Heidi13

In this part of the World the weather can be this bad at any time of year. Without any land masses, the predominant W'ly winds have nothing to break up the seas.

The previous daily testing on Viking ships identified the virus at the earliest stages, preventing spread. Best example is the 2021 WC that had a number of early infections, but with daily testing and quarantine they managed to complete a 120+ day cruise, mostly with zero infection.

An excellent response. Viking also walk the talk when it comes to safety and do place pax and crew safety as a priority. The mega ship owners have lots of talk about crew & pax safety, but it is more talk than action. Best recent example is they all refused to install labs onboard for testing, so they actually know the virus load aboard and make informed decisions to control spread. By re-introducing targeted testing, Viking are endeavouring to prevent the recent example of a Princess ship docking in Australia with 800 infected pax. With respect to Argentina, we have no knowledge of the requirements the Master receives from the local authorities, with respect to handling positive cases. Marine requirements have always been different from other modes of transport and local port authorities can implement any requirements higher than national standards. Prior to arrival, the Master must report any infectious diseases and adhere to all directions provided by local authorities.

I use paper as a back-up, but essential paper documents that quickly come to mind are Visas and International Vaccination Booklet. For COVID vaccinations we have a Govt issued electronic record, so the paper cards are only a backup. While an increasing number of Visas are now electronic, many still require a paper Visa. Even electronic Visas have a paper backup. Not having this information readily available in some countries will result in missing the cruise.

If the Risk Free Guarantee was still in force when you booked, your Aunt & Uncle had 2 options upon cancelling. 1. Risk Free Guarantee - If they selected the RFG option, Viking would have issued a FCV for everything paid, including the voucher used to pay for the cruise. No cash is returned using this oFCV would have a new 2-yr expiry. 2. Standard Cancellation in accordance with the Terms & Conditions - assuming the cruise was < 35 days, provided they advised Viking > 120 days out, they would receive the cash paid less the $100 pp cancellation fee. Any voucher used to pay for the cruise is NOT replaced, as per the conditions issued with the voucher. When you cancel, whatever option you select is non-reversible once it is processed. In our experience, Viking tried everything to encourage us to accept the vouchers rather than a cash refund. They clearly explained the options and that once we make our decision it is final.

You can also select one of the cruise lines that don't accept kids, or a cruise line that has a few of their ships adult only.

As with everything electronic, it is subject to failure. If not taking paper copies, what is your back-up plan? Personally, I never rely on the potential of a single point failure, always have a back up plan, which for me includes printing copies of everything. As a frequent traveller, I have required the back up paper copies multiple times. Since this is a marine forum, for some perspective, ships now use electronic charts, which must have a 2nd separate system and multiple power sources. However, they still carry limited paper charts.

While many pax bring personal hair dryers, they are included on the list of prohibited items, which was posted above, as they are a potential fire hazard. Since they are on the prohibited list, they can be seized at any time, being returned at the end of the cruise. As the Chief posted above, any electronic appliance may not work due to the specific nature of marine wiring.

We have completed the Sydney flights from Vancouver - since we use One World Alliance, we flew Sydney - DFW- YVR. If we used Star Alliance, we could have flown direct Sydney to YVR on Air Canada. From Toronto: - One World - I'll suggest you have 2 options, both with 1 stop - YYZ to LAX (American) then LAX to Sydney (Qantas) - YYZ to DFW (American) then DFW to Sydney (Qantas) - Star Alliance - YYZ to YVR then the same plane departs direct to Sydney (Air Canada) In our experience, the Qantas flight in Business Class aboard the A-380, is vastly superior to Air Canada's B-777 Business Class. However, the American flight from DFW to VYR, in Business was no more than glorified economy.

On our last Viking cruise, our cabin steward noted DW's sandals were requiring repairs. He took them away and returned a couple days later and they were repaired. Another pax on the same cruise put sandals in the bin. The cabin steward rescued them and had them repaired, returning them a couple of days later. However, as the Chief mentioned, this isn't always available.

Haha!! That's one I don't have any worries, since I learned at an early age they are doffed prior to going inside.😁

Affirmative, no issues with electric toothbrush

Affirmative, the door to the cabins is on the Port side by the Library. They also have an exit on each side with stairs leading up to the fwd seating areas on Dk9. I attach a photo of the area showing the door.

Prohibited items are rarely identified during embarkation, as they should be noted by the cabin stewards, who then submit a request for engineering to investigate. The reason heat generating appliances are prohibited is the increased fire risk. Remember, on board the ship you have no 999, 000, 111 or 911 service. While the officers and crew are trained, I can provide some perspective from my first fire-fighting course in South Shields, UK. It was taught by professional firemen, who advised we learn in 4-days what they learn in about 2-years. They advised, those still alive after 4-days pass and the failure option was self explanatory. While the ships have exceptional fire containment and fixed extinguishing systems, when bringing electrical heating appliances onboard, you may wish to consider that fire is considered the greatest risk at sea for a very good reason.

Less than 50% of capacity is available for online booking pre-cruise and in addition a good percentage of online reservations are cancelled/changed once onboard. Once you board the ship you should be able to make reservations and in our experience, many evenings you can walk up and be seated with minimal delays.

Further to LM's great response, when we were at White Bay, Viking provided the Water Taxi service about ev 20 to 30 mins from about 08:00 to early evening. After the water taxi shut down they provided a bus until almost midnight.

For the Viking experience feel free to check out my blog posts from the 2020 World Cruise, which stopped at a number of S/Pacific islands. It should provide some ideas of what life is like aboard a Viking ship, on an ocean passage. www.andyandjudi.com

Only you can determine why you want to cruise Alaska, with your reasons impacting the positives & negatives of a late season cruise. Personally, having spent way too many months on a ship's Bridge watching the scenery and wildlife for 8 hrs per day, seeing even more of the scenery and wildlife is my primary objective. Therefore, late season cruises don't work for me, as you have reduced daylight, potential fog, low cloud base shrouding the mountains and visibility reduced by precipitation, which can be heavy. These condition are more prevalent late season, which significantly reduce the potential of wildlife sightings. Weather can be variable, as this year the NW experienced a warmer and drier September. However, temperature would normally be cooler, which may be an issue depending on your temperature tolerance. The potential for storms increases significantly by mid-September, as I have experienced 70 kt storms in each of the 2 years I worked Alaska cruising in September. Ports are both a positive and negative, as less ships remain in Alaska, so less ships and therefore other pax in port, but many of the shops and tour operators have already shut down and departed SE Alaska.

Over the years I've been to most of the South Pacific Islands. Having been on a river cruise, this would be the polar opposite, as it entails lots of sea days.

The day prior to Whittier is scenic cruising in Prince William Sound, so the ship docks in Whittier early morning, while pax are sleeping. Disembarkation doesn't start upon the berthing. From Whittier you require transportation through the tunnel to get to Anchorage, which is about 60 miles. We have always done R/T back to Vancouver, but disembarkation started at the usual time, with most pax taking cruise line buses into Anchorage. In our experience, most pax flew out the same day, but staying overnight or a few days is possible. If you wanted to disembark upon the early morning arrival, you would have to arrange that with the cruise line/ship and arrange your own transportation, as walking/cycling through the tunnel is not permitted.

We are sorry that you won't be enjoying Viking again, but that's good news for those of us that enjoy Viking, as it leaves more cabins available. Perhaps in this post COVID world you may have unrealistic expectations. If I am flying, I am happy to find the flight isn't cancelled and/or changed multiple times, I don't have to stand in a security queue for 3+ hrs, I find a fully crewed plane at the gate and upon arrival, find our luggage. Those might be fairly low expectations, but these days, I'll suggest they are realistic. Knowing the schedule before the cruise is a minor detail, as especially in that part of the world. When you book an expedition cruise in the furthest reaches of the World, you need to accept the local limitations. Personally, since departing Ushuaia you are depending on a local charter, I would be happy to ensure we arrived at BA in sufficient time to catch the connecting flight. For a short flight, I didn't see an issue with the legroom, seen worse in Europe and some of the local flights I've taken on small aircraft. Considering the charter flights we got when going to/from work, that would have been the equivalent of business class, if it was available. Our flights were also 3 to 3.5 hrs each way.

Wow, that a new one for me. We have had to disembark a number of times and remain ashore, or even in the terminal until the ship reached zero count. Fortunately, we never had to pack up the cabin and take everything ashore.

The Ship's Security Manual, required by the ISPS Code, should require some level of security screening in every port, either conducted by the shore facility, or onboard the ship. With respect to Immigration, for "In transit pax" I have seen this requirement in a few ports. Can't recall all of them, but Vancouver and St Petersburg come to mind.

The procedures can vary depending on the port, but in most similar situations, pax already having boarded are treated similar to pax in transit and you are normally directed straight to the queue for Security Screening, if required by "In Transit" pax.

Will do. Haven't seen any for about a week, but will forward when received.