OneSixtyToOne

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.

If you are going to be in Venice the day before embarking, you might want to read my post about free rides to Murano.

So you were charged in Euros and it shows in US$ on your statement with no exchange rate listed? You might need a new bank.

Not OSHA approved

You won’t be able to print directly from your iPad. You can use the computer to log into you email provider and print from there. If it’s a document on your iPad, email it to yourself then log in from the ship’s computer.

Wasn't there a guest lecturer or resident historian giving a nightly talk? Personally I would find any Caribbean cruise boring. Viking's strength is Europe.

I saw none on our last cruise on the Sky. They seem to have disappeared or are dependent on the pastry chef and/or itinerary. I have never seen them on any menu. Others have reported they appear in the living room pastry case.

FYI If you don’t like complementary champagne they will replace it with wine. I’m not sure if they will replace the daily liquor supply with wine. I don’t see why they wouldn’t.

When you select your optional excursions they are placed in your basket. You may select as many as you like and each is placed in the basket. When you pay what in in your basket is up to you. Paying the high demand excursions immediately is suggested by many people on CC because having it in your basket does not guarantee your reservation. In any case, when you pay for what is in the basket is when you actually are guaranteed a reservation. BTW this is true for credit card or e-check so I’m not sure of why you think it’s different.

If you have a pre-cruise extension with Viking, no. It will be the first day of the extension.

Origin of the term Ship’s Head for the toilet https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/h/head-ships-toilet.html

The Calendar day-by-day section of MVJ shows arrival and departure times:

I wonder if there is an issue with the floor heater, lighting, or the electrical socket? It sounds like a ground fault detector might be kicking in.

LOL Was just notified of a time change in one leg of our return in April. We now leave Barcelona a 7:30 AM instead of 9:20. Looks like we will be leaving the hotel REAL early. We now have a 4 hour layover.

We were in an aft Deck 4, DV1 cabin on our last cruise and had rough seas with gale force winds. I am prone to seasickness and while others aboard were sick, I was fine after taking BONINE. I also replace the tonic water with ginger ale in our refrigerator. IMG_9759.MOV

As our tour director on are last trip noted, everything has been Americanized and everyone now expects a tip.

Venice is an outlier but it does illustrate that procedures may be different depending on the port. Some ports are industrial and or shared with the military and because of safety and security everyone needs to be escorted to a secure/central area. Most others are fully functioning cruise ship terminals, making disembarkation easier.