CCWineLover

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Thanks.  Do they let you get that close?  Or are you zoomed in?  What lense are you using?

 

That is a great picture.

Yes indeed.  No zoom. Just iPhone 10R.

they have a circle of white rocks that define the rookery where 95% of the King’s are roosting.  However quite a few were just standing or wandering around where we humans were standing and walking.  We had to be careful to not disturb them.  They seemed to ignore us!

5 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

This was our experience on the three Viking cruises we took last year.  I never heard anything about a quota once onboard.  Subject to availability (like the system at any nice restaurant), we were able to book slots whenever we wanted without regard to our room class.  No need to worry.

Yes in Our first 2 VOC’s there was no quota once you were onboard.  However the last two have employed a quota for reservations throughout the cruise, so it does differ.   The quota is 2 additional reservations beyond what you can prebook.

i personally have no issues with limiting reservations.  That helps give all cabins a chance.  My issue was that once you have reached your quota you cannot change a reservation nor see what is available.  And yes it all goes through the online reservation system, even at the World Cafe reservation desk.  Sounds like either procedures have changed or it is handled differently on different ships.

still - rather easy to just go standby at 6:00 pm .

35 minutes ago, just_dont said:

Honestly, the only crewmember on our cruise that I would in hindsight call unhelpful was the person manning the reservations table in the World Cafe on boarding day. Everyone else bent over backwards to help us with anything we needed or wanted.
Perhaps they are given guidance or rules that they have to follow on boarding day. I don't know.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

I agree with you,  she was the only person we’ve encountered who was unhelpful and a gatekeeper.  Probably just following orders though.  

Of note, we also have been successful going standby at CT.  Especially at the back half of the cruise when many have cancelled and some just are no shows, liked tired or burned out or have discovered that CT is not for them.

On 1/2/2020 at 4:57 AM, TayanaLorna said:

I agree, drives me nuts.  Also why can't we see what other days and times are available at both restaurants in case we want to change.  And fix the Invite function!

Tayana - I agree with you!  It will be in my critique.  We had a reservation on a later date and wanted to move it to an earlier date by going up to the World Cafe reservations table.  The woman there said she had to have my room number in order to see what times and dates were available in the Chef's Table.  So when I gave it to her, she said you are maxed out in reservations so she can't help us.  I told her I know that - we just wanted to switch.  She said we had to first cancel the one reservation and then we could see what was available.  I told her we would only cancel if there was an opening at a date/time that we wanted. "Catch-22" !!    She told us that was not possible in their system.   You can only be told what is available if you have reservations available to you in your quota.  Unreal!

I was in applications and this is really a bizarre non-customer friendly application if that is the case.  I would have IT change this as soon as possible.  I have to believe this happens all the time!

We wound up not doing anything since we didn't want to risk losing the reservation we had.  What a bizarre system!

On 1/2/2020 at 10:10 PM, cruizinfools said:

A little late to post but hopefully still helpful to some. Our Celebrity Eclipse cruise ended in San Antonio on 12/6/2019. We took a transfer/tour with Tours by Locals to Santiago where we stayed at a hotel in Lasterria for 2 nights, right next to Santa Lucia Park and 1 block from Lasterria street. It was a great location. Our tour was a perfect introduction to the city - our tour guide spoke of the protests and also let us know how close we were to many restaurants, shops, and bars. We walked many places during the day and in the evening and felt comfortable for the most part. We were amazed at the amount of graffiti, especially on monuments and public buildings. We were very disappointed that we weren’t able to ride the subway - the two closest stations to our hotel were not open due to the damage from the protests. There were also many street stop lights that were not working. We thought the local people were very nice and helpful. Friday evening we did see many people that we believe had dispersed after a protest walking on Lasterria as we were looking for a place to have dinner, some chanting and/or beating on items to make noise. But they were strung out in small groups, some families with small children, peaceful and not threatening. On Saturday morning we took a walking tour with Strawberry Tours (free - pay at your discretion) of the Central Market area - excellent! Have to say that we would not have done this on our own as the traffic and the amount of people on the street and in the markets was crazy! A tour guide was essential and ours was great. If you go, don't be fooled by what is called Central Market. That is just one small section of the markets and not very busy. Our tour started and ended at that location. The "real" markets are across the street where the majority of the Santiago people shop. We also saw and heard some more people that might have been "protesting" - more chanting and making noise. We walked to Plaza Italia on Sunday afternoon. There apparently was a small “protest” going on as we did see water cannons being shot at people, but we were still several blocks away and couldn’t really tell what was happening. By the time we walked the last few blocks, it had calmed down. Quite a few people around, but again very peaceful. It was interesting to see quite a few vendors with small carts hawking drinks and food - not missing a chance to make money!  We are so glad that we did not cancel our plans to spend some time in Santiago. Although we were ready to get home and back to normalcy (16 day cruise), we could have used another couple of days to explore more of the city. Our hotel arranged our transfer to the airport Sunday early evening for our midnight flight to LAX. (17000 Chilian pesos - about $21 conversion rate at that time).

 

Santiago is having more than their share of problems right now, but like any big city, you need to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Many of the bad experiences being reported could happen anywhere. JMHO.  Safe travels everyone.

Totally agree!   We were in Santiago Dec 13-18, staying at Doubletree Vitacura.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Strawberry Walking tours of both the Market and the Historical Santiago (on different days).  The Market on Saturday is amazing!   Many of the Metro stations were closed due to the burnings, fires, and protests, but we did not feel too unsafe during the morning and early afternoon hours.  We had a great time as well after the Strawberry Historical tour, by walking through Bella Vista neighborhood over to the Funicular in Cerro San Cristobal and taking the funicular up the hill and then the cable car one way (to the east), and finally just walking down to the Vitacura area.  An amazing adventure!

Stay safe!

15 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I was looking for a good Falklands Islands tour.  I would guess that most are penguin tours?  Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Patrick Watts trip to Volunteer Point.  By far one of the best experiences we've had!  Just did it this past Dec 31 - great time!

You can contact him at :   Patrick J Watts <pwatts@horizon.co.fk>

17 hours ago, NY Nick said:

From another point of view.

 

Cheers

Dave & Linda

Who are those World Travelers?  Glad you all got to meet each other - would be great for us vicarious avid readers of the great posts to put faces to the names a Cruise Critic Handles.

Safe travels to everyone and thanks, especially to Jim, for all the wonderful posts that made us armchair people live the trip with you.

I'm writing this at sea on the Jupiter traveling from the Valparaiso+Falklands/Puerto Madryn and arriving in Montevideo tomorrow.   Looking more forward to this Uruguay city given Jim's great visit there!

Hope that one of you carries on the posts for the 2nd half of the trip!

2 hours ago, kathynorth said:

TeaBag, sounds like you're going to have a great trip! If you decide to take the boat ride under the falls then you should book this as soon as you arrive at Melia. There is an excursion stand on the floor just below the main entry desk. Have fun!

Thank you for the pointers Kathynorth!

we are going to the Melia January 10-12 after our cruise.  Will book as soon as possible at excursion desk.  Thx also for the tip on the credit card hold issue.  Never would have thought of that!

hope you had a good time!

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

 

The 2020-2021 world cruise starts December 14 with the first leg being Miami to Los Angeles.  Hoping she does that cruise  as we are booked on it!

 

We get to see Heather perform tonight, after our morning rounding windy Cape Horn!  The write up in the Viking Daily.

10 hours ago, SM77 said:

 

I think Heather is a long term Viking employee.  We did talk to her and asked when she was going home.  Since she has been on Jupiter for six months, she's going home for vacation after January 7th.  Then she will be on another ship(don't remember which one).  Her plan is to do the next World Cruise starting in late 2020 or early 2021 - not sure which one.

The 2020-2021 world cruise starts December 14 with the first leg being Miami to Los Angeles.  Hoping she does that cruise  as we are booked on it!

48 minutes ago, deec said:

Heather was on our entire World Cruise and she was beyond great!!!  I would love to cruise with her again. Do you think she will do another contract after her time off?  or she may be off t the next phase of her life!!! 

Dee - we are fortunate to have Heather on our 12/21 SA cruise!  She is fantastic!  The perfect blend of professionalism, humor, and experience!   If the opportunity presents itself, we’ll carefully probe what might be next for her when she leaves us January 7.

20 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Well, yeah, so was I looking forward to it on the Venus. Oh well. Not sure we'll be doing too many more with Viking following the Cities of Antiquity in '21 (probably on the Sea, which also doesn't have a planetarium). Anything beyond that will probably be a river trip. 

I don’t think you are missing anything.  Was sort of glad to hear it.  

I miss the space in Explorers Lounge that it took up.  The seats were uncomfortable, and the shows were not that good.  Very amateurish.  Our astronomer talks in the Star Theater, Torshavn Lounge and hopefully on deck to actually see the stars is so much better. 

I also had been looking forward to it, but it just didn’t work.  I’m sure Viking heard from people and realized it just wasn’t a good thing.  Glad to see the recognized it and moving on!

We are on the Viking Jupiter in South America.  We attended a feature today by the resident Astronomer, Dr. Raymond Arvidson.  He is quite distinguished and has been on many Viking cruises as resident astronomer.  Speaking with him before the show today, we were discussing the planetarium - its functionality and use.  He let us know that it is his understanding that only the Jupiter and Orion will have the Planetarium.  Specifically, the Venus and future ships will NOT have the planetarium implemented.  It apparently is proving to be just too costly for the benefits received.  As such, the Planetarium shows will only be available on the Jupiter and Orion(which is primarily the Far East, Australia/NZ, Alaska).

This makes sense to us, as perhaps the concept was good, but the implementation was lacking somewhere, and it certainly took away a lot of space in the Explorer's Lounge.

47 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Since Andy and NY Nick must still reek of dead fish and fuel oil, best wishes to their tough as nails spouses.  It is a beautiful sea day here on the Viking Sun en route to Guatemala.  A nice relaxing way to have a Christmas Day.  Yesterday, Christmas Eve, is DWs birthday so we had a bit of a special dinner with pals in Manfredi's.  Italian for Christmas?  Well why not, even if Manfredi's is unlike any of yall's favorite local Italian joints.  Not sure what it is but the venue and the service are always good.  We had a few bottles of good wine and then the triple chocolate chocolate cake for birthday.  So good we skipped the Chocolate Extravaganza assembled in the Atrium.  Another one of the special events Viking puts on so well.  Sorry, no pictures.  Too busy eating and drinking in Manfredi's.  Maybe Tom will come out of retirement long enough to post some pix?  After dinner we went to the special Christmas Show put  on by staff.  CD Vicki is a hoot and puts together light hearted, sometimes digs at Viking, and a touch of slapstick shows and this one was good too.  The highlight was the big burly Scot John Cunningham, Restaurant Manager, and Nikolai, (Baby Shark) Beverage Services Manager, prancing about in pink Tutus.🤩  Quite a fine sight to see.  

Before all this, the day started in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  Very hot and humid.  We have been to Costa Rica before and I will just say we have other places we like much better.  Anyone else with a fun excursion please jump in and describe it.  Imho, I wish we had spent an extra day or two in Panama.  Just can't please everyone.....🍸

As we head steadily North, the weather is becoming more pleasant and less humid.  The forecast for Cabo San Lucas looks about perfect.  I can taste the tacos at Captain Tony's now....  Yum!😎

 

 

Merry Christmas to you Jim, and the others on the Sun.  Thank you again for all of your wonderful posts.  We will miss them when you leave!    We are on the Jupiter having left Valparaiso heading south now to Punta Arena, and having some "interesting" 15 foot seas and bad weather for Christmas.  Wishing we had your calm seas and sunshine!   You had mentioned your previous Cruise Director Heather Clancy and we have her this cruise for she gets off in Buenos Aries (to another assignment?).  You are right, she is absolutely wonderful!  Have very much enjoyed her presence on board.

Our Christmas show in the Star Theatre might be cancelled due to the high seas (too dangerous for everyone).

Merry Christmas to all of us at sea~!

1 hour ago, MadMarine said:

I couldn’t get the search engine to return any responses.  Are there any pickleball courts on the Sun?

Thanks, Mad

 

Hmmm....  I think you have the wrong cruise line.  You need to look at the big ship cruise lines.

No space for that on Viking.    As Jim says, miniature golf - or even shuffleboard is it!

3 hours ago, Beachvue said:

Thank you for your comments.      We are booked on the TA next October (Explorers Suite) Lisbon/Miami and now decided to do the the Rome Lisbon portion.  8010 is the only room available.  So now we will now book 8010 for Rome/Lisbon!!  

 

We we are also doing the South America cruise as well end of February next year.  Can’t wait.   

 

Thanks again.   

Thanks Celopatra for the tips!    Beachvue - we will see you on the TA next October.  We are doing the entire Rome-Miami starting Oct 6.   Will enjoy meeting you. 

I am writing this in Valparaiso - what an amazing city!  We board the Viking Jupiter tomorrow (Saturday) for the 17 day cruise Valparaiso to Buenos Aires.  Check out the Dec 21 Roll Call for lots of tips.  I will try to send info along the way.

I hope that you both enjoy your S.A. cruise next year!

27 minutes ago, SM77 said:

Nothing at all.  In fact, those of us w/ a late flight will have an opportunity to do a Santiago city tour before we head to the airport.  Will post if there are changes.

We’ve been in Santiago the past 5 days and have had no issues.  Most we spoke with agreed that things have died down a bit and could lessen more with summer vacation beginning.  March and April will be the telling months and many expect a return to “the situation” as we heard many call it.

We are in Santiago (day 3) ahead of our cruise Dec 21 out of Valparaiso.  Staying in Vitacura area - quite safe there and no affect from the protests.  We had a wonderful walking tour of the markets (Strawberry Tours) on Saturday - just teaming with people.  Our guide told us that since the protesters have destroyed many supermarkets, people have swarmed the Mercado Central and Vega Central markets in order to buy food.   It was absolutely teeming !!

We also had a wonderful tour today of Historical Santiago.  Were by Plaza Italia in the morning - it is stunning how it is pretty much dead and destroyed.  Our guide said every day people just show up in the late afternoon evening and see what kind of protests are going to rise up - there is no leadership - just whoever feels like doing something.  So much of that area and Lastarria is just trashed and full of graffiti. We saw so many anti-police graffiti.  Learned that A.C.A.B.  (seen everyone on buildings, stores, and more), from our guide, is actually acronym for the English words "All Cops are **astards"   )   There is hope that the voting for a new constituion will help matters but there is at least a small contingent of anarchists who our guide felt preferred to just keep unrest of any kind going regardless of progress.

I would not go out at night in any of the areas near downtown but during the day it seemed alright.

4 hours ago, SM77 said:

We just came back from our walking tour of Puntas Arenas and though it was suppose to be in the ‘50’s, it was a lot colder w/ the winds blowing very hard!  This has been our coldest port yet.  BA & Montevideo were very comfortable, not as warm as I thought they would be.  Puerto Madryn turned out to be warmer.  I only packed one pair of crop pants & a few lighter tops for the warmer days.  I have a good wind waterproof jacket w/ hood, a couple of vests, and lots of long sleeved tops.  I also brought exercise gear which can be layered as well.  I brought a baseball cap for the sun, but it is so windy, you are better off w/ a hat that has a chin strap.  We were warned @ Punta Tombo that if our hat blew into the nest area of the penguins, we could not go in there & retrieve the hat.   Also to note, in general, the ship is cold.  You can regulate the temperature in your stateroom, but the public rooms tend to be much cooler.  A lot of folks(including my husband) brought a winter jacket.  Remember, even if the air temperature is at a comfortable level, it’s a lot cooler when you are out on the deck of the ship.

Thank you for the words of wisdom!

Fortunately, we apparently have packed well for our Dec 21 Jupiter cruise (we will get on when you get off).  This no doubt has to be one of the biggest weather variable cruises that Viking has.  For example, we are in Santiago ahead of time today and it was so hot and 90 degrees.  Wilting !!!    Glad to know we have not packed all that winter gear for nothing!  🙂

We also are veterans of Viking Ocean Cruises and know that the public rooms always seem colder than necessary.  We always bring sweaters and even jackets to the port talks and evening entertainment!

Hoping you have a wonderful finish to your cruise!  So glad you made it to the Falklands.  We'll cross our fingers for our trip Dec 31.  Turn the ship over to us in good shape!  Looking forward to finally getting to see and meet Heather Clancy as well - heard so much about our cruise director.  All fantastic!

52 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

How can a VO cruise be overbooked? When you book you are assigned a specific cabin. Does VO do guarantee cabin bookings like the mainstream cruise companies? This is the only way I could see them overbooked, selling more guarantees than they have available cabins.

Yes they do Guarantee Cabin Bookings - with no immediate room assigned until closer to sailing.

We have one of those coming up next year.

17 hours ago, SM77 said:

Heather Clancy, the cruise director will only be on until mid-January. Apparently she had a six month contract & has been on the ship for five months already. 

Great news for us!  We get on the Jupiter in Valpo 12/21.  Haves heard SO many goo things about Heather!  Sad for others but glad we will get to work with her.

2nd day in Santiago .  Overcast dreary and cold!!  Protests started this Saturday at 3 so back at hotel before dinner out.

You definitely won the room upgrade lottery!  and the cruise is a great one as well.

Amazing post!  So helpful!  We will get on as you get off dec 21!  Keep the tips coming!

4 hours ago, kathynorth said:

Lucky you, get ready for a great experience! Feel free to ask questions as you research and we’ll answer questions best we can.

Thank you as well!  We are doing a DIY Iguazu Falls after our cruise, staying at the Melia and flying AR from Buenos Aires.  The price is quite a bit more expensive now (early January) but still we think will be worth it!

We have not planned how to spend the days, but have some ideas in mind.

Will be following your arrival into Valparaiso tomorrow.  Looks like beautiful sunny afternoon on the seas today.

Let us know how the situation is at the port and for anyone who might be touring Valpo or Santiago.

Safe adventures to everyone!  They are both beautiful cities that are having some difficult times right now.

We arrive in 6 days to Santiago, so any tips would be most welcome!