Heidi13

Yes, 100 is a little on the low side, but having completed multiple day safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, using up to 200 mm, it could work. In our experience, how close you get depends on the skill of your driver and the type of vehicle. I did have a doubler, but rarely found a need, preferring to maintain the f2.8 max aperture. The doubler was only used during the final hour of the AM drives and first hour of the PM drives. In both an open jeep and a closed vehicle, where you looked through openings in the roof, I was unable to use a tripod, so everything was hand held. Since all our drives were at sunrise and sunset, much was in low light, so a faster lens is as beneficial as focal length. Although it has a lower zoom, I believe the Canon has a faster lens.

You may want to consider the Canon G7X III, which is more compact

Here are some of my notes on Eden Points of Interest: · Killer Whale Museum – covers the history of whaling in Twofold Bay with – old whaling boats, various artifacts and a killer whale skeleton. Relates the story of how the locals used killer whales to catch other types of whales. Open 09:15 to 15:45 http://www.killerwhalemuseum.com.au/ · Coastal & Bush Walks: o Lake Curalo Walkway – just under 2 miles. It is north of town, with a boardwalk through a swamp. Great for spotting birds o Aslings Beach Walk – stroll along the beach from the lake to the north of town. o Cocora Beach Walk – around from the wharf, it is a pleasant stroll along the beach and around the bay. · Eden Lookout & Rotary Park – off Imlay Street about 300 yds from the wharf. Lookout over the water with picnic benches · Eden Lookout Point – great views of the bay. · Aslings Beach – nice long beach north of town · Crown & Anchor Inn – oldest local building, built in the 1840’s, then a hotel by 1845. In 1860 it was used as a telegraph office. Now restored, it is a B&B. · Eden Court House – across road from Whale Museum. Built 1857 of sandstone brought from Pyrmont, Sydney · Cocora Cottage – built in 1850 as the police station, it is next to the courthouse. Now a B&B. · Half House – a 2-storey building, it as started in 1850, but not completed. Used as a post office 1868-1885. Now a private residence. · Ben Boyd National Park – established in 1971 it is split into 3 separate sections – north 7 south of Eden and a 3rd area further north. On the coast they have beaches and rugged cliffs, while inland they have a variety of birds, kangaroos, wombats and others · Davidson Whaling Station Historic Site – on the coast south of Eden, it is about a 20 mile drive from the wharf. Established in 1857 as a family whaling business that continued to 1929. Operated by National Parks, it is mostly ruins, but they have placards, photos and illustrations of what it was like. · Boyd’s Tower – further south than the Whaling Station, it was built in 1847 as a 75’ high tower. Built from Pyrmont stone brought from Sydney. Originally designed as a lighthouse, it was never used, except as a whale spotting tower. Restaurants · Eden Fish & Chips

Affirmative, I had 1 suit and DW had a couple of outfits.

For the Antarctica portion, the Viking Expedition ships are a better option, as they are fitted with azimuthing thrusters and have superior ice classification, so can proceed through ice that minimal ice-classed ships, such as Oosterdam cannot. Having less than 500 pax, they can also land pax ashore, whereas ships > 500 pax cannot.

On the 2015 R/T Sydney WC on Sea Princess, they had about a dozen formal nights.

Just to clarify, Viator is not an independent tour operator, they are a 3rd party sales agent. May I suggest researching actual tour operators and engaging in discussions with them directly, as I expect they will be more than happy to adjust the timing of private tours.

The reason for caution is the Viking ships are not as manoeuvrable, as they only have conventional rudders (not high-lift rudders or azimuthing thrusters) and don't have overly powerful bow/stern thrusters.

Also a non-cell phone user. First computer was a Sinclair ZX81 in 1982. Came with 2K memory and you had to write everything in Basic, saving any programs written to a cassette tape.

When dealing with Starlink, other ships may not be consistent, as the speed is dependent on how many satellites are visible and at an acceptable elevation, and the amount of traffic the ship is generating. If close to shore or in port, you also share the bandwidth with shore users. Those speeds are also a fraction of our shoreside speed, as we attain about 700 mbps download and 100 mbps upload. The ping, or transmit time is also slow, as our normal is 10.

We all like to think the reduced cloxs are to enhance the pax experience. I'll suggest the primary reason is making it easier to manage the crew's hours of rest requirements, per the Maritime Labour Convention.

When considering a single wave, affirmative that is the definition of wave height - trough to crest. However, if referring to significant wave height, it averages the height of the highest 1/3 of the waves.

You need to compare apples to apples when comparing cruises. Yes, you can probably get an inside cabin on a HAL WC for $16 - 20K, but it does include port taxes, included shorex in each port, business flights, drinks, gratuities, wifi, laundry, Visas, luggage shipping, etc. Having completed World Cruises on Princess & Viking in a comparable cabin, at the end of the cruise the daily cost was identical, although the Viking base fare was double. Therefore, the base fare is meaningless when comparing cruises. You need to compare the end cost, especially on longer cruises. The OP quoted a Viking cruise and questioned how cruise lines deal with pax service when unable to reach the disembarkation port. Based on the OP, I believe our Viking experience is relevant. Purchasing trip interruption only mitigates the financial risk, which wasn't an issue for the HAL WC pax booking independent air, as HAL did reimburse them. The trip interruption insurance may not help when you are stranded in a port and not many flights are available.

As others have posted, it is entirely at the discretion of the ship's Masters. Many Masters, myself included, cannot comprehend arriving with the ship's cloxs not consistent with local time: however, others don't have an issue. Any reputable tour operator should be able to determine the ship's arrival and departure times from the local port authority.

So true, especially on World Cruises, if you can't accept the itinerary is finalised upon disembarkation, perhaps a 7-day jaunt to the Caribbean might be a better option.

The ships are generally capable of handling heavy weather, unfortunately most of today's pax not so much. When cruising in these regions, at this time of year, pax need to be aware of the potential for itinerary changes. While I haven't yet sailed with HAL, I have experienced this issue when working cruise ships and we did exactly the same as Viking did. Disembarking pax were flown on charter aircraft to the disembarkation port and embarking pax to where the ship was. Since another poster mentioned the curtailed 2020 World Cruise, I can provide a comparison to HAL & Viking customer service, as we were on the Viking World Cruise. The Viking World cruise ended in Dubai and the ship arranged and paid for return flights for all pax, regardless if they had Viking Air, or not. You were not disembarked unless you had a confirmed flight. Unfortunately, eight (8) pax could not get flights home, as the airlines shut down operations in Dubai. Since we were 2 of those 8 pax, rather than being disembarked to find hotels and our own flights, as per some of the HAL pax in Freemantle, we were kept onboard the ship for an additional 3 weeks. We eventually disembarked in Gibraltar and flew home via LHR, with a Viking escort. Similar to HAL, we received significant refunds, which were based on Dubai, so 8 pax cruised for free on a ship with 460 crew. HAL may have reimbursed some money for flights, but non-HAL Air pax were disembarked and had to find their own flights. I'll suggest Viking customer service in 2020 was vastly superior to HAL. Note - we clearly didn't personally experience the HAL WC, but did know WC pax who booked HAL Air and those that booked independent air.

The Thames is tidal, with a range of over 20 feet, so at Greenwich they would require serious dredging to build an alongside berth. Therefore, the ships are always secured to mooring buoys about 500' from shore.

The previous World Cruise did dock in Napier, so it isn't impossible. In response to the cost cutting myth prevalent with many pax, I recall crafting a lengthy post outlining many of the factors that would dispel the myth. While the cruise line saves money on port fees and can proceed to the next port at slower speed, the ship is still at sea burning additional fuel. Lots of other factors also increase costs and/or reduce revenue, so unfortunately missing a port does not mean the cruise line saves money, in many ports it could result in additional costs. In addition, you also need to factor the negative pax impressions, as you noted with Oceania.

If the airline determined that you were unfit to fly, based on the information you provided, surely they have a responsibility to advise the customer they are unable to fly, before the customer presents at the airport for the flight. If the customer was not permitted to fly, why did the airline not cancel the booking. In the marine industry, it is becoming increasingly more common where local doctor decisions are submitted for review at a higher level. Our seafarer medical fitness physicals are completed by a local approved doctor, who recommends whether you pass/fail. The results are then sent to Transport Canada in Ottawa, who make the final decision and can over-rule the local doctor.

Napier is a tough port for cruise ships, due to the exposed and narrow entrance. I've never docked on a cruise ship, only ever made it in once on a cargo ship.

Not sure why you are checking the 3rd party website cruisemapper, and contemplating they are more accurate than your Viking documentation, as they are often incorrect. To determine the port, the definitive sources are the port's website or the cruise line. The Port of London website shows Viking Saturn at Greenwich on 30/04/24. Enjoy the days ashore, as it has some great pubs and attractions, a short walk from the tenders dock. Affirmative, Viking use both London Cruise Terminal (Tilbury) and Greenwich

Since weather can change daily, and previous crossings, even at the same time of year may not be consistent with what you experience, you may want to check the forecasts. For detailed info, you can check synopsis and forecasts from UK, Canada or USA. A simple pictorial view can also be achieved using Windy.com

Viking has 4 options for their World Cruise, with the L/A to London being the shortest at 121 days. With the port/sea day ratio and the number of overnights and double overnights in port, you can't sail around the entire World in 4-months. For those wanting a true circumnavigation of the globe, the 180-day option is from Florida to New York.

To provide some perspective. When working cruise ships, I completed 2 consecutive Alaska seasons and we only got into Dawes Glacier once. In over 30 cruises, I have never failed to see at least 1 glacier, in Glacier Bay National Park. Does Glacier Bay have the best glaciers, while it is subjective, I'll suggest other glaciers are more impressive. However, if you can't get to the glacier, due to ice, it doesn't really matter how impressive the glacier is, as you won't see it. As an additional benefit in Glacier Bay, the Park Rangers provide commentary.

Even the balcony in 4000, which is right forward had glass topped with a teak taff rail. So I expect all balconies have glass.