SantaFe1

You make a good point about the airlines. But please remember that once you have a booking with Viking, you can, in our experience anyway, negotiate a future cruise final payment to six months out. Call, ask, try several sources. Get a supervisor. And, up to 120 days in advance, you can cancel for $100 pp. that’s really not too bad, in our opinion.

Last year, when Viking first restarted cruising, it added a feature to book Restaurant reservations. This was due to COVID, I believe, to keep the numbers down. They kept that option open for 6-8 months, then dropped it. Now it is as it always was: the only places needing reservations are Manfredis and Chefs Table. The Restaurant is just walk in, regardless of Cabin category. Since you do not get any advance reservations at the two specialty restaurants with a V category cabin, just go to the reservations desk when you board and make them, or go to your cabin and use the TV to make them. It’s easy, and as many have posted, your nearly always get what you want.

We have a Mediterranean trip in February-March, which might have some comparable optional excursions. Of course, it always varies, but for this trip, 15 days, the prices range from $49 to $279pp. For example, we are doing an eight hour trip to Carcassone, which is $179pp and includes lunch. The 3-5 hour excursions tend to run $89-109 for most. Hope this helps. And if you have other specific excursions, ask and I can look them up for you if they are on our Mediterranean Antiquities cruise.

No, I retracted this weeks ago. So sorry.

I would never cancel a cruise I was looking forward to because of the opinion of a total stranger. As you read through here, many people have a few things they don’t like or would change. We do too. But it is a lovely ship. The service is great. What they don’t have is the best: no kids, casinos, photographers, etc. etc. Viking was just voted number one again in its size class. For the second year in a row. Really, try it. I’m sure you will find much to like! And I am the pickiest of people!

You know, we never liked the Restaurant much from Cruise #1. It almost kept us from doing our 2019 World Cruise. But we did, and I think in 128 days we ate in the restaurant fewer than 10 dinners. It’s not much fun to have to get dressed up, sit around waiting for service, etc. etc every night for over four months. So, we treated the two specialty restaurants as our going out nights, and ate in the WC the rest of the time. We did enjoy some nice breakfasts in the restaurants when we have many, many sea days crossing oceans. as for the beds, I hated them, my husband loved the firm mattresses. As everyone says, to each their own. We are on Med. Antiquities next in Feb-March and can’t wait, mattresses aside!!

Yes, gee, I’d better have another cup of coffee. With 1200 crew, that would be a mega-ship! Sorry, I’ll sit this one out now and wait for the real numbers.

It occurred to me that maybe 200 was a typo, since the usual crew is about 1200. There are always more crew members that pax. Only way to know for sure is for someone on that cruise to ask and report back.

As we are going to Milan and the Italian Lakes next week, I have been keeping an eye on the weather (a bit removed from the coast, but still…). This weekend there are severe wind alerts. Midweek, there a few nice days, then next weekend, unending rain for ten days. So the region is definitely undergoing some unexpected weather.

Here I am straddling the Prime Meridian, taking its picture, and reflected in the window doing so. Love Greenwich!

Loved this. (Oops, it copied twice, oh well)

This is wonderful news, and I wish you well. We leave next week for 16 days in Northern Italy. I, too, have trouble lifting the carry on into the overhead bin, but, keep on truckin!

Sounds like a nice cruise, Clay. Enjoy!

Oh, I’m glad. I used it again two days ago. My husband harvested some basil and I made pesto and pasta and told him his basil was redolent. I know, so old… but I love words. Hope you and family are well vslparis!

Well, clearly. Here is what is on the website. What would you do? This is what I mean. Too much hassle!

How about carry on luggage when flying business/first class. It says two carry on pieces plus one personal item per person. It shows a picture of two hardside roll-aboards. We will have one roll-aboard each, plus a large bag/purse for me and a backpack for my husband. These second pieces we would generally call our personal items. They are clearly too big for Lufthansa personal items. But since we get two carry on items, can we count these two pieces each toward that and say we have no personal items? This is such a hassle I’m thinking of changing flights from United/Lufthansa to Delta KLM for our flights to Greece next February.

Yes, but in America the seeds are called coriander, and I use them ground in cooking. The leaves and stems are called Cilantro. This is used a great deal in Southwest cooking, and we love it so much we grow it in our garden. It’s also sometimes called Chinese parsley. But you are right. There is no in between. You love it or hate it!

Clay, life is short. I know this from tragic experience. Go for it if you like it. And, I’ve never once regretted money spent on travel!

Our flights to Alaska on Alaska air going through Seattle are First class. No business class on the plane.

And of course, one’s meat is another’s poison. I LOVE cilantro. LOL

Oh my. Cucumber is my nemesis. Just the smell of it makes me nauseated. And my counter story to the thread on best Viking experiences ( of which I have many) is the night at Chefs Table when I told them I was allergic to whatever they were having with cucumber in it and asked them to bring me a salad instead. Took a bite and it was redolent with cucumber. My eyes flew open, I looked at my husband in distress, and did the only thing I could do—brought my napkin to my mouth and —you know. Not my finest hour!

You will never see prices for your trip, or times, on the website. They appear in MVJ under the excursions tab about 100-120 days before sailing. And you can always ask here, and if someone has been on your cruise, they might be able to share. I will say that on our upcoming cruise, Mediterranean Antiquities, the prices range from $49 to $279 pp., and that seems to be about the normal range.

Thank you! We are sort of done with 8-9 hour tours of places we have been many times. the only one I can get my husband to do is Carcassonne for my birthday, 8:hours. I have always wanted to go there.

And I still have no idea why Rome isn’t there since it isn’t exactly a new port for Viking. But we aren’t going into the city anyway as we’ve been many times. We would like to do Ostia, which we’ve never done. And when it does go on MVJ, I doubt Ostia will sell right out. That’s an advantage of having eclectic taste!

Our excursions, except for Rome, popped up today on MVJ, 173 days out. I think that is the earliest I’ve ever seen them. Yay!