whitbob

We did this trip in August 2022, so somewhat dated info, we put the luggage out the night before.  It was held in the hotel somewhere and then sent to Bergen by truck very early the next morning.  The next time we saw it was in our cabin on the ship.  Used AirTags, so we could follow the movements.   
 

Like you, most of what we learned about the pre-extension trip we learned from others here on CC.  It wasn’t until we arrived at the hotel in Oslo, and were handed an envelope by a Viking cruise rep that we had details about tours and the train trip to Bergen.

Your husband will do fine in Luminae, as they don’t have allot of vegetables with the entrees.  There is usually an asparagus spear or two, or mashed cauliflower in the stack of food on the plate.  Luminae’s menus were a little out there for us, but the service was fantastic.   We had the same waiter for 3 weeks, and he quickly learned our preferences.  Just ask for what you want.  They will leave the meat out of salads. They will bring sides of vegetables, steamed plain or seasoned.  DH is picky, and would get a larger starter as his meal, if the entrees were not to his liking.  

We were on Edge for a B2B last month in Australia/New Zealand.  We had lunch in Grand Bistro multiple times, the food and service was excellent each time.  The first time when presented with the menu, we asked if it was a set price or A La Carte, and they said ‘either’.  Most of the time we had a sandwich (which included a side), or a salad. They charged a la carte, which was around $15 pp.  used the bev package for drinks.  One day I had a salad and entree, and we split dessert.  That time was the only time we were charged the set dining price  and even then it was for 1 person + the a la carte sandwich price.  
 

Australia and New Zealand have cultures on tipping and laws about taxes and fee being included in the posted pricing.  The max premium beverage price was $20 not $17.   I mention this as I am not sure if A La Carte pricing is a new thing in Grand Bistro, or was implemented while in those countries.

3 hours ago, jelayne said:

Just off a B2B on the  Edge 2 weeks.  We stayed in 2 different MC Suites and both had 1 lounger. 

We were also on Edge B2B in April in 2 different SS.  Neither balcony had a lounger.  The cabin steward in the first room had spread the 2 chairs apart to take up the whole balcony.  The second room the two chairs were placed tightly on one side with the table, leaving a space where it appeared something was missing.  So I peaked around the panels, and one neighbor had a lounger and the other didn’t.

So glad our balconies were ‘safe’.  

Just returned from b2b on EDGE, and the Carpet was not used for boarding at the dock.  Dockside used ramps.  We were on the starboard side, and they did dock frequently with the starboard side to the dock.  I think that is necessary when they are loading provisions and refueling.  If I recall, there may have been a few places where they dock with port facing land. 

We returned last month from B2B New Zealand and Southern Australia cruises on Edge participating in multiple wine tasting excursions.  We didn’t bring wine back on, but I returned with others each time that did.  As others have said the rules are no, but I walked on each time with people who had bottles in brown bags, winery bags, and in back packs, and just placed them on the scanner belt. No one was stopped or questioned that I saw.

2 hours ago, Bosjoe said:

Hi There,

Someone posted a pic that Le Grand Bistro went a la carte. Could you verify this? if you can. Or is it an option instead of the lunch fee they had for $25 Thanks

We ate at Le Grand several times in March while on the Edge.  They charged a la carte for a single item with drinks on our beverage package.  One day I ordered a salad, entree and split a dessert, so they charged the lunch fee price for one and just the a la carte price for DHs sandwich.  The food was very good.

Edge has Sky Suites butlers back on board.  We sail B2B on 3/24 & 4/5 in 2 different rooms.  Our first butler had just returned.  He said they were still filling some positions, working through travel and work visas for some so they still had vacancies.   The 4/5 cruise was a different butler, and it seemed they were fully staffed. In both cases, we were greeted day one, asked about our preferences.  We saw the butlers daily in the hall, or at times filling in at Retreat lounge.  The couple of times we had room service, the butlers delivered.  We didn’t have many requests, but felt the butler services were available.

We docked Rosyth on the BIE on Mars in August 2022. 
 

Our research in advance and the port talk on the ship led us to believe we would not be able to hail a cab in Rosyth.  We read on the port websites and the ship port talk confirmed that we could only get a shuttle to the train station or a taxi to the train station.  Edinburgh is only 15 miles, so why cabs don’t line up when a cruise ship appears didn’t make sense, but it was confirmed multiple places to be the case.  🤷🏼‍♀️
 

Our first hand experience was:

-viking did not have a shuttle to Edinburgh. The shuttle ran from the ship to Dunfermline stopping at the Inverkeithing train station. Guest relations provided directions and maps on how to take the train to Edinburgh.

-as we left the ship there was a tent (see below in top right corner) that functioned as the cruise terminal.  Once inside, there were guides directing you to Viking Excursions, shuttle buses.  They had maps, brochures, etc..  We asked if there was a taxi queue to catch a taxi to Edinburgh.  The guide said no, but he could call one for us, which he did and reported it would take 20 minutes for them to arrive.  We then wandered outside of the tent to wait.   As it turned out, there were Taxis coming and going right outside the tent/terminal.  Not a line of cabs, maybe one or two every few minutes.    People coming out and seeing the line to catch the shuttle to train station, and jumping in the cabs.  We could have done the same, but decided to wait.  Our driver arrived, spoke to the guide, collected us within the 20 minutes and we were off.  Clean, large sedan, driver was an owner/operator for the service, we were happy with service they called.
 

We cannot remember why we didn’t just Uber, but I would check the app for Uber or Lyft to see if they are operating in the area.  

And yes, the return taxi dropped us right at the terminal/tent, so we were back on the ship in a few minutes.

  Assuming all rooms have the same furniture, the nightstand on one side is attached to the wall.  The second night stand is 3 stacked boxes.  That (moveable) nightstand is approx.  9 inches wide, which will be the split between the beds when made into twins.

Currently on Edge in Sky Suite.  Beds aren’t separated but twin platforms and mattresses, so they can be separated.  

We are also on this cruise and following along.  Thanks for sharing your experiences.  We are also in a Sky Suite but didn’t get gifted with the high top table.  😕
 

3 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I’ve been checking the website for this cruise obsessively, because I’m currently booked in a veranda guarantee ( all that they would allow with just 2 people) and I’m afraid of being assigned an obstructed view of the life boats. Right now if 3 people booked there are close to 200 rooms spanning the veranda categories. It’s not that far out from the sailing to assume all those rooms will be filled with young families. I also checked the school schedule for August in Europe. Depending on the region, many will be back in school. I’m sure there will be a fair amount of children, but hopefully it will be manageable. I don’t mind children as long as they are well behaved, but that is not always the case 

Your post peaked my interest, so I tried a mock booking for 2 and they only showed inside and ocean view available.  Everything else shows sold out.  We booked AQ last summer.  I was going to suggest AQ to you as the rooms only allow 2 people, but it must be sold out.  No option to book AQ guaranteed was offered.  
 

I hope you can find an acceptable room AND we aren’t booked on the “stuff a bus” whatever that means.

Yikes!   We are booked on this sailing.

 
Our first Celebrity cruise was Silhouette in the Baltic in late August.  It was wonderful.  We liked it so much, we booked the Reflection the following year in August, Rome round trip to Greece.  There were 750 children on-board.  The pool and buffet were madhouses.  It was crazy with teens running wild around the ship, we almost stopped sailing  Celebrity.  We have since been on 6 more Celebrity Cruises, 2 in August in Europe without incident, so we thought the Reflection trip was a one off.  

Hum?!

We are considering a tasting tour of Waiheke Island while in Auckland.  Has anyone taken the package tours offered by Fullers360 ferries?  We are considering the Taste of tour, and are looking for feedback.  Thank you.

Thank you for asking about the classes.  I will be on both of these cruises and take Yoga and Tai Chi classes weekly.  It would be nice to understand what level they are on the ship.   I was planning to check in at the gym once we board to see if the instructors can offer some detail.  

First, a question to your question.  Can you define ‘quite a bit more’?  
 

I am asking because we just identified a Tauck land trip this week that we are very interested in for 2025, which involves the same deposit and wait for pricing.  We did our first trip with Tauck to Nova Scotia last fall, and were very impressed with the entire experience.  
 

As to pricing increases, the answer is yes, but as always you have to dig into the details.  We did an AMAwaterways cruise May 2023 that was 1 week cruise w 6 nights pre/post.  We have another AMA BOOKED FOR May 2025 which is approx $1100 pp more.  Same number of nights, 1 week + 6 nights pre/post, but the 2 variables are:  we booked the 2023 trip in May 2022, and just booked the next trip, so over 18 months apart.  Also the 2025 trip is on AMAMAGNA, which draws a higher price per day than their other ships (usually).  

We are still looking at timing and discussing the 2025 Tauck trip.  The same month (Sept) for this trip in 2024 is sold out, so we know if we want to go, we will need to put down the deposit and wait for final details to determine if was want to withdraw.  

You might want to check the restaurant hours on the app for your cruise.  For our Edge cruise next month it shows the hours for Rooftop as 5:30 to 9:30.  

As you stated the menus in Luminae can be eclectic.  We frequently book Aqua or Retreat for the smaller more customizable dining experience.  The service in both are excellent most of the time and they are able to offer changes in the kitchen without having to chase down food from another part of the ship.  That said, you can check the menu in advance on the app and choose a specialty, Blu (if available) or MDR when nothing appeals on a menu.

We booked Aqua on our first Celebrity cruise, and were hooked.  For us it is the smaller dining room and the ability to request substitutions.  We enjoy most of the menus.  We also typically cruise once a year, so we aren’t repeating the Blu menu over and over.  DH is a picky eater, and we have found  it is easier to get a sauce changed, or veggie added without sending things back.  MDR waiters are busy, and getting the little changes right isn’t as easy as in a smaller dining venue.  Service in Blu has always been excellent.

As for the specialty dining package.  Silhouette is our favorite ship so far (1st E ship cruise coming next month), and the variety of specialties are part of that choice.  We looked at booking a b2b in veranda this fall and using the specialty dining package, pricing both.  We ended up sticking with Aqua, after reading several CC threads about getting reservations using the packages.  As I understand it, you cannot make your reservations until boarding with the dining package.  Is this correct?  Do others have good experiences with getting the times they want after boarding?  

On 2/6/2024 at 4:18 PM, snookie1 said:

We are looking at the Walmar Castle and Sandwich excursion from Dover, and the Caernarfon Castle excursion from Holyhead, but we don't want to do a bunch of castles.  Is one of these better than the other?  What would you recommend?

We are interested in the Beauty of County Wicklow excursion from Dublin.  Has anyone taken this one?  Would you recommend it?

DH loves trains and would like to take the Ffestiniog Railway excursion from Holyhead.  Is it worth the 8 hour trip and the $209?

We did the Walmar Castle tour with Viking in 2022.  It isn’t as much a castle, but rather a fort.  It was built for Henry VIII along with several other fortresses along the coast to protect from invasion from France.  The grounds/gardens were pretty and there are views of the ocean.  The interior had a few nice rooms, some interesting articles about the castle on the walls, but it wasn’t opulent.  In Sandwich  we did a walking tour past churches and half timbered houses.  The guide was very good. We enjoyed the excursion, but it wasn’t memorable if you are hoping for a royal palace type castle.  
 

We also took the Ffestiniog railway.  It was one of our favorite excursions of the trip.  Again, great guide.  She provided a guided tour from the ship to the town to board the train.  Pointing out sights, and providing insights on Wales.  The train is a narrow gauge rail, so smaller than a normal train.  The views along the route were lovely.  The was a nice lunch at a restaurant in a park type area, with time to walk around and a 3rd stop at Conwy Castle which is more of a ruins.  The guide provided current and historical information about Wales and their relationship with England.  

3 hours ago, phillipahain said:

So used to other ships having push button automatic detergent dispensers 

Viking also uses push button detergent dispensers.  On Mars last month and they had added machine instruction sheets, explaining the symbols on the washers and dryers.  Much easier to operate.

We were on Mars in December and tendered in Roatan.  The original booking showed we would dock. There were 2 other ships in port, so we tendered.

It is worth a try.  I was using an iPad and the website.  The first cruises start in March 2024.  We looked months ago, and there were more options for multi day packages.  There have had numerous sales, so I would have guessed they over sold packages, so they were dropping the options for us, but your cruises are 2 years out, so that logic doesn’t make sense.  Good luck, I hope you can find more options.

We have 4 cruises (2 B2B) booked for this year.  The X app does not offer dining packages for purchase.  The website for the cruises does offer unlimited and 5 night for the 12 night cruises.  The 9 night cruise on the website offers unlimited and 4 night.  One is Edge and the other Silhouette.