Hanoj

Another thing to consider about having credit cards with you is redundancy. Just last weekend Chase alerted us to a fraudulent transaction they denied on a card we only use for travel. Once we confirmed it was not an authorized transaction, Chase terminated these cards and issued new ones that haven't yet arrived. If this happened while abroad and it was the only card we had, it would have been very inconvenient.

Unfortunate about the weather; first impressions of new destinations are greatly affected by whether there are shadows or showers. We visited Kirkwall last August with nary a cloud in the sky and high temps approaching 70 F. Consequently, we greatly enjoyed our visit. We agree the PV on Viking ships is worth the extra cost, especially for the closet configuration compared to the DV staterooms (against one side of the bed). We even considered moving up to the Penthouse Junior Suites for the extra space (and the complimentary laundry), but decided its not worth it to us. On our upcoming 14 nights cruise in October aboard Saturn, the PJS is $5,000 ($2,500 pp PS1 vs PV1) more for this cruise duration. We did the self service laundry once during our first ocean cruise and after settling on booking PV staterooms we now pay to have the laundry service. It’s worth it to us. Grateful for the available options.

Cruisemapper.com (not 100% reliable from some accounts) shows Galataport: https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/istanbul-port-71

@Softball20 , please do. We are considering this hotel/B&B for one night mid October 2024. Just looking for a clean, quiet place to lay our heads before embarking a cruise the next morning.

What fun is there in that?

Preparation for the America’s Cup Race, eh?

Let's dub the new air program "Simply Mud."🙂

Fair comment about the pool grills. My experience was biased by having an easier time avoiding a wheat allergy ordering from Oceania's grill compared to Viking, but will give Viking's grill another try on the Saturn this fall.

The quality of your photos are worth the weight of your gear around your neck! Thanks for your sacrifice.

@DrKoob - your comments about your first Viking sea day conjured up our experiences between Viking and Oceania's Vista with regard to sea days. We enjoyed our sea day on Vista more so than with Viking. There were a few more activities available on Vista (games, etc. to compete for swag) yet still on the relaxed side of things (we eschew the big ship cruise lines for similar reasons to yours) and Vista’s pickle ball and golf amenities (putt putt course and driving range) provided us with more to do. Pickle ball while cruising was played more for the laughs than anything else since the wind severely affected the ball’s trajectory. We also give a slight nod to Vista for dining on sea days over Viking. We loved the Aquamar Kitchen (nothing comparable on Viking with Mamsen’s being the closest) and liked Waves Grill on Vista better than Viking’s Pool grill. However, we preferred Viking’s Wintergarden (for afternoon tea) and World Cafe buffet to Vista’s offerings for these types of venues.

It's probably more to do with the pricing algorithms used, which includes tracking history. Sometimes it almost seems like an auction process. Dynamic pricing is euphemism for extract as much from the customer as possible.

Especially with Always Apologizing.

Are the subsidiaries wholly owned? I haven't delved into the SEC filings.

We were in 6077 on the Sea and had a partial overhang, which made framing photos a bit challenging. We heard only occasional noise from the World Cafe above. Not enough to disturb our sleep, and I have very acute hearing. We now travel with a portable rechargeable white noise machine and I suspect if we had used it then we wouldn’t have heard anything from above. This was our first PV stateroom and now prefer a PV on deck 5 away from public spaces, including elevators.

It depends? What is the definition of "jeans" these days? Historically jeans were primarily associated with the material (denim and rivets). Now days "jeans" have a broader range in both materials and styling. Some consider all five pocket style of pants to be jeans, regardless of material and styling, but in some cases the only difference between these and chinos is the styling, especially in pockets design. The materials and colors can be identical; only the styling is different. It is interesting to note that chinos are widely accepted as casual dinner attire, but this is not their origin. The name is derived from the Spanish word for Chinese pants. Originally these were made in China in a style with reduced fabrics, slimmer fit, lack of pleats, without the "bells and whistles" of more elegant garments. The original connotation was a cheap trouser. It will probably remain a bone of contention until "jeans" is defined. Until it is, I will continue to wear five pocket style pants (but not in any color of denim and without rivets) since this style of pants fits me better and is more comfortable. It is also generally accepted as business casual and country club casual, which I consider synonymous with "elegant casual."

Very Socratic of you (knowing yourselves = wisdom). My wife and I are still discovering our travel preferences. I’m the planner and she’s more comfortable winging things. Just last week we booked Viking’s Grand European from Budapest to Amsterdam for early November 2024. We did a Rhine cruise with Viking in 2017 and two ocean cruises before a third was canceled in May 2020. All were very good cruises. Haven’t sailed with Viking in 5 years and reading comments about Viking “warehousing” pax and eschewing cancelations in favor of extended bus tours has me nonplussed. DW is fine with the possibility of Viking’s approach should our itinerary experience similar disruptions. It seems Viking’s approach with river cruise disruptions is more problematic than with their ocean cruises, and perhaps less customer focused than Avalon?

Glad we have been following this thread. We used VM5 by having our TA make a 72 hour hold reservation on May 31 for a November 2024 GET river cruise. Price with EBD and the Summer Solstice Sale went up $1,700 pp for our sailing. So we confirmed the booking today and made payment by e-check.

Obviously the booking terms and or ticket contract must allow for this. Exemplary customer service, which this was not, entails communication with a passenger before embarkation and permitting declining the upgrade, which most likely was offered for Viking’s convenience. The surprise evoked from the Guest Services manager demonstrates an increasing disconnect between customers and travel/hospitality industry service providers. An important attribute of luxury is the ability to choose among available options according to what is most relevant to the customer. Clearly this was not “free” to @SantaFe1 as there were significant costs borne by the diminished experience compared to expectations when the PV stateroom was booked. Another disturbing trend, becoming more prevalent among luxury and premium cruise lines, is operators deflecting complaints (including using insults and shaming), and not offering or even denying recompense, by asserting the terms & conditions, etc. The “trust” that commonly exceeded minimum expectations contained in legal contracts appears to be eroding. Caveat emptor, though of ancient origin, remains ever valid.

After the cuts it will be interesting if the company has a recognizable “face.” Is “sacred cows” euphemism for lopping ears or nose despite . . . ?

There was a payment kiosk at the first stop towards Edinburgh from the Newhaven terminal. It was a shortish walk (about 5 minutes). We were in the first tender and made shore well in advance of the first shuttle departure. Also, I had researched the public transportation options (it is often easier to find this information than it is for the ship’s free shuttles) and had mapped our general itinerary for the day. Trams also normally reach stops in shorter duration than shuttles/busses due to traffic controls.

Edinburgh was one of our favorite port visits in August 2023. We took the tram from Newhaven to St. Andrew Square where we returned after visiting the castle, parts of the Royal Mile and both old and new town. Edinburgh Festival Fringe was underway and we saw several street performances. We enjoyed Edinburgh. One interesting contrast remains vivid in my memory when we first stepped of the tram, as shown in this photo. I wasn’t sure which I should buy first, a bus ticket or a designer bag.🤔 Using the tram was convenient and inexpensive.

A November ‘24 West Indies Explorer sailing with free air is $4,699 pp (PV2, the lowest PV for which I can select a stateroom). A November ‘25 sailing in the same category (though PV3 is available for self select stateroom) on the same ship (Sea) is $4,399 pp (after $500 off for current sale) but the economy air is $999 pp. Total cruise with air is $9,398 in ‘24 compared to $10,796 in ‘25. I prefer the cruise only fares discount to the included free air pricing approach (if it’s free the consumer is the product 🧐) as we fly business/first and want greater flexibility choosing flights, though foregoing included transfers adds costs.

Have you logged onto to your MVJ account? From reading past comments, I believe you may have some ability to select other flights with Viking Air through your MVJ account.

I’ve read, and experienced, that using a vpn can result in 404 type errors with some servers.

This comparison may be more apropos. I suggested Jaguar for its appearance of luxury but needing inordinate shop time, at least that was the impression many years ago when friends of ours operated a foreign car specialist repair and service shop in Seattle. Seems Bill Russell always had a Jag in the shop when I visited. Perhaps analogous to O’s inexplicable (as indicated by dubious communications, or lack of reason) port cancellations and itinerary changes (shortened stays).