Welcome Back Cruises 2021 - Malta & Adriatic Cruises and General Discussion

[MarkCruises]

On 8/25/2021 at 9:59 AM, Tennis Gal 17 said:

Hi All. I started reading this forum and realized our return flight needs to be after 8 or 9 am. We are on the Viking Sea September 19 through the 29th. Viking Air booked us on a flight out of Malta departing at 7:10 am to Vienna with a 1hour 5 minute layover to Washington DC.  Should we be concerned?

Robin

Why does your flight home need to be after 8 or 9?  We are on the August 30 cruise and our flight home on September 9 is at 7:30 a.m.   Viking booked it.

[MarkCruises]

On 8/19/2021 at 1:20 PM, postit1111 said:

Thanks, I understand the return requirements.  Did you have to get and recheck your bags going to Malta since it's not a continuous United ticket?

 

Did you get an answer to this question?   We are leaving from Atlanta on Sunday, August 30 to Newark and onto the charter and have the same question.

 

Maybe someone knows?

 

Thank you.

 

Mark

 

[MarkCruises]

On 7/18/2021 at 2:02 PM, MissDaisyRI said:

We're on the Malta, Adriatic and Greece 21 day trip. We booked on the late side, but....this is ridiculous that we can't book excursions if they have been available. (Excuse the grumping

Hi Miss Daisy - we will be on the August 30 cruise - see you fellow Southerners on board.

[cboyle]

On 8/19/2021 at 12:56 PM, postit1111 said:

Lufthansa charter question ....

We are flying from LAX on United to EWR to catch the Viking Lufthansa "charter" to Malta.  If you have experienced this can you tell me if you had to collect your bags in EWR and recheck to the Lufthansa flight?

Thank you!!!

 

24 minutes ago, MarkCruises said:

Did you get an answer to this question?   We are leaving from Atlanta on Sunday, August 30 to Newark and onto the charter and have the same question.

 

Maybe someone knows?

 

Thank you.

 

Mark

 

 

This seems confusing because there is a separate booking number for the United flight to EWR and for the charter flight on Lufthansa from EWR to MLA.

 

When you check in for your United flight, your bags will be checked through to MLA. You do NOT need to collect them in EWR; they are automatically transferred to the charter flight. However, after you arrive in EWR, you will need to leave security, go to the International Terminal (Terminal B), and go through security again before you can go to the gate for the charter flight.

 

It is on the way BACK to EWR that you have to collect your bags when you arrive and go through US Customs. Then you recheck your bags with United in the  special transfer area. You do NOT take your bags down to the United check in counters where people are checking in for United flights. After you recheck your bags, you will exit security, go to the terminal for your domestic United flight, and go through security again to reach the gate for your domestic flight.

 

There is one wrinkle in this if you have TSA Precheck: the boarding pass you receive in Malta for your United flight cannot be read by TSA, even though it may say "TSA Precheck" on it. You will need to take the boarding pass you got in Malta down to the United check in counters and use the self-service kiosks to get a new United boarding pass. After that, you can go through security and proceed to the gate for your domestic flight.

 

I hope that helps!

 

https://www.newarkairport.com/at-airport/connecting-flights

 

 

 

 

[gma1]

6 hours ago, catswin said:

An extra 4 days in Malta would certainly be cheaper (and more enjoyable) than the compulsory quarantine in the U.K.  

You will certainly enjoy your cruise with Viking.  This will be #3 for me.

Just got a notice from Viking that we will spend 2 nights in Dubrovnik & not Montenegro ...as we suspected might happen. 8/30 Viking Sea

[Tennis Gal 17]

2 hours ago, MarkCruises said:

Why does your flight home need to be after 8 or 9?  We are on the August 30 cruise and our flight home on September 9 is at 7:30 a.m.   Viking booked it.

I had read that if you were booking airline tickets not through Viking, the flight should not be before 9 am. I called today and since I booked through Viking, it is fine that it leaves before 8 am. When you check your bag in the US connecting to the charter in Newark, it will be checked all the way through to Malta. Same with the return. At least that's what I was told for our flights. 

[iancb]

Just had confirmation from Viking that it's now 2 days in Dubrovnik for our cruise starting Monday

[kcpvwill]

8 hours ago, MarkCruises said:

Did you get an answer to this question?   We are leaving from Atlanta on Sunday, August 30 to Newark and onto the charter and have the same question.

 

Maybe someone knows?

 

Thank you.

 

Mark

7 hours ago, cboyle said:

 

 

This seems confusing because there is a separate booking number for the United flight to EWR and for the charter flight on Lufthansa from EWR to MLA.

 

When you check in for your United flight, your bags will be checked through to MLA. You do NOT need to collect them in EWR; they are automatically transferred to the charter flight. However, after you arrive in EWR, you will need to leave security, go to the International Terminal (Terminal B), and go through security again before you can go to the gate for the charter flight.

 

It is on the way BACK to EWR that you have to collect your bags when you arrive and go through US Customs. Then you recheck your bags with United in the  special transfer area. You do NOT take your bags down to the United check in counters where people are checking in for United flights. After you recheck your bags, you will exit security, go to the terminal for your domestic United flight, and go through security again to reach the gate for your domestic flight.

 

There is one wrinkle in this if you have TSA Precheck: the boarding pass you receive in Malta for your United flight cannot be read by TSA, even though it may say "TSA Precheck" on it. You will need to take the boarding pass you got in Malta down to the United check in counters and use the self-service kiosks to get a new United boarding pass. After that, you can go through security and proceed to the gate for your domestic flight.

 

I hope that helps!

 

https://www.newarkairport.com/at-airport/connecting-flights

 

 

 

 

We have to collect luggage and recheck in to Air Malta at LHR as the flights are two separate tickets and Air Malta will not let us check in online as we have to show evidence of double vax and a passenger locator form.  

[tony the magnificent]

12 hours ago, MarkCruises said:

Did you get an answer to this question?   We are leaving from Atlanta on Sunday, August 30 to Newark and onto the charter and have the same question.

 

Maybe someone knows?

 

Thank you.

 

Mark

 

we left atlanta on the 19th. United checked our bags all the way thru to Malta.  Watch out for Newark, you may have to leave the security zone to change terminals.  Not a big deal but it's an extra trip thru the security checkpoint -- and they dont do Pre-check. 

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, tony the magnificent said:

we left atlanta on the 19th. United checked our bags all the way thru to Malta.  Watch out for Newark, you may have to leave the security zone to change terminals.  Not a big deal but it's an extra trip thru the security checkpoint -- and they dont do Pre-check. 

They are very poorly signed inside the terminal, but there are shuttle buses between the terminals so you don't have to go through security again. 

Connecting Flights - EWR - Newark Liberty Airports (newarkairport.com)

[FLORIDA FLOUNDER]

Just heard from our guide in Crete that you can explore on your own after today 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

[FLORIDA FLOUNDER]

13 hours ago, gma1 said:

Just got a notice from Viking that we will spend 2 nights in Dubrovnik & not Montenegro ...as we suspected might happen. 8/30 Viking Sea

This is true, we received a notice left in our stateroom and guest services confirmed it. 

[rizello]

9 minutes ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

Just heard from our guide in Crete that you can explore on your own after today 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

For all of Greece?  Or is Crete operating differently?  Very good news!

[gma1]

24 minutes ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

Just heard from our guide in Crete that you can explore on your own after today 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

Awesome! Still waiting on my PCR test results. Husband got 1 of his.

[cboyle]

50 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

They are very poorly signed inside the terminal, but there are shuttle buses between the terminals so you don't have to go through security again. 

Connecting Flights - EWR - Newark Liberty Airports (newarkairport.com)

The shuttle buses at EWR were not running on August 9; we had to use the SkyTrain.

[MarkCruises]

3 hours ago, tony the magnificent said:

we left atlanta on the 19th. United checked our bags all the way thru to Malta.  Watch out for Newark, you may have to leave the security zone to change terminals.  Not a big deal but it's an extra trip thru the security checkpoint -- and they dont do Pre-check. 

Thank you.

[FirstTimeFreddy]

1 hour ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

This is true, we received a notice left in our stateroom and guest services confirmed it. 

Great news! Thank you for the update. 👍🥳

[FLORIDA FLOUNDER]

1 hour ago, rizello said:

For all of Greece?  Or is Crete operating differently?  Very good news!

Not sure about other Greece ports. Our Crete guide said he was informed today that the next cruise can tour on their own in Crete. 🤷🏼‍♀️
If it’s true, you’ll love the town of Chania. So much to see and wonderful shopping! ❤️ 
We were given 10 minutes of shopping on the included tour. YES, 10 minutes! We were shopping like a bat outa hell. 😜

We also did the optional Arcadi Monastery & Rethymnon Old Town in the morning and it was phenomenal. 

[rizello]

39 minutes ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

Not sure about other Greece ports. Our Crete guide said he was informed today that the next cruise can tour on their own in Crete. 🤷🏼‍♀️
If it’s true, you’ll love the town of Chania. So much to see and wonderful shopping! ❤️ 
We were given 10 minutes of shopping on the included tour. YES, 10 minutes! We were shopping like a bat outa hell. 😜

We also did the optional Arcadi Monastery & Rethymnon Old Town in the morning and it was phenomenal. 

I was on the August 13 Greek Isles trip and Chania tour, when we couldn’t venture out at all.  I felt sorry for our Chania tour guide that had to listen to one of our tour participants go on and on complaining that they couldn’t shop.  We all knew what were getting into before we took the trip, so it was sad to hear people acting so upset.    

[MissDaisyRI]

In Crete has anyone taken the Palace of Knoss tour in Heraklion? Does it include the Museum?

We are signed up for the Arkadi tour and thinking of changing excursions? 

[tony the magnificent]

16 hours ago, tozmervo said:

They are very poorly signed inside the terminal, but there are shuttle buses between the terminals so you don't have to go through security again. 

Connecting Flights - EWR - Newark Liberty Airports (newarkairport.com)

And they stop runnning that shuttle at/around 6pm. So we missed it, our flight arriving just before they shut down.

[Tom.in.nc]

EU moves USA to Red List tomorrow 

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-to-reimpose-entry-ban-on-travellers-from-us-5-other-third-countries-on-monday-sources-say/

 

[MarkCruises]

On 8/28/2021 at 11:02 AM, tozmervo said:

They are very poorly signed inside the terminal, but there are shuttle buses between the terminals so you don't have to go through security again. 

Connecting Flights - EWR - Newark Liberty Airports (newarkairport.com)

We are in the Newark airport now.   The shuttle bus is not running to concourse B, from which Lufthansa flights leave.  We tried to take it from concourse C (where our United flight from Atlanta landed), and they made us take the Air Train.   They told us they have not been letting passengers take the bus since Covid.    We had to go through security again, but the lines were short. 

[tozmervo]

3 minutes ago, MarkCruises said:

We are in the Newark airport now.   The shuttle bus is not running to concourse B, from which Lufthansa flights leave.  We tried to take it from concourse C (where our United flight from Atlanta landed), and they made us take the Air Train.   They told us they have not been letting passengers take the bus since Covid.    We had to go through security again, but the lines were short. 

 

Uhg, EWR is already the worst airport to fly through. So glad they found ways to make it even worse.

[gma1]

We are on the Sea now. Our flight from iad (Dulles) was pleasant & only about 1/3 full & luggage checked thru to Malta. We did have to go through passports check in Vienna,  but nothing else was ask for...because Austria airlines did such a good job of checking all our documents & kept one of our PLF copies. No one ask our PCR test...so that wasn't even an issue, waste of $ & stress of getting them back on time...however glad we got it. 2 hr layover and onto Air Malta for a 2 hr. flight. Malta airport is a small airport with stairs..not a jetway. Not much signage. All our required  documents were checked & they kept a plf. All very casual...but confusing...Maybe because we were not on the shuttle, just pulled us out of line & directed to a small area roped off for all document checking. Husband walks with a cane..so maybe that was the reason. Anyway once we were outside with all luggage not much help from Viking, which was a surprise, different from our other 5 cruises, where luggage was collected inside terminal & taken to the bus for us. Was hot & husband exhausted but we did manage to drag & deposit luggage at a designated  bus & walk on down to the other passenger bus finally. Check in with Viking was efficient and organized much better. I am in love with Malta ( however very hot & humid on walking tours) ...looking forward to our 21 days, on as always, a beautiful ship. Today is a lovely sea day & tomorrow Dubrovnik for 2 days. I have ask a couple times for a count...seems to be around 500 ish. Our cruise director is David & he is personable & a comedian...very different from past cruises..Suzanne on the Star twice & Heather on Jupiter last one,  who were very talented vocalist & really part of the entertainment. SOOO glad we came. Protocol is excellent & not obtrusive.