OnTheJourney

Thanks. We really enjoyed being up on deck 8 in that category. Loved the easy access to the upper level of the lounge.

Space center tour is well worth the time, especially for anyone who has not been there yet. Could have really used more time there since ours, as I recall, was a bit shorter.

I think that might have been the case with our group as well. Now, the Holy Land was a different story...

Did you get to the Tomb of Agamemnon while in Mycenae? Pretty amazing! Our Viking guide was one of the best we've ever had for that extension. Those who wanted to went along with her on a pretty substantial walk. Scenery was incredible. There was one place where she got us to this "back door" (gate) that makes a creaking sound when opened. Said it's one of her favorite things to show people LOL. Our day at Delphi started and ended in the snow. By the time we got to Delphi (yes...long drive) it was sunny and beautiful. (Thanks, Apollo!) And, the included lunches were fantastic. DW and I still talk about it.

We did that same extension back in February as part of the Cities of Antiquities cruise from Rome to Athens. Terrific extension! And, yep, sure enough we had a good amount of snow in Athens, and freezing cold! Steps going up to the Parthenon a bit dicey when snow covered.

bermudabyways@gmail.com She always got right back to me. Did everything by email. Heidi's great, so perhaps just hasn't gotten around to checking all her emails yet (?) I'm sure she'll respond.

The only driver that she uses...which is her! Heidi Cowen. It's a one-person operation. She is the driver and guide.

This was our first time...one of those cruises that was supposed to take place 3 years ago, but, of course, postponed / rescheduled. Like many experiences here. Thankfully we're done (I hope) with all of those rescheduled cruises due to covid delays and cancellations.

Yep! Buddy appears to be doing well. So you've traveled with Heidi already?

Sounds like you're booked up with excursions, but just wanted to mention that - if not for this time then maybe another - I give my highest recommendations for doing a full island tour with Heidi Cowen at Bermuda Byways tours. https://www.gotobermuda.com/profile/bermuda-byways-tours/597 Starts and ends in the Dockyard. She does it all herself...it's not like it's even a family company with several employees. Just her. Funny story...one of our group asked her how many days a week she does tours, and the reply..."eight". LOL We had never been to Bermuda before our recent May cruise on the Summit, and so we wanted to see the island. We're not much for beach excursions anyway, so it was a great way to fill our day there. Tour is 6 hours. As a result, however, never even got in the water - which I would have at least enjoyed for a bit. Our itinerary was only overnight whereas I believe you have 2. Next time I go I'll try to at least get in the water. Heidi grew up in Gibbs Hill lighthouse on the island and so is very interesting and educational. I believe her grandfather was the last "keeper of the light". She travels with her blind dog - it just sits there very well behaved next to her. With Heidi's very comfortable van, she takes no more than 10 people on a tour - so it was very nice in that regard - so much better than a bus full of 40 people. A highlight is that it included lunch. We had a local delicacy - fried fish sandwich on raisin toast with tartar sauce. Sandwiches were huge and delicious! You have more than enough to do there, but just thought I'd mention this. Have a fun day in Bermuda!

Just came across this thread. Have to say it's not exactly very uplifting. We have NOLA to St. Paul booked for end of September, with extensions on both ends. Booked it before covid and are using the vouchers we got from the infamous Viking Sky Northern Lights cruise that went astray off the coast of Norway. So, we are hoping for a great adventure on this new ship. We're good with slow pace and time for reading though, so that might be in our favor. As has been said, there are many variables with river cruising that are not under any cruise line's control. Hoping to see some good reviews come along here! I'll follow along with interest.

Wow! Well that's a totally different gig! Great stuff! That's a nice story. Those are the types of memories that we look back on that made it all worth it. I guess enough school talk...we're hijacking someone's cruise thread here. 😳

That speaks volumes! Yeah, I've given up more lunches than I can count due mostly to running overtime with lessons (that started and / or ran late...domino effect) and so taught right through lunch. Before the days of schoolwide intercoms, I'd have to hustle through the school (big old 3-story affair built in the 50s) so by the time I get to the kid's room, half the scheduled lesson time was over! OR....it got even worse when the kids started switching for certain classes. Get to the homeroom and find that he/she is in a different room for social studies, etc. Oh my....it really got tiring chasing after kids. Then there was the classic "I forgot my instrument"....I must have literally heard that thousands of times. It got weirder with the dissolution of the nuclear family over the years. "My flute is at my Mom's boyfriend's house"...or vice versa. Finally, near the end I was really having trouble remembering kids' names! It got to be embarrassing being corrected by 10 year olds. Knew it was time to go, along with "issues" with the superintendent, who really didn't like me at all. Water over the dam.... Berks...so we're (sorta) neighbors. Farm country here...till they start filling it up with solar panels. LONG story on that one. My township is in the midst of a fight against one that wants to take up over 400 acres of class 1 and 2 farm land. Then again, farmer's right to do as he pleases with his acreage. I can see both sides of that coin.

Absolutely!!! I only have a 2 - 2.5 hour drive for either Bayonne or Baltimore.

Thanks! Mutual admiration society going here LOL As to starting beginners, yeah, you have to learn to deal with (sort of 'tune out') the squeaks and squawks and look past that to what it'll (hopefully) sound like later. Those teachers that can't simply will not survive this gig or else go crazy trying to do so. The kids that realize it's going to take some work and don't want to deal with that rather quickly weed themselves out of the program. I never really did Holiday concerts with beginners. Only seeing them once a week for 15-25 minutes (varied over the years) doesn't get them ready to do all that much by December. Just my take on it though. I only organized my beginner bands after Christmas break, and so the beginner bands then got to play in the spring concert. Vocal or instrumental? In many cases...probably a little (or alot) of both! I started with grades 4-5-6 but then lost my 6th graders when we built a Middle school. That was a big adjustment but the 5th graders rose to the occasion and after a bit I got used to just working with 4th and 5th and finished my career that way. Itinerants are a different breed since they hop all over the district. I actually enjoyed that part of it cause always got to socialize and work with many different staff members and students. Our district is very rural so had some enjoyable drives between schools as well.

I must admit to never having ordered a single drink on any cruise I've been on, nor ever really spent time at a bar. I'm good with having wine at dinner though, so the classic drink package we had back in May worked well. Not much of a mixed drink person.

My hat is off to you special ed people for sure, as someone already mentioned! I taught for 33.5 years (went out early with slightly reduced penalty) and did elementary band in our local public school system.

Wishing you an enjoyable birthday cruise. We were on the Summit to Bermuda (itinerary also included Charleston, Martha's Vineyard, and Newport) back in May. Hoping you like everything about Aqua and Blu. We were not quite as pleased as the first time we did it several years ago (pre-covid). You're on one of the last few Bermuda cruises before the Summit starts her Canada / NE itineraries next month.

We loved being out on the balcony in Antarctica (not with Viking). It was most convenient to have the room a step away so as to go in and out to get warm!. Like I said, we sure used ours on the Celebrity Infinity! I see. Thanks so much for the explanation!

Just got an expedition (Great Lakes) catalog (again) and am continually struck by the use of these Nordic balconies. Just from looking at it, I'm not a fan and wouldn't trade it in for being able to walk out (and enjoy sitting) on a regular balcony - which is one of my favorite things about cruising. What was the advantage of doing it this way? Just to be cool and do something different, or possibly a space-saving or other sort of construction-oriented measure? I'm intrigued by the 15-day Great Lakes itinerary, but wouldn't be thrilled with not having a 'real' balcony. Maybe I'll study the maps and turn (at least part of) the itinerary into a car trip. Already did one to Cleveland, Welland Canal, Niagara Falls, ferried across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc WI, Soo Locks, Mackinac Island, and Munising (lower end of Lake Superior), which, by the way, offers the very nice "pictured rocks" cruise. Haven't looked at the itinerary in detail to see if maybe Viking offers an excursion there. Well worth it if they would.

Yep...we had that cold french toast as well!! Enjoyed breakfast in Blu very much though...except for that. Loved the smoothies. Try one if you haven't yet. The parfaits were really good too. There are two different ones as I recall...the "Celebrity parfait" and can't remember the other. Omelet was good as well but, again, cooled off so quickly.

Don't get me wrong, we DO enjoy going with both X and RCL, and will continue to do so, but if Viking offered comparable itineraries from our local ports, we'd probably go with them most of the time. 930 passengers compared to the Summit's 2,158 (let alone 3,400 on the Edge!). Biggest ship we've ever been on is the RCL Adventure with 3,800 pax. Felt too big and crowded. By the time I felt I knew the whole ship the cruise was nearly over! Also...no kids on Viking. That works for us too.

Not even sure I'd to this again - at least on the Summit. They took away a few of the amenities that we really enjoyed the first time we did it. Blu didn't quite impress us as much this time either. I only generally get to the Persian Garden once, so, not sure it all justifies the extra money.

Overall, I like the smaller ship feel better. It just seems much quieter and more relaxed. The Wintergarten, in particular, is just such a lovely, quiet space. Quite honestly, I'll take Viking's dining room food over most of what I've had on either RCL or X. And, Viking's afternoon teas are terrific. On the Summit recently, we had no idea that they put out scones each afternoon till I sort of stumbled across it by accident. The "tea time" is not even listed in the daily schedule! I mentioned this on the survey. We are not interested in probably 90% of the evening (or for that matter even the daytime) activities that are on the daily schedules. We very rarely stop in at a lounge in the later evening, don't do the various game-like and/or other social activities, don't do casino either. Sea day = just taking it easy and spending time on the balcony reading or else just taking some walks around the deck. So in that regard - X works just as well. Not anymore. Viking is going more mainstream in terms of what they are offering. While a smaller singer/dancer cast, there were several production shows that were very well done. What I really like also is that if we don't get to a lecture or similar presentation on Viking, all of that stuff is shown on the stateroom tv, so often (since you asked about evenings) - we'll catch up by watching a recorded port talk or similar. Viking has terrific lecturers and naturalists onboard. Plus, there was a pretty decent movie channel selection. The map on the Viking tv is interactive and far superior to what was on the Summit recently. I couldn't believe how non-functional it was. Most of the time it even showed the wrong itinerary path and there was virtually no way to zoom in. With Viking, you can really zoom in and see in detail where the ship is going. Now, in all fairness to X, we've only ever been on the Summit and Infinity - never on any newer ships. Our one cruiser friend, who has done lots of X cruises, says great things about the Beyond and Edge, but we've never been on those. What I like also about Viking is that ALL the ocean ships are exactly the same, so it becomes very familiar instead of spending a few days till we finally know the layout of the ship (I still often wind up going the wrong direction anyway). Hope some of that helps clarify. Viking, for us, is just a more desirable product, but the big drawback is that except for going with them out of NY (which we've never done with any cruise line), every other embarkation port involves flying - which we'll do also but not near as convenient as driving to Baltimore or Bayonne.

LOL