Wagnerite

We hit the ground running. I really enjoyed the experience on the Beautiful Viking Sun. We don't have a ton of contact with people here in Hershey as we live in a tiny condo and our car is in the garage so we only see neighbors occasionally. We say hi and that's about it. On the ship, we actually knew people by name! The thing I missed most about being on board was the choice. I plan the meals, shop for food and organize our day around the gym(miss you too Jim!) or a walk when weather is good.

Another thing is the feel of the Sunday New York Times and the crossword!

I do miss the noon announcements and Trivia(which is only a game). The routine as set forth in the Viking Daily and by our Drill Instructor has prepared us for life in "The Home" should that ever come, although we have no children so will have to put ourselves there.

Yes, I am kidding. Life on board was easy, though forcing Carol to take the stairs was a constant battle. We are probably superficial people so it was enjoyable knowing just enough, but not too much about our shipmates and, of course, the amazing crew! Everyone was so friendly and we learned a lot, but as Dorothy said: "There's no place like home!"

Staying on our own in London and saw people from the boat as Wiking puts them in our hotel. At Shakespeares Globe and met two women from boat. It’s like we never left.

Chuck and Glenda from NC had 44 hour journey home and had to sit up all night at JFK! Hope for better but at least it’s not right after getting off boat!

Long rewarding voyage but never again!

Hi Wagnerite, are you coming to San Francisco in June for the Ring? If so, what cycle? Would love to know what other Rings you'll be seeing. There is great passion around Wagner's music here, and dedicated fans who travel worldwide to see the Ring.

Cycle 3-26 June-1July. Saw Das Rheingold there in 2008 and the entire cycle in DC in 2013.

Also going to London in October and the Met May 2019

Ok, I'm curious! What is a Wagner ring Cycle? Family reunion?

In a way, but a different kind of “family.” Richard Wagner(1813-1883) was a German Romantic composer. “Der Ring des Nibelungen” is a four opera cycle based on Norse legends. It is traditionally performed on 6 nights, with nights off on 3 and 5. The total length of the four opera is about 15 hours.

It’s not for everyone but those who attend are fanatics. Friendships are formed and we have seen some people in a lot of different countries at Ring Cycles.

The “shrine” of Wagner is Bayreuth in Bavaria, where he built a theater devoted solely to performing his operas. We have been there twice during the yearly festival.

Wagnerite, aka Ira and Carol. We thoroughly enjoyed your gregariousness while we were on the Cuba/Panama part of the cruise. We also enjoyed your pics on the My Viking page.

 

Thank you for your comments regarding your overall thoughts of the trip . We appreciate your insights. We are having second thoughts regarding our Grand Pacific Voyage. There aren't very many sea days, but it's the industrial ports being so far from where we might want to be that concern us.

 

Have a safe trip home. Who knows, we may meet again. Bob and Rose-Marie

So far you've been on both of our ocean cruises so it's always a possibility! Enjoy that Albertan weather and make sure you get to AZ after one or two snowfalls.

This has been quite an experience on so many different levels. Special thanks to Glenda for her friendship and to Chuck as well for his insights and even disposition. I've enjoyed everyone with whom I've come in contact at meals, on excursions, in trivia or just walking around the ship.

Thanks to Tom and Sylvia for being our partners in Name That tune and for recruiting two team members whose knowledge filled the gaps.

I'm still not a big fan of sea days or buses, but we knew about those before we booked. right now looking forward to a couple of days in London, packed with theatre and a couple of museums, before returning to the "Sweetest Place on Earth."

Three, count em' 3(!) Wagner ring Cycles in the next 12 months and a ride on the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco.

I'm on the mailing list for just about every cruise line, hotel and airline that exists, plus The Points Guy and others of his ilk so have to figure out where to spend my points and miles.

To all of you who followed this thread, I hope that you gained some knowledge about the Viking way of life. In the long run........we know what John Maynard Keynes said, so enjoy while you can.

A gray choppy day in the Bay of Biscay for our next to last sea day. Then one day in London with Viking Sun as our hotel before being summarily kicked off here on Saturday morning. It has been a true adventure. Many thanks to all the posters for adding to the information available to others in the planning stages. I have learned a ton of things to look for in the next long cruise. We have nothing booked at the moment but I am sure that will change after we get home and relive this one a time or two. Many thanks to Eaches fine pictures as they give life to all our stops. I will be doing a recap for sure but not till after we get home and I have a bit of time to sort it all out in my head. We are staying in England for a week to see family so will be back home mid May. Till then, all the best to my fellow world cruisers. :cool:

Same to you Jim! You’re an inspiration in the gym. Thanks for your nautical knowledge and cruise experience. I’ve started packing because we have to be finished by around noon Friday since we’re spending most of Friday in London.

And did you run out of deodorant? :-)

Remembering the packing up days, getting the boxes ready to go ahead of time. Just wondering how well you did with planning ahead.

But! Don’t answer that now! Enjoy every last minute of this marvelous experience.

Wound up buying toothpaste, vitamins and eye drops so only minor miscalculations. Brought a bit too much shaving cream and contact lens fluid. Pretty good planning. Oh, my wife ran out of hair gel and Lancome face stuff. Can’t complain.

Day 141 is fast approaching. What are your overall thoughts?

Food?

Tours?

Time on your own?

Ports? (Industrial vs Cruise)

People?

Days at sea? (Too many? Not enough?)

Activities?

Entertainment?

Repetition of food and entertainment?

What was your favourite thing to do?

Recommendations?

Anything else you can think of.

I'm a bad one to follow as my wife and I are most definitely NOT habitual cruisers. We took this one because of the challenge and the "opportunity" to have so many destinations in a short time and to see Petra/Alhambra/Panama Canal/Suez Canal/Cuba. that said, it was a great experience but I don't expect to do much cruising in near future. Actually we have 3 Wagner ring Cycles booked in SF, London and NY plus a plan for a family trip to Sicily so not much time in any event.

Food was fine, all things considered. Not as good as in my house or the restaurants that we frequent but more than adequate and they were so accommodating.

We went on 45 tours with 14 optional. The included ranged from waste of time to quite good. Sometimes there was no real option but to take some tour as the ports were nearly all industrial or too far from the main city to navigate on your own in the short stay time.

The people were fine. We were friendlier with some than others but had no problem sitting in the buffet next to anyone. I talk a lot so it doesn't matter who is on the other end. I can't remember too many people that I preferred not to be with and quite a few that were friendly and interesting. We only had dinner with a few couples but my wife and I are rather private and tend to eat early. I know a few hundred guests by name and at least that many know me. I know at least half of the crew by name and country of origin.

I'd say way too many sea days. We enjoyed them but it was nearly half of the trip. On sea days we did get the gym and trivia but we don't go to lectures or port talks. We did see 25 or more movies plus all 6 seasons of Downton Abbey. I spent a lot of time schmoozing the Explorer Desk staff and they were very nice.

There are plenty of activities so if you need things to do they are available. Years ago we played serious tournament bridge so if we still played that would take up the whole day!

I felt the entertainment was fine. I'm not a big fan of rock music and that was half of the acts, but it wasn't unpleasant and it was fun to observe old people going crazy to the music. There were a lot of comedians and magicians and about 99% of the acts were British but so what.

Repetition can't be avoided. I wish I had kept track but some songs were done over 20 times and many jokes were repeated as well. We did have ukeleles, harmonicas, electrified violins and cellos.

They did a good job in World Cafe with items made fresh on the patio. We don't like The Restaurant but many love it. Manfredi's isn't a big favorite either but that's probably because we often go to really good Italian restaurants. The staff in both of those places are great and they are giving away the wines! No, really! They are giving away glass wines and the bottle prices are a steal and, with the huge credits they gave us, we drank really well. We went to Chef's Table 13 times and we enjoy it very much, but perhaps because our favorite servers and wine stewards were there. We'd have gone more often but the menus do(literally) repeat every four days.

We had our own routine and rarely deviated but you can eat early or late, go to gym or even special gym classes, dance, sing, play games, do crafts. some even read actual books or go to pools, spa etc.

We splurged on a suite and it was one of my best decisions. It is so comfortable that we can spend a lot of free time there and I believe this accounts for our never getting sick.

Our absolute best days were the ones where we freelanced but the ship's excursions were a way to interact with other customers and compare notes.

We enjoyed the Resident Musicians and spent a couple of hours listening to them(piano, guitar, classical trio) in the various venues every evening. Oh, right! There is dancing of some sort in Torshaven but we never went as my wife likes to go to bed after the shows and we don't dance and drink way too much already.

Advice would be to pace yourself in eating, drinking, sleeping and activities. Exercise as much as you can. We took the elevators about 5 times in the entire trip, even when going up as many as 6 floors. My wife wasn't thrilled but I think it kept us more alert.

Two sea days then we go into London on our own but do return to sleep the last night. I guess we are sentimental lol.

We have made a few friends along the way but mainly enjoyed casual conversation with any and all. Crew is first rate including the officers. Everyone has time to chat with the customers and are unfailingly cheerful.

It's been a great experience, probably better than we thought it would be. It cost more than our condo, but my credit card points are worth about $10,000 and we got lots of free credits. I will spend $0 out of pocket except for some off-ship purchases, meals and hotels.

The main reason Carol and I signed up for this World Cruise was to see certain things, notably to sail through both the Panama and Suez Canals, visit Petra and the Alhambra. We also felt it might be a once in a lifetime experience for the sheer magnitude of spending 4 and a half months on a ship.

We have traveled fairly extensively, although we don't "collect" countries as we now prefer to revisit places that we know and love rather than to go to a new place just because it is new to us. We have been to 70 plus countries and all 50 US states and will, no doubt visit others when time and schedule permits.

Our original itinerary on the world Cruise included Belize and Honduras but a revision nixed those. Along the way, rough seas caused us to miss the Cook Islands(although they may count as New Zealand anyway), and a State Department warning cost us Tunisia.

I'm not certain if the various groups in French Polynesia count as countries but I am grouping Nuka Hiva, Tahiti and Bora Bora under that heading. We lived in Vietnam for two years and have been to Asia so much over the past 25 that there weren't many new places in that part of the world. Our count as we head into the final few days is 16.

Cuba Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua

Guatemala French Polynesia Tonga Fiji

New Zealand Australia Brunei Philippines

Oman Jordan Malta Algeria

Many of these were just for a few hours. If I had to guess, I'd say we might revisit Malta, Australia and New Zealand. As for the rest, it's an open question.

We first got to Paris in 1984 and went crazy seeing sights and eating, not knowing whether we would ever return. We have gone back so often that we have "our" hotel and our "local" bar for coffee and late night drinks.

After a trip to Hanoi in 1994, we visited three more times before residing there for two years and visiting nearly every year since. Travel to Vietnam meant that we became regulars at hotels in Bangkok and Singapore so we can never be certain. I think we won't go back to Fiji or Tonga but it could happen.

Our next trips are for Wagner Ring Cycles in San Francisco and London and a family getaway to Sicily (not a country) next summer but there may be a side trip in there somewhere.

Our trip to The Alhambra was quite rewarding and even worth the bus ride. If I think of it, I’ll cut and paste my blog post.

With just one more port, I’m starting to see the end is in sight.

I’ve enjoyed seeing Jim and Eaches’ posts and interacting with passengers and crew on this marathon voyage.

The nature of cruising is that you never really get to experience much in any port. I will say that the whole has truly been greater than the sum of its parts.

I can’t imagine ever doing this again unless I get too old or feeble for independent travel. I don’t regret doing it , just not our highest and best use.

Due to the political situation in Tunisia, our World Cruiseis skipping the port of Tunis. Instead,we were given extra time and an overnight in Valletta, Malta. I had thought of Malta as a “secondaryattraction,” worth no more than a day or so, but I still felt it would be niceto have an evening in a city so that we might dine in a restaurant and escapethe ship for a meal.

We had originally signed up for the included excursion, butI found out that we would be docked close to the town and that it was smallenough to navigate on foot, so I cancelled the tour and did a bit of researchso that we would be ready to go soon after docking.

The sail in was rather beautiful as we could see the OldTown of Valletta with its medieval buildings shining in the sun. As we passed the Cruise Ship Terminal, I wonderedif we were going to dock across the water, at the container port, but we werejust turning around to come into the dock on our port side and we wound upright under the town!

Once the tour groups were off the ship, we went out to dosome exploration around Valletta. I hadthe area map and had done some research as to what were the most significantplaces to visit, so I figured we’d be OK.

NO shuttle buses were allowed in the port, but it was just ashort walk to the place where taxis, horse carts and hop on, hop off buses werelocated. Even better was the elevatorinto town that was just five minutes further from the port.

The elevator costs a euro to go up but is free whendescending. We had a short wait in lineto buy tickets but then were quickly transported to the Upper Barrakka Gardens,from where we had a great view of the harbor and the Salute Guns, which arefired off each day at noon. There is arefreshment café, the War Rooms Museum and a number of statues and monuments.

Just a couple of minutes away was the church of Our Lady ofVictories, the oldest building in Malta, built in 1566. It wasn’t ornate, but it is impressive forits having survived for so long.

Probably the most visited site in Valletta is St. John’sco-Cathedral so we strolled up Republic Street to check it out. We found out that a “co-cathedral” is onethat shares a bishopric see with another cathedral. This one was built in the 16thcentury and is said to be a masterpiece of Baroque art and architecture. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, it islarge and ornate with amazing decorations and a great deal of art work,including two Caravaggio paintings. Itwas built as the church for the Knights of St. John. During our hour-long visit, we used the audioguides to try to make some sense out of what we were seeing, but we probablydidn’t retain much of the commentary. Still it was quite an impressive sight and compares favorably with themany other cathedrals that we have felt it was our duty to visit over theyears.

One of the things we enjoy in Europe is eating at an outdoorcafé and watching the people go by. Right outside the co-cathedral is a square with several cafes so Caroland I took a break for lunch. We split aMargherita pizza and I had a local Cisk beer. The pizza was ok, and they even served it on two plates, though wewouldn’t have minded sharing from one plate. The usual mix of locals and tourists went by. I like to note that my stomach isn’t nearlyas huge as many who walk by, especially the ones who were on one of the fourcruise ships that were in port!

Soon after we were seated, a man wheeled a small uprightpiano in front of the café and began to play. It was nice to have free music with lunch! I did, of course put a euro into his hat ashe was not doing this for practice.

As we had a day and a half in Valletta, we decided to dosome walking and exploring to see what we could see and to find a restaurantfor dinner. The food on the ship is OKbut gets so boring! It is just nice tobe able to sit in a restaurant where neither the other diners nor the staffknows you. Our crew on the Viking Sun ifwonderful but it’s not all bad to be served by a complete stranger.

I had heard of the Baroque theatre, Teatru Monoel and guidedus over to see it. Unfortunately, it wasafternoon and the tours are only given in the morning. I made a plan to return the next day so thatwe could take the tour.

We then wandered past one of the restaurants I had comeacross in my internet search and we looked at it. It seemed like a possibility, but Carolthought it might be best to check out other places before committing.

Next on our list of sights was the Grandmasters Palace. Built in 1571, it has been the administrativeseat of Malta for centuries. It was thecenter of government for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John, a medievalCatholic order that ruled Malta for nearly three centuries.

The two rooms that we visited had a large collection of armsand armor. A knight was very well protected,but the armor was extremely heavy and must have limited his mobility.

After the palace, we started to wend our way back to theship, first taking a look at Il Horza, another restaurant mentioned in manyonline reviews. It is located in a smallstreet, not far from the waterfront but we were able to locate it. It is a charming little place, with only 24seats. After a glance at the menu, wedecided to book a table for dinner.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at the LowerBarrakka Garden, which commands a good view of the harbor. It contains the Siege Bell, which was erectedto honor those who died in the siege of Malta during World War II. It is only rung at noon and we were,apparently, too far away to hear it tolling at that time.

It looked like a straight walk along the coast from theLower Barrakka Gardens to the Upper Barrakka Gardens on the way back to theport, but the road twisted and turned until we were faced with a steep stonestaircase. There didn’t seem to be anyway around it, so up we went. Althoughthere were no hand rails, we managed to reach the top and then back into theUpper Barrakka Gardens where we found the elevator down to port level andwalked back to the ship.

The elevator came up full but only two other people joinedus for the trip down. When we got there,we noticed a considerable line waiting to go up. There were a couple of other cruise ships inport with a few thousand passengers trying to see the sights. We were glad that we started early!

Our restaurant only opened for dinner at 7:30, which is latefor us these days. We tend to eat at6:00, when the ship’s restaurants open. At least we had time to rest, get cleaned up and changed, and have adrink while listening to Ferry, the Resident Pianist, play a set, beforeleaving for dinner.

Taxis in Malta don’t seem to have a meter, so you have tonegotiate. We actually just jumped intothe first one we saw and, only asked the fare after we had told him thedestination. 15 Euro was no doubt high,but how much better were we going to do and there is a psychic cost to tryingto get a cheaper fare.

The driver was pleasant enough but wound up letting us offat a corner because he said it would be difficult to go around the block on a one-waystreet. It was no big deal to us, butthen it turned out that the restaurant was actually the right way! He offered to let us back in, but we decidedjust to walk the short block.

When we arrived, the young woman who had taken our bookingwas sitting on the curb with another young woman, who had spikey hair, a sleevetattoo and various piercings. Theyinformed us that the chef-owner had forgotten the key and would be back to letus in. When I asked about therestaurant’s name, she told me it meant “the well” and, once we got inside, sheshowed us the well down in the cellar. We could have sat there but Carol preferred upstairs.

We had seen the menu so had a good idea of what we wouldorder: mixed antipasto for two; braised rabbit and a ribeye. The steak was quite good, and the rabbit wasOK, just a bit dry. We had a bottle ofMaltese wine, a blend of cabernet franc and Syrah, which was quite palatable.

There was a French couple dining downstairs and a hip femaleparty of four having a birthday celebration. The hostess/waitress knew them as she hugged them and spoke in Malteseand they helped themselves to wine and answered the phone.

We got the hostess to call us a cab and this one onlycharged 11 euros. I long for the days of meters in taxis! He dropped us a bit past the cruise terminal,but it didn’t matter as it was locked up tight. There was a sign telling us to go to Security Gate and, together with afew other passengers, we found it and got back to the ship.

For our final hours in Valletta, I planned the tour of theTeatru Manoel and hoped to get a Maltese pastry on the way. After getting dressed, Carol and I had aquick coffee downstairs in the Viking Bar, then walked to the theater, againvia the elevator.

We arrived on the dot of 9:30. The doors were not yet open,and another couple was waiting to get in. They were from Salzburg, Austria and had very little English. We Americans are spoiled since English is nowthe universal language and the tour would be in English.

As it happens, the woman who gave the tour not only had someGerman, but also had a German script for the tour so she gave the talk in bothlanguages, sometimes starting in English and sometimes in German. I understood quite a bit of the German justfrom some words I have picked up during our travel, but it would have beendifficult to follow a complete tour in that language.

The theater is a real jewel box, built in 1731, by order ofGrandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller Fra Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. It has only about 650 seats and was recentlyrenovated. Now it contains temporarychairs but there are plans for permanent seats to be installed within the nextyear.

The theater is made of wood with gold leaf adorning theboxes and a trompe l-oeil ceiling that looks like a dome but is really flat.

The “tour” was actually a talk as we sat in the auditoriumand didn’t see the stage or the backstage rooms. Unfortunately, our cruise was departingbefore we could see a performance. Wemissed a piano and violin concert honoring Claude Debussy. Such is the way of cruising!

On the way back to the ship, we tried to find coffee and apastry, but the best we were able to do was some heavy qassatat, thick roundpastries filled with baked ricotta or mashed pea puree! Next time perhaps we can find something flakyand sweet!

Our time in Valletta was enjoyable and we would not rule outreturning some day when there was an opera at the Manoel. Three or four days would be a nice amount oftime to see the sights and enjoy the ambience.

Took some pix but can never get them to post. So far for me, I'd say Valletta is the high spot, not counting the places where we have been so many times. Singapore, Saigon, and Hong Kong are a different sort of experience as we didn't have to do any sightseeing, just wandering and eating in some of our favorite restaurants. Valletta was a chance to explore and, together with Sydney, are the places we would most likely return

Jim

A Big Happy Birthday to You ! and Many More !

 

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday Jim. After 130 daze(!) you are the first person I heard of with a birthday, except Lorena, whose might have been same as you.

Happy Birthday!

 

And a question (though probably not for Jim) After four months at sea, how is the salon. I am wondering what to do for our 2019WC. My specific question, if anyone has experience, is how are the color services? Do you think it best to just bring the color from home, or is the stuff on the ship adequate?

The price is extremely high IMHO! It's twice what my wife and I pay at home and we brought our own products. The results were adequate I suppose as nobody seemed to be laughing at us.

That's part of the down side of cruising. We are never anywhere long enough to go to a decent place. If I did it again, perhaps shaved head and wigs would be the way to go?

Some people went for $9 cuts in some random places. I'm not sure that I would go that route. When we lived abroad, we went to the place where the ambassadors and their wives did. It was quite a bit more than on the street, but less than back in the US.

At least alcohol on viking is quite reasonably priced so we can drink after looking at ourselves in the mirror!

Eaches you really did it the right way. We had a fantastic day in Giza but yes, combined, our Egypt adventures involved a lot of seat time. Fortunately ours was by choice in a private car instead of the incessant bus rides and yes, Stretch, the only real issues we have with the entire cruise always come back to the bus excursions. Not sure how to move all these people (with varying levels of mobility and fitness) without them. Vans might help but you would need all the vans in a town to move 400/500 to the popular stops. :eek: Some we have discussed this with have mentioned some form of "fitness" test to qualify for spaces on the "fast" bus. Not sure, in our society, how you could tell someone they are too fat or too old to make the cut to the fast tour. I know Viking is trying to improve the experience and I will probably have some suggestions in a recap. For now, our solution is to make our own plans. We are viewing the Viking Sun as our very nice lodging and transportation between ports. We can take it from there. :cool:

We stayed in Alexandria as there are only so many long bus rides that we can handle. Some years ago we spent a few weeks in Egypt and saw the Pyramids and Sphinx several times by day and night. They are certainly worth revisiting but only when the trip isn’t so long.

I like Jim’s idea of having a fast and “less fast” group but I guess it would be impractical to implement.

I agree with Eaches( does it rhyme with peaches?) that “The Big Viking in the Sky” is quite responsive to our feedback and things are tweaked and adjusted when possible.

For my wife and me, a cruise is best when we visit secondary sights, i.e. places that are pleasant and interesting and only worth a short stay.

The best thing about cruising is that you can go to bed in one place and wake up in another without packing and unpacking.

;p

WELL SAID, We should have stayed on the ship, you live and learn. Please don’t change a thing - the ship, crew couldn’t be nicer and the can do attitude is Very Refreshing hub this industry.

 

 

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Agree! I’m not at all savvy about cruises or what to expect but there was no way we would go to a self promoting event like the “christening.” We had a quick dinner, enjoyed the Shanghai Acrobats and came back for a drink and to hear the guests who attended talk about their experience.

We have enjoyed this cruise very much. The crew are all first rate and friendly. Most know us by name, likely because we are difficult in some way.

The other passengers are fine. We know only a few hundred by name but everyone has a pleasant word or greeting and the social interaction is not unwelcome.

The only thing I noticed is that, when we go to an area that we heard was quiet, when I arrive it isn’t quiet at all! Coincidence?;p

Does anyone have contact information for the silk embroidery place we visited on the Suzhou tour while in China on March 9th ? I do not recall the name of the place and interested in contacting them.

Ask Shorex. They can probably help you.

We always treat all crew members with respect, and a friendly greeting is always part of that. We steer clear of over-familiarity, but there is no harm in being pleasant towards crew.

I treat them with respect and as friends. I am way too familiar but I identify more with them than management. I like that they tell me I know more crew members by name than any other guest.

I like to find out about their lives and aspirations.

I also try to get along with officers and management. I believe that there are only two that actively dislike me and one of them pretends not to lol.

So far, a large wall/fridge magnet of the world with our route on it and a movable spot marker, a Viking folding umbrella, two sets of Viking fridge magnets, a Lindt chocolate bunny for Easter. That's about it that I can remember. :cool:

If you play Trivia(Which, according to the mantra, is only a game) they give you a buck in "funny money," which is scrip good only for Viking labeled items. So far we got two $2 t-shirts which cost $26 each but it isn't real money so no problem. We will have $54 more if we go every time.

TBT, there was once a small, consumable item left in our room from "The Big Viking in the Sky," but I think Jim is correct in his tally. Of course, we did receive a decent(I think) amount of ship credits, which could be used for basically anything: wine(our choice!), spa and shops. We did buy a couple of CD's from performers we enjoyed and toothpaste and eye drops(my miscalculation).

The woman in the next stateroom is not so happy with the ship and says that Oceania and some other company gave all kinds of perks. I don't have enough experience to know if "Wiking" is generous, stingy or in between.

Oh, also for those who boarded in Miami, they included all Cuba excursions and gave us each an extra $X as "compensation" for our not being able to dock in Havana, if that is anything.

My wife and I always laugh at “Wiking’s” claim that we should be travelers, not tourists. We have been both and cruising on a ship and visiting places in buses with guides and squawk boxes in groups of 40 seems touristy to us.

I suppose we all like to think we are travelers, but tourists are not bad people.

Don’t assume anything ! But you are correct $698 for two and it’s 10 hours long

 

 

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Right. I took it and didn't cancel and rebook for a couple of reasons: Someone whom I trust told me that it was a worthwhile trip(he or she didn't evaluate it on a cost basis). It's easier and cleaner to be on a Wiking sponsored trip as you (always/sometimes/occasionally) get back in time to sail. I really didn't know what to do with another $698 in ship's credit with less than four weeks to go. I guess I could have bought a few bottles of champagne and poured them at Happy Hour

Anyway, after 6 days at sea I guess I'll be ready for a long trek in the hot sun.

It’s not open for the public yet , soon enough .

 

 

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They gave us a handout of the itinerary which is split into two segmets: London to LA and LA to London. The 2d half is nearly an exact duplication of this cruise, only changing a few ports.

This cruise already cost more than our house, so the long long journey would cost about double!

I guess dedicated cruisers might consider it, but when I consider where I can go for that money, I won’t be joining.

After interacting with so many on this cruise, I’m beginning to understand why someone might do it, but we missed so much by being tied down for 141 days that we won’t be likely to do it again.

I usually plan our trips around cultural events, etc. but on a cruise you have to be lucky to be able to attend a performance or sporting event or even to eat in a good restaurant.

We are enjoying it on one level and don’t regret the cruise. Five weeks to go and time to recheck our schedule. What to keep and what to change will depend on various factors.

;p;):p

Don't know if you can do it but we had a buffet lunch at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on a Seabourn tour. It made me an Indian food fan. The best buffet (and maybe best food) I have ever had.

A possibility though I would prefer a local restaurant to a large hotel. We did eat at the Taj some years ago on a stay in Mumbai.

Like the Beautiful Viking Sun, hotels cater to foreigners and serve sanitized, less favourful versions of the cuisine.

OK. I feel like included excursions are like Hampton Inn breakfast. If they were wonderful, they wouldn’t be included. That said, don’t include them if they’re worthless. Yesterday we took included in KL and it was fine. Photo ops, commentary and a museum. I’m still trying to work out the last weeks of the cruise. I have to find great food in Mumbai and Goa. Indian crew members can probably help.

:cool:

Just wanted to chip in with my thanks to Jim for starting this thread. It’s such a compact way to hear about the trip from several cruisers. I’m especially pleased that Wagnerite seems to be having such a good time.;)

I generally have a good time wherever I am. Group travel has its particular problems but we knew what we signed up for and can make our own fun. I’m just sad that my Albanian crew friends left, exactly as I became fluid in eight words of their language.