SantaFe1

So sorry to hear this. We do BIE in May, and hope to skirt the curse. But I guess if you travel a lot, you have a horror story, although yours seems over the top! We had a similar story going to a Lisbon. Just terrible. And then Lisbon was canceled twice during the pandemic. I don’t think we will ever get to spend quality time there.

Well, the Tower of London is just right up the river…

We get on Neptune as you get off, I believe. We were discussing this yesterday on our Roll Call. I am sure Viking will be all over it. What I’m not sure of is what happens if you arrive in a Country using ETIAS from a ship rather than an airport. On our BIA cruise the only country implicated is Norway.

Another interesting article. The two programs might be uncoupled, and the EES might not start until after the Paris Olympics next summer. Just hoping nothing before our BIE cruise on May 9. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2023/07/19/new-changes-to-europe-travel-border-plans-etias-and-ees/?sh=2d81bad1c8aa

Yes! That’s it . I guess I will have to go back to Iceland— in a heartbeat!!

Here is my photo of said gloves:

What I recall from doing this excursion on our Iceland trip two years ago, was that the fishermen had gloves with six fingers, so that if one glove finger got a hole in it, they could just move over to the extra glove finger.

Don’t look on MVJ, they won’t be up yet. Go to the Viking website and pull up the cruise you are interested in. Then hit the itinerary tab on the left, and scroll down day be day to see a description of what might be offered.

We have also started sitting in the single aisle seats front and back from each other on 1-2-1 configured flights. That way my husband can help me get my carry on in the bin above, and also lets us exit together. We had a problem with that a few months ago, when a medical team came up my aisle and we all had to wait, but his aisle got to deplane. We got separated and it took awhile to hook up. We are also having a bit of trouble with our KLM flight from Bergen to AMS. We connect to a Delta flight in AMS to SLC and Delta shows us on the KLM flight , but KLM says we have no flights. I have seat assignments on KLM, but they are in row one and I want to change them. MVJ says to go to KLM site and do so, but I can’t get into my flight. Perhaps once it is ticketed it will show up.

Agreed. Pre-Covid we used to enjoy the cheeses. And Manfredis had a dessert cheese plate which was a favorite. On our two cruises this year, no dessert cheese plate any longer, and horrible cheese in the WC— what my husband calls rat cheese. Oh, I would love a piece of Vermont cheddar!

Perhaps that’s it. From Santa Fe we cannot fly non stop to any place in Europe, we have to go through a gateway city. So if Viking wants our business they have to fly us to and through Denver, SLC, Dallas, Atlanta, or Chicago. But even so, once to those cities, we can usually get a non-stop to Europe. Athens was the exception, where we had to go Atlanta-AMS-Athens. And Bergen will be an exception next year. We have to fly to AMS and then on to SLC, then home

Nope. Just booked Viking air for our BIE cruise next May. Our TA Called Air+, gave them our preferred flights, they said fine no extra charge. And, we had a $400 pp flight credit too. So we did quite well. We saved about 28% off business class tix over what I could have done myself. I will say, that I have had to pay the extra fee once before, but still ended up saving by going through Viking Air +.

We used Viking Air + and flew Lufthansa and United from Barcelona in March. We had all our seats assigned, no problem, but we were in business class. I was worried about going through Frankfurt, as there were strikes, but it was fine.

Bergen is difficult. Just not that many flights. We will have a 6:05am flight next May, meaning Viking will have us in the Atrium at 3 am! And then we will have 2 stops. Always a 24+ hour day for us when flying abroad.

Well, that’s why Linda called her the infamous Heather Clancy. Many loved her and many hated her. There was no middle ground as you say.

Another thumbs down icon needed here. We, and many others, have been following Dave and Linda for two years, since the inaugural Iceland cruise in 2021. So now, I guess, you can trash me too.

Bon Voyage Linda! We had Heather as CD for nearly five months on the 2019 WC and I must say, she is a bit much. Just not our fav. Beautiful voice, but so condescending. Hopefully she has changed!

Yes.

Yes, exactly. I will say that when we boarded the ship one time with suitcases that had been left to sit out in the rain and all our clothes were wet, Viking picked them up at 4, returned them at 5 ( and I’m talking 15 pieces here) so we could go to dinner properly attired. Viking’s service is really outstanding, whatever you think about the front office!

I have found if I leave it out one day, pretty much no matter what time, it’s back the next day about 4.

And if the weather is nice, you can take your lunch out to the Aquavit terrace. And I have to say, embarkation lunch is one of my favorite moments of a cruise. Enjoy!

We did this while on the World Cruise. It was really special! We also saw quite a few whales.

1 to 1:30.

For what it’s worth, on our WC in 2019, there were two Manfredi’s menus over the 18 weeks. One we definitely liked better than the other. So I guess they do make changes from time to time. But I have never seen that second menu again, so maybe they take the criticism into account. I did go into MVJ today, and checked the sample menu for Manfredis, and it is the old one.

Oh, this is where I wish these boards had a thumbs down icon in addition to like, thanks, and laugh…