Peregrina651

We are booked on Malta, Morocco and Med (can we just refer to this as 3M?) for Jan, 2026 on the Vesta. I was hoping we might be the maiden voyage but Char says they are on the schedule starting summer, 2025. 😒 Oh, well. So, now we have to wait for CC to add Vesta to the list of roll calls. Maybe its time we give them a nudge? Vela Roll Call forum is open: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2693-viking-vela-roll-calls/

I just posted an answer to your question in The Virtual Explorers Lounge.

While I don't know exactly, from what I learned when we did our river cruise in China (2010) and from the few snippets I'd read about the sale, Viking was supposed to at least add a casino and redecorate the cabins to accommodate family groups. (scroll to the footer of any page on the Viking website and check out the MEDIA CENTER; there might be an old press release about the sale). Whether Viking every made these changes and whether they were ever able run cruise during the pandemic, I have not heard. The ship is owned by a Chinese company and leased backed to Viking to run the hotel services. That is the way it works in China. The Chinese company operates the ship with Chinese officers and crew. Viking runs the hotel operation with a few officers from VO HQ in charge and the balance of the crew Chinese nationals, most of whom will speak English to one degree or another. Because of the river cruises that ran from 2004(?) to 2019 (shutdown before the 2020 season), Viking has seasoned employees in China, who hopefully are still with the company and long standing relationships with the tourist industry in the Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an (food on land will be Chinese cooking served family style or hotel buffet). On the ship, food service will be standard Viking fare with regional specialties available, just as on the rest of the fleet.

Because Viking very clearly quotes cruise fare and airfare separately. If a guest chooses not to use Viking Air, it does not effect the price of the cruise fare, whether the price of the airfare is $1000 or $0.

I don't think either of the combatants (whose territories border neither the Red Sea nor the Suez Canal) is willing to risk the ire of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world if they mess with the smooth flow of Suez Canal traffic. There is only one alternative to the Red Sea/Suez Canal: doing it the old-fashioned way around the horn of Africa.

Based on your pictures, I think we might have to revisit Ephesus. We were there in 1999 and I don't remember being able to go into the houses.

I'm another one who does not use what Viking offers for insurance. The plan is cheaper because Viking "self insures" the plan, giving future cruise vouchers instead of cash -- and if I have to cancel, I want my money back. I've heard of the TripInsuranceStore (they are an insurance broker, and represent many insurance companies) and I probably should at least price compare each time we book a cruise but the one time I did, everything was more expensive than what my current company was offering. Still, I really should check each time. But, I've been using the same company for over 20 years now; I'm comfortable with them -- it helps that they are the same company that my travel agency has a relationship with. IMHO, at my age and with aging parents, the most important coverage I need is "existing conditions."

We are 127 days away from our May 9 embarkation date. Viking hasn't even loaded in the excursions for us to view. No way that they could have moved us to the new plan at this point. We'll see how the roll out works for the early June departures as they need to be loading in the shorex already for the OS to be able to see what is on offer before before they book.

I've only ever traveled on Deck 3 or 4 and I have often had similar thoughts. I have found that on any given cruise they tend to seat us in the same area every time but we have been seated all over the dining room.

Each embarkation port is different. The facilities are different. Some piers have actualThe requirements imposed by immigration officials are different. Since Covid, docking in Venice has moved from the Statzione Marittima in Venice to the commercial docks a bit further out and now finally to Chioggia. I haven't been following the situation closely and have no idea how things are working currently. There may be helpful conversation in other threads but I wouldn't bother reading anything that is dated before 2023 as it may not reflect the current or most recent information. Iceland is a somewhat unique situation as there is no departures hall on the dock to hold hundreds of waiting pax. However, I believe I read somewhere that better dockside accommodations are coming, which will hopefully eliminate the need to use Harpa. In other words, taking guests to a hotel is a last resort (and Iceland is the only place we have experienced). If there are facilities (at minimum, bathrooms) at the dock, you will head straight there. As to boarding, Viking doesn't force anyone to wait to board simply based on cabin category. The couple sitting next to you waiting to get on the ship could just as easily be in an ES as a V. Two things control when Viking actual starts to let you board the ship: local immigration regs and the width of the gangway (as in not wide enough for two lanes of traffic -- and disembarking guests have priority).

Hey! Let's have some sympathy here! 😉 Been there and done that. That crowd is more likely to be the grumpy, exhausted and jetlagged whose flights arrived at 6am that morning and the only thing they are eager for is a decent meal and a nap.

Viking will start processing early arrivals from the airport as soon as they are set up and will start boarding as soon as the disembarking pax have cleared the ship. In some ports, they have to wait for the ship to empty completely (usually by 10 am). In some ports, they will start boarding guests when there is a convenient break in the exiting traffic; the gangway is one-way traffic. The cabin ready time in the brochure is a no later than time and housekeeping aims to have the job completed by 2pm. Regardless of your cabin class, check your cabin as soon as you board. Folks in DV and V maybe pleasantly surprised. As to lines at check-in, they do happen now and then -- lines for security screening and/or check-in. It depends on the port, the timing of the bus loads from the airport and the pre-cruise extensions and what time you arrive at the port.

Keep in mind that the notes that were offered are pre-pandemic and a lot has changed at ports around the world since then, especially in terms of service and staffing.

and for that one, you need to have cruise on the books that booked before November 21, 2023.

All too often you have to keep asking until you find an agent who knows how to send the list. 😖

If you are lucky, the Viking agent knows how to put your TA's name on the booking. I know that the onboard cruise consultants know how to it, because the last few times I booked on board, it happened automatically and I was e-mailing with my TA, setting up the insurance long before I even got home.

There is no way of predicting the weather or the possibility of missing port because of weather, regardless of the season.

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Last trip I booked us side by side in the middle. Not only do I have trouble lifting over my head, but I am also under-tall -- and DH was on the other side of the plane. Before DH could get around to my side of the plane to help me, a gentlemen on my side hoisted my bag in to the overhead for and then hauled it down for me at the end of the flight. For our upcoming trip, I made sure we were both on the same aisle -- one window, one aisle. I'll let you know when we meet up on the ship how it worked out.

LOL. You would have found the next time you stopped by that thread. 🙃 But in a few months from now, when one of the two pages has sunk off page one, it might be of help to readers.

You have me wondering if there has been some change in the laundry product used. The last time we were on board (end of 2021), I had a lot of trouble with the fragrance of the laundry detergent (service and laundrette) and was bothered that it lingered for for multiple washings after we got home. But as I said some place, two people can smell the same product and have very different reactions to it.

Two threads are discussing pretty much the same topic and someone has shared the list of tours on the other thread. See (comments 22 and 23):

I like the way they are offering three areas of the city to explore instead of having everyone going to Vatican City. It will save some folks the time and expense if that is where they wanted to be in the first place. Viking is always tweaking things and I would not be surprised if these changes have come about because of guest comments. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 and our non-turnaround stop at Civitavecchia has in store for us.

You are right. I was not clear. I was responding to the lecturer's comment about best Roman ruins and did not limit my answer to accessible from Civitavecchia.

The fun begins at 10pm, after the show in the Star Theater. Viking loves celebrations and NYE is one of their best. I think I've been to four of them and each one was slightly different. The first few were in the Atrium/Living Room. The next was a hybrid with the main party in the Atrium and broadcast on the TV screens at the Pool. The latest one we attended was during Covid and it was entirely at the Pool. We were anchored in Cabo San Lucas and at midnight we watched the local fireworks. Jan 1, the party usually continues with some sort of buffet. Some dance and some prefer to cheer them on Fireworks in Mexico Buffet at the Pool In 2021/22, the buffet was set up in the World Cafe because we were only 400 pax

There is no need to stand in line to get through security at the Vatican unless you are planning on going into St. Peter's. Viking has a relationship with one of the shops at the meeting point and the multiple Viking guides/escorts who wait there while their bus-loads tour the area will be happy to point you in the right direction. Viking knows its demographic and understands the importance of having facilities available for us. 😉