DrKoob

You should try Windstar. They have a lot of single staterooms without a single supplement. And there are a lot of lines that now have single staterooms. And I totally agree with your assessment of the cruise industry in general. Even though ships are sailing full, they are still hurting from the pandemic and from trying to keep their shareholders happy.

If anyone wants to know why Viking does not encourage scooters or wheelchairs, you should realize it is the same reason they make us pay deposits a year ahead in most cases. It's because they can. When Tor started Viking Cruises, he decided to do a cruise line he would want to take, add all the things he would want and not worry about the things he wouldn't. Then, provide such a great product that loyal customers would put up with a few things being missing. If you want to go on Seabourn, Regent, Oceania or which ever other cruise line because you can take a scooter or get an accessible stateroom lower than a suite or pay a deposit only 3-6 months in advance, Viking is willing to have you do that because they have lots of other people who will take your place. Their ships and riverboats always seem to sail full or they do a last minute sale. Either way, not a lot of empty staterooms around, just a bunch of very loyal cruisers.

While I love the burger at the Dive-In, on our last HAL trip (on Koningsdam in May of last year) the wait for one was more than an hour between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. They only had three people working. It was horrid. I finally got one and it was cold. My best buddy ordered a simple hot dog and never got it. Sad.

Thanks so much for coming back to answer.

We are stopping there off Viking Venus in June. We signed up for the early morning included excursion which will get us into the city. We will just stay in and then make our own way back via taxi or train/shuttle. While I am here, it's been a few years since we were in Edinburgh, are either Uber or Lyft available?

You should have at least tried Vista. Those older R class ships are just that...old. A brand new ship has a vibe of its own. And the food we had on Vista was better in the specialty restaurants...even Embers (that I didn't like that much) than in Manfredis (where my wife got food poisoning) and the Chef's Table (but that's just because I don't like fixed menus.

No they don't. They dock at Pier 66. NCL put millions into Pier 66 to be the only company (with all their subsidiaries including Oceania) to use it for embarkation and disembarkation. I have a close friend who works there. She only gets NCL and Oceania. This has been true for about five years. And to answer the OP question, it is a VERY easy walk and one of the safest in Seattle. I can walk it with luggage in less than 10 minutes, all flat surface.

You are correct. My mistake.

Viking's smaller ships are old R class ships once owned by Renaissance Cruises who went out of business long ago. They had quite a few of them. Azamara sails four of them, Princess used to have one and Oceania has three (of which Regatta is one). They were great ships once but kind of dated now and I would in no way compare them to Viking's fleet. Oceanias three newest ships including the Vista that we sailed on are much improved. I would never have done a comparison if those were just the only Oceania ship I had been on.

I think you nailed the correct answer. We are long-time temperpedic sleepers and we found the beds on Viking Ocean to be horrid. Even with a mattress topper. Did 21 nights in the Med with only about four hours a night of sleep. That's all my back could stand and I have never had a bad back. Most miserable part of the cruise. I was kind of starting to get used to them towards the end...or maybe I was so tired I just had to sleep. We did our first Viking River cruise in December and had no problems with those beds. Very comfortable.

This was absolutely true for us as well. The Restaurant is just too darned loud. I think it's the low ceilings but we had dinner there three nights out of 21 and couldn't hear the other people at our table for four. Love the World Cafe! Besides, if the weather is good, you can eat outside. Always a plus.

I bet it would be. I would not be a happy camper. Ours is still showing Greenwich. We have non-refundable hotel reservations at a place in Greenwich. Hope ours stays the same. Have a great time.

Can I ask what sailing you are on? And where you found this out. We are on the June 14 departure and we have our own hotels reserved for two nights in Greenwich. Hoping ours is still there.

Absolutely. On our 21-night Med cruise (Athens to Barcelona) my wife got food poisoning (along with other people) at Manfredis and she was down for two days so we cancelled our shore excursions for those two days. Then a week later we got COVID and were quarantined for four more days and we had shore excursions on every one of those days. Cancelled those as well.

Based on the amount of snail mail and e-mail I get from Viking, they have a sale on something pretty much every single day of every single year. 😜