BigBee51

Thanks for the response. I remember the pods were in Italian so I was guessing at what crema meant.

The refund schedule is actually on page 2 of your guest statement. You will only be on the hook for $100 pp if you cancel more than 120 days out

I believe if you look at your Viking contract, down near the bottom you should see a chart with the refund timeline. Full refund greater than 120 days and a reduced amount as the cruise time gets closer.

I've been resisting asking my question about the Nespresso coffee maker but here goes. Viking provides two creme (sp?) pods. How do you use them? I assumed that they are some sort of "cream" for the coffee? They are shaped exactly like the coffee pods and didn't have an obvious way to open them.

We just returned from the Baltic / Midnight Sun 28 night cruise. Ship was very nice. Every member of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. The room stewards were fabulous. They anticipated needs we didn't know we had. They provided bookmarks for the books we had on the table and after having a bucket of ice delivered to our room, it was refreshed every day without asking. We ate in both Manfredi's and the Chef's Table twice each. Chef's table was very good Manfredi's was ok. The Restaurant was hit or miss. Apparently, there was a new Head Chef, so I assume some of the kinks will be worked out in short order. I think this was only the second or third "real" cruise on the Mars. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we have 3 ocean and 2 river cruises booked.

We just returned from the Baltic / Midnight Sun (starting from London) cruise and found it doesn't really matter which side of the ship you are on. We were in 5109 at the rear of ship with views to both sides of the fjords. The fjords are narrow and beautiful on both sides. You will need to get up early though. Most of the transit through the fjords is very early. Of course, it is in day light exiting in the evenings. The captain did not do any 360's on our trip