MarkTapley

Small raptor. Depends a lot on where Jupiter was docked. From a search for its location, probably docked in Ushuaia, Argentina when this picture was taken. (We’re currently on Octantis, so we were there a couple days ago.) We’ve birded several times in Argentina, so my guess is Chimango Caracara. Pretty common in Argentina. More like a vulture than a falcon or hawk in that it feeds on road kill and other carcasses. Perched here, looking for a quick meal. Just my guess. Jerry

Sandi, Thanks for posting this. We’re on this cruise (from Vancouver) and hadn’t received the message yet from Viking. Bummer if you haven’t been to Auckland. It’s really worth spending a few days there, if possible. Jerry

@Dennis Viking Here is the link to the other thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2959779-panama-canal-water-woes/?do=getNewComment

In 2018, off Viking Orion, we did the Taj with an overnight in Agra. There are nice hotels there, so not sure why you need to be concerned about staying the night. Total time off the ship was about 36 hours. One advantage of an overnight is that you will go to the Taj before sunrise, when it is not so hot and the crowds more manageable. We arranged the excursion with cultureholidays.com They are New Delhi based and have a USA 800 number. They put together a custom trip for us.

And check out Lindblad. They’ve been going to Antarctica for 50 years. We were on National Geographic Endurance from New Zealand to Argentina for 33 days this winter. Lots of landings, wildlife, visiting explorer huts, Zodiac cruise along the Ross Ice Shelf, etc. The complete experience.

@CharTrav thanks for your wonderful work on this spreadsheet! And thanks for the explanation of the web glitch with the VE cruise “Antarctica & South Georgia Island.” We had actually received a letter and flyer from Mr. Hagen about this cruise around June 10 and I went to the website and couldn’t find it anywhere. Friends had told us they had booked this voyage around the time it “disappeared,” so I had our TA call Viking and she booked it for us. Later, I noticed it was back on the Viking site. I hadn’t panicked, but I did wonder what had happened. Thanks again, Jerry

Good advice to OP in the earlier replies. We spent 7 or 8 days driving completely around the island before the Viking Sky cruise around the island in 2021. The self-driving tour was amazing; the cruise was great as well. My advice is do both; but if you only have time (or resources) to do one or the other, then drive. On the cruise you will experience the “highlights” of Iceland; if you drive, you will experience Iceland.

We did the balloon ride last September, from Viking Osiris. Everyone from our sailing that wanted to go was able to get reservations. Then Viking was not accepting any advanced reservations, so we booked once we were on the ship. Not sure you need to try and setup an independent tour. They told us if they need additional capacity, they just launch another balloon. As far as timing, the group left the ship very early (4:30 AM?), took a smaller boat to the other side of the Nile and then got into vans for the ride to the balloon port. In our case, we had to wait a couple of hours for the winds to subside before we took off; but if the winds are calm, the balloons take off more quickly. Drifted around for an hour or so and landed on the east side of the river where we were picked up and went back to the ship. And BTW, our balloon ride was from Luxor, not Aswan. That was our experience.

Andy, Good explanation, as always. Lindblad has a current northwest passage itinerary, from Greenland to Alaska, about three weeks for the one-way passage. Link below: https://www.expeditions.com/expeditions/northwest-passage-greenland-to-alaska#dates-and-rates MT

Here is a link to the roll call for this cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2903432-viking-venus-30-september-2023-trade-routes-of-the-middle-ages/?do=getNewComment

Yes, Dakar was dropped on the recent crossing and we went to Mindelo. We enjoyed the cruise very much, as did the passengers we interacted with. Weather was generally warm and sunny.

We were on the Southern Atlantic Crossing that ended one week ago. No Yellow Fever vaccine was required to go to Cape Verde. Not mentioned at all! (We travel with our yellow vaccine fever card, but not needed.)

Amazing - we stayed at the PH thru the same storm! A wild night. Nice location, and very quiet.

On Orion in 2018, we docked at Phu My Port. We had a private guide, who drove us to the port. Pretty sure Viking was running a shuttle from the central market, Ben Thanh, back to the ship. Things may be different now.

Daryl, Love the wildlife pics! Using your phone or a DSLR? The red-footed booby pic near the bottom left is particularly good. Were you shooting through the glass screen at the rec deck? (As it seemed like there are some funny artifacts in some of the pics when enlarged. But that may just be my glasses. LOL) Thanks, Jerry

Here’s a data point for your consideration: We are cruising on a TA in March, also in a junior suite. Our 77 day booking time comes up on December 16th. The excursions were made available for viewing MVJ yesterday, on December 1st. Based on this, I’m not sure you have anything to worry about. The Viking excursion booking system appears to be in much better shape than it was in summer of 2021 for the “welcome back” cruises. Lots of old threads about the mess there was then.

We’re booked on this cruise, starting in Dunedin, NZ late January 2023. Getting everything organized now. We originally booked a similar cruise on another line for January 2021 sailing, but that obviously didn’t happen. So we’ve had this trip planned for almost 4 years. Not sure what questions you might have, but I’d be glad to help if I’m able.

Here’s the latest Neptune update from @Heidi13:

Disagree. In my experience of flying in and out of ORD for 45+ years (and over 4 million flight miles on United alone), summer thunderstorms have a much bigger overall impact on flight schedules in Chicago than snowstorms. Just my opinion. YMMV.

@Sleep7 As usual for you, terrific reviews and great pics; and it’s fun to travel vicariously with you. Thanks much for taking the time to post with so much detail. What is your next trip?

Since your question is regarding a Viking River cruise, you may want to review this thread and post your question there: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2779932-all-viking-mississippi-2022-cruises/?do=getNewComment

Adding my thanks to Garry and Arlona (and the other bloggers) for allowing us to go with you on your voyage. Enjoyed every day’s adventures and especially your great attitude, wonderful pictures and descriptive writing. Best wishes and hope to cruise with you some day!

Not sure if you are replying to me, but I did not say there were only two daily flights to Thunder Bay on Air Canada. I said the best routing from Kansas City to Thunder Bay is on AC with one stop in Toronto. Two separate AC flights: MCI to YYZ and YYZ to YQT.

@Sunflower & The Scientist You’ve been given good advice above. Just to add my thoughts. I see you’re from Kansas City. Your best route seems to be on Air Canada. They have a morning nonstop to Toronto Pearson Airport, with a second nonstop flight onto Thunder Bay. That’s the only one-stop routing I saw on Google Flights. I’ve flown from Chicago to Toronto many times and it’s a good airport to connect in. You’ll have to clear immigration there. Since Thunder Bay is a somewhat difficult airport to get to, you’d be wise to go a day ahead, if you’re at all risk-adverse.

Here’s the 2022 roll call for this cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2758477-all-viking-rhine-getaway-2022/?do=getNewComment