OneSixtyToOne

I bet they don't even serve Molson's. Mooshead, or LaBatt's

We used Viator for the Doge's Palace on our last trip to Venice. Do take the "secret" tour. It's wonderful. You'll visit the cell Casanova escaped from, see the torture room, walk over the Bridge of Sighs and peer out the window, and visit the secretariat where the paperwork for all the royal families was kept right up until the time Napoleon conquered Venice. For the Campanile we just walked up and bought tickers. If you go up to the Campanile right before noon, you'll be rewarded with the sights and sounds of the bells ringing. Yes, you can see them and FEEL them!!! We also used Viator for other walking tours of Venice, such as the nighttime "ghost" tour and the tour of St Mark's. As I mentioned in another post about Venice and those interested in visiting Murano. Last time we were in Venice there were hawkers in Piazza San Marco from the glass works offering free water taxi rides to Murano to visit their glass factory. This is essentially the same thing Viking is offering but it's free. The glass blowing demonstration is well worth your time and at the end you can tour their showroom. The showrooms are pretty amazing. There is no obligation to buy anything. The boat ride to the island is very pleasant and you'll pass the Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs on your way. So if you are in Venice on you own, walk between the Campanella & the docks and you may be approached. They are looking for couples to buy their wares.

The "herding cats" theory is my first thought. Companies have policies for good reasons, typically because of a prior incident. My second thought is it's a money loser and only exists for the benefit of those booking Viking Air. One of the reasons their air cost is at a premium over what you can book yourself is it includes the cost of the ground transportation. While people mention just getting on a bus that has other passengers, this is not always the case. Last cruise we arrive late and were the only passengers so we had a private car service. That 1 hour ride to our hotel probably cost way more than $41US and when we arrived, our tour director said they were waiting on one more couple arriving even later. Take a look at Venice. It's now a big problem, no real easy way to get to the new docking location. Now multiply that by all the airports Viking serves and the potential number of arriving flights. Sounds like a logistical nightmare. Third, we don't know the legal and insurance implications of all this. What if you are in an accident and their carrier finds out that a passenger lied and violated Viking's policy? What agreements does Viking have in place with the local tour company that greet you (they are not Viking employees, but contractors). Are there local laws that come into play? (cab drivers protecting their business?) Nothing is ever as simple as it sounds. Viking has a policy in place. Deal with it.

The pool has a retractable roof and is only closed in rough seas.

It’s an indirect light near the bottom of the wall across from the bathroom door. There is one as well inside the bathroom. The one in the bathroom is under the counter. They are all controlled by a switch next to the bed.

As Jay Thomas use to say "Live life like you're on vacation."

Is it a B2B. It combines two cruises: Venice, the Adriatic & Greece and Italian Sojourn. Once onboard, those passengers on the combined cruise will be notified of available options. Typically it is some basic transportation to the city or a "highlights" tour.

Are you on a back-to-back cruise that overnights in Venice? If so this might be the day other passengers are disembarking/embarking. In those situations a paired down tour schedule will be made available to you once onboard. There are no advanced excursion reservations on days when guests are arriving/leaving.

I've been to London many times and instead of a drive-by on a bus, I suggest doing it on your own. I highly recommend London Walks. Pick one or two that interest you. Their Changing of the Guard tour is fascinating. Instead of standing in front of the palace, they will whisk you around St. James Park and you'll see several different perspectives and regiments, from the band leaving the barracks to getting up close to the changing of the Horse Guard. IMG_6187.MOV I also loved their British Museum Tour.

On our last cruise, we were the only arrivals into Athens that late at night so Viking provided a private Mercedes car service.

EBD pricing is typically already baked into the brochure fare. If the price has a strike out through it, the EBD has already been applied. If you go online and try and book the cruise and use EBD, you'll see nothing actually happens to the price. As far as I'm concerned it's a marketing gimmick, not a true sale code. If you book early enough, everyone gets an EBD, whether you use the code or not.

“Afloat on the placid sea a league away, lay a great city, with its towers and domes and steeples drowsing in a golden mist of sunset.” - Mark Twain

You can also order a pre-loaded Visitor Oyster Card and it will be mailed to you.

You can cancel when onboard. The exception are excursions that occur on your first full day onboard. I believe you need 24 hours notice.

The entire hospitality industry is re-evaluating everything they do post-COVID to cut cost, and as is apt to happen, see what they can get away with. I just read that the many hotels and casinos in Las Vegas are considering eliminating buffets for good. They question their value in attracting and keeping customers. The only reason that they lasted this long is inertia. Nobody wanted to change it out of fear of losing business or just because “we’ve always done it this way.” COVID was a reset for the entire industry and has allowed them to determine what makes sense financially. Is Viking really going to lose business because the steaks at Manfredi’s are thinner? I doubt you’ll ever see it the way it was before COVID. Also there are still major supply chain issues. Bottles and cans are in short supply so, for example, some liquor companies have decided to only bottle their best sellers and not bother with mini bottles.

If you actually dock in Greenwich, it is serviced by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) which easily connects with the underground. However, the most enjoyable way to get to London is to take the Thames River cruise. It a marvelous cruise up the river passing many famous landmarks and will leave you in Westminster right at Parliament.

My advice, forget Pisa and spend as much time in Florence as possible. Pisa is a long ride for what is essentially a photo op of the tower. We were just in Florence in January on a post cruise extension. Here is my writeup for that portion of our cruise.

Looks like I need an upgrade. Mine is corded.

What cruise are you on? Our cruise next month is offering the Murano and Burano tour as well as Murano and the Abbey.

Included excursions will always be available. They will add more tours if necessary, although they may not be at your preferred time. You will need to book these in advanced because Viking needs to do capacity planning. The most popular optional excursions are the booking issue.

I just check my Chase statement for when I had something to eat in Munich airport on 1/27. Lists the euro charge, the exchange rate for the date, and the US$ charged. 01/27 SISSI UND FRANZ E5 SAT MUENCHEN-FLUG 18.25 01/28 EURO 16.70 X 1.092814371 (EXCHG RATE) The google calculator list the exchange rate for that day as 1.08981. You mileage may vary.

FYI that is known as a polarized plug. I used our portable water pick in the cabin with the ice bucket under my chin.

On our last cruise we made early reservations for two at Manfredi’s and when we boarded, they had no record of it. There were plenty of tables available. I think that due to COVID someone programmed the system to eliminate most of the tables for two from the system without actually integrating anything with the ship. Also on our current cruise it took about a week for the system to say that we had used our reservation. It use to be immediate. I’ve been in software development for decades and my gut tells be they outsourced this to someone who doesn’t have a clue. When there is no system integration you can bet that it’s been done piecemeal by different companies or departments.

A lot of places won't take cash anymore

On our cruise next month no tables for two were available for advanced DV reservations but shared tables were. We booked a shared table for both the Chef's Table and Manfredi's. Not sure about the restaurant but on our last cruise in January there was plenty of seating so no need to share a table.