JM0115

57 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Jim,  your right. I have posted a picture or two in the past. For anyone who wants to drive themselves crazy trying to find them here using the CC search function, I probably posted then in 2017 or '18.

 

In the meantime, after I'm done burning dinner, I will look for them and post them here. I will say that dress ran the gamut from casual to fancy but I don't know that I remember seeing anyone in a tux..

Thank you. I know that you can wear whatever you want other than jeans but I would actually like to get a bit dressed up. Look forward to seeing your pics. Hope dinner was nice🙂. Happy New Year!

On 8/15/2020 at 9:46 PM, just_dont said:

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the reservation desk (at the port-side entrance to the World Cafe), which will likely have a line on boarding day, you can use the Viking app to make reservations as soon as you have connected to the ship's WiFi.

 

Good point about mentioning special occasions. My DW and I both celebrated birthdays on our cruise. After dinner for the first birthday, we were presented with a lovely cake for dessert. After dinner for the second birthday, we were too full for dessert, and they delivered the cake to our cabin.

Also, there are two private dining rooms, with the other one off of Manfredi's.

 

One other tidbit. On sea days, there will be a cooking class in The Kitchen Table around lunchtime, where you will be taught by one of the head chefs and actually participate in the preparation and cooking of a meal, which you will then enjoy with the other dozen or so others who sign up, and may be able to take a tour through the galley (maybe not post-pandemic, though). There is a nominal charge, but it was a wonderfully unique opportunity. I hope this sort of special event doesn't go away due to the virus.

 

And don't hesitate to ask for special services. The staff goes out of their way to be accommodating. We had a full-day private excursion planned in Edinburgh. The night before we arrived there, they changed the back on board time, moving it up an hour, and due to a fairly long tender, the last tender was 45 minutes earlier than that. Normally they reserve the first tender for pax on ship's excursions, but we mentioned our concern to Guest Services, and they made sure we were able to get on the first tender.

 

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Do you have to sign up for cooking classes before you embark or can you do so while you are on the ship?

Peregrina651 - Happy New Year.  Do you have any pictures you can share of NYE on a Viking Ship to get an idea of what people were wearing? We are looking forward to NYE on the WC in one year!  I think I saw one picture from you before but if you have more that would be great!  Thank you,  Jim  

3 hours ago, tgetz said:

Our last world cruise was 128 day and had cold weather, hot weather, and an African safari. We were in a Neptune Suite on Holland and since luggage shipping each way was covered we took- please don't laugh, but total of 17 bags. One bag was just our formal wear, which we won't need this trip. One bag was a case of wine for my husband- he loves his wine. Won't need that this trip.  One bag was scuba gear, not sure about that yet. One bag was for the safari, not doing that and I took way more than I needed of cosmetics and stuff. Really hope to take way less this time. But I will say I had everything I could possibly want. 🙂 My packing list was three pages two columns' on each.. Now you can laugh at  me.  I even took 2 fold up hammocks which were great for extra storage and more chairs in our cabin. We do like to entertain. Thanks for your help

Wow! Thank you for the entertainment value! I don’t think I OWN 17 bags worth of clothing! We are going to take 2 carryons and one large which we are preshipping. 

48 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

 
We have been on a Viking cruise during 2 Christmases.  One was a (much cheaper) trans Atlantic from Lisbon to Miami.  I think this was 12 days.  Last year, it was an 18 day cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires.   Last year’s cruise was a last minute purchase, so was highly discounted from published fares.
 

 

Where did you eat on Christmas and how was it?

18 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

I’ve been thinking about this all day.  Next Christmas Eve on the Star, in the Explorer’s Lounge for a glass of good champagne, then hopefully off to Manfredi’s for dinner!  
Merry Christmas, everyone!  And happy other holidays to all who celebrate them at this, usually, festive time!

Hopefully next year!  Happy Holidays to all!

Andy, we will miss you on the Star WC roll calls!

Thanks for your help today. Purchased my insurance. Now just have to wait for 2 1/2 years!

Our cruise is not until 2023 but deposit date was Dec 9 2020. I am looking at only medical and evacuation coverage (put down $0 cost for the trip).  Is there any advantage and what are they to buying now (within 14 days of deposit) or should I just wait until closer to the trip date?  I believe the only advantage to buying now may be waiver of pre-existing conditions - is this the case?

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Dont know of a list but our PV1 6072 on port side had the bed positioned with feet facing forward and our heads aft.  In a DV4 4028 on port side our heads were forward and our feet were aft.  Neither way felt much different to us.  We did have 25-30 seas in the Southern Ocean and any motion felt was slightly side to side.  Was was more noticable was the sound of waves on tbe hull and a brief shuddering motion.  But then we don't get seasick.  The cabin doors are generally grouped in twos.  So every other cabin will have alternating bed positioning.

Thanks TayanaLorna.  It's good to have the confirmation that you could not tell the difference. That is what I thought but thank you for the confirmation.

3 minutes ago, mkerner said:

Looks like a pretty solid policy.  What are your thoughts?

I believe that Viking will set the example to the industry for what to do. The guidelines are what I expected from them and I think it is a solid policy. 

Is there a list or place to go to find out which staterooms face forward (as you sleep your feet in your bed face forward)?  Particularly, which PV staterooms face forward.  For everyone, the beds are against the wall in alternating fashion so approximately half of the beds face backwards and half face forwards but I am not sure which ones are which?

42 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

I did my best to answer it.

Thank you for your answer!

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but here goes:  I know which PV cabins have sliders instead of the window and door but which ones of those are forward (when sleeping) facing while you are in bed - with your feet going towards the front of the ship?  

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Very informative program.

 

If anyone has any questions arising from watching the program on the Bridge, Galley or ECR, I can try to answer, since we received some great tours on the Sun when only 8 of us remained aboard.

Thank you Andy.  I thought the program was well done and informative. I really liked the galley(s) portion- so clean!  

Interesting to see how this affects their schedule!

Ok . .the effort didn't take as long as I thought it would.  Took the chance that since I checked over everything for 2021 and 2022 last week when I posted the update for Mars, all I needed to do was add new stuff.  Checked things over again anyway a little just to be sure.  And yes .. even tho now the point is moot .. discovered I had changed the name of the file for the 2020 to 2022 version when I posted its update last week.  So.. apologies to those who already have the sheet and were surprised when they couldn't download the latest version using the link provided. Anyway -- the new version is for 2021 to 2023. The direct link to it in DropBox is https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk0llty8bgubssk/Viking Ocean Cruises (2021 to 2023).xlsm?dl=0. Instructions for how to use it along with the link to download updated version of it are provided in the ReadMe tab.
 
In terms of ship schedules:  Sun is still only scheduled through Sept 2021; Mars & Star through September 2022; Jupiter, Sea & Sky through July 2023; and Orion & Venus through August 2023.  Referring to the discussion underway elsewhere regarding the Venus (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2743308-viking-venus-what-is-the-status-of-her-build/), we are booked on the Venus next Summer for Into the Midnight Sun departing 12 July (at the urging of some folks here in CCForum, shifted our booking from the Star departing 1 July 2021).  So .. we too .. are making some assumptions about the readiness of Venus (and other things).  Oh well.. 
 

The galley will also prepare special meals for groups. We had a curry night once per month, which had reached 90 attending. We met in Torshavn for pre-dinner drinks, then the group headed to the MDR, where they had a section set aside. They curries were served family style.

 
 
BUT, if you aren't heading to the airport but are planning on taking the train to Oslo (the ride is said to be magnificent) then maybe you want a hotel that is closer to the train station. If, you have never been to Norway, why rush to leave?

Just watched Mighty Cruise Ships episode on the Viking Sea.  Really makes me grateful for the time spent at sea with Viking.  Certainly hoping to get back aboard.[emoji41]

7 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Attached is something I've prepared which you might find useful in the context of this discussion.  And .. no .. I didn't do it especially for this thread.  I did it a while ago.  This is an extract from two spreadsheets that cover the entire Viking fleet -- river, ocean, and expedition -- and capture the physical characteristics of Viking's various ship classes including the cabin class placement (Viking Ship Classes) and then the features/amenities of each cabin class presented side-by-side (Viking Ocean Cabin Class Features).  In the case of the latter, I've done a similar thing for all the other Viking ship classes; this was extracted from one tab of a much larger spreadsheet I keep thinking I should post to DropBox and add to my list of "Resources Available".

Viking Ship Classes.pdf 62.79 kB · 1 download Viking Ocean Cabin Class Features.pdf 50.31 kB · 2 downloads

Very nice!  I especially like the Ocean Cabin Class Features! Thank you!

3 minutes ago, just_dont said:

I agree it's personal preference, but we enjoyed having a window rather than a wall next to the sofa, enabling a less obstructed view from there.
To each his/her own.

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I think it is amazing how much discussion and interest there is in this topic! I certainly have enjoyed the discussion. I was wondering why Viking designed the staterooms like this? Why do some rooms have doors and some have sliders? Is it a structural artifact - that they had to do this for the structure of the vessel?  The reason I ask, is that when you have choices someone is going to end up dissappointed that they did not get the other choice. So if it was up to me, I would make all the staterooms pretty much the same.

I wish Viking would provide transportation from airport the day or two before embarkation if you do NOT choose to do their pre-cruise which is usually quite$$$.  Transferring to the port can be costly.

There are mirrored pairs of PV sliders alternating with mirrored pairs of PV swing-outs. It will be the same on both sides of the ship. The specifics will be different on decks 4, 5 and 6 due to the relative location of the 'first' cabin on each deck because of the angled front of the ship. However, all PV cabins are identical with regard to amenities and size.
We were in 5021, PV2 with door, Starboard side forward, and felt it was a great location. Our room was such that our feet pointed toward the bow when lying in bed. The mirrored cabin next to us (5019) would have also had a door, but with feet facing the stern. On the other side (5023) would have been a slider, probably with feet facing the stern, followed by its mirror (5025), a slider with feet facing the bow. You get the idea.
Our cabin was a short distance ahead of the forward elevators, despite the Deck Plan showing it being right across from them.
We were two flights up to the Explorer's Lounge and Mamsen's on the same side, or aft to the Wintergarden, pool and World Cafe. Three flights down to the Theater on the same side, or aft to the shops and Torshaven, or all the way aft to the Restaurant. Four flights down to the Spa on the same side or aft to the Living Room and specialty restaurants.
I felt it was a perfect location. However, I imagine everyone gets the sense that their cabin is in the perfect location, because the layout of the whole ship is extremely convenient, and being a small ship, nothing is very far away.
I stressed unnecessarily about the location and the fact that our cabin was going to have a door instead of a slider. In the end, it just really didn't matter. At all.
If you want to avoid the possibility of noise from above or below, anywhere on deck 4 or 5 would be perfect.
 
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8 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Hi JM0115 -

Semantics semantics....

I have not heard of either PV version (Sliders or Window/Doors) being referred to as "Standard PV".

There are 16 PV3's (all on 4th deck); 40 PV2's (24 on 5th deck, 16 of 6th deck); 48 PV1's (24 on 5th deck; 24 on 6th deck) for a total of 104 PV Penthouse Veranda Staterooms.

There are also exactly 52 PV's with Sliders and 52 PV's with Door/Windows.

Doesn't sound like any "standard"

 

Very detailed information!  Again, it was a semantic error on my part when I said "standard"!

I believe I know the answer, but please confirm that there is no difference in the rooms between PV1, PV2, and PV3 other than what you wrote above?  All the PVs have the same amenities...?