ricka47

We've never been on anything bigger than the Signature class but are booked on the Koningsdam this coming January. But reports like this and others reporting poor service and long lines are not encouraging. Are the problems due to the design of this class itself or something else?

24 minutes ago, Funsun60 said:

Thank you for this info. One further question (from someone who may be not smarter than a sack full of hammers). Does one go to guest services to specify/request this or is the OBC automatically deducted for your on board account?

OBC is just used for any purchases/charges on board. Once it's gone, your credit card takes over. So, it's done automatically.

42 minutes ago, 0106 said:

My experience with the Rolling Stones lounge was a set list posted outside the venue of the type of music that would be featured during the 3 sets. I’ve seen Beatles, 80s, Disco, R&B.  Unfortunately, it is difficult for one band to play such a diverse set list.  BB Kings was always my favorite because of the horn section.  It only remains on the Pinnacle class ships (NS, Koningsdam, Rotterdam)

PS It looks like we'll see you on the January 2025 Hawaii cruise!

3 minutes ago, 0106 said:

My experience with the Rolling Stones lounge was a set list posted outside the venue of the type of music that would be featured during the 3 sets. I’ve seen Beatles, 80s, Disco, R&B.  Unfortunately, it is difficult for one band to play such a diverse set list.  BB Kings was always my favorite because of the horn section.  It only remains on the Pinnacle class ships (NS, Koningsdam, Rotterdam)

Right - we enjoyed that very much as well. As an amateur musician, I appreciated their talent!

3 hours ago, 0106 said:

Unfortunately, there is no BB Kings on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  There is a Rolling Stones lounge that will probably do three different sets of three different types of music.  I do not think of the casino bar as a place to hang out but you can get a drink there.  Play hard during the day and get up early to watch the sunrise.  Enjoy Alaska!

Wow, I understood that BB Kings was still on the Nieuw Amsterdam. So, are both rock and blues in the new Rolling Stones lounge?

We have an upcoming cruise with many sea days, and I may get the pass. However, my wife and I will probably never go simultaneously. Do we need two passes?

I'm guessing that we do. But I seem to remember that we just had one in the hazy pre-Covid days, and it worked OK.

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

From what I understand, the "local issues" stabilized a few years ago (I have made both of my scheduled stops). The 2 docks the city controls basically don't allow ships, the one they don't control does. If your ship is on the schedule at Caribe  Nautical, local issues should not affect your stop, but high winds may.

It's OK either way. We've been there a number of times and wouldn't mind an extra sea day if necessary. Thanks!

Great - thanks! We did this itinerary before, but Key West was the first stop instead of the last.

We're on a Thanksgiving cruise and Key West in our last port. I'm wondering how that works for immigration. Do we do it there since we are returning to the U.S., or when are we back in Fort Lauderdale?

1 hour ago, pontac said:

I don't think you need have any concern about noise coming from crew cabins. With the long hours they work I should imagine they want nothing more than to sleep through to their next shift.

Yup - they would probably be quieter than guest cabins!

6 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

Yep - they are in fact that.  If you wander down the stairs to the lower deck you will see a crew only door that leads to these cabins.  You don't see crew coming and going all the time from this door as they have an access also from the front of the ship.

Thanks, I'm thinking that they wouldn't be any noisier than having guest cabins below you as they need to sleep after a long day/night.

3 hours ago, pontac said:

Well, unless one has been a crew member one wouldn't know for sure but it seems a good bet as the water level windows continue all the way along. 

Right - that would be my bet as well.

On deck 2 on the Viking diagrams, some cabins show other cabins below while others show open areas. I'm guessing those are crew cabins?

6 minutes ago, pontac said:

 

Viking will book flights that get you to your ship on time. Flights from USA to Europe are mostly over nighters so you should have no problem in getting to your ship during the day even if you have to fly via some European gateway.

 

Budapest airport to the boat is about 30 minutes.

 

What puzzles me is that I cannot find any cruises that match a 14 night cruise with an overnight stay in a hotel. Grand European Tour is shown as 15 days and starts with an overnight on the boat in Budapest;  is that the one you are one?

That's the one - 15 days.

Great info - thanks!

We are doing our first river cruise next year, and I put a deposit down today. The price included free airfare. We board on 7/1/25, and the flight arrives the same day.

Last year, we did a British Isles cruise, booked our own air, and spent four nights in London pre-cruise on our own. That's an option with this one, but with the free air, the cost of a pre-cruise stay with Viking is very expensive.

So, it's a 14-night cruise starting in Budapest with an overnight stay, and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with using the cruise line airfare arriving the day of boarding the cruise.

3 hours ago, CT D&N said:

We have an annual plan with Allianz which turns out to be much better for us based on our personal circumstances and amount we travel during the year. I recommend doing an online search/review of annual plans based on your particular needs/information and doing a comparison to the HAL plans. Many of the annual plans offer higher medical and evacuation coverage (typically area of most concern for cruising) at a lower cost and also provide coverage for travel beyond just cruising.  Happy cruising!!!

Same here - the Allianz plan has paid for itself a number of times. Just last year, our flight from the UK to the US was delayed by 6.5 hours, and the plan paid us $600.

Directly across from us, then.

3 minutes ago, amandas friend said:

Oh, I now understand that you have never stayed in that cabin. Thanks 

Not yet - it should be OK. I'm hoping we don't get noise from below us in the Spa check-in area. But, I think it will be OK. Which one do you have?

We have 10028 on the Thanksgiving cruise on NA this year. Since it wasn't very much, we've taken the upgrade to Signature before (pre-Covid). The extra space is nice, but each has to figure out if it is worth it.

On 4/8/2024 at 5:54 PM, cruisn71 said:

I am falling behind in my posts.  The Eclipse was spectacular.  The skies were pretty much clear and the captain positioned the ship with the aft pointed straight at the sun.  We had perfect viewing for the whole event.  I have pictures on my big camera and will post them later.

 

I did observe a new type of chair hog today.  All the chairs at the tables of the sea view deck were dragged away.  

"Chogs" are showing signs of mutating!

10 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Some people it doesn't bother.

Right - but for 17 nights, I figured we'd not take that chance.

Issue solved: moved down one deck. Thanks for the help!

23 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

We were under a small uncarpeted area of the Lido, near Canaletto, & we heard chair scraping around 10 pm every night....didn't last long but any cabin under the Lido is a hard no for us.

From what I can tell, the area above us should all be carpeted. But I think I'll try to get something different to be sure.

Hard to define - I agree. We did a UK cruise last summer with a connecting room. That I will not do again, for sure! The folks next door had two kids who watched TV and yelled until at least midnight each night.