OneSixtyToOne

If you pay via ACH you get a 3.3% discount so the difference in your example is 1.7%. Seems trivial, especially pre-COVID where interest rates were at historic lows and you’d be pressed to find 2% CDs. Also you will not get a full year interest because you don’t pay the day you sail on any cruise line.

Jupiter and Orion are the only two ships with a planetarium. They both appear to be no longer in use. If you read this thread you’ll find my thoughts on how they never correctly used this expensive asset. They tried to use it as an automated mini I-Max theater instead of using it as an actual planetarium.

This might have more to do with local liquor laws than Viking policy. I remember reading about one port that required the bars on the ship be closed. The archaic law was on the books to prevent the longshoremen from drinking on the job. Policies of Viking River may differ from Viking Ocean. I know both allow you to bring your own and there is no corkage fee. Maybe hard liquor is a different animal and falls under different regulations?

Not only is it wise to have a change of clothes in your carryon, it is also wise to cross-pack with your traveling companion in case only one suitcase is delivered.

No kids… also Priceless.

I consider the lectures to be the entertainment on Viking. I have no desire to see or hear any Broadway like musical entertainment.

We did the included tour of Monaco last year, however we docked there and were able to continue to explore the city, palace, and Oceanographic Institute until we sailed. Here is my review starting at post 49

Yes. It stands for “Automated Clearing House” and is an electronic fund transfer directly from your bank account. ACH is technically the name of the network member banks use to transfer funds.

Found it

I’ve found the Star Theater to be very cold. I think they keep it chilly because of the theatrical lighting. I always grab a blanket that are on some of the seats.

I believe most cocktails and mixed drinks are $8.50

I hate to throw cold water on your plans, but last year on our Mediterranean Odyssey cruise our stay in Venice was cut short due to bad weather. We did not overnight there and instead left around 7:00 PM. We headed to Crotia in heavy seas and gale force winds where we picked up about 100 passengers that missed embarkation. To compound matters, the Italian air traffic controllers had a one day strike. People arriving that day saw nothing of Venice. Make sure to contact the ship to confirm you will indeed not depart early.

Could also be location dependent.

Same with us. Probably has to do with the chip in the card being needed to authenticate the charge.

Depends on location. In Chile, I couldn’t get my phone payment to work and needed a card with a chip.

Is this a desktop or laptop computer? It sounds like it’s just a link to a web page, not an app.

This is not true, All the hand knotted rugs change color based on direction because of the weave. I have both and both shift color. Silk is denser and you can tell by the feel and sheen. Also they knot the ends differently. This is wool from different directions:

Viking has a list of vetted shops. When you buy, you sign the back so you can be sure the same one you bought is the one that is delivered. The official shops are state sponsored and the shipping is included because the government also subsidizes that.

They are quite beautiful. All hand knotted and colored using organic dyes. The wool is from Angora goats.

Very beautiful. I assume it’s silk?

This looks really shady. There is a site called MyVikingJourney.net that has an app. At the bottom it states it’s not associated with My Viking Journey. I think this is an app written by someone who is connecting in the background with MyVikingJourney.com. They bought the domain MyVikingJourney.net. They are probably selling ads, displaying the real website, and capturing your data. The .net website appears to give you information about how to use the .com site. I would not trust anything associated with this. As far as I know there is no official app from Viking for MyVikingJourney.com that is a substitute for using a browser.

Owner’s Suite entrance is between the Explorers Lounge (it shares the conference room fireplace) and the rest rooms. Its designation is OS. 7017 must be a typo. 7014 maybe?

I’ll add one more thing. I lover ginger ale and I found that on some sailings the Schweepes Ginger Ale is from European suppliers and has cane sugar not HFCS. Again a big difference in taste.

The number one factor in taste is the water supply used. Every bottler is supposed to have the same standards, but internationally things are not always the same. Personally I never have a soft drink with ice. Sometimes the ice tastes horrible. Although this doesn’t apply to diet drinks, the other big factor in taste is sweetener. After “New Coke” was abandoned, they replaced one thing in the returning Coca-Cola, using HFCS (corn syrup) instead of cane sugar. In some places in the world cane sugar is still used (Brazil, Mexico) because it’s cheaper and subsidized by their governments. Since we live close to Mexico our Costco stocks “Mexican Coca-Cola” still with cane sugar. There is a big difference in taste. In the US, the corn lobby and PACs (Archer Daniels Midland) is the reason HFCS and corn is found in all our junk food.

Correction on my previous post. The rollout of Diet Coke was at Radio City Music Hall. Telly Savalas delivers the tag line “just for the taste of it.” Notice the subliminal message to men: “Drink for the taste not for the weight loss.” YouTube Link won’t paste but Google “Diet Coke - The very first commercial at Radio City (1983-)”