mrschiefopd

Update:  Viking Jarl has just turned around after spending the day in Passau. We’ve been told the Danube between Passau and Regensburg has been shut down to river traffic. We will dock at Engelhartzell. Our included excursion to Regensburg scheduled for tomorrow will go as planned. However we will traffic by bus 2 1/2 hours each way. Not ideal. Haven’t decided if we will go. We will disembark on Sunday. Viking is taking care of the ten of us to get to Regensburg to meet our independent transfer to go to Prague. 

We are on the Viking Jarl. We boarded yesterday (Sunday 8/21). As instructed in the email, we went to the Viking dock in Budapest. We were bussed to a town near Komaron where we boarded the Jarl. During the intro presentation last evening the director said the boat received permission to sail to Budapest. We arrived back in Budapest around midnight. It was spectacular seeing Budapest at night. Guests who wanted to take the panoramic tour of Budapest got off at 8:00 am near the Marriott Budapest Viking dock). We stayed on board and will pick up those guests upstream.  Itinerary has no changes as of now. We won’t know about getting to Regensburg for a couple of days yet. 

11 hours ago, travelcommons said:

Hello CC community...

My wife and I are set to sail this Saturday 8/6 Budapest to Regensburg on Viking.  Um, make that Budapest to Passau (for now).  Recent email received today:

 

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Dear Viking Guest,

 

Thank you for choosing Viking for your upcoming European voyage. If you are not aware, we wanted to let you know that the Danube River is currently experiencing unusually low water levels that will impact your itinerary.

 

When water levels are too low, navigation for vessels on the river may become restricted. As a result, we may need to adjust our sailing speeds, which could result in slight delays, or dock in alternate locations in areas where our regular docking spots are adversely affected by the conditions.

 

Due to low water levels on the Danube River near Passau, your ship will be unable to reach its regular disembarkation port in Regensburg and you will now disembark in Passau (75 miles east of Regensburg). As a result of these changes, your Regensburg shore excursions will operate in or near Passau on Day 7.

 

Rest assured, we have considerable experience in dealing with situations like this and will make every effort to stay as close to your itinerary as possible. In any event, we are confident that you will enjoy your journey — and we will do everything in our power to ensure your time with us is enriching and meaningful.

 

 

For guests joining us for our post-trip extension, you will be transferred to your hotel from the new docking location on disembarkation day.

 

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That's the latest info we have, I'll be updating as we go along in a few days or answer any questions.

We look forward to your updates. We are following a week behind you on Viking Jarl. Have a wonderful trip. 

We are scheduled on the Viking Jarl departing on August 21st from Budapest.  We live outside of St. Louis, MO USA.  Yesterday our house received 12-13 inches of rain in an eight hour period breaking all previous records.  Fortunately only a little water got into our basement on the concrete portion.  No carpet or walls were damaged.  Many people near us weren't as lucky.  We are trying to send some water (not a foot) toward the Danube.  We will make the best of the cruise and have an enjoyable time no matter if it's by boat or bus.  We will be on vacation.  

On 6/24/2020 at 4:37 PM, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi mrschiefopd,

 

What State do you live in?

 

> The trip insurance we had for the 2020 cruise didn't help much when the cruise was cancelled and I'm not sure it was worth the money paid.

 

Which policy did you have?

 

Do you already have trip insurance for the other trips?

 

Steve Dasseos

We live in Missouri.

We had a policy that covered the entire cruise and air.  The policy wasn't needed, since the cruise gave us FCC and the airlines gave us a certificate which we have applied for the new French Polynesia cruise.

We haven't purchased any trip insurance as of yet.  We are trying to figure out whether to buy an annual plan or individual plans for each trip.  We want a plan that will cover emergency medical issues.  (Hopefully we won't need this portion.)  All of our private tours and hotels are refundable within 24-48 hours, so we won't need a plan to cover those.

Thanks for your insight.

Due to cancelled cruise in 2020, we now have three cruises booked for 2021:

12 day Panama Canal cruise in February 2021

14 day French Polynesia/Hawaii cruise with 5 days in Tahiti/Moorea before cruise and 3 day post cruise in Hawaii in March.

11 day Mediterranean cruise in September with four days precruise in Rome and one day post cruise in Rome

We will also have our usual 10 day beach trip to Playa del Carmen in October 2021

We both reside in the US.  My husband will be 68 and has Medicare and a supplement.  I will be 64 and have private health insurance.  Both of us are in good health and have no preexisting conditions at the present time.

I'm wondering if we should get a yearly trip insurance plan or opt for individual plans for each trip.  We basically want the insurance for a medical emergency.  Our airfare has the option to change until March 2022.  (Haven't booked air for Mediterranean or Mexico yet.)  If cruises are cancelled, I would imagine that cruise line would offer monetary refund or FCC.  

One of the first two cruises will be paid for with FCC from cancelled cruise in 2020.  

I'm not sure which way to go.  The trip insurance we had for the 2020 cruise didn't help much when the cruise was cancelled and I'm not sure it was worth the money paid.  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much.

Barb

MsB1254 -- We have just booked the same trip as you and plan to overnight in Paris. I think there will be others. Was hoping Celebrity would offer transportation, but at this point they are not offering such a trip. Would be happy to share info with you. We can be reached at mfabz at aol. com. Donna & Bill

We are booked on the same trip and plan to stay overnight in Paris as well. Celebrity is offering the overnight in Paris on your own as an excursion. It is available to book now at a price of $159 pp. USD. It simply includes bus transportation. I spoke with someone at Celebrity since there was a discrepancy in the description. The total duration of the tour is 33 hours, not 23 as listed. Five hours is the roundtrip transportation. This allows 28 hours in Paris. The bus leaves at 10:00 a.m. on June 10th, with arrival around 12:30 p.m. If my math is correct, the bus would depart at 4:30 p.m. on June 11th and arrive back at the ship around 7:00 p.m. I'm thinking we will book through Celebrity, since I'm sure how reliable the trains will be. I can cancel if I find something better. We'd be interested in booking tours with others once we arrive in Paris if you are interested. Our email is mrschiefopd@msn.com Barb and Steve

Thanks again for all the information. The cruise is the reverse of the one in March. But, it still gives us the information I was seeking. Also great to know if we schedule dinner at 5:45 we can get to the early show. We prefer to go to the early show on evenings when the next day the ship is in port somewhere. We appreciate all the insight and suggestions.

Thanks everyone. Glad to hear there are two performances so we should be able to make one. Also like the tips about arriving early and where to view the aerialists. Much appreciated.

My husband and I will be sailing on Rhapsody of the Seas in mid-February 2015. This is an 11 night Queensland cruise starting in Sydney and going up to the Great Barrier Reef. We have selected "My Time Dining" and will be scheduling nightly dinner reservations in a few weeks. We know that there are usually two different showtimes for the nightly performances. However, we weren't sure about the aerialist acts in the atrium area. Will there be two different performances each night when these acts are scheduled, or just one time? If there is only one, does anyone have copies of the daily Compass newsletter who can give me a general idea of the timeframe for this act? We have been told this is an act we don't want to miss, so we want to schedule our dinner reservation accordingly.

Any other suggestions regarding this Australia cruise on Rhapsody would be greatly appreciated. We're hoping the entertainment is better than our previous one on Royal Caribbean. It was awful. Our other cruises on NCL, Celebrity and Carnival were outstanding, so we're hoping it was just a one time deal on RCCL.

Thanks so much.

We did Airlie Beach on Radiance last October. The tender time is approximately 15-20 minutes. If you are up and ready to go at 8am (not many will be) I cannot see a problem with you getting the first tender in. Yes, they do use the local, large cats for the tender process as well as a couple of their own tender boats. If you are being picked up at the pier then you should have plenty of time.

Thank you so much for the information. We will definitely be ready to go. Glad to hear it is possible. Hope you had a great cruise.

We are arriving in Airlie Beach aboard Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas in February 2015. We are having the same difficulty you are. We want to book the Eco Rafting tour independently since it's $60 cheaper, includes lunch, and is for six and a half hours. It includes snorkeling as well as time at Whitehaven Beach. The shore excursion Royal Caribbean uses the same company but is offering a tour that costs more, doesn't include lunch, is only for four hours and only goes to the beach; no snorkeling time. We are scheduled to dock at Airlie Beach at 8:00 a.m. If I book the tour independently, they will pick us up right where we get off the tender at 9:30. Will there be enough time to disembark and reach the shore by 9:30. I realize the tender process takes longer and the passengers that book the ship's excursion get first priority. (I paid for my cruise just like everyone else.) I've also read that local catamarans are used to try to speed up the tendering process. If anyone has any experience with Royal Caribbean's process at Airlie Beach, I'd appreciate your insight. I'm feeling very frustrated with this cruise, since the docking times aren't working out with the trips we wanted to do. We've never encountered this problem before with all the other cruises we've taken. We've only taken one other Royal Caribbean cruise and wasn't at all impressed. We're hoping this one turns out better. Thanks everyone in advance.

My husband and I are taking a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship in February 2015. We are disappointed that Royal Caribbean does not offer excursions to Great Barrier Reef while in Cairns, since viewing the reef is suppose to be better in Cairns than in Airlie Beach. The itinerary we received said that the ship is suppose to dock at 8:00 a.m. on February 21st and depart at 5:00 p.m. on February 22nd. There is no option for us to take a tour on the second day since our private operators don't arrive back until 4:30 p.m. and it's a ten minute walk from the fleet terminal to the cruise port. We are trying to get one scheduled for the first day. However, the itinerary we have states we dock at 8:00 a.m. and the information the independent tour guides have is we dock at 9:00 a.m. We would prefer to go with "Sunlover" which departs at 9:30 a.m. This will give us four hours at the pontoon at Moore Reef. We also have another option through "Great Adventure" which departs at 10:30 a.m. This will allow us three hours at their pontoon. Sunlover gives us more time at the reef and is slightly cheaper than Great Adventures. We are more interested in the time factor than the monetary one. I'm not sure if anyone has experience with either of these companies or with the disembarking process in Cairns. Were you able to get off the ship quickly after the stated time on your itinerary? I spoke with two people at Royal Caribbean who were of no help at all as to the discrepancy. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or information.

Deb,

It appears you are on the same cruises as my husband and I: Celebrity Solstice and a week later on Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas. We are also coming in early to adjust to the time difference and also sightsee in Sydney. We hope to do a harbor dinner cruise on the evening of Australia Day. Didn't know what you found out regarding the harbor cruise. I'm still researching. Majestic cruises doesn't guarantee you'll see the fireworks due to harbor restrictions. Any information you found would be appreciated. We are staying at Meriton Apts. on Kent. Hope we get a high floor with a view of the harbor. Good reviews on Trip Advisor. Good rates with free cancellation booking directly through the hotel.

Barb