Gourmet Gal

This early? I book my non-cruise vacations 2 years in advance! Just make sure you’re well-insured. I wouldn’t think twice especially trying to use an award for flights. But why are you so locked in to Iberia? Never book a flight to arrive on another continent on day 1 of a cruise. Always come in at least 1 day in advance.

The masks provided on my last cruise were the low-quality basic surgical type masks. I would recommend taking some kn95’s for crowded areas and busses if you want to make a good attempt to protect against Covid. I don’t think masks are required now.

A good TA can save you money, time and headache. If they are affiliated with a large consortium there can be perks such as comped hotel nights, hotel upgrades, usually breakfast included and hotel credits. They can search flights for you and book without charging extra fees. They can call SS on your behalf with questions you may have. If you were using SS Air that is especially important as they can be difficult to contact. A well-travelled TA can offer excellent advice on itinerary pre and post cruise hotel/guide recommendations and airport transport. It’s definitely worth having an advocate if there are problems before or during your travels. None of these perks will add any additional cost to your trip. I have an extensive trip coming up and my TA provided an extra hotel night and a full day private tour in my final city. Breakfast is always included and we almost always have an upgraded room or suite and hotel credit along with early check-in and late check-out. There are usually gifts along the way as well. By the way, I lifted most of this post from a post I made on another thread in this forum. You can always just create a search in a forum for info as so many questions have been asked before. Happy Trails!

Doesn’t seem like that much of a differentiator to me. I really don’t like dressing up to the formal level on vacation but I’m not going to miss out on great service, beautiful ship and ideal itinerary because of it. Do the pro-formal cruisers choose SS only because of the 2 or 3 formal nights? Perhaps some do but I think there are other factors at work here. The lovely environment is conducive to never feeling over-dressed anyway so I don’t think it’s a game changer for that pro-formal crowd if there is some easing of the “code”.

It looks like some incremental easing of the “code” has been happening as well as more tolerance for those who make an effort without complying 100%. The good news for the SS veterans is there’s no prohibition against dressing up.

Poke nachos are really good, too! Poke over fried wontons with Dragon sauce.

Pronounced Pokay. It’s Hawaiian and has evolved over the years to include soy and sesame seasonings. Poke is basically seasoned raw fish and a poke bowl is poke over rice. Different from a chirashi bowl which has a greater variety of components and the fish is not pre-seasoned. And both are delicious and healthy if you can handle the sodium.

Are you saying the policy no longer allows deviation or just in your case?

Well, if pax don’t have to mask the first 5 days then why bother with new crew masking? Personally, I mask in any crowded area. There’s still plenty of virus around and some countries are surging, over 1K people are still dying every week in the US. Covid generally seems to be waning but I still practice some common sense precautions to avoid being sick and ruining my or other’s vacations.

If they are attempting Neapolitan style pizza then they’re really failing miserably. Neapolitan does not just mean thin-crust….thin-crust could be New York style! Neapolitan pizza has a thin, pillowy, very soft texture not the dry, chewy crust I encountered on the Moon. 48 hour proofing is the norm for Neapolitan.

The inability to cancel and rebook is especially galling.

Whisper is even smaller than Muse and is one of the oldest ships in the fleet. Having been on it in rough seas I would try to avoid.

Outside of OBC the perks would be the same. There’s not much to spend OBC on. My TA will usually gift me a full-day tour before or after the cruise if extending my trip and if booking a non-cruise line hotel there’s always early check-in, late check-out, breakfast, hotel credit, upgrades, etc. She’ll also book my air without any additional fees. She also gives excellent advice regarding trip insurance and handles most communication. I say most because with Tauck I will still respond directly with excursion choices if there are any that need to be arranged in advance.

Is it not listed anywhere in the T&C for your fare? If not then you should have a case but if they still balk I wouldn’t blame you for cancelling the booking…if that’s even possible with P2P. Seems confusing and not a motivator to book with SS.

Trip insurance is a must these days, especially for river cruises.

Just a note, “designer” jeans are just jeans and not the best choice for an elegant dinner. Black slacks can work in a variety of ways day to evening depending on occasion. If you have space in your luggage there are now some really great midi skirts and culottes that work well day to evening and are no shorter than cropped pants. I cannot imagine a venue on a river cruise that would require dresses, even a concert in Vienna unless it’s an actual ball - not likely for a boatload of tourists.

How disappointing. I would feel very motivated to cancel both bookings and press the point that the advertising is false. However, Scenic may have already covered themselves with legalese, either online or in your documents, allowing for substitutions or that not all equipment will be available. Perhaps consider another line and ask your TA to go to bat for you.

Just an observation but you could drive from Minneapolis to Rochester faster than your layover outbound and inbound. Looks like you have 1hr 45 min. at CDG. That’s a little tight but if flights are on time should be fine. You may be able to look up which terminals are likely to be your flights’ incoming and departing. Otherwise, be prepared to walk as fast as you can. As for Basel, it’s a lovely town but there are lots of beautiful places to go in Switzerland by train or car. Switzerland is very easy to drive - the roads and tunnels are marvels. We ended a cruise in Basel and drove to Lausanne, stayed a couple nights then on to Interlaken and Lucerne for several more days. I never sailed on Viking so not sure how their air works. If they haven’t yet actually purchased and issued the tickets yet I would think you could make changes if they operate as other cruise lines do. I would also definitely look at all the routing independently to see if there are better flight or routing options with an eye towards that CDG layover. HOP is a regional owned by Air France. If you are in business class you should be able to select your seats. It’s a short flight so perhaps it may not matter?

Well, sounds like you’re short on time. I tend to stay multiple weeks whenever I go there. I would need 3 days in each city.

I would never miss a chance to spend a night or multiple nights in Paris! What exactly is your reason for hesitating?

Yeah, that Tony. Such a classy guy. He would have fit right in on an SS cruise, being such a stickler for proper attire.

Wish I could pay more income taxes, too, said nobody - ever.

Lot’s of comments about Oregon pinots. They’re are certainly some great ones but the CA Anderson Valley pinots can be pretty fabulous too.

Yes to Bulgari and yes, yes.

Nice article but it’s business as usual for Tauck and very typical. I’ve had several palace, winery and ranch meals with them. It’s something they do rather well. My favorite special meal was at the bull ranch in the Camargue. Wonderful hospitality from the family, great meal, music and then a hayride tour of the pastures to see the beautiful horses and bulls.