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Miroku, just tuck a $5 and a $10 bill in your purse and if you find that you have to have local currency just go to an exchange booth. Then you can leave any extra currency as the end-of-the-trip tip.

Question about Porto. We are taking our Viking cruise in October and I am just starting to do some planning for what we want to do in Porto and Lisbon on our own. I would like to know approximately where the Viking Ship docks in Porto. Is it within easy walking distance to cafes and things to do? We were not planning on any extra excursions while in Porto and thought we would just look around and experience the afternoons on our own. Thanks in advance

We took the HoHo bus and saw a lot. We took the whole loop to see what was there and then took it again, jumping on and off to see the different sites.

The Corinthian has been repaired and is now on its way to Edinburgh for the British Isles trips.

Vantage has a new trip that does both.:

https://www.vantagetravel.com/ourjourneys/deluxe-small-ship-cruises/asia-small-ship-cruise/bxixx/2017/what-included/journey-highlights

Maybe you can look at the itinerary and decide which you find more appealing, or maybe you want to do both :).

Sometimes too, once you are ticketed, you can use your miles to upgrade. Viking Air arranged great non-stop airfare each way to our Viking River Cruise in China. We used our miles to upgrade to business class on way over but business was sold out on way back.

Interesting, since we were always told that the cruise air tickets were never upgradable. Did you call the airlines to make those arrangements?

That is so nice. I'm glad that some of the trip was saved.

The trip to Wales was independent of cruise. My mom is Welsh and they were visiting family.

 

Full refund on cruise and cruise line is paying for their flight home.

Did your parents make it home OK? Did they have anything to say about what was wrong with the ship?

We had two pair of very expensive prescription glasses, a camera and cell phone stolen in Madrid. Delta said none of the items were covered. She said they never should have been checked. By the time we got back to the US there were already several phone calls made.

It was a very expensive mistake we made.

Slow enough to enjoy and take photos is one thing but just standing around waiting for someone to catch up each time is another. Viking sends out plenty of buses/groups on the included tours, so they should be able to set aside one for the slow movers. And they should be able to do it right on MyVikingJourney at booking time.

I enjoy a comfortable pace since I also like to take photos. We had one man who grumbled the whole excursion because he could not keep up. He was using a walker and the cobblestones were wicked and the hills were steep. We always had to wait for him to catch up. It was not fair to him or us. If Viking had a slower walkers group he could have enjoyed the excursion at a more leisurely pace.

Where did you get the name tags, thanks

Office Depot.

Dee, I brought name tags from home for our meet and greet. One of Viking's staff said "oh, what a good idea" but I guess they never got any for future meets.

I also suggested that a slow walkers group be formed so the whole group would not be held back by a few. It's not fair to either group.

Glad you had a nice cruise.

The cruise that was after your parents' cruise was cancelled, too. It was to the British Isles. Ship must have serious problems

Do they have trip insurance? Is the Wales trip thru Grand Circle?

If they have independent travel insurance, then the insurance company might be able to help. The program directors on GC should be able to rearrange their flight to get them to Wales instead of home.

This is the first part my dad's lengthy email:

 

Yes, cancelled. After unpacking, we went to the “all hands” meeting and were told that due to mechanical issues with the ship (no details given), the cruise was cancelled. They will give full refunds and air fare reimbursement. The logistics are mind boggling for them, dealing with all passengers, and us due to complications unique to us.

 

 

 

 

So you were supposed to be on the Corinthian last week but your cruise was cancelled?

Are they in Lisbon? So they flew over only to find out that the ship has problems?

We were supposed to start our trip almost three weeks ago and return home today. We were told two weeks before our start date that the Corinthian was in dry dock.

I am glad we knew before we got to Europe.

OMG just got email from my dad the cruise was cancelld

Oh, my !!! Do you know any details? The Corinthian must still be out of service. So sorry for your parents. Today would have been the day that we would have come home from our trip. I just received a flight notice from AA that our flight is on time 😳.

I realize that. The problem was that we've always been able to get our boarding passes marked with TSA Precheck for our reentry. So that when we've passed through US passport control (with Global Entry) we have to go through security again. U.S. carriers have always given us boarding passes for our second flight (JFK to Nashville in this case) that allowed us to do TSA PreCheck. Air France didn't know what we were talking about.

Ahhh, I understand now. I misread your statement.

Also, you might be able to claim the price you paid for your hotel and any meals on your travel insurance.

We were stuck in Atlanta for two days, missed our connection, and our insurance paid for the two nights and our meals.

Thank you so much for the review and the photos to go along with it. And wow, a Tom Cruise photo :D.

BTW, TSA precheck and Global Entry are only for US airports.

There's nothing wrong with that at all. Sometimes I take photos and other times I don't.

Would you be interested in seeing photos of menus and dishes if you were taking a cruise on a line that you have never been on before?? Seems reasonable to me.

Sometimes I take photos of my food. But after taking photos all day long I just don't bother to take my camera to dinner. And, often there is just no place to put my camera at dinner time. My pockets are not deep enough (as most women will attest), I don't carry a purse on the boat, and I don't want to set it on the dinner table.

When we first started cruising, the menus were handed to each customer and we could take them with us. Now they are in a binder and are reused.

I was SO wrong

 

this is their trip

 

https://www.gct.com/trips/small-ship-cruise-tours/europe/spains-northern-coast-and-the-bay-of-biscay/2017

Same ship, different day :). We did this tour two year ago. It was great. Are they on the Corinthian?

https://www.gct.com/trips/small-ship-cruise-tours/europe/iberian-voyage-libson-to-barcelona/2017?icid=ourfleet:corinthian:clb2017

When are they going? We were supposed to be on this trip right now, but the ship had to go in dry dock so our cruise was canceled :(.

Thank you so much !!!

Question about Beaune to Paris. What did you do for lunch? Did you eat on the train?

Does the Restaurant Manager not ask people on entering the restaurant if they wish to sit at a table for two or join a large table?

We were never asked.

We never found out until almost the end of the cruise that we could have sat with other people at a larger table. We did that and ended up having a very nice evening.

We were at a table for two and I saw a couple come in and were sat at a table for eight. Then I saw another couple come in, introduce themselves, and then a third couple and finally a fourth couple. I asked on the way out what that was all about and was told it was a sharing table.

Peregrina is right about the tables for two being close to each other. Although not everyone is sat at the same time, so some might be leaving or close to finishing when you are sat. We did have some nice conversations with the people at those tables.

Either. You can make a reservation or just show up.

The shops that the cruise lines visit all take credit cards and one, in St. Petersburg had an ATM. Not sure how many days your trip is, but I would start with $100 worth and use any remaining for tips at the end.

Many of the markets, if you visit those, do not take credit cards, but do take local currency and US dollars.