millybess

There’s this and then there’s that. We are on the TA from SJU to BCN. So: Lots of communication problems in SJ as we were boarding. messybill had to call the Viking number, otherwise we all wouldn’t have been able to board until 2pm, according to the security people. Eventually someone from Viking came down with the correct information. Noon announcements are being broadcast directly into our cabin. Chef’s Table was really good on our first night — Asian Panorama. Unusually, we didn’t cancel the rest and are looking forward to trying them out. On our first 2 cruises all staff knew our cabin number after day 1 or day 2. This time there is not one staff member — restaurant, bar, etc. — who remembers our cabin number. Good news: we are back on board the Viking Sea in May and we will have the same steward — Earl. He is phenomenal. The best steward we have had since Clark on the Baltic cruise. Machines in the gym are always available. We don’t know the number of passengers

So after this discussion we cancelled luggage forward last night for our trip in May. As luck would have it, we will be in Barcelona at the end of our Viking TA this month. So this morning we emailed the hotel in Barcelona where we will be staying before we board the Viking Sea again in mid-May and they will happily keep our bags for us until we return. We offered to pay for this service, but they said they would do it free of charge. So once we're off the ship on March 28th, we'll have to dash to the hotel and then to the airport to catch an 11:15 a.m. flight to London. Hope it's doable! We are leaving on Monday so we are already packed for the TA, but now I think I need to repack keeping in mind our May Med cruises. Thanks to all here for chiming in on this discussion.

At which airport?

Thanks a lot for this SantaFe1, as I know you have used them many times in the past with great success. Does anyone know if there's an alternative? One where you can track your own luggage?

Thanks for this. IMO what they really need is to get with the times and allow AirTags. I agree with bookbabe, there must be a reason for that.

I agree with you. On their website they say they will provide the "most updated" tracking information. As much as I don't want to send our luggage forward, we might have to bite the bullet on this one for our trip in May because we'll be spending 10 days before the cruise departs Barcelona driving and taking the train around the Galicia region and Madrid.

We have booked this excursion with Viking out of Zadar: Krka National Park & Dubrava Falconry Center It is from 8:30-3:30 and the ship departs Zadar at 4:00. I think it is just less than an hour from the port.

You are right. I just read their Terms of Service and they specifically mention no AirTags. That's disappointing

Were you travelling between 2 countries? Or within the US?

Thanks. We've spent time in San Juan on a few occasions so we are flying in the day of embarkation and out the day of disembarkation. We were going to go with Viking Air for the first time ever, but we found a better deal and for only a few $$$ more, we can fly first class.

bookbabe, did you have Viking Air as well as the transfers? What flights did you take to San Juan from TO. San Juan has become a rather difficult place to get to from here. We are looking at an early flight with a stop in Charlotte and a return flight with a stop in Chicago which gets us back here late afternoon.

Or which ones did you enjoy, especially at Chef’s Table?

You do need permission to do this. For our trip in May we are off the ship for 2 nights. At first, Viking said no, but our TA persisted and we eventually got permission.

Thank you. I saw that. It seems it was included with other massages. It sounded really nice and relaxing, so I went to MVJ to see if I could book just the scalp massage. I don't see that listed on its own, without a deep tissue or Swedish massage. I was just wondering if anyone has been able to book a scalp massage on its own.

When I look at MVJ, I see something called a Nordic Restart which includes the scalp massage and a deep tissue massage. Has anyone booked just a Nordic Scalp Ritual? That sounds very nice! If yes, I assume they wash and style your hair afterwards?

Yes, I'm aware of this. I like Vineyard View's point of view. 🙂

Our group was 2 in Manfredi's and our experience was pre-covid. We've done 1 post-covid cruise and the SSBP wines by the glass were to our liking so we didn't ask for a bottle of something else to be opened. We cruise again on the 15th and they gave us the SSBP to compensate us for a different issue, so we will see if we run into the lack of good wine situation again. We usually buy the SSBP. Some days we get our money's worth, other days not, so it might be a breakeven sort of thing for us. The reason we buy it is because we really dislike the idea of nickel and diming at the end of a trip. DH would just pay the bill. I would be the person that said "Well, wait a minute. I'm not sure I had a mojito after that excursion". It just saves us a hassle.

As in any good restaurant, the best wine is by the bottle. However, on Viking, they have opened the good bottle and given us a glass each at dinner. We didn’t have to buy the bottle.

Haha! You are right. Not even in May in Norway.

We also feel this way. We like to eat around 6:00 and often that is the time of the sail away. Eating outside with food from the buffet during that time suits us well. 😊

Excellent! Reminds me of my 6 weeks in the ulpan: schmaltzes shmooze schmancy (as in fancy schmancy) I could go on and on. Now I want to do a Wordle.

We are going on the “Venetian Islands, Murano and Burano” Viking excursion during our cruise in May. The description reads “Meet your local guide and take a leisurely cruise from Chioggia, passing St. Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace”, although it doesn’t say how you return to the ship. Does anyone know if the return is on a bus from Venice back to Chioggia or is the return also a cruise?

We always use e-cheque for excursions. We have cancelled some and the refund is in our bank account within a couple of days.

So, do other cruise lines do this differently?

Yes, us too. I misunderstood what he was referring to. However, is it unusual to pay 3 months out for excursions? We’ve only cruised with Viking, so we just thought that was the norm. Do other lines do it differently?