Mich3554

Our first TA, we arrived in Lisbon without our luggage. As we had never been to Lisbon before, we chose to arrive 3 days early. Our luggage did show up before we left, but DH and I had a plan that if it didn’t arrive by a certain time, we were going to need to do some shopping. I halfway expected our luggage not to make our flight, as we had a horribly tight connection in AMS as our flight was nearly 2 hours late getting in. On that cruise, our next stop was the Azores, then nothing until Bermuda.

We met a cruiser on our last ocean cruise whose luggage was lost and she was on the trans Atlantic from Barcelona to Buenos Aires. She did try to go shopping, but as she was a larger woman she didn’t find much she could wear that fit in Barcelona. Between what she was able to find, and what other women on the cruise loaned her, she managed to make do.

I saw some similar on Amazon. Same shape, but rather than all having blue bottoms there was a variety of colors.

From my understanding, as the Falklands is a tender port, that chances of getting there is about 50%. We made it, but the cruise after us and the one before us did not. As I remember it, we had the worst weather attempting to go around the Horn on that cruise. The captain started and did a U turn and took us back through the Beagle channel (I think this one). The following trip (we did this twice in both directions, once before and once during Covid) we lost Falklands, but made it around the Horn. Second sailing was much calmer than the first.

We are acquiring a collection of pouches flying business class. Delta’s are supplied by Tumi.

In reality, keeping to one’s self might be a result of Covid rather than sociability. I noticed this was true on our last few cruises, that many were trying to keep their own bubble within the ship. We pretty much did it on our last river cruise, to try to minimize the likelihood of getting booted off.

No pouches on any cruise since the one we took in 2019-20. We are getting a collection of luggage tags too.

We recently had access to laundry services on a river cruise and I have to admit I really do like this perk more than anything. I have to see if I like it enough to start upgrading from our standard PV.

Yes. Our only B2B2B cases were at the last stop. On our river cruise last month, there were 2 positives that popped up the first 3 days, then no more.

It’s really hard to know exactly what or why someone gets Covid, and someone doesn’t. A few weeks ago, I was exposed to my (unvaccinated) sister who had an active case of Covid. She tested positive and wasn’t feeling well. We spent about 48 hours together eating, drinking and talking. Both DH and I are vaccinated and boosted. Both of us figured if we were going to get it, it would be here. It has been 5 months since we were boosted. Nothing. We did isolate from people on the off chance we could carry it to more vulnerable people, but both of us remained well.

I bring a lingerie bag to put underwear and socks in to wash. I came back to my cabin after emptying the dryer to find I was missing the mates of 4 pair of socks. I only brought 6 pair, so this was a problem. Luckily, no one had gone into the dryer I just vacated, so 8 found them all. Next trip, I’m bringing a couple hooks to hang wet coats on to let them dry out before returning to closet.

No discussion of gratuities, that wasn’t the subject. Viking was looking for ways to enhance their services. This included different routes, new and different types of excursions, possibility of themed cruises (wine tasting, music, etc).

I’m thinking flights is the big source. On the river cruise we just got off of, there were 4 removed, one couple the first day and another the third. After that, none. It seems that the river cruise seems to be adjusting testing to results, it’s looking like if the first several days are Covid free, the rest of the trip goes untested. If there are cases the first few days, they continue to test.

It depends on the port. I was recently asked to be in a Viking focus group, wanting to know what Viking could do to enhance our experiences. One of the comments I made was that it would be useful when we received our final e documents to know which ports a shuttle would be provided in. The comment was very well received, so am curious if Viking complies. However, what I have seen is that many pay no attention to the information that is provided to them in their e documents.

If you are concerned about getting ticketed in business class, you can always book your own seats. We flew AeroMexico out of Seattle to Santiago, out of Buenos Aires back a few years ago. We had fabulous connections through Mexico City, the service in business was comparable to anyone else and it was about $2500pp less than what Viking quoted us for flights to South America. We had no problem getting to/from airports on our own. We hired a tour guide to take us to wineries, and he dropped us off at the ship in Valparaiso. We did Iguazu Falls on our own, spending time in BA too. Our hotel arranged for transit to the airport. When you book on your own, you have control. The other side of the coin is that if a problem arises, you get to deal with it, not Viking. I’m ok with that, but others may not be comfortable.

YMMV. We were on a 54 day ocean cruise last Nov and Dec (actually, 3 cruises). Positive results were announced. We recently got off a river cruise a few weeks ago. Again, positive cases were announced, we lost 4/140 on that cruise. So our experience does not mirror your’s.

All of this. Our cruise last month, we were booked through Viking Air. We stayed in Amsterdam on our own a few days, and expected to need to get ourselves to the ship under our own power. We have only once found Viking transfers to make sense, and the situation was unique. It was when we were getting off in Valparaiso, and needed to catch a flight out of Santiago the following day. It was a couple hour drive from Valparaiso to Santiago and we had OBC that we needed to eat or lose. Viking offered a private driver to take us to our hotel. It wasn’t cheap but it ate up the rest of our credits,

Here’s a copy of the back of the Viking Daily. All times are listed.

Viking is needing to respond to airline cancellations. They cannot control airline schedule changes, only inform you of them.

We pick a combination of included and optional, depending on interests. Occasionally, DH and I go in different directions, but usually we like the same things. There have always been optional excursions that have interested us. Not in every port, but in many. Sometimes it is difficult to choose. We tend to book as soon as they show up on MVJ, because there is a risk they’ll be full/sold out. Yes, you need to pay when booked.

You will have nearly 6 months!

I thought we were of the one and done variety too (even though we are 202 days from our first one). But now I wonder……. A few years ago, I asked my Viking rep to let me know when the 2024 cruises drop because that was DH’s anticipated retirement. Covid happened, so did early retirement so we scheduled for 2022-23. However, my rep called me to let me know that the later cruises had dropped. Rather than thank my rep for remembering my request, DH wanted to know the itinerary. My best guess is that had the itinerary been a little different, we’d be scheduled for a second world cruise. I may have created a monster!

DH had the exact thing happen with his pair of Merrill’s when we were in Uruguay, and another 18 days left of the cruise. We went shoe shopping in Punta del Este, and his shoes disappeared. Our cabin steward took them away and repaired them, good as new. Not gonna mention that DH had bought a 2 brand new pair 2 months before we sailed on this 54 day cruise, and brought the 15 year old pair of shoes instead! I guess I did!

This is an awesome cruise. We did it twice (both directions) and would do it again.