CurlerRob

One encouraging thing is the speedy issuance of the Marine Safety Alert - coming only a few months after the accident. That draws the attention of all of the cruise lines and helps with safety for all pax. Would that the Sky final report was anywhere near as timely. I get the impacts of Covid and the higher complexity level, but 4 years without "lessons learned" is too long, IMO. 🍺🥌

Ditto to @Camden lady - we were in 5024 for the 2019 Wake of the Vikings segment of the WC. Zero noise issues from the stairs or lifts and good access to the laundry and the lounge. Plus, you get to hang out with "affluent" neighbours! 🍺🥌

It strikes me as two extremely heavy travel days. Early disembarkation in order to catch the 0815 train; best part of 7 hours on the trip to Oslo; limited time in Oslo depending on your flight to AMS; transfer from Oslo to the airport; then the overnight in AMS and flight home. We are on Saturn (hopefully) a few days earlier and had planned it as disembark July 5 with train to Oslo. Full day in Oslo July 6, then fly home from Oslo July 7th. That at least provides one full day in Oslo (which we've visited before). Only you know you and can assess your preferences ... best of luck! 🍺🥌

I edited my post - blanking it, as it was in the wrong thread. "Error" was the reason for my edit, it was not a commentary of any sort - we can't delete posts once made, only edit them. 🍺🥌

I was indeed referring to ship tours when I posted the following - which is valid in my experience. "Not always. While most cruise lines will do the best they can to delay sailing, there are circumstances that force them to leave - tidal windows, expiry times for the dock, or weather, to mention a few. What they will do is get you back to the ship, but that may take some time and the travel and living conditions are occasionally less than stellar." An example - a South Pacific trip on HAL years ago featured a stayover ship excursion in "over the ocean rooms" at Moorea. Pax left the ship in Papeete on day 1, were ferried to Moorea for the stay and were to be picked up at the regular ship call to Moorea on day 2. Weather made it impossible to collect the pax on day 2 - the ship could not wait and after a "drive by" at Moorea, had to head out for Rangiroa. Pax from Moorea had to wait a day until transport to Papeete was safe, stay over a night there, then were flown to catch up with the ship. They lost a couple of days and the best available transport and lodging was not the best - a tough go after the ultra-luxury overnighter in Moorea! But, HAL helped them rejoin the ship in time for the journey back to San Diego. 🍺🥌

Clever little device - but it appears that in order to set up the hotspot, you will need to know the password for the ship's WiFi network - which is different than the login credentials one uses if you purchase internet and access it via Navigator. That info might be hard to come by. Please let us know how it works out when you have tried it ... Bedankt. 🍺🥌

Not always. While most cruise lines will do the best they can to delay sailing, there are circumstances that force them to leave - tidal windows, expiry times for the dock, or weather, to mention a few. What they will do is get you back to the ship, but that may take some time and the travel and living conditions are occasionally less than stellar. Good to read your positive experience, however. 🍺🥌

Many have tried, on multiple cruise lines, but I've not seen any success. The issue is what do you connect your router to? The various ethernet cables in the cabin are either not easily accessible or transmission is blocked. I'd be happy to learn otherwise ... 🍺🥌

No. The type of hotspot you appear to be referring to is created when a phone connects to the internet through the cellular data network, then shares access to that connection to other devices. If he buys an internet logon (accessed through wifi), it will be restricted to one user at a time. You can purchase separate connections if you need to both be online at the same time. Two other points - at sea, you will find that the ship has a cellular network - one of them is called "Cellular at Sea". Unless you are independently wealthy, don't use it for connectivity - it's extremely expensive and most cell plans don't allow roaming on it (esp. Canadian ones). Secondly, "wifi" is just the way a device connects to the internet - it's not the internet service itself. You'll find that wifi is available on the ship for connection via the Navigator app to selected services, even if you don't pay for an external internet hook. 🍺🥌

... and just in case that is not the correct cruise, go here and select your ship and month: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/321-oceania-roll-calls/ 🍺🥌

Clay, the walk is quite tolerable, although I'd expect more like 30 minutes, as you'll have to cross a number of streets and a few of the sidewalks are a bit rough. A more likely concern is the weather - it's Bergen, so it's either raining, or about to! Our experience (pre-pandemic) is that taxis were readily available on disembarkation day - but if you or @SempreMare are on the early train, it might be worth booking one. 🍺🥌

I second @RuthC's advice. Apart from the chairs, etc., it's amazing how noisy the waves in a pool can be if you encounter enough weather to get it rocking, but not enough for the crew to drain it! 🍺🥌

One nautical meaning of "commission" is to "start up". The phrase "shore power onboard" verges on being an oxymoron, but may mean one of the following: Work is being completed to allow the ship to connect to shore power when docked and avoid the use of engines for some of the ship's power needs, or, work is being done to permit the supply of "shore-like" power onboard the ship (i.e. provide power to outlets in some areas of the ship). My bet would be on the first, but in either case, they appear to be undertaking some final electrical work that needs the services of a major port. Just a guess. 🍺🥌

Not your request for a current one, but the thread prompted me to dig this one out. 2015 in Ny Alesund. 🍺🥌

Apparently your knowledge of Bermuda business dress is somewhat deficient ... 🍺🥌

Since @Peregrina651 rightly corrected me, here's a recommendation for an Amalfi tour. While based in Sorrento, they will pick up in Naples. We have used this firm several times - if you contact them, you may wish to ask for Tony as your guide - he's outstanding! (Caveat - all usages pre-covid). https://www.aldolimos.com/ 🍺🥌

Thank you - late night and I mixed up tour shares with tour recommendations. 🤬 🍺🥌

You should find your Roll Call here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?type=forums_topic&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles&nodes=787&q=May CC asks us not to offer specific tour recommendations on the main board, but you will find many on the Roll Calls. If you post your question there, I have one for an Amalfi tour. Cheers. 🍺🥌

Is that new? I purchased TripMate insurance for a cruise a few years ago - it was ultimately cancelled by Viking due to the pandemic, but the documentation I received was marked for Canadians. TripMate has many policy versions to comply with various US state regulations - I took this one as just one more version. 🍺🥌

In Bergen, I'd recommend the Floibanen funicular up to the top of Mt. Floyen for hiking and views. As @RuthC says, there town is easy and interesting to explore on foot, as well For Alesund - the HoHo bus was an unexpected treat - and took us to an outlook that was worth the entire price ... 🍺🥌 x

Agreed. Many people are completely unaware that a scheduled test (even a simple, regular blood test) or a referral to a specialist "just for a look" are among the things that cause one to be deemed "not stable" and may preclude coverage. Only the individual can make the call as to whether the additional cost for pre-existing coverage is worth it, but being well informed is critical. 🍺🥌

That reminded me ... on a HAL world cruise some years ago, that is exactly what happened. We discovered this the following year, when the Hotel Manager made light of our then-current provisioning issues by saying "at least this time it's not TP". Needless to say, the attempt at levity was not well received, especially by pax who had experienced that shortage! 🍺🥌

A quick Google search shows a great deal of information about Rinca Island - for example: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1820452-d3253186-Reviews-Rinca_Island-Rinca_Komodo_National_Park_Komodo_East_Nusa_Tenggara.html Rinca Island is part of the park. The "might see" language your are concerned about is a normal disclaimer for any wildlife viewing excursion - it was present on our ShoreEx both times we visited Komodo Island - and despite the disclaimer, there were lots of critters to observe. Rinca may even be a bit less overrun with local sales folks. On Komodo, you have to run a gauntlet of t-shirt and crafts sales in order to get back to the tender dock. Enjoy your visit - be sure to pay close attention to the guide's instructions for your safety. 🍺🥌

Yes, good input for we foreigners. We have not been frequent visitors, but stumbled on the issue ahead of time. We found it easy to use up our Scottish notes in Scotland 🍻🍷. The other one that caught us out in LHR one time was the seemingly continuous "revitalization" of BoE notes from paper to plastic. We had an older £10 refused there. I see that the older versions of the £20 and £50 denominations are shortly to suffer the same fate! 🍺🥌