bob brown

Viking can expand. Other's can also bring newbuilds. Maybe not for a while, but eventually.

If they want to keep most of AQV's customer's, it might be a good idea to make it happen. Otherwise, some other player might enter the market, (besides Viking), and take some of them... 🤷‍♂️

That’s no help to me, as I haven’t sailed on either previously. Now if they would “merge” their loyalty program with the former AQV, since they purchased some of their vessels, that would give me some “status”…😉

Hey people! Don't you realize that these pins are by far the most expensive jewelry I own? (As in the fares paid to obtain them)....😁

Has anyone cruised this line more recently?

I had long given up on 'O' doing what is "right", and accepted it is what it is; but since this subject has resurrected, I will comment... If someone can take a friend on their "Milestone" free cruise, who say, has no history on "O", does that person, who begins cruising on 'O' on their own, now have to cruise 40 times to get their first "earned Milestone"? That would seem to be how 'O' is interpreting their "fine print". Or...suppose someone else wants to take that person on their first Milestone cruise...would they have to pay to go on it, since they have already been on another person's Milestone? The "fine print" does not address all these possibilities. The perk should be for an individual to use, and the status of the 'guest', should have no bearing on whether they can be a 'guest' of the Milestone awardee, or not. Or simply change it to make it clear, the milestone cannot be 'shared'.

Okay...then just divert some of their new coastal ACL ships to cover the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence itineraries. Then keep or get rid of the Pearl Seas ship. 🤷‍♂️

I am still hoping ACL takes the opportunity to increase their presence on the Great Lakes and upper St. Lawrence via their Pearl Seas subsidiary, hopefully with a pair of new ships, to replace the former Victory pair... And sail into Chicago instead of Milwaukee on most sailings...

I am wondering if it is the scope of the Longshoreman's union that handles ship's mooring lines at docks and piers? Is it from the same 'craft' that loads and unloads baggage and freight from ships, or a separate entity?

Anyone do the St. Lawrence Seaway on the Pearl Seas, Pearl Mist? Wondering how their food compares with AQV...

The American Queen is in a class by itself, not just for its steam propulsion, but also for its size. Its size allows it to offer a level of on board entertainment and facilities that a smaller boat cannot. The modern Viking Mississippi probably comes closest in that regard…

The American Countess and Duchess aren’t exactly new, either…rebuilt from former Iowa gambling boats…

I am one of those displaced from an AQV booking for their Ocean Voyager Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway cruise this year that chose to try the Pearl Seas, Pearl Mist version of it. Nice that I will be able to use that status on the ACL brand later... I am hoping that Pearl Seas will expand to fill the vacuum, and maybe with a new ship for that market, more like the two that Viking has...

I too have noticed recent ACL ads. I am not sure if they are running more, to target former AQV customer's, or maybe I am just more aware of them now...🤷‍♂️

The same for the two Superbowls I have seen on Oceania cruises. Instead of the often entertaining commercials, they just kept repeating the same boring network "promo's", over and over and over...🥱

I wish they would be more like their rival, ACL, as far as investing in new boats and ships, although I haven’t sailed with that line yet to compare their products. Due to AQV canceling my Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cruise this year, I will try ACL’s subsidiary, Pearl Seas Cruises, Pearl Mist for a similar itinerary. Not sure if that will be a good measure of ACL or not, since the Pearl Mist is not a US registered ship, so a different crew experience…

Agree that they should not get into the Alaska market. IIRC, they don't even own the expedition ship they use up there, but charter it from another company. I would have liked them to stay on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence market, however...

Not sure if they ever restored the Z-drive that they lost on the American Queen, that caused our Red Wing to New Orleans cruise last October to need an escort tug the whole way.... Could be that, or something else?

They have already announced that the Ocean Navigator and the Ocean Voyager are up for sale (doubt anyone other than a scrapper will make an offer).

Ensenada serves round trip cruises, such as Los Angeles to Hawaiian Islands and return as a port of call. It occasional serves as a termination port for a one way Hawaii to Ensenada repo cruise, where the passenger's will then be bussed to San Diego or Los Angeles, or the reverse. In these cases, the ship will sometimes "deadhead" to San Diego or LA...

😉

Yes…as long as they are foreign. But for example, Key West would not, right?

One region's loss, is another's gain. I imagine Capetown, and similar, are having to scramble to accommodate all the extra ship's that want to now call there...

Of note is that the 8 ships mentioned were all designed for and built for HAL, except the Prinsendam, which was inherited from Seabourn, and was built as the Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, unless (not likely) you were referring to the original HAL Prinsendam built in 1972 and sunk in 1980

The exception for San Juan is sort of an enigma, as it is excepted from part of the PVSA rule, prohibiting cruises starting from one US port and ending in another (itself), but it is not considered a "distant foreign port" to serve as an intermediate stop, on say, a Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, Panama Canal cruise. Whether it would be considered "a near foreign port" for a cruise that would say go from say Fort Lauderdale to San Juan and return, without any additional foreign ports, I am not sure..Probably a moot point since.I don't think there would be any cruises that would ever sail that far with only that that on a round trip itinerary, anyway...🤷‍♂️