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@dreamercruise I can't thank you enough for your recommendations based on personal and practical experience, as well as going out of your way to provide additional follow up information about the prescription scuba mask. Based on your comments on the Great Barrier Reef excursion, I'm definitely going to spring for the guided tour upgrade. I did a bit of poking around on the getwetstore.com site. They offer some reasonable prices. It looks like I might need to upscale for a prescription which accounts for an astigmatism. I'm still investigating. Best regards and thank you again.

@stretchcruz THANK YOU so much for the information on the full face snorkeling masks, including the link and letting me know about prescription masks. I'm checking them out to see what might work. I'll be checking with them to see if they can do a special grind on the lens to account for an astigmatism. I hope you enjoy your upcoming Hawaii/French Polynesia cruise, as you know our WC will be making stops at some of the same ports.

@mbviking2023 Mike, We're planning on going on this Great Adventures excursion to the the Outer Banks of the Great Barrier Reef/ Green Island during our upcoming WC aboard the Sky. I'm hoping that you can help with a couple of questions I have: In the photos of you and Becky, you appear to be wearing a full face mask rather than the normal snorkel mask which just covers your eyes and nose. Was the full-face mask something that Great Adventures provided or were those masks that you and Becky brought yourselves? I wear eye glasses and was wondering if the full-face mask might better accommodate me wearing my glasses while submerged. Secondly, I know that you mentioned that you booked this excursion through Viator. Did your booking include the Guided Snorkel Tour or were you doing the "basic" snorkeling which is included in their standard package? I'm not an experienced snorkeler or diver, so I'm inclined to upgrade to the Guided Snorkel Tour so as to make the most of this once in a lifetime experience. @dreamercruise While you were on this third party excursion, did you add on the Guided Snorkel Tour? If not, would you be inclined to recommend other to in order to see more than they might otherwise?

Mike & Becky... Thank you so very much for posting the photos and video clips of the Kecak Dance at the Uluwatu Temple in your blog. I so very much enjoyed your summary of the story behind the Kecak Dance. I'll take to heart the following advice you posted: "There are certain things to do if you are in certain parts of the world, right? If you pass through Northeastern Australia, try to snorkel or scuba at the Great Barrier Reef. If you get to Bali, make plans to go the Uluwatu Temple at sunset and watch the Kecak Dance."

I absolutely love the photos 📷 you've posted. They are FANTASTIC. You really have an eye 👀 for capturing the moment as well as views which make me almost feel as though I was there with you. Thank you for sharing. 🐨

After reading through the WC blogs and seeing mention that it was a 15 minute walk to the seating area to watch the little penguins on Phillip Island, and considering that there are passengers with mobility limitations, I was wondering how accommodating the path to the seating area is for those with mobility limitations? e.g., Does the path have railings? Are there benches to rest along the way? Does the path accommodate mobility scooters? What type of shoes are recommended for the trek?

A bit more detail on updated Offer TAS23: https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/ocean/TAS23/20230123 Offer TAS23: Offer valid on bookings made from Feb 10 to Feb 17, 2023. Free upgrade within category, Veranda to Deluxe Veranda (V2-DV1) and Penthouse Veranda (PV3-PV1) plus free roundtrip airfare and complimentary Silver Spirits Beverage Package valid on Mar 21, 2023 departure of Atlantic Ocean Passage; Mar 15, 2023 departure of West Indies to Spain; Mar 2 & 21, 2023 departures of Komodo & the Australian Coast; Apr 29, 2023 departure of North Pacific Passage; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Southern Atlantic Crossing; Apr 18, 2023 departure of Across the Bay of Bengal. Call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Feb 17, 2023; pay in full at time of booking. Offer expires Feb 17, 2023.

When we took the 3 1/2 hour included "Ancient Olympia" excursion in March 22, 2022, after the commute to the site, walking from the parking lot, obtaining our tickets and getting through the gate, we had a little over 2 hours to tour the archeological ruins, explore the museum (museum ticket was included), and visit the shops near the parking lot, before we were to be back at the bus. The first hour or so was guided before we had free time. I really had to rush in order to make my way to the museum. Most of the Viking guests did not make it to the museum. It was a bit of a trek, but well worth it to see the sculptures and other artifacts. My time estimates were based on time stamp metadata for the photos I took during the excursion. Given the scope of the archeological site and museum, I felt the Viking included excursion was very good. Both the Viking Star and Viking Sky were visiting Olympia on that day and so it was probably more crowded than usual. I have the impression that all of the local guides provided similar tours of the site. I'm guessing that a private tour would be similar in nature, but the guide may escort you to the museum. If my recollection is correct, in many of the museums, guides are not allowed to escort you inside of the museums and provide commentary within the confines of the museum. We had visited the Olympia archeological site as part of a smaller group during a land tour in November 2016 (i.e., low-season/ few tourists). During that tour, we spent a similar two hours at the site, split fairly evenly with about an hour touring the ruins with the guide and another hour at the museum. For the Viking excursion, I think we spent more time at the ruins because progress was paced by the larger number of guests at the site. Even if you were with a small, private tour, your progress at the ruins would be similarly constrained by other groups making their way to the various ruins.

During the 21/22 Viking World Cruise, to-go cardboard cups with tops were readily available in the Living Room bar, Star Theater bar, Explorers' Lounge bar, and World Cafe.

When we were on the Viking Star for the 21/22 World Cruise from Jan-May 2022 we ended up going down to deck 3 to do laundry rather than deck 5 about halfway through the voyage. At the time there were 3 older washers and 3 dryers on deck 5 whereas on deck 3 they had 4 new washers and 4 new dryers (no combo-machines). At one point, I think a bearing went out on one of the dryers on deck 5 because I could hear the its whining squeal all the way past the elevators even though the laundry room door was closed. I called House Cleaning and shortly thereafter the squeal stopped. I'll note that the deck 5 machines had a briny odor about them whereas the deck 3 machines did not. Also, the ship had only 500 or so passengers at the time and a portion of deck 3 was reserved for Covid isolation, so the deck 3 machines were readily available. It sounds to me they ended up upgrading/ replacing the deck 5 washers and dryers sometime after our voyage. While the Viking Star is the oldest of the Viking Ocean ships, we never had the feeling that we are on an old, dilapidated or ship in need of repair. The crew was continually performing minor updates in different sections of the ship and I had the feeling that the Viking Star was probably in as good of condition as any of the newer Viking ships.

As @millybess said, the same Offer Codes for the U.S. residents appears to apply to our Canadian neighbors as well. When clicking on the promotions links we often post, you can usually replace the "'/us/" with "/ca/" in the URL to get the Canadian version of the offer. For example, in the Transatlantic offer TAS23 that @Selion recently posted, the specifically make reference to the CA dollars and CA residents in the offer details (found by clicking the offer code at the bottom of the web page). Although sometimes they haven't tailored the offer details to the country and continue to reference U.S.. https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/ocean/TAS23/20230123/ Offer valid on bookings made from Jan 27 to Jan 31, 2023. Free stateroom upgrade within category up to Penthouse Veranda (PV1) plus free roundtrip airfare and complimentary Silver Spirits Beverage Package valid on Mar 21, 2023 departure of Atlantic Ocean Passage; Mar 15, 2023 departure of West Indies to Spain; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Southern Atlantic Crossing. Call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Jan 31, 2023; pay in full at time of booking. Offer expires Jan 31, 2023. https://www.viking.com/promotions/ca/ocean/TAS23/20230123/ Offer valid on bookings made from Jan 27 to Jan 31, 2023. Free stateroom upgrade within category up to Penthouse Veranda (PV1) plus free roundtrip airfare and complimentary Silver Spirits Beverage Package valid on Mar 21, 2023 departure of Atlantic Ocean Passage; Mar 15, 2023 departure of West Indies to Spain; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Southern Atlantic Crossing. Call for details. Prices are in CAD dollars and for CA residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures; call for details. Book by Jan 31, 2023; pay in full at time of booking. Offer expires Jan 31, 2023.

[Replicating an earlier post #6447 for folks who might want to see photos of some of the Chef's Table meals.] During the 21/22 WC the Chef’s table menu changed every 3 to 4 days. We only managed to get go to the Chef’s Table a few (23) times. Generally, I would schedule a dinner at the Chef’s table on sea days when the menu changed. I counted 12 unique menus, but I may have missed a couple. Below is a list of the meal themes on the days we had dinner at the Chef’s Table. You’ll note that as the journey became very port-centric, with few sea days in April and May, we didn’t make it to the Chef’s Table often. Chef’s Table meal themes 1. Jan 13 California Cuisine 2. Jan 17 Asian Panorama 3. Jan 22 Sweet & Salty 4. Jan 26 Lotus 5. Jan 28 Erling's Scandinavian 6. Jan 31 Xiang 7. Feb 6 A Gastronomic Journey Through Time 8. Feb 9 Venice Carnival 9. Feb 12 Great Britain 10. Feb 15 Xiang 11. Feb 18 La Routes des Indes 12. Feb 21 Asian Panorama 13. Feb 25 Great Britain 14. Mar 1 Thailand 15. Mar 5 A Gastronomic Journey Through Time 16. Mar 7 Erling's Scandinavian 17. Mar 13 Thailand 18. Mar 15 Sweet & Salty 19. Mar 21 Lotus 20. Mar 25 Asian Panorama 21. Mar 28 La Routes des Indes 22. April 14 Indonesian 23. May 5 Great Britain Attached is a PDF file with photos I captured of our Chef's Table meals 1968273224_ChefTableMeals.pdf

I received a similar email this morning entitled "FREE airfare—North & South American expedition voyages" referencing offer PAT22. While this email promotes these voyages: Feb 20; Mar 13 & 18, 2023 departures of Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer; Mar 6, 2023 departure of Patagonian Shores & Chilean Fjords; and Apr 13, 2023 departure of Canada & the Atlantic Coastline; when you track down Offer PAT22 on the Viking web site, you also find that the following voyages are also covered: Mar 27, 2023 departure of Panama & Scenic South America; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Patagonia to Canada Grand Explorer; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Patagonia, Fjords & Panama Canal; Today's email fine print is almost identical to the fine print from the 15 January "Explore South America, Canada & the Atlantic Coast" email that I reported under post #448, except that the Mar 6, 2023 departure of Patagonian Shores & Chilean Fjords voyage has replaced the Mar 27, 2023 departure of Panama & Scenic South America. "Offer PAT22: Offer valid on bookings made from Jan 22 to Jan 31, 2023. FREE roundtrip airfare and complimentary Silver Spirits Beverage Package valid on Feb 20; Mar 13 & 18, 2023 departures of Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer; Mar 6, 2023 departure of Patagonian Shores & Chilean Fjords; Apr 13, 2023 departure of Canada & the Atlantic Coastline. Air pricing varies per itinerary/departure. For additional itineraries, call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Jan 31, 2023; pay in full at time of booking. Offer expires Jan 31, 2023." Yet still Offer PAT22 still covers that same voyages which @Selion first reported under posting #363, with only the expiration date updated. https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/expedition/PAT22/20221214 or https://viking.com/patagonia

Some Tiki cocktails in Viking Star’s Torshavn (4 May 2022). Left to right: Mai Tai, Plunter’s Punch, Rock Lobster Mai Tai recipe per the Torshavn bar tender: • 40 ml Bacardi white rum • 20 ml Apricot liqueur • 10 ml Amaretto • 10 ml Myers dark rum • 200 ml Pineapple juice Shake the white rum, apricot liqueur, amaretto and pineapple juice with ice. Strain into iced glass. Layer with dark rum on top. Garnish with pineapple. Much different than Trader Vic's recipe. https://www.moodymixologist.com/blog/original-mai-tai-recipe

I received an email this morning entitled "Explore South America, Canada & the Atlantic Coast" wherein which the Offer PAT22 on select Expedition voyages, which @Selion first reported under posting #363, has been extended to the end of January (instead of end of December) and may have been enhanced with additional savings. https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/expedition/PAT22/20221214 FREE Roundtrip Airfare & FREE Silver Spirits Beverage Package Plus, Save Up to 30% On All-Inclusive Expedition Voyages Offer ends Jan 31, 2023 Offer PAT22: Offer valid on bookings made from Jan 15 to Jan 31, 2023. Free roundtrip airfare and complimentary Silver Spirits Beverage Package valid on Feb 20; Mar 13 & 18, 2023 departures of Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer; Mar 27, 2023 departure of Panama & Scenic South America; Apr 13, 2023 departure of Canada & the Atlantic Coastline; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Patagonia to Canada Grand Explorer; Mar 13, 2023 departure of Patagonia, Fjords & Panama Canal; Mar 6, 2023 departure of Patagonian Shores & Chilean Fjords. Air pricing varies per itinerary/departure. For additional itineraries, call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Jan 31, 2023; pay in full by at time of booking. Offer expires Jan 31, 2023.

GREAT! I'd appreciate it if you could follow up after your trip and let me know which excursions you selected and recommend so that when we visit most of those ports a year later we'll have some informed guidance to help guide our selection of excursions. And if you need someone to look after your place in FL while you're gone, I could use a break from the Seattle rain... Ha Ha Ha.

@FLORIDA FLOUNDER I recall that you were looking #158 for an Offer Code for an April 2023 Across the Bay of Bengal cruise.

Congrats @cornellcindy. Question: given that the 2025 WC LA to London has the same itinerary as the 2024 WC LA to London, why are you waiting? After all, none of us are getting any younger?

During the 2021/22 World Cruise, my photo time stamps indicate we were still in Ushuaia at 9:30 p.m., then by 8:00 a.m. we were approaching the southern islands of Isla Freycinet and Isla Dece on our way to Cape Horn to round Isla Hornos. We rounded the horn at 11:00 a.m.

My wife received a brochure in the mail today "2023 & 2024 River Voyages." It references the following site for more information about their 25th Anniversary Sate, with "FREE International airfare*," $25 Deposit, and an expiration of January 31, 2023: vrc.com/Europe Entering that link redirects to the following site: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/index.html?promoCode=RJE23 However "Price and Build", for some of the voyages result instead to a site with Offer Code RML23 and this site appears identical to the RJE23 site: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/index.html?promoCode=RML23

The 2022 version of Viking's Hawaii and South Pacific cruise was curtailed because Hawaii was delayed in lifting CoVid restrictions for cruise ships. That voyage ended up being an enhanced South Pacific/ French Polynesian cruise. Still you might find the following CC roll call associated with that cruise useful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2797192-viking-orion-hawaiifrench-polynesia-cruise-january-5-february-7-2022/

@Cruiz'nBaers ... Might I suggest the following posts by @NY Nick may be useful: Part 1 How we found Viking #406 Part 2 Why we chose Viking (for the WC) #407 Part 3 Cabin selection #408 Part 4 Things to bring #382 #409 Part 5 Final impressions #410 Additionally, this blog entry by @Heidi13 provides a useful comparison. https://andyandjudi.com/2020/04/22/andy-judis-2020-world-cruise-review-vol-ii/#more-12238 Reading through @Heidi13/Andy's complete blog of the Covid-shortened 2020 World Cruise convinced me that Viking was a good fit for us. That blog starts at the following link and then you progress by selecting "Next" below the banner at the top of each page. https://andyandjudi.com/2018/05/16/world-cruise-2/

I was tempted to explore the restricted access and crew areas, but then I thought about the consequences of being enlisted into indentured servitude where I might end up swabbing the decks or servicing rooms where I would be exposed to continual bird chirping... practicality got the best of me and I just asked our room steward for ice.

Skippy... Jaffas... TimTams... Iced VoVos... Fantales... Anzac... Golden Syrup... Are my suspicions correct that these are items they use Down Under to keep snails and fungus off of the hull of the ship? I thought that they spoke English in AU and NZ, but after reading this series of comments, I think I may need to invest in a language translation book. Maybe there is an app I can install on my iPhone that will help with the translation. 😉