whitbob

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.

Have not been on Amabelle, but we have on AmaPrima and AmaCerto. We have stored 2 30 inch soft side duffles on wheels under the bed. When the top is empty, you can push them flat enough to squeeze in. They are also somewhat narrow, so they fit. We upgraded to a 28 inch Travelpro (12 inches deep) last year, and it was too wide to fit under the bed open with another suitcase. 2 medium suitcases should fit. Another thing on Certo was they had a drawer or box on wheels under one side on the bed. It took up all the space under that side of the bed. It slides out at an angle, and we used it to store back packs, carry on luggage. I think the room steward uses it for extra supplies or the decorative pillows, etc at night when they make the bed up for evening.

We just returned from the Panama Classic on Mars. We didn’t notice the passengers skewed old or with limited mobility. We did notice some larger tables in the dining room that appeared to be families traveling together. As for dress, it was a warm weather trip and not Cunard, so days were shorts and tops while evenings were the typical slacks and collared shirts for men and women mixing it up with slacks or skirts with tops in the restaurants. WC was more casual.

We are on Mars now, Verity is the Cruise Director. Returning to Florida from Panama City. This is our 2nd cruise, we did British Isle on Mars in August 2022. We think the Ribeye and Chicken Parm in Manfredi’s are much better than last year. The ribeye wasn’t steak house size cut, but tender and tasty. We are not fond of buffets, but ate in WC most dinners on BIE. Part of it was long days off the ship, but we could not stand how loud the main Restaurant was. We did eat 4 dinners in the Restaurant this cruise. The food was good each time, and the staff have been over the top with good service. We found the starboard side, as well as the front area of the port side to be pleasant. We were seated in the middle section of the port side twice and both times we could not talk without yelling. I would have guessed it was alcohol fueled, but we arrived at 6:30 last night, and by 7 pm the room was full, and people were already yelling to hear each other. The acoustics in that section are just bad. Everything else about the cruise has been excellent. Excursion availability was top notch. We reserved all of the included and optional tours we wanted in advance. Last year we had to waitlist for most excursions, which we now realize was probably Covid vendor related.

We are on Mars now and received this in last nights Daily. It isn’t very detailed. We booked on board August 2022. The discounts were $500 booking, $200 past level guest and $200 for booking onboard. Per person. The $500 was the saving was sale rate at the time for this cruise. We also have $200 total OBC. We checked with TA before traveling and this was the best deal at the time, so we transferred the booking to him after booking on board. Final payment was 6 months before sailing.

We stopped in Colon yesterday. All ship excursions went as planned. Our guide was from the Colon area, and confirmed much of what Billb48 said that things are back to normal for now. We embarked in Panama City on 12/7 after a 3 day stay there, and other than normal traffic jams we moved about without issue using Ubers.

Bliss is heading to Panama City today. We passed them in GATUN Lake. Joy was here Wednesday as they had a large pre cruise group at our hotel. You might want to write into one of their Roll Calls to see if someone can let you know if Norwegian has been providing shuttles on the over nights in Panama City. We took 4 UBERS while in PC for 2 nights. All were clean, timely, averaging 2 to 10 minutes for pick up. Reasonable pricing. One cancelled us after asking if we wanted to go to the airport rather than the cruise port. When we said no, they cancelled, but another accepted immediately. Again, the actual port facility isn’t ideal. We could see the ship, but the driver missed the turn to the port as it wasn’t well marked, and disappeared behind buildings and trees. It would be worse after dark. Good luck with your planning.

When is your cruise? If you are arriving shortly I would not count on taxis waiting at the port. We embarked at Amador Cruise Port yesterday. The building isn’t finished, so we were processed in tents on the pier. Once at the pier, we learned they did have a shuttle from the pier taking you into town. Unsure if that was Viking arranged or the city. Our all aboard was 11:30 pm. The roads around the port are unfinished gravel, not pavement. We used Uber and we were stopped 4 times at noon to inquire where we were going. The driver had a conversation each time convincing people we were boarding the ship. Some were security stops, other appeared to be construction staff managing traffic into the area. We saw no waiting taxis, so I would imagine you would need to prearrange a pick up. We used Uber into old town on Wednesday around noon. The traffic was heavy and stalled entering and exiting the area, so you need to allow time. As Billb mentioned, old town itself was lovely and crowded, but the surrounding areas would be concerning to walk through if you were not aware of where you are going.

We dined in the Solarium on Solstice. It was an overnight, and we were anchored in Sydney Harbour for the first day. They were offering an upper deck pool ‘specialty dinner’ with 360 views of the Opera House, etc at night. Seemed like a great idea until a storm blew in, and they moved the dinner inside. The staff removed all the loungers on one side of the Solarium, and set up white tablecloth type dining with live music. We missed the views, but rest of the experience was well done. I am glad that we didn’t know about the ‘chlorine smell’ as that might have put a damper on the evening.

We typically book AQ rooms for reasons stated, but also struggle with some of the limited menus. A few years ago the Blu Maitre D on Solstice gave a small group tour of the kitchens. It was a sea day between breakfast and lunch when the prepping and cooking was happening, but not serving. He started on 2 and led us up through the sections of MDR kitchens taking the back stairs to the Blu kitchen ending with a treat in Blu with the wait staff. I enjoyed the whole experience, but it left several impressions. Seeing the size of the MDR kitchens and prep areas, I understand why it is hard for them to customize meals in MDR and get them right every time. Also the distance from the MDR kitchen to Blu kitchen isn’t ideal so I understand why they discourage ordering from the MDR menu.

Hopefully if others have new information about the YF vaccination for this cruise they will respond. We have not received any updates from Viking since the Nov 2022 letter I posted. Also, nothing new has been published in MVJ. We reviewed the CDC travel vaccine website and interpreted that a YF vaccine is not required for us to enter Roatan (both over 60). Further the CDC Travel advisory for Panama does not suggest the YF vaccine is needed unless traveling outside of the Canal Zone.

Thinking about what to pack for our Panama Canal trip later this year. I guess I will leave the tube tops at home. 😎

Does anyone know if Luminae on the Edge series ships offers anything from the classic menu (shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, etc.)? We have B2B cruises booked on Edge in February in SS and AQ suites. DH is a bit of a picky eater, so we will need to check the menus in Luminae and try other restaurants on the nights that he does not find something he will eat from the posted menu. Thank you for your help.

Dennis, welcome to Cruise Critic. We too are sailing Viking (Mars) through the canal this coming December, so I have been watching for information. Scroll down this Viking thread for more details about the Canal. See Panama Canal water woes for a start. Several of the regular Viking cruisers, or individuals with mariner experience have commented. In short, cruise ships pay to have reservations to enter the canal on a specific date and time. There is quite a bit of information if you search through and read the threads.

We did this cruise last Sept. including Oslo pre-cruise with Train. In response to concern with getting on in Bergen, as I recall we boarded through the cruise terminal using escalators/elevators and permanent ramps rather than the Mars ship ramp, which did have short steps. If your pre-cruise includes the train and Thon Opera hotel there are a few hurdles with that part of the trip. You walk to the train, not far, but there may be step ups and ramps, etc. I will include a few pictures. The storage for scooter may not be near or in your train car. Most of the cars were all rows of seats, we happen to be in a short or split car with only 6 rows of seats and a small luggage storage area. The disembark in Greenwich was ramps. Based upon tides, they can be slight incline or steep. You also have to navigate from the ship to a platform in the river, then onto a large ferry catamaran then back off at a ferry dock before the ramp to shore. Finally, you might want to search for the several British Isles threads on Viking CC. Those might have more details that can help you with accessibility at the ports where you have your excursions planned. I am happy to answer any questions.

This is from the doorway on Mars room number 5042, so 5044 was also directly across from those two doors. We thought both doors had a noticeable slam. Maybe as much a vibration as the noise. We sailed BIE last September and with all of the delayed luggage issues in Amsterdam and London throughout the summer MANY people brought fewer clothes so the launderette was busy from day 1 on the ship. The crew door was pretty quiet after 10 at night, but laundry seemed to be busy several hours later. I hope this helps.

I am also with Jammy if you are traveling outside Viking transfers and disembarking at Greenwich, reserve a car. We did this last September. We normally book a car, but we were going to a hotel at Whitehall and in NO hurry. Guest relations on the ship assured us there would be someone directing you to the taxi stand, maybe a short wait…. It was a fray. No queue, just 20 or 30 people in a mob trying to cut in front of each other for the next taxi. Taxis were 5 to 10 minutes apart. We tried UBER and someone responded immediately, we were very lucky to be off within 10-15 minutes because the crowd got bigger and Uber was no longer responding for others in the crowd. I would suggest selecting a pick up spot a bit away from the taxi stand it is across from the Spanish Galleon so your car service can find you. Enjoy the trip!

We are also on a Panama to Florida cruise later this year. Initially we were told the Yellow Fever vaccination was required if traveling through Panama before Honduras. Cruises going north to south did not require, as it was a requirement for Honduras when arriving from countries where Yellow Fever was a risk. Last November we received this email from Viking announcing the vaccination was now optional. I believe there is a thread here on CC about this if going back to summer/fall on 2022. This was the last communication that we received from Viking on the subject. The number is below for questions. Dear Viking Guest, Thank you for choosing Viking for your upcoming Classic Panama Canal Passage voyage. We would like to take a moment to advise you of an update to a travel requirement we previously communicated to you. Honduras has revised its Yellow Fever vaccination requirement for travelers who visit Panama or South America prior to arrival in Honduras. A Yellow Fever vaccination is no longer required to enter Honduras. However, we recommend you consider a Yellow Fever vaccination ahead of your travels in the region. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your Travel Advisor or call us at 1-855-300-3970, Sunday - Saturday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, PT. We look forward to welcoming you aboard and wish you a wonderful journey. Sincerely, Viking

Notamermaid, We are embarking AMAwaterways for a trip from Nuremberg to Wasserbillig in a few weeks, so I have been following your Rhine water levels posts. Would you have any updates for water levels for the Main River in the coming weeks? This is our 4th cruise involving the rivers in Germany, so I follow and enjoy your posts and ideas for visiting the area. Thanks for all of the time you spend on Cruise Critic. whitbob

We were on Mars last August. We also have a soft cushy mattress at home. I had read several reviews on CC of the Viking mattresses before our cruise, and was nearly in a panic about sleeping on the bed for 15 days. Embarkation day was busy with late arrival to ship and time spent booking dinner reservations and sold out tours with guest relations, so I forgot about the mattress. We were a week into the cruise before either of us remembered that we were going to request a topper. I never pulled back the sheets to check, so our cabin steward may have already provided the topper, if not the mattress was comfortable as is.

Excellent review! Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. We are leaving this month for our 4th AMA cruise (Main/Moselle Rivers) with the pre-trip to Prague. Still studying the options for tours so your details are very helpful. We need to add AmaMagna to the bucket list.

We were on British Isles last summer, and do not recall any mention of Bridge in the dailies. This said I assumed that instruction and play depends on the itinerary. BIE is 15 days with 14 ports, so we found little time for activities on the ship.

We did the Taste of Bordeaux cruise a few years ago, and one person from our group used the Gentle Walkers excursions. They provided a small mini van type bus, picking up the passengers close to the gangway and dropping them close to the sights we were seeing. In several towns, we walked from the ship up hill to the towns, did walking tours of the area along the way and would meet up with the gentle walkers already inside a church, chateau, etc. as they were dropped off at the door by the mini van. Most of the touring was close to the ship, so we didn’t get bussed long distances on that cruise. Perhaps you can mention which cruise you are taking as others may have a better idea of the buses / transportation used for the specific cruise. Once on board the cruise director will be able to let you know what transportation and resources are used each day, so you can decide in advance what is manageable.