dd57

They booked us in Business class for the within Europe leg of our return flight. Normally you get economy within Europe connecting to business class for the overseas part. I did check, for us the Saga plus both return legs in business was better than what I could do on our own. I think it totally depends on the airports involved and the luck of when you book the air.

I used Viking Air for our August cruise, DEN to KEF with Saga class. Viking considered it business class.

I was on the Paris/Normandy cruise in September, after having done a 2 week ocean cruise, and one week land trip in between. After successfully avoiding COVID by masking on airplanes, thru airports, train trips, bus excursions, etc., I caught it on the river cruise when a lady coughed on me repeatedly at dinner without turning away or covering her mouth. Foolish me, I was too polite to do anything. This was 3 days before the end of the trip and I did not have symptoms until I reached home. The dining table layout on the river ships is the "riskiest" part of the trip to me. This was our 2nd Viking river cruise since COVID, and our first time catching it.

In August we did not check in at Harpa. We had Viking air. They picked us up at the airport (early AM), took us to a restaurant for a breakfast, then took us to the dock where we checked in a trailer next to the ship.

I was on the Mars in August. I, too, am very sensitive to scents, which makes my asthma a lot worse. I used the laundry on our floor and the smell was so strong that I tried to rewash some items in the sink. I called guest services to let them know and ask if this was just the one machine. Nope. They did give me free laundry to fix the load, so I sent the rest out to the ship laundry and did not react to that soap. I don't know what happened, but I think I'm taking my own detergent on our next trip.

We really enjoyed the Stavanger Maritime Museum right on the harbor. There are several levels in an old building, so it might not work with your knee. I don't remember whether there was an elevator. There was an open air market there where I bought a nice sweater made in Norway as well as some handmade hats. It was at the end of the harbor in a large square.

I don't believe you can specify temperature or special handling. They don't have the facilities to handle individual settings like that. Like WisRIver said, either don't bring them, or do anything delicate or shrinkable by hand in your sink and hang on the clothesline in your shower. Leaving the heated floor on makes the items dry quickly.

You fill a bag in your stateroom, fill out a form saying how many pieces and what you want done (laundry, press only, fold or hang, etc.) and leave it in your stateroom. The room steward picks it up in the morning. It will be back in your room the following afternoon/evening unless you pay an extra 50% for 3 hour service. Very reliable, but I only send out cotton garments.

I have changed cruises several time and the Viking insurance transferred over to the new cruise. The total amount that we paid to Viking transferred to the new cruise, whether or not the insurance was the same price. Now, the last two times was under COVID times, so maybe this is new, and maybe temporary. It is worth asking about and getting in writing.

We just flew Denver to Reykjavik in Saga class on Icelandair. I wanted a direct flight in something better than economy. My TA asked and Air plus delivered.

We just got off the Mars and only the Chef's Table menus were available in advance. Both Manfredi's and the Restaurant's menus were for the current day. It must vary by ship/chef. One potential reason for not posting them in advance is that stuff happens. Because I have a food allergy, I would receive the Restaurant menu for the next day so I could make my selection advance. One day I picked a mussels in white wine dish. When I got to the restaurant the next day, I was told that the dish was not available and was switched to escargot. I'm guessing that the mussels didn't pass inspection in the morning. By not posting the menu in advance, the staff avoided having disappointed passengers.

Thank you for letting me know. Did your TA contact them thru normal "TA channels"? My TA has not done this before, although she deals with Viking a lot.

I forgot to mention a lesson learned - turn off wifi when you go to bed so you don't get woken up at 1 in the morning by some random call. 🙂

I have an Android phone and Verizon. Depending on your Android phone, you should be able to do wifi calling without using an app. In settings turn on airplane mode. Turn on wifi and connect to the ship. On my Pixel I look under Network & Internet to see that wifi calling is enabled. If you can't find it on your phone . Use the search function within Settings for Wifi Calling.

Maybe biggerbearmom will chime in on whether their trays are wrapped. We are on the same cruise.

Different ships, perhaps?

The room service trays are not pink wrapped; they are just normal trays. The only difference is that you have to take the tray from the person who delivers the tray, they don't come into the room. No hazmat suits either for cleaning the room. They wear masks and gloves and keep the dirty bedding and towels in separate plastic bags. We've been getting same day laundry service at no charge. They said there is a dedicated machine for laundry from those in isolation. The staff has been outstanding and respond quickly to our requests, which we keep to a minimum. I don't know whether there are separate quarantine rooms or not. When I asked about moving to a different room to sleep, they said there weren't any rooms available and gently pointed out that my husband was most likely contagious for 2 days before his symptoms started and I had already been exposed. It was nice being in our PV room in our preferred location. Day 5 of my husband's isolation and I'm still negative. He is totally recovered, other being tired, and looking forward to getting out of the room tomorrow.

Yes, I am spitting in a tube every day for a PCR test. My husband was only tested once. So all the tubes in the hall are for people who are not sick but in the same cabin with someone who is. A nurse came by every day for the first few days to check on my husband. Today they called first but didn't come by since he is feeling better. He was not feeling well enough to go anywhere at first.

We both wore N95 masks for our flight, for bus tours, and in common areas on the ship. But my husband took his off during the bus transfer from the airport until I pointed out how many people were coughing. I think many people were already sick before boarding.

We are both in our original cabin. I was told that there are no cabins free for me to move into to avoid more exposure. Viking is calling it isolation, not quarantine. Except I'm here too! I am free to move around the ship and go on excursions as long as I am masked when out of our cabin. My husband has to stay in the cabin.

We are also on Viking Mars. My husband is on day 4 of isolation after testing positive for Covid. (I am still negative by some miracle). I am convinced that he caught it on the transfer bus from Keflavik. At least a quarter of the people on the bus were coughing. Without wearing masks. I've been wearing a KN 95 mask 24/7 since he tested positive. I have to say Viking is doing an outstanding job taking care of him.

We just ate at Chef's Table last night. We arrived just before 6:00 for our reservation and so were seated next to the windows. The tables there are fairly well spread out; I didn't pay attention to the layout in the rest of the room. As they seated people, they used every other table. By the time we left at 7:30, most of the tables were full.

I was pointing it out for others reading this thread. I agree that having the detail online would make things so much easier.

If you do a booking hold, with no deposit yet, you receive an invoice with the port times. You have a few days to decide whether you want to go on the trip before a deposit is due.

My TA's OBC shows up on my Viking Guest statement and is available to use to book excursions before we go. This was true on our river cruise last November, on our ocean cruise this month, and the ocean cruise we have booked for next year. She works for a large travel agency with many physical locations. It must vary with the agency.