CDNPolar

Dragging bags is a challenge in many European cities because of cobblestones, so we just use an Uber or a Taxi and go door to door. We choose to not be weighed down by the luggage when moving around.

Where we live in Canada we have all four seasons, and we can have extremes in both summer and winter meaning down to -30C or lower in the winter and +35C or higher in the summer. We however are "winter babies" and love the cool to cold. I guess we are just used to dressing for this weather. We would rather put on a sweater to protect against cold than take off something because it is too hot. This weather for river cruising is enjoyable to us.

Also never seen this in the line up of services.

If you are presenting as 2 at the host stand, you don't even have to ask, as they will just automatically seat you at a 2 top. However, if you are going in at 6pm, you should ask for a window 2 top, because there is one side that has a bank of 2 tops - I believe on the Port side - that are like "inside cabins" and not as prime in their location in our opinion.

In our opinion yes. We don't want a forward cabin of any category. We like our mid-ship cabin and book early to have the selection. We booked late for one cruise and there was only a forward cabin available and because the ship had empty cabins after embarkation Viking reluctantly allowed us to move two or three days in. The seas were rough and the motion and the noise in this deck 3 forward cabin was something that we could not tolerate.

With respect, if you have not gotten to the point of booking excursions, how can you say that this will be your first and last Viking cruise? You don't know what your experience will be and you may get all the excursions you want. We book the lowest category of cabin - always - and every category above us gets to book before us. We have never had an issue getting what we want in shore excursions. Everyone seems to have different stories here on booking excursions and dining reservations. Same with dining reservations, we have never booked in advance, we book on ship and we get the reservations we want. I personally wish that Viking would end these dates and times for booking because it seems to create a lot of stress.

Our experience was that Viking would not allow the 18 year old we were travelling with to drink alcohol.

I always travel with ear plugs, but I cannot wear the ones that are foam cone like ones... they don't fit, they don't block sound for me, and they fall out. I wear silicone ones that form to the ear and for me they are a game changer. I keep the smaller container by the bed and if needed, I put them in. They also block snoring sound - for me. These do NOT work for me: These are a game changer for me:

We book with Viking and as Canadians we don't qualify for Viking trip insurance. We are relegated to a Canadian insurance company. I will have to try to purchase out in advance again, I just know that in the past I was stopped in the quote because the dates were too far out.

Gotcha - sorry - this is how sometimes textual responses can be misintrepreted. Sorry - I absolutely took it the wrong way... guess because you quoted my post... Got it - all good.

I am sorry and no offence intended, but are you suggesting that I am promoting how to do this? I called it sketchy and in no way condoned what they were doing. Telling this story is no different than the others telling how some are disputing credit card charges.

Wow... I always thought that Silversea were held in quite high regard. This is interesting and definitely will look for your review.

I always state as a blanket that we do not book any connection under 2.5 hours in any part of the world that we fly. We are also ok with longer than that and have been known to choose 4+ hour connections when shorter options are available. 1.5 hours is more than enough time if your AC flight departs Alberta on time. If it does not then every minute that it is delayed is a minute of time that you don't have to make that connection. I don't think that we have been on a flight recently that has departed on time and our delays have been fairly significant in some cases. You luggage would be checked right through, and if you are AC to AC, then you should not have to do security again... but living in Toronto I have never done your connection so security may be involved in you going from a domestic arrival to an international connection.

Yeah, I just had lunch with a past colleague yesterday that cruise with their two young kids often. They go on one of the larger ships and lines as a favourite. They always book two cabins and they book one adult with one kid. Then somehow they only buy one drink package the the "owner" of that gets all the drinks for the other. I did not dig for details, but this seems sketchy to me what they are doing.

Exactly. We cruise on the lines that are mostly all inclusive, but Spa treatments and special wines are extra. If we want it we buy it. We have a spending budget at home. Food, restaurants, etc. When away we are not spending this budget at home, so blow it all on the stuff we want when cruising.

Question here, because we have never done this. And, this may be different in Canada than for the USA and other countries. We have cruises booked already for 2026, so more than a year out. We have paid our deposit on these cruises at $25 pp, and I get that you are doing this so that pre-existing are covered. In Canada however I don't think we can buy insurance more than a year out. I have gone online in the past to price insurance and when I keyed dates, I got popups saying my dates are too far out.

Ok... I get that you don't buy refundable air, however, if I am not mistaken even the non-refundable air if cancelled before departure allows you to keep a credit with the airline for one year or more where you pay fare increase and change fees, no? If this is the case, your insurance will not reimburse you for the cost of the air - or the change fees/fare difference - so you are in effect paying a higher price for your insurance if you are covering the cost of the flights? Right? For this reason, we have never covered the cost of our air in our insurance. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I am under the impression that you never completely lose the original price paid, but you may pay hefty change fees and fare differences... right?

Need more details! Why exactly are you hooked? 16 days seems extreme to me for a start on a TA. We are doing our first which is 6 days TA in October. We are doing this on Viking and although I am not worried as to what I will fill my time with, we do not play cards or board games, we are not interested in trivia, so what to fill our time. I will imagine that Viking will have lots of lectures on those days and we will likely attend all of those. Why are you hooked? More details please.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. For something like this, we look at weather. Are you travelling summer season in Europe? Shoulder season? Winter season? Consider also that once you are off the cruise ship, no one is going to see you wearing the same thing while on land in Europe. We have gotten to the point from where we had a different shirt for each evening on the ship, to we now wear the same shirt 2 or 3 times during the cruise. Not that we never make a mistake, but we have become so good at packing for all occasions and needs, but we also plan to wear many things twice, three times, and perhaps even more. Pants, bottoms, trousers, shorts, etc. We take very few options. As long as you are not spilling food/wine, then you can take far too many pieces here if you are not careful. These options also tend to be the heavier and more bulky option for packing. For warm destinations, we have a lot of polyester tops/shirts that can wash out in the sink and dry overnight if necessary. Shoes is another thing. We used to take far too many pairs. Now we take one for ship only evening wear, and two for walking around, one of which is on the feet when travelling. Does your cruise ship have free laundry? This is a consideration, or you just bite the bullet and on the last few days of the two week cruise you send a selection of things to the ship's laundry and pay for it. Don't over think this. This sometimes is a math equation. For socks and underwear, it is fresh for each day travelling plus a few extra. For everything else, it is how many times can I wear something and if you are travelling for 21 days and you can wear a top 3 times, then you take 7 + a 2 or 3 extra.

What have been your favourite cruise ship itineraries, cities, or countries that are 2SLGBT+ friendly? Also anywhere that you would NOT recommend where your experience has not been welcoming and pleasant?

Anyone cruising during Pride Month? Any specific cruise lines or ships that have Pride celebrations planned?

I personally am not bothered by what others wear, but do participate in these discussions by adding my observations. We dress how we dress, which is more elegant casual, because it make US feel better and we feel the evening is more of an event when we dress up a bit. The dress code on Viking is not stated as "casual" end of. The dress code on Viking is stated as "Elegant Casual". Big difference. What often comes into discussion here is that Viking have this posted, but the complaint is they don't always enforce it. It is quite clear with examples on their FAQ's What is the dress code? During the day, dress is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), slacks or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, swim shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for the Fitness Center, pool areas and Sports Deck. There are no “formal nights” in the evening; evening dress is “elegant casual” for all dining venues, performances and special events. On these occasions, required attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional; jeans are not permitted. The evening dress excludes World Café where the dress remains casual after 6:00 PM.

See, we prefer off season and cold seasons for River Cruises - or any cruise. We hate the heat. The Nile and Egypt was almost unbearable for us and would have been if the heat was humid heat. We did Treasures of the Rhine last year December/January and it rained every day. It was what I would say was "Cool" and damp. Being Canadian from central Canada, the temps for us were not cold, but it was damp and damp cold is more penetrating to me. We had temps in the 0C up to 12/14C most days with heavy cloud. When it was not raining it was gloomy. It is true that it would have been "prettier" if it was a less rainy period and some sun, but we enjoyed the cruise regardless. We don't let weather get us down. We go rain or shine and smile the whole time.

We have never had issues getting a 2 top, but we are generally always in the Restaurant right at 6pm when they open. The Restaurant tends to fill up a bit later, but I think that you are mostly ok. WC does have a lot of 2 tops, but the window seats are more 4's and 6's and we will take an empty 4 top and we are alone for our meal. The WC does not fill as quickly for dinner as the Restaurant - IMO and experience.

This is a thing that you can do???????