npezdek

DAY 6 & DAY 7

 

As we were not docking in Palma de Mallorca on Day 6 till noon, we thought we would have a lie in. We realised that cruising , no matter how enjoyable it can be, could bequite tiring – spending hours packing, thenhaving to fly many hours to get tothe ship, getting up early in time to get the excursion tours, rushing to therestaurants, then going to exercise like mad to try burn up the caloriesconsumed, going to the laundry, checkingthe maps for next visits, and again spending more hours flying back etc, etc.It would be nice to have a proper rest when we get home, said us, rather cheekily!

 

In Palma de Mallorca, we took the free Viking shuttle buswhich dropped us off near the La Seu Cathedral – guess if anyone who knowsnothing about Palma de Mallorca, they will know the picture of the Cathedral.As we had been here just a few weeks ago for 10 days, we did not go with the free excursion as itwould be doing the same thing we had done over again. We just went to El CorteIngles and C&A and did some windowshopping ( we bought nothing, as there was hardly any bargains even postChristmas!). Some friends of ours, who took the Scenic Mallorca excursion saidthey enjoyed it thoroughly. They went to Valldemossa, which we have beenbefore, and that is one of the loveliest and best kept villages on Earth !!!!

 

In the evening, we went to the first of our two bookings atthe Chef’s Table. Their menu reminded usof molecular gastronomy - carrot andcardamom cream for starters, then spicy tuna, followed by ginger & terragongranitea, a beef tenderloin with 4spices for main course, and a tarte tatin for dessert.

 

Trouble was, the waitress gave us the impression that as it was a “high class” restaurant, we are supposed to know nothing. It just felt a bit pretentious. She even tried to explain what an Apple Tarte Tatin is. The menu was supposed to be wine pairing, but at least one ofthe wines was those “free” wines offered in the buffet and other restaurants.The wines were not served in wine glasses (even The Restaurant serves wine in wine glasses) , just tumblers glasses , that is unless you are willing to pay a hefty sum for “better wines” (my “wine connoisseur” partner looked that thelist of their better wines, and felt it was not worth it). What was more, theyear of the wines were missing in the menu, including the list in the “better”wines . If they are trying to cater to someone who appreciates wines, by notputting in the year, that is quite something.

 

I had my share of “shock” when I had a mouthful of the spicytuna tataki. It tasted so awful that I nearly fell off my chair! For me, itreminded me of food essence, but of washing up liquid perfume.

 

The tarte tatin it tasted a bit “austere”. It might taste better if it came with some accompanying cream ,custard or ice-cream, but there was none.

And lastly, the dessert wine mentioned in the menu was different from what was served. It was not mentioned at the beginning of the meal ; we only noticed when the wine was served. The waitress never mentioned that it was different from that in the menu until we asked her -perhaps a bit unprofessional, we had thought.

 

 

It was quite unfortunate as we had looked forward to goingto this restaurant. We had always been impressed with specialty restaurants oncruise lines, but felt the Chef’s Table was an exception. So much so, we CANCELLEDour next evening’s reservation with them.

 

Of course, as mentioned before, food (and restaurants) are subjective.

 

The evening entertainment at the Theatre were the duo – the Virtuosos,who performed a few nights ago. Idecided to give it a miss, as I did not enjoy their show before, so I thought I would not enjoy them that evening.

 

As we went to bed, the sea was a bit choppy. I felt the cupboard door vibrating, and the shipwas not as calm as before. My bed was also vibrating a bit , it reminded me of lying on one of those Japanese electric massage chairs! But a lot more comfortable, of course. Lol.

 

 

DAY 7. On our last day before disembarkation,at breakfast, the captain announced that due to strong winds, we had to waitfor further news to see if we could dock at Valencia. Fortunately, we weregiven the clearance to dock, although a bit later than schedule. We took thefree excursion, a 3 hour Valencia City Tour. Even though we had plenty of time,the guide did not arrange for us to stop at the famous, stunningly beautiful and futuristic City of Arts and Science. Hejust got the driver to drive around it for a couple of minutes, and the rest ofthe time seems to be spent in the vicinty of the old town. It was like taking us on a tour of Paris with having no more than a couple of minutes glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Felt let down. He took usinto a cathedral, and for church lovers, they would probably enjoy it, but forthe rest of us, we felt he could have made the tour be more balanced betweenold Valencia and the modern Valencia.

 

Tonight, everything on the ship seems to be turning down.The menus in the restaurants was not so interesting. Even in the buffet, thenightly crabs, langoustines, king prawns and the sushi has not appeared. Theroast chicken was dry, whereas, a few nights ago, they were succulentThere wasno show in the Theatre.

 

We joked with our cruising friends what were they going tohave for dinner when they get home tomorrow. “Probably lettuce leaves” was thereply. We laughed.

 

It is rather interesting how one’s impression of a cruisechanges from the first day to the last. We may try later, after settling down back home, to give a more roundedreport of the entire cruise. Just wondered if anyone would bother to read it(maybe no one! Gulp!!)

 

Hopefully, if others do the same, we can “exchange notes”and learn from each other this way.

Thank you so much for your very helpful comments and for taking the time to share your experiences.

I'm reading this with interest as someone who had considered booking one of the itineraries with Algeria on it. Given the situation in that country on and off for years, I was in the end afraid to book for fear of cancellation and I see that has now come to pass....

 

I was lucky enough to spend time in Tunisia on a land tour of two weeks and also two different visits on various cruises -- loved all the Roman ruins. But Algeria remains elusive. :(

 

It's nice to hear, though, that Viking is offering a full refund for those not happy with the changed itinerary -- I know I'd have been one of them.

The full refund IS NOT being offered to all passengers. It appears that it is only to UK residents. I am from the U.S. and, even with "cancel for any reason" insurance which cost us over $500 each, we are only entitled to Viking vouchers and, based on what we have read on CruiseCritic, we have no intention of ever booking with Viking again.

Booking a cruise from the UK or the USA have different rules and safe guards for the consumer, including mandatory insurance in the UK, if I remember the discussion of this on another CC forum?

Glad you received your refund in quick order after your cancellation .

You are correct. I am from the U.S. I have "cancellation for any reason" insurance from Viking. But because they made a point of announcing the cancelation of Algeria and Tunisia on the 29th day before the cruise (vs. the 30th day), we were only entitled to Viking credits for future cruises. Viking offered me the 50% cash and 50% vouchers, i.e. backing up their announcement by one day. ( I wonder about those who weren't aware enough to notice this and only got Viking vouchers.) I tried to contact the representative about this offer for a week now with no response. They refused to rebook our flights to enable us to arrive earlier on 1/18 to give us the full benefit of 1/18 as a "cruise" day and they said that no upgrades or other reimbursements were available to offset our loss, even though others, as noted on Cruisecritic, were offered upgrades and still yet others were switched to the February cruise with "many perks" to compensate for the monetary loss in having to, as one person suggested, book separate trips at our own expense to Tunisia and Algeria. In my case, I am not interested in future Viking vouchers as, based on what I have read on Cruisecritic, I do not trust Viking management to act responsibly.

I find this a little condescending. There are some who want to visit these places for a specific reason -- in my case, to see some of the wonderful Roman ruins there. I have been able to get to Tunisia several times (along with most every other Mediterranean port), but so far not to Algeria. Which makes this port very desireable to me and one major reason why I had considered booking this cruise. However, a healthy skepticism on my part that the call(s) would actually take place seems to have been borne out...

 

Even if some travelers lack a specific reason, they may have been to the other, more common Med ports several times already and may have legitimately looked forward to something new.

I agree. I think he/she has entirely missed the point.

We received an email from Viking last Thursday (Dec 21), informing us of changes to our itinerary, replacing the ports in Tunisia and Algeria.

 

In 2014, we booked the Grand Mediterranean Tour which sailed on February 20,2016. The ONLY reason we booked that cruise was that ports in Algeria and Tunisia were on the itinerary. However, we were very unhappy when Viking cancelled the ports in Tunisia & Algeria on that cruise and replaced those with Naples & Mallorca.

 

Therefore, when we booked our upcoming Viking cruise (sailing on Jan 11. 2018) MajesticMediterranean on September 5, 2017, the ONLY reason we selected to REPEAT this cruise is that Algeria & Tunisia were on the itinerary again. We were very angry to receive a notice from Viking to learn that they once again cancelled the ports in Algeria & Tunisia on the itinerary three weeks before our sailing date of January 11, 2018, and once again replaced those ports with Naples & Mallorca, after receiving our final documents with the ports of Tunisia & Algeria.

 

We researched the State Department’s website (travel.state.gov) and found that the last warning for Tunisia was issued on May 2, 2017 and Algeria on June 21,2017. If Viking was planning on cancelling these itineraries they should have done so sooner. We feel that Viking should let their cruise passengers know onboard the risks involved at these ports, and let their passengers decide if they wish to disembark at the ports of Tunisia and Algeria, not cancel this itinerary three weeks before sailing. When we cruised on the first sailing … many of the passengers told us that the only reason they also booked that sailing was the destination ports in Algeria & Tunisia.

 

We feel that we should be able to cancel this cruise penalty-free, or receive fair compensation to resolve this travesty. We now feel that Viking is only using these destinations to get bookings, and then drops them on their itinerary when it’s too late for passengers to cancel.

 

PS We heard back from our travel agent today (Dec 29), and Viking is unwilling to offer any compensation for cancelling these ports. This will probably be the last time we sail with Viking. We will be sure NOT to recommend Viking to anyone in the future.

OMG This picture is getting clearer. So Viking has been canceling their ports in Tunisia and Algeria at least as far back as 2014? And yet they keep advertising these ports?

Yes, they understand that many people have signed on to the cruise just because of the calls at Tunis and Algiers and they are trying not to cancel those calls.

Really? That's almost funny. Viking Management knows exactly what they're doing and that is TO MAKE MONEY. FOLLOW THE MONEY. LOOK AT THE FACTS.

Well, someone in Viking should be responsible for the webpages.

 

Whether it is the webmaster, the web "developer" or whoever, I am not in the web design business, so I cannot differentiate the different people in the team, I only used the term "webmaster" generally meaning those responsible for the website.

 

Even if the person who did not upkeep the content in the Viking website is not within Viking, he or she is still employed by or paid by Viking, and so it is up to the webpage manager within Viking that he or she is doing his/her job.

 

Just trying to excuse someone saying "Oh, it is not me, but someone else's" or worse indicating web professionals are "getting beaten up" not the right way to approach it. The better way is for them to see how they can work together to improve the standard of the web page.

 

Are you suggesting that if there is some area within Viking like the issues in the webiste which could be improved, we should keep quiet about it and pretend everything is alright?

 

It is hoped that Viking management, if they read this, will take it as a constructive criticism, so that these issues can be corrected (and they can be, it is not rocket science).

I agree 100%. It's just amazing how lax Viking is with their compliance with the basic rules of law. if they're so lax in these areas, god knows how lax they are in other areas. This is not rocket science. Someone or someones are clearly dropping the ball in management.

We have visited both Pompeii and Herculaneum. We visited both with private guides. Both are incredible.

From a logistics standpoint, Herculaneum offers easier access due to being right outside of Naples.....we spent almost an entire day at n Pompeii because we had the time to do so on that land trip. We spent several hours at Herculaneum on one of our stops via ship in Naples.....then went to the National Archeological Museum. Whatever you choose, you won’t regret the time spent visiting either.

Thank you for the good advice.

Yes we will be boarding the Maasdam and would appreciate any advice on best/cheapest way to get to White Bay from the airport.

We have the reverse situation- getting from Sydney's international airport to the cruise line on 10/20. Would appreciate any advice.