OneSixtyToOne

They are not the same. They are formulated differently and have a different taste. Coke Zero tastes more like original Coca-Cola. I can spend an hour talking about Coke, Diet Coke, Tab, and New Coke and some crazy behind the scenes stories. (Anyone who has met me on a cruise has probably been subjected to my ramblings, My apologies.) Here is the short version about Diet Coke. Diet Coke was originally formulated and marketed to attract male soda drinkers. Tab was one of the first diet drinks on the market. It was created in the 1960’s and featured a magenta (pink) can and matching “bathing beauty” ad campaign to attract female customers. During the late 1970s Coca-Cola decided to try tap a new market of weight conscious men. Diet Coke was THE most reformulated and test marketed new product in history. It promised a “bolder taste” that men would prefer. The original can had pin strips and the the product kickoff was in Hollywood with stars like John Wayne, Bob Hope, and Telly Savalas all drinking from cold sweaty cans. Overnight it became the most successful new product in history. The legacy of this success was that the person who led the product development and rollout of Diet Coke later was chosen to lead the disastrous introduction of “New Coke.” Pinstripe logo

Also worth noting, I worked in the soft-drink beverage industry for 15 years. Marketing is changing away from using the word “Diet” because it’s seen by younger generations as negative. The word of the day is “Zero” and some countries have discontinued Diet Coke and only sell Coke Zero. Therefore on some itineraries it may be difficult to find Diet Coke. I fully expect Diet Coke to be phased out in a few years, in the same way as Tab was removed from the market. As far a “Caffeine-Free” is concerned, this was another trend that started in the 1980s when the decaffeinated colas hit the market. I venture to say that most people don’t realize which soft drinks have never contained caffeine. Whoever you spoke with probably was thinking solely of decaffeinated colas.

Orange, lemon-lime, ginger ale, and tonic water are all caffeine free. Not sure what your definition of caffeine free is because they always have the above. If you mean caffeine-free cola, no, they don’t carry it. They also don’t carry root beer.

Introduce yourself to the wine steward and ask for a recommendation. During your cruise if you happen upon a wine of your liking, he may set aside low stock for you. This has happened to use a couple of times.

Non-alcoholic coffee drinks are included. Max SSBP drink price is $18, which covers almost everything except some champagne.

Never seen this before. You need to provide payment information when you book the excursions and the MVJ shopping cart is separate from the cruise fare balance, so I would hope there is no issue.

Chat is only available when agents are on duty. It is not 24/7. When active, it appears as a popup screen on the website.

Actually, it IS on the back of the card. Never noticed that before.

The ship’s phone number and email address is listed in your final documents email. It’s a U.S. based phone number (not toll free).

FYI Cancellation of optional excursions requires 48 hour notice. If you want to cancel any first or second day pre-paid excursions, you must do that before you board. Starlink speed is highly dependent on your location on the planet. We had 200+ Mbps download in the Mediterranean. Polar regions and South Pacific can be an issue.

We try to avoid any excursion that includes lunch. It’s typically a total waste of time. We would rather be sightseeing. Sometimes it’s unavoidable but given a choice of excursions, if it includes lunch, it immediately goes to the bottom of our list.

We were in this situation while on our Journey to Antiquity post cruise extension. Our Mediterranean Odyssey excursions opened and I booked at 9 PM while at out hotel in Italy. We had an all day excursion with a dinner at a winery and I almost had to book while still on the bus going back to the hotel.

The Sea, Star, and Sky do not have the small Asian food station way in the back of the WC, by the Aquavit terrace/bar. Other than that, and the two ships with the planetarium (Jupiter and ?), the ships are all the same. Not sure if the 3 older ships all have the drawer upgrades.

No CC on replay of port talks and lectures. Never watched a movie.

We had this happen on the Sky. We could control the volume when watching the port talks live, but on replay at night the volume was limited. Could be they set a limit after a certain hour. On the Octantis, the volume worked just fine, no limiting. We’ll be on the Venus in a few weeks. I’m curious if the newer ships have the volume limited.

These cabins are mentioned in a blog about Cabins to Avoid because they are located below the “wings” of the deck above. See pictures here

River cruising is much different than ocean. You are at the mercy of the river… water level, river traffic, locks, etc. You are only given your arrival and departure times the night before you dock. Even then, times can change on the day you dock. Because of this, arranging independent tours can be tricky. Don’t book anything that isn’t fully refundable. River cruising requires you to go with the flow because times can and will change. They are not ideal for those who want to plan everything to the minute.

There is a phone app called Hear Boost that allows you to use your phone to amplify sound. If you have wireless headphones /ear buds you can place your phone near the tv (foot of the bed?) and use it as a listening device.

Besides asking Viking for a PDF you can get a general idea of what is offered by going to the website of the cruise and clicking on the day by day of the itinerary. This will show you what is generally available. They are subject to change and not all of them are offered on every sailing, but it will allow you to do preliminary planning and research.

Kent, You might want to ask this in West Coast Departures forum. There appears to be several lots at the cruise terminal so the best one will depend on where Viking embarks from.

FYI the Australia & New Zealand cruise tends to go on sale for the December and January sailings for Christmas & New Year. It’s typically deeply discounted because fewer people want to cruise at that time of year and most ports of call have nothing happening on Dec 24, 25 and Jan 1 so those tend to be sea days. Most other times the cruise is booked solid and discounts are hard to find.

Try and do the Zermatt extension. The trip on the Glacier Express is fantastic.

Rhine river cruise, Breisach, Germany.

I disagree. “Set-up” implies something nefarious is occurring. This is no different than Viking visiting the cuckoo clock store in the Black Forest. I found it very entertaining and informative.