TayanaLorna

Enjoying this very much. Thank you. I like how you are including the Dailies, menus and photos from the same day/location. It gives a continuity to the photo journal. I also like your technique of showing a photo or two along with your comments and posting it as an individual item.

Aw man, my mom made the best poppyseed (also walnut) strudel!

The parking area is just after the dock. There is just a bit of an up from the dock and then fairly level as I recall. Cannot use a scooter, wheelchair or rolling walker at Volunteer Point and there is a bit of walking to see the penguins. Most of the ride to get there is in a 4 wheel drive vehicle off road through bumpy terrain. Not even recommended for those with back issues.

Wow, you went outside to the Horn. The Jupiter sailings went from Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel, completely around the Horn then off to the Falklands. Like Deec said, we would consider doing this cruise in the future. We wished we had more time in Patagonia. Great job. Have a safe trip home.

After our shipped docked at Punta Arenas we had winds of 100 kph. Passengers could not walk on dock from terminal to ship, they used an 18 person mini bus. I was walking in town after an excursion and held on to the ropes along the sidewalks installed for the high winds. Unfortunately they ended at the corners where a person needed to cross the street. I wrapped my arms around a traffic light as it changed several times before a local man offered an arm to hold on to. He helped me get back to the terminal as i could not stand on my own when the gusts came. Aparently Punta Arenas and the Straits of Magellan are known for fierce winds. It took 2-3 tugboats to get the Jupiter off the dock.

You are right. It looks like the Hourly Forecast of 45 F is correct but the Now and 5-Day one can no way be C.

Yes it is definitely champagne in the PV. Each time we had a PV it was a different kind but never the Verve Cliquot.

Champagne is also on the drinks menu and it is from France and much higher in price per glass then sparkling wine or Proseco. The champagne by the glass was also higher priced then the limit per drink on the old SSBP. I think now there is a champagne by the glass at $18 which is the limit per drink of the new SSBP. Right Kent?

I have been following along mostly silently with your amazing cruise reporting and photos. The lecture topics have been outstanding. Although we loved our 2020 Chilean Fjords, Patagonia and Round Cape Horn cruise, I was very disappointed the the lecture topics. With the exception of a talk on whales, there were no lectures about the amazingly diverse floristic zones or the flora and fauna, there was no mention of the indigenous peoples or the 3 different tribes that populated the horn and Tierra del Fuego area. I see a Viking Daily is highlighting the Yamana. There was no mention of the sailing through glacier alley in the Beagle Channel so most passengers missed it by not getting up early enough. I was so glad we purchased and read Rounding the Horn and gotten a wildlife guide which thoroughly covered the flora and fauna. Also fun to have was the Patagonian & Fuegian Channels Chilean Fjords Cruise Chart up on our stateroom wall which gave much more detail then the Viking TV map. Think we have to return for an Expedition cruise. Thank you for the time you are taking to document your wonderful trip.

Thank you. This description of what happens is very helpful. We usually put our phone on airplane mode for our entire travels on board and have no need to talk to anyone. But our next holiday is a combo of land travel on both ends of the cruise and will most likely use the $10 day plan at times.

And on cruises with sea days...massages...ooo la la.

Only place I ever saw an optional photography excursion was in Barbados this year. It was excellent and i would like Viking to do more...but as others are suggesting, there is a private option.

There should be tons of choices - Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage, 50 and 90(?) minutes, different kinds of facials and body wraps and combinations of all of the above EVEN if times are fully booked. Usually you click on a treatment then day to see times available. If no times, then you know its fully booked. The hair and nail treatments have never been on MVJ to see choices or book in advance. Just go to Spa desk to find out.

We have seen the brand of bottled water given out change with region and the brand change within the same cruise. Sometimes its spring water and sometimes purified. Its free. You might be able to get Perrier or San Pellegrino at a bar but you will pay for it. We have our own natural spring fed water system at our house so i am surprised how good the caraf water in the cabin tastes. To save on plastic pollution we pour that water into our own bottles.

I saw a UTube video on this new ship and found it very interesting. Did not see an itinerary we would want but haven't looked since launch.

In 2018 on our first Viking Ocean the sugggested gratuity was $15.00 pp. It was automatically added however we would receive notice in MVJ. The notice was something like - check your on board account and advise Guest Services if there are any changes/errors as the credit card you registered on board will be charged on X date. On our 2023 VO cruise, the suggested gratuity rose to $17.00 pp with the same type of notice.

You may wish to try a Barcelona to San Juan TA or vice versa. We did it and had Barcelona, Valencia, Cadiz, Gilbrator instead of Casablanca because Morocco was still Covid closed, Maderia, St. Martin and San Juan. There were sea days between some ports but only 5 sea days to cross the Atlantic. We love being at sea and really enjoy the ship. I think it was our only cruise where we had the time to enjoy sitting out on the deck 8 loungers and reading.

Like others are saying, you can switch out the 4 little alcohol bottles to your choice. Just ask your room steward when you check in. You can also ask for an ice bucket to be delivered at a specific time each day. On our cruises, the little gin bottle was Tanguery. If you like a different gin, bring your own bottle.

It is good to see you 2. Museum looks fascinating. Far up in the mountains of Puerto Rico there is a small Cemi museum. It contains artifacts with similar motifs. There are several pre colombian archeological sites of the Taino indigenous that most visitors to PR never see.

Hmmm...this sounds like Viking is eliminating Viking Air Plus (where you pay an additional fee and are able to work with an agent to get the flights you want before 90 days) not Viking Air. Being able to see a list of what is available 3 months out and choosing from that list is nice IF you want to wait that long. Sounds like Air Plus will be limited to friends/family traveling together who want to be on the same flights. Last time we booked a Viking cruise was last May and Viking Air, Air Plus and Deviation were still offered.

We do know someone that was given an upgrade from DV to PV but it was on a fairly empty repositioning cruise. However twice we have purchased a last minute upgrade. It was a week or less before the cruise and we received an email offer to upgrade from DV to PV. Once the offer was $399 per person, the second time was $199 pp. We jumped on it both times as original difference between the cabin categories was between $800 and $1200 pp. First time we got a PV 1, second time a PV2.

We did a 2 day pre with Viking in Barcelona. Arrival time was too late to do anything except dinner. Second day we used Barcelona Day Tours for an all day private excursion. We saw and stopped for photos of all Gaudi's structures as I am a fan, went to Montserrat Abbey, toured La Sagrada Familia with Skip the Line tickets and an audio guide, toured Parc Gruell. Embarkation day we were out of our hotel rooms and off on a Viking excursion for the morning reaching the ship around 1 pm. Viking provided a shuttle which dropped people off at the head of the Ramblas. Our cruise left that night.

I know someone on board and told them about it.

Not on Viking Ocean. I bring my pair of collapsable ones.

I read about it with regards to Norwegian on Cruise Hive or something like that recently but that's it.