Heidi13

With the exception of the US market, most of the world does NOT add gratuities to the fares. Carnival tried to introduce the US model to UK cruising and it wasn't well received, so they were forced to revert to the traditional model. If you want this in the US market, I'll suggest a change to your tipping culture is required. As the UK market proved, it is fairly easy to change, the pax just have to want the change and act accordingly. When it costs cruise lines money, they will change.

That was our experience in 2020, our Air Canada flight left from the furthest gate.

We had a similar experience, with the consultant having the discetion to offer significant extra discounts.

On the 2020 WC the ship did bring on some local beer and wines from NZ and Australia.

Identify our Assembly Station and evacuation routes from the cabin. Location of safety gear close to the cabin.

Unfortunately, with respect to weather and seas, what other experienced has little bearing on what you will experience. However, Cape Horn is renowned as having the potential for being some of the roughest seas in the World. Masters manage the passage using a number of tools - first and foremost is reviewing weather routing information and the synopsis/forecasts from a recognised National Meteorological Office. In open waters the Master will endeavour to steam toward the edge of the storm, reducing speed and steering a course in accordance with the seas to ease the passage. In coastal areas the master may seek shelter to evade rough seas. Lots of areas are known for rough seas, with the primary factors being the fetch (distance the wind blows), depth of water and local weather issues. Some of the worst areas i have experienced are: - North Atlantic - North & South Pacific - Indian Ocean - Tasman Sea - Bay of Biscay - Meddy - Gulf of Tehuantepec (south of Acapulco) - Hecate Strait (BC Coast) - Approaches to san Francisco & Columbia River - Roaring 40's (uninterupted waters at 40S) - Bass Strait

Departing the ship at 09:30, you may not have too much time to spare for a 15:00 flight. LHR is about 70 miles from Tilbury, which on a good day, with no congestion on the M25, should take about 90 mins. However the M25 is notorious for traffic jams and could easily take 2 to 3 hours. For a 15:00 flight, you probably should arrive at LHR T2 about 12:00, especially if your flight leaves from one of the furthest gates at the opposite side from check-in.

The Deck 3 Explorer Suites are on the same deck as the Focsle, but this is a non-working space, as the mooring and anchoring machinery are 1 deck down. On the 2020 WC, I don't recall the bow area being open to pax. Personally, I would be more concerned with seas pounding the windows in heavy weather. There is good reason why the original Princess ships had steel shutters that we used to cover windows in similar locations, when heavy weather was expected.

Viking don't use the old traditional term, but it is located on Deck 1 in the Atrium - port side fwd. The fwd desks are the general Purser's (GM's) staff, while the aft desks were the Shore-ex manager and his/her staff.

The public transport out to the ferry terminals is good on both sides. The Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal bus I believe is the 620 and it departs from Bridgeport Station in Richmond. It meets every sailing from Victoria and is a very popular service. You also have a private bus service that sails on each ferry which goes from Vancouver to Victoria. However, that service is direct and no longer stops at Butchart gardens.

In addition to tours where you abide by their schedule, you can consider public transport and the ferry. Coast Mountain operates buses out to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal that arrive in time to walk on the ferry to Swartz bay (Victoria). On disembarking the ferry you can catch the Victoria transit bus to the gardens (#81 if memory is correct) You can spend as many hours at the gardens as you want. Personally we plan for at least 4 hrs. You can then catch the local bus back to the ferry terminal, or down to Victoria.

Definitely the best seats in the house. In addition to being prohibitively expensive, I recall they also have a dress code, which was Uniform or business attire. Rather than the Royal Gallery, we book the Premium Seats, which are just below the Royal Gallery. Same great view and much cheaper, but not under cover

Once onboard Viking Ocean, you have a number of options for booking shore-ex. When availability is an issue, meeting face to face with the shore-ex staff at the Purser's Desk is the preferred option, as if any tours are full, you can register interest, so they know how many extra seats they can fill. You can also book tours in the cabin using the TV. They have a shore-ex page, which lists the tours for each port. You can book directly on the TV and the tickets are delivered to the cabin in a few hours. If you can't book tours online pre-cruise, yes I suggest bringing your laptop, or notes, as you will most likely get everything you want onboard. Note- we haven't cruised post COVID, so this experience is all pre-COVID.

The 2 key factors affecting the price differential between mega ships and small ships is economy of scale and how much of the cruise is "All-inclusive" The mega ship model has evolved to increase the number of potential pax by providing cheap base fares. Ship size has increased significantly, with a number of ships now carrying over 6,000 pax. Therefore the Captain and Officers that are required by regulation are all paid by over 6,000 pax, while the same number on a smaller ship are paid by < 1,000. The additional crew are increased based on the size of the ship and pax/crew ratio. On smaller ships you can experience a ratio of less than 2 pax for every crew member, whereas most mega ships are now pushing 3:1 ratio. From our experience, this makes a significant difference to the levels of service available onboard, including the cabin service. On our smaller ship we had a cabin steward and an assistant. On the mega ship we only had a single cabin steward, who had more cabins than the stewards on the smaller ship. The level of cleanliness and service was noticeable. In the MDR & alternative/specialty restaurants, the smaller ship waiters/waitresses had less tables to serve, so again a higher level of service. Food quality is highly subjective, but in general most smaller ships have better quality of meals than mega ships. On our preferred cruise line, all meals are cooked to order rather than mega ships that cook and serve from a steam table. Generally the selection on smaller ships and the availability of higher cost items is greater than on mega ships included meals. Note - mega ships do have "Specialty Restaurant" requiring an extra fee (sometimes substantial) where you can get meals comparable to smaller ships. On our preferred small ships, the alternative restaurants are included in the base fare. Space ratio - which can be determined by dividing the Gross Tonnage (which is a measure of volume - 1 GT = 100 ft3 of enclosed space) divided by number of pax. While not a true determination of space available, it does provide a reasonable comparison between ships. Smaller ships are often over 50, while mega ships are probably all below 40. This make a significant difference in crowding. Smaller ships tend to be more "All-inclusive", so you have a small or no bill at the end of the cruise. On mega ships, most things cost extra, so depending on you cruising style, you can have a significant bill at the end of the cruise. The smaller ships have less, or no restrictions on bringing alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks onboard, whereas mega ships either restrict or ban this practice. Our preferred small ship cruise line permits you to bring anything onboard and will even serve you your own wine in the restaurant and/or bars with no corkage fee. Mega ships charge corkage fees for any bottles brought aboard that exceed the cruise line policy. Mega ships have way more activities, many of which include extra fees. They also have way more entertainment - pool games, marriage games, etc. These are not normally found on the smaller ships, which tend to provide informative lectures during the day and a show/guest entertainer in the evening. The smaller ships may have additional piano, guitar or classic players on staff. If your primary objective is to participate in a host of activities, then a mega ship would be your best option, as smaller ships are more expensive and don't offer those activities. However, if you are not interested in the activities, you would have to determine what you want from a cruise and which type of ship is the best fit for you. Another cost differential to consider is whether flights are includes and whether any shore-ex are included. Both of these options are often provided with smaller ships.

One of the few perks provided for repeat pax or higher grade cabins is an earlier window for booking shore-excursions and the 2 alternative restaurants. This is common knowledge and is included on the website for every cabin category. If potential pax don't agree with this policy they have the opportunity to take their money to any of the other cruise lines that have perks they prefer. Personally, I couldn't care less and it would not entice us to book a higher grade cabin, as we book cabin based on location for DW. As I noted in my previous reply, this issue is primarily on the ability to book shore-ex prior to the cruise, as once onboard most pax secure the shore-ex they prefer, regardless of cabin category, as once onboard every pax is equal regardless of cabin size.

Couldn't be further from the truth. I conduct a risk assessment for each port and book tours according to the risk. We have many preferred vendors around the World, but sadly since COVID, many have retired. What I did say in a recent post is that booking shore-ex requires minimal research, but as a retired Navigator/Captain, I probably do more voyage planning than most.

The common complaint is pax being unable to book online tours pre-cruise, an issue which has increased post-COVID. However, at the end of the cruise, very few pax are unable to book a preferred shore-ex. While I haven't met any, I have no doubt they do exist, but the percentage of the total pax is tiny. I also plan extensively, to the extent of creating a Word document for each port and printing a hard copy prior to departure. When I mentioned walking onto a tour on the dock these were additional tours of interest, but we would have been just as happy with wandering ashore. Since Viking sell out many cruises a year in advance, they only offer reduced solo supplements on a handful of cruises, normally trans-Atlantics, or similar sea day intensive crossings. Every pax is guaranteed an "Included" tour in every port.

A month in drydock/wet dock is a very long time, even for older ships, so it must be a huge scope of work, which increases the potential for interference between jobs. Jobs on the critical path may even start prior to the drydock. In addition to the running down of stores & supplies, you may have some contractors aboard preparing for the drydock, which could potentially close-off some pax areas. Another key detriment is that prior to a drydock the standards around the ship are at the lowest. Can't think of any benefits.

I would be very interested in reading the facts to substantiate your statement that Viking don't provide sufficient shore-ex to accommodate most of the pax. Since you didn't specify online booking pre-cruise, which post-COVID has issues, what percentage of pax at the end of the cruise did not get the specific shore-ex that they wanted? Having spent 4 months on a Viking ship the shore-ex staff were not "Lazy" as they worked numerous late nights, ensuring the pax got the tours they wanted, even with multiple port changes. We met and got to know many of the pax over the 4 months and am not aware of any that couldn't get a specific tour, as it was full. Might not get your preferred time, but you could book an alternative time. On all of our Viking tours, none of the buses or vans was booked to capacity, as they tend to leave seats available for last minute changes. These seats are filled by the onboard shore-ex staff and are also available to any pax who requests to join a tour on the dock. When booking multiple tours on any day, the system requires a minimum gap between tours. Due to the required gap, we have been unable to book an afternoon tour after an AM tour, but on return to the dock, have asked the shore-ex staff if spots are available for the PM tour. Always managed to get a seat. If I can join a tour on the dock on more than 1 occasion, just prior to departure , how can Viking not be ensuring the supply is sufficient for most pax? My other consideration is if the cruise line doesn't provide shore-ex, it is incentive for pax to book cheaper, smaller group and more customisable private tours.

Almost impossible to predict, as the daily schedule is at the discretion of the Cruise Director and I'm not aware that information has been released. Once the ship sails from Istanbul, we should have an idea who the Senior Staff and officers will be.

I'm having difficulty understanding the correlation between Viking's current "Smart Casual" attire and the formal attire required on the old liners and cruise ships. Formal attire wasn't a Cunard standard, as it was also a requirement on all P&O and British India ships, and it continued long after the Queen Mary retired in 1967. When I left P&O in the 1980's, on all except the first & last nights, evening attire was a tux or dark suit for gentlemen and gowns or long dresses for ladies. This wasn't a suggestion, it was a requirement. In addition, the officers were all dressed in Mess Kit from 18:00, if on decks and not working. Dinner was also traditional seating, with the dinner bells sounded throughout the pax accommodation. Every cruise line has "Rig of the Day" standards, but the current Viking standard is certainly not a throwback to the formal attire and dinner experience I remember from the 1970's & 80's. If anything, Viking is the polar opposite of what I experienced when working on the ships.

I attach an old wine list from 2018. While some of the wines will have changed at least it provides the number available 708276682_Viking-Ocean-Cruises-Wine-List2018.pdf

On modern cruise ships you cannot turn off the supply air, as it is required to maintain a small positive pressure in the cabin. This is a safety feature to restrict the ingress of smoke into the cabin during a fire.

Princess Cruise were a "Premium" cruise line back in the 70's & 80's, but have since been Carnivalised. Sorry, but Princess are no longer in the "Premium" category.

We can now purchase BC Wines in some grocery stores, but I am not aware that Costco is included. You will have lots of options from Govt Liquor Stores and private liquor/beer & wine stores. I don't head downtown Vancouver very often, so hopefully someone else can suggest some of your best options. @martincath