-Lew-

Stick with Celebrity!  We have done 50+ Princess cruises and for a number of reasons we won't do another one.

My suggestion would be to monitor each other's flights with free apps such at FlightView or FlightAware.  Each would require Wi-Fi or cell service.

If either is delayed, you won't want to spend time waiting in the baggage claim area.  I'd much rather wait in the cafeteria as suggested by @euro cruiser.

On 12/5/2023 at 11:47 PM, Mrsfrz said:

We have the Lancelot booked for next April but are thinking of trying to stay closer to the Pantheon. Has anyone stayed at the Little Queen Pantheon? Is the location that much better than the Lancelot?

Personally we like to stay in the area roughly bordered by the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.  Hotel Lancelot is 2.4km from the Pantheon...a 35 minute walk.

There are two lodgings named Little Queen Pantheon near the Pantheon.  One is at Campo de' Fiori, 5, the other at Via del Collegio Capranica, 4.  Both are much closer to the Pantheon.

We're doing a B2B out of Southampton next fall and thought we'd add three nights to the one provided by Regent at InterContinental London Park Lane.  After crunching the numbers we decided to do the pre-cruise stay on our own.

We're staying in a very nice hotel in the West End close to shows and Covent Garden plus arranged a transfer to Southampton on our own and still came out ahead by about £800 vs adding three nights to our stay at the InterContinental.

We're on the Sky TA right now in a PV1 with a slider.  We find it easy to keep the door open with a cushion on the track or Bungie cord.

What we find annoying is those with fixed doors allowing their door to slam when exciting or entering.  A little consideration would be welcome.

12 hours ago, smokeykat said:

I booked H10 Metropolitan just off Placa Catalunya and they are having a black Friday sale now Join the H10 club before you book and you will get 20% off booking this weekend only.

Thank you for the heads-up, @smokeykat.  We had a 10% discount for our October 2024 booking which I rebooked with the 20% discount.

10 minutes ago, Azulann said:

Joust heard from my friends who are on your TA on Viking Sky. They are having a great time. Lots of solos on board.

Beautiful weather so far...69° at 3:00pm.  Only 735 onboard...

@Ruthieofthesea is setting one up on the current Sky TA.  You might want to post your question over on that roll call.

Viking Saturn arrives in Pireaus on November 21st, so you should be able to check its dock location using Marine Traffic the day before you embark.

Enjoy your cruise...

My DW and I are currently sailing on our first Viking Ocean cruise on the Sky.  We embarked in Civitavecchia on October 6th and will disembark in Fort Lauderdale on November 30h.  We have sailed on about 65 cruises on various lines.  Our most recent experience before our current cruise was on Regent Splendor for 32 days in January and February of this year.

The two lines are more similar than different.  Some noticeable differences...

Excursions:  Viking offers one, sometimes two, included excursions in each port.  Regent offers many more included excursions plus some requiring payment.

Buffet:  The World Cafe's buffet offers much more than the one in Regent's La Veranda.  We sometimes enjoy dining casually in shorts after a day off the ship...most of the time we can't do that on Regent.

Suite layout:  Our room category on Viking is comparable to that on Regent.  Although the interior  square footage is about the same, Regent's balcony is much larger with much better furniture, including a large table for dining.  Regent's bathroom is much larger with two sinks, a shower, and tub.  There's also a large walkin closet.  Although there is plenty of drawer space on Sky, closet space is much smaller.

Laundry: Professional laundry service is free on Regent while available for a fee on Viking.  Both offer self-service laundries.

Entertainment:  Regent provided excellent evening entertainment with only a few repeated performances over 32 nights, including off-ship entertainers.  In a little over 16 days, entertainment on the Sky has been reduced to repeated on-ship entertainment.  There was some excellent off-ship entertainment during the first week, but that has sadly disappeared.

Alcoholic beverages:  All Included except for super high end on Regent; Viking requires purchase of an upgraded package for coctails and better wines.  Room service will provide a full bottle of wine or liquor for in-room use upon request at no charge.

Both lines are excellent...we're enjoying our Med cruise very much.

15 hours ago, crusin7 said:

We have low expectations from the airline after reading the reviews.

It appears you arrived 30 minutes early...not too shabby.

Looks like you will be following us across.  We're on the Viking Sky on our second day of an overnight in Livorno.  Enjoy your cruise...

On 11/8/2023 at 1:15 AM, Mudhen said:

 

5 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

I was going to ask about TV, from what I've seen. I'm fairly sure TV is still using the regular geo sats, nothing to do with starlink. 

We're in the eastern Med right now.  No issues with TV reception before or after the upgrade.

1 hour ago, PatriciaF said:

We are Princess Platinum cruisers but will probably not be back--ships are getting too big and the lower competitive rates have resulted in nearly inedible food.  Too many people, kids, photographers, and we seldom go into the smoky casino.  

We hear you loud and clear, @PatriciaF!  We left Princess after 50+ cruises for the reasons you mention and more.  Regent is now our go-to cruise line with Viking Ocean a close second.

2 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

We stayed in the hotel Smeraldo annex which is steps across the alley from hotel front door.

That is Not an issue.  But for anyone who stays there with a window facing the busy alley?

You WILL Get NOISE almost 24/7.  Quiet time is after midnight to 4:30Am.

After that, its a busy little street and you HEAR every car, truck and person walking/talking by.

We stayed at Hotel Smeraldo for five nights during the first week of October in a two-bedroom third floor apartment across the street from Roscioli Forno.  Our accommodation must have been better insulated than yours because, although it was noisy, it wasn't so loud that it was an issue for us.

We really enjoyed the location...within walking distance of all the sites, restaurants, shopping, etc. that make Rome so special for us.   An airport hotel would work for us only in the event of a late arrival or early departure.  Otherwise it's just too far removed from the action.

Do you think the captain knows Kuşadasi is in Turkey? 🙄

We received the following notice in our suites yesterday:

This morning the Speedtest app shows we're on SpaceX Starlink.  Performance numbers don't mean much right now as it appears they're still tweaking the system.

8 hours ago, kohanfam said:

Here is my research for late next year.

Where do the rating numbers you provide originate?

I've forgotten to turn on Airplane Mode a couple of times in the past.  I recently wrote the following Shortcut on my iPhone to automatically set Airplane Mode to ON at a predetermined time:

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.

2. Tap the + icon in the top-right corner of the screen to create a new shortcut.

3. Tap Add Action and search for Set Airplane Mode.

4. Tap Set Airplane Mode and toggle the switch to On.

5. Tap Next, then set the time you want the shortcut to run by tapping Time of Day*and selecting your desired time.

6. Tap Next, then tap Done.

     *NOTE: Time of day can easily be adjusted for an early or late sailaway.

4 hours ago, SJD117 said:

I suspect that off-ship entertainment means singers, dancers, etc. that aren’t part of Viking’s staff, but are brought on the ship to do one or more specialty performances that are geared toward the particular region.

Correct!  During our first segment from Civitavecchia to Venice, Lloyd Hollett, a British comedian performed two different shows.  He was halarious!  Search his name on YouTube.

Unfortunately no outside entertainers have appeared since.

4 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Also, what room categories (by name) did you compare on each ship?  And cost?   We like Viking's no children policy.  Did you experience many young'uns on Regent?

On Viking were in a PV1; On Regent we were in a Consierge D.

I don't have full cost information with me.  I can tell you the cost of the Viking cruise was paid with a number of 125% FCCs, so it would be difficult to come up with the real cost of this cruise a right now.

My DW and I are currently sailing on our first Viking Ocean cruise on the Sky.  We embarked in Civitavecchia on October 6th and will disembark in Fort Lauderdale on November 30h.  We have sailed on about 65 cruises on various lines.  Our most recent experience before our current cruise was on Regent Splendor for 32 days in January and February of this year.

The two lines are more similar than different.  Some noticeable differences...

Excursions:  Viking offers one, sometimes two, included excursions in each port.  Regent offers many more included excursions plus some requiring payment.

Buffet:  The World Cafe's buffet offers much more than the one in Regent's La Veranda.  We sometimes enjoy dining casually in shorts after a day off the ship...most of the time we can't do that on Regent.

Suite layout:  Our room category on Viking is comparable to that on Regent.  Although the interior  square footage is about the same, Regent's balcony is much larger with much better furniture, including a large table for dining.  Regent's bathroom is much larger with two sinks, a shower, and tub.  There's also a large walkin closet.  Although there is plenty of drawer space on Sky, closet space is much smaller.

Laundry: Professional laundry service is free on Regent while available for a fee on Viking.  Both offer self-service laundries.

Entertainment:  Regent provided excellent evening entertainment with only a few repeated performances over 32 nights, including off-ship entertainers.  In a little over 16 days, entertainment on the Sky has been reduced to repeated on-ship entertainment.  There was some excellent off-ship entertainment during the first week, but that has sadly disappeared.

Alcoholic beverages:  All Included except for super high end on Regent; Viking requires purchase of an upgraded package for coctails and better wines.  Room service will provide a full bottle of wine or liquor for in-room use upon request at no charge.

Both lines are excellent...we're enjoying our Med cruise very much.  At this point we're leaning toward Regent, but that could change as this cruise progresses.

21 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Gratuities are $20 per now.  If you prepay on MVJ.  If you wait in Europe it's 20 euros.  So the exchange rate makes it more expensive.

We're on the Sky cruising the Med and were charged $17US per night for gratuities for the first segment of the cruise.  Billing is done in US dollars.

1 hour ago, Kmkub said:

Literally in the thread title.

 

I can’t imagine tipping porters is related to a specific cruise line or itinerary. 

I responded to your follow up question regarding formal nights...not tipping. 🙄

4 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Now…. I haven’t seen any threads about formal nights. Any thoughts? 

Where...in Civitavecchia?

That's a topic for your cruise line board or roll call.

I register all our European travel with STEP...