OnTheJourney

West...thanks for your encouragement! I've not heard of Tohono but just checked it out. Looks great! Sounds like a possible brunch / lunch option as well. We might meet up at some point with a couple that we got to know on the Chairman's cruise. They also live right near the Embassy.

Exactly why I've been in no hurry to jump into booking for our January trip. I need flights for an October trip also and haven't done anything with that yet either. That'll be easy since it's associated with DIY travel.

I probably should have started looking into it sooner, but with getting ready for two trips in May (one was the Chairman's cruise) and then a ton of work to get started on once we got home, just never got around to it. I'm still having trouble getting inspired to do any international travel right now. Probably wouldn't have done any at the present time had the Chairman's cruise opportunity not come along. When you say you have them "booked" are you referring to knowing the actual seats?

Starting to think that booking flights, at present, is dicey at best with the pilot shortages / delays / cancellations, and so forth. Amazing how Delta was offering $10k per passenger just awhile back due to an overbooked flight. I've been putting off contacting Viking for our January cruise - need flights to Rome and then back to the US from Athens. They probably can't do much for me at this point anyway.

They sure work for me anyway.

Thanks! I plan to reserve a car and flights within the next few weeks - probably sooner rather than later would be good. Sabino looks like a great place to visit. We booked rooms at the Embassy Suites Paloma Village - only about 15 minutes from the canyon. Hoping to divide some time (during the same day) between Sabino and Saguaro Park East. It was suggested on Trip Advisor forums. Another day for Saguaro West and the Desert Museum.

Not necessarily in that order however. Budget was not really a consideration when we looked at Antarctica trips, so it was your third item - personal desire as to itinerary - that was the determining factor. All that said, we were a bit concerned about getting in and out of zodiacs, etc. As you say, each to his/her own. Can't argue all the points that have been raised about the advantages of landing versus drive-by. Maybe we'll yet go back and do it that way, but likely not.

Not sure about that, given that a drive-by is far cheaper than an expedition cruise. A drive-by worked for us being that we had never been to South America and so liked the itinerary - getting to do a few ports in SA. We just had little interest in zodiac landings, didn't feel comfortable with the idea, and so while surely NOT the same experience, we were satisfied with what we got to do and see. We had fantastic weather and unbelievably smooth sailing across the Drake both times.

Our post-cruise extension in Barcelona was a disaster in terms of hotel check-in. I don't know if they for whatever reason weren't aware that several hundred Viking guests were arriving that day or what, but we stood in line for over 2 hours to check in (some guy alone - not sure if he was even with Viking or not - took over 1/2 hour at the desk). Only TWO desk clerks. Those that got in line first were lucky of course - had plenty of time to check in and then explore the city. THEN, after all that time, went out and got a bit of lunch, came back and discovered that we were AGAIN in an equally long line (another close to 2 hours) just to get the room key. AND...someone must have grabbed our one suitcase. It wasn't in the terminal when we disembarked. Luckily it went over to the hotel on a different bus, but it was a bit of a snafu for awhile till it was discovered. There was poor communication between the terminal and Viking agents at the hotel. We were assured they'd be notified that it was missing, and yet when we got to the hotel and spoke to them, they (and the hotel) hadn't even been contacted. The rest of the post-extension was fantastic, but what a crazy start. People were getting annoyed spending most of the day in line instead of getting to do something more interesting.

I hate meclizine. All that stuff makes me drowsy despite what it might say on the label indicating otherwise. I use and am a firm believer in wrist ("sea") bands that use acupuncture to avoid the most unpleasant sensations associated with motion sickness. Easy to take on and off, NO side effects whatsoever. No Rx needed. They work for me. The last cruise we did was the only time I hardly needed them - that was in the Med. Sailing was smooth as glass except for one night. I've even worn them in the house anytime I might feel a bit nauseous. Perhaps worth researching. From some of what was mentioned in this thread about patches, I'm sort of glad I never experimented with them. What works for one might not for everybody - same as anything else. Best of luck and wishing you SMOOTH seas.

Off topic..but was wondering if the rental car situation has improved there? Doing a fly/drive trip (3rd attempt at this) in October and will be flying into Tucson. Planning to visit Saguaro, the Desert Museum, Mt. Lemmon, Sabino Canyon, and the Mission before moving on to NM and TX. I had it all booked for last year but then was told it was near impossible to get a car. Year before that I canceled due to covid. All set again but just need flights and the car.

LOL....most of the regular verandah cabins on Celebrity are such that you can't open the bathroom and closet doors at the same time since they bang into each other 😆

LOL...Yeah, on the Chairman's cruise we made good use of that space! In our room, the TV was attached right in the middle of the mirror...thought that was a bit weird. Otherwise, I had no problem with the room. Loved it up on deck 8 (free upgrade). Talk about being spoiled....

Any thoughts, from your experience as an NP, on the passengers being masked? Surely you were and probably still are masked in your practice. I'm not suggesting nor implying anything, but am just interested in getting your take on requiring masking onboard at least in certain large group / more confined areas. I still am stuck on the dichotomy that would appear to exist between requiring full-scale daily PCR testing and yet not requiring any masking onboard. It's sort of like having football players wear their helmets, shoulder / thigh / knee pads, but leaving out the mouthgards. Inevitable for some % of accidents to occur, or, analogously, a % of positive cases. It was reported that there were at least 10 people quarantined as a result of positive tests on the Chairman's cruise. OR...require masking ashore during Viking-sponsored excursions. Thing is, many (most?) people bent on traveling - and other walks of life - have pretty much had it with masking, so if you go too far on that score, the cruise lines surely will not fill ships. OR, contrarily,...for those who WON'T cruise do to lack of whatever required protocols either were in place and no longer are or else never in place to begin with or simply not enforced, you have a similar issue. Either way, some degree of positive tests / illness will always show up. Noro will always be here, and probably covid as well. Glad I'm not in charge of making the big decisions at least!

Agreed, but the problem there is that it probably (?) requires more time to accomplish this on behalf of the pax doing it themselves. If in a hurry and not done correctly, results will not be accurate. If requiring some sort of proctored monitoring and / or being done by staff, you're tying up additional staff to accomplish testing large numbers of people especially if on a daily basis. As I've stated before, I'm a bit shocked at seeing Viking go completely in the opposite direction. It seems contrary to Mr. Hagen's philosophy of hoping to maintain as high a degree of safety onboard as is reasonably possible. The decision to go no-test, to me, suggests that they haven't been filling ships. I suggest that it (no testing at all) is very possibly a short-term experiment. Guess we'll find out by the time our January cruise comes around!

Reason enough - unless people are choosing other lines over Viking - to continue with testing. I can only imagine the cost of putting the labs in place, and so would not have expected a complete discontinuation. If anything, perhaps a reduction in testing to only every other day or else a somewhat random schedule. Time will tell. I highly suspect they'll have occasion to start using them again - possibly sooner rather than later. There is obviously a segment of pax who don't now want to cruise with Viking because of the discontinuation of testing, but unfortunately as the case may be, probably far MORE people who might be drawn back to Viking (or first timers willing to go) now that they're not testing. Cruising is ultimately a market, like anything else, and people will 'shop' and spend their money where they feel best suits their purposes. Viking surely appeals to a smaller segment of the overall cruise market to begin with.

Well said, especially the last sentence! Most sorry to hear of this as well. And, as was already stated, your posts are indeed always well thought out, well constructed, and well balanced. Surely an excellent point and I hope that anything I've expressed relative to the daily PCR tests does not fall within the realm of those who chose to "complain". My wife and I simply felt the PCR testing to be a bit of an inconvenience from the standpoint of taking much longer than we anticipated, plus it delayed morning medication schedules. We'd wake up with dry mouth and just really had trouble getting up enough 'spit'. Never expected the required sample to be as much as it was. Then, the other issue is that it made us actually more worried about testing positive than if there had been no testing. Positive cases show up either way, of course, but as you correctly point out, the testing surely helps control and hopefully minimizes the spread before it becomes a substantial outbreak. I never meant to imply, as others may have, that the testing is in any way a 'waste of time' or 'ineffective', and such. I think the problem - and perhaps most of the complaining - is from those who have been on other lines that have never done the level of testing that Viking has, and thus simply don't want to deal with it. That angle, unfortunate and inconsiderate as it may be, was probably where we were coming from relative to our thoughts before the Chairman's cruise being that we did a (non-Viking) cruise back in March that only required pre-cruise testing, and just felt more relaxed during it and thought far less about covid, in general, compared to the daily testing - which sort of constantly brings to mind the thought of possibly testing positive. I AM surprised, however, at the about-face for Viking to go from - as you say - the best testing protocol in the industry, to basically no testing. That is something I would have never expected. I can only assume that they have not been filling ships despite some statements made to the contrary. Sorry again to hear about your cancellations. Best wishes going forward, especially health-wise. Hope you can continue your travels again shortly 🙂

No, I can't say that we would have felt that way, but surely can understand your position if you only decided to cruise based on the expected protocol. We came at it from a different angle - not being pleased about the daily PCR testing for various reasons, so had it been announced that we no longer had to do it, we would have been happy enough. Did a cruise back in March (not Viking) that only required pre-cruise testing - nothing at all onboard - and very honestly it felt more relaxing. True that masking was sparse, but so was it on the Viking Chairman's cruise this past May. It made NO sense to me to require all that testing and yet masking was optional. The constant testing just made us think TOO much about covid and thus always wondering...will we wind up positive one of these days? Oh my...this debate on both sides of the fence will just go on and on. Guess the "good old days" of cruising are probably a thing of the past. Travel will likely never be the same at least for the foreseeable future. IF another variant comes along (and it surely will) that is even more vaccine-resistant, watch the protocol be reinstated. People have had enough...so at some point it could affect the number of people signing up for cruises especially if other cruise lines do not increase their currently relaxed protocols as well. Who knows....

Amen to that. At that point I really would rather be at home, but not for the reason that Rudy is referring to. This 'if you're worried about getting sick then maybe you should just stay home and let us (non-maskers) go out and have a good time' mentality got old real quick as the pandemic started to come along. "Let them die and decrease the surplus population".

Yikes. Somehow much of what you report is rather incongruous with Torstein's previous commitment to such extensive covid protocols. Sounds like it (elimination of testing) has been a move in the opposite direction. Maybe we'll still wind up canceling our January cruise. Most ironic that we planned to cancel it if the PCR tests were still taking place, but now might cancel due to the lack of testing, i.e. increased cases. Oh well....still a considerable way off yet. Not really true. Tor's latest video on viking.tv alludes to the change in protocol. Seriously?

You got it...I'd never survive a world cruise.

Like I said, I'm ok with that long a trip by car, since we stay in different hotels (don't mind "hotel hopping"), never quite know where we'll wind up eating, etc. There is a bit more (or at least a different sort of) spontaneity. Cruising is surely great for only unpacking once (which is why so many like it I suspect), but I think by the time the third week would come along I'd have had a bit too much of being in the same room.

Sure it does. Some folks are just so self-centered. This is what's wrong with our society - for some people it's all about them.

Two weeks - ideal....Three....getting a bit too long for me on a ship (road trip totally different story). Four...nope. I'd be ready to jump overboard by then! Cities of Antiquities in January will be three weeks in all. Will see how it goes. I hate traveling during the winter - so worried about the possibility of bad weather, and then have to make arrangements for someone to plow / shovel snow.

Isn't that one "Trade Routes of the Middle Ages"? Or else very similar. We could have done that following the end of the Chairman's cruise, but having done both pre and post extensions, it would have gotten a bit long plus the timing - arriving back in mid-June - would not have been good for me relative to everything I had to do around the house. I've come to realize - especially from talking to others about travel, bucket lists, and such - that unfortunately the "someday" sometimes never comes along if not truly planned for.