CDNPolar

Yes, I did omit the wider seat, but many of them have - not sure what to call them - the dividers between the seats and the tray table is in this, and there is a small tray like table between the seats. My only concern with this is on two flights (Australia, and South Africa), on the longest portion I was alone with no one beside me and because of this divider, you cannot take advantage of the empty seat beside you in the same way. But you are right, they are wider, and the recline is deeper.

Probably better to post this in the Silversea forum. You will likely get more traction there.

Gotcha - thank you. I knew that Gratuities were included for UK guests, but never realized that it was common to have SSBP included too. It would be interesting to compare - with current exchange rates - the cost of the same cruise in Pounds vs. CDN dollar. For some of our upcoming cruises, because of the length, the SSBP is over $500 CDN per person. No way I will spend $1,000.00 more for wine and spirits. We would never drink that much.

I don't know if you have EVA Air as an option, but they are a great airline to the far East and their PE product is pretty good.

I think that you will find these PE cabins a bit different on each airline, but they offer: 1) More legroom 2) Generally a foot / leg rest, but NOT a lie flat seat 3) Higher service level I won't fly over 7 hours in Economy. I have flown 20 hours + to places like Australia and South Africa and several Japan and China trips. If Business is out of the question because I don't have the points or don't want to pay that much, then I go PE. For all these long haul trips I did PE and it was so so so so much better than economy. Some of these were work trips and I was on my own and I book an aisle seat on the left side which in PE is only two seats. Sometimes I have had an empty seat beside me. When we fly together in PE we book the window and aisle on the side because they are only 2 deep and that is enough for me to choose PE over economy.

We all must be diligent of what we read on any online platform today. I have witnessed quite a few first time cruisers get some good information here on CC, but of course it is subjective to the person providing the guidance. Your impression may be different than mine, and sometimes someone rushes to post an answer that may not be completely true.... But, how do you know if you need a filter if you don't know anything about what you are reading?

Off topic, but I cannot miss this statement? What do you mean withdrawn SSBP from the 2025 cruises?

You just reminded me that I have to try the onion rings at the Pool Grill. We have never eaten at the Pool Grill.

We have not been on Ocean for over a year, but have been on several River cruises and happy with the food. This is concerning to me with Ocean and out next is not until October. We have always enjoyed the food on Viking, and hope that this is not a spiral down...

I don't see why you cannot share Tripit information, it is not a TA site, it is really a trip planning app and site. I have used it for years, but have never sent excursions to it. I have found that some things get rejected if they are not 'standard' type itinerary content? I certainly have air, hotel before and after, cruise itinerary, but again, never sent excursions. Have to think how to do this... I think that I would create an event on the main website and add the excursion information? Oh, and I LOVE Tripit because most often it sends me the airline gate before the airport monitors have the gate listed, and I have never found it to be wrong. They notify of delays, cancellations, gate changes, etc. (The paid version)

As much as I get this, I suppose I cannot justify spending the extra on this level of cabin for the time we spend in the cabin. We have just adjusted to the lowest category of Cabin on Viking. I think it would be great on a World Cruise to have that extra space.

Yes, it is mass produced but we still enjoy it and feel that it is worth our cabin / cruise price. However, the best food I had on a Mass Market Line was no better in my opinion than Denny's, Perkins, or iHOP. All of these bottom of the barrel for me.

I understood your post, you did not understand my response. No worries. Sorry that you had the wrong end of the stick with Viking and gratuities. We were very well aware of how gratuities worked on Viking before our first cruise and there was nothing hidden to us. It was all very well communicated. I am sorry that you did not enjoy your Viking experience and wish you all the best with your Seabourn future cruises. Perhaps we will see you on a Seabourn cruise one day.

Well, someone must be using them because they have staff manning the phones and they answer very quickly. Perhaps they answer quickly because they have staff but no calls.... I am going to ask around of friends and see if anyone uses the Concierge.

The average security screening entering the airside of the airport does not care. It is if you get pulled into a secondary screening that can happen without notice where they might question your medications. I don't think that this is an overreaction because it does not impact you until it does. Being prepared with the official prescriptions and/or bottles is not in my opinion an overreaction, it is proper preparation.

Hank, I agree with you. We have only experienced this in two ways - one was the Ukraine war that took Estonia, Russia, and Finland off our itinerary, but the cruise line (Viking) notified us early and gave us an onboard credit for the trouble. Welcomed but not necessary because of the situation. They also offered us to cancel for full refund. The other was the notorious Key West. It was on the itinerary, the shore excursions were even listed, but every one was showing sold out. We did not find out we were not stopping their until the day we were supposed to dock. This was only day 2 of the cruise. I have read many situations of what you are talking about. How does a cruise line know that perhaps the main or the only reason I am booking this cruise was for that port? They don't. We struggled with St. Petersburg Russia being removed as BEFORE THE WAR, this was one main reason for booking this itinerary. We finally decided to go anyway. I would never expect compensation for this because the cruise line is looking out for the safety of their crew and guests. I do believe that a passenger bill of rights is a great idea, but it would have to encompass all ships globally.

May I suggest that a trip interrupted would not refund these fees, but a trip cancelled before departure would? I can understand that once you are onboard and part of the ship's manifest that the ship would pay based on the number sailing, but if you never boarded, would this be different?

We don't travel from home with snacks - other than what we might want on the plane - but will pick up local snacks to try that are unique to the country. If you are ever in Tokyo, don't miss the Kit Kat Chocolatory store. The Japanese and Kit Kat have a love affair and the flavours and specialty Kit Kat chocolate bars are amazing and not found in many other places in the world. Be aware however that you may spend some serious cash on Kit Kat.

I move away from negative people. If I meet someone on a cruise that then starts to spout negativity I then begin to distance myself from them. Unfortunately one person we cruised with one time (and never again) began being negative about many things. This is not how it is at home, this is not how I would make this dish, and on and on...

No, it comes down to NOT prepaying your gratuities, then if you want to "adjust" rather than "argue/justify" the amount you can see Guest Services. There should not be, and we have never experienced any issue with reducing our gratuities or removing them completely at the end of a River or Ocean cruise. You should never have to argue or justify anything. We have just approached and indicated that we wanted to reduce or remove and have never been challenged on that request. And you use the words "mandated tip" - nothing is mandated from a North American (Canada USA) Viking guest. Our gratuities are not included and we are not responsible or required to pay anything. We do pass "cash hand gratuities" to certain crew members that go above and beyond, but never do the envelopes.

Viking has its vibe. It is what it is. I / We personally hope that the IPO will not change the vibe that Viking is...

I don't think that age has anything to do with liking Viking or not. Viking has never positioned themselves in the market as a nightlife ship, and I am personally hoping that they do not. No disrespect to your comments, and no disrespect meant by this statement, but Viking is not the cruise line for you.

I go with everyone else about the subjectiveness of food. We are hitting our 11th Viking cruise - River and Ocean - and although we have had meals that are not stellar, we have never ever been truly disappointed. We do not feel that Viking do "deep fried" well - specifically English style fish and chips, soft shelled crab, etc. Agree the french fries are good. I do however feel you are not doing yourself or anyone else any favour by not sharing your opinion on the food. Viking need to hear it. Not that you would, but it does not have to be mid meal if you don't want to bring a downer on the serving crew, but you could take the restaurant manager aside and let him/her/them know quietly.

You might be looking for this: 1) From the display screen swipe down and go to Settings 2) In Settings go to Home & Clock 3) Go into Night Mode 4) Set Night Mode Behaviour to ON 5) Schedule the time you want Night Mode On 6) Automatically switch to night mode based on available light toggle ON This is I believe all we did and the time display comes on when lights go off and the time is displayed in dim RED numbers which are actually suggested as the colour of light for night and sleeping. During the day and outside of scheduled night mode, the time will be in White and much brighter.

Don't know if you are still around and/or still looking for these... but what are you offering, and will you pay shipping? How many do you want? These are Viking and I have a few different colours and sayings on them. None of them used, as they were how they used to deliver our cruise documents and luggage tags. They are zippered and approximately 12" X 7"