CDNPolar

No, the AmaMagna does have self-serve laundry. I have no idea where on the AmaMagna it is, because I was on the AmaMagna, but the link below says that it is available. Yes the SA and SB suites receive one bag of laundry done by the laundry service. https://www.amawaterways.com/welcome-aboard-amamagna#onboard-facilities-amenities

Always, always use the government sites for any Visa of any type anywhere in the world.

For example, for AmaWaterways they offer Canadians a Travel Waiver that you can CFAR up to 31 days before the cruise and receive any non-refundable amount in a FCC and that must be used within TWO years.

Personally - this is my thing - I only buy insurance outside the cruise line. I often go early or stay after the cruise and the cruise line insurance covers you for the cruise only. I don't want to mess with two policies.

Many insurance companies will not insure Future Cruise Vouchers either. So, if you cancel and the cruise line issues you equivalent value in future vouchers, some insurance companies will not cover these. So, if you cancel once or the cruise line cancels and issues vouchers, and that pays for the future trip, then you may not be covered if you have to cancel again, which means you lose that entire value.

If you have sufficient data on your eSIM, you are close enough to shore to probably always be connected to that. If you need extra "power" you can just connect with your eSIM. Just make sure that you are moving to WiFi when you rebound the ship so that you are not draining your eSIM data.

Any close quarters you are at risk. We have sailed river cruises where everyone seems healthy in the beginning and then by the end of the cruise everyone is coughing. We have NOT gotten sick on some and have gotten sick on others. Don't take offence to this statement, but just because "Facebook" is telling you this does not mean it is everywhere and a huge risk. I left all Facebook pages for cruises and cruise lines because I found the they were incredibly negative.

To be honest we have never tried on a river ship, but consider that they do work on Viking Ocean but the walls of a river ship are not necessarily constructed with steel in between. You may find that they work in certain areas of the cabin only. Also, unless you are getting a larger cabin, the standard cabin does not have a lot of open wall space for hooks. I personally don't think that there is much space at all to put a hook - unless you are getting a deck 3 suite cabin.

Personally as both a Viking and an AmaWaterways past guest, I would choose AmaWaterways. Look at their land packages pre and post cruise. The beauty of AmaWaterways is that the same Cruise Director is with you throughout all the land portions and the cruise portion. This is not the case with Viking.

Yes, this is everywhere on Socials direct from AmaWaterways.

Perhaps this is not what you want to hear, but the only things that I carry with me is the most immediate needed items which include medications and wallets/passports. The rest goes with the luggage - tech and all. If we are on a cruise line extension, and we are leaving the ship on an extension and the luggage is in the body of the bus, and going to be in that same bus until we get to the hotel, I am okay with that. If we are on an independent extension, then we go directly to the hotel. If the rooms are not ready (90% of the time they are not) we leave everything with the hotel. This is not to say that something cannot happen, but in general and after too many years of travelling and doing it this way, I am not afraid. We don't carry with us when we travel expensive jewelry or anything that we would be really upset if lost. Don't trust the safes in the cruise cabin or hotel - they all have codes that open them. These so called "safes" just make us feel better.

UK insurance is different from USA and Canada which is the most that is discussed here. Not every insurance company will compensate you for missed ports, and therefore missed private excursions. The best way to know and understand this is to call the insurance company. This is all down to the "Reason" that you missed the excursion and your insurance will either cover a missed port or not. Call the insurance company. Let us know the result.

I won't go into detail, but the questioning about countries visited had nothing to do with whatever I may have put on my original application. This alleged country visit was way after anything that I may have put in any application or re-application. I know this, because my renewal was just as Covid hit, and my interview was suspended because of Covid. When we came out of Covid, I was still using the expired NEXUS card, and I made no updates to any information. This travel happened coming out of Covid and before my interview. We travelled quite a bit and to new countries also. They knew all of this. You don't have to tell them, they know it. The Officer asked: "Oh, interesting, why did you travel to XXX?" My response was: "I have never travelled to XXX" Officer staring me down, and then came back with: "Hmmmm, must be a mistake in our system, I will correct it." Then he typed a good paragraph and carried on. I feel that there are 'tests' given sometimes to see how you might respond.

You asked what kinds of questions do they ask? I was asked about several global countries that I have visited during US interview. I was a bit taken back by this but of course did not show it, but yes, they asked me about my trips to South East Asia and other places I have been. I think questions can be benign and general or very pointed and specific as in my case.

Let's hope that the cruise ships take this to heart and keep standards up. If ships start to report wide-spread outbreaks then they are only hurting themselves. I get that there needs to be oversight to keep things under control in a larger sense, but it is time for the cruise lines to really embrace this themselves. I would like to see the cruise lines come out with a statement as to how they are managing their own cleanliness now.

I get you on this. We have sometimes had brief periods of anxiety finding the "Statue on the North side of the Square" where the meeting place is, but with Google Maps you can generally get a good sense of where you are going in advance. When meeting a vehicle, we have emailed the tour aggregator - for us usually Viator - and asked them to give a description.

Don't just read the policy. Policy language can be confusing and vague which means open to interpretation. If you have a family member at home that is not well, and you are planning to travel, call the insurance company of choice before purchasing the cruise and ask them pointed questions about your situation. My family member is not well. They are stable now, but we don't know by the time we travel. Will we be covered? I have had friends afraid to do this saying that the insurance company will know in advance, and might not cover me. No, they will give you the absolute answer that you need to hear. Navigating the language of travel policies requires a University Degree with a Legal Major. Carefully contemplate your situation, and call, talk, investigate before you purchase the travel.

We never assume that the air quotes of the cruise line are the best rates out there. We often find better rates on our own. Always shop. There CAN be advantages booking air with the cruise line if they have a full fledged air department with an "emergency department" when you are travelling. I can only speak to Viking and AmaWaterways, but they will do their utmost best to get you to the ship if you have any issues while in transit. You call them and they work it out. If you are on your own you have to work it out. This is why we have a few things that we do to mitigate risk when we book our own air: 1) If the cruise starts and ends in different ports, and you have the option of going either direction, then we choose the embarkation in a country/city that we can fly direct to without any connection. 2) We always go at least one day early.

We currently choose Aeroplan as our "mileage" points for cards and we have several Aeroplan cards that all feed into the household Aeroplan account. The Privilege card is the Household card and every food, travel, dining out, or bill is put through this card making it easy to reach that limit. I do have friends that ask how we accumulate so many points as they are paying for their groceries or the restaurant bill in cash. Simple. We rarely use cash. I almost never have cash with me. We maximize wherever we can to maximize the rewards.

I get this, but we are not shopping for offers when we are flying. We are there to get somewhere and we are not the ones that volunteer anyway, so we will be in the lounge. The other piece of the $599 Privilege Card, is that you get a Companion ticket at a much reduced rate each year. This alone pays for our annual fee. The companion rates are buy one economy fare, and for Europe get the second for $499. That is the Europe rate, there is also a rate for North American and the APAC region. We only fly economy to Europe so this benefit saves us at least the annual cost each year and then there are the additional benefits of this card. Pearson is a horrible airport in Terminal One waiting at the gate, so this is a little piece of enjoyment we have also with this card - the Maple Leaf Lounge.

They are often better than no lounge, so don't take my comments above as completely negative. In my opinion, unless you are in the exclusive lounges that are only for Business and First passengers, none of them are great. We do like Toronto Maple Leaf Lounge and we also like the BA lounges in Heathrow.

My opinion is, that if you can get into a lounge, there is often benefit, but we find that these lounges are what I would refer to as "secondary" in quality and size and often we go in, look and if the food looks edible, we will have a snack and a glass of wine and then we exit. We have not found these to be lounges that you "lounge" in... If that makes sense. We like to have them for long connections in Asia but they are not in all airports.

My understanding from talks with AmaWaterways is that you can book air when the airlines release the schedule. You can also have that ticketed at that time, but you must pay a deposit against the air that is non-refundable and you pay the balance at 90 days when the final payment is due. So, my understanding is that it is ticketed when you pay the deposit, and lose that deposit if you cancel before 90 days, but then after 90 days, you lose more on a sliding scale. Call the AmaWaterways air department and ask them for their rules.

I am Canadian, but I am sure our Application is similar if not the same - I just renewed my 10 year entry visa. My email address is in my signature if you want to ask me questions. We have family in China, so in and out of China is second nature to us.

The Viking site will give you recommendations on the gratuities for the guides and the drivers.