Turtles06

Besides the excellent advice above, you may also want to look into an annual membership with Medjet, which will transport you home from one hospital to another (as long as you are at least 150 miles from home). https://medjetassist.com/

Glad that worked out for you. You'll no doubt discover this on your own, but there's a really handy convenience store between the Bridge and the hotel (on the side of the road opposite Parliament), pretty close to the hotel. Cold drinks, sandwiches, other food, sundries. You pass it walking to/from the tube, and it was perfect if you wanted to grab something on the way back to the hotel. Nice folks working there too.

BTW, not hotel-related, but I just wanted to mention a couple of things that might not be on your radar that we just loved: a guided tour of Parliament (one of the most interesting tours we've ever taken), and the Ceremony of the Keys -- the nightly ceremony (9:30-10pm) of the locking up of the Tower of London. For the latter, only 50 tickets a night are made available (5 GPB each), at "midday" on the first working day of the month for the entire next month (that is, in May for June). They are snapped up quickly. It was amazing to be in the Tower at night with just a small group of people, watching this 700-year-old ceremony. Guided Tour of the Palace of Westminster: https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/ Ceremony of the Keys https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/ceremony-of-the-keys/#gs.jkgunn

Well, if you get to the point of splurging (or, as the Brits would say "pushing the boat out"), there are some hotels on the south bank side of Westminster Bridge (across from Parliament) that are an easy walk to the Westminster tube station, and within walking distance of much of what you might want to see/do in London. We stayed at one of them in September, the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. Can't beat the location. And we splurged on a "Big Ben view" room. PS: Looks like you have a great trip coming up before our Beyond TA! 🙂 (photo by turtles06)

Include an adapter plug as part of the gift. 😊

Here are a couple of threads you might want to look at

Not to mention a Google search, which immediately turns up relevant info

The credit only applies to the first person on the reservation, who may use it on multiple shorex per port as long as they don’t conflict. The credit does not apply to the other guests on a reservation.

I never found the chocolate to be very good. Looked nice, but the taste was lacking. Perhaps that's also why so much was uneaten. (I'm not a baker, but I suspect there's a difference between the ingredients used on a small scale and those used for a huge buffet of chocolate treats.)

It isn’t “technically” not allowed, it isn’t allowed. Period. And it’s because cruise lines can’t depend on people to be honest that they require both adults on a reservation to have the drink package even if one of them is a light or non-drinker and doesn’t want it but the other does. Pretty sad that one of your first three posts on CC was to ask if you can get away with cheating. If your friends can’t afford their own drinks, then buy them for them.

I should have been clearer. That *was* the Global Entry line. Everyone else was in a snaked line that looked hours long.

And now when you arrive back in the U.S. (at least at some airports) they don’t look at your fingerprints — it’s just a scan of your passport and facial recognition.

Congratulations on your first CC post (after more than 7 years here)! Many if not most folks who frequent this forum have been on Panama Canal cruises; please do some reading here in this forum as part of your foundational research. Your questions are far too general (especially without a specific itinerary). More important, there's a forum here on CC specifically dedicated to Viking Ocean, where you should post your inquiry (as well as do a search), especially since Viking includes shorex in its cruise fare. That's the most likely place to find folks who have taken those shorex. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/689-viking-ocean/ In fact, a search just for "Panama" in that forum quickly turned up relevant threads, including:

Yes, it is specific to NCL. But from your posts, the foundational information that you most need relates far more to the places/countries you might be visiting than to any specific cruise line, especially NCL for which these itineraries are new. Which is why the very first person who replied to you here immediately directed you to the Northern Europe forum. Respectfully, I think you would really benefit by spending some time reading relevant threads there; get a feel for cruising to Greenland and/or Norway. We have a Norway cruise booked for next summer; it's on HAL, but one of the most important places I went to learn about cruising to Norway and about the fjords and the cruise ports was CC's Northern Europe forum. Now I can make intelligent decisions about HAL's shorex, private shorex, and DIY.

You’re really in the wrong forum for the information you are seeking. There is an entire forum here on CC devoted to Northern Europe ports of call, including Norway and Greenland. I strongly suggest you read up there, do searches, etc. And perhaps additional research elsewhere about Greenland in particular, where I would not describe the ports as “cities.”

Here you go. I'm flattered you remember it!

It might not. When my wife renewed her GE about four years ago, no interview was required. She just did an early renewal application now, and again was approved without an interview. See my comment above; it seems to be very random as to who is selected for an interview during the renewal process.

It doesn't necessarily. When my wife and I renewed GE several years ago, she was approved for renewal immediately with no interview. I had to be interviewed (in person, this was pre-pandemic). At the interview, I asked the agent about this, and she said it was random.

It is. 🙂 (Gatun Locks, photo by turtles06)

It's not correct that you can't use your balcony at night. What you can't do is open the balcony doors when light is on inside your suite, which would then leak out onto the balcony. Have a small flashlight handy, keep it lowered and shaded, and go out and in carefully. And be VERY careful, whatever the time of day, opening and closing the heavy sea door; don't let it slam on or catch your hand, fingers, etc.

Thanks for any info! Since you’ll be in a suite, just ask the concierge, I think he or she would know about those changes (or could easily find out). You will love starting your day with breakfast in Moderno or Cagneys (whichever space is being used for that meal, usually Moderno).

Have a great crossing! We’d certainly love to hear your thoughts about any changes made during the dry dock. And if you are able to find out whether the tub/shower combo in the Club Balcony Suites and the Penthouse Suites have been replaced by stall showers, lots of folks would appreciate knowing. Thanks and enjoy your cruise!

Also in the Penthouse suites. I sure hope they get rid of those tub/shower combos on the Gem.

No. I'm sure that would have been awesome. We were on HAL's 21-day Voyage of the Vikings, from Copenhagen to NY by way of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and the Canadian Maritimes. A fabulous itinerary. And folks cruising these areas need to remember that weather can really affect the itinerary. (True everywhere, of course.)

It’s my understanding from what I have read here and on other sites that the Gem has been in dry dock in Europe for about two weeks and has about another week to go. Her next cruise leaves Barcelona on December 8, the transatlantic bringing her back to the United States.