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The most authoritative answer I could find is a quote from Lord Murray of Blidworth in The House of Lords on 23rd March 2023 where he said: "The European Commission intends that [ETIAS] will be implemented some six months after the operationalisation of the European Entry/Exit System, which is the photograph and fingerprints at the border system I discussed a moment ago. As the noble Baroness rightly observes, the Paris Olympics fall in June next year. On the latest indications from the European Commission, the implementation date has been postponed from the end of 2023 to an uncertain date. It may be that that date will be after the Paris Olympics, but we have no indication one way or the other."

Once the system goes live, you certainly will..... although it is not intended to be a piece of paper as such, but a purely digital authorisation. There will be two steps in the EU visitor entry process for visitors from the UK as well as most other non-EU citizens. Before leaving home, you will need to apply on-line using ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) Then, when you first arrive at the border of an EU country, you will be required to register on the ESS (Entry/Exit system) If you have not done so previously at that point you will have your photograph and fingerprints taken to add to the EU's database of visitors. This will replace passport stamping. As you are from the UK, you might find this extract from a Parliamentary debate on the subject interesting: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-03-21/debates/5E5F203B-F411-40FA-AA73-50366D19409F/UK-EURevisedPassengerRequirements

Not just tit for tat Jim, but also a useful revenue stream for the governments concerned. In this case, the USA adopted this particular form of taxation without representation first 😉 The EU and UK are just catching up! The UK government have made a specific decision not to include fingerprint information on the biometric passport chip. It just holds a digital version of the holders photograph as well as personal details. To the best of my knowledge, US passports are the same. The USA started keeping a database of fingerprints from all UK visitors around 2004 (for other nationalities it may have been earlier) so my fingerprints were taken and added to the database on my arrival in the US when I first visited after the system was introduced. It is this type of system that the EU intend to replicate. There has been some scepticism on the thread that all visitors to the EU after a certain date will have their fingerprints taken, but that is exactly what is going to be introduced and this simply replicates what has happened in the US from the early 2000s onwards. A matching system is currently being introduced, and will eventually apply to all visitors to the UK. Here is a quote from the UK government website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electronic-travel-authorisation-eta "From 15 November 2023, you’ll need an ETA if you’re travelling to the UK and you’re a national of Qatar. You’ll be able to apply from 25 October. From 22 February 2024, you’ll need an ETA if you’re travelling to the UK and you’re a national of: Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates More nationalities will be added to the scheme later."

You're welcome! 😉

However they do say on their site that ESS will be introduced before ETIAS: ETIAS and the EES will not be launched at the same time. The EES will become operational first and ETIAS will follow a few months after. The exact dates will be announced by the EU later this year. I don't think it will be too much of an issue at airports because we are used to queueing at passport control there. It is the extra time needed to process new arrivals through ESS when a ship arrives at any EU port from outside the EU that I am wondering about.

You're not the only one 😕 but this website might help a little: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/key-differences-between-etias-and-ees-2023-06-06_en Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting once ESS goes live! The EU will need to get those prints and mugshots from you to add to their database. However, on subsequent visits, you will only need to have a valid ETIAS as that will automatically link to the ESS data when you present your passport on entry.

However the new ESS system that is to be introduced ahead of ETIAS might prove a little problematic ESS requires that visitors have their photograph and fingerprints taken at the first point of entry into the EU. To quote from the ESS website https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/faqs-ees_en "If you need a visa to travel to the European countries using the EES, the system will store only your facial image (as your fingerprints have already been registered in the Visa Information System /VIS at the time you applied for a visa). If you don’t need a visa to travel to the European countries using the EES, the system will store a combination of four of your fingerprints and your facial image." As I understand it this means that those arriving at their first port of call in Europe, for instance after a transatlantic, will need to be photographed and fingerprinted to add that data into the ESS system before being allowed out of the port. Therefore you won't simply be able to arrive in Europe and walk off the ship as currently, but will need to be processed in person by immigration first. There are also plans for the UK to introduce a similar system https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electronic-travel-authorisation-eta Of course, I can't resist pointing out that this is all very much in line with what those of us visiting the USA have had to deal with in recent years 😁

No problem, maybe I should have chipped in earlier about the root cause of the issue. You might also be interested to know that the cameras physically rotate to produce the panoramas. This is demonstrated by the wavy horizon that is produced in heavy weather when the rotation of the camera interacts with the movement of the ship. Of course, you may not be at all interested, it might just be me 😁

Sorry to disagree with you Clay but this is not a software issue. You will see from my attached screenshot that the camera is physically misplaced by 90° and producing a panorama of the deck and the sky rather than the horizon. The camera is placed on the highest mast of the forward superstructure and the mast is designed to rotate through 90° so that it can lay flat for maintenance or when going under low bridges. It seems unlikely that the hinging mechanism has failed, so the most likely explanation is that the deck crew have simply "forgotten" to raise it again after it's been lowered. The reason that I know so much about this is we had the same issue on our Midnight Sun Cruise in 2019. When I raised the matter with the General Manager, I was told no uncertain terms that it was not his problem, and he did not understand why I was making a fuss about it. It sticks in my mind as it was, by far, the least satisfactory interaction I have ever had with any Viking staff member! I feel sure that Heather reacted more appropriately when the issue was presented to her, however it seems the deck crew have still not put the camera back in the right place 😕 Maybe someone on-board the ship could point out to management that there is a privacy issue with the camera in this position as it shows areas of the deck (including the putting green) that are accessible to passengers. This is obviously something Viking are sensitive about. If you look carefully at the regular images from the Explorer class ships you will see that publicly accessible deck areas on each side have been pixelated using software so that passengers can't be seen in the images. .

I have always assumed that they are on duty i.e. being paid for the time, but excused from doing their usual work - hence their smiling faces as they take part. For ourselves, we like the experience. The first time it came as a pleasant surprise and now we know it is likely to happen at some point, it is something that we rather look forward to. You obviously feel differently, but I hope you will feel more able to tolerate it, knowing that they are Viking passengers like us who appreciate receiving this sort of greeting from the staff, just now and again.

I seem to recall reading something about there being a charge for freshly squeezed orange, or am I imagining that?

No need for apology, I was looking at the ships as a whole, including cabins. You were quite right to point out that Viking have announced the new sizes for those. That is one of the few things we are not guesstimating 🙂

We are enjoying following along with you and love what they have done with your avatar. I'll save the questions until you get back rather than taking up your time now. Look out for me in the virtual explorers lounge 😁

Wow Andy!!!! Thanks for that, a little better than my "back-of-the-napkin" estimate to say the least! I'm pleased that my schoolboy maths got to a figure that was somewhere in the ballpark, and that you've confirmed that there is likely to be more space per-passenger rather than less 😁 I believe I am correct in saying that there will be some increase in the floor area of all the public spaces, simply as a function of the increased beam and we still don't know exactly where the internal walls will be positioned within the volumes that you calculated. The improvement in pax/space ratio suggests to me that Viking have "done the right thing" by not squeezing in the absolute maximum number of additional cabins that the increase in overall tonnage (if that is the right term?) would allow. Might it not be reasonable to assuming that, by repositioning internal walls, all of the public spaces have also been enlarged in proportion to the number of additional passengers?

How did I miss that!!!! My only excuse is that I was reading on my phone, so the pages were a bit small 🔍😉 I must say you are making very good use of those lenses, I've always been a Canon fan. Of course, no hurry for the correction, enjoy your time in the land of chocolate and cheese 😁

I was wondering about that too. I am certainly no mathematician but I did a quick "back-of-a-napkin" calculation to roughly estimate if the new ships were likely to have any less space per passenger. To keep things simple (for the purposes of the calculation) I imagined that both the new and old ship designs were simple rectangles. Of course, this does not give a genuine real life figure for the space on either ship, but I believe it should give an indication if the deck area per passenger on the new ships is likely to be more or less than on the current ones. My calculation went as follows: Current fleet size 745x94 feet = 70030 square feet divided by 930 passengers = 75.3 square feet per passenger. New fleet size 784x101 feet = 79184 square feet divided by 998 passengers = 79.3 square feet per passenger. So, my extremely rough and ready estimate would suggest that if anything (even with the extra passengers) there is likely to be about 5% more space for each of us on the new ships, rather than less 😁 I hope my calculation makes sense and I have not missed something obvious. If anyone has a better way of making this estimation do let me know.

I've just been reading through your fantastic review of the Northern Lights trip on your website. I thoroughly enjoyed it and almost feel like I was right there with you. I was particularly impressed with the wide-angle interiors of the ship and your photographs of the entertainment are outstanding. I would be interested to know what equipment you're using? I don't know how often you update your website, but would like to suggest a small correction that you might like to make at some point? Folks reading your review of the Chef's table might be worried that they would not get the wine pairing unless they had purchased the beverage package. As you probably know that is not really the case and everyone gets a wine pairing, it is just upgraded for those with the package. I hope you forgive me for that small criticism of what is otherwise a really excellent review of your trip - I will now be happily working my way through the rest of your website 😁

Certainly is! Also I never thought of the ships being in "triplicate" before, but that makes perfect sense. Very much enjoying the thread as a whole, keep up the great work 👍 The deck plan for the new Vela is available on the Viking website. Both the main restaurant and the World Café are shown as being larger, though this might simply be in proportion to the additional number of passengers. You can find some more information on "Viking Vela" thread.

This article, originally posted by @FetaCheese mentions that that Viking Star will be going in for its 10 year drydock "soon" https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/refurb-interiors/after-more-100-viking-ships-rottet-studio-stays-engaged So I took a look at your spreadsheet and, sure enough, there is a gap of about a month in The Star's schedule for November 2024. This is not very soon, but I wonder if that explains the gap? The article also hints that there might be some interior refurbishment/restyling taking place while the ship is laid up. It will be interesting to see what Viking have planned.

@FetaCheese spotted this article and posted the link in another thread. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/shipbuilding-refurb-equipment/10-more-viking-ocean-ships-2030-tad-bigger-and-some-china It gives the reason for the increase in size from The Vela onwards being that "the newbuilds will be a tad bigger due to new IMO stability regulations" I wonder if the Mariners on the board would like to comment on the stability difference between the current and new ships?

I like the new photo! In fact I chose the pronoun "they" because I was not sure if he or she would be appropriate. Now that you have confirmed that the person behind the detailed, comprehensive and well organised spreadsheet is a woman, that makes perfect sense. 👍 😁

Like @uktog I can confirm that TA benefits are available in the UK. Our usual practise is to check cabin availability and make a provisional booking with a UK phone agent who then contacts our TA. The TA then gets back to us for confirmation and billing. We have also had a booking made on board an ocean ship transferred over to our TA when we returned home. It is probably too late to do this with the bookings you have already made, but this is certainly something to think of for next time.

Some details of Viking's latest ship, the Vela, have now been revealed on their website. Here is a summary of what we know so far. The ship is 39 feet longer and 7 feet wider in the beam than the current fleet and will carry 68 more passengers. The deck plans suggest that most of the additional length results from changes to the rear section of the ship, with the addition of extra cabins and extensions to the main restaurant and world café. The extra width produces a small increase in the floor area of cabins. Previous reports have also indicated that the ship will have the capacity to use hydrogen propulsion in ecologically sensitive locations. The first sailing currently shown on the Viking website is the In Search of the Northern Lights itinerary leaving Tilbury on the 10th of January 2025, although cruises prior to this date may well be announced in due course. With thanks to @CharTrav and their amazing thread for the head's up on this news.

I agree it would be a good idea to call and check why the credit is not showing for you on MVJ. Here is what the payments & cart page looks like currently for me on MVJ when I click the payments method tab - I have not included the actual credit details but they are listed immediately below this part when I look at the page The amount per passenger is clearly indicated and also if it relates to a voucher which must be used before the sailing or is shipboard credit which can either be used in advance of the sailing, or once onboard. Hope that helps.

Funny you should say that. Our trip is to celebrate DW joining me in the world of the voluntarily unemployed 😁