OnTheJourney

Didn't happen on a single one of my flights during the past week - all with either Delta or United. They were closed from the time we boarded and stayed that way (except for those few, like myself, who opened them). It was very weird and unexpected.

Hoping to wind up aside of someone like you (espcially if I'm in the aisle or middle seat....😉) We have some flights coming up in business class (have hardly ever done this except for a few times over the years). Not sure - based on some of the configurations - if that cabin really affords as much outside view as those farther back in the plane that are much closer to windows. Guess the whole idea of business class though is for the greater isolation / separation between seats especially for those who want or need to get some work done. We're doing it mostly for an overnight across the pond - might actually get to sleep a bit.

I know...if that same skill could be as easily applied to a keyboard instrument...wowsers.

Why would they be doing that? You mean during the flight?

Same here.

Exactly. I thought it at least used to be a rule that window shades must be open for takeoff and landing. Apparently it is either no longer enforced or has been changed. Another great point. I was quite shocked that the shades weren't open. Ok, I get it. And surely in the general scheme of things it isn't a huge issue, but relative to flying it just seems to be a change that I not only don't like for certain aesthetic reasons, but as rka pointed out, there is surely potentially increased danger in the event of some sort of emergency. If people are fine with sitting in the dark for hours, then I guess so be it. Maybe the same sort of folks who'd book a balcony room on a cruise but never go out on it.

Agreed. I've seen the most dexterous thumbs imaginable going at it (both hands) successfully composing words faster than I can do it on a regular-sized keyboard with all ten digits. Astounding, really. Worst thing about texting on a phone is the auto-fill (e.g. wrong words that get put in there). Unless proof-reading, I would have sent the most ridiculous (but sometimes also humorous) texts already.

In this case, agreed, but in other situations, not always 😉

Here's a bit of an airplane rant: The one thing DW and I are noticing that we absolutely hate is that with the advent of free wifi whereby everyone can connect with their devices to watch movies, etc. what’s happening is that hardly anyone opens their window sliders anymore. It’s not only depressing, and surely more than mildly claustrophobic for some people, but also like being in a dark cave for a few hours. No issue, of course, with overnight flights, but all 4 flights we had (during daylight) were exactly the same way. I think we were among the few that had the window open (I like to see the scenery anyway). I suspect it’s due to people wanting to better see their screens or else sleep. It’s also nice to look out of windows on the other side. What I like best about flying is seeing what we’re flying over unless cloud cover. Oh well…nothing stays the same. Was also surprised to see that we had seat-back movie screens on both longer flights and yet less than 4 hours each, so that part was most enjoyable. I was sitting at a window and can still easily see the screen but it starts to feel like we shouldn't even have it open cause others may feel bothered by the extra light coming in. I guess for some folks they equate it to riding on the subway where you can't see anything? It's just a bit...strange…but then our society has gotten that way in general. Anybody else notice what I feel is a rather depressing trend?

Literally. The one thing DW and I are noticing lately that we absolutely hate is that with the advent of free wifi whereby everyone can connect with their devices to watch movies, etc. what’s happening is that hardly anyone opens their window sliders anymore during a daytime flight. It’s not only depressing, and surely more than mildly claustrophobic for some people, but also like being in a dark cave for a few hours. We really didn't enjoy it. No issue, of course, with overnight flights, but all 4 daytime flights we had the past week were exactly the same way. I think we were among the few that had the window open (I like to see the scenery anyway). I suspect it’s due to people wanting to better see their screens or else sleep. It’s also nice to look out of windows on the other side. What I like best about flying is seeing what we’re flying over unless cloud cover. Oh well…nothing stays the same. Was also surprised to see that we had seat-back movie screens on both longer flights and yet less than 4 hours each. I was sitting at a window and can still easily see the screen. I guess for some folks they equate it to riding on the subway. Anyone else notice what I feel is a rather depressing trend? Makes us want to think more in terms of car travel rather than trips associated with flying.

Assisi was great. Being Catholic, it was very meaningful for us to visit the Basilica of St. Francis.

Wow...awesome! I'll bet that was a great summer. We loved it there. We did Viking's pre-cruise extension in Umbria before the ship sailed out of Rome enroute to Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, and Majorca before ending in Barcelona. It was a tremendous gesture to offer the trip on the part of Viking as partial compensation for what happened to our sailing on the Sky back in March '19.

Not meaning to step on anyone's toes, but I think the Icon is probably the ugliest looking ship I've ever seen. All that stuff sticking up on the top decks. Just...way too busy. I didn't even like taking pictures of the Adventure we were just on if the water slides showed up in the pic. It's like RCL wanted to bring a piece of Cococay onboard a ship.

Good Lord! Which cruise line is offering dates that far out?!

Yes...highly recommended (as well as the places I mentioned) judging from Sea's pictures.

So...from what I gathered on this thread - which is hard to keep up with- you were refused embarkation due to covid...for the Cities of Antiquities cruise? And so instead are doing a DIY driving adventure? Will you at any point join the cruise? Did you book a hotel somewhere and wait it out till testing negative before resuming travel plans? Your pics remind me so much of a few places we visited during the chairman's cruise: Perugia, Orvieto and Spoleto area - not all that far from where you've been traveling. Assisi is well worth a stop also. Absolutely lovely area. We had never been there before. Tuscany is one of the pre-cruise extensions for the Antiquities cruise. Sorry for the two empty (edited) posts. It seemed like my submission wasn't going through at first but then saw that 3 of the exact same replies showed up!

For sure. DW and I are finally negative after contracting covid during our cruise on the Adventure. Feeling pretty much back to normal.

Thanks. That's so sad. I admit to not keeping up with this thread since it moves along so quickly.

I assume you're on the Cities of Antiquties / Holy Land cruise? Curious as to why you say "would have"...has there been a change in your itinerary? Curious cause we're doing that cruise in January.

understood...we all have to do what works best for us! I'd love to sail more with Viking if they went out of ports closer to us.

Yes. Great question. It was a huge undertaking for Viking to get everyone home.

Initially, about a ship's length away from crashing into the rocky shore off the coast of Hustadvika. Then, the ship eventually ended up at Molde basically under its own power but with tugboat assistance. As Haworth mentioned, it's worth looking up our rather unique experience. Haworth was also a passenger on the Sky during the episode I'm referring to.

It is a bit of a "paradigm shift" for sure going back to a (much) larger ship. We were just on the RCL Adventure and afterwards sort of looked back wistfully to our time on Viking Mars during the chairman's cruise. SO much more relaxing, but for us RCL and X are very convenient since we don't have to fly anywhere.