enough, we are also flying Eurowings. Viking got us reserved seats. I can only guess that O bought the cheapest seats. Has anyone flown on Eurowings?

Update…we were able to link our reservations using the invite feature. One person made dining reservations for all of us. The reservation was posted on my Viking journey calendar. We haven’t a clue what menu will be served at the Chef’s Table. If it isn’t to our liking, we may try rebooking.

Yes. Final docs have all the info. We got that yesterday. We did the online checkin today. After that, we were sent digital boarding passes. On past cruises, when we did the online checkin, uploaded photos , and there was a link to get boarding passes. The link didn’t work. Nor were we able to upload photos. We could take the photo, but not upload it. Message option was it could be done at the dock checkin. It’s likely not a problem. Regardless, we have boarding passes.

Yes, we booked with TA. We always book with TA. She always forwards any info. For past O cruises, we were sent the summary booklet directly from O. We got our boarding passes sent directly from O today. Just thought that O stopped printing booklets. If we don’t get luggage tags,we can get them at the dock. We sail on other lines that do everything online.

In USA, have only received email docs. I sail this month.

Cruise is a few weeks away. Yesterday I got email with docs. It included the info that used to be in the blue book. While the blue book was nice, I understand that sending email docs are easier…and also cheaper. However, I didn’t see luggage tags. Do they still send them out?

When we were on Marina recently, I went to the artist loft to inquire about classes. The paintings by the resident artist were on display with posted prices. Previously I never saw that. Looked like the mass market art displays before auctions. Since I didn’t like the paintings, I walked out and never pursued spending time on the ship painting. Art auctions are a real turnoff for me.

We are traveling with friends. Dining reservations for specialty restaurants opens soon. We gave our friends our booking # assuming that they can make reservations for all of us. Am I correct? Or do we also have to make reservations on our end? Also, I read that the menu for Chefs Table changes often during a cruise. I am sure that we would prefer some menus over others. Is there any way to see menus before we book for a specific night? Or do we just book and find out later what will be served?

I have been to Norway many times. It is beautiful. However, it’s expensive. I usually take lots of photos. Only things that I ever brought back were trolls and sweaters. In Finland, reindeer mittens were a great souvenir. just enjoy the beauty of Norway. I am looking forward to my upcoming time in Norway this year.

Alesund is beautiful. It’s easy to get a map and see it on your own. Be sure to visit the folk museum.

Laundry rooms are on the side with even numbered cabins.

Booking shore excursion procedure is crazy. Booking opened for my cabin category earlier today. Previous to today, some of the excursions were sold out. We stuck to mostly included excursions. As we started to select excursions and times, we watched some times gone. Fortunately, I read the postings. We reserved the excursions that we really wanted first. They sold out quickly. Had we booked excursions in the order of the ports, we never would’ve gotten our most desired choice. I prefer cruises that allow you to book excursions as soon as you book and pay for your cruise. Book early, pay early, book excursions early. Book late, pay late, book excursions that are leftover.

Vietnamese coffee is my favorite

just book an O cruise. You won’t be sorry. We are elite plus on Celebrity. After 20+ cruises, we needed a change. We decided to try other lines. Our favorites are Windstar, Viking, and O. We took 3 cruises in 2022. We had the best time on Marina in December. While onboard, we booked a future cruise for next winter on Vista. A few weeks ago, we got an O promo brochure that was very tempting. We booked another cruise on Marina that sails soon.

Speculation is like wishing. You can hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. Other people’s experience may not be yours. We booked late and couldn’t find any airfare even close to O’s. While the flights wouldn’t be my choice, it gets us to the cruise. The connecting times are 2 hours between planes. We also booked a Viking cruise and opted for the air. While we only have one connection each way, the flight times are bad. Our flight going home leaves at 6 am. Viking often books exit planes early in morning.

Me too. It was annoying.

Good luck.

No, I am not going a day early. We looked for possible air before booking. With fewer flights and higher fares, we took what they gave us. If I had found flights with fewer connections and a decent price, I would have booked it. We hope that everything goes well. We also are going on a Viking trip later this summer. We had lots of time to possibility buy our own air. Again, we opted for Viking Air because of the huge savings.

I loved the cruises that had special complimentary events. They used to include events on every cruise. Sadly, that isn’t happening on every cruise. Only a few cruises have it. We miss those events.

On Breeze, the lemon verbena was only in public restrooms. In cabins, we got one bar of soap and the 3 bottles attached to shower wall as shown in previous post. The aroma was strange. it said L’Occitane on bottles. The bottles often fell off the wall. Miss the small bottles of Lemon Verbena.

We book a cruise that leaves soon. With fewer planes and higher fares, we decided to let O do the air. We have one change going.Coming home 2 changes. It wouldn’t be my choice. It gets us there and back. Just hope planes fly on time. Missing connections could present issues.

Keep checking. Once you embark, you may be able to rebook at your desired time. They don’t put all reservation time slots on web for booking. There are some people who don’t book online. On my last cruise on Marina, I was able to book 3 out of 4 reservations at a table for 2. When we arrived at the shared reservation, they asked if we wouldn’t mind a table for 2. It all worked out.

Love Jacques. Will miss it on Vista. While Ember menu is ok, it doesn’t sound special.

sorry. I was on Marina. It had late Barristas. Loved it.

The attitude of everyone working for a company is important. If somebody in customer service tells you something incorrect or doesn't do what they say they are going to do, I usually back off. While I really liked my 11 Windstar cruises, I haven't booked again. When it comes to cruising, there are lots of good choices.