gskimmel

On 2/19/2024 at 9:48 AM, RMLLEL said:

Hi.  This will be our first Virgin voyage.  We are interested in a Mega Rock Star Suite.  It says that the Thermal Suite is included for Mega Rock Star Suites.  Can we use it anytime of the day?  Do we have to make reservations to go there?  Is there a time limit for how long we can stay at the Thermal Suite for Mega Rock Star Cabins?  

Thanks for any help.

We were in a Mega Rock Star suite in a few weeks ago on the Valiant Lady.  You can go to the thermal suites anytime they are open (I thing their hours were 6am - midnight).  But I recommend that you lower your expectations.  I am a big spa going person and been in various thermal suites on different cruise lines.  With our Virgin cruise, I only went once.  It was such a disappointment that I didn't bother going again.  No heated tile loungers and the steam and sauna rooms were just OK.

I'm still waiting for them to locate my missing $1700+.  Worst accounting system ever.  Their documentation shows that I paid in full $8k for a cruise but they are only saying they can only locate $6300.  Two weeks later and I still haven't heard anything back.

I only received partial refunds for booked excursions and partial refund for the cruise.  They still owe me around $2k and I've called several times trying to get this resolved.

1 hour ago, ociana said:

Just to be clear about the year, you have to make the booking and apply the FCC to a voyage within 1 year from your original voyage sail date but you do not need to book a ship that actually sails by that date.  I asked specifically about this because our cruise booking next year sails 3 days after the one we had this year.  

I couldn’t get anyone on the phone and went by what was in the fine print. A $16k FCC would have been a lot anyway. Changed our Virgin to a river cruise since we already had plane tickets. Hopefully they will process the refund soon. But I think we also get a 25% FCC. So if I am able to apply that to a future cruise beyond a year, that would be nice. 

We opted for the refund. Hopefully, it won’t take them that long but we paid in full in April to take advantage of the 20% discount. Would have taken the FCC if it wasn’t limited by a year (already have plans made for next year. 

On 4/22/2022 at 5:47 PM, Fogcityca13 said:

You can email them, also make sure their email isn’t going to your spam folder. I’ve contacted them with a few questions and they have got back to me pretty quickly. They could do better with making the process better. It took a bit of digging to find the contact info in the app. In app: click Me at the bottom, then click on your profile picture, at the bottom of the page is the Contact your Rockstar Agent.

 

redgloveservice@virginvoyages.com

I sent them an email 8 days ago and have not received a reply.

1 hour ago, rebeccac said:

Our cruise is July 8 and shore excursions became available on February 23.  Not sure if it makes a difference that we are in a Rockstar suite.  

We are in a mega rockstar suite. So far, our “dedicated rockstar agent” has yet to reach out to us. Not sure if that is just on-cruise or includes pre-cruise. 

About how far in advanced are shore excursions available in the app?  Our cruise leaves first week of October  but nothing shows in the app. 

If you are in the US, you can still get travel insurance but outside of Virgin. Just google travel insurance and you will find lots of options. That’s what we do. The  insurance this way is often times cheaper and better than what cruise lines offer. 

In October, we will be in the Mediterranean and staying in 15283A.  Do you think noise will be an issue?  

you need to make an appointment to use the fitness center and can only go during your appointment (this was the situation for Iceland)

On 9/9/2021 at 4:00 PM, zukecruiser said:

First time cruising on Viking Ocean on the Viking Venus next June.  Have final payment due on this September 30 and wondering if Viking will delay the payment a month or so due to Covid concerns.  Thanks for any advice.

The only way to do this is if you have two Viking cruises booked at the same time.  They will then allow final payment 6 months prior to sailing.  Otherwise, good luck!

Here is an updated article:  https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-to-reimpose-entry-ban-on-travellers-from-us-5-other-third-countries-on-monday-sources-say/

Seems the decision was made on Friday and will be announced on Monday.  I guess we will find out for sure tomorrow.  But like FlyerTalker said, member states are not legal bound by it.  

I spoke with them this morning.  I was told that passengers do not need to wear masks throughout the cruise and passengers do not need to be vaccinated.  They only need to provide a negative test prior to the cruise.  This was a deal breaker for us.  

I am a bit surprised there isn’t much official information about such a major change taking place so soon.  We only have two sources:  a single news article that says the start date is July 26 and the news section of the Iceland government website that says the start date is July 27.  I checked Delta’s website and they say we just need to show proof of vaccination (we fly out on July 25).  I checked Iceland Air to see if they mention anything but I didn’t see anything there either.  I spent the entire day looking for testing options for us as it seems not all tests are the same.  Some tests go deeper in the nasal than others and not all tests are accepts by all airlines/countries.  From what I can tell, we can either have the rapid antigen test or the RT-PCR test.  The airports offer the PCR test and provide results within an hour but those cost $250.  There are also places like Sameday Health that offer RT-PCR test results within 16 hours or the rapid antigen test with results within 30 minutes.  Originally, we were going to go for the PCR test, but I think we will just go for the antigen test.  We are so busy working at home that we hardly go out so if we do by chance get covid, it would be from airport to ship, which would not show on this test.

I hope Iceland posts something official soon because the article contradicts itself.  In the beginning of the article, it states they will accept PCR or Antigen test results but in the second to the last paragraph it reports the minister of health saying visitors need to present a negative PCR test.  Although upon second read this might mean unvaccinated visitors will need PCR tests and vaccinated can have PCR or Antigen.

This is confusing.  We depart July 25th but arrive in Iceland on July 26th AM.  Not sure if we are required as our plane departs before this starts but it lands on the day it starts.  But I guess it doesn't hurt to get tested to just to confirm.

39 minutes ago, ValarieDennis said:

We started masking 2 weeks before our upcoming cruise. Didn’t want to get exposed 5 days before we sail and maybe test positive day 1.

I have a similar policy.  A few years ago, I went to CVS a few days before going on a cruise and someone was coughing and sneezing in the same aisle I was.  Three days later, I had a 103 degree fever on the ship.  Spent most of the cruise in bed.  Ever since, I isolate myself as much possible a week before I go on vacation.  We are now 10 days away from sailing so I won't go to the gym and if I go outside and/or am in public, I wear a mask.

14 hours ago, Envelope21 said:

I have been trying to reach Arctic Shorex for 3 days with no response. I want to have them confirm that if we are a little late tendering ashore on our July 17 Sky cruise stop at Seydisfjordur on July 21, that they will wait for us. Since the excursion is non-refundable, I want to make sure we won’t be left behind. 

They responded to me right away.  I was told they cater these tours for cruise ship passengers.  When you book your tour, they ask for the name of your ship.  If the ship is late, they will wait for you.  I ended up booking two trips with them and got a 5% discount.

2 hours ago, AKexplorer said:

Unfortunately we are not doing the viking transfer. I am just weighing options of booking an early private tour to a place like the Blue or Sky Lagoon versus dropping or bags at the ship and then exploring on our own with a city day pass for the museums and such. If we can't hand off our luggage then that limits our options somewhat. I believe there may be lockers for storing luggage at the bus station but adding in those costs just make a private tour more cost effective when including the convenience factor.

We are flying in the day before and are going to Sky Lagoon.  It is brand new and from what I hear, the locals love the place.

Is anyone familiar with Arctic Shorex?  They are offering the Elves/Puffin tour at half the cost of Viking (minus the lunch) and they are offering Dynjandi, which Viking is sold out completely (and half the cost of Viking, too).  I contacted them and was told they tailored the tours for our ship and our ship will be the only ship in port.  Seems almost to be too good, which is causing me to hesitate in canceling the Elves Viking trip and rebooking everything with Artic Shorex.  (This is for the July 27  Viking Jupiter itinerary)

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

They are allowing this on the current cruise. Those folks were notified just before they left. I do not believe anyone on the July 3rd cruise has reported if they have been similarly notified.  We are on July 10th and have not. 

I asked about the July 27th sailing this morning and was told we are still restricted to Viking only excursions and cannot explore on our own.  Hope this changes by the time we sail.

I've seen this question posted but no answers (unless I missed it).  Does anyone have any details on the Footsteps of the Elves excursion?  Just wondering what exactly it is given the length and cost of the excursion.

18 hours ago, shipster60 said:

A few people have commented that they have done the same. I made a direct call to the Keflavik airport Enterprise office. They said the Enterprise facility at the port is still closed and probably will be in July. The closest drop off location is at a bus terminal that's a 10 min. drive from the port.  We would then need to take a bus or taxi to the port. I wanted to report this for those that assumed, like us, that if they let you choose the port drop off location online, it would be available. 

We've decided against this route. Our goal was to go to the Blue Lagoon after arriving at 7 am on the way to the port. We thought a rental car would allow us to do a little touring of Reykjavik on our way. We're now renting a private car with driver from AirportDirect. It will cost a little more but will be easier for us. 

The Enterprise website said that although the port location is closed, cars can still be dropped off there. Unless I misread it. 

8 hours ago, shipster60 said:

Thanks to you and Peregrina for directing me to Google maps. That was our thought, that we could drop our bags first, then the walk would be easier. The Enterprise location is now a "drop-only" location, so I doubt there will be anyone attending it. I plan to call for more information tomorrow. 

I”’d be interested in what you learn. We also have a car booked with them. We are arriving a day early and figured it might be nice to have a car to take us around, park at the hotel and then drop off at the port on day of sailing.