terry&mike

Hello, from Krakow, Poland! We are currently on another one of our adventures, having left home in February. We started in Rwanda and Uganda (gorilla trekking), then Kenya and Tanzania (safari), then Zanzibar for beach. Next we spent 2 weeks in an apartment in Antalya, Turkey, exploring. We are here in Krakow for a week, then will head to Warsaw, Poznan, Berlin. We’ll end in Amsterdam where we will meet a group of friends for a bike and barge trip through the tulip fields. Home at the end of April. Happy to answer. 6 nights in Hua Hin may be a long stay, 4 or 5 nights is probably plenty, as I’m thinking you could grow bored. If you were saying 6 nights in Hoi An, Vietnam, I’d say yes, as you could have some clothes made, which is fun. Centara Grand is a lovely hotel here. In Bangkok, we stayed at the Century Park Hotel. While not luxury, it is a very nice hotel, considered deluxe, at a great rate. Clean, good staff, nice rooms, good breakfast. The location is superb, near public transport, a night market, a mall, restaurants. We took the trains/metro all over from here. Probably our favorite activity in Bangkok was a Street Food Tour by Tuk Tuk, with Bangkokfoodtours.com. Fun, interesting, and lots of great food. Visit a floating market, which is enjoyable. Several tours available on Viator.com One evening we went up to Skybar to have cocktails and watch the sunset, expensive but lovely. We also took advantage of the affordable massages nearby a couple of times. Hope that is helpful! Enjoy!

We have just traveled thru Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (we are still on the same trip, currently in an apartment in Antalya, Turkey), and found the same in regards to USD. The requirement in these African nations is bills 2014 or sooner, no marking or writing, no rips of any kind (or in Rwanda and Kenya, the option to use local currency in any condition). We knew this before leaving the U.S., so were prepared.

I also like Ponant a lot. We sailed them for a 22 night "Beyond the Polar Circle" expedition cruise in Antarctica and it was amazing.

Yes, that has always been the case. You don't want the "wine list" which is the list of wines available on the ship for sale by the bottle, but you want the "list of wines on the Ultimate Package" which will give you the wines that are available and included in your package, and served by the glass. There are times that the wines available on the Ultimate Package are not up to date on the written list, so you may be better off to just ask for a verbal list.

There is a Roll Call for this sailing that you may find interesting and/or helpful.

Yes. Yesterday we added the promo to our card, and made a $1000 payment towards an existing booking. Immediately got an email saying "Good News! You used this AmEx offer:"

Hoi An is such a lovely city. We stopped there as a cruise ship port in January 2020, and liked it so much we returned for several days in January 2023. On a cruise stop, you will have a rushed visit to Hoi An, as it is a long way from where you port. When we were back in 2023, we had several custom clothing items made. We visited the shops and worked out designs, selected fabrics, and got measured on Day 1, this took about 2 hours. On Day 2, we went back for fittings on all of our items in the early afternoon, this took about 45 minutes. On Day 3, mid-morning, we went back to pick up our items. At this time, you do a final try on, and 2 of our items needed a further alteration. We had to return to pickup these last 2 items in the evening of Day 3. Some people do this in 2 days by placing order on Day 1, having fitting on Day 2, and having clothes shipped to them, but I don't recommend it, as if it is wrong then it is wrong. I posted about our trip (link below), the portion in Hoi An starts around post #22, and continues on. It mentions what shops we visited, and has a couple of photos of our clothes.

Thank you!

Do you remember the approximate cost for the rickshaw ride? Many thanks for the tip.

When we experience late night flights, we usually do one of two options to make the best of the day. The first option is that we book a local hotel room for the night. When we disembark the ship, we bring our luggage and drop it off with the front desk to hold for us, and go out and explore the city on our own. We then come back sometime later in the afternoon, check into our room, and take a shower, nap, relax, whatever, and then head to the airport for our late flight. Occasionally, we are very lucky and when we arrive to drop our bags in the morning, they say our room is ready then and allow us to check in. The second option is that we book a private combination tour and airport transfer for the day. Have the guide pick us up at the port, take us on a tour to see something we have an interest in, and end with a drop off at the airport.

The Original Poster is from Houston (Texas, US), so presumably they are seeing the information presented in the same format as I see it (in Florida, US), which is identical to the format that CDNPolar (in Canada) has posted above. I have handled a high number of these invoices, and they all follow the same format that is posted here. In 2021, there was a Christmas Markets sailing with 4 cabins booked, in which Viking made a change -- the over-abundance of communication that they provided was impressive. They are not a company that would slip a change by a consumer quietly. I'm no Viking Cheerleader, preferring the river products of Scenic and AMA, but I can honestly say that Viking's Administrative side and booking documentation is as straight-forward as you can get in the industry. They are a solid company, offering a solid product, so I don't love seeing a post that implies that Viking randomly changed a booking on a guest without cause -- this type of post can have the effect of other consumers not having confidence in the product. I would like to see proof to support these claims. As CDNPolar said, a quick consolidation of the invoices would have uncovered the different Ship, Cruise ID, Cruise Name, etc. Going forward, how to correct this is the challenge. As OP has booked directly, you'll need to be your own advocate with Viking. I'd suggest calling again, apologizing for having made an embarrasing booking error, asking for "help" in getting it straight (that word often prompts people to get involved with a solution), having options of what you are willing to do ready to present to Viking (such as Booking A is willing to move to same sailing as Booking B and accept a French Balcony cabin rather than a Verandah). If you meet with some resistance, then politely request to move this up the chain of command. Possibly you will get this resolved in your favor, possibly it will cost you some fees, possibly you will not be able to get it resolved and you'll still both have great trips, just cruise separately. Had you booked with a travel agent, they would be advocating on your behalf, and would have a different route to take on this matter. Best of luck in getting it resolved, but no matter what, it will still be a great trip.

Out of curiosity, I went in to look at sailings and availability on Viking. Based on the information you provided of early May (I'm assuming 2024?), and that you wrote the direction of Passau to Budapest, and gave ship names of Atla and Aegir, I think you must be booked on May 12 departures, correct? You are actually not on just different ships, but different itineraries. May 12-19, Aegir, Danube Waltz itinerary from Passau to Budapest. (Currently, there are no Verandah cabins available, but there are French Balcony cabins available.) May 12-19, Atla, Romantic Danube itinerary from Regensburg to Budapest. (There are no Verandah, but there are French Balcony.) If you had the directional incorrect, then you could be on the May 5 sailing, and here are the details: May 5-12, Aegir, Danube Waltz itinerary from Budapest to Passau. (Verandah cabins are available.) May 5-12, Atla, Romantic Danube itinerary from Budapest to Regensburg. (Only Standard cabins are available.)

I would be curious to see their original invoice. I've seen many Viking invoices over the years, and none have not included a ship name. The Aegir has been sailing that route for many years, and was not added recently. For newbies, the Viking web site may be confusing, as when you are searching for a cruise, it will bring back a list of cruises that is not a complete list, it is actually "Selected Sailings". The site will initially show you the cruises that have more availability at that moment, displayed as a drop down list. When you click on More Info, it will show you the name of the ship and the cabin's availability and price. At the top of this list, there is a toggle button that you can move to All Sailings, and this will show you every departure date and sailing -- this toggle button is preset to Selected Sailings. My guess is you chose from a Selected Sailings list, same date, and your friends chose from a different Selected Sailings list, same date.

There will be many taxis, as well as taxi/tour operators, just inside the port building and just outside the port building. We contracted with one for the day and visited several places and attractions. Very good value.

We took an Uber from our hotel in Buenos Aires to the airport in mid-December 2023. No issues at all.