CDNPolar

We have 5 days total prior to our cruise starting in Buenos Aries. I would love to hear from my Viking travellers what they recommend to do in Buenos Aries? We are doing this extension on our own and looking for suggestions. We want to "experience" Buenos Aries culture, food, and top sites. Walking tours... day trips... restaurants... recommended local tour companies.... Thank you!

Depending on your stateroom category you may be limited to the number of bookings you can make in advance. Download the Viking Voyager App. As soon as you board the ship, access the ship wifi and the app and you can book multiple additional reservations for your group. We have done this several times now and it works like a charm. We happen to book the lowest level stateroom and we have managed to use the app on embarkation and get reservations to the specialty restaurants as many nights as we have wanted. As the last responder stated, there are no seating times for The Restaurant, you go when you are ready and you will get a table.

OH. Great !!!! I am excited to see what you are posting. We do the exact same cruise leaving December 28th from BA. Same except we are going one night earlier to the Hotel Emperador on our own and the we have the flights to Ushuaia on December 29th. Most interested in your experience with: The Drake Straight - was it rough was it calm was it in between? Once you arrive, the excursions, what is the lotto system to get some of the excursions like kayaking? The food, the ship in general.... Clothing we should pack. (We are from cold Canada and the summer temps in Antarctica are mild winter temps for us...) So excited because there is so little activity in the Hurtigruten forum. I posted a roll call months ago for our cruise and have only had one person respond. Safe travels!

I think that it may depend on the aircraft whether it is a "separate cabin" but there has at least been a curtain between PE and Coach. In PE we may be served a similar meal, but received a menu with the choices, all food served on china rather than plastic tubs, and we got real cutlery too! We go with PE for the seat and the recline. If we are flying Toronto to most European cities and the flight is 7'ish hours we don't really care, but if longer getting into the 8-9 hours or overnight then we want the PE seat where it is just two of us on the side. A lot of the Lufthansa flights are 747s as they retired them and then brought them back.

We have flown Lufthansa Premium many times and the Premium cabin is separate, and the seats are larger with a much better recline, and there is higher end service and food in that cabin. Not sure where you are getting that information from? We have always been happy with Lufthansa's Premium, in general and found it worth the extra. You get - if I remember - Zone 3 boarding with Premium. You are not the first on, but you still have zones 4 and 5 behind you in boarding order.

I believe that you can cancel at any time, but there would be additional cost if the flights are ticketed. In the mean time, if you have Air Plus on your invoice and you have not received ticketed flights, my understanding is that you can cancel.

You know, as I read through this thread, and I have posted thoughts and opinions here as well, I find myself starting to take the position of "live and let live". I personally have gone through a transformation of sorts over the past decade where I learned to lower my expectations with many things, because sometimes, or even often our "expectations" bring disappointment when they are not met. We don't however have control over our expectations especially if it is other passenger behaviour that is failing our expectations. Now, I don't mean to say that you should not have a level of expectation for what is in Viking's control, and we know for the most part Viking deliver on their promise of service and an outstanding experience. Where Viking have not delivered for us in the past, a quick discussion with Guest Services and the situation has been remedied. We all have different upbringings and we all "expect" different things but these expectations are only as good as our experience and what we were taught as right and wrong or acceptable and not acceptable. I live in an area where I am a minority to many different cultures, and each culture has different ways of doing things and different expectations of personal space, and how to conduct themselves. If I was constantly looking for everyone to conform to my standards, then I would be a pretty unhappy person. Most of the people doing the things we don't like will likely never read this thread, and the fact is that even if they did, it would probably make them laugh and take a high road and continue to do the same things over and over... I am the first person to hold "standards" for behaviour. I personally don't want to see some standards of behaviour fall away, but like most things, if there is no penalty for someone not behaving to a standard then human nature will always test the limits. The fact is, and no offence to the discussion about feet on the table, there is no rule posted anywhere that tells someone that it is wrong to do... Just my rambling opinion and thoughts. I find this thread very interesting and the opinion of each and every person valuable to the discussion.

I agree with above. You must get quotes from multiple to understand their restrictions and coverage. I am healthy and stable now, but about 2 years ago I was looking for travel cancellation insurance and had recently been through a medical procedure. Because I am over 60 most of the web sites automatically send you to a medical questionnaire. When I answered truthfully all the questions, I was then told that they either would not cover me, or I would have to contact the underwriter for a quote. I was NOT looking for medical coverage as I have excellent medical through my work. I was just looking for cancellation / trip interruption insurance. Medipac required me to do a long questionnaire and postal mail it to them. I got a decline from them (in postal mail) about 4 weeks later. They considered my situation too risky - I guess. I talked with underwriters at Manulife and CAA and my best rate and coverage was with CAA. Both of these companies would handle all the questions over the phone and would offer me insurance. Each insurance company has a different definition of the "Stable Period" some are 3 months and some are 6 months. Stability includes new medication, change of medication, and stopping medication. You have to be careful with the definitions. Insurance companies build their policies to not pay out if they don't have to, and so be very careful on the medical side that you understand the questions you are answering and the implication they have. You may have a very simple requirement and not have to worry about all of this.

I have no pictures, but we have all seen the absolute disgusting mess that some airline passengers leave behind. Not dissimilar to the train pictures. Yes, air travel is cramped, but one of the first things we do is locate in our seatback pocket the trash bag (sick bag) and we start to use that for the bits and pieces. We leave the seats we sat in as clean as we found them. I just don't know who they think wants to clean up after them. No decorum at all.

Nexus is for USA / Canada. BUT, it also works if you are departing to anywhere in the world to have a faster line through security. T3 used to have a Nexus line. American and Delta both fly from T3 and it would make sense that Canadians would fly to the USA through T3. As I say, they used to have a Nexus line. So, Nexus works exiting Canada to any destination in the world, and coming back in, regardless of where you are coming from, Nexus has separate machines and lines for Canada Customs coming home. We rarely fly or drive to the USA. We got Nexus for the convenience of what I just stated.

I feel most sorry for the crew as they are often the ones that have to shoulder the brunt of bad behaviour. They have to ask you - if they would - to remove your bare feet from the table. They have to ask you to go and change for dinner. The crew that are so brilliantly nice and accommodating to us work 7 days a week for up to 6 months and are away from their families. I know that this is a choice but often it is an economic choice because they don't have the option in their home country to earn what they earn on a cruise ship. The crew are making huge life sacrifices to serve us and unfortunately some people don't want to recognize this. Here we are spending 10's of thousands on a cruise for 2 weeks and they have to leave their family for 6 months to scratch out a basic living. AND, they always smile and do whatever in their power to make us feel welcome. Whatever is causing any of us to feel that we are entitled to this, that, or the other thing, I think it is time for a reboot. Where did human kindness and consideration go?

I am curious to see how this will work. We have Nexus and if flying through T1 in Toronto then we have a Nexus line that is generally quick. In T3 Toronto which seems to be our Toronto terminal lately as we are flying more airlines that fly out of T3, we have noticed that the Nexus line is not always there. I think that I also read - somewhere other than the article above - that in T1 the service is available morning to night but in T3 it does not start until 2pm or later? Originally with Nexus you would fly through security. (No pun intended) When Nexus became more and more popular, then the wait times increased. I can see with this service that if it becomes popular that they will have a volume issue quickly. They can only dedicate so many staff to reservations and they can only process so many people per minute. The reservations will book up and you will just be in a line because all the reservations are full. Perhaps I am being negative, but to me this is optics for us to think that some revolutionary new system is emerging.

One thing to note is that the "discount sites" for airfare are not always what you think they are. You may already know this, but with Air Canada for instance, they ALWAYS have the cheapest fare available on their site, they give the next fare up to Expedia and other booking sites. You will always then see the best fare on AC direct. We have tried the United vs. AC booking but generally found the fares to be the same give or take a few bucks. We flew to Spain recently and booked on Delta site, but flew there on KLM, and home on Air France. We compared booking of KLM and AF before booking with Delta and again, the fares were so close, we booked on Delta where our miles are. We start looking for flights and prices as much as 300 days out and when we get a deal we grab it. We however do pay higher fares as we want full credit with no change fees and we typically fly Premium or Business as well. Our best guide is Google Flights. We use that as a guide, but again, you have to be careful as the fare that you see that is a steal is not always the fare that is available when you go to booking, or there are no cancelations, no changes, etc. This is why we start so far out to book.

We saw this twice, and two different people with bare feet on tables in the Explorers Lounge. The same as the picture you have posted. We have too seen two or three times people in their PJ's and a robe in the WC for breakfast. Unacceptable. Once was just PJ's with no robe. And... may I just say, that there is a time and a place for sleeveless tank tops for men. They should not be worn in dining venues, not even the WC. WE choose Viking because there is an understated elegance about Viking ships. Viking delivers superior customer service, food, and experiences. We felt a higher level of guest pre-pandemic too. I would agree that there are more people since the pandemic with a very low level of decorum. And... if someone came and inferred that I was interfering with their view of the sunset, I would tell them to move. The ship is for everyone, and if they want a front row seat then they can stand at the railing outside.

Wow... thank you for that update. Problem for me is that Detroit is a 4 hour drive plus crossing the border both ways. It may have to be an overnight trip! Not important enough for me at this point. Canada and the USA need to get the issues sorted with the Canadian sites.

Love this....

I would not assume that. Money does not mean manners or class. Some people - and have seen this many times - are just out for themselves and they are immune to what or how anyone else feels and void of basic courtesy. (Don't hate on me, this is a VERY SMALL % of those that travel Viking, but there are always some.)

You are not piggish and rude because your spouse was there reserving the seat.

I have not flown LAX to AU or NZ but have flown Toronto to Cape Town SA and Japan and China many times. I have had flying times up to 19 hours on some of these destinations. China / Japan direct from Toronto is 13-14 hours. We will suffer "Sardine Class" on a 7-8 hour flight but above that we book either Premium Economy or Business. We also spend a great deal of time looking at not only the schedule, but the type of aircraft and the configuration. Sometimes you can luck out and get a 2 3 2 configuration in economy (rare but possible) and if that is available then we will consider forgoing the premium/business and booking economy. If it is just the two of us in a row, that is ok and not as uncomfortable. Note however that this can be risky as if they change the aircraft you could lose that 2 configuration on the side. Premium is often enough for us in that many of the airlines that we choose to fly always have a 2 configuration in premium economy on the side and this eliminates that troublesome fear of who will be the third traveller beside you. Additionally some airlines have very comfortable premium seats with leg rests and extended recline, pre-boarding, and better food service. Many aircraft that are 3 4 3 configuration narrow down to 2 seats on the side for the last few rows, BUT then you are always with people beside you waiting for the lavatory. Go Premium Economy or Business if you can.

Plan your actions. Have sanitizer for the seats on the plane. Have sanitizer for your hands. Have sufficient masks to change a mask once or twice each day. Do what you feel you must and don't be swayed by anyone's comments or opinions. Do this on your terms. This is how YOU feel and not anyone else. I wish you the best time.

Viking has Med cruises in December???

There will always be exceptions to the rules.... certainly if you are at risk of missing a meal, exceptions must be made.

Interesting because we have seen everything including bath robes in the WC for breakfast? This has often been a topic of discussion. We adhere to the written dress code for all venues, but we have seen jeans and even sleeveless shirts on men in the dining venues and the theatre. I have also read on CC that sometimes a dining venue has turned someone away from The Restaurant for wearing jeans, but we have never experienced that. We travel on Viking because we do NOT want the formal nights that other cruise lines have, but we do like to come back from an excursion and shower and change into something that is a little more dressy and it just makes us feel better and "lifts" the whole experience to a higher level. We also enjoy seeing everyone else lifting that standard.

We do a lot of research on flights and where they originate especially as in North America we are moving to winter. If my flight is originating out of Chicago in January, I am going to be concerned with weather conditions, however in the winter the weather can be a cascade impact from many other locations the day before, etc. We often now fly a day early, so that we have that buffer. Yes, it costs an extra hotel night, but that is a piece of mind that we are willing to pay for.

Very interesting question.... I studied in a 4 year hospitality degree program back in the 80's. There was a movement that happened when I was studying that was known as "Tip the Dishwasher" and at the time we had no social media, so these were major newspaper stories that ran in the national papers. The theme was that the most important person in that restaurant was the dishwasher because without that person tirelessly working during the day/evening, you would not have clean pots/pans for the cooks, nor clean dishes/utensils to eat from/with. For a period of time, people were asking to meet the dishwasher in person and would give them a tip. This members comment is valid. We are tipping the people we have face time with, but what about those that are behind the scenes? The auto gratuity is supposed to take care of that person, but when we tip that face time person, there is still an army of people behind the scenes that produces that meal or drink down to the person washing dishes or in the stores department that is lumping the heavy supplies around. I am not suggesting that tipping the face time person is right or wrong because the truth is we do tip specific people for above expected service. I am just provoking thought about the practice. If you go back in time T.I.P. stood for "To Insure Promptitude" (17th Century) and was a practice that was done in advance of the meal or drink to ensure better or more prompt service. Kind of like the practice of tipping the Maitre d when you walk into the restaurant to get a better table. Many tipping cultures have grown out of this 17th century practice and for me the fact that it is just expected now in a restaurant (not talking Viking now...) and the % expectation keeps going up regardless of the quality of the service or food baffles me.