CCWineLover

You are absolutely correct! We don’t get seasick (thankfully). This last TA on Neptune we went to Manfreds and they did tell us half the people cancelled due to rough seas. It was a great quiet relaxing dinner there for a change!!!

Clay - sounds interesting! Please take some pics of the Japan menu and the food! We live vicariously from your pictures and reports. Such great insights!

Likewise. I don't sweat it and never get advance reservations. I always wait until I get onboard - and have never had any issues. Also, throughout the cruise, people: 1. Cancel reservations all the time 2. Was told they have at least a 10-20% no show rate (lots of people are not courteous) So just show up at about 5:50-5:55 and ask if you can be seated. We've done that many times and never had to wait more than 15 minutes.

Panic over nothing. Take a breath. This happens a alot during updates.

That's exactly what we do. Get the minimum insured quickly (usually $500 pp) and then we get that pre-existing waiver, and don't have to pay the rest until final Viking payment in April 2025! We use Steve Dassios at the TripInsuranceStore. He's been great for us and had a couple forums on Cruise Critic (one still current).

Will be interesting to see how it goes on our Rome-Athens cruise this Feb/March. Hopefully we'll have some young and fit people onboard after the last 2 cruises we had that ended in Ft Lauderdale and the median age was easily 78-80. Glad they are out there traveling, but for us this will be more interesting (14 days - all port days + 7 pre-cruise days on our own + 3 Viking pre-extension days + 4 Viking post-extension days). Whew!!!

Early is more likely to have iceberg issues like we had last June on this itinerary. So I would opt for August or September.

Certainly appears that way. I would think this is an attempt aimed at getting new Viking customers - by giving them the same $400 as if they had already been a customer. Often a common technique in travel marketing.

You just stated the main reasons people who don't use Tripmate don't use them. We switched to good 3rd party Trip Insurance. Reasons: More Flexible, More Reliable, Less Cost. What's not to like. Plus I don't like to have all my dollars in one company (Viking) and like to keep the components separate (you'll pay to have them together): Airline, Cruise, Insurance.

They always have a reason. Maybe they want you to fly roundtrip. Try another airline or even another city. Or depending on when you need to book, wait awhile. Put your itinerary into Google Flights and add an alert so you are notified on fare changes.

Caroline - we enjoyed meeting you and John on the just finished Neptune cruise. I've had the same said to me - that I need to slow down, but I just think I'm walking normally. Usually that's in the hallways or down the docks. I too have been amazed at the post-COVID degradation of the wardrobes people bring. I used to think Viking just looked the other way because of COVID, but now it appears they just don't want to offend. Contrary to Longterm's estimate - we have a different estimate of the age. We've now done 14 Ocean and 1 River Cruise (which had younger age people). Every cruise we each estimate what we think the age is. It definitely has gotten older, and especially since COVID. My analytical mind theorizes that COVID made lots of folks realize life is short and they better get out there and cruise. I personally would put the median age on all our cruises at around 75. I think median is more relevant than average, since one 18 year old skews the average downwards. Certainly the cruises we've done in the Americas (no cross-ocean flying for Americans) are much older crowd - approaching 80 for median age in my opinion. The port a day Scandinavia / Mediterr. cruises seem to be more 65-70. So I do think a lot depends on itineraries. Certainly cruises in/out of Florida are going to be dominate in a bit older age. Regardless what we debate, everyone just needs to factor in their own personal requirements for cruising when deciding future cruises. At some point, however, Viking is going to have to decide who they are going to market to, and to what length they are willing to set AND enforce guidelines/rules, involving not only dress, but safety concerns such as the number scooters and walkers left in the hallways at night (even though prohibited for safety reasons). Will be interesting to see how Viking shifts or not to the certainly changing landscape of potential customers.

Who knows? I've also wondered. Maybe . . because life isn't fair, squeaky wheel gets the grease, it's who you know that matters (like most everything in life) 🙂 There does seem to be no consistency in Viking.

The real question is: What types of itineraries do YOU and your MOM like to do? It is sort of like asking what's a good food dish at a restaurant. We all have our likes and dislikes so you have to take that into account. Style: Are you the port intensive adventurous type? Mediterranean cruise - most have a port a day Love the days at sea? A TA like San Juan to Barcelona, or Hawaiian Sojourn Like a mix of both? South America and any of the Iceland itineraries and Midnight Sun Time of year: Do you get seasick? Do you need flat seas ? Do you wish to avoid crowds? Are you fine with cooler temps (like Europe in Winter)? Is good weather more important than crowds? Best of luck! I hope you know what strikes your own personal fancy! We've done just about every one of these styles.

On our Ft LAUaderdale to LA Panama Canal cruise - it certainly was the oldest looking group, with more walker, rollers, etc. I believe any cruise that does Florida has a good chance to be that way. At least they are out there trying to take that last cruise2

We just booked the new Vesta for Malta March 2026. Cruise consultant on board said Vesta debuts in Jan 26. Maybe you’ll be on an inaugural cruise! he also said the newly released Malta itineraries were selling fast - big demand.

We are thinking that maybe they worked a deal with Nassau (who might want some tourist dollars perhaps). We will be docked 11:00 to 3:00 so that's likely 11:00 to 2:00. No excursions. Everyone on their own. Remains to be seen if we dock or tender though. We plan to walk as much as we can! Yes, we hope the passenger gets the surgery done (hip) soon and is out of pain sooner than later. It must be so difficult being out at sea when something like this happens (broken hip) due to the high and rough seas, which are felt even more while walking down into the Star Theatre.

We can relate, Michelle! So true!! Our stewards must think we drink a little. 😉🍷

Always!!!

Dee - we just finished the galley tour with Satheesh. Really interesting. He has 100 cooks working for him. He is very good, professional, business/logistics oriented. Knows what he’s doing. He’ll be doing the World Cruise. We all thanked him for the very noticeable superior dishes onboard (vs other cruises)!

You are absolutely right. We were on the Mars last September and Asian Panorama was nowhere near as good as Neptune. In fact, it was quite poor. As I said, we must be lucky with a great chef here! Perhaps because he'll be on the World Cruise that starts in a couple days on Neptune - so they put the best on that one.

I think I saw you at Sues lecture. We were down in front of you in first row. May have met Celeste going to breakfast as she was bringing food back to your room. 😉

I looked on spreadsheet and see you are just 2 doors down from us. The steward who helped us move is yours as well. Stopped by room just now and see a host of Viking fix it people at your room - you you obviously got someone’s attention. Good luck! Wonder if it is as bad as ours was. we’ll have to connect sometime! Kent

Manfredis menu on Neptune last night. The Short Ribs were the big hit - sensational!

Our menu from Manfred’s on Neptune TA last night. We all 4 had the short ribs. They were sensational!!!