CDNPolar

If you are going Hurtigruten, then I know that your excursions will be to a certain extent demanding. We found that we worked up a sweat every time we got onto the Continent... being warm was not a problem - being too warm was. But, everyone has different temperature tolerances, and being warm is a necessity for a trip like this, so I would say be prepared with super warm gloves/mittens and also a light pair.

Fellow Ontarian - we found that gloves were in a lot of cases not necessary. The temps were between -5C and +5C and most of the time hovering around zero. We had brilliant sunshine with no wind, so often our gloves were just off because it was not that cold on the fingers - and I do generally feel the cold. In general we had too much clothing and the first day we grossly overdressed, and we shed layers day by day... In my opinion, waterproof gloves / mittens are not necessary, but water repellent yes. Also, Mittens will be warmer for your Husband as gloves will allow the fingers to chill faster. I used a pair of $10.00 gloves/mittens from Winners that the finger section folded back on for picture taking, or when wearing my mittens, they clipped together so would just clip them to my coat when not wearing. I think that the only day that I actually wore the mittens the full time was when we went snowshoeing because it was actually snowing that day and a bit windy.

Really? We have probably 10-14 tags that we would gladly sell... Gonna check that out. I think we have three different colour pouches.

Yes - exactly - what we did, UNTIL I messed up and mistakenly switched the home cell number back to automatic once in Europe and then we lost the ability to re-select the Rogers network, so all option to do the WiFi calling was lost. (On my phone) This happened BECAUSE we found the following: With the Home Cell Number active, and the eSIM, and the Ship WiFI, our phones were getting very hot and also the battery was draining really fast. For some reason my phone was not automatically connecting through the eSIM to the local network and I had to manually select the network each country we were in. (5 Countries) So, to remedy this we were turning off the eSIM when on the ship and active on WiFi, and and then on the second day when I was manually selecting the local network, I mistakenly went to the settings for the home cell and that ended that.... Just a mistake, but that is what happened if any of this makes sense.

This might be really sneaky, but, what I have thought of for an upcoming trip with an airline that is extremely strict on carry on, is for each of us to check in separately with only the fully compliant carry on with us while the other stands off to the side with the back pack? The back pack would be compliant in size and measurements for a personal item - which they don't specify a weight for. What I am concerned with is if they ever ask for the back pack (personal item) to be weighed and it is heavier than the carry on bag what would they do? Again, they don't specify a weight limit for the personal item - but I could overweight that bag easily as the carry on weight allowance is only 15lbs.

Perhaps we have been on too many Viking Cruises because we have so many red luggage tags that we will probably never use in our lifetime, and too many of these pouches too! I use these for different packing options but wish there was a way to effectively label them on the outside as to what is inside... If I have 3 or 4 of these in the carry on, I am zipping and peaking to find what I want, and as it always goes, what I want is in the last one opened.

I have also seen passengers that used Viking Air that during a cruise last year, the airline went on strike - or something, I don't remember exactly - but many of the Viking Air passengers were booked on this airline and could not get home. Viking put them in a hotel (and paid for it) and worked like crazy to get them all home. If you had booked air on your own, you would be on your own with this. You would be on your own for the hotel, and organizing your air home. Now, you might have travel interruption insurance that would help with the cost, but you would be left to make all the arrangements on your own. There are advantages to using Viking Air, but we take a risk sometimes and go out on our own. We also if there is a free air deal, take that for sure, because why would you not, and we upgrade to Premium Economy or Business if available and generally get the upgrade for less than or the same as the air would have cost in economy. Thanks everyone for all your stories.

We play with this kind of thing all the time. If air is free then we will go through Viking - and pay the $100 for Air Plus. If we can get air at a better price, or just be fully in control, then we do the air ourselves... but that comes with some cost sometimes too... we will tend to go a day ahead, because if we are doing the air ourselves and there are delays, cancelations, or issues, then we are on our own to get to the ship, whereas Viking would assist if they do the air. So, we now have a hotel night to pay for, but that is also part of our piece of mind. It is always a balance of cost vs. benefit.

Sorry we did not have Falkland Islands.... Hopefully someone will come by that did.

I love that you have the higher end luggage, but I don't want to pay for airlines to scratch and damage it.

One other trick that we use, is that once we have the flights booked with Air Plus, and we are comfortable with everything, we will ask for Viking to process the ticket in advance of when they are generally done. This does not guarantee that nothing will change, but what we have found is that then we can interact directly on the airline site to make any seat changes, etc. Before ticketing you are kind of in limbo with everything. Now, word of warning.... if you are using Air Plus and Viking has not as yet ticketed the air, you can still make changes. If you ask to be ticketed early, then once ticketed changes are charged for... Not necessarily seat changes, but change to schedule if you want a different flight.

We use the Viking Red luggage tags when travelling to and from a Viking cruise, but not for non Viking travel either personal or business. Why? For those that know Viking, they also know that it is higher end price and we feel that these tags are very visible and could set you up as a target for unwanted attention.

I saw somewhere that they were pausing the new one until they get the cover issue worked out. I personally don't care the design, but would. not want a wonky cover regardless of the design.

Ok.... so stupid question. The ocean going "Ship" is a ship. What do I call the River going vessel? On the Douro River they are 80-90 passengers, other rivers they hold 180 passengers. Is this a ship or a boat? You hear both - some call them "River Boats" but the industry refers to them as "Long Ships". What are they?

You have two options with Viking Air. Just go with the flow and let Viking arrange your flights in which case you will receive your flights about 75 days in advance of the embarkation. (This date may change give or take. It used to always be about 75 days...) In this option you have no choice, but you do get to play with yoru flights on MyVikingJourney once they are ticketed. I have never done this. With this option you could be on a direct flight and very early, or you could be on a connecting flight that gets you in later in the afternoon. There is no telling in advance. Remember that however early you arrive, you may not be able to access your stateroom until 2pm or after depending on the cabin you have. Your second option is to pay for Viking Air Plus. Could be. $50 or $100 per person depending on the flights. If you choose this option - which we always have - you can do the research, as you have, and call Viking Air Plus department and ask for the flights you want to have. If they are under contract then they will book you on the flights you request. This way you have control over the airline, the route, the time, etc. We have always gotten the flights we wanted with this option. One of the best parts of selecting your own flights is your disembarkation day. When others are leaving the ship at 3am and 4am for early flights we are enjoying our last breakfast because we don't arrange our leaving flights before noon that day which means we generally are shuttled to the airport about 9am. Occasionally we have asked for flights that are out of contract and have had to pay a bit more if we wanted those flights. That is your decision. With Air Plus you have the most control, but you have to pay extra for that control. Otherwise, just sit back and wait for your flights to be confirmed and take what you get.

Does anyone have experience with EVA Air and their carry on restrictions? We have found many other sites that have conversations about carry on with EVA Air and that they are very strict. We will be flying Premium Economy, and according to their site, we are allowed the following: I carry on 7kg or 15lbs total weight and measurements of 9"X14"X22" I personal item (no weight given) 16"X12"X4" Our understanding is that they will weigh and measure the bags and if not exact in compliance they will force to be checked. Anyone with experience with EVA Air on this? May I ask politely not to discuss other airlines carry on restrictions and keep this just to EVA Air... Thank you.

For carry on only, I pack "non-memorable" but fashionable shirts and I have one style with 8 colours. You might think that I wore that colour before and you might be right, but I don't care anyway. These also wash, ring out and dry in 4 hours in the bathroom. We travel only non-formal ships, and if we ever do go on a ship with a formal night we will eat at the buffet that night. The problem with an upcoming trip that I am most definitely going carry on is that this is on EVA Air and they are apparently very strict with both the exact measurements of your carry on but also the weight. They apparently weigh all carry on bags at the ticket counter and they can be a max of 15lbs or 7kg. If over then they force it to be checked. My lightest carry on bag is already 6lbs empty. That means only 9lbs of clothing and other stuff. Now, you can have one personal item, that again, they are strict with size, but their site does not state a weight limit for this item... I wonder if I can get away with more weight in the personal item as long as it conforms to the measurements? I read many comments of people boarding aircraft with overstuffed carry on bags and I watch them as they fail at stuffing them into the overhead. I also watch people that have multiple bags - not just the carry on and personal item - and they get through, but then I get picked out of line and told that I need to check my carry on. There is no reason to the rules right now and you can randomly get through or randomly get stopped. More and more I am seeing non-American and non-Canadian airlines however taking a firm stand on carry on size and weight.

Wow - Fran - thank you! What a great list. We had only the two days at the end of the river cruise and did not get to much of your list, but some. We will be back next year when doing the Grand European Tour and will save this list to plan from! Thank you!

For sites like this, if not part of a Viking excursion, then we will always search and buy significantly in advance. We have had great success with Viator and like their cancellation policy. Even things like the Hop On Hop Off Bus can be advantageous to have your tickets in advance.

Are you using a TA for this trip? We have had a situation where one of the names on the invoice has the TA address and the other has our home address, which would indicate that a separate package has gone to the TA? We just recently sailed and all our tags went to the TA - which I don't understand because that is an extra step in the process to get this stuff.... If you don't get it worked out with Viking, just see the Viking rep at the airport and they will have more tags for the cabin number and just take care of that then. If you want more red leather luggage tags, send me your address. We have at least 10 that are still in their plastic sleeve never used and probably will never use them... We never wear the stickers because it makes me feel like I am on a school trip or something. We look for the Viking rep and don't rely on them finding us because we have a sticker on our chest.

True - did not think of it that way, but still... this is something that is not the norm and a give and take on both sides would be nice. I would expect that my preferred cruise line would react in a positive way to assist in a situation like this. I have no proof of this but would expect that they would.

"Mercy" would be the cruise line working with passengers to change dates without penalty or offering refunds... If the cruise line does not work with the full guest list, they are going to be denied entry to the country and then the cruise line is going to carry a poor reputation for not assisting their guests in some way. This is not an anticipated situation and yes, I agree, that the lawyers wrote the contracts well, but that is for the occasional passenger that does not recognize their responsibility. But for such a situation that leaves passengers with NO option to get the appropriate visa in the time permitting, the cruise line is potentially dealing with a full ship of passengers, not just one or two. This is not the time for any business to laugh their way to the bank while passengers are paying penalties for not being able to sail. This situation is out of anyone's control on both sides. The cruise line - IMO - needs to have a part in this if it comes to loss. It would not be good business to let a ship full of passengers forfeit their paid monies.

Food for thought.

We are often the youngest couple on a Viking cruise - Ocean and/or River. My husband certainly can be the absolute youngest who is younger than me at a mere 44 years old. We are into the sedate and there for the culture of the destination, the food, and the more luxury service that Viking offers. Viking average age although visibly getting a bit younger all the time, is comfortably in the high 60's to mid 70's. Still a very agile group, but up there in age. Viking is a great option if you just want to relax when you are on the ship and not hear kids running and screaming at the pool. Oh, and the 4:00pm Tea on Viking Ocean is amazing! (That is our speed for fun and excitement)

Totally agree with you on Viking. We love Viking and one of the main attractions is no children.