Tom.in.nc

7 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

Most lines attempt to discourage high data transmission rates in order to minimize this variability

However, unless Viking segregates the “paid streamers” from the general population, they will bring the system to a crawl.

I am waiting to see how this “experiment” works on the current Saturn sailing.

Is there any indication that the paid Wi-Fi is actually faster, has more bandwidth?

Wondering because work from home would be possible if so.

I hope they put the paid service on separate Starlink channels otherwise they will totally wipe out the included service bandwidth.

Also, if the paid WiFi is faster, then more “work from home” guests will travel and put in a few hours a day.

10 hours ago, CharTrav said:

On a completely different topic but one that is dear to my heart and I think others --- internet speeds onboard VO ships (can't speak reliably for VR or VE ships).

Am thrilled  to report that on the Orion (where I am now) we are getting......hold your hat and be still your beating heart....download speeds over 200 Mbps in the World Cafe and in the 60s in our cabin on the 7th deck.

I can report the same on the Venus as we crossed from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale.  There was just a day or so when we fell back to the old satellite (Spain ISP) when we were too far out of range for Elon to see us.

Tom

This was in my cabin!

To set your iPad and iPhone for last night’s time change, you can choose the city of Grytviken in South Georgia.

44 minutes ago, sarahjaneb said:

Hi Tom,

May I ask how bad the clunking was? We are booked in the same cabin on the Orion and I was worried about the stair noise. Any other feedback about 8018? Thank you!

Sarah

From the newer ships, Venus and later, we never noticed to sounds at all. I think they solved the problem.

The domed railway excursion in Colon  has been booked solidly since the beginning.
There’s a waitlist currently with nine people. If you are interested please immediately put your name on the waitlist and maybe we could convince them to add another domed car to the run.

Worth a try,
Tom

Unconfirmed but from source deemed reliable, there are 744 pax aboard with 300-400 world cruisers.  No estimate on the pax joining us in Los Angeles. 
 

Tom

Captain announced 9 pax and 2 crew now in quarantine and 10 pax close contact in self isolation.

CDC protocols do not apply to ships at sea so Viking is not reducing to 5 days, but, I’m not clear on exactly what the plan is for quarantined folks.

Tom

6 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

If you still can't get in a few hours from now, contact Viking for help or explanation.

Tried 4 different devices before posting, but now all seems well again…. But STILL nothing new on the World Cruise excursions there.

Thanks for response,

Tom

Anyone able to access MVJ right now (11am EST)?  I get kicked back to long screen.

After turning on “airplane mode”, I have made calls to US using “TMobile WiFi” with iPhone.

This was on the Sun (WC) and, in August on the Venus.  The wifi on the Sky last month was really slow so it only worked around 2am (8 or 9 pm EST).

Cell calling is 25¢/minute and 2G (very slow) data is free from many countries with TMobile.

Just DO NOT use ship’s cell service unless you want to spend a lot $$$.

Tom

This morning on Sky

2 hours ago, deec said:

Agree...get rid of self serve...I have witnessed way too many UNsafe  things happening with passengers...

 

Didn’t say I liked it; it’s just an possible indication that we may be returning to the “old normal”, albeit slowly.

FYI: Things are looking up.  We are in the Sky in “Athens” and the world cafe just today turn back to serve-yourself.

Still spit tubes, masks and temperature checks.….and since Italy refuses to admit a ship that stops in Turkey, we will miss going back to Ephesus again this week.  We go instead to Santorini, whoo hoo!

Tom

21 minutes ago, zelker said:

Since Viking provides shower gel, do they also provide a shower poof/scrubby or do I need to bring my own?

Wash cloths but no scrubbies in PV nor PS.  ES might be more luxurious 🤷🏼‍♂️

Just noticed the Star is slowly (9kt) cruising west of Bermuda since 8pm Tuesday.

Daon CEO Tom Grissen noted that Daon (VeriFly) has trained professionals that can analyze vaccination cards before a customer arriving at the airport, giving them a streamlined travel experience.

“Daon's design team is using digital comparative analysis in combination with human review to help guard against the use of fraudulent documents,” Grissen continued. “As more and more travelers upload vaccination cards and test results our algorithms will only get more accurate and effective.”

“We believe we can train our algorithms to help combat fraud at scale, however, the ultimate goal should be for government and other parties to come together and create sources of verifiable credentials,” Grissen added. “As an industry leader for more than 20 years, we feel Daon can play a role in bringing these parties together.”

22 hours ago, Bixers said:

Can anybody explain why VeriFLY needs access to my phone's CAMERA as well as its LOCATION?

You can always go to your privacy settings and remove its access to camera and location once you are "good to go".

Tom

One other possible reason for Viking to use VeriFly.  With all of the anti-vaxers out there and the availability of fake CDC Covid Vaccination cards, maybe they want official confirmation of your status.  I’m confident that they don’t want the folks at check-in having to try to make that decision. (I don’t either.)

As the old Russian proverb states “Trust, but verif(l)y”,

Tom

46 minutes ago, BQEC said:

Thank you for the heads up about transiting through LHR. Not unexpected and good to be confirmed. 

We went so far as to change our flights to transfer in Germany since we couldn’t navigate the ever-changing requirements of the UK and LHR. We breezed right through UE customs in FRA.

Tom

10 hours ago, PeabodyMa said:

Could shore excursions payment be via e-check or did it have to be via credit card? Thank you.

Yes, but there is a processing cutoff date 30 days before sailing.  No e-check after then.

Tom

56 minutes ago, Azulann said:

You and I are good to go according to the way I read the email.

Our dPLF also said SUBMITTED, had QR code, and was accepted that way in Malta.  Have fun,

Tom

4 hours ago, fudgbug said:

In answer to your question, my response is "not much".  Waste of time and energy.

Unless you are flying internationally on American Airlines.

16 hours ago, MSEm said:

B:  If you DO NOT have a "smart" phone, call  Viking directly for help with the "work-around" not using Verifly.

And… If you only have one smartphone, you can put both travelers into VeriFly app on it.