OnTheJourney

Omigosh. You’re way more into it all than I ever would be! Often I don’t even look at the menus while onboard until I get to the dining room. I like to be surprised. All this dovetails with a recent thread about spontaneity (or lack thereof). Our favorite mode of travel is still car trips. We often have no clue where we’re going to eat each evening till we drive around. Sometimes we’ll look places up on the phone. Traveling every few weeks would be way too much for me. 3-4 times a year is more than enough.

I say get rid of all of that chic / formal business. So many people no longer follow it anyway. That’s one thing I love about Viking. Dress is the same every night. Essentially smart casual. No photographers ever. Probably cause it’s largely older folks that have more than enough pics from previous cruises on other lines.

The things you mention were never the case with Barefoot Beach Club. Buffet was terrific. Can’t speak for whatever has been going on there past several years. Coco Cay was basically hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken. And sweet fruity drinks. Next time I’ll go over to swim and then back on the ship for lunch.

Ha ha….

What I used to like with RC is the barefoot beach buffet for suite guests. I imagine that’s a thing of the past. Coco Cay buffet was really a bit of a disappointment by comparison. And nothing special for suites anymore. Too Disney-esque compared to Labadee.

How can you plan specific meals for a 2024 cruise?! I see what you mean about not being able to fit any more cruises in after looking at your list! Yikes! That’d be way too many trips for me. We’ve done 4 cruises since March (some due to covid rescheduling) and I’m about cruised out till the next one on spring. Ready for a few months at home to get caught up on other things.

Cool. Go for it. I flew over Greenland already but never had a chance to visit. Same for Iceland.

We’re on X in spring so it’ll be interesting to see what we think. On the Enchantment back in March I seem to recall we were fairly well pleased with the food.

I suspect most if not all lines have compromised on certain aspects of their product over the years and certainly since the pandemic. Food quality appears to be one of them based on CC threads. I’d say it’s more a case of inconsistency rather than an across the board decline.

I’ll definitely book it if they continue to offer it. Great that you were able to snag a room. I tried several specific searches on the RC website out of curiosity and it didn’t show up on any of them. No big deal since I can’t do it this year anyway. Looking forward to reviews on it later in fall.

This looks like a really interesting itinerary. Would have booked it but already have a trip planned. Wonder if they will do this for ‘24? It’s no longer listed presumably cause it’s sold out.

Princeton, thanks for that advice. We do have OBC but already used it for excursions at other ports.

I’ll be in Bermuda for an overnight with Celebrity in May. Having never been there before I’ve been looking through the shore excursions to choose what to do. DW and I are not much into beach excursions and so trying to decide on a more sightseeing-oriented experience. I’m thinking that a day ferry to either St George or Hamilton would be worthwhile and that both are available from the Dockyard. The one sightseeing excursion refers to using island taxi. Not sure we want to spend time at the Aquarium or Cave. There is a ship excursion that includes both. Several include a visit to Gibbs Lighthouse. Thanks for any suggestions.

Wow! Not surprising. Airline schedules are crazy.

Easier for UK (and other European) pax not having to fly as far to access most Viking cruises. If they went out of a more local port we’d probably use them more often.

For sure! I recall years of researching and planning trips where all that was available was a telephone (decades before smartphones) and AAA tour guide books, and “real” paper maps. Much more was left to be surprised about once the journey was underway. Now, you can practically google / zoom in to the extent of seeing what the exact beach looks like that one wants to visit. Somehow a bit of informational overload nowadays ala Alvin Toffler’s novel, “Future Shock”. To many apps around. And when all this computer stuff crashes at times society is sort of helpless.

Definitely plan on taking advantage of the pre and / or post extensions. Viking surely has a substantial number of Mediterranean itineraries to choose from.

Best advice is to wait till you board and go right to the restaurant and see what’s available. What appears on MVJ is sometimes nowhere near accurate. Often lots more availability than what shows up online.

I suspect no problems. Once you board they’ll be happy to see you and will take care of everything. Enjoy your first time with Viking! Bergen is a very interesting and scenic port. We started our Northern Lights cruise from there.

Can’t explain it other than, to the best of my memory, they simply added it and then I was told that it can be removed within a specified time period. I know for sure it was added to my upcoming Mississippi cruise without my being asked if I wanted it. Or is this perhaps an issue with booking through a travel agent?

I don’t recall being asked about insurance. It was simply added with the booking here in the US. Probably some of my thoughts are skewed by what took place with the Sky 4 years ago. We were not kept informed of what was happening with the weather system that we sailed into. Long story. That said, we were well compensated and treated extremely well in the aftermath.

Kct, Also be aware that Viking automatically tacks on their own insurance unless you tell them not to like within (I think) 2 weeks. I personally like to do my own insurance and flights. Viking air is a mixed bag as you’ve probably already discovered from your CC research. My TA has no great love for working with their air department but, like anything else, some here report great experiences with booking air through Viking. I like to have as much control over my trip details as I can. Guess this is probably why DIY car travel is still my all-time favorite way to sightsee 😆. Wishing you all the best with your first Viking experience. I will add one more thing which is that Viking ships are relatively uncomplicated in decor and overall design (yet very nicely done) compared to the more opulent and glitzy approach that lines such as RCL and X use. Very different cruise experience overall as I already referred to. How one might define a “step up” relative to one line over another is likely a purely personal matter.

I will add one thing that I really like about Viking, which is that they offer pre and post extensions, thus enabling trips to be put together as sort of a combination land and sea vacation. This also helps when flying overseas if, for instance, wanting to make a journey longer than only a 7-day cruise or whatever. I personally don’t care to fly to Europe for less than 2 weeks, so by adding extensions it makes it easy to do this. As said above, biggest disadvantage for me is that all Viking cruises involve flying compared to only driving 2 hours for both RCL and X, so unfortunately I’m not likely to do too many more Viking trips unless it’s somewhere I really want to go that is not available at my two local ports.

Linda, I wouldn’t go so far as to say there is no comparison between, for example, Viking and RCL as to one being “better” than the other. They both appeal to slightly different demographics and have somewhat different philosophies of cruising. Viking is definitely more expensive overall even if you factor in drinks, specialty restaurants, and an included excursion in each port. I’ve had some very good food with Viking and some not so good food. Same for RCL. That said, Viking SHOULD have better food overall for the extra cost. Given that Viking includes alcoholic drinks, for those that do not consume alcohol this is a disadvantage since they’re paying for a perk they probably won’t use. Viking is a more laid back and relaxed environment. That will appeal to some folks but not others. Surely can’t beat the Nordic spa facilities on Viking at least based on my experience. I’ve had equally good service in both. I’ve also been on a Viking sailing that nearly turned into a maritime disaster. And some of the recent and past mishaps that have occurred on both ocean and river ships are less than comforting. It’s no secret that all cruise lines have cut corners since the pandemic. I enjoy Viking tremendously for what the product offers but also enjoy RCL and X for what they offer. Probably the biggest disadvantage for me relative to Viking is that I have to fly for any cruises I do with them. Not the case with either X or RCL. So it’s a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. Just my take on it of course.

There is undeniably comfort and security in knowing what’s coming next; however, I like some spontaneity. I like to research the places I’m traveling to mostly to get some idea (especially with DIY) of how much time to allow in any one particular area, but once that’s done I don’t like to pursue pics of where I’m going or try to dig up every detail. In a way, it was all sort of more fun before the internet came along.