OnTheJourney

True enough! Remember 8-tracks? When I was in college my Dad had rigged up a bracket and mounting and installed an 8-track player. Man, I thought that was the bomb... History repeats itself...look at the resurgence of vinyl. I've sold off several of my vintage vinyl collection on eBay - sometimes for a good buck depending on what it is. All this can lead to a discussion on the whole analog vs digital debate. Everytime I listen to vinyl I can understand the argument that it is a "warmer" sound. Even when I transfer vinyl to digital, I sort of like hearing the old 'ticks' and 'pops' or the sound of the stylus coming down on the record. Still have my Pioneer direct-drive turntable and Kenwood receiver (big, heavy component) - both bought in '76. Have a Pioneer double-cassette deck also, and combo VCR /DVD player. I still use my '03 imac too since I like the old "Pictureproject" software as well as the older version of garageband to do my guitar recordings. What can I say...old school all the way.

LOL....I hear you. I haven't bought a new car in 27 years, and so when I started looking at vehicles manufactured in the 21st century, the newer technology required a bit of a learning curve. Fanciest thing on my car is cornering lights that go on with the turn signals - no GPS / navigational equipment, back-up camera, US ports, etc. DW and I have only ever bought 4 cars between us in our 42 years of marriage. She still has her '97 Jeep and I have my '95 Riviera - both bought right off the lot - have never "ordered" a car - a prospect I'm looking at to get a new hybrid.

Granted, but my '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a cassette and CD player...you don't find either of those anymore! 😉

Yes but I suspect that's a special amenity being offered solely for suite guests.

Try Viking...which does a very nice tea every afternoon between 3 and 5 in their lovely Wintergarden on their ocean ships. Three-tiered trays with crustless finger sandwiches, macaroons and other miniature pastries, and warm scones with clotted cream and jam. Passengers can select from a huge tea menu, or order Champagne, wine and other spirits for an extra fee. Usually a solo entertainer plays during tea.

Plus...plan a definite visit to Park Güell and La Sagrada Familia. Both are amazing. If you're spending at least an extra day there, I highly suggest a private tour through Viator. You get to skip all the lines and have the expertise of the guide to provide information. Las Ramblas is surely worth it as well to experience the local culture. Very crowded though, at least when we were there. And, when you're in Catalonia you have to try a sampling of tapas! I second a recommendation to do HOHO. We only had one full day there post-cruise and easily could have spent probably 2 more. We mostly used the bus as a means of getting back to our hotel after touring the Park and Sagrada, though did go all the way around one of the routes.

LOL!! You gotta pick up and read Greenlaw's "Tales from the Dry Dock Bar". Check it out. You'd enjoy. The real name is: "All Fishermen are liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar". Sort of conveniently (though not deliberately mentioned on the sly....honest...) I'm selling that one and two others as a trilogy of Greenlaw books on my ebay site 🤔) Like I said, I just don't plan to re-read. Book shelves are too overcrowded so some things have to go. Since I recently listed them (with not a single view thus far...so they might wind up going to our church flea market in summer) is what brought it to mind, along with your mentioning sea tales. I'd LOVE to hear some of that stuff between you and Andy.

I suspect you're right. I don't think our cruise schedules have ever aligned however to meet up. What I would enjoy is seeing you and Andy have a lively conversation at the bar. All that 'ship talk' could be very educational, along with undoubtedly humorous anecdotal mariner tales 😁 Speaking of which, not sure how much you're into commercial fishing, but I picked up and read several of Linda Greenlaw's books - she was the captain of the 100-ft. sword boat "Hannah Boden" that figured prominently in the book (and movie) "The Perfect Storm" (of Halloween '91. Good writer. Everything you probably never needed to know about both sword and lobster fishing. Interesting - for a first read anyway, not interested in a re-read of any of them.

Jim... a most interesting and well thought-out post. Some of your thoughts could easily dovetail into a larger scale discussion on many different environmental / global concerns and how they are impacted by politically-driven motivations.

The recent Bar Harbor decision is applicable.

I didn't look back a few pages but figured this was all likely already discussed. Thanks for this info. Most recent update from only refers to still being in critical.

Even if you're not really an NFL fan, please pray for the family of Damar Hamlin, the 24-yr. old Buffalo Bills player who was tragically injured during last night's Monday night game. It was probably the most shocking and saddening incidents I've ever seen during a game. Latest word, it appears, is that he's still in critical condition. 🙏

I remember this well. We were docked right next to you on the RCL Serenade during our Baltic cruise.

LOL..I don't believe I'll forget that one being that I was there!

Either way, most unfortunate to have yet another mishap for Viking, especially so soon after the Antarctica and riverboat incidents.

Could very well be.

Understood. It appears though, from most sources I'm seeing, that it's a fungus issue rather than snails.

The article quoted doesn't refer to Viking, but rather Princess. A bit too many weird mishaps over the years though.

LOL...yeah, I hear you. I'm not a great fan of real early morning flights, but just about any flight times or schedules these days can go astray. Been reading about this fiasco with Southwest airlines. Terrible stories of people waiting for days, lost luggage, etc. Travel within the US is looking better and better.

I also am sincerely hoping you enjoy your first Viking experience.

Well said! It's surely nice to know you have a reservation in advance, but I wouldn't let it put a damper on anticipating how the overall cruise will go. I'm seeing evidence of this as well for my cruise. I wouldn't say "all" excursions, but certainly those that visit the biggest attractions appear to be sold out. This sort of surprises me being that unless there is no way to add an additional bus for the event, then I guess it's a 'first come first served' approach. I think it's probably the aim towards not having tremendously large groups on excursions, compared to RCL, for example, running 5 busses with probably 400-500 people on the same excursion.The same thing (selling out) seems to happen with the extensions. I will agree that not all appears to run as smoothly as we would hope for given the cost; however, all lines have 'cut corners' I suspect in varying ways. In this post-pandemic craziness, we probably all have to somewhat lower our expectations. Travel, in general, doesn't seem to flow as smoothly as pre-pandemic. Throw in climate change yet - such as the issue with river levels causing havoc to itineraries - and it will result in even more unhappy passengers. Most recently, I just discovered that the hotel for our pre-extension was changed, but there was never an email sent out indicating this. Not a big deal unless one has made arrangements to be picked up at the hotel for a private tour, which was my situation. Also not a huge inconvenience to notify the tour company of a different hotel for pick--up and drop-off, but just seems a bit of a slip for Viking not to have notified everyone. I mentioned this to the agent I chatted with. Like any cruise line, there are inconsistencies in the accuracy of the information given to customers depending on which agent you wind up talking to. The degree to which we all react to this and other situations that don't go according to our expectations is ultimately our choice. As a Viking Sky "survivor", at this point I look at like...if the boat doesn't sink or run into major problems and noone gets injured and also hopefully not too many covid cases, the rest I can deal with!

The thing is, in the case of Manfredi's and Chef's Table, you're talking about a more limited amount of seating and/or table arrangements. I wouldn't fret too much over it. Once onboard, it's much easier to check with them and very likely find a time that suits you. I had no trouble booking CF online for two reservations a few weeks ago, but, as has been reported, the times for Manfredi's is apparently very limited. I will say, though, that what shows up on MVJ sometimes is not always fully accurate. I ascertained that through one of the chats I had with an agent. For my upcoming cruise, it does appear that all 2-tops are booked except for later times. I'm not really worried about it. The dining room or world cafe are fine with me if it winds up that we can't get in to Manfredi's. Some of these concerns pale compared to things like finding dead bodies in snow banks in Buffalo, or people facing the prospects of no heat, water, or power during winter in the Ukraine. Have to count our blessings sometimes.

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps just having a bad day. Have to cut people slack sometimes. In this (increasingly so) age of customers or passengers (in this case) not always exactly being the model of couth and appropriate behavior, service personnel have an even more difficult time of maintaining their 'cool'. In this particular case, I probably would have worried less about the eye roll as I would have whether or not my question was at least adequately addressed.

I couldn't either. That whole "the customer is always right" mentality- at least with respects to always maintaining civility and being cordial in the face of sometimes difficult conditions (where it's obvious the customer is NOT right) must be tough. An acquired and learned skill for sure, but, like anything, some people have what it takes and some don't, despite perhaps having the same level of training. This is a good point too. Suppose this particular eye-roller has just been asked the same or similar question by the last 10 out of 20 people who were in line!