WNcruiser

We are booked with Parrilla for January. Have not used them yet but reviews and communication are excellent. https://parrillatour.com/

I just received the email from Viking saying I need to use Verifly for our cruise next month. I had thought this was no longer being used. There are several posts from people who did not use it and had no issues boarding. I think we will just bring our vax cards with us.

You can book this tour direct with the vendor. I have been in contact with them, although they do take a while to respond. It is half the cost of what shore excursions group is charging. It is through Hosteria Agua Fresca. You can find them on FB

As Jim stated, I would not want to fly out of Manaus. Charter or not. It definitely is not one of the safer cities in South America. Personally I would rebook for a round-trip cruise that goes down the Amazon to Manaus and then comes back out. I believe both Oceania and Regent offer this cruise. Just my 2 cents.

For Viking? I have 2 cruises in the next 4 months and both roll calls are DEAD. I cant even find 2-4 others to join me on private tours. The South America tour prices are crazy high.

With a 2 week gap I would guess a charter or dry dock. Orion will be 5 years old in 2023 so that would fit the time line for a dry dock. Not sure why it wouldn’t leave from Singapore again though 🤔

I really dislike posters who post a rant and then never come back to acknowledge the responses or give any follow up. It discredits the information they have given. Here we are 3 days after the original post and nothing from the OP.

Does anyone have video or pictures of any Aft verandas? I can’t find anything on Google or YouTube. Just curious to see the difference between a regular DV as well as the balcony size. Thank you!

I don’t know if you have cruised with RCI before, but expect a big difference. RCI is geared much more towards families and children.

The issue is for those of us that solely book in the retreat the menu has become repetitive with limited selections. Of course on M and S class it’s not an issue. On E class it’s a problem. I am looking forward to this new “anytime” menu that has supposedly been added. X should definitely expand the luminae menu, especially on E class.

We are on the Apex T/A in April and only a couple ports are showing excursions. Nothing for Ireland or England yet. I’m guessing it’s just X waiting on their tour companies or trying to find new ones.

Excellent advice. I have been arranging and joining private tours for years. The websites mentioned or Viator are only 3rd party brokers that use large companies. Do some research as Clay mentioned and get a small group together. We have met many great friends (and guides) on these tours.

We are booked for August and this is exactly why I waited 4 months after the planned inaugural. I figured there could be supply chain issues. Of course we may also be victims of cancellation if it gets delayed further. Unfortunately it’s going to be difficult for those cancelled to move sailings in 2023 as most are already sold out.

After 30+ years of cruising I never ever fly In the same day. It’s not just snow. Thunderstorms, ATC issues, mechanical problems, staffing, etc. can and do delay flights. It’s just not worth the stress or disappointment of missing the ship. I have seen it too many times. Even when we drive to Port Everglades or Miami (3 hours) we stay the night. I understand not wanting to spend the night in the city, but you can get a later flight and just find an airport hotel.

Any reputable tour company will refund your money if the ship does not dock or misses the port. If they don’t, keep looking. We are also doing this cruise in January.

I have contacted them twice. Never got any response the the first time, then last week they called me two days later. Unfortunately they were of no help at all. It appears they are just customer service reps, not a high level supervisor or exec office.

I understand their post, but that is another risk of cruising right now. You have 900 others with you that unfortunately you have no control of how they choose to act re Covid. You definitely need to consider all that when choosing to cruise these days.

I think its common knowledge there will be Covid on any given cruise at any time. This is the risk we all take when we decide to cruise during a pandemic. With no more pre-cruise testing it is not realistic to think there wont be cases onboard. I mean no disrespect to anyone, but if you can't accept that risk you should not be cruising.

I have seen that information however it is from an Embassy and not the Argentine government. Personally I would trust information from the country itself. I have confirmed with Viking and my TA several times that no Covid test is currently required. Of course that is subject to change at any time. I linked Vikings country specific requirements in the above post.

This is provided by Viking and was last updated Aug 12th. I cannot find anything official from Argentina however. Please note there is no Covid test requirement listed. https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf

Celebrity’s insurance only offers $25,000 medical and Argentina requires at least $30,000. You can find much better insurance with companies like The trip insurance Store or insure my trip.com

Argentina DOES NOT require a Covid test to enter the country or to board a cruise. Yes they require medical insurance but anyone traveling to SA should already have it. https://www.argentina.travel/en/page/we-reopen-borders-for-neighboring-countries

Ours opened this week for our October cruise exactly at 12:00 PM Pacific as MVJ stated. One tip is that the included excursions did not need to be put in the "cart". You just click reserve and its booked so we did those first. Some excursions did sell out within an hour but there are still many available. None of the included tours are sold out.

I am a bourbon drinker as well and will be bringing a bottle with me on our October cruise. Glasses and ice in the cabin so easy to have a cocktail on the balcony before dinner 🙂 Very generous of Viking to allow you to bring on whatever you want.

I will be on Star in October. I will try to remember to find this thread and give you an update.